UPlay+ subscribers report repeat charges, suspended subscriptions, other issues

October 16th, 2019, 19:05 Posted By: wraggster

A number of users on Ubisoft's official forums as well as the UPlay subreddit are reporting issues subscribing to UPlay+, including repeat charges, suspended subscriptions, and issues deleting saved credit card information.
Although the complexity and severity of the issues seem to vary from person to person, a large volume of reports over the last few weeks have similarities. Many users are finding that their subscriptions to UPlay+ appear to be "suspended" with no way to access games, despite a valid payment method being on file and having been charged. Some say the "suspended" message is appearing after only a few days subscribed to the service (when a single payment should last them for a month). Many state they are unable to resume normal service.
Some reports go a step further, with users claiming their cards are being charged multiple times in a single month for the service, with many claiming duplicate charges and others going further to note numerous card holds going back a week or more. Some add that when they attempt to remove the saved card information from their account to prevent future extra charges, they are unable to remove their card.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...s-other-issues

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JoyToKey v6.3

October 15th, 2019, 21:21 Posted By: wraggster

JoyToKey v6.3 is released. This software is a keyboard emulator for joysticks. It converts joystick input into keyboard input (and mouse input).Use it when you want to control an application with joysticks that doesn't support joystick input. If you wish, you can control even Word, Excel, etc. with joysticks!

Features:
* Configuration for maximum 16 joysticks.
* Multiple configuration files
You can make many configuration files and choose it at any time.
* Support for many useful features...
o Automatic shooting of buttons
o Mouse emulation (including wheel input)
o "Adjust mouse movements" function
When it's pressed, mouse movement(or wheel rotation) becomes faster (or slower).
* "Switch to the other configuration file" function
You can switch to and activate the other configuration file with the button which is assigned to this function.
* "Use the setting of other joystick number temporarily" function
(Something like "shift" command of SNESKey. For example, you may usually use joystick1 for keyboard emulation, but during this button being pressed, joystick3's configuration (that emulates mouse or something) will temporarily be used. Note that joystick3 is not a real joystick, it's a virtual device to .)

JoyToKey v6.3 Changelog:
* User configuration data will be by default stored in
"JoyToKey" folder in user's "Documents" folder.

In case you upgrade JoyToKey from an older version, please copy (or move)
the old "JoyToKey" folder into your "Documents" folder (especially *.ini and *.cfg files)
so that you can continue to access your configuration data.

* To be more friendly for new users,
- JoyToKey is packaged as an installer, instead of a zip file format
- Tab names in the button assignment window are made clearer
e.g. "Keyboard 2" -> "Keyboard (Multi)"
- UI Layout for assigning the mouse cursor movement is made easier

* Minor changes and bug fixes

http://www-jp.jtksoft.net/

http://www.emucr.com/2019/10/joytokey-v63.html

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Google Stadia Pro launches November 19

October 15th, 2019, 21:05 Posted By: wraggster

Google is almost ready to roll out its Stadia streaming service. The company today announced that the Stadia Pro subscription version of the service will go live at 9 a.m. PST / 6 p.m. CET on November 19.
Founder's Edition bundles (which include a Stadia controller, ChromeCast Ultra, three months of Pro and a buddy pass to give to a friend) should begin arriving for customers the same day on a first-preordered, first-shipped basis.
Initially, Stadia Pro will only be accessible to those who ordered the Founder's Edition or Premiere Edition (a replacement offering once Founder's Editions are sold out). The stand-alone version of the Stadia Pro subscription will be available at a later date. The free version of the service, Stadia Base, is expected to launch next year.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...es-november-19

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World of Warcraft sees Q3 streaming rise

October 14th, 2019, 22:56 Posted By: wraggster

World of Warcraft Classic's launch already propelled the game up the Twitch charts during its debut month. But interest seems to have persisted through the quarter.
StreamElements reports that in Q3, World of Warcraft was the third most-watched game on Twitch, just behind Fortnite and League of Legends. It beat out categories such as Just Chatting (not a game, but streamers "just chatting" with their audiences), Grand Theft Auto V, and Dota 2. Most other games held steady on the chart from Q2, though Hearthstone was replaced with Minecraft at No.9.
World of Warcraft's numbers are taken from both retail and Classic versions, though there's little doubt that Classic's launch in August is the reason for its 118% quarter-over-quarter audience growth. The top streamer for Q3, Asmongold, is primarily a World of Warcraft player. He brought in over 13 million hours watched in September, and over 28 million for the quarter.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...streaming-rise

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QuickPlay v4.7

October 13th, 2019, 19:42 Posted By: wraggster

QuickPlay v4.7 is released. QuickPlay is a powerful universal emulator frontend, which has support for countless emulators and systems. QuickPlay is written in Delphi 2006 and is released under a BSD license which means its free AND you can take the source code and do whatever you want with it, as long as you leave our names in it somewhere.

