----------------------------------------------------------------------ePSXeCutor 1.0.6.3 (pre-release) - frontend for ePSXe - by Pete Bernert ----------------------------------------------------------------------What's new with 1.0.6.3 (pre-release)?

- ChrisRPG reported a problem with ePSXeCutor's game ids (used for the quickstart function and for displaying the save state pictures): some games don't follow the standard naming sheme for the ID, like the US version of Dragon Warrior 7, and therefore ePSXeCutor could not read and use the ID properly with this games. Fixed. - Since such a simple fix wouldn't be release-worthy, imho, I've also added a new feature to ePSXeCutor: in the "Tools" menu, or by rightclicking a configuration icon, a new menu item will appear: "Create desktop config link". If you select it, ePSXeCutor will do automatically a shortcut on your Windows desktop, using the same name as the selected configuration. Now you can easily start the game (and, of course, the associated plugin and emu settings) without running the ePSXeCutor GUI first, by simply double-clicking the new shortcut. Well, basically it's just an easier way to use ePSXeCutor's command line capabilities (introduced in version 1.0.6.0), but it's still nice to have... and unlike a certain Control Center from a well-known gfx card company, such an ePSXeCutor game start doesn't need any extra resources (neither memory nor cpu) when the game is running :) ----------------------------------------------------------------------What's new with 1.0.6.2 (pre-release)? - Again a small bugfix/feature update of my frontend for ePSXe 1.6.0... Nothing breath-taking, but maybe somebody will find it useful. - Rainmaker noticed that there was no scrollbar in the group bar (if many groups were filling up the list). Well, in fact there was a scrollbar for groups, but it was not visible if other bars were active. I've fixed that. - Nov suggested that it would be nice if the ePSXeCutor window would not only store its window size for the next startup, but also the 'maximized' state. Done. - Someone (forgot the name, sorry) was hoping that ePSXeCutor could store and show a game bitmap for each config. Well, You can already define a small (32x32 or 16x16) bitmap for the config icon, and I don't think that I will change that, but it brought up another idea: there are usually up to five save state pictures stored for each game (if you are using the ePSXe save state function, of course). So I thought that another window, showing all those pictures, would be a good compromise: all you have to do is enter the correct CD game ID in the game config, and whenever you select the config, the save state pictures (if available) will be displayed. Quite easy :)

--------------------------------------------------------What's new with 1.0.6.1 (pre-release)? - like the "1.0.5.3 (pre-release)" version, this release is just done to give you a few new features and fixes, until a real epsxe 1.0.6.1 (or however the next epsxe version will be called) is showing up. - First, a fix. If you had a ":" character in your config name, it wasn't possible to export this config to a .reg file. Bug squashed. Thanx to Criftus for the bug report. - It's now possible to include wildcards (? or * characters) in the config CD IDs. What's that good for? Well, it comes handy, especially with the config Quickstart function in multi-CD games. Usually the CD IDs of such games only differ in one character, so now you can do one config for all CDs of a game, instead of n different configs (one for each CD). Thanx to Skinny for the suggestion. - Are you a PC user who often reinstalls Windows, to get a clean system? Tired of exporting dozens of single configs, to backup all of your psx emu settings? Now ePSXeCutor offers an "export all" option, which will save all configs, groups and main emu settings in a single .reg file. Double-click that file after you did the new Windows installation, and you will have back all your previous settings. Nice, isn't it? Thanx to Nov for the idea. - You like ePSXeCutor's Quickstart function? It would be even better if ePSXeCutor would start a config as soon as you insert a PSX game CD? Well, Betamax, the coder of "Delta", another fine psx emu frontend, has coded a ePSXeCutor addon, which will stay in the Windows system tray, and start up ePSXeCutor each time when a PSX CD gets inserted in your drive. You can get the "AutoQuickStart" tool in the "Download" section of http://delta.ngemu.com/ ...go, and check it out :) --------------------------------------------------------What's new with 1.0.6.0? - Due to multiple user suggestions: it's now possible to use the epsxecutor.exe commandline to start a special config without even showing the ePSXeCutor window. That means: you can do now for example an epsxecutor shurtcut on your desktop, and give a certain config name as cmdline. If you now double-click this shortcut, ePSXeCutor will activate this config, and start ePSXe with it. The syntax is easy: simply add the config name after the .exe, for example: epsxecutor.exe Alundra2. Please note: if your config name contains space characters, use quotation marks (like: epsxecutor.exe "Final Fantasy 9"). Ah, yes, and there is a special cmd line config name, called QUICKSTART. if you do a shortcut like "epsxecutor.exe QUICKSTART", ePSXeCutor will look after the game ID of the inserted psx game cd, and start activate the config which belongs to this game (if there is such a config available, of course).

