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Arcade emulators

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[[File:1676971-ms_pac_man_arcade_machine.jpg|thumb|156px|Example of a Ms. Pac-Man arcade cabinet.]]Arcades were venues in which many games were played at, often containing thousands of games. Arcades often got their revenue from players who paid to play games. Most arcade emulators focus on emulating many systems in one program, the scope of which varies between projects.

~~= Machines =~~

Machines often varied by their design and, unlike consoles, were often tailored to just one game. Games were designed to eat as many quarters as possible, which is emulated with the "Coin" key. Some games have a service mode (mapped to F2 in MAME) with menus meant for the arcade owner to set dipswitches for difficulty, censorship, language, and most importantly a "Free Play" mode that allows players to continue as many as they want without requesting more coins. Sometimes, similar menus meant for developers (labeled debug or test usually, sometimes requiring a developer BIOS like with some Neo Geo games) are left in the game too.

~~Few types of arcade machines can be distinguished:~~

~~==Discrete circuitry-based==~~

The earliest [[arcade emulators|arcade]] games lacked any type of CPU, consisting only of discrete logic components. The first arcade video game, as well as the first commercial game, released was [[wikipedia:Computer_Space|Computer Space]] in 1971.

~~=== Comparisons ===~~

~~;[[DICE]]: The emulator works by simulating each logic chip on the board individually.~~

~~;[[MAME]]: As of version .208, Breakout, Galaxy Game, Pong, Pong Doubles, and Rebound are working in MAME.~~

;[[HBMAME]]: HBMAME is a derivative of MAME, and contains various hacks and homebrews. It is based on the latest MAME source at the time of release. Has support for a remake of [[wikipedia:Monaco_GP_(video_game)|Monaco G.P.]] which was Sega's final game to rely primarily upon discrete analog circuitry - an oddity for a game made in 1979, some three years after microprocessors were introduced to the market. As this was among the most complex games of its kind, don't bet on seeing it working in MAME anytime soon.

~~===Emulators===~~

~~{{Main|Arcade emulators#Emulators 2}}~~

~~==Arcade Original Hardware==~~

Hardware made specifically for the arcade to provide for graphics and performance unseen on home consoles. Extremely common in the golden age of arcades but became much less frequent as companies used modified existing hardware instead to save on R&D costs and easier cross-platform development, or tried to differentiate between the home and arcade experience with control scheme gimmicks instead.

MAME's purpose is to cover most of these. Older arcades as well as select popular arcade machines, the Neo Geo and Capcom's CPS series, in particular, received their own standalone emulators. Sometimes, they received their own console versions but those are mostly ports, not emulation, with very few exceptions.

~~==Converted Home Console Hardware==~~

Those arcade boards share most of the hardware specifications with existing home consoles, with the addition of a coin slot and occasionally DRM and some changes. While MAME supports most of those, standalone emulators for the base home console are more mature and often (but not always) support the arcade variants.

~~{{Main|http://www.system16.com/base.php System16's arcade museum}} ''(See more examples here)''~~

* '''[[Nintendo Entertainment System emulators|NES]]:''' [https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Nintendo_Entertainment_System_emulators#Emulators Nintendo PlayChoice-10], [https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Nintendo_Entertainment_System_emulators#VS._System Nintendo VS System]

* '''[[Master System emulators|SMS]]:''' SEGA System E

* '''[[Sega Genesis emulators|Genesis]]:''' [https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Sega_Genesis_emulators#Emulators SEGA System C/C-2]

* '''[[Super Nintendo emulators|SNES]]:''' [https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Super_Nintendo_emulators#Emulators Nintendo Super System]

* '''[[Nintendo 64 emulators|N64]]:''' Aleck-64 ([[Project64]] + modded images)

* '''[[Panasonic M2|3DO M2]]:''' [https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Konami_M2 Konami M2]

* '''[[GameCube emulators|GameCube]]:''' [https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/GameCube_emulators#Emulators Triforce]

* '''[[Sega Saturn emulators|Saturn]]:''' [https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Sega_Saturn_emulators#Emulators STV]

