This file describes general usage
information about MAME. It is intended
to cover aspects of using and configuring the program that are common
across operating systems. For additional OS-specific options, please see
the separate documentation for your particular version of MAME.
Using the program
-----------------
The usual way to run MAME is by telling it to run a particular game:
mame <gamename> [options]
For example:
mame robby -nosound
...will run Robby Roto without sound. There are many, many options
available. All commonly supported options are listed below. Options that
are specific to one operating system or version of MAME will be listed
in a separate document.
An alternative way to run MAME is to give it a command:
mame <command> [parameters]
For example:
mame -listsource gridlee
...will print the name of the source file where the gridlee driver lives
to the screen. There are just a handful of these commands in MAME. They
are all listed below, just before the options list.
Default Keys
------------
All the keys below are fully configurable in the user interface. This list
shows the standard keyboard configuration.
Tab Toggles the configuration menu.
~ Toggles the On Screen Display. When the on-screen display is
visible, you can use the following keys to control it:
Up - select previous parameter to modify
Down - select next parameter to modify
Enter - reset parameter value to its default
Left - decrease the value of the selected parameter
Control+Left - decrease the value by 10x
Shift+Left - decrease the value by 0.1x
Alt+Left - decrease the value by the smallest amount
Right - increase the value of the selected parameter
Control+Right - increase the value by 10x
Shift+Right - increase the value by 0.1x
Alt+Right - increase the value by the smallest amount
P Pauses the game.
Shift+P While paused, advances to next frame.
F1 Toggle crosshairs for games that use them. Each subsequent
press will enable crosshairs for one more player.
F2 Service Mode for games that support it.
F3 Resets the game.
Shift+F3 Performs a "hard reset", which tears everything down and re-
creates it from scratch. This is a more thorough and complete
reset than an F3.
F4 Shows the game palette, decoded GFX, and any tilemaps. Use the
Enter key to switch between the three modes (palette, graphics,
and tilemaps). Press F4 again to turn off the display. The key
controls in each mode vary slightly:
* Palette/colortable mode:
[ ] - switch between palette and colortable modes
Up/Down - scroll up/down one line at a time
Page Up/Page Down - scroll up/down one page at a time
Home/End - move to top/bottom of list
-/+ - increase/decrease the number of colors per row
Enter - switch to graphics viewer
* Graphics mode:
[ ] - switch between different graphics sets
Up/Down - scroll up/down one line at a time
Page Up/Page Down - scroll up/down one page at a time
Home/End - move to top/bottom of list
Left/Right - change color displayed
R - rotate tiles 90 degrees clockwise
-/+ - increase/decrease the number of tiles per row
Enter - switch to tilemap viewer
* Tilemap mode:
[ ] - switch between different tilemaps
Up/Down/Left/Right - scroll 8 pixels at a time
Shift+Up/Down/Left/Right - scroll 1 pixel at a time
Control+Up/Down/Left/Right - scroll 64 pixels at a time
R - rotate tilemap view 90 degrees clockwise
-/+ - increase/decrease the zoom factor
Enter - switch to palette/colortable mode
Note: Not all games have decoded graphics and/or tilemaps.
F6 Toggle cheat mode (if started with "-cheat").
F7 Load a save state. You will be requested to press a key to
determine which save state you wish to load. Note that the save
state feature is not supported for a large number of drivers. If
support is not enabled for a given driver, you will receive a
warning when attempting to save or load.
Shift+F7 Create a save state. Requires an additional keypress to identify
the state, similar to the load option above.
F8 Decrease frame skip on the fly.
F9 Increase frame skip on the fly.
F10 Toggle speed throttling.
F11 Toggles speed display.
Shift+F11 Toggles profiler display (debug builds only).
F12 Saves a screen snapshot.
Insert Fast forward. While held, runs the game with throttling disabled
and with the maximum frameskip.
Escape Exits emulator.
Core commands
-------------
-help / -h / -?
Displays current MAME version and copyright notice.
-validate / -valid
Performs internal validation on every driver in the system. Run this
before submitting changes to ensure that you haven't violated any of
the core system rules.
Configuration commands
----------------------
-createconfig / -cc
Creates the default mame.ini file. All the configuration options
(not commands) described below can be permanently changed by editing
this configuration file.
-showconfig / -sc
Displays the current configuration settings. If you route this to a
file, you can use it as an INI file. For example, the command:
mame -showconfig >mame.ini
is equivalent to -createconfig.
-showusage / -su
Displays a summary of all the command line options. For options that
are not mentioned here, the short summary given by "mame -showusage"
is usually sufficient.
