Roadmap

Where MaLa is today, what is coming very soon, and what could come after that.

► AVAILABLE NOWStable versions

MaLa 1.9 for Windows XP and older, and MaLa 1.74.

► COMING SOONMaLa 2.0

A strong, stable foundation for modern Windows 7, 10 and 11. No date has been set yet.

► BEYOND 2.0New features

Ideas and plans for what comes after the foundation. Nothing is promised.

MaLa 2.0 — the foundation

MaLa 2.0 is a rebuild on a modern compiler. The first release is mostly about stability, bug fixes and a solid base to build on, with a handful of useful extras such as a portable install, visual styles, hiding game lists and an easier way to control MaLa from a script. Your existing configs, layouts and plugins are designed to carry straight over. See the WIP page for the full list and beta testing.

Also planned for 2.0: the rebuilt companion tools (the Game List Editor and MaLa Tree open straight from MaLa’s Options), and a report of missing artwork and videos.

Beyond 2.0

With a stable foundation in place, here is what could come next. These are plans and ideas, not promises, and they are not in any particular order.

Potentially coming next

More than one screen. If you have more than one monitor, choose which one MaLa uses as the game screen, and keep another for something of your own choosing: a marquee, a display for controls, or a full-screen picture or video. MaLa would remember each monitor by its own identity, so the screens stay where you put them when Windows renumbers its displays.
Multiple languages. German, French and Spanish first, with community translations welcome.

Hardware and control

USB character LCD support. Built-in support for USB character LCD displays.
Stream Deck and scripts. Already possible in 2.0 — see below.

Games and game lists

Auto-quit. Quit a game automatically after a set time, for example one that has been left idle.
Run without MAME. Use MaLa with other emulators and the jukebox only, with no MAME installed.
Portable game lists that survive a move to another folder or drive.
Game name, ROM name, or both, and a clone fallback when a parent ROM is missing.
Print or export a game list.
Hide lists from MaLa’s own menu, behind an admin input.
Multiple emulators in one game list, and several MAME versions side by side.
Playlists, horizontal game lists and a windowed mode.

Layouts

Animation, transparency, auto-scaling and background video in layouts.
Hi-score display and more game information on screen.
Word wrap in layout text.

MaLa on Linux?

► BEING CONSIDERED A version of MaLa for Linux is being considered, for example to run on a Raspberry Pi or other low-spec hardware. It would be a separate program designed to use the same file formats, so your game lists and layouts could carry across. There is no decision yet, and feedback will help. If this interests you, please reach out and tell me what you would run it on.

✉ Tell me about it

Using MaLa with a Stream Deck

MaLa 2.0 includes MaLa Control, a small program that controls a running MaLa without a keyboard, so a Stream Deck button, a script or a shortcut can drive it. For example, this moves to the next game:

MaLaControlCmd.exe NEXT

Run MaLaControlCmd.exe --help to see every command and how to write it. Or double-click it for a menu where you can try the commands.
Pick a command, then point a Stream Deck button at it. If your button cannot pass extra arguments to a program, point it at a shortcut or a small .bat file that holds the command.
Prefer buttons? MaLaControlGui.exe has the same controls in a small window, and shows whether MaLa is running.

The commands are one-way: MaLa does not send anything back, so a button cannot tell you whether the command worked.

► TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT Got an idea, or something on this list you would like sooner? Email submissions@malafe.net, or add it to the MaLa 2.0+ – New Feature ideas thread on the BYOAC forum when it is back up. Replies help decide what happens first.