arcadeVFE 1.2.2

The Virtual Arcade Front End for ATC

Summary

Virtual Reality arcades based on MAME like Arcade Time Capsule, do not need conventional front-ends since players walk the floor of the virtual arcade, choosing games just as in real life. So there's no need for game selection menus, pictures and videos of gameplay, or background ambiance sounds since that's already right in front of the player. However, there are still a few important game controller, rom management, and information features common in front-ends that could still be of benefit to VR arcade players--if they could be made to work. This is the gap that arcadeVFE seeks to fill.

To this end, arcadeVFE includes these features:

• Ability to automatically execute one or more commands upon startup of any game in the arcade. This can be used to call command line applications like Virtual Controller or other programmable game controller software to create game-specific custom configurations, reorient a ServoStik, etc. This makes possible the ability to do anything from tweaking the button layout of a gamepad or fightstick on a per-game basis to building an advanced composite control panel that adjusts to every game in the virtual arcade, just like the more advanced panels used in many conventional multicade arcade machines.
• A detailed game information overlay that can be viewed in VR using one's favorite desktop portal.
• Ability to browse high score leaderboards for supported games, as well as a MARQUEE Scorecard high score editor permitting entry of high scores for all games in the arcade, along with taking screenshots of those scores.
• File management tools allowing you to back-up and restore ATC rom files, controller configuration files and high score/nvram files, for recovery, resets, or experimentation.
• An arcade machine location directory and editor to more easily locate your favorite machines in the virtual arcade.
• A rom copy feature that can simplify installation of the correct roms into Arcade Time Capsule.
• A rom audit feature that can help determine whether your rom set is suitable for Arcade Time Capsule.
• Manual execution of command line actions whenever a particular keyboard key or game controller button is pressed.
• Mapping of controller buttons to keyboard keys in order to, for example, better facilitate access to the MAME tab configuration menus, or player height adjustment while in VR.
• Voice notification of game control layout changes.
• Automatically run RawAccel if you need it.

Resources

• GitHub: - documentation and source code.
• Discord: - provide comments and report issues.
• ATC "Monster" Control Panel Guide: - build the ultimate ATC control panel.

Tested Software

arcadeVFE has been tested successfully with the following software, and is likely able to work with many others:

• Arcade Time Capsule (ATC) - fantastic MAME-based VR arcade and main tested target of arcadeVFE
• Virtual Controller - arcadeVFE's recommended software to create virtual XInput controllers
• Ultimarc UltraMap - software to modify behavior of Ultimarc's UltraStik 360 joysticks
• Ultimarc JoyTray - software to control ServoStik sticks, including U360 with ServoStik upgrade
• RawAccel - software to adjust sensitivity of mouse/trackball controllers

Installation

To install arcadeVFE 1.2.2, follow these four steps:

1. Download the Windows installer from the Releases page.
2. Run the installer and follow the prompts.
3. At the end of the install, accept the option to launch arcadeVFE.
4. In the Initial Setup Dialog that follows, enter ATC's rom folder in the bottom field and your initials in the Player Initials field, then press Apply.
   

Before pressing Close to complete the installation, you may wish to press the Audit ROMs... button to perform a quick validation of your rom collection. You may also want to click on File Tools... and press backup on each of the three panels to back-up ATC's configuration, high score, and rom files.

If you are new to ATC and have not yet installed any roms, you may wish to refer to the next section, Copy ROMs to ATC for a streamlined method of doing this.

Note

• If you are already running version 1.2.0 or 1.2.1, just install version 1.2.2 to the same folder and you will be automatically upgraded.
• If you are running version 1.1 or earlier, it is strongly recommended to install 1.2.2 into a new folder due to the use of a new installer, new defaults, and new plug-in architecture.
• arcadeVFE has only been tested with ATC 3.6; however, if you wish to try it with other arcade software, you may chose the Other option in the Initial Setup Dialog under Choose your arcade software, though some features are disabled in this mode. There are also no guarantees on how well it will work, but feel free to report your findings.

Quick Tour

Once you close the Initial Setup dialog, you will be taken directly to the Settings dialog. To confirm proper installation, take a quick tour by performing these actions:

1. Select a game from the Choose ROM list on the top right. You should see its location in the arcade directly beneath. If you ever wish to edit these locations, check the Edit checkbox to enable the controls.
2. With a game selected, press the Preview GameInfo... button at the bottom of the dialog. This will display game information that you can navigate through using the left and right arrow buttons. To Exit use the Escape key.