Frontend commands
-----------------
Note: By default, all the '-list' commands below write info to the screen.
If you wish to write the info to a textfile instead, add this to the end
of your command:
> filename
...where 'filename' is the textfile's path and name
(e.g., c:\mame\list.txt).
-listxml / -lx [<gamename|wildcard>]
List comprehensive details for all of the supported games. The output
is quite long, so it is usually better to redirect this into a file.
The output is in XML format. By default all games are listed; however,
you can limit this list by specifying a driver name or wildcard after
the -listxml command.
-listfull / -ll [<gamename|wildcard>]
Displays a list of game driver names and descriptions. By default all
games are listed; however, you can limit this list by specifying a
driver name or wildcard after the -listfull command.
-listsource / -ls [<gamename|wildcard>]
Displays a list of drivers and the names of the source files their
game drivers live in. Useful for finding which driver a game runs on
in order to fix bugs. By default all games are listed; however, you
can limit this list by specifying a driver name or wildcard after
the -listsource command.
-listclones / -lc [<gamename|wildcard>]
Displays a list of clones. By default all clones are listed; however,
you can limit this list by specifying a driver name or wildcard after
the -listsource command.
-listcrc
Displays a full list of CRCs of all ROM images referenced by all
drivers within MAME.
-listroms <gamename>
Displays a list of ROM images referenced by the specified game.
-listsamples <gamename>
Displays a list of samples referenced by the specified game.
-verifyroms [<gamename|wildcard>]
Checks for invalid or missing ROM images. By default all drivers that
have valid ZIP files or directories in the rompath are verified;
however, you can limit this list by specifying a driver name or
wildcard after the -verifyroms command.
-verifysamples [<gamename|wildcard>]
Checks for invalid or missing samples. By default all drivers that
have valid ZIP files or directories in the samplepath are verified;
however, you can limit this list by specifying a driver name or
wildcard after the -verifyroms command.
-romident
Attempts to identify ROM files, if they are known to MAME, in the
specified .zip file or directory. This command can be used to try and
identify ROM sets taken from unknown boards. On exit, the errorlevel
is returned as one of the following:
0: means all files were identified
7: means all files were identified except for 1 or more "non-ROM"
files
8: means some files were identified
9: means no files were identified
Configuration options
---------------------
-[no]readconfig / -[no]rc
Enables or disables the reading of the config files. When enabled
(which is the default), MAME reads the following config files in order:
- mame.ini
- <mymame>.ini (i.e. if MAME was renamed mame060.exe, MAME
parses mame060.ini here)
- mamed.ini (if this is a debug build, i.e. mamed.exe)
- vector.ini (for vector games only)
- <driver>.ini (based on the source filename of the driver)
- <parent>.ini (for clones only, may be called recursively)
- <gamename>.ini
The settings in the later ini's override those in the earlier ini's.
So, for example, if you wanted to disable overlay effects in the
vector games, you can create a vector.ini with the "effect none" line
in it, and it will override whatever effect value you have in your
mame.ini. The default is ON (-readconfig).
Core search path options
------------------------
-rompath / -rp <path>
Specifies a list of paths within which to find ROM or hard disk images.
Multiple paths can be specified by separating them with semicolons.
The default is 'roms' (that is, a directory "roms" in the same directory
as the MAME executable).
-samplepath / -sp <path>
Specifies a list of paths within which to find sample files. Multiple
paths can be specified by separating them with semicolons. The default
is 'samples' (that is, a directory "samples" in the same directory as
the MAME executable).
-artpath / -artwork_directory <path>
Specifies a list of paths within which to find artwork files. Multiple
paths can be specified by separating them with semicolons. The default
is 'artwork' (that is, a directory "artwork" in the same directory as
the MAME executable).
-ctrlrpath / -ctrlr_directory <path>
Specifies a list of paths within which to find controller-specific
configuration files. Multiple paths can be specified by separating
them with semicolons. The default is 'ctrlr' (that is, a directory
"ctrlr" in the same directory as the MAME executable).
-inipath <path>
Specifies a list of paths within which to find .INI files. Multiple
paths can be specified by separating them with semicolons. The default
is '.;ini' (that is, search in the current directory first, and then
in the directory "ini" in the same directory as the MAME executable).
-fontpath <path>
Specifies a list of paths within which to find .BDF font files. Multiple
paths can be specified by separating them with semicolons. The default
is '.' (that is, search in the same directory as the MAME executable).
