Mame32 Support Documentation v.2000.01.23
this is a copy of the
document prepared for the distribution package, it lives at: www.classicgaming.com/mame32qa/support.htm
Beautify your Mame32: the Mame32
Art Packs
Mame32 Recommended Graphic &
Sound Settings
Support, Testing, Bug Reporting
Ensure you have at least
DirectX5 for Win95/98 usually the higher version the better. SP4 or greater for
NT4. (both available for download at www.microsoft.com). Note for Windows 95 users [and
NT4SP3]! Windows 95/NT may need the common controls update,
available from the Microsoft web site, to prevent property sheet errors when
going to options for the games or options/default options menu, it is called 401comupd.exe
and was available here at the time of this writing: http://www.microsoft.com/msdownload/ieplatform/ie/comctrlx86.asp
1.
Download
the zip file of mame32 from these official sites:
1.1.1.
www.classicgaming.com/mame32
1.1.2.
www.classicgaming.com/mame32qa
2.
Create
a directory/folder on your hard drive i.e. c:\mame32
3.
Open
this directory and copy the just downloaded mame32 zip file into it.
4.
Using
an archive program like WinZip or Pkunzip, extract the contents of
the mame32.zip (ensure you use the -d option in Pkunzip to get recursed
subdirectories) In WinZip select Extract from the Actions menu, be sure the Use
folder names checkbox is checked.
5.
Place
your game roms (readily available in convenient zip format) into the
sub-directory called c:\mame32\roms which you may have to create [note game
roms are not distributed w/ Mame32]. It's easiest to leave the
roms in their zip format, and just dump them into the \mame32\roms directory.
6.
Some
games require sampled sounds. Place
your sample zip files in our example into the sub-directory called
c:\mame32\samples that you may have to create [note that the sample zips will
have the same name as the game roms] Donkey Kong's roms are called dkong.zip
and Donkey Kong's samples are also dkong.zip but they go in different
directories.
7.
Place
your unzipped icons file into the \mame32\icons
directory.
8.
Place
your large images screenshot file into the
\mame32\images directory.
9.
Place
contents of the background pack in \mame32\images. Rename the one you want to use as the
background to bkground.png.
10.
You
have the option to add flyers.zip and cabinets.zip into the \mame32\flyers
& \mame32\cabinets directories respectively. Flyers.zip is a file composed
of .bmp, or .png flyer art. Cabinets.zip is a file composed of .bmp, or .png
images of the actual arcade machines these files are maintained by 3rd
party sites, [see below for locations]. Single clicking the screenshot area on
the right of the Mame32 GUI window will toggle to the flyer and then the
cabinet for the game [if it exists]. [note: history information will only show
in screenshot mode].
11.
You
can also grab the history.dat file from the site mentioned below, this will
give you game information and history on particular games. Place the history.dat file in the \mame32\
directory along w/ the mame32.exe. The history will only show for games that
have a history entry [Donkey Kong for instance] and it will only show while in
screenshot mode.
12.
Double
click Mame32.exe, select your game and double click it to play! Insert coin
with key 3, start 1 player game with key 1.
Mame32's flexible GUI
framework allows for some beautiful customization including font color, icons,
and background images that tile around screenshots, take a look: www.classicgaming.com/mame32qa/gallery.htm.
For Mame32's official art packs including icons of all working games,
screenshots for all games - including game addition to Mame info, and afore
mentioned background images please see: www.classicgaming.com/mame32qa. Icons go into \mame32\icons [and
must extracted from the zip file], screenshots stay in a file called images.zip
[this file can contain .bmp and .png images]- this goes into \mame32\images.
And finally, the background images [bmp or png] files go into the
\mame32\images directory too. Name the one you wish to use ‘bkground.png’. You
may also wish to consider using the rotate.exe program available at the link
above to randomly or sequentially rotate your bkground.png image for a new look
to Mame32 each time you start the program. Mame32 also supports a file called
flyers.zip and a file called cabinets.zip.
These can contain 3rd party art from arcade flyers and
pictures of the cabinets themselves. These
files are available at http://arcadeart.emuunlim.com/,
and mameflyers.retrogames.com
and can contain .bmp or .png files.
Place them in \mame32\cabinets and \mame32\flyers directories. You can
also utilize the history.dat file by placing that in the same directory as
mame32.exe. The history.dat file is
maintained at http://coinop.vintagegaming.com/.
Optimal sound settings,
these are toggled in the \options\default options\sound & input dialogues.
