Difference between revisions of "MAME"

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{{Infobox
+
{{Infobox emulator
|image = MAME.jpg
+
|title = Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator
|first = {{MAMEVer}}
+
|logo = MAME.jpg
|second = Yes
+
|logowidth = 135
|third = Multi-platform
+
|version = {{MAMEVer}}
|fourth = Nicola Salmoria, MAME Team
+
|active = Yes
|fifth = [http://mamedev.org/ MAMEDev.org]
+
|platform = Multi-platform
|sixth = [https://github.com/mamedev/mame GitHub]}}
+
|target = Thousands of electronics
'''MAME''' ('''<u>M</u>ultiple <u>A</u>rcade <u>M</u>achine <u>E</u>mulator''') is a cross platform [[Multi-System Emulators|multi-system emulator]]. The philosophy behind the project is to recreate the workings of machines through emulation, and thus the ability to actually play the games is "a nice side effect". MAME is incredibly large, [[MAME compatibility list|supporting thousands of machines and ROM sets]], though what is supported is not what's playable; your mileage may vary. In the event you don't like MAME's own interface, there are many alternative front-ends available.
+
|developer = [https://github.com/mamedev/mame/graphs/contributors MAME Team]
 +
|prog-lang = C++ (C & Python for some drivers)
 +
|website = [http://mamedev.org/ MAMEDev.org]
 +
|source = [https://github.com/mamedev/mame GitHub]
 +
}}
 +
'''[[wikipedia:MAME|MAME]]''' (an acronym for '''<u>M</u>ultiple <u>A</u>rcade <u>M</u>achine <u>E</u>mulator''') is a multi-platform, open-source, [[Multi-system emulators|multi-system emulator]] written in C++. The philosophy behind the project is to recreate the workings of machines through emulation, and thus the ability to actually play the games is "a nice side effect". MAME is incredibly large, [[MAME compatibility list|supporting thousands of machines and ROM sets]], though what is supported is not what's playable; your mileage may vary. In the event you don't like MAME's own interface, there are many alternative front-ends available.
  
Much like the name says, MAME was supposed to be for arcade machines like Pac-Man back when it was released in 1997. A similar project called [[MESS]] was made to do essentially the same thing for home consoles and other esoteric devices that never got emulated, but it has since been merged into MAME, and now it supports ''a whole lot more'' than arcade machines.
+
Much like the name says, MAME was supposed to be for arcade machines like Pac-Man back when it was released in 1997. A similar project called [[MESS]] was made to do essentially the same thing for home consoles and other esoteric devices that never got emulated, but it has since been merged into MAME by the end of May 2015 in version 0.162, and now it supports ''a whole lot more'' than arcade machines.
  
 
==Downloads==
 
==Downloads==
*[http://www.mamedev.org/release.html MAME]
+
===Windows===
*[http://www.emucr.com/search/label/MAME-SVN SVN Builds]
+
* [http://www.mamedev.org/release.html '''Official release''']
*[http://www.t2e.pl/pl/466/134/466/Automatyczne-edycje?tsearch=mame,svn,not|plus,not|mameui,not|mewui T2E SVN BUILDS]
+
* [http://ashura.mameworld.info/nightlybuilds/builds.html Nightly builds] (compiled by Ashura-X)
 +
* [http://www.emucr.com/search/label/MAME-SVN Nightly builds] (up to November 27, 2015)
 +
* [http://www.t2e.pl/pl/466/134/466/Automatyczne-edycje?tsearch=mame,svn,not|plus,not|mameui,not|mewui T2E builds] (Polish, up to March 2015)
 +
 
 +
===macOS===
 +
* [http://sdlmame.lngn.net/ SDLMAME port] (64-bit, provided by lngn.net)
 +
* [http://ashura.mameworld.info/nightlybuilds/sdl_builds.html Nightly builds] (compiled by Ashura-X)
  