QuickPlay v4.7 Changelog:
* Synctool
- you can setup a single Remote and local folder - anything under will sync: clicking on a rom will cause it to cache locally if necessary
- directories are mirrored as well as files cached, so folder structure form source is maintained (you know what roms are from what system)
- symlink support so that you can extend your storage/keep CD/DVD files in a different location
- Synctool Options - Electron UI Element which manages and talks to the new qpnode settings file
- Romdata Flip - Users can change the Local path to the Remote one and vice versa in multiple Romdatas
- UI component to Romdata Flip shows you files changed, also prompts confirmation
- Remove syncing abilities of QuickPlay Multiloader, now vastly superceeded
- update Johnlib with various types of exe running code that have varying effects (like printing to console)
- QuickPlay calls to node to see if Synctool is Enabled before doing anything
- waits a while after running so you can see what happened, also writes to logfile in QuickPlay's root
- quit with ctrl+c implemented (you sometimes have to wait for the current chunk to finish)
- copies timestamps as well as files, uses timestamps to determine equality
- timestamp difference tolerance (configurable). I don't know why sometimes timestamps are off with copies of files not done through synctool, but they are
- timeout for finding roots (try not to hang loading a potential rom just because we can't check if its the same file as on the server)
- some investigation of a stream-based solution, left as an option but just too slow

* Mametool Paths
- Disabled by default, Mametool can work out paths of all files from mame.xml and print them in Romdatas
- Implemented for both Arcade and Mess Softlists (much more useful for the latter)
- We can only sync one file, but print helpful info to the log about other files which need to exist locally in order for games to run (eg: BIOS)
- Mame Options enlarged and added to
- you can select what kind of merged roms you have (it affects what the filenames would be)
- looks up your mame.ini (or mess.ini) for your MAME Rompaths, uses conventional names to distinguish (or you can have all roms in one ROMS folder)
- defaults to old behaviour in case of issues (printing a 'sentinel' filepath in a romdata entry so QuickPlay ignores the filepath element)

* Right-click explorer explores to file not just dir (thanks to user 'quickplayer')
* Quotes in mednafen in case of no 8:3 (also thanks to 'quickplayer')
* fixed bug with mame0.211 softlist printing (thanks to u-neeks for a fantastic bug report!)

* Node/Electron
- First use of Nodejs Electron in QuickPlay to run synctool options (the hope is to extend this somewhat)
- build and binary process implemented, Delphi makes appropriate exe calls
- resolved some issues with old js packaging process, hopefully to be superceeded by the new process
- json options file implemented, creation process implemented (its a plan to avoid upgrading issues with overwriting settings)

http://www.emucr.com/2019/10/quickplay-v47.html

http://sourceforge.net/projects/quic...?source=navbar

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ScummVM 2.1.0 "Electric Sheep" has been produced.

October 12th, 2019, 17:54 Posted By: wraggster

"Animal sales was a profitable and prestigious business, since most real animals had died out after the Terran War; there were plenty of electric ones, though—" Oh, ahem, didn’t notice you there.
ScummVM Team is thrilled to announce the release of ScummVM version 2.1.0. This release is the culmination of nearly two years worth of work, adding 16 new games based on 8 engines, a Nintendo Switch port and nearly 500 bug fixes. All this done by the hard work of 147 contributors across 8,493 commits.
The newly supported games are:

• Blade Runner
• Duckman: The Graphic Adventures of a Private Dick
• Hoyle Bridge
• Hoyle Children's Collection
• Hoyle Classic Games
• Hoyle Solitaire
• Hyperspace Delivery Boy!
• Might and Magic IV - Clouds of Xeen
• Might and Magic V - Darkside of Xeen
• Might and Magic - World of Xeen
• Might and Magic - Swords of Xeen
• Mission Supernova Part 1
• Mission Supernova Part 2
• Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness
• The Prince and the Coward
• Versailles 1685

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Steam to add ability to play local co-op games with friends online

October 10th, 2019, 21:45 Posted By: wraggster

Steam will soon offer a new feature that allows users to play local co-op in games with friends over the internet.
As reported by PC Gamer, the feature, called Remote Play Together, is planned for a beta launch the week of October 21. It will automatically be applied to all games with local co-op capabilities, and will work with "two or more players."
Per the name, the feature uses Steam's remote play features to effectively bring players into the same "room" for the purposes of the game. The company has been busy upgrading its Remote Play capabilities recently, having expanded its Remote Play features to allow any platform on the same network with the Steam client installed to stream off any other one earlier this year.
The service is similar to an existing functionality available through streaming service Parsec.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...friends-online

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Pantheon v8.914

October 9th, 2019, 21:43 Posted By: wraggster

Pantheon v8.914 is released. Pantheon is Windows desktop application with collection of games for video consoles and home computers from the past. The games are not the part of the application, instead they will be downloaded (with the game manual or review - if available) from the internet, after you activate the game. Downloaded files are stored on the local file system and will be available offline the next time you wish to play the game. Finally, the program file is loaded into the memory and executed inside the emulator. Current version has emulator of Atari 2600 with collection of 170 games, emulator of Atari 5200 with collection of 50 games and emulator of Atari 8-bit computers with collection of 26 games.

