Introduction
NEStea is a Windows 9X front-end designed for NES emulators. While not powerful NEStea is very easy to use and to setup. NEStea is also very flexible, you can actually use it as a front-end for anything! (NES emulator or not) For the latest release of NEStea, always check Front-End Central: http://fec.emulationworld.com

What's New

v1.0		First compile, screenshot support, simple interface.
v1.0.3		Added: Status Bar that displays ROM Count, Program, and Parameters used About Window Startup Folder option Double Clicking or Pressing Enter on a filename now launchs the selected file.
v1.0.5		Added an option to save the settings to a file, you can now easily use NEStea for multiple emulators! :)
v1.0.7		Moved Settings and About to a menu. Added an option to hide the Status Bar (available through the 'Options' menu) NEStea can now be resized, the size and position will be saved.
v1.0.9		There was a little bug that made NEStea unusable if it was closed when minimized/maximized, that's now fixed! Also, NEStea now requires the Visual Basic 6.0 runtimes - sorry!
v1.0.12		Changed all instances of the word "ROM" to "File" to encourage using NEStea for apps other then emulators (like PkUnzip). Fixed up error handling, now if you delete a folder accessed by NEStea it shouldn't crash :) Added the much desired ability to rename the entries in the listbox. (Must enable "Use Custom ListBox" in the Settings dialog) Added several keyboard commands: F5 - Refresh's the game list (Sorts files if some have been renamed) SHIFT+F5 - Rebuilds the listbox incase you copied more files into the folder F2/SHIFT+ENTER - Opens the edit caption dialog so you can rename the list entries! Don't forget, you must enable "Use Custom ListBox" in the Settings dialog. Added support for multiple snapshots. All extra snapshots must have a an underscore and a number appended to the filenames. For example, if you have a file called zelda.nes the snapshot filenames would go as follows: zelda.bmp, zelda_02.gif, zelda_03.jpg, etc... (as you can see, the filename extensions can vary!) Left-click the snapshot to see the next, right-click to see the previous.
v1.0.13		Looks like I forgot to allow launch from the custom listbox, so I re-wrote the launching routines. Everything should be working! (Thanks to Kev for the bug report!)

Setting Up NEStea
To get NEStea up and running smoothly follow these simple instructions: Copy NEStea (NEStea.exe) to the folder of your choice. Run NEStea Click the button titled "Settings" Type in the emulator filename in the box labeled "Launch Using" Note: Do Not enter the full path to the emulator, just the filename (e.g. fwnes.exe) If you are not placing NEStea in the same folder as the emulator you will be using it with then change the box labeled "Startup Folder" to the folder where the Emulator resides. Note: You change each folder by clicking the button labeled with "..." and choosing the appropriate folder.) If you wish to use custom parameters when launching the emulator enter them in the box labeled "Parameters" not in the box labeled "Launch Using" If you will not be using NEStea for an NES emulator you will need to edit the box labeled "File Pattern" to correspond with the extensions the ROMs will use. Example: if you are using NEStea with a Sega Genesis emulator you may enter ".bin;.smd;.md" (omitting the quotations) just be sure each extension is preceeded by "." and a semicolon seperates each additional extention. Next choose whether the filename of the ROMs should be placed before or after the parameters. Example: If you would normally run the emulator with a syntax like "emulator.exe romfile.rom -f 2" then choose Before, but if you would normally run the emulator with a syntax like "emulator.exe -f 2 romfile.rom" then choose After. Then pick the folder where you keep the ROMs. If you will be using screenshots then specify the folder you will keep them. Note: Screenshots may be either Gif, JPeg, or Bitmap images and must have the same name as the ROM image they represent: e.g. A screenshot for a ROM file named contra.nes must be name contra.gif, contra.jpg, or contra.bmp There you go! Just click Save and your ready to go! Simple click on a file in the list then click Launch! I hope you enjoy using NEStea as much as I did making it! :) - Haoshiro

Setting Up NEStea

To get NEStea up and running smoothly follow these simple instructions:

Copy NEStea (NEStea.exe) to the folder of your choice.
Run NEStea
Click the button titled "Settings"
Type in the emulator filename in the box labeled "Launch Using"
Note: Do Not enter the full path to the emulator, just the filename (e.g. fwnes.exe)
If you are not placing NEStea in the same folder as the emulator you will be using it with then change the box labeled "Startup Folder" to the folder where the Emulator resides.
Note: You change each folder by clicking the button labeled with "..." and choosing the appropriate folder.)
If you wish to use custom parameters when launching the emulator enter them in the box labeled "Parameters" not in the box labeled "Launch Using"
If you will not be using NEStea for an NES emulator you will need to edit the box labeled "File Pattern" to correspond with the extensions the ROMs will use. Example: if you are using NEStea with a Sega Genesis emulator you may enter "*.bin;*.smd;*.md" (omitting the quotations) just be sure each extension is preceeded by "*." and a semicolon seperates each additional extention.
Next choose whether the filename of the ROMs should be placed before or after the parameters. Example: If you would normally run the emulator with a syntax like "emulator.exe romfile.rom -f 2" then choose Before, but if you would normally run the emulator with a syntax like "emulator.exe -f 2 romfile.rom" then choose After.
Then pick the folder where you keep the ROMs.
If you will be using screenshots then specify the folder you will keep them.
Note: Screenshots may be either Gif, JPeg, or Bitmap images and must have the same name as the ROM image they represent: e.g. A screenshot for a ROM file named contra.nes must be name contra.gif, contra.jpg, or contra.bmp
There you go! Just click Save and your ready to go!
Simple click on a file in the list then click Launch!

I hope you enjoy using NEStea as much as I did making it! :)
- Haoshiro

Using NEStea With Multiple Emulators
NEStea allows you to use it with as many emulators as you wish by: Either creating windows shortcuts to NEStea with seperate Startup Paths or By copying NEStea to several other folders. Run each shortcut or copy of NEStea and alter the settings to correspond with each individual emulator. (See "Setting Up NEStea" earlier in this document) But in order to successfully use NEStea with multiple emulators be sure to run NEStea and check the box "Save settings to a file (nestea.ini)" in the Settings Window. For information on creating shortcuts consult the Windows Help Files. :)

Using NEStea With Multiple Emulators

NEStea allows you to use it with as many emulators as you wish by:

Either creating windows shortcuts to NEStea with seperate Startup Paths or
By copying NEStea to several other folders.
Run each shortcut or copy of NEStea and alter the settings to correspond with each individual emulator. (See "Setting Up NEStea" earlier in this document)

But in order to successfully use NEStea with multiple emulators be sure to run NEStea and check the box "Save settings to a file (nestea.ini)" in the Settings Window.

For information on creating shortcuts consult the Windows Help Files. :)

Requirements
Microsoft Windows 95 or greater. The Visual Basic 6.0 runtime files (included with Windows 98?) You may also need the Microsoft Common Controls but most systems already have them. Any maching capable of running Windows 95 should have no problem running NEStea An emulator (Emulators may have seperate requirements then that of NEStea) Some ROM images to launch. :) No ROM request!

Requirements

Microsoft Windows 95 or greater.
The Visual Basic 6.0 runtime files (included with Windows 98?)
You may also need the Microsoft Common Controls but most systems already have them.
Any maching capable of running Windows 95 should have no problem running NEStea
An emulator (Emulators may have seperate requirements then that of NEStea)
Some ROM images to launch. :)

No ROM request!