 
==Overview==
 
==Overview==
MAME was first put out in 1997 by Nicola Salmoria as a Pac-Man emulator,<ref name="worldofstuart">http://worldofstuart.excellentcontent.com/mameover.htm</ref> but before he could do any more work on the project, he handed it over to Mirko Buffoni in April 1997 after requiring to do National Service in the Italian army.<ref name="worldofstuart"/> Since then, even as early as 2003, the emulator has become very extensive, with the majority of arcade system boards from the 1970's, 1980's and early 1990's supported.
+
MAME was first put out on February 5, 1997 by Nicola Salmoria as a Pac-Man emulator,<ref name="worldofstuart">[http://worldofstuart.excellentcontent.com/mameover.htm MAME OVER] (0.99)</ref><ref name="History">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgJF18Pm7MA|title=A Brief History of Emulation: MAME|publisher=Youtube|accessdate=2018-09-14|date=2017-12-02}}</ref> but before he could do any more work on the project, he handed it over to Mirko Buffoni in April 1997 after requiring to do National Service in the Italian army.<ref name="worldofstuart"/> Since then, even as early as 2003, the emulator has become very extensive, with the majority of arcade system boards from the 1970's, 1980's and early 1990's supported. On February 2016 in version 0.171, a new GUI was integrated into MAME which allowed users to launch games in it without the need for a third-party GUI application.
 +
 
 +
However... don't expect support for more recent boards like Atomiswave; the project and its team focuses on [[Emulation Accuracy|accuracy]] (preferably cycle-accuracy) and preservation, which often puts usability at a much lower priority for end users. The program is also '''very strict''' about what components of a ROM dump it needs to even function, and it may tell you if something is wrong with the files (i.e. a failed checksum); once developers know more about a system, they'll often have to dump more components like ROMs and BIOSes if necessary, and obtaining newer dumps from the boards isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world for users who only have traditional desktops, and the same goes for anyone with the actual arcade boards. Something as popular as Pac-Man will probably never need newer dumps beyond the current ones because it's been continually researched, and the dumps have been pretty widespread, but other machines you've probably only seen once at an arcade will probably need new dumps for a reason. Only ROM dumps with all the newest information will work in new versions of MAME. Even then, programmers may not have everything implemented. The native interface will tell you about the emulation status of the chosen romset, and whether the one you're using is even emulated at the current time.
  
However... don't expect support for more recent boards like atomiswave; the project and its team focuses on [[Emulation Accuracy|accuracy]] (preferably cycle-accuracy) and preservation, which often puts usability at a much lower priority for end users. The program is also '''very strict''' about what components of a ROM dump it needs to even function, and it may tell you if something is wrong with the files (i.e. a failed checksum); once developers know more about a system, they'll often have to dump more components like ROMs and BIOSes if necessary, and obtaining newer dumps from the boards isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world for users who only have traditional desktops, and the same goes for anyone with the actual arcade boards. Something as popular as Pac-Man will probably never need newer dumps beyond the current ones because it's been continually researched, and the dumps have been pretty widespread, but other machines you've probably only seen once at an arcade will probably need new dumps for a reason. Only ROM dumps with all the newest information will work in new versions of MAME. Even then, programmers may not have everything implemented. The native interface will tell you about the emulation status of the chosen romset, and whether the one you're using is even emulated at the current time.
+
Also see the incomplete [[MAME compatibility list]] internally here. And the latest in-progress [http://mameinfo.mameworld.info/ changelog update].
  
 
===ROM dumps===
 
===ROM dumps===
 
MAME either has lots of standardization on how to organize the ROM dumps, or it has very little, and sometimes the given information can be vague and confusing. A single game may need lots of files for the dump to even register, and separate folders for the BIOS files of consoles. For machines that use stuff like hard drives and optical disks to store its data, MAME has a special format called Compressed Hunks of Data (CHD) which uses a number of compression methods to reduce the size of a raw image file.
 
MAME either has lots of standardization on how to organize the ROM dumps, or it has very little, and sometimes the given information can be vague and confusing. A single game may need lots of files for the dump to even register, and separate folders for the BIOS files of consoles. For machines that use stuff like hard drives and optical disks to store its data, MAME has a special format called Compressed Hunks of Data (CHD) which uses a number of compression methods to reduce the size of a raw image file.
  
It is highly recommended to use a ROM management tool such as RomCenter or clrmamepro. Without all the required files and file versions, the game simply will not work.
+
It is highly recommended to use a ROM management tool such as RomCenter or ClrMamePro. Without all the required files and file versions, the game simply will not work.
  