After returning to the Settings screen, you may configure your controllers by following the instructions in the General Configuration section below.

Note that in the future, whenever you start arcadeVFE, you will see nothing immediately on the screen (other than a splash screen), but rather it will create an icon in the Windows Tray indicating that normal background mode is active. Whenever you need to return to the Settings dialog, right-click on this icon and choose Settings.... You can also click on the Initial Setup button in the Settings screen to re-invoke the Initial Setup dialog to perform audits, rom copy operations or *.cfg file operations.

Important

Remember to close the Settings screen before you enter your virtual arcade since arcadeVFE pauses normal operation while the Settings screen is open. If at any time you wish to exit arcadeVFE completely, right-click on its icon in the Windows Tray and select Exit.

Copy ROMs to ATC

Use arcadeVFE to quickly install the correct roms into Arcade Time Capsule, and verify them.

Preparation:

1. Ensure ATC's rom folder is empty: \Arcade Time Capsule\Retro\VRArcade\Content\Roms.
2. Obtain and populate two source folders with non-merged rom sets. One with roms for mame2010 (0.139) and one with roms for mame2014 (0.159). Don't forget to include the chd subfolders \kinst in your 2014 roms folder and \kinst2 in your 2010 folder.

Copy the ROMS:

1. Run arcadeVFE and go to the Initial Setup dialog using the button at the bottom of the Settings screen.
   

2. Ensure the ROM folder to monitor field contains a path to the (empty) ATC roms folder on your PC.

Tip

If you press the Audit ROMs... button now, while the folder is still empty, you can get a list of all roms required by ATC and their MAME versions.

3. Press the Copy Roms... button.
   

4. Choose 2010 as the ROM version, and press the Browse... button. Browse to the folder containing your 2010 roms, select it, and perform the copy operation when prompted.
5. Choose 2014 as the ROM version, and press the Browse... button. Browse to the folder containing your 2014 roms, select it, and perform the copy operation when prompted.
6. Finally, close the Copy Roms dialog and press the Audit Roms button on the Initial Setup dialog to confirm that your rom set is good.

Log

See the log.txt file in the \Log subfolder if needed for troubleshooting. This log is overwritten at the start of every run. Two beeps will be sounded whenever an error is written to the file. When reporting any issues, be sure to include the most recent log with your description of the problem. You may report errors on the Discord.

GameInfo

arcadeVFE supports display of detailed Game Information that may be viewed by simply accessing the desktop viewport on your headset. This information comes from the included files, history.xml and gameinfo.dat, and can also include pictures of your choice--for example, flyers, pcbs, or pictures of real cab control panels (which can be very handy as a reference in the Candy Cab rooms of ATC). Pages on this screen may be changed by clicking on the left or right side of the screen using your motion controller, using by using mapped controller buttons, or by using the left/right arrow keys on your keyboard.

In addition to general game information and pictures (which you may customize), the GameInfo screen also shows up to three different kinds of high scores for the game.

1. The leaderboard for the machine if it is supported by the MAME high score plug-in and the Hi2txt reader (if you entered your initials into the Initial Setup dialog, then scores with your intitials will also be highlighted).
2. The game's official record high score (if such data is available). These scores come from data on the Classic Arcade Gaming site and from the game's gameinfo.dat entry.
3. Any MARQUEE Scorecard high score that was entered for the game. See next section.

MARQUEE Scorecard Entry

A common practice in many arcades is to tape a small placard on a game's marquee with the name and score of the local record-holder on that machine. You can simulate this in arcadeVFE by using the MARQUEE Scorecard high score entry screen. By entering your initials and score into this screen, it will be permanently saved until a new record high score is entered. An example of this is shown in the screenshot above in the GameInfo section. A MARQUEE Scorecard high score may be entered for any game in the arcade.

There are two ways to access the MARQUEE Scorecard feature. The first method is by selecting a game in the Settings dialog and then pressing the Enter High Score button at the bottom of the screen, and the second method is from within the arcade. In general, it is preferrable to do this from within the arcade since when you do it this way, arcadeVFE will also take a watermarked screenshot of the high score to make data entry easier and to effectively certify your high score.

