Marquee monitor in Windows

 

Marquee monitor

The one I have is a Kortek, KTL173S-01. It’s 17″ X 3″. It’s custom made for the IGT S-AVP slot machine.

New replacement ones go for $1,100 right now. I paid $128, and there was a second one for sale at the time for <$150 as I recall (I should have bought both!). But these slot machines get broken down and sold for repair parts periodically, so keeping an eye out for them on eBay may work.

This one has DVI and VGA inputs. To get a video card to use the oddball shape, you may need to go into advanced driver settings.

The script

I ended up doing this and it works a treat.

A launchmala.ahk that looks like this:

Code: [Select]
#NoEnv  ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
; #Warn  ; Enable warnings to assist with detecting common errors.
SendMode Input  ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%  ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.

Run SetWallpaper.vbs
RunWait D:\Frontends\MaLa\MaLa174\mala.exe
Run SetWallpaper.vbs D:\Snaps\Emumarquees\desktop.jpg
ExitApp


Change desktop.jpg to be what you want for your cab’s desktop when not in Mala.

A SetWallpaper.vbs that looks like this:

Code: [Select]
set ws = wscript.createobject("WScript.shell")

If WScript.Arguments.Count = 0 then
  strArg = "D:\Snaps\Emumarquees\marquee-main.png"
Else
  strArg = WScript.Arguments.Item(0)
End If
strCommand = "D:\Utilities\SetWallpaper\SetWallpaper.exe " & strArg
ws.run(strCommand), 0, true


To create a VBS, just make a text file then rename it with a .vbs extension.

Change the line with “marquee-main.png” to be the marquee you want for your cab as a whole; this is your “default.”

And finally, SetWallpaper.exe, which many folks have written but I used the one from here: http://sg20.com/techblog/2011/06/23/wallpaper-changer-command-line-utility/

In Mala, each emulator gets this as a precommand:

Code: [Select]
wscript D:\Utilities\SetWallpaper\SetWallpaper.vbs D:\snaps\Emumarquees\marquee-vectrex.png


(Change the path to be the marquee you want, of course).

And this as a post command:

Code: [Select]
wscript D:\Utilities\SetWallpaper\SetWallpaper.vbs


Which uses the default from the VBS.

You need to wrap the .exe in the .vbs because otherwise you get an unsightly DOS window flashing by. I also stuck some defaults in the VBS, as you can see.

Finally, to cover up the unsightly “precommand #1” window popup Mala does, I suggest that you turn on the layout option to have a full screen splash.

If you have all of these set up, the effect should be:

You start at your desktop, with a nice fullscreen wallpaper. Your marquee also has this desktop.

You launch Mala from the launchmala shortcut. The marquee changes to the cab marquee.

You launch an emu, say ParaJVE or Stella, or whatever. The marquee changes to one you have made for that emulator specifically, like these:


(I use this with the DICE emulator for old integrated circuit games)



You exit the emu and return to Mala. The cab marquee returns.

You quit Mala. The desktop comes back.



Used in tandem with Mame Hooker, this gives marquees on every emu, and Mame Hooker covers all the marquees for the individual MAME games.