Pantheon is still in development, new features and games are added almost every day. But you may experience occasional artifacts or crashes during the gameplay, and game snapshots may not be available in the following releases.

http://www.emucr.com/2019/10/pantheon-v8914.html

http://bostjan-grandovec.si/Content/News.htm

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Epic won't take action against Fortnite players who speak up about Hong Kong

October 9th, 2019, 21:16 Posted By: wraggster

Epic Games has stated that it will not ban or otherwise punish Fortnite players or content creators for speaking up on political issues.
This came in response to Blizzard's year-long competitive ban of Hearthstone Grandmasters player Chung 'blitzchung' Ng Wai for shouting, "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our age!" during an interview following a match. He also saw his prize money revoked, and Blizzard additionally cut ties with the two interviewers on camera with him at the time.
Speaking to The Verge, an Epic Games spokesperson said the company would take a different approach in its own events. "Epic supports everyone's right to express their views on politics and human rights," they said. "We wouldn't ban or punish a Fortnite player or content creator for speaking on these topics."
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney added further comment on Twitter. When asked if Epic would do nothing if a streamer such as Turner 'Tfue' Tenney said "Free Hong Kong" in a post-game interview, Sweeney replied with, "Exactly."

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...bout-hong-kong

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Visual PinMAME v3.2

October 7th, 2019, 19:26 Posted By: wraggster

Visual PinMAME v3.2 are released. PinMAME is a Multi-Arcade Pinball Machine emulator for Windows. Visual PinMAME is a totally new emulation project which is based on the current PinMAME source code.

Visual PinMAME changelog:
Version 3.2 (October 6th, 2019) - "Sounds good II"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Initial efforts to start converting the PinMAME source base over to the 3-Clause BSD License (not completed yet, so for the full binary package the old license stays in place for now!)

** CORE/CPU **
Improved HC55516 CVSD sound emulation (most Williams/Bally machines in the Gorgar up to Twilight Zone range)
Improved YM2151 sound/timing emulation (mainly WPC pre-DCS machines, maybe improves even other manufacturers like Data East)
Fixed the Nuova Bell sound board. This had various issues, and information is quite sparse
Implement 'fast flips' support for Jack*Bot and Metallica 1.80.0LE
Fix NBA Fastbreak 'fast flips' so that the million dollar shot works
Fix Champion Pub 'fast flips' support
Fixed Barni emulation
Added preliminary E.F.O. hardware support (games will crash after a few seconds due to protection)
Increased main CPU IRQ rate for Bushido, Mach 2, and Jolly Park
Decreased DMD CPU clock for Bushido, Mach 2, Jolly Park, and Verne's World
Inverted solenoid #20 on Jolly Park, fixes ball release from magnetic house
Stabilize speech on (at least) Zaccaria's Mexico 86 and Black Belt
Made sound/speech work for Cerberus and Spain 82 - the only sound device on these games is an EFO90503 (TMS5200 clone)
Fix sound command mode for Bally Squawk n Talk
Updated LISY support (Linux for Gottlieb System1 & System80, Bally, Atari, Williams and 'HOme' Pinballs): one can control real pinball machines via PinMAME, special hardware needed, have a look at http://www.lisy80.com & http://www.lisy.dev, also README.lisy

** ROM SUPPORT **
Thanks to inkochnito, Soren, ipdb.org, Onevox, Juan José Cordero, Juan (Akiles), tecnopinball.org, David Gersic, Quench, watacaractr, idleman, Gore Daimon, Alexandre Rocha, Matt Morin, COY, Stefan Fettes, The Sanctum, Bob Kane, Flipprojets.fr

New:
Barni: Champion
Cirsa: Sport 2000
Inder: Skate Board
Maibesa: Eight Ball Champ
ManilaMatic: Master (Italian),
Top Sound (French)
Nondum / CIFA: Come Back
Playbar: Cobra
Sport Matic: Terrific Lake
Stern: Cue (Prototype)

Correct Dumps:
Inder: Clown
Nuova Bell: Top Pin
Zaccaria: Pool Champion (Italian Speech) (was fused with the also incorrect 'Pool Champion (alternate sound)' set, so removed that one, note though that even like this it is not yet the fully correct set!)