 
==How To==
 
==How To==
Line 30: Line 43:
 
Many emulators other than MAME are beginning to support Compressed Hunks of Data, mainly because compared to the alternatives, it offers compression (or ''better'' compression) on all fronts. [[Libretro]] is making an initiative to support them thanks to a successful bounties initiative, and in many cores such as their [[Mednafen|Beetle]] fork, they've begun rolling it out for certain platforms like Saturn and PlayStation so people can test it.
 
Many emulators other than MAME are beginning to support Compressed Hunks of Data, mainly because compared to the alternatives, it offers compression (or ''better'' compression) on all fronts. [[Libretro]] is making an initiative to support them thanks to a successful bounties initiative, and in many cores such as their [[Mednafen|Beetle]] fork, they've begun rolling it out for certain platforms like Saturn and PlayStation so people can test it.
  
If you're interested in trying this out too, a guide has been provided on how to convert to the format using MAME's very own tool called <code>chdman</code>. A small warning though; it requires just a small bit of knowledge on how to use the terminal; the developers of MAME seemingly don't have plans to give <code>chdman</code> an interface so if it scares you too much, you may have to wait. <!-- Maybe we can work around this with a batch/shell script that people can use? -->
+
If you're interested in trying it out for yourself, this guide will show you how to convert to the format using MAME's command-line tool called <code>chdman</code>. We'll warn you now that you will need to know how to use either a Unix shell or the command prompt in order to use it. The developers of MAME seemingly don't have plans to give <code>chdman</code> an interface so if the thought of going back to the DOS days scares you too much, you may have to wait.
  
 
{| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable" style="width: 100%;"
 
{| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable" style="width: 100%;"
Line 37: Line 50:
 
|-
 
|-
 
|
 
|
:''Note: All the commands here work on Windows except <code>man</code>, because Windows doesn't have a system for manuals.''
+
:''Note: Unless explicitly stated, don't type the commands word for word because you'll need to replace some values with your own.''
 +
:''Also: Make sure the cue sheet points to the relative location of the binary and that it works.''
  
Install the latest version of MAME. There should be an executable in the main directory called <code>chdman</code>. We're going to run it. Open up the terminal and navigate to the folder containing the BIN/CUE files.
+
On Windows, download MAME from the official website (linked above). The Linux guides on emugen will usually provide these locations. <!-- todo: macOS instructions -->
  
$ cd (location of folder)
+
On Windows, there should be an executable in the main directory called <code>chdman</code>. If you don't intend to keep MAME on your drive, you should type out the full path of the folder. If you intend to keep MAME, [https://www.howtogeek.com/118594/how-to-edit-your-system-path-for-easy-command-line-access/ add its directory to your path]. Because Linux packages insert shortcuts into folders assigned to the environment path, we can call it from any folder.
  
This is optional, but pulling up the manual will give us this information:
+
Open up the terminal and navigate to the folder containing the BIN/CUE files.
  
  $ man chdman
+
  $ cd "''path/to/folder''"
(...)
 
createcd -o filename (...)
 
  Create a new compressed CD image from a raw file.
 
  
Using this, we can type this command in and substitute the placeholder with the name of your ROM.
+
<code>chdman</code> has a command called <code>createcd</code> that we'll use to create a CD-type CHD.<ref>http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/trusty/man1/chdman.1.html, see createcd.</ref> Note that in the example below, "test (!)" is a placeholder and should be renamed to the name of the file.
  
  $ chdman createcd <abbr title="Notice how we're placing the output file before the input file.">-o</abbr> "test (!).chd" "test (!).cue"
+
  >''C:\path\to\''chdman createcd -o "test (!).chd" -i "test (!).cue"
 +
$ chdman createcd -o "test (!).chd" -i "test (!).cue"
  
 
<code>chdman</code> will now compress the cue file, and it should complete with just one CHD for you to use, either in MAME or an emulator that supports it.
 
<code>chdman</code> will now compress the cue file, and it should complete with just one CHD for you to use, either in MAME or an emulator that supports it.
Line 105: Line 117:
 
|-
 
|-
 
! Terminal
 
! Terminal
|Something like this should work in theory. '''It has not been tested, so proceed with caution.'''
+
|Something like this should work in theory. '''It has not been tested, proceed with caution.'''
  