With the new 44/16 samples for Mame it sounds better to crank the sample rate
and sample bits. Your mileage may vary.
|
Windows NT |
Windows95/98 |
|
Sound System: Midas |
Sound System: Midas |
|
Audio Device:
DirectSound |
Audio Device:
DirectSound |
|
Sample Rate/Bits:
44100/16 |
Sample Rate/Bits:
44100/16 |
Optimal graphic settings
are full screen with no doubling options. Most classic arcade games do not have
analogous video modes/resolutions with today's video drivers. As such say you
are trying to play Donkey Kong, its native original resolution was 224x256, the
closest DirectX mode of most video cards today would be 512x384. Because of the
disparity, Donkey Kong will play with black bands to all sides because it is
less than the chosen resolution and cannot be 'stretched' at this point w/out a
DirectX re-write/update to the code. If you prefer to play your games in a
window on your desktop, note that GDI mode tends to be the faster especially as
your desktop color depth increases.
I’ve also found it smoother in most games to have frameskipping turned off,
if your machine can handle it.
Current Recommended
Settings for Mame32:
Midas/DirectSound . 44100/16b . FMSynth/off . Frame-skip/off . DirectInput for
keyboard & joystick/on . DrawOnlyChanges/on . DirectDraw/off . Profiler/off
. Disable MMX/unchecked.
As with any product there
are bound to be some hiccups, here are some suggestions to common perceived
difficulties. Also, please remember, Mame32 is based on the core MameDOS code -
if a problem exists in the MameDOS code we inherit it. Always ensure before
reporting problems with Mame32 that it *doesn't* happen in the DOS version. If
it does, there's not much we can do about it. A note on the betas: In between
full final releases, [.33b and .34b for example] MameDOS and Mame32 will release
betas. These releases will typically add numerous new games but may tinker with
the internal mechanics of Mame such that at times a driver is broken or things
slow down. It is likely that these are known issues so please don't complain
about them, if you must play a game that was broken return to the previous full
release version or wait for the next beta.
1.
'My roms aren't being seen, the roms I had in version x don't work
anymore.'
1.1.
This
is the question that gets asked the most, why do my old rom sets no longer work
w/ newer versions of Mame32? Mame is a
documentation project, sometimes old rom sets are found to be missing
previously miss-dumped or damaged roms, and those will be replaced as found. Small color proms are also still trickling
in. As new versions of Mame come on board the developers add support for new
iterations and often add these files for missing games [or they will delete
redundant files], this necessitates using that new updated set. Examples you
might see are donkey kong, pacman, etc. from .33b. Run an audit on the game in
question [highlight game, use alt-a to audit], it will tell you what files you
are missing. Those will likely have
been added or altered recently. You will need to locate the changed files or
download a new updated set. Note: do not email the Mame or Mame32 teams about
roms.
1.2.
If
you're getting the corrupt ROM message, secondary click on the game in the list
and choose properties, do an audit on that game and you will likely find that
you are missing a file or two. See item 1.1. above, it's probably a missing
prom.
1.3.
F5/Refresh
in the GUI. (do this anytime you alter your roms, renaming etc.)
1.4.
Ensure
you have the appropriate folder view toggled, i.e. 'all games' and it doesn't have
filtering on it to stop the display of the game you're looking for.
1.5.
Use
the options | reset to default menu choice and check all of the items, restart
Mame32.
1.6.
Final
option, manually delete the registry key for Mame32:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Freeware\MAME32
2.
'My game isn't working, it errors, it crashes, it's slow &
stuttering.'
2.1.
Delete
the .hi and .cfg files for the game that's troubling you.
2.2.
Mame32
will start stuttering and frame-skipping heavily if you are really low on
resources or your memory for that setting has becoming very fragmented. Quit
Mame32 and restart, or, optimally restart Windows. If a game is stuttering, you
also may not have enough physical memory to prevent paging to a swap file,
KOF98 at 97+ megs for example.
2.3.
Check
to see that you have a valid zip file and it's not corrupt or read-only.
2.4.
Things
jerky and slow? Try toggling off the DirectInput for joystick and keyboard.
2.5.
If
you're crashing during an audit or an F5 refresh, you probably have a corrupt
.zip, extract it and re-zip. Pkunzip -t *.zip. Note the file that dies during
the audit and concentrate on that one. Also verify that if you do not use zips
that the folder is not empty, or contains partial or damaged roms.
2.6.
If
crashing or seeing intermittent slowdowns, try disabling running background
apps [in Win98, use msconfig.exe], Norton Crashguard, viruscans, fast find, the
office bar, Intellimouse, even IE subscription updates, etc, try moving Mame32
away from compressed [DriveSpace, DoubleSpace, stacker] drives. IntelliMouse is a known offender in this
category.
2.7.