Entering a High Score from the Settings dialog

When pressing the Enter High Score button from within the Settings dialog, you will be presented with the screen below. To navigate, use either the arrow keys on your keyboard, or a joystick, or click in the areas surrounding the on-screen monitor with your mouse. Once you have entered your initials and a high score, keep moving the cursor to the right until it lands on the Register button. Either click on this button, or press down to complete the registration. If you register a score of zero, it will erase the MARQUEE High Score for that game. You may cancel high score entry at any time by pressing Esc or by not entering any score and then selecting the Cancel button. After exiting, you can cerify that the score was recorded by pressing the Preview GameInfo button and observing that the MARQUEE HIGH SCORE table is present and updated.

Entering a High Score from within the arcade

After achieving a high score on any machine in the arcade, wait until the leaderboard (or at least the score in games without leaderboards) is displayed on the arcade machine's screen, then move your head in to look at it fairly closely and press the Snap/Reset button to take a snapshot of it (you should hear a camera shutter sound). The Snap/Reset button is either the spacebar, or any controller button to which you have assigned the scorecard Snap/Reset navigation action. If you need to take another picture, press the Snap/Reset button a second time to reset (you'll hear a "reset" sound), then once you have a new opportunity to view the leaderboard, press the button again to take a replacement snapshot. You can do this as many times as you need to.

Once you have taken the snapshot, use your headset's desktop portal to view the MARQUEE Scorecard entry screen. This screen will look similar to the one available from the Settings dialog, but will have images on either side of it. The image on the right is the snapshot you just took showing your high score, and the image on the left will be the previous high score's snapshot (if there was one). Using the image on the right as a reference, manually enter your initials and score into the fields on the screen. You may use the keyboard, any joystick, or your motion controller (when using a motion controller, click on the areas just outside the "monitor" to move the cursor right, left, up, and down). Once you activate the Register button by either clicking on it or pressing down on any controller, the GameInfo screen will be automatically reloaded so that you can view your entered score. Also, if you go back a page (by either clicking on the left side of the screen with your motion controller or using a mapped back key), you will be able to see the screenshot that you just took, along with a "watermark" overlay showing your initials, the score, and a date/time stamp indicating when the score was recorded.

Tip

If you don't like the picture or made a mistake, even after you're done and want to do it over, simply close the desktop viewer, press the Snap/Reset button to reset, wait until the leaderboard reappears, then press the Snap/Reset button again to take another picture and re-enter your score.

Controller Configuration (Settings dialog)

arcadeVFE offers two different modes of operation. The first is a ROM Monitor mode that can execute game-specific actions whenever a game using a MAME rom file is played. This mode can provide fully automated game controller configuration in MAME environments like Arcade Time Capsule.

The second mode provides the option to trigger actions manually when a keyboard key or game controller button is pressed. Both ROM Monitor and keyboard/button actions can be added to the action list in any combination and are simultaneously active whenever the virtual arcade is running.

ROM Monitor:

To setup a new rom to be monitored, choose ROM Monitor from the Device List list in the Settings screen.

Next, choose a rom from the Choose ROM list and then use the Profile and Command fields to configure the specific commands that should execute when that game is loaded. Finally, press the Assign ROM button to add your defined command(s) to the Action List.

Note 1: If you choose one of the [Group...] options in the Choose ROM list, you can conveniently assign an action set to a whole group of similarly controlled games. If any of the games in that group need an alternate configuration on an exception basis, simply create another action for that specific rom, which will override the group setting. There is also a [Default] action which can be configured for cases where there is neither a rom-specific action nor group action to otherwise handle it. The following are some examples of Groups.

• [Group, 4-way] : assigns the defined action to any game whose native controller is a 4-way joystick.
• [Group, 8-way] : assigns the defined action to any game whose native controller is an 8-way joystick.
• [Group, rotary]: assigns the defined action to any game whose native controller is a rotary joystick.

Note 2: Be aware that arcadeVFE is "smart" enough to not execute the same action twice in a row. For example, if you switch between two games that use the same commands (such as two 4-way joystick games that use the same profiles), or exit a game and then restart the same one, profile loading will be suppressed since that configuration should still be in effect.

Buttons and Key Presses:

To setup a manual action that will run upon a particular button or key press, Choose Keyboard or one of the game controllers from the Device List in the Settings screen.

