13 replies to this topic

[uptown47]

I'm trying to interface MFME to a 'real world' hopper and would like coins to be ejected real time when someone 'collects'.

 

I originally was reading the value of "TotalOut" in the .gam file but this only seems to get updated when the game is exited.

There's another "TotalOut" variable at the top of the screen when you play that seems to be updated 'real time'.

 

Does anyone know where in the software this value is held and whether it's accessible by reading a file?

 

It would spoil the effect I think to have to exit the game to collect your winnings to then go back into the game to continue to play. It would be much better to press 'collect' and immediately hear the chunk chunk of the money coming out :-)

Edited by uptown47, 30 May 2017 - 07:18 PM.

[Reg]

With way too many years of being on the scene with FME I can quite confidentially say that you'll not be able to get to those values - it's all internal.

 

There is no fix or way around this either.

 

Remember MFME is an emulation first and this is only a recent idea to put into cabinets like the Pinball Tables etc.  Anything more then a hobbist type build could lead to all kinds of problems from the Gambling Commission.  If you could do what you are suggesting, you are making a portable fruit machine which runs pretty much anything and the law is that tight with regards to these, you cannot have the emulation directly paying out.

 

I do not speak for Wizard, but I think this would be a legal minefield that is best avoided and I would be glad that you have the option if you can write the software to read the .gam file as you mention on exit.

 

Emulation comes first - everything else like this is secondary and the fact we can build keyboards / cabinets is a bonus - but it must always remain in the hobbyist realm to avoid legal issues and people creating machines for profit.

[uptown47]

With way too many years of being on the scene with FME I can quite confidentially say that you'll not be able to get to those values - it's all internal.

 

There is no fix or way around this either.

 

Remember MFME is an emulation first and this is only a recent idea to put into cabinets like the Pinball Tables etc.  Anything more then a hobbist type build could lead to all kinds of problems from the Gambling Commission.  If you could do what you are suggesting, you are making a portable fruit machine which runs pretty much anything and the law is that tight with regards to these, you cannot have the emulation directly paying out.

 

I do not speak for Wizard, but I think this would be a legal minefield that is best avoided and I would be glad that you have the option if you can write the software to read the .gam file as you mention on exit.

 

Emulation comes first - everything else like this is secondary and the fact we can build keyboards / cabinets is a bonus - but it must always remain in the hobbyist realm to avoid legal issues and people creating machines for profit.

 

Hi Reg,

 

I understand your points but my own tuppence worth would be that the values are already there. They are just not updated real time.

 

I don't think "legally" it makes any difference whether the variable updates "real time" or whether it is delayed and only updated when the machine exits.

 

The law is clear on gambling etc and requires licenses and everything else - this slight change would not render MFME as crossing any of the boundaries laid out.

 

All we are looking at here is a slight modification to the functionality of Wizards great creation (not even changing functionality - just changing the order of something that already happens). I certainly don't think there would be any ramifications from a legal standpoint at all.

 

Just my opinion though

[Reg]

Sure - so here is the thing.

 

It would be possible to make MFME look like a real machine, take the ADDER5 for example with the video tech.

 

With a small ATX PC, you could have this running if the hoppers paid out in real time and get some fools to put real money in and gamble for real.

 

If this found itself on any premises doing this based on the fact that it could pay and play ( and look like ) a video based fruit machine ( for sake or arguement ) there would be problems.

 

The risk that is absolutely jumping out here - is MFME would be the enabler to do this - so that in effect is the brains behind the machine and you then have an emulator being used for profit in a gambling point of view.

[uptown47]

Yes but you could also have any game such as a guess the number game or something on a machine and charge people to play etc. From a legal stand point the fault lies squarely with the person who has misused the software and defrauded the general public NOT with the MFME software itself.

They don't blunt the blades of knives so people don't get stabbed. They simply legislate to deter people misusing the knife.

I may be wrong but the above is how I would view this.

[thecodfather]

Evening each,

I think Reg has a point in that if someone can make a profit out of something whether ethically or not, they will. There are many people who are ready to take money off anyone and not give a Flyford Flaval about how they get it.

Uptown, you also have validity in the software is not the issue but people are.

I am also looking at building a cab and will be doing a work around, using autohotkey and joy2key I am hoping that when collect is pressed, a batch file will run sending £2 out of the hopper using Bernd's cash.exe program. I would prefer a hook into the live cash out values but I really can't see how it can be done.

[No1Stoney]

I've tried and tried to do what your asking. Tried allsorts of hooks etc and cannot get anything to read the values. I gave up trying a long time ago and I don't expect Wizard to add any feature to help with this, as like Reg has said, MFME is soley for emulation. What we are trying to do is work with the existing software and somehow use it in conjunction with other hardware/software to allow coin handelling.