 
  7z e (romset).zip -o (romset)/ && 7z a (romset).7z (romset)/*
 
  7z e (romset).zip -o (romset)/ && 7z a (romset).7z (romset)/*
Line 113: Line 125:
  
 
==List of Arcade systems emulated==
 
==List of Arcade systems emulated==
* [http://unmamed.mameworld.info/ List of arcade games that DON'T work] Last updated February 2014. Don't expect most recent games (like Naomi ones) to run at full speed, MAME is very resource intensive.
+
* [http://unmamed.mameworld.info/ List of arcade games that DON'T work] Last updated February 2014. Don't expect the most recent games (like [[Sega NAOMI and variants|Sega Naomi]] ones) to run at full speed, MAME is very resource intensive.
 
* [http://nonmame.retrogames.com/ NonMAME] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20150306213522/http://consume.retrogames.com/ 2015 Mirror]) This is a list of arcade systems that currently are not emulated by MAME or are emulated better by other emulators.
 
* [http://nonmame.retrogames.com/ NonMAME] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20150306213522/http://consume.retrogames.com/ 2015 Mirror]) This is a list of arcade systems that currently are not emulated by MAME or are emulated better by other emulators.
  
 
==Frontends==
 
==Frontends==
MAME uses many front ends. Please expand this section.
+
MAME has many third-party front ends. Please help expand this section.
  
 
===ARCADE===
 
===ARCADE===
Line 131: Line 143:
 
===M+GUI===
 
===M+GUI===
 
[http://www.emucr.com/search/label/MAMEPGUI?&max-results=12 M+ GUI]
 
[http://www.emucr.com/search/label/MAMEPGUI?&max-results=12 M+ GUI]
 +
 +
No longer maintained.
  
 
===MAME32 (now MAMEUI)===
 
===MAME32 (now MAMEUI)===
Line 138: Line 152:
  
 
UNOFFICIAL BUILDS
 
UNOFFICIAL BUILDS
[http://www.t2e.pl/pl/466/134/466/Automatyczne-edycje?tsearch=mameui,not|plus,not|mewui,not|mameuifx MAMEUI x86/x64 unoffical builds]
+
[http://www.t2e.pl/pl/466/134/466/Automatyczne-edycje?tsearch=mameui,not|plus,not|mewui,not|mameuifx MAMEUI x86/x64 unofficial builds]
  
 
===Emu Loader===
 
===Emu Loader===
 
[http://emuloader.mameworld.info/ Emu Loader]
 
[http://emuloader.mameworld.info/ Emu Loader]
 +
 
===MEWUI===
 
===MEWUI===
 
[http://sourceforge.net/projects/mewui/ MEWUI]
 
[http://sourceforge.net/projects/mewui/ MEWUI]
 +
 +
0.171 MEWUI merges with MAME replacing default MAME UI for most platforms.
  
 
MEWUI is an extension of the internal interface of the MAME / MESS with additional features.
 
MEWUI is an extension of the internal interface of the MAME / MESS with additional features.
Line 158: Line 175:
 
[http://qmc2.batcom-it.net QMC2 – M.A.M.E./M.E.S.S./U.M.E. Catalog / Launcher II]
 
[http://qmc2.batcom-it.net QMC2 – M.A.M.E./M.E.S.S./U.M.E. Catalog / Launcher II]
  
QMC2 is a multi-platform MAME/MESS frontend.
+
QMC2 is a multi-platform MAME/MESS/UME frontend.
  
 
===gnome-arcade===
 
===gnome-arcade===
Line 164: Line 181:
 
A minimal MAME frontend using GTK+ 3 : [https://github.com/strippato/gnome-arcade GitHub].
 
A minimal MAME frontend using GTK+ 3 : [https://github.com/strippato/gnome-arcade GitHub].
  
On some Linux distros you have '''gnome-video-arcade''' package: Simple MAME frontend. Available on Ubuntu 16.04+ on official repo.
+
On some Linux distros, you have '''gnome-video-arcade''' package: Simple MAME frontend. Available on Ubuntu 16.04+ on official repo.
  
