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October 27, 2021 [version 8.9.4 released]
    "This is not the splash screen you're looking for!"
After years of suffering, I finally found a way to make the splash screen not to show up on top of other applications. While games lists are being created/scanned, you can do something else without that annoying splash screen popping up constantly. Not yet fixed for a clean install though.

    I have created a new RGB Color Picker dialog from scratch, named Color Picker Ex. It's fast, lightweight and easy to use.
It even comes with a HEX edit box so you can enter a color in HEX format. It replaces the jurassic Windows color picker dialog.

    Search bar edit box locked and inaccessible at startup, is now fixed. Another bug, making the games list not focused at startup, is also fixed.
Both bugs were caused by a function that removes Delphi 7's hidden form trickery. Moving this function from the main form's OnActivate() event to the OnShow() event, fixes it.
I spent 2 weeks debugging the frontend's startup code to find the little devil that was causing these issues. But I also ended up optimizing the frontend's startup code in the process so, it's a win-win.

September 29, 2021 [version 8.9.3 released]
    A new update with some bug fixes and support for the new Audio Compressor MAME setting.
The downloads page still requires some tweaking.

September 18, 2021 [website two point O]
    New website!
I've been working on this new look for a few days, it looks a lot better and easier to navigate. Everything was updated including the screenshots page. The change log file format was also updated, including the changelog.htm file distributed with the frontend package. History page will be updated over time.

September 01, 2021 [version 8.9.2 released]
    One more. :)
Some bug fixes and new stuff for MAME. A bunch of console/computer system icons were updated and they all got a 256x256 resolution icon.
This is the last big pack update, I promisse...
    Contens of mameinfo.dat and messinfo.dat are handled separately. This fixes wrong game info being shown in Game Documents feature.

    Support for new MAME game info, read from -listxml output. They might be useful for a future frontend improvement... or not. You need to create a new MAME games list so they can be used:
cocktail mode
cocktail status
driver protection tag
requiresartwork tag
lan tag
ramoption tag

    I forgot to support some mame.ini settings in MAME Settings screen:
Directory To Share With Emulated Machines (-share)
Path To Loose Software (-swpath)
Path For LUA Plugins To Store Data, Read/Write (-share_directory)

    New Machine Slots / Media Info panel in Custom Parameters screen. You can see a list of supported MAME machines for the softlist game being edited. Select one of those machines to view a list of supported slots and supported media options.
This feature is really handy when creating custom parameters for a softlist game.

    I think I've done all the improvements I wanted to. It only took me 4 months of non-stop work.
Now I can finally rest and go back playing my PC games, cough... Resident Evil Village ...cough :) :)
Have fun!

August 13, 2021 [version 8.9.1 released]
    A few oopsies... I made.
Some minor bug fixes in this build, and I forgot to include the updated logo.png for standard resolution. I tweaked the colors a little bit and added more sprites in there. :D
    Tweaks were made to better handle requirements detection for MAME softlist games. In a computer machine, the frontend was trying to load a device set  as a cartridge instead of enabling that device in the machine's slot1, and a couple more bugs in other console machines.

I think it might be time to choose a new theme for the splash screen, this apocalyptic theme is getting old, no ? Not that it's not a good one...

    New MAME feature: custom parameters.
You can create custom parmeters for a softlist game, a software list or MAME machine. Do things like, attach a cassete tape, a special cartridge, a floppy drive or another device. Enable a special feature in a computer machine that you cannot do with MAME settings .ini files.

    Added support for another Apple II emulator, microM8 Apple II Emulator. Interesting emulator, this one.
In the Apple IIgs front, emulator GSplus" Apple IIgs Emulator is now supported.

    Emu Loader is ready for MAME v0.235 with the new BGFX backend options: Direct3D 12 and Vulkan. I guess you're gonna have to wait a few more weeks to try these renderers...

    The full pack still have all 4K content in it, but this time you can grab the update package if you already have v8.9. It will take me more time to sort some things out and update the downloads page with all updated content, including Photoshop's .psd files with all my work. Have fun!

Macaafa Qulqulluu Eenyutu Barreesse Guide

The legend spoke of a guardian chosen every thousand years, known as , who would protect the Barreesse from those who sought to misuse its power. This guardian was not of the mortal realm but a spirit born of the wind and starlight.

"Eenyutu". That sounds like "any new" or "enyi" in some languages. For example, in Swahili, "enyi" means "mine" but maybe a variant? Or could it be a misspelling of "enyute"? Not sure. Let me think of other languages. In Somali, "any" is "anyi", but not matching. In Oromo, maybe "enyu" is a pronoun?