Sometimes
fps w/ f11 will ‘jump’ initially, this is a side effect of frameskipping, turn
that feature off for better control.
2.8.
Odd
flashing, non-syncing, or other video problems? Try specifying a set resolution
like 640x480 instead of leaving it set to ‘auto size’. Your monitor may not be able to handle the
resolution Mame is requesting.
2.9.
Try
using Midas for your sound system, often it performs better than SEAL, drop
down to 22050/8 for sound settings.
2.10.
If
games are stuttering, try disabling your joystick [uncheck ‘use joystick’] to
see if it could be a driver issue.
2.11.
DDraw
errors? Always ensure you have the latest DirectX video drivers for your cards,
install the latest DirectX from Microsoft.
Some Diamond cards fall into this category. Also consider upgrading to
the latest DirectX core engine if you haven’t.
2.12.
Informal
testing has shown a 10% FPS increase if you do not use the joystick options
[USB joysticks should not cause as high a degradation].
2.13.
If
seeing stuttering, verify that you don’t have a second instance of Mame32
running, use NT taskman or ctl-alt-del in Win9x. If Mame32 crashes sometimes it can leave an instance in memory.
2.14.
Use
the options | reset to default menu choice and check all of the items, restart
Mame32.
2.15.
Final
option, manually delete the registry key for Mame32:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Freeware\MAME32
3.
'My joystick isn't working in Mame32.'
3.1.
Remember
you need to toggle it on the first time you run Mame32, options | default
options | sound & input.
3.2.
Mame32
relies on DirectInput for joystick support, ensure your game pad is seen as
present and active in the game controller control panel start menu | settings |
control panel | game controllers.
3.3.
Some
Win9x joysticks are not digital, try disabling DirectInput for joysticks for
those.
3.4.
Verify
your joystick is seen as ID #1 in the game controllers control panel rather
than being assigned a higher number.
3.5.
If you
are seeing game wide slowdowns w/ joystick enabled, try toggling the
DirectInput option for keyboards and joysticks off or on.
3.6.
If you
are seeing other odd joystick behavior try toggling *off* DirectInput for the
keyboard too, they're linked.
3.7.
Mame32
can take advantage of linked game pads like a daisy-chained MS Sidewinder, connect
the game pads to each other enter the game you want, press the [tab] key, go in
and map the p2 or p3 buttons to the second and third game pad.
3.8.
The
HotRod switch in MameDOS does not have an analogous checkbox in Mame32. That is
being considered. In the meantime, hop
into the in game [tab] menu and quickly remap globally using ‘general keys’.
Multiple members of the Mame32 team have HotRod SE’s.
4.
'Misc. issues.'
4.1.
Getting
property sheet errors on setting defaults or game properties? Get the Microsoft
common controls update here: http://www.microsoft.com/msdownload/ieplatform/ie/comctrlx86.asp, or update to IE4 or greater.
4.2.
To play the Exidy gun games you may need to disable Dinput
for joystick and keyboard.
4.3.
The way the current cheat module is written in the DOS
version causes problems when compiled in Mame32 [speedy movement through the
cheat menu, etc.]. Workaround is to
disable auto-frameskip.
4.4.
If you are seeing icon palette corruption in the GUI when
returning from a fullscreen game, try bumping up your desktop color depth to
24bpp or 32bpp.
4.5.
Funky or inverted colors in game? Try selecting a specific
resolution instead of autosize, your video card drivers may be trying to use a
res. it doesn’t care for.
4.6.
There may be some issues using the pure white color in the
GUI as a font color choice or as a highlight, try silver or a slightly off
white.
4.7.
With the recent DOS updates to color handling if you see odd
color fluctuations or ‘pinched’ screens, try toggling the color depth for that
game to 8bpp instead of 16bpp.
4.8.
Seeing visual tearing onscreen with games that do a lot of
scrolling? Try enabling triple buffer on the options | default options |
display tab.
4.9.
Seeing corruption in the screenshot/flyers/cabinets images?
Resize the viewable area, Mame32 decimates the image if the area to display the
image in is too small, resulting in colored patterns.
For breaking information
on troubleshooting techniques or issues related to the latest release as well
as updated art, icons, and screenshots go to the Mame32 QA/Test & Art Dept.
www.classicgaming.com/mame32qa .
To report bugs or discuss
Mame32 go to the official message board: http://pluto.beseen.com/boardroom/q/18365 .
Remember, always ensure
that the problem doesn't happen in the DOS version before reporting a bug.
john iv
mame32qa@yahoo.com
This document was previously
quickstart.htm, but it evolved beyond getting the app up and running hence the
name change.