 

I've looked into different possible ways of being able to read the COINOUTs in real time, or find a suitable way around it so that you can collect money without having to exit MFME, but I cannot think of another way with the way MFME currently works. So I think you need to work your build around the fact you will ONLY be able to pay out when you exit a machine. I really don't think anyone here will have an answer for you, but of course I'd love to be proved wrong. Everything is possible, but this would be incredibly difficult IMO

[vectra666]

 the coins out meter gets updated when you collect winnings as the meters out counts up, and the VTP is updated at the same time, of course most would after collecting a large bank would automatically exit the game but in the real world if you left a fruit machine after collecting say £100 bank the machine would continue to "count" the winnings on its meters, as you can here the "clicking" of the meters sometimes and of course the machine's left on, again if you left a mfme game to count the meters you'd have to stay on said game to let it finish.

as for making a fully payout machine, if used for the general public you'd have to get a machine license probably for the maximum machine payout in mfme's case upto £1000jp if not you'd be risking a very hefty fine and imprisonment.

 And if the gaming commission got wind of what you're doing it could threaten the whole fme community and bring down mfme as we know it.

but i suppose there's nothing stopping you doing this project with a token based payout though?    

[Wizard]

If you exit the game while the meters are still counting, they will resume when you next play the machine, so the meter count is not lost unless the machine has no battery.

Edited by Wizard, 01 June 2017 - 10:05 AM.

[uptown47]

 the coins out meter gets updated when you collect winnings as the meters out counts up, and the VTP is updated at the same time, of course most would after collecting a large bank would automatically exit the game but in the real world if you left a fruit machine after collecting say £100 bank the machine would continue to "count" the winnings on its meters, as you can here the "clicking" of the meters sometimes and of course the machine's left on, again if you left a mfme game to count the meters you'd have to stay on said game to let it finish.

as for making a fully payout machine, if used for the general public you'd have to get a machine license probably for the maximum machine payout in mfme's case upto £1000jp if not you'd be risking a very hefty fine and imprisonment.

 And if the gaming commission got wind of what you're doing it could threaten the whole fme community and bring down mfme as we know it.

but i suppose there's nothing stopping you doing this project with a token based payout though?    

 

Vectra (and anyone else reading this), please do not get the wrong impression that I'm building a machine to take money off people????!?!!?

 

I thought I made it really clear that this was just a 'hobby' machine but, if I didn't, then apologies.

 

I'm just making this machine to go in my summerhouse to compliment the arcade machine I built last year.

 

Nobody is breaking the law or bringing the FME community into disrepute or assassinating a president or causing World War 3.

 

All I was asking about the payout for was that there is nothing more satisfying than hitting the 'collect' button and hearing the chunk chunk chunk of your winnings coming out of the bottom of a machine.

 

I would like to recreate that with my machine. However, at present, the only variable (discovered by No1Stoney) that can be used to initiate a payout, only updates when the game is exited.

 

This means that you have to press 'collect' in silence. Then exit the game. Then the machine will (hopefully) dispense your coins.

 

I was hoping that Wizard would either know a way around this or be able to maybe incorporate something into the MFME 5.1 code in order to allow us hobbyists who are tinkering with our own machines to experience the magic of that chunk chunk chunk at the right time.

 

[uptown47]

I've tried and tried to do what your asking. Tried allsorts of hooks etc and cannot get anything to read the values. I gave up trying a long time ago and I don't expect Wizard to add any feature to help with this, as like Reg has said, MFME is soley for emulation. What we are trying to do is work with the existing software and somehow use it in conjunction with other hardware/software to allow coin handelling.

 

I've looked into different possible ways of being able to read the COINOUTs in real time, or find a suitable way around it so that you can collect money without having to exit MFME, but I cannot think of another way with the way MFME currently works. So I think you need to work your build around the fact you will ONLY be able to pay out when you exit a machine. I really don't think anyone here will have an answer for you, but of course I'd love to be proved wrong. Everything is possible, but this would be incredibly difficult IMO

 

Yep, I found a .dat file in the folder of the game and tried running that in a hex-editor to see if I could track down the values in the TotalOut but couldn't find it anywhere. 

We would definitely need Wizard onboard with this?

 

Wizard, how do you feel about this? Is this a nightmare to implement? Or do you think it shouldn't be implemented? Or is it something that could be a possibility down the line? What do you think?

[Wizard]

I have no plans to make any changes in this area due to all the reasons mentioned above. Please respect this and stop asking the same questions over and over.

[uptown47]

I have no plans to make any changes in this area due to all the reasons mentioned above. Please respect this and stop asking the same questions over and over.

No problem.

[aaamusements]

From the point of the law though, the OP is correct. It's not the creation or possession of a gaming machine that's illegal; that only happens when you make a gaming machine "available for use".

Not taking sides, just clarifying the basic legality of such a creation.