MAMEDEV Wiki - User contributions [en-gb]

FAQ:Running

2009-02-02T10:26:56Z

Stphinkle: /* How do I launch MAME? */

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.
==How do I launch MAME?==
To launch the MAME in Windows, you first need to open up a command prompt. The easiest way to do this is to choose "Run" from the Start menu and type "cmd" in the dialog box (for Windows 98/Me you need to type "command.com" instead).

In the command prompt, you need to first switch to the directory where the mame.exe program lives. To do this type:

cd <directory>

Executing MAME once you are there is easy. MAME takes a game name (using an 8-character abbreviated name) followed by optional parameters:

mame <gamename> <parameters>

The parameters are not required, so to just launch a game, type for example:

mame robby

This will run the game [http://mamedev.org/roms/robby Robby Roto] with the default settings. If you want to specify parameters, try this for example:

mame robby -ror

This will run the game [http://mamedev.org/roms/robby Robby Roto] with the screen rotated clockwise 90 degrees. For a complete list of parameters, see the WINDOWS.TXT file that is included with MAME.

For more flexible control over your configuration, you can create a mame.ini file (use the command <code>mame -cc</code> to make one initially) and modify that file.

To find the 8-character or less abbreviated name for a game, you can either check its ROM file name (minus the .ZIP extension) or you can search for it at http://www.mameworld.net/maws/ .

==How do I "press OK"?==
When you run a game, MAME displays important messages (copyright notice, problems with game), then asks you to press OK to proceed. Press the '''O''' key, then the '''K''' key.

If you are only using a joystick, you can also "type" OK by wiggling the joystick left and then right. Actually, you can use whatever input you have configured for "UI left" and "UI right", which by default is the same as player 1's left and right, eg. the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard, or left and right on joystick 1. To change these defaults, see [[FAQ:Controls#How do I configure the keys?|How do I configure the keys?]]

==I get through the copyright and info screens, but the game won't start or work at all.==
There are three possibilities:
# Read the info screens carefully to see if the game is working. Do not just blindly skip them. They actually tell you important information.
# Some games require you to do something special to start them. (For example, you must keep 1 pressed when starting Super Pang.) Check the game-specific information, either in [[FAQ:Games|this FAQ]] or in the [http://mamedev.org/source/src/mame/drivers driver source code] for answers.
# Some drivers may be broken and therefore don't work. Check [http://mametesters.org MAME Testers] for information on known bugs.

==Why does it take so long for the game to start?==
Most arcade games have a POST (Power-On Self Test) process where they go through and check to make sure all of the hardware components are working on. This is similar to what happens when you first turn on your computer. For some games, this passes quickly, while for others it takes quite a long time. Usually you will see a bunch of garbage and colors flash by on the screen while all of the video RAM is tested. Just be patient and the game will eventually start running.

==When I start the game, I see a bunch of scrambled colors, or odd references to coins, ROMs, RAM, etc==
Have you ever seen an arcade game power up at the arcade? It goes through self-tests, diagnostics, etc. to be sure its hardware is okay. Some games have a VERY long self-test when they start. Be patient; the self-test will eventually end and the "attract" screen will appear. If you think you're having a real problem, check the Troubleshooting sections.

==Can I skip past the startup tests?==
No. MAME aims to accurately reproduce the arcade hardware. This includes allowing the startup tests to proceed as normal. If you are impatient, you are welcome to "fast forward" through this part of the process. By default, the "fast forward" key is mapped to the '''Insert''' key on the keyboard.

==How do I start the game?==
Remember, these are not re-creations of arcade games, but the original arcade games themselves. In order to play an arcade game, you must first insert a coin or two. By default in MAME, the "insert coin" switches are mapped to the keyboard keys '''5''', '''6''', '''7''' and '''8'''.

Once you've inserted enough coins to have a credit in the game, you need to start the game. Many games had separate buttons for 1 player start, 2 player start, etc. By default, MAME maps these switches to the '''1''', '''2''', '''3''' and '''4''' keys on the keyboard.

Some games didn't have separate start buttons; instead you just pressed any of the game's action buttons to start a game. For these games you need to press one of the action buttons. By default, the first three buttons for all games are mapped to the '''Left Control''' key, the '''Left Alt''' key, and the '''Spacebar'''.

FAQ:Controls

2008-09-21T07:12:39Z

Stphinkle: /* Mouse control is too sensitive / not sensitive enough. */

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.
==What control devices does MAME support?==
MAME supports three basic classes of controllers:
# Keyboard type
#* standard keyboards
#* key encoders
#* some joy-to-key software
# Mouse type
#* mice
#* trackballs
#* spinners
#* Act-Labs USB Light Guns
# Joystick type
#* joysticks
#* joypads / gamepads
#* console pads via most USB adapters
#* steering wheels
#* any DirectInput-visible gaming controller that has digital buttons or analog axes

Please note that most of MAME's controls are set up for development purposes, which means that most games will work fine with just some form of keyboard control. If you wish to use fancier control schemes, you will probably need to configure them within MAME to your liking.

==How do I configure the keys?==

Press Tab in-game and choose "Input: This Game". Select the input you want to configure, press enter followed by the key you want it mapped to.

More fancy key combinations can be made. To map this key OR that key, set one of the keys as before, wait until mame accepts it, then repeat for second key. To map so two keys have to be pressed at the same time, press both (or more) keys after pressing enter. To map a not (key1 if key2 is not also pressed), enter, press first key, then quickly press the not key(s) twice. "Input: General" can be selected to change all games inputs, or mame's UI buttons.

This will also work for joystick and mouse inputs if joystick support is enabled (see below).

==Why doesn't the Tab key work anymore?==
Most likely you have re-configured the "UI Configure" key, normally Tab, to something else. To restore the default settings, the quickest way is to delete the default.cfg file from the cfg/ subdirectory below the main MAME directory. However this will remove any other general input changes, too.

If you have settings you don't want to lose, you can also edit default.cfg with any text editor, since the input configuration files are in XML format. Open the default.cfg file and find the line that says <code><port type="UI_CONFIGURE"></code>. Delete that line and all the lines down to and including the next <code></port></code> line; this should be five lines. Save the file.

==How can I change what axes the mouse and joystick control?==

Press Tab in-game and select "Input: This Game". From there, you can assign inputs much the same way as [[#How do I configure the keys?|changing keys]]. Additionally, in the menu, there is the option Analog Controls, where you can [[#When playing Star Wars (or other games) with a mouse, the crosshair moves in the wrong direction.|reverse the Axis]]. Also see [[#What's the differences between "...analog", "...inc", and "...dec" lines seen when changing inputs?|What's the differences between "...analog", "...inc", and "...dec" lines seen when changing inputs?]] if changing analog inputs.

==Mouse control is too sensitive / not sensitive enough.==

Try increasing the accleration and sensitivity settings in the Analog Input settings menu after pressing Tab. You might also want to try adjusting the mouse settings inside the Windows Control Panel (Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Mouse).

==Why doesn't my joystick work?==

There can be several reasons for this:

The most common reason is that Mame disables joysticks by default. In your MAME.ini file, look for the "joystick" line reading "'''joystick 0"'''; simply change it to '''joystick 1'''. If this does not work, try the following:

* If your joystick or game controller came with a device driver, you may need to install it first. To do this, refer to the documentation that came with the joystick or joypad itself.

* Open the Windows Control Panel (Start -> Settings -> Control Panel) and double click the "joysticks" or "game controllers" icon. See if your controller is regonized there. If it is, proceed further. If not, you may need to add it there, or you may have a problem with the joystick or controller itself, or its device driver.

* In MAME, try pressing "Tab" and choose "Input: This Game" and make sure that the games buttons are mapped to the appropriate joystick inputs.

==The arrow keys work, but I can't fire, jump, etc.==

Here are the default controller buttons for many games:

* 5 - Insert Coin
* 1 - Start
* Arrows - Move
* Ctrl - Action Button 1
* Alt - Action Button 2
* Space - Action Button 3
* Mouse - Analog Control (needed for some games)
* P - Pause
* ESC - Quit MAME
* F2 - Service Mode
* Tab - MAME Options Menu

Note: There are many games with much more complex controls. If you need to see or change a games controls, press Tab and choose "Input: This Game".

==TRON's arm doesn't move; I can't aim in Heavy Barrel, etc.==

Often, these games use analog control, which by default is mapped to the mouse.

==When playing Star Wars (or other games) with a mouse, the crosshair moves in the wrong direction.==

These games were played with a Yoke originally, so that this is correct. In MAME, you can press Tab while playing, and choose "Analog Controls" and reverse the axis to correct this.

==I don't remember how to control this game.==

You can press Tab and choose "Input: This Game" and review its inputs. Additionally, you can go to http://www.gamefaqs.com and see if there is an FAQ available for the game.

==What if I only want authentic arcade controls?==
There are several high-quality control panels available. The first one, and now the most basic, is the [http://www.hanaho.com/Products/HotRodJoystick.php HotRod]. It's been joined by the [http://www.x-arcade.com/ X-Arcade], which is also relatively basic but can be used with many popular home consoles in addition to computers, and the insanely customizable [http://www.slikstik.com/ SlikStik].

It's also possible to build your own: you can get plans, guidance, and support at [http://www.arcadecontrols.com/ Build Your Own Arcade Controls].

==What's the differences between "...analog", "...inc", and "...dec" lines seen when changing inputs?==

When mame emulates an analog input in a game, three lines show up in the change input UI menu, unlike the one line for each digital switch like a button. The "...analog" line is for analog controllers, such as analog joysticks, mice and lightguns. The "...inc" and "...dec" lines are so digital controls, such as keyboard or joystick buttons, can be used to control analog input games.

For best control, map a controller's analog axis at the "...analog" line, and not the "...inc" or "...dec" lines; the [[#When playing Star Wars (or other games) with a mouse, the crosshair moves in the wrong direction.|axis direction]] should be set in the Analog Controls UI menu.

FAQ:ROMs

2008-09-10T03:53:18Z

Stphinkle:

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.

Disclaimer: The following information is not legal advice and was not written by a lawyer.

==Why does MAME report "missing files" even if I have the ROMs?==

There can be several reasons for this:

* It is not unusual for the ROMs to change for a game between releases of MAME. Why would this happen? Oftentimes, better or more complete ROM dumps are made, or errors are found in the way the ROMs were previously defined. Early versions of MAME were not as meticulous about this issue, but more recent MAME builds are. Additionally, there can be more features of a game emulated in a later release of MAME than an earlier release, requiring more ROM code to run.

*You may find that some games require CHD files. A CHD file is a compressed representation of a game's hard disk, CD-ROM, or laserdisc, and is generally not included as part of a game's ROMs. However, in most cases, these files are required to run the game, and MAME will complain if they cannot be found.

* Some games such as Neo-Geo, Playchoice-10, Convertible Video System, Deco Cassette, MegaTech, MegaPlay, ST-V Titan, and others need their BIOS ROMs in addition to the game ROMs. The BIOS Roms often contain ROM code that is used for booting the machine, menu processor code on multi-game systems, and code common to all games on a system. BIOS ROMS must be named correctly and left zipped inside your ROMs folder.

* Older versions of MAME needed decryption tables in order for MAME to emulate Capcom Play System 2 (a.k.a. CPS2) games. These are created by team CPS2Shock.

* Some games in MAME are considered "Clones" of another game. This is often the case when the game in question is simply an alternate version of the same game. Common alternate versions of games include versions with text in other languages, versions with different copyright dates, later versions or updates, bootlegs, etc. "Cloned" games often overlap some of the ROM code as the original or "parent" version of the game. To see if you have any "clones" type "MAME -listclones". To run a "cloned game" you simply need to place its parent ROM file in your ROMs folder (leave it zipped). Another way to find out if a game needs a parent ROM, is to visit the MAWS database at http://www.mameworld.net/maws/ .

==How can I be sure I have the right ROMs?==
MAME checks to be sure you have the right ROMs before emulation begins. If you see any error messages, your ROMs are not those tested to work properly with MAME. You will need to obtain a correct set of ROMs through legal methods.

If you have several games and you wish to verify that they are compatible with the current version of MAME, you can use the <code>-verifyroms</code> parameter. For example:

mame -verifyroms robby

...checks your ROMs for the game [http://mamedev.org/roms/robby Robby Roto] and displays the results on the screen.

mame -verifyroms * >verify.txt

...checks the validity of ALL the ROMs in your ROMS directory, and writes the results to a textfile called verify.txt.

==How do I legally obtain ROMs or disk images to run on MAME?==
You have several options:

* You can obtain a license to them by purchasing one via a distributor or vendor who has proper authority to do so.
* You can [http://mamedev.org/roms/ download one of the ROM sets that have been released for free to the public for non-commerical use].
* You can purchase an actual arcade PCB, read the ROMs or disks yourself, and let MAME use that data.

Beyond these options, you are on your own.

==Isn't copying ROMs a legal gray area?==

No, it's not. You are not permitted to make copies of software without the copyright owner's permission. This is a black & white issue.

==Can't game ROMs be considered abandonware?==

No. Even the companies that went under had their assets purchased by somebody, and that person is the copyright owner.

==I had ROMs that worked with an old version of MAME and now they don't. What happened?==

As time passes, MAME is perfecting the emulation of older games, even when the results aren't immediately obvious to the user. Often times the better emulation requires more data from the original game to operate. Sometimes the data was overlooked, sometimes it simply wasn't feasible to get at it (for instance, chip "decapping" is a technique that only became affordable very recently for people not working in high-end laboratories). In other cases it's much simpler: more sets of a game were dumped and it was decided to change which sets were which version.

==What about those arcade cabinets on eBay that come with all the ROMs?==

If the seller does not have a proper license to include the ROMs with his system, he is not allowed to legally include any ROMs with his system. If he has purchased a license to the ROMs in your name from a distributor or vendor with legitimate licenses, then he is okay to include them with the cabinet. After signing an agreement, cabinet owners that include legitimate licensed ROMs may be permitted to include a version of MAME that runs those ROMs and nothing more.

==What about those guys who burn DVDs of ROMs for the price of the media?==

What they are doing is just as illegal as selling the ROMs outright. As long as somebody owns the copyright, making illegal copies is illegal, period. If someone went on the internet and started a business of selling cheap copies of the latest U2 album for the price of media, do you think they would get away with it?

Even worse, a lot of these folks like to claim that they are helping the project. In fact, they only create more problems for the MAME team. We are not associated with these people in any way regardless of how "official" they may attempt to appear. You are only helping criminals make a profit through selling software they have no right to sell. Anybody using the MAME name and/or logo to sell such products is also in violation of the MAME trademark.

==But isn't there a special DMCA exemption that makes ROM copying legal?==

No, you have misread the exemptions. The exemption allows people to reverse engineer the copy protection or encryption in computer programs that are obsolete. The exemption simply means that figuring out how these obsolete programs worked is not illegal according to the DMCA. It does not have any effect on the legality of violating the copyright on computer programs, which is what you are doing if you make copies of ROMs.

==But isn't it OK to download and "try" ROMs for 24 hours?==

This is an urban legend that was made up by people who put ROMs up for download on their sites, in order to justify the fact that they were breaking the law. There is nothing like this in any copyright law.

==If I buy a cabinet with legitimate ROMs, can I set it up in a public place to make money?==

Absolutely not. Not only is it against the MAME license to use MAME for commercial purposes, but ROMs are typically only licensed for personal, non-commercial purposes.

==But I've seen Ultracade and Global VR Classics cabinets out in public places? Why can they do it?==

Ultracade had two separate products. The Ultracade product is a commercial machine with commercial licenses to the games. These machines were designed to be put on location and make money, like traditional arcade machines. Their other product is the Arcade Legends series. These are home machines with non- commercial licenses for the games, and can only be legally operated in a private environment. Since their buyout by Global VR they only offer the Global VR Classics cabinet, which is equivalent to the earlier Ultracade product.

FAQ:ROMs

2008-09-10T03:53:00Z

Stphinkle:

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.

Disclaimer: The following information is not legal advice and was not written by a lawyer.

