[arcade] IV/Play 2.3.2 1/11/2025

IV/Play 2.3.2 1/11/2025

• Legacy ROM Error Messaging
• BigBench Benchmark Script
• Dynamic Color Themes
• Expanded Key Customization
• Favorites.ini Audit

IV/Play 2.2.3 31/10/2025

Frontend IVPlay GUI 2.2.3

REINTRODUCED LEGACY ERROR DETECTION

• Reintroduced the legacy IV/Play (1.8.5) feature that detects and reports MAME errors when attempting to run a machine without the required ROMs. This is displayed via one of the overlays and allows a copy and paste out of.

BIGBENCH BENCHMARK SCRIPT

• Added John IV’s BigBench benchmark script. Launchable via F9 (and dedicated F1 button), it runs 36 games in succession, measuring performance over 90 (emulated) second intervals. Monitoring overhead is negligible, and results are statistically equivalent to those obtained from a direct command line run. Results are displayed in an overlay and also saved as a text file on the user’s desktop. Both the game list and the -bench (time) value are configurable in the *.cfg file. See the benchmark page at the IV/Play site for historical data: https://john-iv.github.io/iv-play/bench.html. Note that benchmark results for each new MAME release are typically posted monthly on the MAMEWorld News forum.

DYNAMIC COLOR THEMES
Added dynamic theme options in addition to the static presets accessible in the F1 config. Dynamic themes calculate text and UI colors based on the dominant background image color and its brightness. This allows the interface to adapt automatically to different backgrounds while maintaining legibility and acts on the fonts, scrollbar thumb, and art border. Insert and Delete cycle through the dynamic themes while in the game list.

• Brightness Ladder Adjusts text lightness relative to the background. On darker backgrounds, text colors are brightened in stepped increments to ensure readability. On lighter backgrounds, text colors are darkened to maintain contrast.
• Saturation Gradient Maintains a fixed lightness level but varies saturation. Favorites are rendered with higher saturation, clones with reduced saturation, and non working entries in grayscale. This produces a consistent brightness level while distinguishing categories by color intensity.
• Analogous Palette Selects colors close to the background’s hue, shifted slightly on the color wheel. A minimum lightness threshold is enforced to prevent text from becoming too dark. This produces a cohesive palette aligned with the background color.
• Dual Contrast Applies both saturation and brightness adjustments to create stronger separation between categories. Favorites and parents are shifted lighter and more saturated, while clones are darker and less saturated. Non working entries are rendered in grayscale with a minimum brightness floor to ensure visibility.
• Miami Pastels Selects a vibrant, high-saturation color scheme using complementary pastel hues, typically teal and pink. Colors are assigned based on the background's general warmth (warm background triggers cool pastel text, and vice versa). A fixed lightness level is targeted to maintain the signature pastel aesthetic, with slight adjustments made for very bright backgrounds. This theme overrides the hue of the background completely to apply a distinct, stylized color set.

EXPANDED KEY CUSTOMIZATION

• Users can now modify several keyboard shortcuts to better suit their preferences. These customizations are made directly within the IV-Play.cfg configuration file. Look for the Key Bindings section near the top of the file; it includes comments explaining the syntax and providing examples of valid key combinations. Formalized the Euro keyboard version of the ‘Tilde Peek’ key, which is Oem8 and made it a standard alias.

FAVORITES.INI AUDIT

• Toggled on by default in the *.cfg, this feature will audit the favorites.ini file on initial launch (after a 5 second UI cool-down) looking at each line. If it finds something it doesn’t recognize it will prepend an asterisk to the entry; to surface it for manual editing and removal. This feature helps keep track of occasional renames of machines that occur in baseline MAME .exe, and also clean up accidental misspelled manual entries to the favorites.ini.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES

• The scrollbar thumb color can now be customized in the F1 configuration screen. The active scrollbar thumb color may also be set manually in the *.cfg file. If left at the default, IV/Play will automatically adjust the thumb color based on background brightness, selecting either a dark or light variant for optimal visibility. The scrollbar thumb also takes the dynamic themes colors if not user customized.
• The border opacity has been surfaced into a control on the F1 config dialogue.
• Added a toggle for Random Dynamic Theme in F1. If checked, this will randomly cycle through the dynamic themes on launch, providing an attractive new look each session; especially when paired with randomizing the background.
• MAME and IV/Play versions now appear in the F1 config form as well as a link to the home page.
• Benchmark button added to the F1 config.
• The default short-cut keys will now display in the F1 dialogue for easy reference.
• Added the ability to tweak which themes are available to the theme cycle and which are included in the randomization carousel in the *.cfg file.
• Added a button in F1 to set the background images folder.

