Mame32 Support
Documentation v.2001-12-31
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
Mame32
was the first and only Win32 port of Mame from 1997-2001. Mame32 does not equal Mame[w]. Currently Mame32 has merged its functional
GUI with the recently released Win32 console mode command-line driven
Mame[w]. Mame32 runs on Win9x, WinME,
WinNT, Win2k, and WinXP. Ensure you have
the latest and greatest DirectX version for your OS from Microsoft. NT4 users
will need SP4 or greater. (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 [which you possess because you
own the original PCBs and dumped the contents yourself for fair use back-up
purposes, or are using public domain roms] into the sub-directory called
c:\mame32\roms, which you may have to create [note game roms are not distributed w/ Mame32,
additionally, do not email about
them]. It's preferable to leave the roms in their zip format, and just place
the zip files into the \mame32\roms directory.
6.
Some games require sampled sounds [space invaders,
donkey kong, etc.] these are available at www.mame.net
. If a game requires samples it will
show on the games property tab [alt-enter] 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.
Double click the Mame32 icon, hit F5 to refresh
your game list. Enable the joystick and
mouse in options • default options • controllers. Double click the game you
want to play. Insert coin with the 5
key, start the game with the 1 key [assumed standard keyboard mapping vs
hotrod/se]. Remap controls by using the
[tab] key once you are in the game.
Global settings can be made by using the ‘general input’ menu.
8.
Match the video settings here if you like: www.classicgaming.com/mame32qa/settings/settings.htm
|
File Name |
Location / Description |
|
Icons.zip |
http://www.classicgaming.com/mame32qa/down.htm This contains icons for every game in Mame32 and the tree
control on the far left. Place it in
the \mame32\icons directory, it remains zipped to save slack space. |
|
Snap.zip |
http://www.classicgaming.com/mame32qa/down.htm These are a series of files that contain in-game
screenshots of every parent game in Mame32.
Download the split packs and combine their *.png contents into a
single file called snap.zip, place that in \mame32\snap directory or place all the *.pngs themselves
freestanding into the \mame32\snap directory. [display by clicking/toggling
on the screenshot area] |
|
Bkground.zip |
http://www.classicgaming.com/mame32qa/down.htm This contains numerous images that are used as the
background for the Mame32 GUI [beneath the game list, behind the screenshot/folder
areas]. Download this and place it in \mame32\bkground. [rename the one image
you want to use bkground.png and place that single file in
\mame32\snap.] You can also use the
rotate.exe program [including my batch file] to choose a random/sequential
file and use that for the background. |
|
Flyers.zip |
http://www.classicgaming.com/mame32qa/down.htm These contains images of the original promotional material
sent to arcade owners when the games came out, exhorting them to buy the
games. Combine the *.png contents of
the packs into flyers.zip in \mame32\flyers, or leave them freestanding in
\mame32\flyers. [display by
clicking/toggling on the screenshot area] |
|
Marquees.zip |
http://www.mameworld.net/emam/ These contains images of the rectangular signs that usually
sat on top of the original arcade machines.
Place this file in \mame32\marquees or leave the files freestanding in
the \mame32\marquees directory. [display by clicking/toggling the screenshot
area] |
|
Cabinets.zip |
http://www.classicgaming.com/mame32qa/down.htm These contain images of the actual arcade machines themselves,
showing what they looked like in their native habitat. Place these files in
\mame32\cabinets, combine the *.png contents and call it cabinets.zip or
leave the files freestanding in the \mame32\cabinets directory. [display by clicking/toggling on the screenshot
area] |
|
History.dat |
This file contains designer’s names and eventually design
history. Very interesting. Place this
file in \mame32 alongside mame32.exe. [note: history.dat information will
only display in screenshot mode, not during flyer/cab/marquee mode] |
|
Mameinfo.dat |
http://www.Mameworld.net/mameinfo/ This file contains bug, WIP, driver author, and version
information. Place it in \mame32
alongside mame32.exe. This information
will display under history.dat entries, and as above, only during screenshot
mode. |
|
Hiscore.dat |
http://www.mame.net/hiscore.html This file facilitates the creation of hi-scores in a large
number of Mame32 games. This file is needed if the original arcade game did
not maintain the hi-score table after being reset or turned off. Note that
this file is an externally supported database, not every candidate game is
supported in it. Place this file in
\mame32 alongside mame32.exe. You must
use this file to get hi scores in most early games. |
|
Rotate.zip |
http://www.classicgaming.com/mame32qa/down.htm Written by Joel Conover, this program rotates your bkground
images so you can have a new look for Mame32 everytime you run it. See the enclosed batch file for a quick
reference. The batch file grabs an
image from the \mame32\bkground directory and copies it to the \mame32\snap
directory. |
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/gallery.htm.
For Mame32's official art packs including icons of all working games, flyers,
cabinets, screenshots for all games, and afore mentioned background images
please see: http://www.classicgaming.com/mame32qa/down.htm. Also see the table above for other extras.
Optimal
Graphic Settings: Mame32 will now take advantage of your recent video card’s ability to do hardware stretching and will
stretch a game to fill your monitors dimensions. See: www.classicgaming.com/mame32qa/settings/settings.htm
for more info on recommended settings and how to match classic Mame32
output. If your hardware stretch choice
is grayed out, your video card or driver doesn’t support it.
As with
any program there are bound to be some hiccups, here are some suggestions to
common perceived difficulties. Also, remember, Mame32 is now based on the core
Mame[w] - if a problem exists in the Mame[w] code we inherit it. Always ensure
before reporting problems with Mame32 that it *doesn't* happen in the Mame[w]
version. If it does, there's not much we can do about it. Mame is an ongoing documentation project, as
such, some game may break from version to version as core changes occur beneath
them. Use a prior working version of
Mame if the game you want develops problems.