Next, configure a keypress or GameInfo navigation action, or use the Profile and Command fields below to configure one or more a command line actions that will execute when the button or key is pressed. Finally, press the Assign button to choose the actual button or key you want to assign to the action and add it to the Actions List.

When configuring Keypress actions, here are some particularly useful ones for use with ATC.

• Tab - enters a game's configuration menu.
• Enter - performs a selection inside the game's configuration menu.
• NumpadAdd - increases seated height in ATC.
• NumpadSub - decreases seated height in ATC.

Note: It is possible to assign multiple actions to the same button or key press, in which case the actions will be invoked sequentially upon each press. See the Sequence section below for more information about how this works.

Voice Notification

If you would like arcadeVFE to verbally announce an action when it is executed, you may add a phrase to the optional Voice notification phrase field. This is highly recommended as it both provides active feedback that the software is working, and can provide the player with reminders about the control configuration for that game. You can test the phrase to see what it will sound like by pressing the Voice Test button. These phrases can provide reminders about how a game is configured. Some example might be:

• "Use left 8 way rotary joystick"
• "Use right 4 way joystick"
• "Use trackball with buttons on left"

How to Configure Command-Line Actions

"Profiles", as defined in this document, are files containing specific game controller configurations created by game controller configuration software. Examples of such files might be U360.vcd for Virtual Controller, or 4-way.ugc for UltraMap. To make command creation easier, you may specify the file name of a profile separately in the Profile field, and then choose a command template in the Command field, into which the profile will be inserted when the Assign button is pressed. This template will typically contain one of the following field tags:

• [profile_name] - will be replaced by the filename or contents of the Profile field
• [profile_full_name] - will be replaced by the full path/file or contents of the Profile field

For example, if the profile is C:\Ultrastik\Profiles\4-way.ugc and the command line template is C:\Program Files (x86)\UltraMap\UltraMap.exe "[profile_full_name]", then upon pressing the Assign button, the command line that will be assigned to the action will be "C:\Program Files(x86)\UltraMap\UltraMap.exe" "C:\UltraStik\Profiles\4-way.ugc". If only the profile's file name is needed, then the command line template should be changed to C:\UltraMap\UltraMap.exe [profile_name]. If the command line template has no field tags, then the command line will be used verbatim with no insertions.

Additional Notes:

• To test a command line while still in the Settings screen, press the Test button next to the Command field. Hovering over the Test button with the Show Tooltips option turned on, will show the actual command line that will be executed.

• If your profile filename needs quotes around it, then simply add quotes around the field tag in the template, such as "[profile_name]" or "[profile_full_name]".

• If you wish to trigger two or up to three commands in a single action, click on the checkbox next to Profile 2 and/or Profile 3 and you can configure a second and/or third command line using a completely different profile and command line template.

• If you want to add a new template to arcadeVFE that will persist across sessions, you can edit any of the built-in ones and then use the Add button. You may also delete any template you no longer want to see in the list. Note that whenever you do this, all three Command lists will be synchronized to contain the same list of templates.

• As an FYI, these templates are saved in a file called templates.json in the root VFE folder. You may delete this file to restore the original defaults.

Important

Be aware that VFE pauses active operation while the Settings screen is open, so be sure to close it when done with configuration.

Understanding the Action List Table

Each time you use the Assign button to create a new action, that action will be added to the Action List table. If you get a warning saying "Duplicate", arcadeVFE will highlight the duplicate action in the list at which point you may delete it and try again or keep it.

When you complete the table, press the Save list button to save it. It will be saved in the \User folder as a *.json file having the name specified in the Activity list name field above the table. By default this name is Arcade Controller (saved as Arcade Controller.json). If you switch between multiple controllers for use with your emulator, you could save different action lists under different names. These can then be loaded in the future by creating a shortcut that provides the name as a command line parameter when launching VFE. For example,

• >vfe.exe "Arcade Controller" or
• >vfe.exe "Gamepad"
  

The Action list table contains the following columns:

Device

The device or method that was chosen to trigger the action.

Action

• For the ROM Monitor Device List option, this column shows the rom you chose to monitor.
• For the Keyboard Device List option, it shows the keyboard key or key combo you assigned.
• For a game controller, it shows the button number or other control input you assigned.