 +
===Negatron===
 +
[http://www.babelsoft.net/products/negatron.htm Negatron's download page on official site of BabelSoft]. An [https://github.com/xinyingho/Negatron intuitive and info-oriented front-end] for MAME; & a prettier derivative of ageing MAME32/MAMEUI.
 +
:<u>Prequisites:</u>
 +
:- Java runtime environment (JRE); at least Java version 8 update 60, or newer.
 +
:- [http://www.babelsoft.net/products/negamame.htm NegaMAME] strongly recommended if using MAME v0.186 (May 2017) or newer, as normal MAME builds block some info access on systems to 3rd-party frontends.
 +
:- While not mandatory, Negatron also needs VLC media player 2.2.0 or newer on your computer in order to play video previews. VLC & JRE's bitness must match (eg. 32-bit or 64-bit).
  
 
==Versions==
 
==Versions==
 
===GroovyMAME===
 
===GroovyMAME===
 
{{Main|GroovyMAME}}
 
{{Main|GroovyMAME}}
It's a fork of MAME made to support arcade CRT monitors
+
Also known as '''GroovyUME'''. It's a fork of MAME/UME made to support arcade CRT monitors for AMD cards.
  
 
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,128879.0.html?PHPSESSID=domm2c4q77esu0j9uohc5vrqn5
 
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,128879.0.html?PHPSESSID=domm2c4q77esu0j9uohc5vrqn5
Line 220: Line 243:
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
 +
 +
==External Links==
 +
* [https://wiki.mamedev.org/index.php/Developer_WIPs Developer WIPs] (Official MAMEDEV.org page showcasing lists pointing to profiles and links of many MAME developers)
 +
* [https://mamedev.emulab.it/haze/ Developer coverage] from [https://wiki.mamedev.org/index.php/David_Haywood David 'Haze' Haywood]. (A media-heavy blog with few articles per month on average. Goes more in-depth than MAME's changelogs and can be fun to read. Also see his [https://www.youtube.com/user/ShootBoomBoom YouTube channel] & [https://twitter.com/MameHaze Twitter feed]. Former project coordinator, 2003-2005.)
 +
* [https://mamedev.emulab.it/kale/ Developer coverage] from [https://wiki.mamedev.org/index.php/Angelo_Salese Angelo 'Kale' Salese]. (Former project coordinator, 2011-2012. He mainly developed the ST-V arcade core. Also see his more regularly updated [https://www.youtube.com/user/LordKale4 YouTube channel].)
 +
* [http://www.bryanmcphail.com/wp/?cat=25 Dev coverage] from Bryan 'Mish' McPhail
 +
* [https://redump.net/ Dev coverage] from [http://mess.redump.net/people/duke Dirk 'Duke' Best]
 +
* [https://mamedev.emulab.it/etabeta/ Dev coverage] from Fabio 'etabeta' Priuli
 +
* [http://avoidspikes.blogspot.com/ Dev coverage] from Frank 'Knarfian' Palazzolo
 +
* [http://members.iinet.net.au/~lantra9jp1_nbn/gurudumps/ Dev coverage] from Guru (Mainly repairs/decaps arcade boards and provides dumps of them for MAME. [http://members.iinet.net.au/~lantra9jp1_nbn/gurudumps/decap/index.html Decapping status page], [http://members.iinet.net.au/~lantra9jp1_nbn/gurudumps/DumpingProject/wantedlist/wanted.html Wanted dumps list].)
 +
* [http://www.lucaelia.com/mame.php Dev coverage] from Luca Elia
 +
* [http://rbelmont.mameworld.info/ Dev coverage] from R. 'Arbee' Belmont (Worked often on Apple ][, /// and early Mac's emulation)
 +
* [http://robbie.mameworld.info/ Dev coverage] from Roberto 'Robbie' Fresco (He usually reverse-engineers boards of old gambling games (casino/cards and pokies-style) and some arcade games, especially in foreign languages. He often works with other programmers like Grull Osgo, and occasionally with Andreas Naive, ElSemi, Tomasz Slanina, etc.)
 +
* [https://mamedev.emulab.it/robiza/ Dev coverage] from Roberto 'Robiza' Zandonà (Italian blog)
 +
* [http://slanina.pl/mame.html Dev coverage] from Tomasz 'Dox' Slanina
 +
* [http://rants.vastheman.com/category/technology/mame/ Dev coverage] from Vas 'cuavas' Crabb (Few posts)
 +
* [https://www.youtube.com/user/LambShanks YouTube channel] from [https://wiki.mamedev.org/index.php/Phil_B%27s_To-Do_List Philip Bennett] (His [http://philwip.mameworld.info/ website] is not updated anymore. He tends to research early 3D arcade systems from the mid-1980's to 1990's, and uploads some dumps of machines and clones to MAME.)
 +
* [https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCVnS-HQL-pzFku5ZVCGnvBA/videos YouTube channel] from [https://wiki.mamedev.org/index.php/MooglyGuy%27s_To-Do_List Ryan 'MooglyGuy' Holtz], [https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Ryan_Holtz former Minecraft developer] (Note: His Twitter feed has lots of fillers unrelated to his MAME work)
 +
* [https://twitter.com/algestam Twitter feed] from Henrik 'algestam' Algestam (He is well noted for dumping and emulating those Nintendo [[Game & Watch]] LCD handheld titles to MAME)
  