IV/Play 2.2.2 16/10/2025

IVPlay GUI 2.2.2

• VERTICAL SCROLLBAR FOR GAME LIST
  • A custom vertical scrollbar control has been added to the right of the art area.
• FILTER IMPROVEMENTS AND ADDITIONS
  • The Ctrl-F/E Filter has had its presentation overhauled. Some of the main powerful features have been surfaced in the drop-down example list (click the blank line or hit down arrow / alt-down arrow). Elaborate combinations can be made for viewing hit results. This allows for searches using descriptive terms such as 80s games, working only, and no clones. For more detailed queries, the full SQL-like advanced syntax remains available, providing precise control with field-specific searches (year:1994), negation (mfg:!Capcom), and complex Boolean logic.
• ADDITIONAL FEATURES
  • IV/Play’s version information is now surfaced on the title bar after its name before the linked MAME .exe.
  • The DAT Peek feature’s key is now configurable; especially handy for non-US keyboard layouts. The default will try to find the key in the upper left above the TAB key and should handle most European keyboards. This key can be set in the IV-Play.cfg file. The various key codes may be found on Microsoft’s site by searching for System.Windows.Forms.Keys enumeration in their .NET Framework docs.
  • Show Favorites in Filter View’ is now a toggle in F1. If this is on and a filter search is initiated it will bring any marked favorites into the result list, duplicating the entry from the favorites list in the filter, placed at the top of the results.
  • The F1 config check boxes have been re-ordered and the verb has standardized on ‘Show’ vs. a mix of show and hide. Attendant logic has been updated for the new verbiage.
  • The Grid View + No Art combo has been added to the Tab / Alt-P cycle as the fourth option.
  • The diagnostic F10 Build Verification Test (BVT) has been extended with a new overlay and progress screen with grid view interactions.

IV/Play 2.2.1 13/10/2025

• Move scrollbar to the Right Side.
  
• Misc. bug fixes 10/13.

IV/Play 2.2.0 12/10/2025

GUI 2.0.0

IV/PLAY 2.2.0 FEATURES

VERTICAL SCROLLBAR FOR GAME LIST

• While designed with simplicity, keyboard, and minimalism in mind, there can often be a use for a vertical scrollbar. This is now available in a discrete modern presentation to the right of the game list. Toggle in the F1 config, it is on by default.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES

• IV/Play’s version information is now surfaced on the title bar after its name before the linked MAME .exe.
• The DAT Peek feature’s key is now configurable; especially handy for non-US keyboard layouts. The default will try to find the key in the upper left above the TAB key and should handle most European keyboards. This key can be set in the IV-Play.cfg file. The various key codes may be found on Microsoft’s site by searching for System.Windows.Forms.Keys enumeration in their .NET Framework docs.

IV/Play 2.1.0 12/10/2025

Iv/Play od wielu lat towarzyszy MAME. Prostota i funkcjonalność w jednym:)

This release is an architectural overhaul designed to improve performance and add new functionality. Most of the classic features remain, now built on a modern foundation.

A Ground-Up Rebuild for Performance & Stability

The application was re-engineered to eliminate bottlenecks and improve the user experience.

• Full GPU-Accelerated UI: The entire interface is now rendered with DirectX to address the "scrolling judder" found in older GDI-based frontends. The result is a much smoother browsing experience, even with large game lists.
• Optimized Caching System: Icons are now combined into a single "atlas" for faster loading. `history.xml` and `mameinfo.dat` are parsed once and cached, and the game list itself is saved to a binary file. This results in a "warm start" time of under half a second on modern systems.
• Modern Backend: The app has been upgraded to .NET 9 with a stable SQLite database, resolving legacy stability issues.

New UI Features & Quality of Life

The interface has been enhanced with new views and smarter features.

• Grid View & Large Icons: In addition to the classic list, you can now display your collection in a modern Grid View.
• Full Software List Support: Click on any console, computer, or device in the list (e.g., Atari 2600) to browse and launch its software library just like the main arcade list.
• High-DPI & 4K Monitor Support: IV/Play now scales correctly on high-resolution displays without compatibility hacks. Fonts and artwork are scaled for a sharp presentation.
• And more...
• Custom Game Lists: Create and switch between your own game lists via a simple .ini file.
• Icon Sizing Presets: Cycle through different icon sizes with `Alt+I` to better fit your view.
• Smart Backgrounds: IV/Play can automatically detect bright backgrounds and switch the font to black for readability.

Power User Tools & Diagnostics

For tinkerers and power users, a new set of overlays and shortcuts has been added.

• DAT Peek Overlay (`~` key): Instantly view `history.xml` or `mameinfo.dat` content for the selected game in an overlay without leaving the game list.
• Diagnostic Overlays: Toggle real-time overlays to see the **log file (`F2`)**, the **config file (`F3`)**, or a **performance dashboard (`F7`)** with FPS, memory usage, and more.
• Safe Factory Reset (`F8`): A simple way to reset all caches and settings without losing your `favorites.ini` or custom lists.
• Direct Machine Launch (`Shift+Enter`): Launch a console or computer directly to its BIOS screen without entering the software list—like turning on the machine with no cartridge inserted.