Sequence

For Keyboard and game controller actions, it is possible to assign multiple actions to the same key or button. The effect of this is that when you press that key or button the first time, the action with a sequence number of 1 will be triggered. When you press that same key or button a second time, the action with a sequence number of 2 will be triggered, and so forth (with each action being verbally announced if you provided notification phrases with each). This provides a means to manually switch between multiple profiles using a single key or button.

Sequence numbers are assigned to each action automatically when you add the action. To change the auto-assigned sequence of an action, just use the Move Up and Move Down buttons and you will see the sequence number for that action adjust according to its position in the list. Note that for ROM Monitor actions, the sequence number will always be 1 (since these are fully automated actions that have no need for sequencing).

Voice Phrase

This is the voice notification phrase you assigned to the action.

Command

This is the command line template with field tags replaced (i.e. the actual command line that will be executed).

Command 2 and Command 3

These are the second and third optional command line templates with field tags replaced (i.e. the actual command lines that will be executed).

Managing the Action List table

Below the Action List table are several additional buttons with the following functions:

Move Up / Move Down

These buttons are intended for use in changing the sequence order of actions assigned to a single button or key press as described above under Sequence.

Clear all

This clears the entire table (if you press this by mistake, just close the screen without saving and re-open it).

Copy action

Copies fields from the selected row back into the editor fields to ease the creation of similar entries.

Delete action

Removes the selected row from the table.

Save actions

Saves all actions in the table to the User\<action list name>.json file.

User Preferences

These options allow the user to make adjustments to certain features.

Monitor only when the arcade is running

This is a recommended setting for most use cases (and required for the Run RawAccel and Use GameInfo Overlay options). Turning this off is mainly intended for testing and can cause side-effects in other applications. Note that you will need to exit and restart arcadeVFE if you change this setting.

Always voice notify

If you have configured voice notification phrases for your actions, then this switch can control when these are heard. This checkbox has three states. When checked (the default), the voice will be heard every time a game referenced in the action table is run. When unchecked, voice notification is effectively turned off. Finally, if the checkbox is configured with the minus sign (-), then voice notification will only occur if an action was actually executed (see the Note 2 in the ROM Monitor section above).

Run RawAccel

RawAccel is a utility that can be found on GitHub at https://github.com/RawAccelOfficial/rawaccel. This software may be needed to tune some trackballs to have additional sensitivity. For example, I need it to make my Ultimarc U-Trak trackball work correctly in Arcade Time Capsule. To integrate RawAccel with arcadeVFE, simply install it anywhere you like on your PC, then find the plugins.ini file located in the \Config subfolder of arcadeVFE, load it in an text editor like Notepad, and then add the path to your RawAccel folder to the Path= line in the [RawAccel] section. For example:

[RawAccel]
Path=E:\Utilities\RawAccel

Once you've done this, close and restart arcadeVFE if it was running, then check the Run RawAccel checkbox option at the bottom of the Settings dialog (note that Monitor only when the arcade is running must also be turned on). Once you have done this, VFE will automatically load RawAccel when the arcade is running, and will close RawAccel when the arcade is closed. It is up to the user to configure RawAccel properly for their trackball before use.

Show Tooltips

In addition to this documentation file, the Settings screen implements tooltips on all controls to explain their operation. If you no longer need the tooltips, you can turn them off by unchecking the Show Tooltips checkbox.

Use GameInfo Overlay

Checking this option turns on the in-game GameInfo display. Uncheck this if you do not want to use the GameInfo feature, or prefer to see the game's normal 2D desktop viewer.

Font Size

Sets the font size used in the GameInfo screen. This can be used to optimize text size based on the resolution of your VR headset. If you revise the font size, you may preview it by pressing the Preview GameInfo... button.

Choose Monitor

This should remain set to 1 for ordinary use. It is recommended to only change this temporarily for preview purposes from the Settings screen since you may lose the ability to change pages via mouse/motion controller if not set to monitor 1.

File Tools

Within the Initial Setup dialog there is a button called File Tools... that will permit you to perform several file related backup, restore, and utility functions. Note that all backups are made to the .\Arcade\Arcade Time Capsule *\Backup folder.

ROM Files (*.zip)

Use the buttons in this group to backup, restore, copy, and audit all ATC rom files.