 
[[Category:Arcade emulators]]
 
[[Category:Arcade emulators]]
 
[[Category:Multi-emulators]]
 
[[Category:Multi-emulators]]
 +
[[Category:Windows emulation software]]
 
[[Category:Linux emulation software]]
 
[[Category:Linux emulation software]]
[[Category:OS X emulation software]]
+
[[Category:macOS emulation software]]
[[Category:Windows emulation software]]
 
 
[[Category:Emulators]]
 
[[Category:Emulators]]
 
[[Category:Netplay]]
 
[[Category:Netplay]]

Revision as of 21:34, 25 September 2019

Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator
MAME.jpg
Developer(s) MAME Team
Latest version 0.264
Active Yes
Platform(s) Multi-platform
Emulates Thousands of electronics
Website MAMEDev.org
Programmed in C++ (C & Python for some drivers)
Source code GitHub

MAME (an acronym for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) is a multi-platform, open-source, multi-system emulator written in C++. The philosophy behind the project is to recreate the workings of machines through emulation, and thus the ability to actually play the games is "a nice side effect". MAME is incredibly large, supporting thousands of machines and ROM sets, though what is supported is not what's playable; your mileage may vary. In the event you don't like MAME's own interface, there are many alternative front-ends available.

Much like the name says, MAME was supposed to be for arcade machines like Pac-Man back when it was released in 1997. A similar project called MESS was made to do essentially the same thing for home consoles and other esoteric devices that never got emulated, but it has since been merged into MAME by the end of May 2015 in version 0.162, and now it supports a whole lot more than arcade machines.

Downloads

Windows

macOS

Overview

MAME was first put out on February 5, 1997 by Nicola Salmoria as a Pac-Man emulator,[1][2] but before he could do any more work on the project, he handed it over to Mirko Buffoni in April 1997 after requiring to do National Service in the Italian army.[1] Since then, even as early as 2003, the emulator has become very extensive, with the majority of arcade system boards from the 1970's, 1980's and early 1990's supported. On February 2016 in version 0.171, a new GUI was integrated into MAME which allowed users to launch games in it without the need for a third-party GUI application.

However... don't expect support for more recent boards like Atomiswave; the project and its team focuses on accuracy (preferably cycle-accuracy) and preservation, which often puts usability at a much lower priority for end users. The program is also very strict about what components of a ROM dump it needs to even function, and it may tell you if something is wrong with the files (i.e. a failed checksum); once developers know more about a system, they'll often have to dump more components like ROMs and BIOSes if necessary, and obtaining newer dumps from the boards isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world for users who only have traditional desktops, and the same goes for anyone with the actual arcade boards. Something as popular as Pac-Man will probably never need newer dumps beyond the current ones because it's been continually researched, and the dumps have been pretty widespread, but other machines you've probably only seen once at an arcade will probably need new dumps for a reason. Only ROM dumps with all the newest information will work in new versions of MAME. Even then, programmers may not have everything implemented. The native interface will tell you about the emulation status of the chosen romset, and whether the one you're using is even emulated at the current time.

Also see the incomplete MAME compatibility list internally here. And the latest in-progress changelog update.