- There is still Pad plugin support in this version of ePSXeCutor, even if ePSXe 1.6.0 doesn't support such plugins yet... maybe next time, eh? :) --------------------------------------------------------What's new with 1.0.5.3 (pre-release)? - First of all, it's a pre-release. In the past, a new ePSXeCutor release only happened in union with an ePSXe release. But since calb is busy with real life, and the current ePSXeCutor version is now on my hard drive for over half a year, I've decided to give you an update. This frontend will work fine with ePSXe 1.5.2, even if some options (like the pad plugin support) will only work with the upcoming next ePSXe version. - Improved cdrom GameID detection (thanx to Mike "Moose" O'Malley) - Added pad plugin support. This "1.0.5.3" pre-release of ePSXeCutor will store the pad plugin selection/configs, but of course the current ePSXe version (1.5.2) will ignore it. You'll have to wait for the next ePSXe version... - Due to high user request: free selectable memcard files. You can either use the old managed memcard list, or specify two memcards with custom file names. Please note: if ePSXeCutor doesn't know the memcard file format, it will show a "Not formatted" text in the info bar. That doesn't mean that the memcard file will not work in ePSXe (since the main emu can read more formats than my frontend... yup, I am too lazy to support everything). - "Fast plugin configure" buttons in the "config infos" bar. Very handy. - Small skin support: you can change the look of every button and icon used in ePSXeCutor. Simply place a modified "epsxecutor.bmp" file into an epsxe sub-folder called "skins". If no skin bitmap exists, the default symbols will be used. In this archive I have added two skin files, the old default style one, and a nicer looking XP skin. Ah, and you can also change the initial splash screen gfx by placing a new bitmap called "epsxecutorsplash.bmp" into the "skins" directory. - Last but not least: a game 'quickstart' function. You can now specify the CD game ID when you create a new/change an existing game configuration. This ID will be used by the 'Quickstart' toolbar button/menu item: simply insert a game CD you want to play, and press the 'Quickstart' button. ePSXeCutor will automatically read the ID from the inserted CD, and search into the configuration list if a game config linked with that ID exists. If a config is found, it will get selected and started automatically. --------------------------------------------------------What's new with 1.0.5.2? - Adjusted the epsxe 1.5.2 options / removed epsxe options which are not needed anymore

- Added memcard file export... first I wanted to do free selectable memcard filenames, but after looking at my source I realized that such would mean an hell of changes (many funcs are needing the currently used memcard numbers), so I decided to let you easily export (and of course import) memcards with any filename you want to choose... kinda a compromise ;) - Changed the memcard formating... should be more compatible with the real psx. --------------------------------------------------------What's new with 1.0.5.1? - Not much :) Added the new ePSXe subchannel options and removed the "disable cdr status" option... that's all --------------------------------------------------------What's new with 1.0.5? - epsxe directory containing spaces (f.e. C:\program files\epsxe) supported - save state size display fixed - removed obsolete epsxe options (mdec, mdec timing, cdrom RT status). Note: in epsxe 1.5 you can still control mdecs by command line options, but the old registry settings will not work anymore. If you are using an older version of epsxe as well, you have to turn on mdec videos with an older version of epsxe or epsxecutor! - added epsxe pad config: there's a button in the "Options" screen, if you push that, epsxe will get started, and you can configure the pads as desired. Quit epsxe afterwards, all your pad settings will get saved in the game configuration. - Biggest change: compatibility info manager (see below for details) --------------------------------------------------------What's new with 1.0.4? - sorting the plugins in the plugin config window by name, file or date (just click the list header) - save state manager - support for netplay plugins --------------------------------------------------------What's new with 1.0.3? - dunno... ask calb :) --------------------------------------------------------What's new with 1.0.2? - the internal ePSXe plugins will now be listed - full mem card block names

- support for the new cdrom options --------------------------------------------------------What's new with 1.0.1? drop down list for the different gamepad types selection of country mode (Auto/PAL/NTSC) option for starting up the ePSXe GUI option for internal cdr... select your cdr drive in epsxe first!

--------------------------------------------------------What's ePSXeCutor for? Well, ePSXe has its own gui, after you have started the emu you can configure it easily using the menus. But, of course, some games will need special settings to start up, or sometimes you will want to turn off the sound, use different plugins, etc. So you would have to reconfigure ePSXe a lot of times, and you would have to keep in mind the settings of a certain game. That's how ePSXeCutor will help you: You can store individual settings for each game, all game configurations will be stored in the Windows registry, a simple double-click on a configuration icon will start ePSXe with the settings you have found best for that game. Each game configuration will store: - plugins used, and the plugin settings - ePSXe settings (like sound, mdec, cdr usage, command line) - Selection of memory cards you want to use with that game - Activated epsxe cheats (patches to make certain games work) There are some goodies, too, like im/export of configs, configuration groups (for example rpg games, fighting games, etc.), user defined config icons, creating/copying memcard files, a save state file manager, a compatibility list and so on. Enjoy! --------------------------------------------------------Installation --------------------------------------------------------Installation is easy: Copy all 3 files (ePSXeCutor.exe, ePSXeCutorTool.dll and ePSXeCutorStuff.dll) into your ePSXe directory (that's the directory which contains the main emu "epsxe.exe"). That's all (ok, you surely want to make some desktop shortcut icon to ePSXeCutor.exe, right). Oh, yes, ePSXeCutor is using the MFC dlls... maybe you have to update them to use it.