TAB Menu Controller Files (*.cfg)

Whenever you change controller settings using the MAME Tab menu within games in ATC, these changes will be stored in *.cfg files inside ATC's \Arcade Time Capsule\RetroVRArcade\Plugins\save\mame* folders. The risk in making such changes is that as soon as you do so, your change is saved immediately, overwriting previous settings, which can sometimes take some effort to undo if you make a mistake--or sometimes you just want to make experimental changes without concern about reverting. To assist with this, within the Initial Setup dialog there is a button called Config Tools... that will permit you perform the following actions:

1. Backup: This button backs-up all *.cfg files in ATC.
2. Restore: This button restores all *.cfg files from the backup you made, overwriting existing *.cfg files in ATC with the backed-up ones.
3. Delete: This button deletes all *.cfg files in ATC. This has the effect of returning all games to their default settings (since ATC will regenerate them).
4. Patch: This button patches all rotary games in ATC to provide the Positional Analog Inc and Dec settings with mappable values so that you can more easily configure joysticks like the GRS Ikari Warriors stick. It is recommended that you perform a backup before using this feature in case the changes aren't what you had in mind.
   

High Score Files (*.hi and *.nv)

ATC comes with a set of its own high scores. These are stored in *.hi files along with the NVRAM states stored in *.nv files. If you would like to make the arcade "your own" and reset all the machines to their original factory states so that you may conduct high score campaigns from "scratch", you can follow this procedure.

1. Backup: Press Backup to backup all *.hi and *.nv files in ATC.
2. Reset: Press Reset to delete all *.hi and *.nv files in ATC. This will reset all machines in ATC to their original factory states. Note that this will remove all previously attained high scores, and will also make some machines (such as the Williams machines and Raiden Fighters series machines) go through their initialization processes again.
3. Restore: Press this in the event that you would like to restore all *.hi and *.nv files previously backed-up.

vfe.ini Settings

Most of the settings stored in the .\Config\vfe.ini file are set in the user interface, so most users will never need to access or modify this file directly. However, there are a few settings that can only be changed in this file that some users may have an interest in.

[General] Section

1. BeepOnProfileChange= Set this to 1 to sound a beep whenever a command action happens. This can be useful as a debugging tool by asserting profile changes independent of the voice option.

[GameInfo] Section

1. ImageOrder=: To change the order that images are displayed in GameInfo, you may modify the comma separated string containing the image subfolder names found in .\GameInfo\Assets. Having extra or missing folders in this list is allowed.
2. HideCursor=: To hide the mouse cursor when displaying the GameInfo screen, you may change this value from 0 to 1.
3. SettingsExitKey=, SettingsRightKey=, and SettingsLeftKey=: These may be used to change the keys that are used for navigation in the GameInfo screen when it is accessed via the Preview GameInfo... button in the Settings dialog. Note that this does not change the keys/buttons that are used during gameplay as those are set as Actions in the Actions List.

[Scorecard] Section

1. UseWatermark= 1 or 0. If you would prefer your screenshots to not have a watermark, set this to 0.
2. WatermarkSize= This is the font size of the watermark.
3. WatermarkPercentFromTop= Default is 80 which places the watermark in the lower region of the image. Reducing this number will raise this location higher.
4. MaxMarqueeTableRows= By default this is 1. So only the highest score entered is displayed. Increasing this will enable previous high scores to be displayed as well.

Note that if you change any of these settings, you must fully exit and then restart arcadeVFE in order for them to become effective.

Limitations

Because this software is not code-integrated with the host emulator, but relies on external interop techniques, there are a few limitations that should be noted. These may rarely be noticed, but they are good to be aware of.

1. arcadeVFE can only tell when a new game is loaded, but not when it is exited. Therefore, it can only surmise that you have exited a game when it detects that you have started a new and different game. Consequently, if you exit a game and re-enter the SAME game, arcadeVFE will not know that you did this. This should not affect practical operation since whatever state was loaded when you originally started the game will still be in effect. However, arcadeVFE will not be able to provide feedback (such as a beep or voice notification) when restarting the game. Only upon starting a new game.

2. arcadeVFE pauses operation while the Settings screen is displayed. Therefore, if you open your arcade software while the Setting screen is open, arcadeVFE will not perform any monitoring. If this happens, close both your arcade software and arcadeVFE, then restart.

3. arcadeVFE does not actively monitor for new game controllers while running. So be sure that any game controller(s) you intend to use with it are plugged in before you start the software. If you turn-on/plug-in a controller while the software is running, the controller will not be recognized until you restart the software.