Best arcade cab front end/os?

[ZXSteve]

Hi all,

Having toyed with dropping £800 on an atgames legends ultimate, I've now decided to bin that idea and buy a full sized cab kit and place a PC inside to power it.

My question is this, what os and/or front end should I use?

Now a friend online suggested Batocera, which I'm sure is great but I have absolutely zero experience with linux, so if I hit any problems, I'd be all at sea.

What I want is something that once setup, I can power on the cab and it will boot into the game menu, no messing about with the os or icons.

What would you recommend for doing just that?

ZXSteve2022-03-29 12:32:31

 

[JonnyG]

I've used various frontends since converting my first cab, Mamewah, Mala, Maximus Arcade, possibly a few others for a short time to evaluate them.

Maximus is the one that I've stuck with for the longest as it's customisable, there's plenty of themes than can be adapted to match the graphics on your cab if you can't be faffed to make your own from scratch. It's also the one that I've had the most success with hiding Windows completely. Using an Enterprise edition of Windows 10 and a prog called Instant Sheller, except for the BIOS screen on power on there's nothing but a black screen until Maximus Arcade has loaded.

For me it's a nice balance between overly flashy and complicated (Hyperspin) and something that looks like the frontend from a Pandora.

I do hear good things about Attract Mode however.

JonnyG2022-03-29 14:33:21

 

[ZXSteve]

Thank you!

 

[ZedEx48K]

Last I heard the owner of Maximus Arcade, was failing to send out a lot of keys having mostly disappeared, so be warned on that front! People were having to use alt ways to get their money back. Also, the last I used it, it was starting to get too out of date.

If you don't mind paying I would say go with Launch(big)box as the system it has for setting up emus and sourcing all the artwork etc is pretty much second to none, and lots of themes to be found too.

There's also the Attractmode iso build made by some on here.

 

[agent4125]

I use attractmode, does everything I need to and is pretty simple yet flexible.

I use it as part of a groovyarcade install and I wouldn't currently choose anything else for a cab running emulation with a CRT.

 

[Retroman839]

It just depends what you want to play

Like I think you need to separate your high def games ( Tekken 7 / SF 5 etc) . from your low def games ( tri sync 15,24,31khz. ).

Then you really need Tate mode for Tate games and horizontal mode for horizontal games .

Tate mode & hori.. that’s why. Taito egret has a monitor that spins 90* degrees. To do both.

Vewilix. Has the monitor orientation. With high def games still..

So you might want to keep that in mind if your scratch building.

Are you using an led/ lcd ?
Or crt?

 

[ZXSteve]

Will be using a 24in lcd.

Have already tried (and binned)

Batocera, Launchbox, Coinops 2 next, Attract mode.

running out of options now.