Mame32

[Cret]

Does anyone use Mame32? If so, what's the version you use if it works well?

I got a distro of 0.83 plus 3500 roms from a torrent site and I'm thinking about building an arcade cabinet for a machine specially just for this but for some reason I can't get it to detect the roms.

All the rom files are in the Roms folder as zip files (they're meant to be), but the audit for all the games I try says "Rom not found" - what have I done wrong?!

[2084]

First - has it ever worked?

 

Second - Double check the rom directory in the mame settings . I know it's obvious, but mine forgets where the roms are from time to time. Especially as each build has its own defaults for directories which in practice may not be what you have / what came with the tnt.

 

Another problem could arise if you have tried to update your roms for a different version. Many will not work with o lder builds should you do this.

 

I am currently using MameXT 0.126 - I don't know when MAME stopped supporting high scores, but it was by my version however the XT build does have high score support. It runs solid.

 

0.89 is a good build imho

 

wrt your cabinet, you probably already know but check out the forum on BYOAC - wealth of info. Good luck!

[2084]

You could also try to run a rom that has only one set. IE there are no other roms with the same name. Someimes you need all of them to run any of them and your set may not be complete.

 

Viewpoint is a good one to try for that assuming it was available in your build.

[Animal]

The MAME developers are officially the world's biggest arseholes, they constantly break previously working games, ROM sets and features just for the thrilling erection it gives them.

 

Your best bet is to get a 'matched' set from a MAME burning service whereby the ROMs match the MAME revision, or check out the likes of usenet and/or properly described torrents.

 

MAME will refuse to recognise ROMs if it doesn't like anything at all about them, which sounds like might be happening to you.

 

Also be aware the MAME devs deliberately broke really basic stuff like high score saving and samples because they weren't 'accurate enough' - so in some regards you're better off with an old build.

 

I run MAME32FX with high score saving and a full matched set of ROMs, build date is January 2006, which is when I gave up on trying to keep up to date with MAME (Bugger all of any note has been introduced since then anyway, truth be told.)

[Cret]

Cheers dudes

 

No this particular one has never worked for me. I've used mame successfully in the past but not for a while so it'd have been a much older version I guess.

I had probably foolishly assumed that as these roms came with this download from the yarrrbay that they'd be suitable but like I say, any I try to audit just say no rom found.

 

Will check the directory etc

 

It seems like the mame people are more than a bit fussy with what they do, being true to games even if it means them being shit in their performance.

I understand it but I think it's nuts.

 

Might have a look for that distro you described and see if I can locate the same bundle if it's working well enough for you.

There's tons of versions so at the moment I've no idea what's good & what's crap.

 

Cheers for the link by the way. I found some fantastic sites that describe the cabinet build process in detail and I'm foaming at the mouth at the thought of building one, although I do have a severe time/projects imbalance that may interfere....

[Animal]

My MAME folder only runs to 14.6GB (this was a complete collection in Jan 2006, including all the CHD (compressed hard drive) games like Killer Instincts 1 & 2), you're welcome to pop round with a laptop if you have one, connect to my network and hoover it all up

 

Depending on the spec you'll be using for your MAME cabinet, you'll hit a brick wall with running some of the modern games anyway. For example, Killer Instinct was still unplayable even on my old Athlon 64 3000+ rig, it's only since I went Core Duo that it's maintained a solid framerate.

[Cret]

Not sure what machine I'll be using yet as I have a couple of potential ones, but I suspect it may be an athlon XP2600. Either that or I have a pentium D 930 3GHZ dual core cpu lying around that I could get a board for and build it up with spares.

 

Only other option is a pissant small form factor saintsong cappucino thing I have but that's a celeron 1.3ghz machine I think.

 

It's mostly the older stuff I'm fussed about probably, although if I have enough system resource for more recent things that's a boon.

From what I've read, they use a shitload of resource up with the emulatification process.

 

Might take you up on that offer though as it would probably save a bunch of hassle. If I can't get a working one in the next day or two I'll give you a shout about that, cheers. Not certain, but I think from looking at your avatar that we know each other if that's you fella. Would give me something fun to do while I'm off in TT if I'm looking after the little un & not out on the bike since I can't afford to go and get pissed. She's only a bit older than 1 but I reckon she'd dig a bit of chase HQ & space harrier. Who wouldn't!

[Cret]

Ace! Got another version that was an mdf file (or something like that) - have turned it into an iso and put on a disc and it boots itself when you stick the disc in.

 

So far so good as Chase HQ and Double Dragon work well it seems. At least, they appear to, but I need to sort out some means of controlling them.

I've borrowed a wired 360 pad which is USB so I'm hoping I'll be able to set that up somehow for now.....