==Why does MAME report "missing files" even if I have the ROMs?==

There can be several reasons for this:

* It is not unusual for the ROMs to change for a game between releases of MAME. Why would this happen? Oftentimes, better or more complete ROM dumps are made, or errors are found in the way the ROMs were previously defined. Early versions of MAME were not as meticulous about this issue, but more recent MAME builds are. Additionally, there can be more features of a game emulated in a later release of MAME than an earlier release, requiring more ROM code to run.

*You may find that some games require CHD files. A CHD file is a compressed representation of a game's hard disk, CD-ROM, or laserdisc, and is generally not included as part of a game's ROMs. However, in most cases, these files are required to run the game, and MAME will complain if they cannot be found.

* Some games such as Neo-Geo, Playchoice-10, Convertible Video System, Deco Cassette, MegaTech, MegaPlay, ST-V Titan, and others need their BIOS ROMs in addition to the game ROMs. The BIOS Roms often contain ROM code that is used for booting the machine, menu processor code on multi-game systems, and code common to all games on a system. BIOS ROMS must be named correctly and left zipped inside your ROMs folder.

* Older versions of MAME needed decryption tables in order for MAME to emulate Capcom Play System 2 (a.k.a. CPS2) games. These are created by team CPS2Shock.

* Some games in MAME are considered "Clones" of another game. This is often the case when the game in question is simply an alternate version of the game in question. Common alternate versions of games include versions with text in other languages, versions with different copyright dates, later versions or updates, bootlegs, etc. "Cloned" games often overlap some of the ROM code as the original or "parent" version of the game. To see if you have any "clones" type "MAME -listclones". To run a "cloned game" you simply need to place its parent ROM file in your ROMs folder (leave it zipped). Another way to find out if a game needs a parent ROM, is to visit the MAWS database at http://www.mameworld.net/maws/ .

==How can I be sure I have the right ROMs?==
MAME checks to be sure you have the right ROMs before emulation begins. If you see any error messages, your ROMs are not those tested to work properly with MAME. You will need to obtain a correct set of ROMs through legal methods.

If you have several games and you wish to verify that they are compatible with the current version of MAME, you can use the <code>-verifyroms</code> parameter. For example:

mame -verifyroms robby

...checks your ROMs for the game [http://mamedev.org/roms/robby Robby Roto] and displays the results on the screen.

mame -verifyroms * >verify.txt

...checks the validity of ALL the ROMs in your ROMS directory, and writes the results to a textfile called verify.txt.

==How do I legally obtain ROMs or disk images to run on MAME?==
You have several options:

* You can obtain a license to them by purchasing one via a distributor or vendor who has proper authority to do so.
* You can [http://mamedev.org/roms/ download one of the ROM sets that have been released for free to the public for non-commerical use].
* You can purchase an actual arcade PCB, read the ROMs or disks yourself, and let MAME use that data.

Beyond these options, you are on your own.

==Isn't copying ROMs a legal gray area?==

No, it's not. You are not permitted to make copies of software without the copyright owner's permission. This is a black & white issue.

==Can't game ROMs be considered abandonware?==

No. Even the companies that went under had their assets purchased by somebody, and that person is the copyright owner.

==I had ROMs that worked with an old version of MAME and now they don't. What happened?==

As time passes, MAME is perfecting the emulation of older games, even when the results aren't immediately obvious to the user. Often times the better emulation requires more data from the original game to operate. Sometimes the data was overlooked, sometimes it simply wasn't feasible to get at it (for instance, chip "decapping" is a technique that only became affordable very recently for people not working in high-end laboratories). In other cases it's much simpler: more sets of a game were dumped and it was decided to change which sets were which version.

==What about those arcade cabinets on eBay that come with all the ROMs?==

If the seller does not have a proper license to include the ROMs with his system, he is not allowed to legally include any ROMs with his system. If he has purchased a license to the ROMs in your name from a distributor or vendor with legitimate licenses, then he is okay to include them with the cabinet. After signing an agreement, cabinet owners that include legitimate licensed ROMs may be permitted to include a version of MAME that runs those ROMs and nothing more.

==What about those guys who burn DVDs of ROMs for the price of the media?==

What they are doing is just as illegal as selling the ROMs outright. As long as somebody owns the copyright, making illegal copies is illegal, period. If someone went on the internet and started a business of selling cheap copies of the latest U2 album for the price of media, do you think they would get away with it?

Even worse, a lot of these folks like to claim that they are helping the project. In fact, they only create more problems for the MAME team. We are not associated with these people in any way regardless of how "official" they may attempt to appear. You are only helping criminals make a profit through selling software they have no right to sell. Anybody using the MAME name and/or logo to sell such products is also in violation of the MAME trademark.

==But isn't there a special DMCA exemption that makes ROM copying legal?==

No, you have misread the exemptions. The exemption allows people to reverse engineer the copy protection or encryption in computer programs that are obsolete. The exemption simply means that figuring out how these obsolete programs worked is not illegal according to the DMCA. It does not have any effect on the legality of violating the copyright on computer programs, which is what you are doing if you make copies of ROMs.

==But isn't it OK to download and "try" ROMs for 24 hours?==

This is an urban legend that was made up by people who put ROMs up for download on their sites, in order to justify the fact that they were breaking the law. There is nothing like this in any copyright law.

==If I buy a cabinet with legitimate ROMs, can I set it up in a public place to make money?==

Absolutely not. Not only is it against the MAME license to use MAME for commercial purposes, but ROMs are typically only licensed for personal, non-commercial purposes.

==But I've seen Ultracade and Global VR Classics cabinets out in public places? Why can they do it?==

Ultracade had two separate products. The Ultracade product is a commercial machine with commercial licenses to the games. These machines were designed to be put on location and make money, like traditional arcade machines. Their other product is the Arcade Legends series. These are home machines with non- commercial licenses for the games, and can only be legally operated in a private environment. Since their buyout by Global VR they only offer the Global VR Classics cabinet, which is equivalent to the earlier Ultracade product.

FAQ:ROMs

2008-09-10T03:52:29Z

Stphinkle:

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.

Disclaimer: The following information is not legal advice and was not written by a lawyer.

==Why does MAME report "missing files" even if I have the ROMs?==

There can be several reasons for this:

* It is not unusual for the ROMs to change for a game between releases of MAME. Why would this happen? Oftentimes, better or more complete ROM dumps are made, or errors are found in the way the ROMs were previously defined. Early versions of MAME were not as meticulous about this issue, but more recent MAME builds are. Additionally, there can be more features of a game emulated in a later release of MAME than an earlier release, requiring more ROM code to run.

*You may find that some games require CHD files. A CHD file is a compressed representation of a game's hard disk, CD-ROM, or laserdisc, and is generally not included as part of a game's ROMs. However, in most cases, these files are required to run the game, and MAME will complain if they cannot be found.

* Some games such as Neo-Geo, Playchoice-10, Convertible Video System, Deco Cassette, MegaTech, MegaPlay, ST-V Titan, and others need their BIOS ROMs in addition to the game ROMs. The BIOS Roms often contain ROM code that is used for booting the machine, menu processor code on multi-game systems, and code common to all games on a system. BIOS ROMS must be named correctly and left zipped inside your ROMs folder.

* Older versions of MAME needed decryption tables in order for MAME to emulate Capcom Play System 2 (a.k.a. CPS2) games. These are created by team CPS2Shock.

* Some games in MAME are considered "Clones" of another game. This is often the case when the game in question is simply an alternate version of the game. Common alternate versions of games include versions with text in other languages, versions with different copyright dates, later versions or updates, bootlegs, etc. "Cloned" games often overlap some of the ROM code as the original or "parent" version of the game. To see if you have any "clones" type "MAME -listclones". To run a "cloned game" you simply need to place its parent ROM file in your ROMs folder (leave it zipped). Another way to find out if a game needs a parent ROM, is to visit the MAWS database at http://www.mameworld.net/maws/ .

==How can I be sure I have the right ROMs?==
MAME checks to be sure you have the right ROMs before emulation begins. If you see any error messages, your ROMs are not those tested to work properly with MAME. You will need to obtain a correct set of ROMs through legal methods.

If you have several games and you wish to verify that they are compatible with the current version of MAME, you can use the <code>-verifyroms</code> parameter. For example:

mame -verifyroms robby

...checks your ROMs for the game [http://mamedev.org/roms/robby Robby Roto] and displays the results on the screen.

mame -verifyroms * >verify.txt

...checks the validity of ALL the ROMs in your ROMS directory, and writes the results to a textfile called verify.txt.

==How do I legally obtain ROMs or disk images to run on MAME?==
You have several options:

* You can obtain a license to them by purchasing one via a distributor or vendor who has proper authority to do so.
* You can [http://mamedev.org/roms/ download one of the ROM sets that have been released for free to the public for non-commerical use].
* You can purchase an actual arcade PCB, read the ROMs or disks yourself, and let MAME use that data.

Beyond these options, you are on your own.

==Isn't copying ROMs a legal gray area?==

No, it's not. You are not permitted to make copies of software without the copyright owner's permission. This is a black & white issue.

==Can't game ROMs be considered abandonware?==

No. Even the companies that went under had their assets purchased by somebody, and that person is the copyright owner.

==I had ROMs that worked with an old version of MAME and now they don't. What happened?==

As time passes, MAME is perfecting the emulation of older games, even when the results aren't immediately obvious to the user. Often times the better emulation requires more data from the original game to operate. Sometimes the data was overlooked, sometimes it simply wasn't feasible to get at it (for instance, chip "decapping" is a technique that only became affordable very recently for people not working in high-end laboratories). In other cases it's much simpler: more sets of a game were dumped and it was decided to change which sets were which version.

==What about those arcade cabinets on eBay that come with all the ROMs?==

If the seller does not have a proper license to include the ROMs with his system, he is not allowed to legally include any ROMs with his system. If he has purchased a license to the ROMs in your name from a distributor or vendor with legitimate licenses, then he is okay to include them with the cabinet. After signing an agreement, cabinet owners that include legitimate licensed ROMs may be permitted to include a version of MAME that runs those ROMs and nothing more.

==What about those guys who burn DVDs of ROMs for the price of the media?==

What they are doing is just as illegal as selling the ROMs outright. As long as somebody owns the copyright, making illegal copies is illegal, period. If someone went on the internet and started a business of selling cheap copies of the latest U2 album for the price of media, do you think they would get away with it?

Even worse, a lot of these folks like to claim that they are helping the project. In fact, they only create more problems for the MAME team. We are not associated with these people in any way regardless of how "official" they may attempt to appear. You are only helping criminals make a profit through selling software they have no right to sell. Anybody using the MAME name and/or logo to sell such products is also in violation of the MAME trademark.

==But isn't there a special DMCA exemption that makes ROM copying legal?==

No, you have misread the exemptions. The exemption allows people to reverse engineer the copy protection or encryption in computer programs that are obsolete. The exemption simply means that figuring out how these obsolete programs worked is not illegal according to the DMCA. It does not have any effect on the legality of violating the copyright on computer programs, which is what you are doing if you make copies of ROMs.

==But isn't it OK to download and "try" ROMs for 24 hours?==

This is an urban legend that was made up by people who put ROMs up for download on their sites, in order to justify the fact that they were breaking the law. There is nothing like this in any copyright law.

==If I buy a cabinet with legitimate ROMs, can I set it up in a public place to make money?==

Absolutely not. Not only is it against the MAME license to use MAME for commercial purposes, but ROMs are typically only licensed for personal, non-commercial purposes.

==But I've seen Ultracade and Global VR Classics cabinets out in public places? Why can they do it?==

Ultracade had two separate products. The Ultracade product is a commercial machine with commercial licenses to the games. These machines were designed to be put on location and make money, like traditional arcade machines. Their other product is the Arcade Legends series. These are home machines with non- commercial licenses for the games, and can only be legally operated in a private environment. Since their buyout by Global VR they only offer the Global VR Classics cabinet, which is equivalent to the earlier Ultracade product.

FAQ:ROMs

2008-09-10T03:52:04Z

Stphinkle:

FAQ:ROMs

2008-09-10T03:50:55Z

Stphinkle:

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.

Disclaimer: The following information is not legal advice and was not written by a lawyer.

==Why does MAME report "missing files" even if I have the ROMs?==

There can be several reasons for this:

* It is not unusual for the ROMs to change for a game between releases of MAME. Why would this happen? Oftentimes, better or more complete ROM dumps are made, or errors are found in the way the ROMs were previously defined. Early versions of MAME were not as meticulous about this issue, but more recent MAME builds are. Additionally, there can be more features of a game emulated in a later release of MAME than an earlier release, requiring more ROM code to run.

*You may find that some games require CHD files. A CHD file is a compressed representation of a game's hard disk, CD-ROM, or laserdisc, and is generally not included as part of a game's ROMs. However, in most cases, these files are required to run the game, and MAME will complain if they cannot be found.

* Some games such as Neo-Geo, Playchoice-10, Convertible Video System, Deco Cassette, MegaTech, MegaPlay, ST-V Titan, and others need their BIOS ROMs in addition to the game ROMs. The BIOS Roms often contain ROM code that is used for booting the machine, menu processor code on multi-game systems, and code common to all games on a system. BIOS ROMS must be named correctly and left zipped inside your ROMs folder.

* Older versions of MAME needed decryption tables in order for MAME to emulate Capcom Play System 2 (a.k.a. CPS2) games. These are created by team CPS2Shock.

* Some games in MAME are considered "Clones" of another game. This is often the case when the game in question is simply an alternate version of the same game. Such alternate versions include versions in other languages, versions with different copyright dates, later versions or updates, bootlegs, etc. "Cloned" games often overlap some of the ROM code as the original or "parent" version of the game. To see if you have any "clones" type "MAME -listclones". To run a "cloned game" you simply need to place its parent ROM file in your ROMs folder (leave it zipped). Another way to find out if a game needs a parent ROM, is to visit the MAWS database at http://www.mameworld.net/maws/ .

==How can I be sure I have the right ROMs?==
MAME checks to be sure you have the right ROMs before emulation begins. If you see any error messages, your ROMs are not those tested to work properly with MAME. You will need to obtain a correct set of ROMs through legal methods.

If you have several games and you wish to verify that they are compatible with the current version of MAME, you can use the <code>-verifyroms</code> parameter. For example:

mame -verifyroms robby

...checks your ROMs for the game [http://mamedev.org/roms/robby Robby Roto] and displays the results on the screen.

mame -verifyroms * >verify.txt

...checks the validity of ALL the ROMs in your ROMS directory, and writes the results to a textfile called verify.txt.

==How do I legally obtain ROMs or disk images to run on MAME?==
You have several options:

* You can obtain a license to them by purchasing one via a distributor or vendor who has proper authority to do so.
* You can [http://mamedev.org/roms/ download one of the ROM sets that have been released for free to the public for non-commerical use].
* You can purchase an actual arcade PCB, read the ROMs or disks yourself, and let MAME use that data.

Beyond these options, you are on your own.

==Isn't copying ROMs a legal gray area?==

No, it's not. You are not permitted to make copies of software without the copyright owner's permission. This is a black & white issue.

==Can't game ROMs be considered abandonware?==

No. Even the companies that went under had their assets purchased by somebody, and that person is the copyright owner.

==I had ROMs that worked with an old version of MAME and now they don't. What happened?==

As time passes, MAME is perfecting the emulation of older games, even when the results aren't immediately obvious to the user. Often times the better emulation requires more data from the original game to operate. Sometimes the data was overlooked, sometimes it simply wasn't feasible to get at it (for instance, chip "decapping" is a technique that only became affordable very recently for people not working in high-end laboratories). In other cases it's much simpler: more sets of a game were dumped and it was decided to change which sets were which version.

==What about those arcade cabinets on eBay that come with all the ROMs?==

If the seller does not have a proper license to include the ROMs with his system, he is not allowed to legally include any ROMs with his system. If he has purchased a license to the ROMs in your name from a distributor or vendor with legitimate licenses, then he is okay to include them with the cabinet. After signing an agreement, cabinet owners that include legitimate licensed ROMs may be permitted to include a version of MAME that runs those ROMs and nothing more.

==What about those guys who burn DVDs of ROMs for the price of the media?==

What they are doing is just as illegal as selling the ROMs outright. As long as somebody owns the copyright, making illegal copies is illegal, period. If someone went on the internet and started a business of selling cheap copies of the latest U2 album for the price of media, do you think they would get away with it?

