Tips And Tricks (by Marshall Brooks)
------------------------------------


This document is created to provide tips and tricks for an extended usage, beyond the
standard uses. Basic knowledge of frontend's functions is recommended before trying these
procedures.


A Quick Way to Restore Emu Loader Settings After Installing a New Version
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are two types of updates to Emu Loader. Simple updates do not require a fresh
installation. Major updates do require a fresh install as there are new folders,
sub-folders or items in "EmuLoader.ini" file that conflict with settings from previous
versions. See below:

Note: Emu Loader itself does not make any changes to the Windows registry, so you don't
need to be concerned about this.

Here are the steps for installing a simple update. This assumes that Emu Loader is
installed on folder "c:\EL". Changes are required if using a different folder.

1. Copy your existing Emu Loader folder to a backup directory. This can be done quickly
within Windows Explorer, by doing a "copy and paste" operation. (This step is
recommended, but not required)

2. Double-click the downloaded .exe package from Emu Loader's homepage, and select the
"c:\EL" folder to extract the files to. Emu Loader will overwrite the existing files,
but you should not lose any of your custom settings

3. If desirable, copy file "catver.ini" from the backup directory to "C:\EL\ini_files\"

4. Double-click the MAME binary so it can be executed once. This prevents the "Cannot open
file EmuVersion1.tmp" error in Emu Loader later on, or enable "Run MAME Based
Emulators After Startup" option in preferences screen, "General" / "Startup" tab

5. Test the newly installed Emu Loader version. Once you are satisfied that your settings
were kept and Emu Loader is working properly you can delete the backup copy you created
on step 1


Here are the steps for restoring a clean install. This assumes that Emu Loader is
installed on folder "c:\EL". Changes are required if using a different folder.

1. Rename the folder of your current Emu Loader install. This can be done quickly within
Windows Explorer

2. Double-click the downloaded .exe package from Emu Loader's homepage, and select the
"c:\EL" folder to extract the files to (remember to rename the folder of the current
Emu Loader installation first)

3. If you use MAME in the same folder as Emu Loader, copy all files from the emulator to
the "c:\EL" folder (not required)

4. Double-click the MAME binary so it can be executed once. This prevents the "Cannot open
file EmuVersion1.tmp" error in Emu Loader later on, or enable "Run MAME Based
Emulators After Startup" option in preferences screen, "General" / "Startup" tab

5. Start Emu Loader, and on the "Emulator Setup" screen, select a MAME binary on the
default emulator you want to use (First Emulator)

6. After closing the "Emulator Setup" screen, wait a few minutes while the games list is
being created

7. Close Emu Loader after the games list creation process is complete

8. To avoid starting all over again, make a backup copy of the "EmuLoader.ini" file

9. Open file "EmuLoader.ini" from the new installation and the "EmuLoader.ini" file from
the original installation (which was renamed on step 1)

10. Compare entry by entry between the old .ini file and the new .ini file, updating some
entries on the new .ini file (new installation), by doing a "copy and paste"
The lines are pretty self explanatory, so you will not have difficulties to know what
they represent. And some of the entries, like "LastGameSelected", do not need to be
updated

11. If desirable, copy "catver.ini" file from the backup directory to "c:\EL\ini_files\"

12. Copy any other relevant files ("favorites.ini", "GamePlayTime.ini",
"UserProfiles.ini", etc) from the backup folder to "C:\EL\ini_files\" folder

13. Go to the "resources" folder of the backup installation. Ignore the standard games
files (see "el-listformat.htm"), but copy the following file (and any other
non-repeated files): "parental_lock.el" to "c:\EL\resources\" folder (not required)

14. Also, copy any files in sub-folders of "resources" folder from the backup installation
to "c:\EL\resources\" folder (not required)

15. Start and test the new Emu Loader with changes

16. When satisfied with the new installation, delete the backup installation folder


Creating And Modifying Icons Used in Emu Loader
-----------------------------------------------

Many users have requested how to build their own real icons, and with Emu Loader v3.3
and later, change the icons used in the frontend. There are a bunch of programs you can
use to edit or create icons. See below:

Icon Utilities:

- IconShop (freeware): This is a handy utility for viewing and extracting files from .dll
files, .icl. files and .exe files
http://users.pandora.be/liontech/

- Microangelo (commercial): This is a powerful icon editor. You can even create icons
with shadows (Windows XP style). Also, you can extract files from .dll files, .icl
files and .exe files, by using the "Resource Explorer" utility. This software can also
import and export from/to .ico and .gif
http://www.microangelo.us/

Icon Sources:

- MAMu_ Icons: Icons for all MAME games
http://www.mameworld.net/icons

- MAME32qa: Icons for all MAME games. Does not always works with Emu Loader (downloads
section)
http://www.classicgaming.com/mame32qa/

- Happy Icons (freeware): It contains a large collection of icons, including many Star
Wars ones. Alternate Site
http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/ethernet/73/happy.html

- Icon Mania (freeware): Lots of icons, including Captain America, Batman and Star Trek
http://www.afterzed.com/freeware/imageviewfreeware3.html

Image Editing:

- Gimp (freeware): You will also want the GIF conversion files from this site and the
user's manual. A brief tutorial is also available
http://www.gimp.org/~tml/gimp/win32/

- Adobe Photoshop (commercial): This is a powerful image editor with lots of features
and effects that can be used
http://www.adobe.com/

Icon Conversion:

- Formati 11 (freeware): I picked this program because it is freeware and can convert
icons to .gif format with transparency and vice-versa. The program only allows saving
32x32 pixels and 16 or 256 colors maximum, but this is enough for Emu Loader
http://jansfreeware.com/

- Infraview (freeware): Is a more fully featured graphics program and will save to .ico
format, but it does not handle transparency. However, Infraview is not locked at 32x32
pixels and is the preferred program if you are not using transparency in your images
http://www.irfanview.com/


Showing Arcade Controller Layouts in Emu Loader
-----------------------------------------------

Want to show what keys to use on your arcade controller for each MAME game, or just
what keys each game use ? Visit this page:
http://www.mameworld.net/emuadvice/controls/controls.html