Clones:
Addams Family, The L-5C (competition MOD)
Attack From Mars 1.1 (Pinball FX MOD)
Big Guns L-AC (competition MOD)
Black Belt (Zaccaria) (Italian, German, and French Speech and corresponding Free Play variants)
Black Jack (Free Play+)
Champion Pub, The 1.6 (Pinball FX MOD)
Chicago Cubs Triple Play (German), (German Free Play)
Clash, The (unofficial MOD of Rock Encore)
Congo 1.1 with DCS-Sound rev. 1.0
Corvette PX-3 (also changed PX-4 and PX-5 to use the su2-sl1.rom sound instead of the final one)
Creature from the Black Lagoon L-4C (competition MOD) (replaces older Creature from the Black Lagoon L-5C (competition MOD))
Cyclopes (11/85)
Diner PA-0 (Prototype), LF-2 (French)
Dr. Dude LU-1 (Europe)
Eight Ball (Free Play+)
Eight Ball Deluxe (Player 2/4 Bonus Countdown Bugfix)
Elvira and the Party Monsters LF-1 (French)
Evel Knievel (Free Play+)
Fish Tales P-2 (Prototype)
Flash Gordon (French Vocalizer Sound and Free Play variant)
Freedom (Free Play+ rev. 07 and 20)
Gilligan's Island L-8
Gorgar (Lane Change MOD) (uses slam switch as lane change contact)
Heavy Metal Meltdown (German)
Jack*Bot 0.4A (Prototype)
Last Action Hero 1.06 (Canadian)
Mata Hari (Free Play+)
Medieval Madness 1.0 (Pinball FX MOD)
Metallica 1.80.0,1.80.0LE
Mousin' Around! LA-4C (competition MOD)
New Star's Phoenix (French Speech and corresponding Free Play variant)
Night Rider (Free Play+)
Party Zone F-4 (Pinball FX MOD)
Phantom of the Opera 3.1
Pharaoh L-2 (tomb sound fix MOD)
Police Force LG-4 (German)
Power Play (Free Play+)
Radical! L-1C (competition MOD)
Road Show L-6C (competition MOD)
Robocop A2.9
Rollergames L-2C (competition MOD)
Safe Cracker 1.8 (Pinball FX MOD)
Star Trek: The Next Generation LX-5
Star's Phoenix (French Speech and corresponding Free Play variant)
Star Wars 1.03 with Display A0.46
Strikes and Spares (Free Play+)
Theatre of Magic 1.3XC (competition MOD) (replaces older Theatre of Magic 1.5C (competition MOD))
Tom & Jerry (unofficial MOD of Hollywood Heat)
Wheel of Fortune 6.02 (Home Rom)
WWF Royal Rumble 1.03 (French)

** VPM **
Change the default of the 'ddraw' option to 0, which means that the faster (but less compatible nowadays) Direct Draw implementation of the window display is by default disabled
Extend builtin alternate sound file support (Sound Mode 1) with a new CSV file-format
Currently specified 8 fields/columns should have a standard order. But in order to be extensible, the first row must always contain all column names: "ID","CHANNEL","DUCK","GAIN","LOOP","STOP","NAME", "FNAME"
(So put this definition above as-is into the first line of the CSV).
Possible future extensions could be: "GROUP","SHAKER","SERIAL".
Then for each sound/line: ID: hexadecimal integer (as string) representing the soundboard command (format e.g. "0x10e"), technical ID as it comes from the MPU.
CHANNEL: use specified channel for the sample. If something is already playing on that channel it will be stopped. Typical channel assignment should be 0: background music, 1: short music snippets, that interrupt or end the background music, everything else (2..15): arbitrary channels. If field is empty, any free channel (2..15) is used.
DUCK: reduce volume of the background music when playing the sample. Range 0-100 (i.e. percentage).
GAIN: increase or reduce volume of the sample. Range 0-100. 50 leaves the sample volume as-is (it's recommended to not go over 50 to avoid sample clamping/distortion).
LOOP: loop the sample this many times. Range 0-100, where 100 represents endless looping of the sample.
STOP: stop playback of background music. Can be 0 or 1.
NAME: string, descriptive/internal name of the sample.
FNAME: string, actual filepath/filename of the sample. Can contain any path prefixes if one likes to organize sound files in directories.
The only fields that need to be specified are id, name and fname, the rest can optionally be left empty and will be filled in with defaults.
If the table contains more than one record for a certain ID, the sound engine will pick one of these randomly. These same IDs must be grouped together one after another in a sequence.
Note that the old folder based structure is still fully supported for backwards compatibility.
Add Whitestar support to the builtin alternate sound file support (Sound Mode 1)
New (backwards compatible) parameter to allow for mech configuration/specifying an initial position, instead of always loading it from NVRAM
Add special "handlemech" modes to Bride of Pinbot (bop_l7)
-1: Reset Bride of Pinbot's face to 0 for consistent startup behavior, but then disable internal mech
-2: Reset face and continue using internal mech
Allow window position (x,y) to be less than 0 in cabinet mode, so primary monitor can be put "below" the DMD monitor
Add additional .raw/non-averaged file output if dumping DMD frames from GTS3 and WPC machines
Improve timing precision of DMD frame dumps
Fix for external dmddevice(64).dll: map GEN_GTS80B to _2x20Alpha layout
Also introduce new function to dmddevice interface: void Render_PM_Alphanumeric_Dim_Frame(layout_t layout, const UINT16 *const seg_data, const char *const seg_dim, const UINT16 *const seg_data2); which includes dimming of segments
Also (optionally) extend dmddevice interface (with noOfRawFrames and rawbuffer):
void Render_16_Shades_with_Raw(UINT16 width, UINT16 height, UINT8 *currbuffer, UINT32 noOfRawFrames, UINT8 *rawbuffer);
void Render_4_Shades_with_Raw (UINT16 width, UINT16 height, UINT8 *currbuffer, UINT32 noOfRawFrames, UINT8 *rawbuffer);
In addition add support for a secondary external DMD device dll with (for now) the same interface as dmddevice(64).dll: dmdscreen(64).dll (i.e. used to drive PUP at the moment)
update BASS library to 2.4.14

http://sourceforge.net/projects/pinmame/
http://www.emucr.com/2019/10/visual-pinmame-v32.html