Even worse, a lot of these folks like to claim that they are helping the project. In fact, they only create more problems for the MAME team. We are not associated with these people in any way regardless of how "official" they may attempt to appear. You are only helping criminals make a profit through selling software they have no right to sell. Anybody using the MAME name and/or logo to sell such products is also in violation of the MAME trademark.

==But isn't there a special DMCA exemption that makes ROM copying legal?==

No, you have misread the exemptions. The exemption allows people to reverse engineer the copy protection or encryption in computer programs that are obsolete. The exemption simply means that figuring out how these obsolete programs worked is not illegal according to the DMCA. It does not have any effect on the legality of violating the copyright on computer programs, which is what you are doing if you make copies of ROMs.

==But isn't it OK to download and "try" ROMs for 24 hours?==

This is an urban legend that was made up by people who put ROMs up for download on their sites, in order to justify the fact that they were breaking the law. There is nothing like this in any copyright law.

==If I buy a cabinet with legitimate ROMs, can I set it up in a public place to make money?==

Absolutely not. Not only is it against the MAME license to use MAME for commercial purposes, but ROMs are typically only licensed for personal, non-commercial purposes.

==But I've seen Ultracade and Global VR Classics cabinets out in public places? Why can they do it?==

Ultracade had two separate products. The Ultracade product is a commercial machine with commercial licenses to the games. These machines were designed to be put on location and make money, like traditional arcade machines. Their other product is the Arcade Legends series. These are home machines with non- commercial licenses for the games, and can only be legally operated in a private environment. Since their buyout by Global VR they only offer the Global VR Classics cabinet, which is equivalent to the earlier Ultracade product.

FAQ:General Games

2008-09-10T03:47:46Z

Stphinkle:

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.
==Why are there so many versions of Galaxian, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, etc.?==
Games were often licensed to other companies for a variety of reasons: the most common was that the makers wished to sell the game in a country or region in which they had no distribution of their own. In the early 80s, Namco had no US distribution network so their games were licensed to Atari, Bally-Midway, and others. Conversely, Atari licensed their games to Japanese companies (usually Namco) for sale there.

Sometimes a set of ROMs with a different copyright date is found, or a bootleg set, or another alternate version. When the "parent" game has already been emulated in MAME, these alternates are usually easy to add. In some cases, alternate versions are slightly different: Game levels are in a different order, the game is harder or faster, etc.

In some cases, ROMs were hacked to run on hardware they were not intended for. For example, when Pac-Man was "hot," some arcade operators found a way to dump Pac-Man ROMs and hack them to work on Scramble machines* so they wouldn't have to purchase extra Pac-Man boards. Since these hacked versions are masterpieces in their own right, the MAME developers have included them.

* Apparently, Scramble's board was especially easy to re-use; several games were hacked to play on it. A long-running joke with MAME enthusiasts is that anything can be run on Scramble hardware - N64 games, your toaster, your automatic garage door, etc. :?) (Ironically, Scramble itself was hacked to play on Galaxian hardware!)

==How are video arcade games copy-protected, and why?==
Arcade games are protected for the same reason as any other: piracy (specifically in the form of bootlegs - the same game adapted to run on cheaper hardware so that it could be sold to operators for less money).

One of the most devious methods - unhackable until MAME - was Atari's "Slapstic" security chip. When the game was run, the game code checked for the security board in various ways. If it wasn't there, the game malfunctioned or refused to run. (This is similar to the hardware "dongle" protection used by some high-end PC software.) Since the security chip came only with purchased games, copies of the ROMs were unusable. This is why games like '''Marble Madness''' and '''Indiana Jones''' could previously not be emulated, though their ROMs were available.

Another way to protect ROMs was to encrypt them. A custom CPU or special chips on the main board decoded (decrypted) the data as it ran the game. Copying the ROMs was futile unless the encryption system had been "broken". As such, it is difficult to extract the key and decryption algorithm from these chips, but weaknesses in the algorithms or their implementation can be exploited to recover the algorithm and/or the key. Encryption can affect graphics (as in the case of later Neo Geo games and Funky Jet), sound (as in some Seibu games), program code (as in Sega System 16/18, Capcom CPS-2 and -3, or the C-Chip in many Taito games), sprites (as in '''Raiden II'''), or a combination of things.

Some systems store the key in battery backed RAM, instead of ROM. This insures that altering the data or trying to dump the decryption key will disable your board. This is also known as a "suicide battery" - the board would be rendered useless if the battery dies or is disconnected. This is used on a number of boards, for example Capcom's CPS-2, CPS-3 and Sega's System 16 and System 18 boards.

Yet another method of copy protection is an MCU (microcontroller unit), which is a custom processor, and can have an internal ROM inside it. This holds either program code or important data for the game and only allows the game to access it under certain conditions.

These dedicated protection devices can be used for a multitude of protective tasks. They can perform collision detection between rectangles or other simple math operations (Sega and Konami both did this a lot), they can do DMA transfers (Konami K055550, seen in '''Violent Storm''' and '''Monster Maulers'''), they can pull sprite data out of work RAM and generate a priority-sorted display list in sprite RAM (many Konami games starting with '''TMNT 2'''), set up palette RAM (Konami did this, as did Atari), return executable code that the main CPU runs (Taito liked to do this) - without the device the code is invalid and the CPU crashes - or they can set magic values in RAM that the main game code needs to function (Sega did this a lot, and '''Run and Gun''' seems to also).

Dumping this code is often a very difficult, or even an impossible task. However, there are sometimes ways to trick the MCU program to bypass the security measures and read the contents. Sometimes, though, the only option for the developer is to guess what the MCU does and simulate it as well as they can.

Of course, it gets even better if all of these are combined. The Dallas DS5002FP security chip (manufactured by Dallas Semiconductor) combines encryption of the internal ROM with a sort-of suicide battery that destroys the contents of the internal ROM if it is tampered with. It is also completely custom as opposed to for example the M68705 which has been used in many arcade games (for example Bubble Bobble) and therefore there is a lot of information available about it on the Internet. The Dallas security chip prevents a lot of Gaelco games from being emulated, for example. It's not invincible, though, since [http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/ Markus Kuhn] claims to have cracked it, although the process he describes is not easy.

==What are "custom chips"?==
Custom chips are chips that were specifically designed by the game manufacturer, usually for one specific hardware system (although that doesn't have to be the case - Konami and Taito both heavily reused their customs across multiple PCBs and systems). These chips are often what gives a game it's special features that make it stand out, in much the same way that the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga Commodore Amiga] was defined largely by the capabilities of it's custom chips.

Most typically the graphics hardware of a game is on a custom chip (or an FPGA in the case of newer games), while the CPU, sound, and other hardware are off-the-shelf parts from makers like Motorola, Zilog, or Yamaha. In earlier games, when the technology wasn't yet capable of allowing cheap production of high-powered custom chips, often large arrays of simple logic gates (so-called "74xx-series" chips) were used to perform the same function. Also, while a majority of games used stock audio hardware, Sega, Namco, and Konami all used custom audio processors to try and gain an additional advantage.

Sometimes "semi-custom" chips were used - these were custom-made for a home computer or console but ended up being pressed into arcade service. For instance, Sega used the Genesis/Megadrive video chip to provide additional layers in System 18, and later used the Saturn's SCSP sound processor in Model 2 and 3. (I am not counting arcade systems based entirely on their home counterparts here).

==What is a bootleg version?==
The most accurate definition in relation to arcade games is "unauthorized pirate version". Usually this word is used to refer to the games that are hacked or ported to different hardware by someone other than the game manufacturer. Often this is coupled with removing the copy protection, and the bootleggers may also have modified the game itself. Frequently the game is also degraded to run on lower-cost hardware, increasing the bootlegger's profits. Amusingly, many bootlegs include their own new protection scheme to prevent other bootleggers from using it.

==What are flyers?==
A "flyer" is a printed advertisement. For arcade games, flyers were primarily used to entice operators into buying a new game. Some were also aimed at game players so that they would demand their local operators to buy specific games.

You can see flyers for thousands of games at [http://www.arcadeflyers.com/ The Arcade Flyers Archive].

==What are the Mahjong games doing in MAME?==
Mahjong is very popular in Japan, so literally dozens (if not hundreds) of mahjong games have been made for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Domestic_Market JDM] consumption. While this may seem strange to people outside of Japan, there are other similar situations in the world of sport. American football, cricket, and rugby each are big sellers in specific countries and largely unheard of elsewhere.

Anyway, mahjong isn't actually too hard to learn, and it can greatly expand your selection of puzzle/strategy type games. Several online guides exist, including [http://tokyo.cool.ne.jp/barfhappy/ Introduction to Ma-Jan Video Games], [http://www.sys2064.com/faq/mahjong.txt SYS 2064], [http://www16.brinkster.com/mahjong/ Mahjong for Dummies], and [http://mahjonginmame.nm.ru/ Mahjong In MAME], which teaches you Mahjong using MAME and some of the mahjong games it emulates.

==How do I play Truco / Hanafuda / Shougi?==
Like mahjong, there are many online guides. Use your favorite search engine, or try these to get you started: [http://www.pagat.com/put/truco.html Truco], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanafuda Hanafuda], and [http://www.ricoh.co.jp/SHOGI/rules/erules.html Shougi].

==Can I build my own arcade cabinet?==
Certainly, depending on your woodworking skills. Instructions, examples, and guidance can be found on [http://directory.google.com/Top/Games/Coin-Op/Arcade_Games/Cabinets/Constructing/ Constructing Cabinets] and [http://www.arcadecontrols.com/ Build Your Own Arcade Controls]. There are also pre-made cabinets available from [http://www.hanaho.com Hanaho Games] and [http://www.dreamarcades.com Dream Arcades].

FAQ:Controls

2008-09-10T03:43:50Z

Stphinkle:

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.
==What control devices does MAME support?==
MAME supports three basic classes of controllers:
# Keyboard type
#* standard keyboards
#* key encoders
#* some joy-to-key software
# Mouse type
#* mice
#* trackballs
#* spinners
#* Act-Labs USB Light Guns
# Joystick type
#* joysticks
#* joypads / gamepads
#* console pads via most USB adapters
#* steering wheels
#* any DirectInput-visible gaming controller that has digital buttons or analog axes

Please note that most of MAME's controls are set up for development purposes, which means that most games will work fine with just some form of keyboard control. If you wish to use fancier control schemes, you will probably need to configure them within MAME to your liking.

==How do I configure the keys?==

Press Tab in-game and choose "Input: This Game". Select the input you want to configure, press enter followed by the key you want it mapped to.

More fancy key combinations can be made. To map this key OR that key, set one of the keys as before, wait until mame accepts it, then repeat for second key. To map so two keys have to be pressed at the same time, press both (or more) keys after pressing enter. To map a not (key1 if key2 is not also pressed), enter, press first key, then quickly press the not key(s) twice. "Input: General" can be selected to change all games inputs, or mame's UI buttons.

This will also work for joystick and mouse inputs if joystick support is enabled (see below).

==Why doesn't the Tab key work anymore?==
Most likely you have re-configured the "UI Configure" key, normally Tab, to something else. To restore the default settings, the quickest way is to delete the default.cfg file from the cfg/ subdirectory below the main MAME directory. However this will remove any other general input changes, too.

If you have settings you don't want to lose, you can also edit default.cfg with any text editor, since the input configuration files are in XML format. Open the default.cfg file and find the line that says <code><port type="UI_CONFIGURE"></code>. Delete that line and all the lines down to and including the next <code></port></code> line; this should be five lines. Save the file.

==How can I change what axes the mouse and joystick control?==

Press Tab in-game and select "Input: This Game". From there, you can assign inputs much the same way as [[#How do I configure the keys?|changing keys]]. Additionally, in the menu, there is the option Analog Controls, where you can [[#When playing Star Wars (or other games) with a mouse, the crosshair moves in the wrong direction.|reverse the Axis]]. Also see [[#What's the differences between "...analog", "...inc", and "...dec" lines seen when changing inputs?|What's the differences between "...analog", "...inc", and "...dec" lines seen when changing inputs?]] if changing analog inputs.

==Mouse control is too sensitive / not sensitive enough.==

Try increasing the accleration and sensitivity settings in the Analog Input settings menu after pressing Tab.

==Why doesn't my joystick work?==

There can be several reasons for this:

The most common reason is that Mame disables joysticks by default. In your MAME.ini file, look for the "joystick" line reading "'''joystick 0"'''; simply change it to '''joystick 1'''. If this does not work, try the following:

* If your joystick or game controller came with a device driver, you may need to install it first. To do this, refer to the documentation that came with the joystick or joypad itself.

* Open the Windows Control Panel (Start -> Settings -> Control Panel) and double click the "joysticks" or "game controllers" icon. See if your controller is regonized there. If it is, proceed further. If not, you may need to add it there, or you may have a problem with the joystick or controller itself, or its device driver.

* In MAME, try pressing "Tab" and choose "Input: This Game" and make sure that the games buttons are mapped to the appropriate joystick inputs.

==The arrow keys work, but I can't fire, jump, etc.==

Here are the default controller buttons for many games:

* 5 - Insert Coin
* 1 - Start
* Arrows - Move
* Ctrl - Action Button 1
* Alt - Action Button 2
* Space - Action Button 3
* Mouse - Analog Control (needed for some games)
* P - Pause
* ESC - Quit MAME
* F2 - Service Mode
* Tab - MAME Options Menu

Note: There are many games with much more complex controls. If you need to see or change a games controls, press Tab and choose "Input: This Game".

==TRON's arm doesn't move; I can't aim in Heavy Barrel, etc.==

Often, these games use analog control, which by default is mapped to the mouse.

==When playing Star Wars (or other games) with a mouse, the crosshair moves in the wrong direction.==

These games were played with a Yoke originally, so that this is correct. In MAME, you can press Tab while playing, and choose "Analog Controls" and reverse the axis to correct this.

==I don't remember how to control this game.==

You can press Tab and choose "Input: This Game" and review its inputs. Additionally, you can go to http://www.gamefaqs.com and see if there is an FAQ available for the game.

==What if I only want authentic arcade controls?==
There are several high-quality control panels available. The first one, and now the most basic, is the [http://www.hanaho.com/Products/HotRodJoystick.php HotRod]. It's been joined by the [http://www.x-arcade.com/ X-Arcade], which is also relatively basic but can be used with many popular home consoles in addition to computers, and the insanely customizable [http://www.slikstik.com/ SlikStik].

It's also possible to build your own: you can get plans, guidance, and support at [http://www.arcadecontrols.com/ Build Your Own Arcade Controls].

==What's the differences between "...analog", "...inc", and "...dec" lines seen when changing inputs?==

When mame emulates an analog input in a game, three lines show up in the change input UI menu, unlike the one line for each digital switch like a button. The "...analog" line is for analog controllers, such as analog joysticks, mice and lightguns. The "...inc" and "...dec" lines are so digital controls, such as keyboard or joystick buttons, can be used to control analog input games.

For best control, map a controller's analog axis at the "...analog" line, and not the "...inc" or "...dec" lines; the [[#When playing Star Wars (or other games) with a mouse, the crosshair moves in the wrong direction.|axis direction]] should be set in the Analog Controls UI menu.

FAQ:Video

2008-09-10T03:37:32Z

Stphinkle:

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.
==Can I play MAME on an arcade monitor or on a TV screen?==
Yes, MAME can be used with real arcade monitors, and using such a monitor will give you a much better arcade picture than a computer monitor. However, you need a video card that supports 15 kHz output natively (such as Ultimarc's [http://www.ultimarc.com ArcadeVGA]) or through a software program (like [http://community.arcadeinfo.de/showthread.php?t=9366 Soft15Khz]), or in some cases 25 kHz if your monitor is medium res. Driving a 31-48 kHz VGA, SVGA, or XGA signal to an arcade monitor can ''damage it permanently''. For more details and help on making this work, please see the [http://arcadecontrols.com/ Build Your Own Arcade Controls] website and forums. Additionally, there are some arcade monitors such as the [http://www.betson.com/products/IMP-44-4070-RT Betson Multisync], [http://www.niemandisplays.com Nieman Tri-sync], [http://www.wellsgardner.com/products/details.asp?iCat=2&iSubCat=36 Wells Gardner D9400], and [http://www.billabs.com/bl27cb0p.htm Billabs BL27CB0P] that will allow both the native resolution of arcade games and allow running Windows at 640x480 (and some models up to 800x600 or 1024x768).