The phrase "macaafa qulqulluu eenyutu barreesse" appears to be in a non-English language or a fictional/unique wordset. Since it's not immediately recognizable as a standard phrase in major languages, I'll craft a assuming it’s part of a fictional language or cultural context. Here's how I'll interpret each term for storytelling purposes: Title: The Guardian of the Starfruit Mountains In the distant land of Qulqulluu , where the sky shimmered with twin suns, there was a sacred forest called Macaafa . The forest was said to be the heart of the realm, home to a rare fruit that glowed with golden light—the Barreesse , a symbol of eternal harmony. macaafa qulqulluu eenyutu barreesse

Next, "qulqulluu". That looks like a word with double letters. Could it be a name or another word. In Amharic, "qulqullu" is a word for "beautiful" or "nice"? Wait, Amharic uses the Ge'ez script, which has some similar letters. "Qulqullu" might be a typo or transliteration of a word. Alternatively, maybe it's from Swahili? Let me check some common words. Not familiar. Maybe it's a made-up word or part of a specific phrase.

Putting it all together: "macaafa qulqulluu eenyutu barreesse". The user is asking for a long story using this phrase. Since the words aren't standard English or common loanwords, maybe it's in another language or a coded message. The user might be testing my knowledge of other languages or using transliteration for a local language. The legend spoke of a guardian chosen every

So, building a story, perhaps "macaafa" is a place, "qulqulluu" a person, "eenyutu" an object or concept, and "barreesse" another element. Maybe it's a love story or a quest involving these terms. However, I can't be sure of the meanings, so the story would need to be imaginative. Alternatively, the user might have made a mistake and wants a story based on similar-sounding words, or it's in a specific language they want translated. Since I can't translate it accurately without the correct language identification, I should ask for more context or clarify the language used. But the user might expect me to proceed with a fictional story despite the ambiguity. Let me proceed to create a story using these terms as elements in a fictional narrative, explaining the possible meanings as I go.

One day, a young girl named Lira, whose hair shimmered like the Barreesse, ventured into Macaafa. She heard whispers in the trees: "The Eenyutu must be found before the twin suns align." Guided by the wind, she discovered an ancient stone carved with the words —a prophecy. That sounds like "any new" or "enyi" in some languages

First, "macaafa". Hmm, that doesn't ring a bell in English. Maybe it's a typo or a word from another language. Could it be a misspelling of "macaroon"? "Macaroon" is a French term, but maybe they meant something else. Let me check the pronunciation. "Macaroon" is pronounced "maka-ROON", but "macaafa" sounds different. Wait, maybe it's a different language? Let me consider some possibilities. In Amharic or Tigrinya, "magaafa" means "beautiful woman", but not sure about the rest. Maybe it's another language.

In the deepest part of the forest, Lira encountered the Eenyutu, a figure draped in ethereal light. The spirit explained that only she could now take the place of the guardian. To prove herself, Lira had to solve the riddle of the Starfruit's light: "What ties the sky to the earth, yet vanishes without a trace?"

"Barreesse". That looks similar to "barreesse" which in Amharic or Tigrinya might be a term. In Amharic, "bar-ressa" is a type of dress, but with an "s" at the end it's different. Or maybe "bar-resse" is a name or a transliteration error. Alternatively, "barresse" might be a misspelling of "barresse" which doesn't ring a bell in English. Wait, "barrasse" could be a name, but not sure.


February 25, 2021 [version 8.8.8 released]
    To triple infinity... and beyond!
I'm starting to use TNT Unicode Components Pack in the frontend. I should have done this a long time ago. Added TntRichEdit control so Unicode texts can be displayed in Game Docs panel and in message boxes. You might need a richedit20.dll file so non-English texts can be properly displayed. I tested the frontend with the file supplied by Windows 10 and the results are awful. You can do the same test on your system, try renaming the DLL and restart the frontend. If  English / non-English mixed texts are good, you don't need this DLL.

    For this build, and this build alone, such DLL file is supplied with the binary packages. Future releases will have a separate download link. Why ? You might already have a DLL in your system that produces good English / non-English mixed texts (usually when Microsoft Office is installed).
File is from the discontinued Microsoft Word Viewer. I tested 4 different DLL files and they all produce different results. Why, Microsoft... WHY??!!!

    I rewrote the parsing function of MAME dat files and Game Docs feature is now lightning fast!
Other tweaks were made, and history (xml or dat) shows texts correctly. In fact, history.xml is the preferred file.

    New  4K Mode (2160p). But why ? If you're like me, have a 4K monitor and use screen DPI scale at 100%, everything looks tiny, and so does the frontend.
By enabling this setting, you will get resized dialogs with bigger fonts, bigger buttons and other enlarged stuff. I haven't tested this feature with DPI scale other than 100%...
This is my personal dream come true feature ever since I got a 4K monitor back in 2017. A font sized 16 looks so much better compared to size 9!
Warning: Do not attempt to enable this setting if your screen resolution is lower than 3840x2160, the frontend does not validate Windows resolution.

    More tweaks to message boxes, better font colors and texts. Several message boxes were also updated with night mode colors. They can display Unicode texts too (see command line texts). The Run Game Confirmation Dialog in the new 4K mode looks awesome.

    I've made some modifications to the TNT Unicode Components Pack so, if you already have it installed in your Delphi compiler, you must install my modified pack or some frontend features will not work, and Delphi will give compilation errors. I couldn't find a way to create new "extra" controls to keep the library with unaltered code.

I'm sure I forgot one or two things I worked on, for now, it will do. :)