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RetroArch 1.7.9 released, features new touchscreen gestures for the XMB

October 7th, 2019, 18:01 Posted By: wraggster

• The Libretro team is back, bringing a new version of the beloved emulator frontend, RetroArch. After releasing version 1.7.8 back in August, the team has made some new changes and released an update in the form of version 1.7.9. This time around, there's been a focus on quality of life features, resulting in new ways to navigate RetroArch's XMB; users can now use touchscreen gestures on supported devices in order to go through the menus. Tapping or swiping specific places onscreen will allow you to search for games, scroll through lists, change settings, and more, all without requiring a connected keyboard or gamepad. Some general improvements have also been made, such as adding Wiimote lightgun support on the Wii, solving a memory leak due to a video driver on the PS2, and giving some overall bugfixes in regards to the menu. If you want to make sure you've got the latest version for your setup, or want to try the new features out for yourself, you can download it from the source below.
  
  Source
  
  https://gbatemp.net/threads/retroarc...he-xmb.549678/
  
  
  

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Emu Loader v8.8.2

October 4th, 2019, 23:09 Posted By: wraggster

Emu Loader v8.8.2 is released. Emu Loader was created to manage an arcade games emulator called M.A.M.E. With this frontend, you can change practically any option that is available in the emulator, like the screen resolution, sound quality, game options, etc. There are lots of extra features that makes your life much more easier, like the snapshots viewer where all captured images from M.A.M.E. games can be viewed when selecting games.

Emu Loader Changelog:
Fixed
Setting "Use Image Single Background Color" not restored at startup
Screens "MAME Driver Filter" and "Miscellaneous Filters" not updated when changing between night mode profiles
Font color of hint texts not restored when switching back to light mode ("Miscellaneous Filters" tool bar button)
Several CheckBox and RadioButton controls still had shadow text enabled in night mode
A nasty bug in my TCheckBoxEx / TRadioButtonEx components: the icon area was not cleared when drawing new icon states, overlapping existing icons and causing a "left-over" pixels effect, mostly noticeable in "RadioButton"
Startup crash when validating emulator binary if the .exe file is missing
Screen "Machine Type and System Filters" was not resizing correctly for resolutions lower than 1920x1080 (tool bar button)
Ansi WinAPI FileAge() doesn't work well on Windows 10, replaced by the Unicode API FileAgeW()
Play video preview feature was not working at all for the past 10 months... HOORAY!
Text of selected game was black color when editing fields directly in EasyListView controls (night mode only)
Game thumbnails fail to load in thumbnails view even if game snapshot file exists
No auto-update game thumbnails after changing game snapshot folders in "Image Category Settings" screen (thumbnails view only)
Changed
Tweaks to "Delete/Copy/Move Selected Games"
- size of "Delete" and "Cancel" buttons reduced
- size of "Destination Folder" edit box increased
- if less than 13 files are selected, only one column is shown to prevent waste of space
- checkboxes "Overwrite Files" and "Add System Folder" moved above "Destination Folder edit box"
- fixed controls alignment in bottom bar
Darker color tweak to gradient bottom bars in night mode
Removed italic font style from texts in help message boxes
Text fonts tweak in several screens
- reduced size to 9 pixels
- changed fonts from "Segoe UI" to "Trebuchet MS" with "bold" style and removed "italic" style
- color tweaks in night mode
Replaced all "ExTrackBar" controls by "XiTrackBar" from the "XiControls" pack; thanks "Eugene Genev"
- no more flickering
- colors customized for night mode
- used in "Customize Thumbnails", "MAME Settings" and "RGB Quick Edit" screens
- I've made some minor tweaks to XiTrackBar component, you need my modified version to compile the frontend
New layout for "RGB Quick Edit"
- replaced TShape components by my flicker-free TPanelEx component (new color/current color boxes)
- added XiTrackBar controls for easier RGB color editing
- added form caller title to the caption bar so you know what screen you're currently editing
- internal code tweaks
Removed
Shadow font setting of labels in "Search Games Panel Colors" is no more ("Customize Night Mode" screen)
Added
Custom CheckBox and RadioButton icons for night mode ("Customize Night Mode" screen)
- you can use custom icon files instead of Windows themed ones
- icons sets are located in "frontend_path\resources\checkbox_radiobutton" folder
- each set must be placed in its own sub-folder and the folder name is used as the set's title (no Unicode folder name support)
- icons must be 13x13 pixels but can be at any color depth
- each night mode profile can have a different CheckBox / RadioButton set
- icons are applied to CheckBoxEx / RadioButtonEx / GroupBoxEx / EasyListView controls
- if an icon filename is missing, the Windows themed icon will be used instead
New "Use Windows 10 Dark Scroll Bar in Games List" checkbox setting ("Customize Night Mode" screen)
- this is a hack to force Win10 dark themed scroll bars by using the Win10 API "SetWindowTheme(hWnd, 'DarkMode_Explorer', null)"
- dark scroll bars can be used even if Windows 10 is not setup with a dark theme
- it currently works on ListView, RichEdit, Memo, WebBrowser controls
- no support for ComboBox, ColorBox dropdown buttons as there's no way to access the ListBox control used internally (still working on this)
- horizontal scroll bar colors are bugged and it's caused by Windows 10, not the frontend
- there's a white box painting bug if both horizontal and vertical scroll bars are visible (fix your sh@t, Microsoft!)
- only Windows 10 build 1809 and newer builds are supported
Customize splash screen (main menu "Customize Splash Screen")
- change font color of each text
- text shadow colors are now "black", it looks better
- remove text shadows with "Enable Text Shadows" checkbox (untick)
- new left-aligned texts layout with "Use Alternate Layout" checkbox
- use an alternate logo image with "Use Logo2 File" checkbox; filename must be "logo2.png" and located in "resources\images" folder
- change version info text position (text is right-aligned); useful when using a different logo image
- progress bar replaced by the new XiProgressBar component to allow custom colors
- customize progress bar colors with several pre-defined color schemes or create your own color scheme (minimum resolution required 1280x720 / 1336x768)
- settings are in the right side of the splash screen
- close the splash screen with the "Close" button at bottom/right or with ESC key
- drag the splash screen with the mouse
- fixed "Lucida Console" font to match the font size of "Terminal" font
NOTE: the "Terminal" font used in Emu Loader is the "vgaoem.fon" file from Windows 7; Windows 10 doesn't have this font
Support MAME v0.214 new "mame.ini" settings