For the use of MAME on a TV screen, you need a video card that provides TV-out support. The picture quality will be lower than a monitor, however many people have reported good results because most raster games in MAME run at low resolutions. If you use a TV connection, using S-Video, Component, or RGB Scart inputs will often lead to better results than composite or RF inputs.

For some examples of what MAME looks on a computer monitor, an arcade monitor and a TV screen, see [http://www.oscarcontrols.com/monitors.shtml this monitor output comparison] courtesy of [http://www.oscarcontrols.com/ Oscar Controls].

==Can I play vector games on a vector monitor?==
Indeed you can. With the [http://www.zektor.com/zvg/ Zektor's Vector Generator], you can use a special DOS-only version of MAME on a suitable vector monitor or Vectrex game console.

==How do I get the best look with MAME on an LCD display?==
LCD displays have a fixed resolution, and this resolution is almost always higher than most games in MAME. This means that somebody has to scale/stretch the video from the game's original resolution to the LCD's native resolution. In general, it is best to let your graphics card do this work. The default parameters for MAME are actually set up fine for this purpose.

What's important to know is that it doesn't make sense to ever "switch resolutions" on an LCD display. There is really only one resolution; all other resolutions are simulated via stretching. Thus, the default behavior of MAME is fine.

==Can I take a picture of my screen while I am playing?==
Yes. At any time you can take a snapshot of all the active video screens (there may be more than one). By default, the '''F12''' key is configured to take a snapshot. The resulting file or files will be placed here:

mame.exe
snap/
<gamename>/
0000.png
0001.png
(etc)

PNG files are viewable in most image programs, and directly in Explorer under Windows by double-clicking them (assumes you have Windows XP or later).

==Some of the games appear sideways on the screen (ie. rotated by 90 degrees).==
This commonly occurs with certain Intel onboard graphics chipsets, often in conjunction with LCD monitors. Also, some Gateway, Dell, and other brands of laptops also may experience this issue.

This bug is not a problem with MAME, but a feature of this video chipset. To fix it, you either specify a resolution to use (i.e. add -640x480, -800x600, -1024x768, etc to the command line), enable hardware stretch, and Keep Aspect Ratio. The other workaround is to enter your Windows display control panel, click on "Settings", click on "Advanced" and search for an autorotate option, and disable it.

If you have Intel onboard video, also try updating the display drivers.

==Why do I get lots of screen tearing when I play certain games?==
Many games do not have the exact same screen refresh rate as your monitor. Hence, there can be some dropped (or doubled) frames as the emulator tries to compensate.

Another problem is that the screen updating is not locked to the screen refresh rate. Therefore, the screen may be refreshed when only half of it has been updated. In these cases, this causes the top part of the screen be new, and the bottom part is from the previous frame. This is especially noticeable in horizontally scrolling games.

To fix this, use the -triplebuffer parameter, and set the native refresh rate of your monitor higher than that of the game you are running. Triple buffering updates the screen at exactly the screen refresh intervals to avoid tearing. However, since the monitor refresh rate can still be different from the emulation screen refresh rate, the games can still exhibit choppiness.

==When will MAME use Direct3D/OpenGL to emulate 3D games?==
Probably not ever, at least in the sense this question is likely being asked. MAME now uses Direct3D (and SDLMAME uses OpenGL) to composite and scale the game graphics, artwork elements, and MAME UI displays, but the actual 3D rendering is always done in software in order to ensure consistent operation across different video cards and operating systems.

Additionally, the bottleneck for many 3D games in MAME is actually their insanely fast RISC processor rather than the actual 3D rendering. This is the case in games such as '''Crusin USA''', '''Killer Instinct''' (which has no 3D hardware anyway), and '''Gauntlet Legends'''.

FAQ:Video

2008-09-10T03:36:49Z

Stphinkle:

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.
==Can I play MAME on an arcade monitor or on a TV screen?==
Yes, MAME can be used with real arcade monitors, and using such a monitor will give you a much better arcade picture than a computer monitor. However, you need a video card that supports 15 kHz output natively (such as Ultimarc's ArcadeVGA) or through a software program (like [http://community.arcadeinfo.de/showthread.php?t=9366 Soft15Khz]), or in some cases 25 kHz if your monitor is medium res. Driving a 31-48 kHz VGA, SVGA, or XGA signal to an arcade monitor can ''damage it permanently''. For more details and help on making this work, please see the [http://arcadecontrols.com/ Build Your Own Arcade Controls] website and forums. Additionally, there are some arcade monitors such as the [http://www.betson.com/products/IMP-44-4070-RT Betson Multisync], [http://www.niemandisplays.com Nieman Tri-sync], [http://www.wellsgardner.com/products/details.asp?iCat=2&iSubCat=36 Wells Gardner D9400], and [http://www.billabs.com/bl27cb0p.htm Billabs BL27CB0P] that will allow both the native resolution of arcade games and allow running Windows at 640x480 (and some models up to 800x600 or 1024x768).

For the use of MAME on a TV screen, you need a video card that provides TV-out support. The picture quality will be lower than a monitor, however many people have reported good results because most raster games in MAME run at low resolutions. If you use a TV connection, using S-Video, Component, or RGB Scart inputs will often lead to better results than composite or RF inputs.

For some examples of what MAME looks on a computer monitor, an arcade monitor and a TV screen, see [http://www.oscarcontrols.com/monitors.shtml this monitor output comparison] courtesy of [http://www.oscarcontrols.com/ Oscar Controls].

==Can I play vector games on a vector monitor?==
Indeed you can. With the [http://www.zektor.com/zvg/ Zektor's Vector Generator], you can use a special DOS-only version of MAME on a suitable vector monitor or Vectrex game console.

==How do I get the best look with MAME on an LCD display?==
LCD displays have a fixed resolution, and this resolution is almost always higher than most games in MAME. This means that somebody has to scale/stretch the video from the game's original resolution to the LCD's native resolution. In general, it is best to let your graphics card do this work. The default parameters for MAME are actually set up fine for this purpose.

What's important to know is that it doesn't make sense to ever "switch resolutions" on an LCD display. There is really only one resolution; all other resolutions are simulated via stretching. Thus, the default behavior of MAME is fine.

==Can I take a picture of my screen while I am playing?==
Yes. At any time you can take a snapshot of all the active video screens (there may be more than one). By default, the '''F12''' key is configured to take a snapshot. The resulting file or files will be placed here:

mame.exe
snap/
<gamename>/
0000.png
0001.png
(etc)

PNG files are viewable in most image programs, and directly in Explorer under Windows by double-clicking them (assumes you have Windows XP or later).

==Some of the games appear sideways on the screen (ie. rotated by 90 degrees).==
This commonly occurs with certain Intel onboard graphics chipsets, often in conjunction with LCD monitors. Also, some Gateway, Dell, and other brands of laptops also may experience this issue.

This bug is not a problem with MAME, but a feature of this video chipset. To fix it, you either specify a resolution to use (i.e. add -640x480, -800x600, -1024x768, etc to the command line), enable hardware stretch, and Keep Aspect Ratio. The other workaround is to enter your Windows display control panel, click on "Settings", click on "Advanced" and search for an autorotate option, and disable it.

If you have Intel onboard video, also try updating the display drivers.

==Why do I get lots of screen tearing when I play certain games?==
Many games do not have the exact same screen refresh rate as your monitor. Hence, there can be some dropped (or doubled) frames as the emulator tries to compensate.

Another problem is that the screen updating is not locked to the screen refresh rate. Therefore, the screen may be refreshed when only half of it has been updated. In these cases, this causes the top part of the screen be new, and the bottom part is from the previous frame. This is especially noticeable in horizontally scrolling games.

To fix this, use the -triplebuffer parameter, and set the native refresh rate of your monitor higher than that of the game you are running. Triple buffering updates the screen at exactly the screen refresh intervals to avoid tearing. However, since the monitor refresh rate can still be different from the emulation screen refresh rate, the games can still exhibit choppiness.

==When will MAME use Direct3D/OpenGL to emulate 3D games?==
Probably not ever, at least in the sense this question is likely being asked. MAME now uses Direct3D (and SDLMAME uses OpenGL) to composite and scale the game graphics, artwork elements, and MAME UI displays, but the actual 3D rendering is always done in software in order to ensure consistent operation across different video cards and operating systems.

Additionally, the bottleneck for many 3D games in MAME is actually their insanely fast RISC processor rather than the actual 3D rendering. This is the case in games such as '''Crusin USA''', '''Killer Instinct''' (which has no 3D hardware anyway), and '''Gauntlet Legends'''.

FAQ:Video

2008-09-07T07:54:08Z

Stphinkle:

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.
==Can I play MAME on an arcade monitor or on a TV screen?==
Yes, MAME can be used with real arcade monitors, and using such a monitor will give you a much better arcade picture than a computer monitor. However, you need a video card that supports 15 kHz output natively (such as Ultimarc's ArcadeVGA) or through a software program (like [http://community.arcadeinfo.de/showthread.php?t=9366 Soft15Khz]), or in some cases 25 kHz if your monitor is medium res. Driving a 31-48 kHz VGA, SVGA, or XGA signal to an arcade monitor can ''damage it permanently''. For more details and help on making this work, please see the [http://arcadecontrols.com/ Build Your Own Arcade Controls] website and forums. Additionally, there are some arcade monitors such as the [http://www.betson.com/products/IMP-44-4070-RT Betson Multisync], [http://www.niemandisplays.com Nieman Tri-sync], [http://www.wellsgardner.com/products/details.asp?iCat=2&iSubCat=36 Wells Gardner D9400], and [http://www.billabs.com/bl27cb0p.htm Billabs BL27CB0P] that will allow both the native resolution of arcade games and allow running Windows at 640x480 (and some models up to 800x600 or 1024x768).

For the use of MAME on a TV screen, you need a video card that provides TV-out support. The picture quality will be lower than a monitor, however many people have reported good results because most raster games in MAME run at low resolutions. If you use a TV connection, using S-Video, Component, or RGB Scart inputs will often lead to better results than composite or RF inputs.

For some examples of what MAME looks on a computer monitor, an arcade monitor and a TV screen, see [http://www.oscarcontrols.com/monitors.shtml this monitor output comparison] courtesy of [http://www.oscarcontrols.com/ Oscar Controls].

==Can I play vector games on a vector monitor?==
Indeed you can. With the [http://www.zektor.com/zvg/ Zektor's Vector Generator], you can use a special DOS-only version of MAME on a suitable vector monitor or Vectrex game console.

==How do I get the best look with MAME on an LCD display?==
LCD displays have a fixed resolution, and this resolution is almost always higher than most games in MAME. This means that somebody has to scale/stretch the video from the game's original resolution to the LCD's native resolution. In general, it is best to let your graphics card do this work. The default parameters for MAME are actually set up fine for this purpose.

What's important to know is that it doesn't make sense to ever "switch resolutions" on an LCD display. There is really only one resolution; all other resolutions are simulated via stretching. Thus, the default behavior of MAME is fine.

==Can I take a picture of my screen while I am playing?==
Yes. At any time you can take a snapshot of all the active video screens (there may be more than one). By default, the '''F12''' key is configured to take a snapshot. The resulting file or files will be placed here:

mame.exe
snap/
<gamename>/
0000.png
0001.png
(etc)

PNG files are viewable in most image programs, and directly in Explorer under Windows by double-clicking them (assumes you have Windows XP or later).

==All the games appear sideways on the screen (ie. rotated by 90 degrees).==
This commonly occurs with certain Intel onboard graphics chipsets, often in conjunction with LCD monitors. Also, some Gateway, Dell, and other brands of laptops also may experience this issue.

This bug is not a problem with MAME, but a feature of this video chipset. To fix it, you either specify a resolution to use (i.e. add -640x480, -800x600, -1024x768, etc to the command line), enable hardware stretch, and Keep Aspect Ratio. The other workaround is to enter your Windows display control panel, click on "Settings", click on "Advanced" and search for an autorotate option, and disable it.

If you have Intel onboard video, also try updating the display drivers.

==Why do I get lots of screen tearing when I play certain games?==
Many games do not have the exact same screen refresh rate as your monitor. Hence, there can be some dropped (or doubled) frames as the emulator tries to compensate.

Another problem is that the screen updating is not locked to the screen refresh rate. Therefore, the screen may be refreshed when only half of it has been updated. In these cases, this causes the top part of the screen be new, and the bottom part is from the previous frame. This is especially noticeable in horizontally scrolling games.

To fix this, use the -triplebuffer parameter, and set the native refresh rate of your monitor higher than that of the game you are running. Triple buffering updates the screen at exactly the screen refresh intervals to avoid tearing. However, since the monitor refresh rate can still be different from the emulation screen refresh rate, the games can still exhibit choppiness.

==When will MAME use Direct3D/OpenGL to emulate 3D games?==
Probably not ever, at least in the sense this question is likely being asked. MAME now uses Direct3D (and SDLMAME uses OpenGL) to composite and scale the game graphics, artwork elements, and MAME UI displays, but the actual 3D rendering is always done in software in order to ensure consistent operation across different video cards and operating systems.

Additionally, the bottleneck for many 3D games in MAME is actually their insanely fast RISC processor rather than the actual 3D rendering. This is the case in games such as '''Crusin USA''', '''Killer Instinct''' (which has no 3D hardware anyway), and '''Gauntlet Legends'''.

FAQ:Video

2008-09-07T07:53:44Z

Stphinkle:

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.
==Can I play MAME on an arcade monitor or on a TV screen?==
Yes, MAME can be used with real arcade monitors, and using such a monitor will give you a much better arcade picture than a computer monitor. However, you need a video card that supports 15 kHz output natively (such as Ultimarc's ArcadeVGA) or through a software program (like [http://community.arcadeinfo.de/showthread.php?t=9366 Soft15Khz]), or in some cases 25 kHz if your monitor is medium res. Driving a 31-48 kHz VGA, SVGA, or XGA signal to an arcade monitor can ''damage it permanently''. For more details and help on making this work, please see the [http://arcadecontrols.com/ Build Your Own Arcade Controls] website and forums. Additionally, there are some arcade monitors such as the [http://www.betson.com/products/IMP-44-4070-RT Betson Multisync], [http://www.niemandisplays.com Nieman Tri-sync], http://http://www.wellsgardner.com/products/details.asp?iCat=2&iSubCat=36 Wells Gardner D9400], and [http://www.billabs.com/bl27cb0p.htm Billabs BL27CB0P] that will allow both the native resolution of arcade games and allow running Windows at 640x480 (and some models up to 800x600 or 1024x768).

For the use of MAME on a TV screen, you need a video card that provides TV-out support. The picture quality will be lower than a monitor, however many people have reported good results because most raster games in MAME run at low resolutions. If you use a TV connection, using S-Video, Component, or RGB Scart inputs will often lead to better results than composite or RF inputs.

For some examples of what MAME looks on a computer monitor, an arcade monitor and a TV screen, see [http://www.oscarcontrols.com/monitors.shtml this monitor output comparison] courtesy of [http://www.oscarcontrols.com/ Oscar Controls].

==Can I play vector games on a vector monitor?==
Indeed you can. With the [http://www.zektor.com/zvg/ Zektor's Vector Generator], you can use a special DOS-only version of MAME on a suitable vector monitor or Vectrex game console.

==How do I get the best look with MAME on an LCD display?==
LCD displays have a fixed resolution, and this resolution is almost always higher than most games in MAME. This means that somebody has to scale/stretch the video from the game's original resolution to the LCD's native resolution. In general, it is best to let your graphics card do this work. The default parameters for MAME are actually set up fine for this purpose.

What's important to know is that it doesn't make sense to ever "switch resolutions" on an LCD display. There is really only one resolution; all other resolutions are simulated via stretching. Thus, the default behavior of MAME is fine.

==Can I take a picture of my screen while I am playing?==
Yes. At any time you can take a snapshot of all the active video screens (there may be more than one). By default, the '''F12''' key is configured to take a snapshot. The resulting file or files will be placed here:

mame.exe
snap/
<gamename>/
0000.png
0001.png
(etc)

PNG files are viewable in most image programs, and directly in Explorer under Windows by double-clicking them (assumes you have Windows XP or later).