ROM dumps

MAME either has lots of standardization on how to organize the ROM dumps, or it has very little, and sometimes the given information can be vague and confusing. A single game may need lots of files for the dump to even register, and separate folders for the BIOS files of consoles. For machines that use stuff like hard drives and optical disks to store its data, MAME has a special format called Compressed Hunks of Data (CHD) which uses a number of compression methods to reduce the size of a raw image file.

It is highly recommended to use a ROM management tool such as RomCenter or ClrMamePro. Without all the required files and file versions, the game simply will not work.

How To

Convert Bin/Cue files to CHD

Many emulators other than MAME are beginning to support Compressed Hunks of Data, mainly because compared to the alternatives, it offers compression (or better compression) on all fronts. Libretro is making an initiative to support them thanks to a successful bounties initiative, and in many cores such as their Beetle fork, they've begun rolling it out for certain platforms like Saturn and PlayStation so people can test it.

If you're interested in trying it out for yourself, this guide will show you how to convert to the format using MAME's command-line tool called chdman. We'll warn you now that you will need to know how to use either a Unix shell or the command prompt in order to use it. The developers of MAME seemingly don't have plans to give chdman an interface so if the thought of going back to the DOS days scares you too much, you may have to wait.

How To (Terminal)
Note: Unless explicitly stated, don't type the commands word for word because you'll need to replace some values with your own.
Also: Make sure the cue sheet points to the relative location of the binary and that it works.

On Windows, download MAME from the official website (linked above). The Linux guides on emugen will usually provide these locations.

On Windows, there should be an executable in the main directory called chdman. If you don't intend to keep MAME on your drive, you should type out the full path of the folder. If you intend to keep MAME, add its directory to your path. Because Linux packages insert shortcuts into folders assigned to the environment path, we can call it from any folder.

Open up the terminal and navigate to the folder containing the BIN/CUE files.

$ cd "path/to/folder"

chdman has a command called createcd that we'll use to create a CD-type CHD.[3] Note that in the example below, "test (!)" is a placeholder and should be renamed to the name of the file.

>C:\path\to\chdman createcd -o "test (!).chd" -i "test (!).cue"
$ chdman createcd -o "test (!).chd" -i "test (!).cue"

chdman will now compress the cue file, and it should complete with just one CHD for you to use, either in MAME or an emulator that supports it.

Recompressing ZIPs to 7-Zip

Note: If you're confident, you can delete files immediately instead of sending them to the recycle bin or trash bin using the keyboard shortcut Shift + Delete. Always back up the files if you're worried you might do it wrong.

MAME keeps a database of romsets including what each file should be named. If the ROM dump is obtained through a ZIP file, you can uncompress the files inside and transfer them to a 7-Zip file for better compression. The 7-Zip archive HAS to have the exact same name (not the same file extension obviously).

In case you're wondering why 7-Zip is supported in MAME and not RAR, it's because the LZMA development kit that's developed alongside 7-Zip is in the public domain, and the MAME team uses it for CHDs along with FLAC for audio and data compression; RAR is a proprietary format that can only be decompressed by 7-Zip, not compressed to, as per an agreement with both development teams.

How To
Graphical Take the zip file:
roms/
  (romset).zip/
    (game).(rom)
    (lle1).(rom)
    (lle2).(rom)

And uncompress it to a folder of the same name.

roms/
  (romset).zip/
    (game).(rom)
    (lle1).(rom)
    (lle2).(rom)
  (romset)/
    (game).(rom)
    (lle1).(rom)
    (lle2).(rom)

At this point, you can safely delete the zip file.

Go into the folder, select all the files, and add them to a .7z archive using 7-Zip. Assuming you've installed 7-Zip with the default settings on Windows, the option to do this should come up when you right-click the files. The name of the archive must be the romset's name. The config screen may show an option to "delete files after compression". You can safely select this and, assume you do, the archive will now appear in the folder (unless you've specified a different location):

roms/
  (romset)/
    (romset).7z

Take the 7-Zip archive, move it into the roms folder, and you can safely delete the romset's folder. It should look like this.

roms/
  (romset).7z

Rinse and repeat for any other romsets you want to do. MAME should be able to read it.

Terminal Something like this should work in theory. It has not been tested, proceed with caution.
7z e (romset).zip -o (romset)/ && 7z a (romset).7z (romset)/*

Just make sure that you've installed 7-zip and it registers to the environment path, that you're in the folder, and that you substitute (romset) for the name of the romset in the command.