* '''[[Sega Dreamcast emulators|Dreamcast]]:''' [https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Sega_NAOMI_and_variants#Emulators Atomiswave, Naomi 1/2]

* '''[[Xbox emulators|Xbox]]:''' [https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Xbox_emulators#Emulators Chihiro]

* '''[[PlayStation emulators|PlayStation]]:''' [https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/PlayStation_emulators#Arcade_variations Konami System 573, Konami Twinkle, Namco System 10/11/12, Sony ZN-1/ZN-2]

* '''[[PlayStation 2 emulators|PlayStation 2]]:''' [https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/PlayStation_2_emulators#Emulators Namco System 246/256/Super System 256, Konami Python 1/2]

* '''[[PlayStation 3 emulators|PlayStation 3]]:''' [https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/PlayStation_3_emulators#Emulators Namco System 357/369]

* '''[[PlayStation 4 emulators|PlayStation 4]]:''' Taito Dissidia Final Fantasy Arcade Hardware

~~==Converted PC Hardware==~~

Based on normal PC architecture with a variation of Windows 7 Embedded or Linux installed and tons of DRM and custom drivers. These can still be run on computers using the right launchers (Game loader All RH, SpiceTools, idmacx tools, TeknoParrot...) but most of them likely won't be emulated by MAME anytime soon, and not just because of their policies on what hardware is too recently commercialized to cover.

~~{{Main|http://www.system16.com/base.php#11 System16's arcade museum}} (See more examples here)~~

* '''Windows XP Embedded:''' [[wikipedia:Taito_Type_X#Taito_Type_X.2FX.2B|Taito Type X/X+]], [[wikipedia:Taito_Type_X#Taito_Type_X7|Taito Type X7]], [[wikipedia:Taito_Type_X#Taito_Type_X.C2.B2|Taito Type X²]]

* '''Windows 7 Embedded:''' [[wikipedia:Taito_Type_X#Taito_Type_X_Zero|Taito Type X Zero]], Namco System ES2 PLUS, Namco System ES3

* '''Windows 7 Embedded (64-bit):''' [[wikipedia:Taito_Type_X#Taito_Type_X.C2.B3|Taito Type X³]]

* '''Linux Debian 4.0''': Namco System N2 ("Linux 32-bit"), Namco System ES1 ("arcadelinux 32-bit")

~~====Emulation====~~

The games first need to run on an operating system equivalent to that of the machine, which may imply [[Wine]] use on Linux or having to upgrade to 64-bit editions. Some GPUs or wrappers may be required. Additionally, the following need to be installed:

* '''Microsoft Visual C++ Runtimes:''' A one-in-all link for all editions from 2005 to 2015 may be found [https://www.sereby.org/site/All%20in%20One%20Runtimes here].

* '''Microsoft .NET Frameworks:''' Any version from 1.0 to 4.8.1 may be required, the newer, the better.

* '''Microsoft DirectX 9.0:''' Offline installer [https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8109 here].

* '''PC Video Codecs:''' Grabbing the standard K Lite Codec pack from [https://www.codecguide.com/download_kl.htm here] is recommended.

~~Remember to backup data from the downloaded scene release before trying to fix it to run.~~

* '''Launcher:''' The game needs this to work at all. There are many: Jconfig, TeknoParrot... and each game requires a specific launcher. If you got the dump from elsewhere, not in a clean state that doesn't work, it may be because of conflicting launchers and you will have to delete all of them (typically <code>Detoured.dll, Game loader Rh.exe, Typex_config.exe, Typex_loader.exe, TTXconfig 2.0, TTX-moniter.dll</code>...)

* '''iDmacDrv32.dll:''' Needed in Nesica games. If present, do not delete it, copy Jconfig.exe and the replacement iDmacDrv32.dll from the Jconfig package, then double-click NesicaXlive.reg to import keys to your registry, and use the game executable to run the game. If not present, copy Jconfig.exe, JVSemu.dll, and jvs_loader.exe from the Jconfig package, and use jvs_loader.exe to run the game.

* '''Save Fixes:''' Some games can't save scores and data at all. For a bunch of machines, there are fixes (called "loaders pack") that enable that, but some machines (nesica) handle saving purely using official servers in which case there's not much (yet) to do about it.