==All the games appear sideways on the screen (ie. rotated by 90 degrees).==
This commonly occurs with certain Intel onboard graphics chipsets, often in conjunction with LCD monitors. Also, some Gateway, Dell, and other brands of laptops also may experience this issue.

This bug is not a problem with MAME, but a feature of this video chipset. To fix it, you either specify a resolution to use (i.e. add -640x480, -800x600, -1024x768, etc to the command line), enable hardware stretch, and Keep Aspect Ratio. The other workaround is to enter your Windows display control panel, click on "Settings", click on "Advanced" and search for an autorotate option, and disable it.

If you have Intel onboard video, also try updating the display drivers.

==Why do I get lots of screen tearing when I play certain games?==
Many games do not have the exact same screen refresh rate as your monitor. Hence, there can be some dropped (or doubled) frames as the emulator tries to compensate.

Another problem is that the screen updating is not locked to the screen refresh rate. Therefore, the screen may be refreshed when only half of it has been updated. In these cases, this causes the top part of the screen be new, and the bottom part is from the previous frame. This is especially noticeable in horizontally scrolling games.

To fix this, use the -triplebuffer parameter, and set the native refresh rate of your monitor higher than that of the game you are running. Triple buffering updates the screen at exactly the screen refresh intervals to avoid tearing. However, since the monitor refresh rate can still be different from the emulation screen refresh rate, the games can still exhibit choppiness.

==When will MAME use Direct3D/OpenGL to emulate 3D games?==
Probably not ever, at least in the sense this question is likely being asked. MAME now uses Direct3D (and SDLMAME uses OpenGL) to composite and scale the game graphics, artwork elements, and MAME UI displays, but the actual 3D rendering is always done in software in order to ensure consistent operation across different video cards and operating systems.

Additionally, the bottleneck for many 3D games in MAME is actually their insanely fast RISC processor rather than the actual 3D rendering. This is the case in games such as '''Crusin USA''', '''Killer Instinct''' (which has no 3D hardware anyway), and '''Gauntlet Legends'''.

FAQ:Audio

2008-09-07T07:46:11Z

Stphinkle:

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.
==Can I record the music or sounds from the game?==
Yes. If you just want to record the sound effects and music from a session of playing the game in MAME, you can use the <code>-wavwrite</code> parameter, like so:

mame <gamename> -wavwrite <filename>

If you'd like to record specific sound effects on their own, you can use other programs such as [http://www.emuhype.com/index.phtml?s=misc&ss=index M1], which is a sound playback program that supports many of the same games that MAME does.

==What is the best output frequency to use?==
By default, MAME generates audio at 48000Hz. For most modern sound cards, this is the native sound rate and should produce the best results. Earlier sound cards tended to support 44100Hz as a different rate, so you can optionally try that if you're not happy with the sound quality.

== Why do I get no sound? ==

Try the Following:

* Make sure your speakers are turned on and the volume turned up

* Make sure your sound card drivers are installed properly. For this, follow the directions that came with your sound card and/or motherboard (in the case of on-board sound)

* Open the Volume Control (Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Entertainment -> Volume Control) and make sure your Master and Wave controls are both turned up and not muted.

* Not all games have sound support in MAME. Make sure the game you are playing has sound emulation

* Some games in MAME have options for disabling some sound, or reducing the volume. Try pressing Tab and choose "Dip Switches" or press F2 for service mode and see if there are options for sound.

* The sound for some games only occurs after a game is started (silent attract mode).

== Why is the sound skipping or being choppy? How do I fix it? ==

There are two different groups of causes: video-audio sync problems, and not enough CPU speed.

The video-audio sync problems most often occur on systems with LCD monitors, but can happen on all systems. The usual cause is the original game ran video at something other than 60 Hz, while the LCD is. With Mame's default settings, this can lead to skipping or choppy sound. There are a few solutions:
*Enable -refreshspeed. This causes mame to run not quite the correct speed for most games, though.
*Set the correct -speed value. This will vary game to game, and enabling -refreshspeed should set this correctly. If it does not, you can hand set it instead with this option.
*Disable -waitvsync, -syncrefresh, and -triplebuffer. (This is the default settings.)
*Get a monitor that can switch resolutions, and a video card + driver that can display at the original games' refresh rates, and enable -switchres.

The not enough CPU speed is due to the computer not having enough computing power to emulate the game at full speed, and bad sound can be one of the first symptoms.
*The best answer it to get a faster CPU. However, since this is the most expensive, you might want to check if the other solutions help or not before doing this.
*Increase -audio_latency.
*Decrease -samplerate.
*Any of the other [[FAQ:Performance|Performance]] hints.

FAQ:Controls

2008-09-07T07:44:16Z

Stphinkle:

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.
==What control devices does MAME support?==
MAME supports three basic classes of controllers:
# Keyboard type
#* standard keyboards
#* key encoders
#* some joy-to-key software
# Mouse type
#* mice
#* trackballs
#* spinners
#* Act-Labs USB Light Guns
# Joystick type
#* joysticks
#* joypads / gamepads
#* console pads via most USB adapters
#* steering wheels
#* any DirectInput-visible gaming controller that has digital buttons or analog axes

Please note that most of MAME's controls are set up for development purposes, which means that most games will work fine with just some form of keyboard control. If you wish to use fancier control schemes, you will probably need to configure them within MAME to your liking.

==How do I configure the keys?==

Press Tab in-game and choose "Input: This Game". Select the input you want to configure, press enter followed by the key you want it mapped to.

More fancy key combinations can be made. To map this key OR that key, set one of the keys as before, wait until mame accepts it, then repeat for second key. To map so two keys have to be pressed at the same time, press both (or more) keys after pressing enter. To map a not (key1 if key2 is not also pressed), enter, press first key, then quickly press the not key(s) twice. "Input: General" can be selected to change all games inputs, or mame's UI buttons.

This will also work for joystick and mouse inputs if joystick support is enabled (see below).

==Why doesn't the Tab key work anymore?==
Most likely you have re-configured the "UI Configure" key, normally Tab, to something else. To restore the default settings, the quickest way is to delete the default.cfg file from the cfg/ subdirectory below the main MAME directory. However this will remove any other general input changes, too.

If you have settings you don't want to lose, you can also edit default.cfg with any text editor, since the input configuration files are in XML format. Open the default.cfg file and find the line that says <code><port type="UI_CONFIGURE"></code>. Delete that line and all the lines down to and including the next <code></port></code> line; this should be five lines. Save the file.

==How can I change what axes the mouse and joystick control?==

Press Tab in-game and select "Input: This Game". From there, you can assign inputs much the same way as [[#How do I configure the keys?|changing keys]]. Additionally, in the menu, there is the option Analog Controls, where you can [[#When playing Star Wars (or other games) with a mouse, the crosshair moves in the wrong direction.|reverse the Axis]]. Also see [[#What's the differences between "...analog", "...inc", and "...dec" lines seen when changing inputs?|What's the differences between "...analog", "...inc", and "...dec" lines seen when changing inputs?]] if changing analog inputs.

==Mouse control is too sensitive / not sensitive enough.==

Try increasing the accleration and sensitivity settings in the Analog Input settings menu after pressing Tab.

==Why doesn't my joystick work?==

There can be several reasons for this:

The most common reason is that Mame disnables joysticks by default. In your MAME.ini file, look for the "joystick" line reading "'''joystick 0"'''; simply change it to '''joystick 1'''. If this does not work, try the following:

* If your joystick or game controller came with a device driver, you may need to install it first. To do this, refer to the documentation that came with the joystick or joypad itself.

* Open the Windows Control Panel (Start -> Settings -> Control Panel) and double click the "joysticks" or "game controllers" icon. See if your controller is regonized there. If it is, proceed further. If not, you may need to add it there, or you may have a problem with the joystick or controller itself, or its device driver.

* In MAME, try pressing "Tab" and choose "Input: This Game" and make sure that the games buttons are mapped to the appropriate joystick inputs.

==The arrow keys work, but I can't fire, jump, etc.==

Here are the default controller buttons for many games:

* 5 - Insert Coin
* 1 - Start
* Arrows - Move
* Ctrl - Action Button 1
* Alt - Action Button 2
* Space - Action Button 3
* Mouse - Analog Control (needed for some games)
* P - Pause
* ESC - Quit MAME
* F2 - Service Mode
* Tab - MAME Options Menu

Note: There are many games with much more complex controls. If you need to see or change a games controls, press Tab and choose "Input: This Game".

==TRON's arm doesn't move; I can't aim in Heavy Barrel, etc.==

Often, these games use analog control, which by default is mapped to the mouse.

==When playing Star Wars (or other games) with a mouse, the crosshair moves in the wrong direction.==

These games were played with a Yoke originally, so that this is correct. In MAME, you can press Tab while playing, and choose "Analog Controls" and reverse the axis to correct this.

==I don't remember how to control this game.==

You can press Tab and choose "Input: This Game" and review its inputs. Additionally, you can go to http://www.gamefaqs.com and see if there is an FAQ available for the game.

==What if I only want authentic arcade controls?==
There are several high-quality control panels available. The first one, and now the most basic, is the [http://www.hanaho.com/Products/HotRodJoystick.php HotRod]. It's been joined by the [http://www.x-arcade.com/ X-Arcade], which is also relatively basic but can be used with many popular home consoles in addition to computers, and the insanely customizable [http://www.slikstik.com/ SlikStik].

It's also possible to build your own: you can get plans, guidance, and support at [http://www.arcadecontrols.com/ Build Your Own Arcade Controls].

==What's the differences between "...analog", "...inc", and "...dec" lines seen when changing inputs?==

When mame emulates an analog input in a game, three lines show up in the change input UI menu, unlike the one line for each digital switch like a button. The "...analog" line is for analog controllers, such as analog joysticks, mice and lightguns. The "...inc" and "...dec" lines are so digital controls, such as keyboard or joystick buttons, can be used to control analog input games.

For best control, map a controller's analog axis at the "...analog" line, and not the "...inc" or "...dec" lines; the [[#When playing Star Wars (or other games) with a mouse, the crosshair moves in the wrong direction.|axis direction]] should be set in the Analog Controls UI menu.

FAQ:About

2008-09-07T07:41:46Z

Stphinkle:

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.
==What is MAME?==
MAME stands for '''M'''ultiple '''A'''rcade '''M'''achine '''E'''mulator. When used in conjunction with an arcade game's data files (ROMs, CHDs, samples, etc.), MAME attempts to reproduce that game as faithfully as possible on a more modern general-purpose system. MAME can currently emulate many thousands of classic arcade video games from the the very earliest CPU-based systems to much more modern 3D platforms.

The ROM and CHD images that MAME requires are "dumped" from arcade games' original circuit-board ROM chips, hard disks, and CD-ROMs. MAME becomes the "hardware" for the games, taking the place of their original CPUs and support chips. Therefore, these games are NOT ports or rewrites, but the actual, original games that appeared in arcades, complete with all the bugs, glitches, slowdowns, and subtleties of the original game as it appeared in the arcade.

MAME's purpose is to preserve these decades of video-game history. As gaming technology continues to rush forward, MAME prevents these important "vintage" games from being lost and forgotten. This is achieved by documenting the hardware and how it functions. The source code to MAME serves as this documentation. The fact that the games are playable serves primarily to validate the accuracy of the documentation (how else can you prove that you have recreated the hardware faithfully)?

Also see: [http://mamedev.org/about.html About MAME]

==Is MAME a simulator or an emulator?==

That depends entirely on the definition of those words. In electrical engineering, the word "emulation" has traditionally been used to mean a very low-level reproduction of real life electrical signals. For example, professional microprocessor emulator software comes with a processor-shaped connection, which you can actually plug into a motherboard and run instructions with it.

MAME runs simulated CPU instructions on top of simulated memory maps and I/O spaces. If simulation had to be defined, there could be three levels:

* Signal level. At this level, all the inputs and outputs of each chip on the board would be simulated. Believe it or not, given current processing power available, this would likely not run at anything close to full speed even for the simplest games. Simulation at the signal level would be required to produce a truly accurate emulation of microprocessor-less games such as '''Pong''' and '''Monaco GP'''.
* Logical level. At this level, there is an assumption that one or more CPUs is running the show, and those CPUs are emulated as a single unit, as accurately as possible based usually on the specs for the CPU, and sometimes based on actual probing of the CPU itself. Furthermore, mapping of memory and behaviors of other chips (audio/video) are replicated to varying degrees of accuracy. All games in MAME currently run simulations at this level.
* HLE level. At this level, a '''H'''igh '''L'''evel '''E'''mulation of large portions of the game are used to simulate the behavior of multiple chips and often even entire CPUs. Simulation at this level is usually very game-specific and often behaves in noticeably different ways than the original. For the most part, MAME tries to avoid using HLE unless necessary, and it definitely does not support its use as a means of accelerating the emulation.

Most people make the simulation/emulation cut based on a couple of factors. One such factor is determining whether you can support all the same games the original hardware did without any game-specific hacks. MAME's CPU and sound cores pass that test literally every day as new games are added. Some other emulators that rely on a HLE approach fail it badly. A descriptive comment about the detail level of MAME's drivers is "if someone can make an FPGA version of the game, the driver documents it well enough", and that's actually happened for Pacman using MAME as a reference.

In other words, MAME is against simulating games, but it's not against simulating components. The only way you can emulate a game is to simulate all the components. All those chips weren't really created in C.

==What do I need to run MAME?==
MAME is written in fairly generic C, and has been ported to numerous platforms. Over time, as computer hardware has evolved, the MAME code has evolved as well to take advantage of the greater processing power and hardware capabilities offered.

The official MAME binaries are compiled and designed to run on a standard Windows-based system. The minimum requirements are:
* Any MMX-capable AMD or Intel processor (Pentium III or later recommended for current versions)
* Windows 98 or later (Windows 2000 or later preferred)
* DirectX 5.0 or later (included with all versions of Windows 98 or later)
* A DirectDraw or Direct3D capable graphics card
* Any DirectSound capable sound card

Of course, the minimum requirements are just that: minimal. You may not get optimal performance from such a system, but MAME should run. Modern versions of MAME require more power than older versions, so if you have a less-capable PC, you may find that using an [http://mamedev.org/oldrel.html older version of MAME] may get you better performance, at the cost of lowered accuracy and fewer supported games.

As of MAME 0.106 and later, MAME will take advantage of 3D hardware for compositing artwork and scaling the games to full screen. To make use of this, you should have a modern Direct3D 8-capable video card with at least 16MB of video RAM.

Around the same time, MAME added minimal multi-processor support, if you use the -mt flag. This means that some of the video processing can be done on a second CPU core if it is available. To take advantage of this, you should run MAME on a dual core (or greater) system.

Keep in mind that even on the fastest computers available, MAME is still incapable of playing some games at full speed. The goal of the project isn't to make all games run playably on your system; the goal is to document the hardware and reproduce the behavior of the hardware as faithfully as possible.

==What platforms does MAME run on?==
The [http://mamedev.org/release.html official build of MAME] is targeted for Windows platforms.

Other popular up-to-date MAME ports include:

* [http://mameui.classicgaming.gamespy.com/ MAMEui] is a Windows based version of MAME that includes a graphical user interface, maintained by Kirmse, Mike Haaland, René Single, and John L. Hardy IV.

* [http://rbelmont.mameworld.info/?page_id=163 SDLMAME] is an SDL-targeted port of MAME maintained by R. Belmont. SDL is a platform-independent library, and so SDLMAME can be configured to run on Linux, Windows, MacOS X, and many other platforms.

* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/mameosx/ MAME OS X] is a native MacOS X port of MAME maintained by Dave Dribin.

A number of additional MAME ports are available, but not updated as frequently. These include:

* [http://www.macmame.org/ MacMAME], a MacOS X port of MAME maintained by Brad Oliver.

* [http://x.mame.net/ XMAME], an X11 port of MAME maintained by Laurent Desnogues.