http://emuloader.mameworld.info/

http://www.emucr.com/2019/10/emu-loader-v882.html

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DOSBox-X v0.82.22 (2019/09/30)

October 4th, 2019, 23:08 Posted By: wraggster

DOSBox-X v0.82.22 (2019/09/30) is released. DOSBox-x is a branch of DOSBox. DOSBox emulates an Intel x86 PC, complete with sound, graphics, mouse, joystick, modem, etc., necessary for running many old MS-DOS games that simply cannot be run on modern PCs and operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, Linux and FreeBSD.

DOSBox-X Changelog:
Added Normal2x render scalers so that 'force scaler'
for 1x2 or 2x1 scalefactors works and you can scale
up 320x200/640x200 VGA modes and 640x200 CGA modes
by 2x.
Main window titlebar now reflects whether or
not the debugger interface is active.
Debugger interface now flushes terminal input
upon entering the debugger, so that keyboard
input prior to entering the debugger is ignored.
Debugger mapper shortcut and menu item are now
a toggle. Selecting once will enter the debugger
and selecting again will resume emulation.
cycles=max now displays cycle percentage correctly
instead of showing e.g. 100 cyc/ms
(Allofich) Note and ignore INT 33, AX=53C1 call
for the Logitech CyberMan.
Fixed odd code addition that disabled (through
the configuration) XMS, EMS, and UMB when
booting a guest OS. This fixes a problem where
those services are not available when rebooting
back into the DOSBox-X shell from a guest OS.
CGA 640x200 and MCGA 640x480 modes fixed to
have proper refresh rate when machine=mcga,
instead of 140Hz.
MCGA horizontal active display register
encodes N - 1, not N, according to real
hardware register dumps.
INT 10h modes 2 and 3 updated set MCGA CRTC
write protect bit, to match real PS/2 hardware
behavior, and to unlock CRTC registers during
mode set.
PC-98 VSYNC interrupt now fires at vertical
retrace start (as documented) instead of at
active display end behavior borrowed from
DOSBox VGA emulation. This fixes "Tonight"
by Swat.
Fixed mistake that placed N88 ROM BASIC stub
(something specific to PC-98) in memory even
in IBM PC/XT/AT emulation mode.
Fixed some callback slot leaks that can cause
DOSBox-X to run out of callback slots if you
reset the guest system too much.
Fixed invalid callback and errant interrupt
handling during BIOS reset delay that happens
if you use the keyboard shortcut to trigger
system reset.
XMS emulation resets global enable and local
enable state on XMS emulation startup to fix
crashes related to inability to control A20 gate
after system reset or DOS kernel restart.
Debugger "SM" command now accepts segmentffset
syntax for memory location to write.
Fixed INT 21h AH=65h bug that returns DBCS table
for AH=4h that should return filename uppercase
table.
Configuration GUI property settings are now
shown in a single column wide list with scrolling.
In the configuration GUI, help dialogs will now
present the help text as a scrollable region if
there is too much to fit on screen.
dosbox.conf mixer rate will now accept any
sample rate from 4KHz to 192KHz instead of only
fixed specific sample rates.
cascade interrupt ignore in service setting now
accepts true, false, and auto. "auto" is now the
default, and will choose true or false depending
on machine type for correct emulation either way.
It should no longer be necessary to add
"cascade interrupt ignore in service=true" to
your dosbox.conf every time you want to run a
PC-98 game properly.
PC-98 FM board emulation will now load SOUND.ROM
into segment CC00h if available, if FM board
emulation is enabled.
PC-98 INT 18h AH=30h updated to return AH=05h
AL=00h BH=00h if success, AH=00h AL=01h BH=01h
if failure. This is needed to get Puyo Puyo 2
to work, which for some reason fails if a call
to set 15KHz mode works.
PC-98 LIO and SOUND BIOS entry points, while
still not implemented, have been updated to
print the name of the call according to an
online reference.
DOS FCB rename now supports renaming the
volume label as MS-DOS does.
Fixed bug that prevented proper DOS FCB rename
if the FCB used to rename is extended.
FAT filesystem driver updated to also store
updated volume label in the boot sector of the
partition, as per MS-DOS FAT standards.
FCB create can now be used to set a FAT
filesystem label. MS-DOS LABEL.EXE works
correctly now.
FAT filesystem driver now allows LABEL command
to change the FAT volume label of mounted disk
images.
DOS kernel updated to support basic FCB methods
of deleting/setting the volume label, at least
on local folder mounts.
DOS kernel will now return the volume label of
FAT filesystems mounted from disk images.
LABEL setting code fixed not to treat label as
if an 8.3 filename.
LABEL is no longer a builtin shell command and
appears on drive Z: as LABEL.COM
LABEL reimplemented to imitate MS-DOS behavior
with regard to how it handles the command line.
File I/O checking and cleanup (Allofich)
Integrated commits from mainline (Allofich)
Handle errant IRQs as a real BIOS does. Also
remove r3263 workaround, as it's no longer
needed.
Fix flag behavior of several shift/rotate
instructions, cause exceptions and fix
potential 'pop ss' problems
Add support for Print Screen key and
interrupt. In-game screenshot feature
of Descent and Descent 2 now works.

