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 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!

3cdaemon Windows 11 -

: Because the software has not been updated in over twenty years, it contains known unpatched vulnerabilities (such as buffer overflows) that could be exploited by malicious actors on the same network.

：一款功能完备的免费TFTP服务器工具，采用多线程设计，支持同时处理多个文件传输请求。它支持服务绑定IP地址等功能，在Windows 11上兼容性良好，适合对稳定性要求较高的场景。

3CDaemon是一款来自3Com公司出品的功能强大的网络服务工具，其名称“3C”正对应其三大核心功能：服务。

Syslog服务器功能是3CDaemon中最实用、最便捷的特性之一。借助Syslog功能，3CDaemon可以集中接收和存储网络中所有设备（路由器、交换机、防火墙、服务器等）发送过来的系统日志消息，从而实现对网络设备的集中监控、统一的故障排查和精确的安全审计。 3cdaemon windows 11

：轻量、免安装的免费开源网络服务套件，支持IPv4/IPv6双协议栈，集TFTP、DHCP、DNS、Syslog等多种服务于一身。该工具支持GUI监控和实时日志显示，适用于Win11桌面环境，体积小巧但功能全面。

: Recommended for the host machine to ensure network devices can reliably find the server. Step-by-Step Installation Guide 1. Download and Extract

3CDaemon was designed in the era of Windows 95/98/NT and last updated in the early 2000s. It is not natively optimized for Windows 10 or Windows 11. : Because the software has not been updated

Given the incompatibility risks, the prudent path for Windows 11 users is to migrate to modern alternatives that offer the same functionality without the legacy baggage. Several open-source and commercial tools have risen to fill the void:

Because 3CDaemon was designed for Windows 98, NT, and XP, its original installer can trigger Windows 11 security protocols or fail to register shortcuts correctly. Follow these steps for a clean installation: 1. Secure Download

| Tool | TFTP | FTP | Syslog | Notes | |------|------|-----|--------|-------| | | Yes | No | No | Free, actively maintained, runs perfectly on Windows 11 | | TFTPD32 / TFTPD64 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Open-source, lightweight, excellent Windows 11 support | | Kiwi Syslog Server | No | No | Yes | Free version limited to 100 messages/sec | | FileZilla Server | No | Yes | No | Great FTP, but no TFTP/syslog | | OpenTFTP | Yes | No | No | Minimalist, works well | Download and Extract 3CDaemon was designed in the

He leaned back in his chair. The rain had stopped. The sun was beginning to bleed into the sky. He had bridged the gap between the past and the future, one jagged, pixelated button at a time.

Server Started.

：作为FTP领域的最知名工具之一，FileZilla Server完全免费、开源、功能强大，支持Windows 11 64位系统。与3CDaemon相比，FileZilla Server在FTP服务上更为专业，但不提供TFTP和Syslog功能。

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. :)