* [http://advancemame.sourceforge.net/ AdvanceMAME], a DOS/Linux port of MAME optimized for arcade monitors that was maintained by Andrea Mazzoleni. Note the 'was'. This port is no longer maintained. The last official release was on 25-06-2006, AdvanceMAME v0.106.0 (R.I.P).

In addition, people have ported MAME to various cameras, PDAs, game consoles, and other platforms. Search the web to find more details on these more obscure ports.

==Are there versions of MAME in other languages?==
While the MAME core is getting more localization-friendly by itself, the leader in multi-language MAME remains [http://www5.emu-zone.org/host/mameplus/ MAME Plus!]. Note that it is not officially supported by MAMEdev (ask questions about it on it's own forum), and it contains other changes from baseline MAME which mean it's not optimal if you are only seeking a non-English version of MAME.

==How is MESS related to MAME? How about PinMAME?==
[http://www.mess.org/ MESS] ('''M'''ultiple '''E'''mulator '''S'''uper '''S'''ystem) is a sister project to MAME that shares the core MAME emulation engine, but provides drivers and additional tools that are focused on the emulation of console and computer systems. The MESS project keeps up-to-date with changes to the core MAME system, and generally releases shortly after each major MAME release.

[http://pinmame.retrogames.com/ PinMAME] ('''Pin'''ball MAME) is a MAME-derived project that aims to emulate the circuit boards that ran the displays and produced the sound for most modern-era pinball machines. Of course, with only the sound effects and score displays, you can't actually play the pinball game, so there are mechanisms to connect PinMAME to various pinball simulators to complete the picture. PinMAME releases on its own schedule and has not kept sync with recent MAME developments, instead using the source code from an older MAME release as its basis.

==Is MAME Open Source?==
[http://mamedev.org/license.html MAME's License] is a modified version of the standard BSD license. The primary modification is that we do not allow commercial distribution or use of MAME, in order to limit some of the obvious abuses of the code. Because of this modification, MAME's license does not fall under the definition of an '''O'''pen '''S'''ource (uppercase) license. This is one of the reasons you don't see the MAME source code hosted on sites such as [http://sourceforge.net SourceForge].

Confusingly, MAME is often referred to as '''o'''pen '''s'''ource (lowercase), as its development shares much in common with other open source projects. However, in spite of its freely available source code, MAME may not be used in a commercial setting, as specified by its license.

==Is MAME free?==
Yes, MAME is really free. The source code is freely available, too, though it is not [[Is MAME Open Source?|Open Source]].

According to the [http://mamedev.org/license.html license], it is ''illegal'' to sell MAME or its source.

==Is MAME illegal?==
No. Emulating another platform, in itself, is perfectly legal. This is established US case law from the ''Sony v. Connectix'' and ''Sony v. bleem!'' cases.

ROM and CHD images are a different matter. There is a [http://mamedev.org/romsfaq.html separate FAQ] available on this site that deals with common questions surrounding the legality of owning and copying ROM and CHD images.

==What games does MAME emulate so far?==
Each version of MAME includes support for additional games. If you run MAME with the -listfull option, it will display a list of all supported games.

On the web, there is an excellent searchable database of the games that MAME supports, called [http://www.mameworld.net/maws/ MAWS]. You can search games by name, manufacturer, year, etc.

Another very helpful site is [http://unmamed.mame.net/ Bobby Tribble's page of unemulated arcade games]. It contains numerous screen shots and descriptions of yet-to-be emulated games.

Also take a look at [http://www.system16.com/ System16 - The Arcade Museum]. It is a very detailed site about the games made by several of the biggest manufacturers and it also contains lots of hardware information.

User:Stphinkle

2008-01-17T20:40:06Z

Stphinkle: New page: Real Name: Stephen Hinkle I am one of the computer technologists for Health Science High School and Middle College and a nationally known speaker on disability rights. I am a big arcade ...

Real Name: Stephen Hinkle

I am one of the computer technologists for Health Science High School and Middle College and a nationally known speaker on disability rights.

I am a big arcade fan an a user of MAME for several users. I enjoy playing video games from the era in which I grew up.

You can find me at http://www.myspace.com/stephenhinkle

FAQ:Audio

2008-01-17T03:20:21Z

Stphinkle:

FAQ:ROMs

2008-01-17T03:04:07Z

Stphinkle:

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.

Disclaimer: The following information is not legal advice and was not written by a lawyer.

==Why does MAME report "missing files" even if I have the ROMs?==

There can be several reasons for this:

* It is not unusual for the ROMs to change for a game between releases of MAME. Why would this happen? Oftentimes, better or more complete ROM dumps are made, or errors are found in the way the ROMs were previously defined. Early versions of MAME were not as meticulous about this issue, but more recent MAME builds are. Additionally, there can be more features of a game emulated in a later release of MAME than an earlier release, requiring more ROM code to run.

*You may find that some games require CHD files. A CHD file is a compressed representation of a game's hard disk, CD-ROM, or laserdisc, and is generally not included as part of a game's ROMs. However, in most cases, these files are required to run the game, and MAME will complain if they cannot be found.

* Some games such as Neo-Geo, Playchoice-10, Convertible Video System, Deco Cassette, MegaTech, MegaPlay, ST-V Titan, and others need their BIOS ROMs in addition to the game ROMs. The BIOS Roms often contain ROM code that is used for booting the machine, menu processor code on multi-game systems, and code common to all games on a system. BIOS ROMS must be named correctly and left zipped inside your ROMs folder.

* Older versions of MAME needed decryption tables in order for MAME to emulate Capcom Play System 2 (a.k.a. CPS2) games. These are created by team CPS2Shock.

* Some games in MAME are considered "Clones" of another game. This is often the case when the game in question is simply a version of the same game in another language, has a different copyright date, a later version, a bootleg, etc. "Cloned" games often overlap some of the ROM code as the original or "parent" version of the game. To see if you have any "clones" type "MAME -listclones". To run a "cloned game" you simply need to place its parent ROM file in your ROMs folder (leave it zipped). Another way to find out if a game needs a parent ROM, is to visit the MAWS database at http://www.mameworld.net/maws/ .

==How can I be sure I have the right ROMs?==
MAME checks to be sure you have the right ROMs before emulation begins. If you see any error messages, your ROMs are not those tested to work properly with MAME. You will need to obtain a correct set of ROMs through legal methods.

If you have several games and you wish to verify that they are compatible with the current version of MAME, you can use the <code>-verifyroms</code> parameter. For example:

mame -verifyroms robby

...checks your ROMs for the game [http://mamedev.org/roms/robby Robby Roto] and displays the results on the screen.

mame -verifyroms * >verify.txt

...checks the validity of ALL the ROMs in your ROMS directory, and writes the results to a textfile called verify.txt.

==How do I legally obtain ROMs or disk images to run on MAME?==
You have several options:

* You can obtain a license to them by purchasing one via a distributor or vendor who has proper authority to do so.
* You can [http://mamedev.org/roms/ download one of the ROM sets that have been released for free to the public for non-commerical use].
* You can purchase an actual arcade PCB, read the ROMs or disks yourself, and let MAME use that data.

Beyond these options, you are on your own.

==Isn't copying ROMs a legal gray area?==

No, it's not. You are not permitted to make copies of software without the copyright owner's permission. This is a black & white issue.

==Can't game ROMs be considered abandonware?==

No. Even the companies that went under had their assets purchased by somebody, and that person is the copyright owner.

==I had ROMs that worked with an old version of MAME and now they don't. What happened?==

As time passes, MAME is perfecting the emulation of older games, even when the results aren't immediately obvious to the user. Often times the better emulation requires more data from the original game to operate. Sometimes the data was overlooked, sometimes it simply wasn't feasible to get at it (for instance, chip "decapping" is a technique that only became affordable very recently for people not working in high-end laboratories). In other cases it's much simpler: more sets of a game were dumped and it was decided to change which sets were which version.

==What about those arcade cabinets on eBay that come with all the ROMs?==

If the seller does not have a proper license to include the ROMs with his system, he is not allowed to legally include any ROMs with his system. If he has purchased a license to the ROMs in your name from a distributor or vendor with legitimate licenses, then he is okay to include them with the cabinet. After signing an agreement, cabinet owners that include legitimate licensed ROMs may be permitted to include a version of MAME that runs those ROMs and nothing more.

==What about those guys who burn DVDs of ROMs for the price of the media?==

What they are doing is just as illegal as selling the ROMs outright. As long as somebody owns the copyright, making illegal copies is illegal, period. If someone went on the internet and started a business of selling cheap copies of the latest U2 album for the price of media, do you think they would get away with it?

Even worse, a lot of these folks like to claim that they are helping the project. In fact, they only create more problems for the MAME team. We are not associated with these people in any way regardless of how "official" they may attempt to appear. You are only helping criminals make a profit through selling software they have no right to sell. Anybody using the MAME name and/or logo to sell such products is also in violation of the MAME trademark.

==But isn't there a special DMCA exemption that makes ROM copying legal?==

No, you have misread the exemptions. The exemption allows people to reverse engineer the copy protection or encryption in computer programs that are obsolete. The exemption simply means that figuring out how these obsolete programs worked is not illegal according to the DMCA. It does not have any effect on the legality of violating the copyright on computer programs, which is what you are doing if you make copies of ROMs.

==But isn't it OK to download and "try" ROMs for 24 hours?==

This is an urban legend that was made up by people who put ROMs up for download on their sites, in order to justify the fact that they were breaking the law. There is nothing like this in any copyright law.

==If I buy a cabinet with legitimate ROMs, can I set it up in a public place to make money?==

Absolutely not. Not only is it against the MAME license to use MAME for commercial purposes, but ROMs are typically only licensed for personal, non-commercial purposes.

==But I've seen Ultracade and Global VR Classics cabinets out in public places? Why can they do it?==

Ultracade had two separate products. The Ultracade product is a commercial machine with commercial licenses to the games. These machines were designed to be put on location and make money, like traditional arcade machines. Their other product is the Arcade Legends series. These are home machines with non- commercial licenses for the games, and can only be legally operated in a private environment. Since their buyout by Global VR they only offer the Global VR Classics cabinet, which is equivalent to the earlier Ultracade product.

FAQ:Video

2007-12-07T06:19:13Z

Stphinkle:

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.
==Can I play MAME on an arcade monitor or on a TV screen?==
Yes, MAME can be used with real arcade monitors, and using such a monitor will give you a much better arcade picture than a computer monitor. However, you need a video card that supports 15 kHz output natively (such as Ultimarc's ArcadeVGA) or through a software program (like Soft15Khz), or in some cases 25 kHz if your monitor is medium res. Driving a 31-48 kHz VGA, SVGA, or XGA signal to an arcade monitor can ''damage it permanently''. For more details and help on making this work, please see the [http://arcadecontrols.com/ Build Your Own Arcade Controls] website and forums. Additionally, there are some arcade monitors such as the Betson Multisync, Nieman Tri-sync, Wells Gardner D9200, and Billabs BL27CB0P that will allow both the native resolution of arcade games and allow running Windows at 640x480 (and some models up to 800x600 or 1024x768).

For the use of MAME on a TV screen, you need a video card that provides TV-out support. The picture quality will be lower than a monitor, however many people have reported good results because most raster games in MAME run at low resolutions. If you use a TV connection, using S-Video, Component, or RGB Scart inputs will often lead to better results than composite or RF inputs.

For some examples of what MAME looks on a computer monitor, an arcade monitor and a TV screen, see [http://www.oscarcontrols.com/monitors.shtml this monitor output comparison] courtesy of [http://www.oscarcontrols.com/ Oscar Controls].

==Can I play vector games on a vector monitor?==
Indeed you can. With the [http://www.zektor.com/zvg/ Zektor's Vector Generator], you can use a special DOS-only version of MAME on a suitable vector monitor or Vectrex game console.

==How do I get the best look with MAME on an LCD display?==
LCD displays have a fixed resolution, and this resolution is almost always higher than most games in MAME. This means that somebody has to scale/stretch the video from the game's original resolution to the LCD's native resolution. In general, it is best to let your graphics card do this work. The default parameters for MAME are actually set up fine for this purpose.

What's important to know is that it doesn't make sense to ever "switch resolutions" on an LCD display. There is really only one resolution; all other resolutions are simulated via stretching. Thus, the default behavior of MAME is fine.

==Can I take a picture of my screen while I am playing?==
Yes. At any time you can take a snapshot of all the active video screens (there may be more than one). By default, the '''F12''' key is configured to take a snapshot. The resulting file or files will be placed here:

mame.exe
snap/
<gamename>/
0000.png
0001.png
(etc)

PNG files are viewable in most image programs, and directly in Explorer under Windows by double-clicking them (assumes you have Windows XP or later).

==All the games appear sideways on the screen (ie. rotated by 90 degrees).==
This commonly occurs with certain Intel onboard graphics chipsets, often in conjunction with LCD monitors. Also, some Gateway, Dell, and other brands of laptops also may experience this issue.

This bug is not a problem with MAME, but a feature of this video chipset. To fix it, you either specify a resolution to use (i.e. add -640x480, -800x600, -1024x768, etc to the command line), enable hardware stretch, and Keep Aspect Ratio. The other workaround is to enter your Windows display control panel, click on "Settings", click on "Advanced" and search for an autorotate option, and disable it.

If you have Intel onboard video, also try updating the display drivers.

==Why do I get lots of screen tearing when I play certain games?==
Many games do not have the exact same screen refresh rate as your monitor. Hence, there can be some dropped (or doubled) frames as the emulator tries to compensate.

Another problem is that the screen updating is not locked to the screen refresh rate. Therefore, the screen may be refreshed when only half of it has been updated. In these cases, this causes the top part of the screen be new, and the bottom part is from the previous frame. This is especially noticeable in horizontally scrolling games.

To fix this, use the -triplebuffer parameter, and set the native refresh rate of your monitor higher than that of the game you are running. Triple buffering updates the screen at exactly the screen refresh intervals to avoid tearing. However, since the monitor refresh rate can still be different from the emulation screen refresh rate, the games can still exhibit choppiness.

==When will MAME use Direct3D/OpenGL to emulate 3D games?==
Probably not ever, at least in the sense this question is likely being asked. MAME now uses Direct3D (and SDLMAME uses OpenGL) to composite and scale the game graphics, artwork elements, and MAME UI displays, but the actual 3D rendering is always done in software in order to ensure consistent operation across different video cards and operating systems.

Additionally, the bottleneck for many 3D games in MAME is actually their insanely fast RISC processor rather than the actual 3D rendering. This is the case in games such as '''Crusin USA''', '''Killer Instinct''' (which has no 3D hardware anyway), and '''Gauntlet Legends'''.

FAQ:Games

2007-12-07T06:12:08Z

Stphinkle:

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.
==The volume in the Mortal Kombat and other recent Williams games is very low.==
When the game is running, hit '''F2''' to get to its own internal service menu. Hit '''F2''' again to "close" the service switch so that you won't get stuck in the menu. Now navigate to the "Volume adjust" option with arrow keys or your joystick, and adjust the volume. Then exit the menu with the appropriate selections.

==The newest Neo Geo games lock up when loading the ROMs.==
Many more recent games require large amounts of memory to hold game data and the large quantity of graphics data that generally go with a modern game. It is not unusual for some of these games to require upwards of 256 MB or 512 MB of RAM to run. If the game loads very slowly or the graphics decode very slowly, and your hard drive is running the whole time it is happening, then you probably don't really have enough available RAM to run the game on your system.

==How do I turn on blood in the Metal Slug and King of Fighters games?==
Hit '''F2''', use the player 1 controls to navigate to "Setting up the soft dip", hit the primary button ('''Left Control'''), navigate to "Slot 1 (game name)", hit the primary button and finally navigate to the "Blood" selection and turn it on by hitting the primary button. To exit the menu, press the third button ('''Space''') two times and select "Exit".

==Simpsons Bowling (or any other post-1986 Konami game) says a ROM is bad or BAD EEPROM etc.==
To re-initialize the EEPROM, hold down the test switch ('''F2''') and tap reset ('''F3''') once. Do not let go of '''F2''' until you see a message that says "Initializing EEPROM".