* '''Unpacked exe/dll Files:''' Some games, especially SEGA games, can't be executed on regular PCs as their game logic is wrapped in dlls (htsysmnt.dll etc.) in the operating system comes with the arcade hardware. Unpacked exe/dll files unwrapped such game logic so they can be executed properly. Just drop these files to where the original exe/dll is located and execute/load these files in loaders to start the game.

* '''Local Server:''' Some games, especially recent Konami and SEGA games, require network service provided by manufacture in order to save progress, unlock game contents, or even start the game itself. Local server programs (Asphyxia, Minime, Aqua, etc.) emulate such network service on the local computer which makes games bootable and network-related functionalities work. These tools have to be started before starting the game, and kept running during the game session, and game launchers have to be configured to make games communicate with them. Notice that not all functionalities (especially corner case ones such as e-cash, player camera, etc.) in every version of every game work, and some games would require extra fixes to properly communicate with the local server. Check readme files provided by developers or game scenes for more information.

* '''Extra Fixes:''' Varies per game. Check the readme with the game scene release.

~~You can set your controls in Jconfig.exe, and it's recommended to disable Dsound and D3D Wrapper.~~

Some games can have DirectX related problems. For some, deleting the existing d3d9.dll or opengl.dll files can help. For others, they expect the older D3D8 codec and have bugs (crashes, uneven speed) that can be fixed with Reshade's d3d8to9 plugin.

=== Emulators ===

;[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcade_Archives Arcade Archives]:Emulates Namco, Tecmo, Konami, and Taito arcade games, as well as the Neo Geo. It is a viable method for official emulation, but forces you to play like you would on a real arcade machine.

= Machines =

Machines often varied by their design and, unlike consoles, were often tailored to just one game. Games were designed to eat as many quarters as possible, which is emulated with the "Coin" key. Some games have a service mode (mapped to F2 in MAME) with menus meant for the arcade owner to set dipswitches for difficulty, censorship, language, and most importantly a "Free Play" mode that allows players to continue as many as they want without requesting more coins. Sometimes, similar menus meant for developers (labeled debug or test usually, sometimes requiring a developer BIOS like with some Neo Geo games) are left in the game too.

Few types of arcade machines can be distinguished:

==Discrete circuitry-based==

The earliest [[arcade emulators|arcade]] games lacked any type of CPU, consisting only of discrete logic components. The first arcade video game, as well as the first commercial game, released was [[wikipedia:Computer_Space|Computer Space]] in 1971.

=== Comparisons ===

;[[DICE]]: The emulator works by simulating each logic chip on the board individually.

;[[MAME]]: As of version .208, Breakout, Galaxy Game, Pong, Pong Doubles, and Rebound are working in MAME.

;[[HBMAME]]: HBMAME is a derivative of MAME, and contains various hacks and homebrews. It is based on the latest MAME source at the time of release. Has support for a remake of [[wikipedia:Monaco_GP_(video_game)|Monaco G.P.]] which was Sega's final game to rely primarily upon discrete analog circuitry - an oddity for a game made in 1979, some three years after microprocessors were introduced to the market. As this was among the most complex games of its kind, don't bet on seeing it working in MAME anytime soon.

===Emulators===

==Arcade Original Hardware==

Hardware made specifically for the arcade to provide for graphics and performance unseen on home consoles. Extremely common in the golden age of arcades but became much less frequent as companies used modified existing hardware instead to save on R&D costs and easier cross-platform development, or tried to differentiate between the home and arcade experience with control scheme gimmicks instead.

MAME's purpose is to cover most of these. Older arcades as well as select popular arcade machines, the Neo Geo and Capcom's CPS series, in particular, received their own standalone emulators. Sometimes, they received their own console versions but those are mostly ports, not emulation, with very few exceptions.

==Converted Home Console Hardware==

Those arcade boards share most of the hardware specifications with existing home consoles, with the addition of a coin slot and occasionally DRM and some changes. While MAME supports most of those, standalone emulators for the base home console are more mature and often (but not always) support the arcade variants.

{{Main|http://www.system16.com/base.php System16's arcade museum}} ''(See more examples here)''