DJCJ Arcade v.1.2.1 - Next Level macOS MAME Frontend (WIP)

What sounds a bit like an over-entusiastic advertisement is fact: With its new public release 1.2.1, the DJCJ Arcade rises to a new level. During the beta phase, in which I could happily contribute, this frontend developed the following new big-ticket capabilities:

• full HBMAME support via a new Libraries concept
• support of RetroArch Arcade cores (MAME (current), FBNeo, HBMAME)
• besides automatic MAME EXTRA accumulation, you can now also manually choose them as well

I am unaware of any Arcade game frontend that would be capable of these new fuctions.
Release notes: version 1.2.0 and 1.2.1

Grab it and play aroundd with it, this software is a joy to use. In the following, I will try to visualize these huge achievements of this version.

Disclaimer: Work-In-Progress, as there is so much to discuss...

1. HBMAME Support

It is absolutely great to have full HBMAME support with my recent release for macOS, as discussed here in quite some detail. You can choose between the standalone installer from GitHub or the Homebrew install, which is also available for HBMAME now. The third option to run HBMAME via RetroArch is discussed below.

DJCJ Arcade takes an innovative approach to resolve the issue that MAME and HBMAME should be mostly separated. Switching between MAME and HBMAME lets DJCJ Arcade restart, and you get in the respective other environment. Switching is very handy with a toggle in the lower left corner of the app.

Configure your MAME and HBMAME systems as you will, share artwork and keep other things separate. Besides being separated, both systems behave identical when it comes to configuration options. Very well done.

2. RetroArch Support

RetroArch support in a MAME frontend is something very unique - and the solution presented here is sleek. For each game of the MAME/HBMAME machine list, you can opt to launch it in RetroArch. Configuration of RetroArch in the Settings is straightforward. DJCJ Arcade behaves properly and takes all settings of the chosen core on board.

Important things to memorize: Switch to the RetroArch tab, then head for the separate RetroArch Launch Code, where you can choose custom machines from the respective rom file.

I definitely will have to extend this section here, as possibilities are vast.

3. Custom Artwork Settings

Anybody that was using the QMC2 frontend will be reminded of this feature: Endless possibilities to tune DJCJ Arcade to your specific folder structure. Nothing seems weird enough, but all is manageable here.

So if your are a lot into tweaking, DJCJ's Assets will be your new best friend.

That's it for the time being - scratched the surface of this massive release. Grab your copy asap, test it, and buy Chris a coffee!