==Die Hard Arcade says "operation of this cartridge is disallowed in this country".==
The default BIOS of the Sega ST-V system is Japanese, because most of the games on that system were primarily for the Japanese market. However, Die Hard Arcade only runs with the US version of the BIOS. You can select it with the -bios parameter as follows:

mame diehard -bios us

==Hard Drivin' is uncontrollable! It brakes all the time!==
The problem is that the calibration wasn't done correctly. So the first thing you need to do is toss out the existing NVRAM file. This is generally going to be found in your NVRAM directory, called harddriv.nv or racedriv.nv.

The next thing you need to do is understand how the controls are mapped in MAME. It's not very intuitive, so pay attention:

* Steering wheel: Player 1 Paddle control, by default maps to the mouse and the left/right arrow keys
* Gas pedal: Pedal 1 control, by default maps to the '''Left Control''' key. Pressing the key will quickly depress the analog control; releasing the key will release it.
* Brake pedal: Pedal 2 control, by default maps to the '''Left Alt''' key. Operates the same way as the gas pedal.
* Clutch pedal: Pedal 3 control, by default maps to the '''Space''' key. Operates the same way as the gas and brake pedals.
* Analog Shifter: (found in the non-compact versions only) Maps to the Player 2 analog joystick X/Y axes, which are mapped by default to the keys '''R''', '''F''', '''D''', '''G'''.
* Digital Shifter: (found in the compact versions only) Maps to Player 1 buttons 2, 3, 4 and 5. First gear is button 2 (default: '''Left Alt'''). Second gear is button 3 (default: '''Space'''). Third gear is button 4 (default: '''Left Shift'''). Fourth gear is button 5 (default: '''Z''' key).
* Key: Maps to Player 1 start button (default: '''1''' key).
* Abort: Maps to Player 2 start button (default: '''2''' key).

Finally, here is a step-by-step tour through the Hard Drivin' calibration. Note that even if you have an analog control connected to any of the analog controls in the game, it is much easier to do calibration with the keyboard.

# Take your hands and feet off all controls then turn key. Make absolutely sure you haven't touched any of the controls up to this point, then press the '''1''' key.
# Turn wheel counterclockwise as far as it will go then turn key. At this point, press and hold the '''Left''' key for about 5 seconds. After 5 seconds, press the '''1''' key while still holding down the left arrow. It should say New min 256.
# Turn wheel clockwise as far as it will go then turn key. At this point, press and hold the '''Right''' key for about 10 seconds. After 10 seconds, press the '''1''' key while still holding down the right arrow. It should say Max 3840.
# Put transmission in first then turn key and release. Since first gear is in the upper-left corner, press and hold the '''D''' and '''R''' keys for 5 seconds. After 5 seconds, press the '''1''' key while still holding down the '''D''' and '''R''' keys.
# Put transmission in fourth then turn key again. Since fourth gear is in the lower-right corner, press and hold the '''F''' and '''G''' keys for 10 seconds. After 10 seconds, press the '''1''' key while still holding down the '''F''' and '''G''' keys.
# Move seat full forward then turn key and release. Since the seat feedback isn't implemented in the MAME driver, just go ahead and press the '''1''' key here.
# Move fully back and to side then turn key again. Just press the '''1''' key here again to move on.
# Take your foot off the brake turn key to abort. Now this is the tricky part. When you see this screen do nothing. Wait for a couple of seconds until it displays New max 4064. Do NOT press the '''1''' key prematurely here or you will screw up the calibration!
# Now step on brake firmly and release. Do this by pressing and holding the '''Left Alt''' key for 3 seconds, and then letting go. If all is well, it should display Range 4064 and move on to the game.

There, now that wasn't so hard, was it?

==Hard Drivin', Metal Slug 2 and Double Dragon are choppy, but I have enough CPU power.==
Although the FPS counter shows 100% speed for these games, they may appear choppy. This is true to the original — even the original hardware of these games struggled with them and therefore the choppiness is actually accurate emulation of these games. You may be able to get rid of it in some cases by using the -cheat parameter, hitting the tilde key and browsing the on screen menu until you find "CPU overclocking". This will run the emulated CPU faster which may or may not fix it. It may also cause the emulation to have errors, so don't bug people if overclocking screws up a game.

==How can I play Cruis'n USA when it frameskips so badly?==
Short Answer: It isn't as bad as you think. Turn off autoframeskipping. Set your frameskip value to 0.

Long Answer: Many games use bitmaps and blitters to draw their graphics, much like modern computer hardware. With these games, they talk to a blitter chip, and give it commands to draw certain graphics into memory. This memory is also accessible to the main CPU directly, so it is free to manually hand-draw pixels just by writing to graphics memory. Furthermore, the CPU can also read graphics memory, thus allowing it to, for example, read back the data that was written there by the graphics chip. Because of this tight relationship between the CPU and graphics memory, it is important that all drawing commands sent to the blitter actually get executed, regardless of whether they will be displayed on the screen this frame.

Thus, when it comes time to draw the bitmap to the screen, all MAME has to do is copy the contents of graphics memory to the screen. Compared to other arcade hardware that uses tilemaps and sprites, this is a relatively quick and easy process. The problem comes when your computer is not fast enough to run the emulation of the game, the blitter, and the graphics. When this happens, MAME kicks in with "autoframeskipping", where it will gradually increase the frameskip count in order to hopefully save enough time to get the game running 100%. In order to save time, MAME skips the video rendering portion of the emulation periodically.

Now, for games which have fairly complex video rendering with tilemaps and sprites, this can save a lot of time, which is why autoframeskipping is generally a good thing. But in the case of games that use blitters and bitmaps, the only thing MAME can skip is the copying of the graphics memory to the screen. All the blitter commands still must be executed, and so increasing the frameskip value will make very little impact on the overall emulation speed. What's worse is that if your computer is too slow to run these games at frameskip 0, it is also likely too slow to run them at frameskip 11, and so the autoframeskip will shoot right to 11 and display only 1 out of every 12 frames. This is called a "slideshow".

The solution is to identify these kinds of games, and forget all about using autoframeskipping. In this case, you want to always run with a fixed frameskip of 0, because the amount of frameskipping doesn't matter much for performance, and a frameskip of 11 (which is what you'll get with the autoframeskipping) looks really, really bad.

Games that are affected by this pattern: All Williams games, the Cruis'n series of games, the Incredible Technologies games, Police Trainer, and several others.

==How do I set up D&D - Shadow over Mystara or other games for 4 player use?==
Usually the default number of players for most games is two — even if they support more. The most common way to set them for four players is to access the dipswitches, but sometimes the setting is not there. In these cases, try using the service mode (by default '''F2''' key) and investigate the service mode options. Follow the screen instructions on how to move between the menus and save the options (usually by exiting the service mode properly).

==How do I calibrate the guns in Terminator 2? Can I use a light gun?==
Terminator 2 will automatically ask you to calibrate the guns when you start the game for the first time. Simply put, use your mouse or keyboard to "target" the top left corner when the game asks so. There aren't any visual cues to help this, so you'll have to go by the numerical coordinates that are visible on the screen. The numbers you see are in a simple 8-bit scale going from 0 to 255. To "target" the top left corner, keep moving your mouse until you get P1 X and P1 Y as near to 0 as possible. The middle is located at about 127, 127, and the bottom right corner is 255, 255. Repeat the process for the second player.

As for the light gun, the short answer is no. A longer answer is that Terminator 2 didn't actually have a light gun — it had two analog joysticks mounted as guns, and emulating them with a proper light gun is not viable. Try to use mouse control with this game.

Revolution X can be calibrated much the same way. Follow the instructions above.

==How do I calibrate the guns in Namco games? (Golly! Ghost, Lucky & Wild etc.)==
While holding the service coin ('''9''') key, press the service mode button ('''F2'''). Shoot at the targets it shows using the crosshair. The target briefly lights up red while you shoot. After you've shot the target, press the service coin key ('''9''') again to move onto the next one and it will also ask you to calibrate the second player's gun. Once the whole thing repeats, press the service mode button ('''F2''') to exit.

==Why doesn't 720 Degrees use a spinner?==
The original controller for 720 Degrees was a joystick that was hardware-limited to only travel along the outermost edges in a circle. The internal mechanism for reading this control was similar to a spinner except that it had the additional benefit of knowing which direction the joystick was pointing. Because this knowledge is an important aspect of the game, the current emulation of the controller maps an analog joystick to the underlying controls instead of a spinner.

==I am trying to play a Williams game (Joust, Defender, Bubbles, etc.) and I can't get into the game itself.==
The first time you run these games, they will say "Factory settings restored". Press '''F2''' to proceed. This works for most Williams games. Otherwise, try '''F3''', or '''F1''' and '''F2''' together.

==When I run Zookeeper, I get stuck on a THIS LOCATION screen.==
The first time you run the game, it will ask the location. You can change the name using '''F5''' / '''F6''' and '''F2''', then '''F1''' to proceed through the configuration screens. Or just reset ('''F3''').

==What's wrong with the NVRAM in Food Fight?==
The first time you run the game, it re-initializes the NVRAM (Non-volatile RAM) memory. To get past the initialization screen, hit the primary fire button ('''Left Control''' key, or the first joystick button).

==When I try to play MACH 3 or Us vs. Them, I just get a "Disc" message.==
These are laserdisc games. In the '80s, several "hybrid" video/laserdisc games appeared. Unlike Space Ace and Dragon's Lair — which were essentially interactive cartoons — these games mixed graphics and video for a more intense gaming experience. The MAME team decided to emulate the normal graphics portions of the games, and worry later about how to emulate the laserdisc video. Hence, you cannot play these games at this time in MAME. However, a lot of the laserdisc games are emulated in [http://www.daphne-emu.com/site3/index_hi.php Daphne]. You might also be interested in Scott Waye's project of emulating MACH3 by clicking [http://www.scottwaye.com/mach3/ here], please note that this is not a supported or official MAME project.

==How do I play Water Match?==
The instructions are on the game's bezel. The game involves waggling the two joysticks around like an idiot. Here's what you have to do:

For freestyle and backstroke swimming, move the two joysticks up and down in opposition to each other (when one is up, the other must be down).

For butterfly, turn the joysticks "outward" — left clockwise, right counterclockwise. For breaststroke, turn them "inward" (left counterclockwise, right clockwise).

(You need to use the start button to dive into the pool and the turn button to turn around.)

For rowing the rowboat, move the joysticks up and down in sync (both up, both down, both up, etc.).

For rowing the canoe, move the joysticks up and down independently: the left one if the canoe is veering to the left or the right one if the canoe is veering to the right. (One of the buttons is involved as well, but it's too hard to make out in the photo.) You have to press one of the buttons (not sure which one) to right your canoe when it capsizes.

==How do I start a PlayChoice-10 game?==
The Playchoice-10 system was a multigame arcade machine. MAME emulates a Playchoice-10 with one game in it. However, the "channel select" menus and timer still are there in MAME. PC-10 games are timer-based, which means coins buy playing time, instead of a certain number of lives. Game ends when time is up, although you can reset, start and continue unlimited times, as long as you have time left).

To start the game, do the following:
# Run MAME with the PC-10 game you want to play (ex. "MAME PC_SMB3" would run Super Mario Bros 3, or "MAME PC_RCPAM" would run RC Pro-AM).
# Insert a coin by pressing '''5''' to put some time on the timer (300 Units Per coin).
# Press '''0''' to select channel one.
# Press '''-''' to "Enter" the game.
# Press '''1''' to select Options.
# Press '''2''' to Start Game.

FAQ:ROMs

2007-12-07T06:08:29Z

Stphinkle:

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.

Disclaimer: The following information is not legal advice and was not written by a lawyer.

==Why does MAME report "missing files" even if I have the ROMs?==

There can be several reasons for this:

* It is not unusual for the ROMs to change for a game between releases of MAME. Why would this happen? Oftentimes, better or more complete ROM dumps are made, or errors are found in the way the ROMs were previously defined. Early versions of MAME were not as meticulous about this issue, but more recent MAME builds are. Additionally, there can be more features of a game emulated in a later release of MAME than an earlier release, requiring more ROM code to run.

*You may find that some games require CHD files. A CHD file is a compressed representation of a game's hard disk, CD-ROM, or laserdisc, and is generally not included as part of a game's ROMs. However, in most cases, these files are required to run the game, and MAME will complain if they cannot be found.

* Some games such as Neo-Geo, Playchoice-10, Convertible Video System, Deco Cassette, MegaTech, MegaPlay, ST-V Titan, and others need their BIOS ROMs in addition to the game ROMs. The BIOS Roms often contain ROM code that is used for booting the machine, menu processor code on multi-game systems, and code common to all games on a system. BIOS ROMS must be named correctly and left zipped inside your ROMs folder.

* Older versions of MAME needed decryption tables in order for MAME to emulate Capcom Play System 2 (a.k.a. CPS2) games. These are created by team CPS2Shock.

==How can I be sure I have the right ROMs?==
MAME checks to be sure you have the right ROMs before emulation begins. If you see any error messages, your ROMs are not those tested to work properly with MAME. You will need to obtain a correct set of ROMs through legal methods.

If you have several games and you wish to verify that they are compatible with the current version of MAME, you can use the <code>-verifyroms</code> parameter. For example:

mame -verifyroms robby

...checks your ROMs for the game [http://mamedev.org/roms/robby Robby Roto] and displays the results on the screen.

mame -verifyroms * >verify.txt

...checks the validity of ALL the ROMs in your ROMS directory, and writes the results to a textfile called verify.txt.

==How do I legally obtain ROMs or disk images to run on MAME?==
You have several options:

* You can obtain a license to them by purchasing one via a distributor or vendor who has proper authority to do so.
* You can [http://mamedev.org/roms/ download one of the ROM sets that have been released for free to the public for non-commerical use].
* You can purchase an actual arcade PCB, read the ROMs or disks yourself, and let MAME use that data.

Beyond these options, you are on your own.

==Isn't copying ROMs a legal gray area?==

No, it's not. You are not permitted to make copies of software without the copyright owner's permission. This is a black & white issue.

==Can't game ROMs be considered abandonware?==

No. Even the companies that went under had their assets purchased by somebody, and that person is the copyright owner.

==I had ROMs that worked with an old version of MAME and now they don't. What happened?==

As time passes, MAME is perfecting the emulation of older games, even when the results aren't immediately obvious to the user. Often times the better emulation requires more data from the original game to operate. Sometimes the data was overlooked, sometimes it simply wasn't feasible to get at it (for instance, chip "decapping" is a technique that only became affordable very recently for people not working in high-end laboratories). In other cases it's much simpler: more sets of a game were dumped and it was decided to change which sets were which version.

==What about those arcade cabinets on eBay that come with all the ROMs?==

If the seller does not have a proper license to include the ROMs with his system, he is not allowed to legally include any ROMs with his system. If he has purchased a license to the ROMs in your name from a distributor or vendor with legitimate licenses, then he is okay to include them with the cabinet. After signing an agreement, cabinet owners that include legitimate licensed ROMs may be permitted to include a version of MAME that runs those ROMs and nothing more.

==What about those guys who burn DVDs of ROMs for the price of the media?==

What they are doing is just as illegal as selling the ROMs outright. As long as somebody owns the copyright, making illegal copies is illegal, period. If someone went on the internet and started a business of selling cheap copies of the latest U2 album for the price of media, do you think they would get away with it?

Even worse, a lot of these folks like to claim that they are helping the project. In fact, they only create more problems for the MAME team. We are not associated with these people in any way regardless of how "official" they may attempt to appear. You are only helping criminals make a profit through selling software they have no right to sell. Anybody using the MAME name and/or logo to sell such products is also in violation of the MAME trademark.

==But isn't there a special DMCA exemption that makes ROM copying legal?==

No, you have misread the exemptions. The exemption allows people to reverse engineer the copy protection or encryption in computer programs that are obsolete. The exemption simply means that figuring out how these obsolete programs worked is not illegal according to the DMCA. It does not have any effect on the legality of violating the copyright on computer programs, which is what you are doing if you make copies of ROMs.

==But isn't it OK to download and "try" ROMs for 24 hours?==

This is an urban legend that was made up by people who put ROMs up for download on their sites, in order to justify the fact that they were breaking the law. There is nothing like this in any copyright law.

==If I buy a cabinet with legitimate ROMs, can I set it up in a public place to make money?==

Absolutely not. Not only is it against the MAME license to use MAME for commercial purposes, but ROMs are typically only licensed for personal, non-commercial purposes.