https://github.com/joncampbell123/dosbox-x

http://www.emucr.com/2019/10/dosbox-...-20190930.html

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QEMU v3.1.1.1

October 4th, 2019, 23:07 Posted By: wraggster

QEMU v3.1.1.1 is released. QEMU is a generic and open source machine emulator and virtualizer.When used as a machine emulator, QEMU can run OSes and programs made for one machine (e.g. an ARM board) on a different machine (e.g. your own PC). By using dynamic translation, it achieves very good performances.When used as a virtualizer, QEMU achieves near native performances by executing the guest code directly on the host CPU. A host driver called the QEMU accelerator (also known as KQEMU) is needed in this case. The virtualizer mode requires that both the host and guest machine use x86 compatible processors.

https://www.qemu.org/
http://www.emucr.com/2019/10/qemu-v3111.html

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Free-to-play PUBG arrives in Europe next week

October 4th, 2019, 22:32 Posted By: wraggster

The free-to-play version of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds will be available in Europe on October 10.
PUBG Lite is a standalone product designed to work on low powered PCs and laptops, supported by a free-to-play business model.
The open beta version was first available in Thailand in January, and has rolled out to parts of Latin America, Southeast and South Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa since then.
From October 10, it will be available across Europe and Russia, marking the first time that PUBG has been free to PC players in some of the IP's most lucrative markets.
At the time of writing, PUBG cost $30 on Steam, and is priced at similar levels on the European and UK storefronts. As such, PUBG Lite represents an opportunity to open up the game to a larger community of PC players.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...rope-next-week

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Minecraft Earth "couldn't have been made two years ago"

September 30th, 2019, 17:44 Posted By: wraggster

If you happened to pass by a certain park in Seattle last month, you might have seen myself, a few Minecraft representatives, and a few other journalists awkwardly pacing, crouching, and waving our phones close to the ground or in circles around us. It's a dance that probably looked to outside observers not unlike (but perhaps more ridiculous than) the odd movements of crowds chasing virtual monsters during the overwhelmingly popular launch of Pokémon Go.
But Minecraft Earth, despite at first glance looking a bit like Pokémon Go in that it's a location-based, AR-using adventure, is something entirely different. It contains some similar elements, such as exploring the real world and collecting in-game items that correspond to real spaces ("Tappables," which contain recognizable Minecraft blocks and items). But it's also part-AR adventure game and part-creative space, where players can take the found Tappables and build them into Minecraft creations anywhere: on the table in front of them, in their living room, or even in the middle of a public park.
At a hands-on preview last month, I spoke with game director Torfi Olafsson and briefly with principal program manager Jessica Zahn on the game's inspirations, technological challenges, monetization concerns, and the global spirit the team at Mojang wants to infuse into Minecraft's foray onto mobile devices.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...-two-years-ago

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kindred v1.11 Preview Build 6 v2

September 24th, 2019, 18:32 Posted By: wraggster

kindred v1.11 Preview Build 6 v2 is released. kindred is a multi-system video game emulator for Windows. A work-in-progress for more than a decade, the software utilises a number of priority technologies to accurately emulate video games systems.