[2084]

It's sacrilege, but since DD can be easily beaten via elbow, it's perfectly playable on a keyboard.

 

I have a mame control panel home made - Groovy Game Gear are really good, and his service is ace, even though he's in the states. Short term you could knock up a CP in a weekend and then you won't have to suffer so much with poor controls.

 

Or find a Street Fighter type stick (or the one they made for the DC) and hack that

[Cret]

I find it really hard to play any games via keyboard personally. It's just not right both from nostalgia and practicality point of view as I'm a console gamer, never a pc gamer. I suppose I could hark back to the days of BBC use but even with that it was joysticks for the large part.

 

I suppose the main thing is to figure what bits I want in terms of controls. In an ideal world it would be nice to have a system with 3 interchangeable platforms that slot/clip in as required, ie a double joystick/button board for scrapping/scrolling games, a steering wheel & 'gear lever' for drivers, and a big joystick for flying stuff. I'm probably getting too big ideas too early though.

 

For the time being I just want to set up some basic sort of console joypad that can be used as a temporary measure. Any suggestions on what to use that's cheap & how to set up? Obviously I can read through all the sites I've added to my favourites for this topic but much easier if someone points me in the sort of direction I need.

 

Appreciate the suggestions anyway, cheers

[2084]

I suppose the main thing is to figure what bits I want in terms of controls. In an ideal world it would be nice to have a system with 3 interchangeable platforms that slot/clip in as required, ie a double joystick/button board for scrapping/scrolling games, a steering wheel & 'gear lever' for drivers, and a big joystick for flying stuff. I'm probably getting too big ideas too early though.

 

For the time being I just want to set up some basic sort of console joypad that can be used as a temporary measure. Any suggestions on what to use that's cheap & how to set up? Obviously I can read through all the sites I've added to my favourites for this topic but much easier if someone points me in the sort of direction I need.

 

Appreciate the suggestions anyway, cheers

 

You may have issues with the steering wheel depending on what wheel games you wish to play Some games use a 360deg wheel with no stop, eg Super Sprint (you can use a Turbo Twist 2 spinner and get a wheel attachment for that from Groovy Game Gear - I have one and it's OK. The spinner is great, but unless you position the spinner at an angle from horizontal, the wheel feels wrong) and others, like Outrun, use a 270 wheel (most PC wheels. I have the G25 from logitech, it is awesome in every way). Gear changes are a whole can of worms too but the logitech g25 one lets you switch between hi lo and 6 speed, though I've never bothered with it in MAME. Just use the buttons on the wheel). There's not really a one size fits all solution.

 

I can't help you re the flight stick, I don't use one. I felt that I don't play Tron enough to warrant it, and even then you need a push-pull spinner, which when I built my CP wasn't available.

 

For a long time, before I built a CP i simply used a Playstation 2 pad with USB adapter. Not authentic, but it's a good controller obviously.

 

As I said above, possibly the cheapest solution to get up and running may be to buy an old dreamcast stick with buttons that used o come out with fighters occasionally and get a USB adapter for it off eBay or something. I can't fine the post on BYOAC now, but there's a guy on there that used a couple of these for a modified Ikea-style vertical scroller coffee table thing. He might link to the adapter?

 

FWIW all I have on my cp are 2 x 8-way sticks, 6 buttons per player and the Turbo Twist spinner in the middle. Satisfies almost all games apart from 270 degree drivers. Interfaces from it are a keywiz for the, er, keys and sticks and whatever comes with the spinner.

 

Good luck!

[Cret]

Thanks very much for the info (and sorry for the slow reply).

 

At present I've got a borrowed Xbox360 controller that I'm using to test out some of the roms.

 

It may well be some time before I can actually get stuck into a build but it makes sense that I should try to get familiarised with the basic setup of the system before embarking on missions to B&Q for sheets of MDF etc.

 

I've noticed that gremlinworks on ebay seem to be a good source of controls though.

[sausage]

For any Mame experts out there. I have Mame set up which works fine for several hundred games. However on one I try to run I get the no good known dump message, the start screen comes up but it just says HW error. The initial error message advises there are two other good directories known for this game. Have checked in my Roms folder and both of these zip files are there.

 

So question is how do I repoint the game in my Mame gui so it looks at one of the good directories and not the corrupt one ?

[2084]

For any Mame experts out there. I have Mame set up which works fine for several hundred games. However on one I try to run I get the no good known dump message, the start screen comes up but it just says HW error. The initial error message advises there are two other good directories known for this game. Have checked in my Roms folder and both of these zip files are there.

 

So question is how do I repoint the game in my Mame gui so it looks at one of the good directories and not the corrupt one ?

 

 

What game? I'll test it here, see if Iget the same.

[sausage]

Its called Slap Fight, cheers.