1.
'My roms aren't being seen, the roms I had in version
x don't work anymore.'
1.1.
This is a question that gets asked a lot, 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 using previously miss-dumped or damaged roms, which
then need to 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.
Mame utilises the idea of a parent / clone
relationship for its games. If you are
trying to play a clone or a bootleg of a game, you will need the roms for the
clone game, and the parent set. Mame32 indicates the parent set of a clone at
the bottom of the game properties tab. [alt-enter].
1.3.
Mame also utilises the idea of having single zip
files to house the BIOS files for a large number of similar games, the NeoGeo
games for example, share four BIOS files in every game. Mame will look to neogeo.zip as the BIOS zip,
if you have this file along with the other NeoGeo games, it will use it,
otherwise Mame expect the BIOS files in every NeoGeo game. DECO cassette, CVS,
and Playchoice are also BIOS games. You
will get errors if you do not have the BIOS files in some form.
1.4.
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 [or use alt-a] and you will likely find that you are missing a file
or two. See item 1.1. above, it's probably a missing rom.
1.5.
F5/Refresh in the GUI. (do this anytime you alter
your roms, renaming etc.)
1.6.
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.
1.7.
Use the options • reset to default menu choice and
check all of the items, restart Mame32.
1.8.
Final option, manually delete the registry key for
Mame32 by running regedit.exe: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Freeware\MAME32
2.
Crashes & Non-Functioning Topics
2.1.
Delete the .hi, .cfg, or .nv files for the game
that's troubling you.
2.2.
Check to see that you have a valid zip file and
it's not corrupt or read-only.
2.3.
The game’s entry in hiscore.dat may be causing the
crash, remove the entry and try again.
2.4.
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.
2.5.
If seeing crashes or weird screen coloration, try
disabling running background apps [in Win98, use msconfig.exe], Norton Crashguard,
popupkiller, viruscans, fast find, the office bar,
Intellimouse, even IE subscription updates, etc, try moving Mame32 away from
compressed [DriveSpace, DoubleSpace, stacker] drives. IntelliMouse and Office Toolbars are a known
offenders in this category. Also disable
items in your system tray, like the CD player, etc.
2.6.
Use the options • reset to default menu choice and
check all of the items, restart Mame32.
2.7.
Final option, manually delete the registry key for
Mame32 by running regedit.exe: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Freeware\MAME32
3. Performance Related Topics [sound scratchiness and
stuttering]
3.1.
Mame32 will start to crackle, scratch, or echo if
the game you are running is too taxing for your processor [Taito F3, Midway
Wolf Unit, CPS2 games require a lot of horsepower]. You can visually confirm this by turning on
FPS display with F11, and frame skip to auto with F8. If the FPS dips anywhere or frame skipping
rises anywhere during the game play, you know it’s maxing out your CPU and
sound breakup could occur. The new blitter effects [partial scanlines, RGB
effects] will impose further strain on your system, upwards of 50%. FYI, an AMD
Athlon 1900 XP is able to do all current Mame32 games [.56] at greater than
100% fps at a resolution of 1600x1200x32 using RGB effects [the most stressful
Mame32 settings]. Throw as much hardware
at Mame as possible.
4.
Joysticks and Gamepad Topics
4.1.
To enable the joystick and mouse, remember you need
to toggle them to the on position the first time you run Mame32, options •
default options • controllers.
4.2.
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.
4.3.
Verify your joystick is seen as ID #1 in the game
controllers control panel rather than being assigned a higher number. If using multiple gamepads, ensure each one
has its own ID#.
4.4.
Daisy chained gameport Microsoft Sidewinders
[original] in Win2k do not work. Use USB
gamepads instead. Single Sidewinders may also cause odd behaviour like ghost
button presses.
5.
Misc. & GUI Related Issues
5.1.
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.
5.2.
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.
5.3.
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.
5.4.
Sometimes
due to the Windows color scheme chosen, some small black ‘dots’ can display on
the Mame32 icons in large icon view. Try
a different Windows color scheme.
5.5.
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. [you can increase the viewable screenshot area
by turning off status bar, and toolbar, and widening/heightening the screenshot
pane].
5.6.
If
you’re having trouble saving your keyboard mappings and configuration, verify
that the *.cfg files are not read-only and that you have a \cfg directory.
5.7.
Tab
menu no longer working? You’ve mapped it accidentally to something else
apparently; delete the default.cfg file in the \mame32\cfg directory.
5.8.
My
hi-scores aren’t being saved anymore.
For non-NVRAM games get the hiscore.dat file from www.mame.net. Remember not all games are
converted to this method yet, see the hiscore.dat file itself for the list of
supported games.
5.9.
The
screenshot area was grayed out in Windows XP because of the inclusion of a
preliminary file in .54 called mame32 manifest.
Remove that file to view the screenshot area artwork again.
For
breaking information on troubleshooting techniques or issues related to the
latest release as well as updated art, icons, cabinets, and screenshots go to
the Mame32 QA/Test & Art Dept. www.classicgaming.com/mame32qa .
The
current list of Mame32 issues can be found here: http://www.classicgaming.com/mame32qa/bugs.htm
These
bug entries do not include DCRs [Developer Change
Requests / Feature Requests].
Remember;
always ensure that the problem doesn't happen in the Mame[w] version before
reporting a bug. Check and report Mame[w] bugs here: http://www.Mame[w]orld.net/mametesters/report.html
.
john iv
mame32qa@hotmail.com
[note: put 'mame32' in the subject line or you will be spam filtered.]
This
document was previously quickstart.htm, but it evolved beyond getting the app
up and running hence the name change.