List of Arcade systems emulated

Frontends

MAME has many third-party front ends. Please help expand this section.

ARCADE

ARCADE ARCADE is a continuation of the MAMEUIFX project.

Arcade games only

  • NO mechanical games (pinball, crane games, etc)
  • NO poker, fruit, slot or gambling games
  • NO computers, consoles, terminals, appliances, etc
  • NO games that display a black screen (skeleton drivers etc)

M+GUI

M+ GUI

No longer maintained.

MAME32 (now MAMEUI)

MAMEUI

all versions

UNOFFICIAL BUILDS MAMEUI x86/x64 unofficial builds

Emu Loader

Emu Loader

MEWUI

MEWUI

0.171 MEWUI merges with MAME replacing default MAME UI for most platforms.

MEWUI is an extension of the internal interface of the MAME / MESS with additional features.

Features

  • Display full list of games
  • Display snapshot, cabinets, etc... in game selection menu
  • Display history, mameinfo in in-game menu
  • Options to filter the list of games

Attract-Mode

Attract-Mode

QMC2

QMC2 – M.A.M.E./M.E.S.S./U.M.E. Catalog / Launcher II

QMC2 is a multi-platform MAME/MESS/UME frontend.

gnome-arcade

A minimal MAME frontend using GTK+ 3 : GitHub.

On some Linux distros, you have gnome-video-arcade package: Simple MAME frontend. Available on Ubuntu 16.04+ on official repo.

Negatron

Negatron's download page on official site of BabelSoft. An intuitive and info-oriented front-end for MAME; & a prettier derivative of ageing MAME32/MAMEUI.

Prequisites:
- Java runtime environment (JRE); at least Java version 8 update 60, or newer.
- NegaMAME strongly recommended if using MAME v0.186 (May 2017) or newer, as normal MAME builds block some info access on systems to 3rd-party frontends.
- While not mandatory, Negatron also needs VLC media player 2.2.0 or newer on your computer in order to play video previews. VLC & JRE's bitness must match (eg. 32-bit or 64-bit).

Versions

GroovyMAME

Main article: GroovyMAME

Also known as GroovyUME. It's a fork of MAME/UME made to support arcade CRT monitors for AMD cards.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,128879.0.html?PHPSESSID=domm2c4q77esu0j9uohc5vrqn5

Netplay

Downloads

Review
PROS
  • Support for up to 4 simultaneous people playing
  • No fiddling with router settings and port forwarding
  • Despite being old, many consider it being able to handle Kaillera the best
  • Netplay traffic is handled by a central dedicated server that helps keep things synched
  • Robust library of games
  • Extremely configurable
  • Private game chat support and public chat to speak people outside your game room
  • Being able to drop out of a game at any time without disrupting (much) your teammate(s).
  • Kicking/banning/muting people from your room
  • It's a matchmaking service where you can join other people's rooms, too
CONS
  • It's slightly (significantly still) prone to freezing
  • Mapping controllers and binding keys can only be done in-game, which might be confusing to first-timers
  • Incorrectly emulates many games, while outright not being able to emulate others
  • Random, inconsistent FPS drops due to the server trying to keep everyone synched, sometimes stuttering. It's annoying, but rarely does it make it unplayable
  • Everyone needs to have the exact same ROM version or Netplay won't work (if it somehow does, it'll desynch rather quickly)
  • Everyone needs to have the exact same save file, or no save file at all. Else, it desynchs
  • You need to constantly switch focus back and forth between chat and emulator window in order to chat.
  • You will hear no sound while the window is unfocused.
How to
  1. Replace the kailleraclient.dll inside the "kaillera" folder in the emulator directory
  2. Place your game(s) ZIPPED inside the "roms" folder in the emulator directory
  3. Run the emulator, then press F5 to refresh your ROM list
  4. Go to file, click Kaillera Netplay...

In order to configure your controllers, you need to press TAB once the game is running. Clear every key for Player 1 using "Esc", and only map the directional buttons, and buttons number 1 through 8, which should cover most standard games.

You may also chat in-game by pressing Home twice.

Also, you have to restart the emulator EVERY TIME you load a new game, or attempt to restart the current one. Else, you'll get a black screen.

References

External Links