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EmuSaver 3.0
by Howard Casto 


What's New 
==========
3.0
-added built in options for skipping mame screens and baddumps(no name mame only)
-added pause key feature to stop the timer countdown when you pause a game
-added the ability to define the wrapper name
-repackaged the kit with the new and improved 7.0 wrapper
-tacked on a second wait time between each game launch... this should make the screensaver much easier to exit.

2.0
-added mute sound only in attract mode option
-added statistics for tracking down problem roms and finding the last game you played.
-tried to remove the taskbar flicker (only a partial success) 
-added a emusaver.ini auto generator for those of you who don't follow instructions. ;-)
-various bug fixes

What is it?
===========


This program is a windows screensaver that will randomly launch games from an emulator and switch to another game after a pre-determined time. It's intended for mame but should work on several different emus and apps.  This application,imho, is much better than the, "mamesaver" source code hack out there as it uses any version of mame and allows you to actually play the games.  

It uses a modified version of the command line wrapper and documentation for it is found at:

www.oscarcontrols.com/lazarus

Requirements
============

The latest Visual Basic runtimes.

An emulator that works with the wrapper.

Some Roms.

***Knowledge of the emulator you are using.***


Setup:
======  


Step 1. 

Put the cmd-launch#.exe and lconfig.ini in your Emulator's root directory.  They are pre-configured for mame (assuming it's named mame.exe) and thus you shouldn't have to bother with them for this application.  Test it by opening a command line, navigating to the emulator directory and typing:  
cmd-launch#.exe romname

The emulator should start up and run the game you specified, if not then please check the wrappers section of the lazarus manual on the homepage. 


Step 2.  

Take the emusaver.scr and emusaver.ini and copy them to your windows directory.  Right click on the scr and choose "install" Now this screensaver is selectable within the desktop properties in windows and acts exactly like a windows screensaver. (Because it is one.)

Step 3.  

BEFORE you try the preview go into the settings and define the emulator path and other options.  After you are done setting things up apply the chnages, exit out of the settings box and tryt he preview mode.  You should get a generic "please wait" message followed by a randomly loaded game. (Loading time depends upon the rom loaded, as it does in mame)  After the given time period you defined, this game will exit and the next one will be loaded and so-on.

Step 4. (Lazarus users only)

If you only want to use this screensaver fo lazarus then you can skip steps 2 and 3.

If you want to replace the artwork screensaver with this one simply rename the "default.scr" in your laz dir to something else, copy the emusaver files to your lazarus dir and rename "emusaver.scr" to "default.scr." You can configure the screensaver by right clicking it's icon and selecting configure. DO NOT CLICK INSTALL (sorry just making sure you don't do it)

If you are using a screensaver in lazarus then be sure to disable your windows screensaver prior to entering lazarus as they will interfere with each other.   
  

Usage Notes (Please Read)
=========================

Command line options are useful, like add the -nosound option in to mute mame for you.

EmuSaver does NOT press "ok" for you... luckily the new builds of mame have the nodisclaimer options (which remove the "ok" screens 90% of the time, check your mame docs)  so this isn't an issue anymore.  
  

If you have the "reset timer" option turned on then you can start playing a game you see displayed any time you like and the saver won't switch to the next game unless you let the game set idle for the wait time again. In other words, if this is checked then you can play a game when you want to and when you leave it alone long enough the screesaver will start rotating games again.   

If "reset timer" is turned off then when you press any key (other than the exit key)  then the game rotation will stop and that game will remain on the screen until you quit the screensaver.

If you set the wait time to 0 then the screensaver will wait until the emulator exits itself.  This could be useful for other apps that do something and then exit themselves when finished. (Like a media player or something similar) It's just an option you should be aware of.  If you find a use for it then please let me know.

The ONLY way you will exit the screensaver is to hold down the exit key (escape by default) the refresh time that's defined in the lconfig.ini (or a little more, generally about a second will do it)  Since I want to give you the option of playing these games, mouse and other key presses don't effect the screensaver.

The keycode refers to a vb keycode... go to msdn.com and search for vb keycodes for more information.  

Some games, like in the arcade, can cause monitor burn in, so be careful.  An "ok" screen that slipped through could also cause burn in if left alone long enough.            