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DJCJ.website
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Joined: Mon Oct 05, 2026 3:25 am

DJCJ Arcade - New MAME front end for MacOS

I'd like to let everyone know about a new front end for MAME developed specifically for MacOS. It's vibe coded with claude and some grok.

Some notes on the stack in case you're curious:
  • Swift 6 with strict concurrency enabled, not the compatibility mode.
  • MacOS 14 and later.
  • Apple Silicon and Intel both supported.
  • Developer ID signed
  • SwiftUI throughout, with AppKit dropped in where SwiftUI can't perform the needed functionality
  • SQLite via GRDB 7.11.1
  • EXTRAs video snaps are encoded in H.264 High 4:4:4 Predictive, which macOS cannot decode by any native route, hardware or software so the app embeds FFmpeg (decode only, LGPL, dynamically linked as frameworks) and plays the clips live.
  • ZIPFoundation 0.9.19 for writing collection exports, with a somewhat customized zip index for reading
  • MAME runs as a detached subprocess with arguments passed as an array, not through a shell. The app composes MAME's full layered ini configuration itself and shows you the exact command line it will run.
Source is closed for now, but I will consider opening source at a later date.

If you'd like to try it out, I would be very interested in feedback and suggestions for improvements. Many thanks!

DJCJ Arcade
https://github.com/DJCJ-website/DJCJArcade
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