==But I've seen Ultracade and Global VR Classics cabinets out in public places? Why can they do it?==

Ultracade had two separate products. The Ultracade product is a commercial machine with commercial licenses to the games. These machines were designed to be put on location and make money, like traditional arcade machines. Their other product is the Arcade Legends series. These are home machines with non- commercial licenses for the games, and can only be legally operated in a private environment. Since their buyout by Global VR they only offer the Global VR Classics cabinet, which is equivalent to the earlier Ultracade product.

FAQ:Controls

2007-11-24T20:49:01Z

Stphinkle:

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.
==What control devices does MAME support?==
MAME supports three basic classes of controllers:
* standard keyboards
* Key Encoders
* mouse-like controllers (this includes most mice and trackballs)
* any DirectInput-visible control that has digital buttons or analog axes (this includes most joysticks, joypads and steering wheels)
* Act-Labs USB Light Guns
* Console Pads via USB Adapters

Please note that most of MAME's controls are set up for development purposes, which means that most games will work fine with just some form of keyboard control. If you wish to use fancier control schemes, you will probably need to configure them within MAME to your liking.

==How do I configure the keys?==

Press Tab in-game and choose "Input: This Game". Select the input you want to configure, press enter followed by the key you want it mapped to. This will also work for joystick and mouse inputs too.

==Why doesn't the Tab key work anymore?==
Most likely you have re-configured the normal menu key, Tab to something else. To restore the default settings, you'll have to delete the default.cfg file from the cfg/ subdirectory below the main MAME directory.

If you have settings you don't want to lose, you can also try to edit default.cfg with any text editor, since the input configuration files are in XML format. Find the line that says <code><port type="UI_CONFIGURE"></code> and delete the adjacent <code><newseq...</code> line, leaving only the <code><defseg...</code> line within the <code><port></code> tag.

==How can I change what axes the mouse and joystick control?==

Press Tab in-game and select "Input: This Game". From there, you can assign inputs to the X and Y axes. Additionally, in the menu, there is an option for analog controls, where you can reverse the Axis.

==Mouse control is too sensitive / not sensitive enough.==

Try increasing the accleration and sensitivity settings in the Analog Input settings menu after pressing Tab.

==Why doesn't my joystick work?==

There can be several reasons for this:

The most common reason is that in your MAME.ini file you have the "joy=" line reading "'''joy=0"''', simply change it to '''joy=1'''. If this does not work, try the following:

* If your joystick or game controller came with a device driver, you may need to install it first. To do this, refer to the documentation that came with the joystick or joypad itself.

* Open the Windows Control Panel (Start -> Settings -> Control Panel) and double click the "joysticks" or "game controllers" icon. See if your controller is regonized there. If it is, proceed further. If not, you may need to add it there, or you may have a problem with the joystick or controller itself, or its device driver.

* In MAME, try pressing "Tab" and choose "Input: This Game" and make sure that the games buttons are mapped to the appropriate joystick inputs.

==The arrow keys work, but I can't fire, jump, etc.==

Here are the default controller buttons for many games:

* 5 - Insert Coin
* 1 - Start
* Arrows - Move
* Ctrl - Action Button 1
* Alt - Action Button 2
* Space - Action Button 3
* Mouse - Analog Control (needed for some games)
* P - Pause
* ESC - Quit MAME
* F2 - Service Mode
* Tab - MAME Options Menu

Note: There are many games with much more complex controls. If you need to see or change a games controls, press Tab and choose "Input: This Game".

==TRON's arm doesn't move; I can't aim in Heavy Barrel, etc.==

Often, these games use analog control, which by default is mapped to the mouse.

==When playing Star Wars (or other games) with a mouse, the crosshair moves in the wrong direction.==

These games were played with a Yoke originally, so that this is correct. In MAME, you can press Tab while playing, and choose "Analog Controls" and reverse the axis to correct this.

==I don't remember how to control this game.==

You can press Tab and choose "Input: This Game" and review its inputs. Additionally, you can go to http://www.gamefaqs.com and see if there is an FAQ available for the game.

==What if I only want authentic arcade controls?==
There are several high-quality control panels available. The first one, and now the most basic, is the [http://www.hanaho.com/Products/HotRodJoystick.php HotRod]. It's been joined by the [http://www.x-arcade.com/ X-Arcade], which is also relatively basic but can be used with many popular home consoles in addition to computers, and the insanely customizable [http://www.slikstik.com/ SlikStik].

It's also possible to build your own: you can get plans, guidance, and support at [http://www.arcadecontrols.com/ Build Your Own Arcade Controls].

FAQ:Performance

2007-11-24T20:42:47Z

Stphinkle: /* There are occasional speed problems. */

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.
==Why do some games run so slowly on my system?==
Some games have more system demands than others. While a simple game may only have one CPU to emulate, others may have many. The more hardware the game required in the arcade, the more slowly it will tend to run in MAME. (Donkey Kong's demands were simple, so it plays well on most computers. San Francisco Rush and Gauntlet Legacy, on the other hand, doesn't run fast on anyone's system.)

==How can I get games to run faster?==
This is the most commonly-asked question in the emulation world. In general, there is not really that much you can do to significantly speed up a game. However, here are some things you can try to improve MAME's performance:

* Use a faster CPU. This is the most reliable speed-increaser.
* Upgrade your graphics card, or update your present card's drivers. Swapping your generic (cheap) card for a high-quality (not cheap) card will certainly boost performance. If you are using on-board (integrated) video, you'll see a great performance increase by simply getting a new graphics card. Check your graphics card drivers, too. Newer drivers — especially for cheaper cards — can make all the difference.
* Get the latest MAME version. Or try an older/different one. MAME is in constant development. Due to transitional changes in the core code, some games run better/faster with different versions. Try and see for yourself which works best.

MAME itself also has many options that can increase your speed:

* Lower the sound quality. Try adding -sr 11025 to the command line, which will decrease sound playback quality and use less processor time. This mostly affects games that use discrete audio.
* Disable the joystick and use the keyboard (-nojoy).
* Use frameskip to speed up animation. Frameskip skips a certain number of frames per second, so your system does less work. Sometimes the trade-off is choppy animation; sometimes the difference is negligible. Experiment. While playing, press '''F8''' / '''F9''' to control frameskip; or set global frameskip in mame.ini. Some games don't benefit from frameskip though, for example the newer Williams bitmap graphics games or the Atari filled polygon games.

==There are occasional speed problems.==

This can be caused by several factors. If you press F11 when playing, you can see the FPS meter. if it is normally running at full speed, but ocassionally gets slow, you might check the following:

1) See if there are any background processes running. Sometimes other applications open at the same time as MAME can cause slowness.

2) Try increasing or decreasing frameskip

3) It is possible that you have a virus or spyware on your computer

4) Some games require more CPU power at certain times in the game than other times.

==Does MAME benefit from SMP (symmetric multiprocessing) / HT (Hyper-Threading) / dual cores?==
Recent versions of MAME include a -mt switch which allows some tasks to be threaded off for use by SMP or multicore systems. Thus far the benefits from this are relatively small, because accurate emulation such as MAME strives for cannot easily be broken up into parallel subtasks (it would be like trying to have a baby in one month by impregnating nine women). There are exceptions of course, and MAME will support them via this mechanism in the future.

==Why is MAME so slow? These games ran at less than 200 MHz, and my CPU is 2 GHz!==
You are comparing apples and oranges.

MAME emulates every function of the emulated CPU(s), video hardware, audio hardware, and anything else on the board (including potentially IDE or SCSI harddisks and CD-ROMs). This is simply not something that can be done quickly in a high-quality fashion.

==Why don't the developers put more hacks in MAME?==
Hacks, while maybe appearing to be good in a short perspective, are always bad and destructive in the long perspective. The more hacks you put into the code, the harder it becomes to make new additions neatly as the hacks will require workaround hacks, so you'll end up on a downward slope of more and more crappy hacks, until everything collapses under its own weight. Hack-based emulators typically have a short life because it quickly becomes impossible to debug or extend them.

==Why does MAME become slower all the time?==
Contrary to popular belief, the amount of drivers or the size of the executable does not make MAME slower.

The point is that the drivers are constantly improved and the improved emulation is more accurate to the actual original hardware so for MAME's purposes it's superior. Emulation accuracy trumps playability concerns in MAME.

Another thing to consider is a paradigm called "moving the optimization point". MAME's "sweet spot" is currently aimed at hardware with tilemaps, sprites, more than 256 colors on screen, and at least 2 CPUs, which is a common late-80s paradigm. Real-world examples of this include the Konami Twin16 games, the Sega X and Y boards, Namco System 2, Taito Z System, etc. It means that MAME makes more advanced games run faster at the expense of simpler hardware. The simpler hardware will work out in the end anyway due to ever-faster PCs (Pac-Man is very sub-optimal now vs. e.g. 0.29 for instance, but you'd be hard pressed to find a PC less than 4-5 years old where it doesn't run 60/60).

FAQ:Development

2007-11-24T20:37:00Z

Stphinkle:

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.
==Can I contribute anything to the MAME project?==
Please see the [http://mamedev.org/contribute.html Contributing to MAME] page.

==What was MAME programmed in? May I have the source code?==
MAME is programmed in portable, modular and mostly readable C code. The source is always freely available — the license requires this — and you can compile your own version to suit your needs with minimal hassle. The Windows version is currently compiled using MinGW, a minimalist port of the GNU C Compiler to Windows. Please see the [http://mamedev.org/tools/ Development Tools] page for more details.

Please note that although the source can be modified, it is requested that you read and understand the [http://mamedev.org/about.html About MAME] page, which lists some minimal guidelines for derivative builds.

==Hey, emulate this game!==
Please keep in mind that MAME is the work of hundreds of volunteers. These volunteers dedicate many many hours of their lives to working on the project, and they do so because they are doing something they really enjoy. One of the big reasons working on MAME is enjoyable is because it is not a job, and nobody is telling anyone else what to do or what to work on. In fact, attempting to tell the MAME developers what to do often makes working on that game much less appealing, because it starts to feel like a job.

Because MAME has been around for over 10 years, almost all of the easy work is complete. Most everything that remains unemulated is due to some very difficult issues. If your favorite game is not yet emulated, the best thing you can do is sit back and wait. Nagging, complaining, or otherwise asking what is happening is not going to make emulation happen any faster, and may in fact hinder further progress.

If you do have technical information that can help the MAME team emulate a certain game, it is best to set up a web page with the information. Technical information would include things like schematics, detailed technical info about the hardware that particular game runs on, info about custom or protection chips, video hardware, sound hardware, etc. Contributing this kind of information might be useful to the MAME team. ROMs alone and begging the team are not useful in terms of getting a game emulated, but useful tech information may sometimes spark developer interest in that particular game. However, since the developers are volunteers, there is no guarantee that a specific game will be emulated even with this approach but again this "research" approach might improve your chances, too.

==I found a bug, what do I do?==
First of all, make sure you are using the latest official version of MAME. Bugs get fixed all the time, so you shouldn't be wasting time with an older version. Also, unofficial versions of MAME may introduce new bugs that the MAME team really does not want to hear about.

If you are using the latest official version, chances are good that other people have already experienced it and reported it. You can check this at the excellent [http://www.mametesters.org/ MAME Testers] site. MAME Testers has a message board (accessible from their site) where you can post your newly discovered bug if it's still unknown. MAME developers constantly go there to get bug reports and announce fixes. Also, try to gather as much information as you can about the bug.

==Why don't the devs fix old games instead of adding new ones?==
Simple. Adding new games is both relatively easy and relatively interesting. Sometimes, as soon as a dump becomes available, all one has to do is add the game info and ROM names to the proper drivers, recompile, and the game works perfectly. By contrast, fixing the existing games is usually both tedious and difficult. Often this requires that the dev play the game through to the point where the bug occurs, then step through the disassembled machine code line by line. Repeatedly. Ad nauseam. Once the error is understood, the dev has to write good, clean code that will correct the problem without breaking anything else on any of the hardware platforms that MAME runs on (which is often harder than you'd think).

If you want a bug in your favorite game to be fixed, report it at [http://mametesters.org/ MAME Testers] and try to characterize it as specifically and with as much relevant detail as you can.

FAQ:Controls

2007-11-24T05:52:55Z

Stphinkle: I updated this page with answers to several questions.

Return to the main [[Frequently Asked Questions]] page.
==What control devices does MAME support?==
MAME supports three basic classes of controllers:
* standard keyboards
* Key Encoders
* mouse-like controllers (this includes most mice and trackballs)
* any DirectInput-visible control that has digital buttons or analog axes (this includes most joysticks, joypads and steering wheels)
* Act-Labs USB Light Guns
* Console Pads via USB Adapters

Please note that most of MAME's controls are set up for development purposes, which means that most games will work fine with just some form of keyboard control. If you wish to use fancier control schemes, you will probably need to configure them within MAME to your liking.

==How do I configure the keys?==

Press Tab in-game and choose "Input: This Game". Select the input you want to configure, press enter followed by the key you want it mapped to. This will also work for joystick and mouse inputs too.

==Why doesn't the Tab key work anymore?==
Most likely you have re-configured the normal menu key, Tab to something else. To restore the default settings, you'll have to delete the default.cfg file from the cfg/ subdirectory below the main MAME directory.

If you have settings you don't want to lose, you can also try to edit default.cfg with any text editor, since the input configuration files are in XML format. Find the line that says <code><port type="UI_CONFIGURE"></code> and delete the adjacent <code><newseq...</code> line, leaving only the <code><defseg...</code> line within the <code><port></code> tag.

==How can I change what axes the mouse and joystick control?==

Press Tab in-game and select "Input: This Game". From there, you can assign inputs to the X and Y axes. Additionally, in the menu, there is an option for analog controls, where you can reverse the Axis.

==Mouse control is too sensitive / not sensitive enough.==

Try increasing the accleration and sensitivity settings in the Analog Input settings menu after pressing Tab.

==Why doesn't my joystick work?==

There can be several reasons for this:

The most common reason is that in your MAME.ini file you have the "joy=" line reading "'''joy=0"''', simply change it to '''joy=1'''. If this does not work, try the following:

* If your joystick or game controller came with a device driver, you may need to install it first. To do this, refer to the documentation that came with the joystick or joypad itself.

* Open the Windows Control Panel (Start -> Settings -> Control Panel) and double click the "joysticks" or "game controllers" icon. See if your controller is regonized there. If it is, proceed further. If not, you may need to add it there, or you may have a problem with the joystick or controller itself, or its device driver.

* In MAME, try pressing "Tab" and choose "Input: This Game" and make sure that the games buttons are mapped to the appropriate joystick inputs.

==The arrow keys work, but I can't fire, jump, etc.==

Here are the default controller buttons for many games:

5 - Insert Coin
1 - Start
Arrows - Move
Ctrl - Action Button 1
Alt - Action Button 2
Space - Action Button 3
Mouse - Analog Control (needed for some games)
P - Pause
ESC - Quit MAME
F2 - Service Mode
Tab - MAME Options Menu

Note: There are many games with much more complex controls. If you need to see or change a games controls, press Tab and choose "Input: This Game".

==TRON's arm doesn't move; I can't aim in Heavy Barrel, etc.==

Often, these games use analog control, which by default is mapped to the mouse.

==When playing Star Wars (or other games) with a mouse, the crosshair moves in the wrong direction.==

These games were played with a Yoke originally, so that this is correct. In MAME, you can press Tab while playing, and choose "Analog Controls" and reverse the axis to correct this.

==I don't remember how to control this game.==

You can press Tab and choose "Input: This Game" and review its inputs. Additionally, you can go to http://www.gamefaqs.com and see if there is an FAQ available for the game.

==What if I only want authentic arcade controls?==
There are several high-quality control panels available. The first one, and now the most basic, is the [http://www.hanaho.com/Products/HotRodJoystick.php HotRod]. It's been joined by the [http://www.x-arcade.com/ X-Arcade], which is also relatively basic but can be used with many popular home consoles in addition to computers, and the insanely customizable [http://www.slikstik.com/ SlikStik].

It's also possible to build your own: you can get plans, guidance, and support at [http://www.arcadecontrols.com/ Build Your Own Arcade Controls].