Features:
- 128KB Backup RAM (various file formats)
- Support for various ROM formats (Max 64Mbit Cartridge Mode, Max 96Mbit Game Doctor Mode)
- Support for Standard Controller, Nintendo Scope and Mouse
- Advanced 24bit Color Mapping Technology
- Screen Capture in PNG format

kindred v1.11 Preview Build 6 v2 Changelog:
[IBM] Fixed VGA line compare register
[SFC] Updated CPU and PPU interrupt timing
[SFC] Fixed a bug when DMA and HDMA trigger on the same cycle
[ALL] Updated Scheduler
[ALL] Added Laptop mode (economy mode)
[ALL] Lot more code cleanup

http://www.emucr.com/2019/09/kindred...uild-6-v2.html

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Borderlands 3 is the fastest selling game in 2K's history

September 23rd, 2019, 20:01 Posted By: wraggster

The latest Borderlands outing has broken multiple records for both the series and the 2K Games publishing label.
Take-Two has announced Borderlands 3 sold 50% more copies in its first five days than Borderlands 2, which makes it the fastest selling 2K title to date.
Further indicating the shift away from retail, the publisher reports that 70% of all copies sold during that time were digital -- the highest percentage downloads have ever taken for a multiplatform title released both physically and digitally by 2K Games.
Sell-in for Borderlands 3 reached more than five million units in the first five days, meaning the franchise has now generated more than $1 billion in net bookings to date. It is only the second 2K franchise to ever achieve this.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...in-2ks-history

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ROM Properties v1.4.3

September 20th, 2019, 22:45 Posted By: wraggster

ROM Properties v1.4.3 is released. ROM Properties is a shell extension adding the ability to display additional information to file managers. ROM Properties is currently available for Linux and Windows. This shell extension adds a few nice features to file browsers for managing video game ROM and disc images.

ROM Properties v1.4.3 Changelog:
Bug fixes:
GdiReader:
Fixed pointer confusion that caused crashes. This bug was reported by @HyperPolygon64.
Added support for GDI+ISO (2048-byte sectors).

https://github.com/GerbilSoft/rom-properties

http://www.emucr.com/2019/09/rom-properties-v143.html

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OpenTTD v1.9.3

September 20th, 2019, 22:38 Posted By: wraggster

OpenTTD v1.9.3 is released. OpenTTD is an open source simulation game based upon the popular Microprose game "Transport Tycoon Deluxe", written by Chris Sawyer. It attempts to mimic the original game as closely as possible while extending it with new features.

Features
OpenTTD is modelled after the original Transport Tycoon game by Chris Sawyer and enhances the game experience dramatically. Many features were inspired by TTDPatch while others are original.

Significant enhancements from the original game include:
bigger maps (up to 64 times in size)
stable multiplayer mode for up to 255 players in 15 companies, or as spectators
dedicated server mode and an in-game console for administration
IPv6 and IPv4 support for all communication of the client and server
in game downloading of AIs, NewGRFs, scenarios and heightmaps
new pathfinding algorithms that makes vehicles go where you want them to
autorail/-road build tool, improved terraforming
canals, shiplifts, aqueducts
larger, non-uniform stations and the ability to join them together
mammoth and multi-headed trains
different configurable models for acceleration of vehicles
clone, autoreplace and autoupdate vehicles
the possibility to build on slopes and coasts
advanced/conditional orders, share and copy orders
longer and higher bridges including several new designs, plus fully flexible tracks/roads under bridges
reworked airport system with many more airports/heliports (e.g. international and metropolitan)
presignals, semaphores, path based signalling
support for TTDPatch NewGRF features offering many options for graphics and behaviour configuration/modification
drive-through road stops for articulated road vehicles and trams
multiple trees on one tile
bribe the town authority
many configuration settings to tune the game to your liking
save games using zlib compression for smaller sizes, while not interrupting gameplay
significant internationalisation support. OpenTTD has already been translated into over 50 languages
dynamically created town names in 18 languages, plus NewGRF support for additional languages
freely distributable graphics, sounds and music
framework for custom (user) written AIs
zooming further out in the normal view and zooming out in the small map
Lots of effort has been put into making OpenTTD easy to use. These include:

convert rail tool (to electrified rail, monorail, and maglev)
drag&drop support for almost all tools (demolition, road/rail building/removing, stations, scenario editor, etc)
sorting of most lists based on various criteria (vehicle, station, town, industries, etc.)
mouse wheel support (scroll menus, zoom in/out)
autoscroll when the mouse is near the edge of the screen/window
sell whole train by dragging it to the dynamite trashcan
cost estimation with the 'shift' key
advanced options configuration window, change settings from within the game
Graphical/interface features:

screenshots can be in BMP, PNG or PCX format (select in game options menu)
more currencies (including Euro introduction in 2002)
extra viewports to view more parts of the game world at the same time
resolution and refresh rate selection for fullscreen mode
colourful newspaper after a certain date
colour coded vehicle profits
game speed increase (through fast forward button or by pressing the TAB key)
snappy and sticky windows that always stay on top and neatly align themselves to other windows
more hotkeys for even less mouse-clicking
support for 32 bit graphics
support for right-to-left languages
support for other (sized) fonts where the user interface scales based on the font and translation

OpenTTD Changelog:
- Change: Use natural sort when sorting the file list (#7727)
- Fix #7479: Don't close construction windows when changing client name (#7728)
- Fix #7731: Files sorting by modification time on Windows XP (#7731)
- Fix #7644: [OSX] Better solution for colourspace/performance issues (#7741)

http://www.openttd.org/

http://www.emucr.com/2019/09/openttd-v193.html

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