If you want to use the compatibility list manager, please create a new sub-directory "infos" in your epsxe main directory, and copy the info .txt files into it. Oh, well, if you don't know how to copy files, but unfortunately you are able to send mails... DON'T MAIL ME QUESTIONS LIKE 'how do I copy files?'... ask some cool friend or your parents instead :) --------------------------------------------------------Usage --------------------------------------------------------If you are familar with PSSwitch, my PSEmu Pro frontend, you will not have any troubles using ePSXeCutor. If you don't know PSSwitch (shame on you ;), read on. After starting ePSXeCutor you will see one sizeable window. The main part of the window will show you all config icons you have done so far (yeah, starting it the first time, the list will be empty). A simple double click on a game config icon will start epsxe with the stored config settings. On the left side (by default) is the group bar, it will contain a list of game groups, if you want to make multiple groups to keep you game configs well ordered. The group bar will always have at least one entry, called 'All configurations', by selecting this entry the main window will show all available configs you have created so far. On the bottom (by default) is the config info bar, it will display details of the selected configuration. Well, on top is the menu and tool bar. Here you can create/delete/change configurations, change the main window view, and so on. OK, now let us create a new configuration. Create a new configuration -------------------------Simply select 'Configurations->New ePSXe configuration..' or push the first button of the tool bar. A new dialog window will appear, here you have to a) enter an unique configuration name b) choose a bmp file as icon (optional, can be empty) c) type in some info/comment about the config d) push 'Configure epsxe' to go to the config window In the box below some of the current epsxe config settings will be displayed (plugins, memcards). After you have done the settings, push 'OK', a new config will be born :)

Configure ePSXe -------------------------Well, beside creating a new configuration, the most important part of ePSXeCutor is the definition of the ePSXe emu options and plugins settings. When you are creating a new config (see above) you will need to go to the 'change ePSXe configuration' window (by pushing 'Configure epsxe'), but you can also change the settings of already existing configs by right clicking the config icon -> 'Quick configure' or by selecting 'Quick configure' in the main window menu. The 'change ePSXe configuration' is divided into four parts: - plugins - memcards - options - cheats In 'Plugins' all available gpu/spu/cdr/pad/net plugins will be listed. Select a plugin, and push 'Activate'... now that plugin will be used with the current configuration. Push 'Configure' to change plugin options. 'Test' will tell ya if the plugin will work, and 'About' shows some plugin infos. You can also use a popup-menu by rightclicking a plugin, though. Also the internal epsxe plugins (spu/cdr/pad) will be listed, but no configuration windows are available for the internal plugins. 'Memcards' let you create, format, copy and choose memcard files. You should choose two different memcards for each game configuration. Should be easy to use. Select a memcard and push 'Set Slot 1', select another and push 'Set Slot 2'. That's all. If you have already existing memcard files, you can either import them, or use them directly with the 'custom memcard' option. 'Options' let you set the internal ePSXe thingies... check out the ePSXe manual to get more infos ;) Well, with the 'command line' edit you can enter some special options, for example you can use ISOs by the command line "-loadbin x:\game\spyro.bin". For a full list of the command line params, simply start the ePSXe emu with the commandline "-help" :) A special option is called "Start ePSXe GUI", by activating this option the ePSXe window with menus, etc., will be displayed and you have to start the game manually using the ePSXe menu. IMPORTANT: to get videos in your games you have to activate the "mdec" option! 'Cheats'... here you can define/import/change cheat settings and activate them... please note: the 'cheats' here are no Gameshark, etc, cheat codes! It's made for special patch cheat codes to get some special games to work (for example "Thousand Arms" will need the cheat

