MAME: Multipule Arcade Machine Emulator
This is what most people want. After all what is a arcade cabinet with out arcade games right?
MAME is one of the easier emulators to set up..and can be the hardest to "get right". MAME is very customizable and can be tweaked down to the last detail.
First off we are going to assume that you know what MAME is and have it installed at ‘C:\mame’. If you you have no clue what i am talking about go here: [ulr]http://mamedev.org/release.html[/url]
(Note: This is written for basic mame and some knowledge of the "command line" is needed. Most front-ends use the command line version of MAME..thus they act like a gui (graphical user interface) If you want a gui version of mame see below.
When you first start mame you will get an error stating no games found. Go ahead and exit. Once you have found games, or roms, place them in your 'roms' directory/folder. If you don't have one you can make one. (Normally in your mame directory/folder to keep everything organized.) (Go here to get test roms:
http://www.mamedev.com/roms/)
If you don't like to use a command line you can use a GUI based mame to set up your mame and to even start games. but remember Front ends like Attract Mode use a command line to start games NOT a GUI (basically your front end like Attact Mode becomes your gui to launch games)
See below for versions of GUI based MAMEs note however using a GUI to set up MAME is the same as using notepad+a command line..so the command line instructions need to be read still!
To begin in the command line do this:
You'll need to open a command line prompt:
Press Windows key+R key. A run dialog will pop up. Now type
cmdOnce there type:
cd C:\ then press enter.
Now, type:
cd C:\mame press enter.
Last type:
mame -cc press enter
This will create a mame.ini file in the folder that you are in. (You can always run the mame -cc command again and have a new mame.ini if you mess it up real badly.)
Now open that file with notepad:
Your mame.ini will look something like this:
#
# CORE CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
#
readconfig 1
writeconfig 0
#
# CORE SEARCH PATH OPTIONS
#
rompath <-here (ex. C:\mame\roms, you may do multiple paths with ; at the end of the first line and the beginning of the second line)
hashpath
samplepath
artpath
ctrlrpath
inipath
fontpath
cheatpath
crosshairpath
The rompath is the only thing we are worried about right now. You can erase the entire line up to but not including the word rompath. Then type your path to your roms:
C:\mame\romsNow save the changes now type in your terminal mame and start mame by typing mame.exe and press enter. You should see a blue box with a list of games you have. You can press enter to start a game or press esc to quit.
Your mame now works! You can start MAME from a command line to directly run a game by typing (as an example):
mame carpolo in a command prompt will start carpolo without the gamelist (which is how front ends like attract mode work).
Rom problems:
First never unzip a rom unless you know what you are doing! MAME can not load an unzipped rom. Roms can be gotten singly or in "update" packs. You need to have all the needed files in the zip and all the needed zip files. Example: you have galaga.zip but there are other files it needs (.zip) to start. Why not just put them all together? Well you can and mame will be happy and load fine. However, some of these files are in other namco games (e.x. mappy, rally X, ect.) so now you have them twice or more and it's a "waste of space". Load MAME from a terminal and MAME will spit out any errors of missing files and tell you the extra roms you need. (For more go here on that:
http://www.xente.mundo-r.com/mame/Update286.html pdf version here
http://www.xente.mundo-r.com/mame/pdf/Update286.pdf)
chd files:
Compressed hard drive (or compressed hunks [of] data..depending on who you are talking to.) are large (some are HUGE) data files. Mostly this is a hard drive image (ex. killer instinct) or a CD-ROM (ex. street fighter III) or a laser disc (ex cliffhanger). These need to be placed in a sub-folder in your roms folder with the name of the rom. (e.g. C:\mame\roms\kinst\kinst.chd)
Missing sounds:
With some older games you need what are called sound samples. These are not emulated sounds per say but raw sound files called by mame at the appropriate time. With out them you do not hear the sounds in the game. Play galaga without sound samples and when you die your ship explodes without a sound..Who wants that!? So after you find the sound samples (again leave them zipped!) you put them in your folder (e.g C:\mame\samples) and in your mame.ini change your sample path:
#
# CORE SEARCH PATH OPTIONS
#
rompath C:\mame\roms
hashpath
samplepath <---here (ex. C:\mame\samples)
artpath
ctrlrpath
inipath
Now you will have all your sounds!
It’s a little screen! To go full screen look in your mame.ini for:
#
# VIDEO OPTIONS
#
video d3d
numscreens 1
window 0
maximize 1
keepaspect <---here
unevenstretch <---here
centerh 1
centerv 1
waitvsync 0
syncrefresh 0
scalemode none
Change keep aspect and uneven stretch to one (1)
I hope that will get you started with some basics of mame on windows. Happy gaming!
other related windows mame versions:
wolfmame
http://replay.marpirc.net/ (used for submitting high scores)
mameplus
http://sourceforge.net/projects/mameplus/files/releases/ (mame that has graphical enhancements, Outdated but usable with an old romset)
hbmame
http://messui.1emulation.com/index.html (used to run home brew mame roms)
GUI mames:
MAMEXT
http://www.emulab.it/p_emulators.php (Outdated but usable with an old romset)
mameui
http://www.mameui.info/mameuifx
http://mame32fx.altervista.org/home.htm replaced with Arcade64
https://arcade.mameworld.info/To set up mame with a GUI most GUIs once loaded you choose 'Options' then 'Directories' and you can set up your paths from there. Basically this allows you to set up your mame.ini file from a gui instead of doing it manually.