"10023458 = 0000" to work in old ePSXe versions). Well, that's the main config handling... but there are some more goodies in ePSXeCutor... lemme explain the Group handling now. Creating/using groups -------------------------What are groups for? Well, if you have many game configs you will want to order them.. you can change the config icon order by dragging a configuration icon to a new position, but if the config list grows bigger and bigger you will want to use groups, be assured :) Groups are displaying just some of the game configs, the ones that belong to that special group... only the main group 'All configurations' will show you all configs. To create a group just do a right-click in the group bar and select 'new group'. In the following window enter an unique group name and select a suitable group icon. That's all. When you click on the new group entry in the group bar, the main window will just display the game configs of that group. Well, after creating a new group, the list will be empty, of course. How to put a config into a group? a) If you activate a group, and create a new game config, it will be stored in the 'All configurations' group _and_ the activated one. b) If you want to store an existing config in a certain group, select the group entry which contains the config right now (or select 'All configurations') and drag the config icon at the group name in the group bar. Note: you can remove a config from a group by right clicking the config in that group and selecting 'Remove from group'... that way the config will only removed from that group, it will still be available in 'All configurations', for example. If you choose 'Delete' instead, the config will be deleted from _all_ groups. Oki, that's the main group handling... now we'll take a fast look at some special stuff... Game Quickstart function ---------------------------------You can specify the CD game ID when you create a new/change an existing game configuration. This ID will be used by the 'Quickstart' toolbar button/menu item: simply insert a game CD you want to play, and press the 'Quickstart' button. ePSXeCutor will automatically read the ID from the inserted

CD, and search into the configuration list, if a game config linked with that ID exists. If a config is found, it will get selected and started. Save State Manager ---------------------------------You can use the "F1/2/3" keys in ePSXe to store/choose/load save state files. Each file will have the game-id as file name, and take a few MBytes of your harddrive. The save state manager can be used to backup (export) save state files, to import them again into the save state directory, you can give each game save state its own name (it's easier to search for a certain save state file that way, if you want to give it to a friend), and you can delete unneeded files. If the gpu plugin has generated a small save state screen picture, the pic will be displayed in the manager, too. Game compatibility infos ---------------------------------Sometimes it's hard to get a certain game to run... maybe special settings in the main emu or one of the plugins are needed to fix glitches, or to get the game to run at all. In the "game infos" window you will find a list of tested games, and (depending on the game) more or less usefull infos how to get it to run (or maybe the info: doesn't work at all). All infos are stored in text files, each game will have its own file in the "infos" subdirectory (GameID.txt). Look for emu sites hosting such psx compatibility files to increase your wonderful collection of info files... who knows, maybe you will need infos about a special game soon :) Of course you can also create your own game info files, simply enter the unique game ID (can be found in the root directory of the game CD), or insert the CD in the drive and press the "Read ID from CD" button (don't forget to select the proper cd drive letter first). If infos already exist, they will get displayed, otherwise you can now type in your own experiences with that game... hit "Save game infos" after you made changes, and well, if you know an emu site looking for compatibility info files, why not mail yours to them? :) Using "Export infos" will save the selected game infos to a new selectable directory, simply mail this file to the compatibility site. "Import infos" will only copy selected files into the "infos" subdirectory, if you know how to use the Windows Explorer you can do that yourself, of course ;) Misc -------------------------Well, in the 'View' menu you can hide the bars, if you don't need 'groups' for example. You can also decide if you want the game configs displayed as big or small

icons or using a report list, which will display your game comment in the second column. The 'Tools' menu contains: - 'Erase all ePSXeCutor settings', that's kinda an uninstall of ePSXeCutor... all game configs and entries will be removed from your Windows registry, so no trash will be left. - 'Export/Import configuration': 'Export' stores the selected config settings in a windows .reg file, 'import' will read that file and make a new config icon with the stored infos. - 'Create desktop config link': a Windows desktop shortcut will get created, so you can start a certain config along with the epsxe emu by a simple double-click, without running the ePSXeCutor GUI first. - 'Save state management': will show you all epsxe savestates. Details see above. - 'Game compatibility infos': see above as well. - 'Customize ePSXeCutor': Well, you can change some of the ePSXeCutor gui in this dialog. You can select your own group bar icons, if you like. You can set a background picture in the main window. You can change the look of the toolbar buttons. And you can select which config infos should be displayed in the info bar. Skin support -------------------------You can change the look of every button and icon used in ePSXeCutor. Simply place a modified "epsxecutor.bmp" file into an epsxe sub-folder called "skins". If no skin bitmap exists, the default symbols will be used. You can get original bitmap and a nice looking XP style skin from http://www.pbernert.com/epsxecutorskin.zip You can also change the initial splash screen gfx by placing a new bitmap called "epsxecutorsplash.bmp" into the "skins" directory. --------------------------------------------------------Final words --------------------------------------------------------If you are having ePSXeCutor problems or suggestions, you can send a mail to: BlackDove@addcom.de (well, but due to virus and spam mails this box will be full most times... better go to my messageboards on www.pbernert.com if you want to tell me something).

And, as always, have fun :) Pete Bernert

btw, great job, calb, Galtor and _demo_ :)