Core Output Directory Options
-----------------------------
-cfg_directory <path>
Specifies a single directory where configuration files are stored.
Configuration files store user configurable settings that are read at
startup and written when MAME exits. The default is 'cfg' (that is,
a directory "cfg" in the same directory as the MAME executable). If
this directory does not exist, it will be automatically created.
-nvram_directory <path>
Specifies a single directory where NVRAM files are stored. NVRAM files
store the contents of EEPROM and non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) for games
which used this type of hardware. This data is read at startup and
written when MAME exits. The default is 'nvram' (that is, a directory
"nvram" in the same directory as the MAME executable). If this
directory does not exist, it will be automatically created.
-memcard_directory <path>
Specifies a single directory where memory card files are stored.
Memory card files store the contents of removable memory cards for
games which used this type of hardware. This data is read and written
under control of the user via the "Memory Card" menu in the user
interface. The default is 'memcard' (that is, a directory "memcard"
in the same directory as the MAME executable). If this directory does
not exist, it will be automatically created.
-input_directory <path>
Specifies a single directory where input recording files are stored.
Input recordings are created via the -record option and played back
via the -playback option. The default is 'inp' (that is, a directory
"inp" in the same directory as the MAME executable). If this directory
does not exist, it will be automatically created.
-state_directory <path>
Specifies a single directory where save state files are stored. Save
state files are read and written either upon user request, or when
using the -autosave option. The default is 'sta' (that is, a directory
"sta" in the same directory as the MAME executable).
If this directory
does not exist, it will be automatically created.
-snapshot_directory <path>
Specifies a single directory where screen snapshots are stored, when
requested by the user. The default is 'snap' (that is, a directory
"snap" in the same directory as the MAME executable). If this
directory does not exist, it will be automatically created.
-diff_directory <path>
Specifies a single directory where hard drive differencing files are
stored. Hard drive differencing files store any data that is written
back to a hard disk image, in order to preserve the original image.
The differencing files are created at startup when a game with a hard
disk image. The default is 'diff' (that is, a directory "diff" in the
same directory as the MAME executable). If this directory does not
exist, it will be automatically created.
-comment_directory <path>
Specifies a single directory where debugger comment files are stored.
Debugger comment files are written by the debugger when comments are
added to the disassembly for a game. The default is 'comments' (that
is, a directory "comments" in the same directory as the MAME
executable). If this directory does not exist, it will be
automatically created.
Core Filename Options
---------------------
-cheat_file <filename>
Specifies the name of the cheat database file. The default is
'cheat.dat'.
Core state/playback options
---------------------------
-state <slot>
Immediately after starting the specified game, will cause the save
state in the specified <slot> to be loaded.
-[no]autosave
When enabled, automatically creates a save state file when exiting
MAME and automatically attempts to reload it when later starting MAME
with the same game. This only works for games that have explicitly
enabled save state support in their driver. The default is OFF
(-noautosave).
-playback / -pb <filename>
Specifies a file from which to play back a series of game inputs. This
feature does not work reliably for all games, but can be used to watch
a previously recorded game session from start to finish. In order to
make things consistent, you should only record and playback with all
configuration (.cfg), NVRAM (.nv), and memory card files deleted. The
default is NULL (no playback).
-record / -rec <filename>
Specifies a file to record all input from a game session. This can be
used to record a game session for later playback. This feature does
not work reliably for all games, but can be used to watch a previously
recorded game session from start to finish. In order to make things
consistent, you should only record and playback with all configuration
(.cfg), NVRAM (.nv), and memory card files deleted. The default is
NULL (no recording).
-mngwrite <filename>
Writes each video frame to the given <filename> in MNG format,
producing an animation of the game session. Note that -mngwrite only
writes video frames; it does not save any audio data. Use -wavwrite
for that, and reassemble the audio/video using offline tools. The
default is NULL (no recording).
-wavwrite <filename>
Writes the final mixer output to the given <filename> in WAV format,
producing an audio recording of the game session. The default is
NULL (no recording).
Core performance options
------------------------
-[no]autoframeskip / -[no]afs
Automatically determines the frameskip level while you're playing the
game, adjusting it constantly in a frantic attempt to keep the game
running at full speed. Turning this on overrides the value you have
set for -frameskip below. The default is OFF (-noautoframeskip).
-frameskip / -fs <level>
Specifies the frameskip value. This is the number of frames out of
every 12 to drop when running. For example, if you say -frameskip 2,
then MAME will display 10 out of every 12 frames. By skipping those
frames, you may be able to get full speed in a game that requires more
horsepower than your computer has. The default value is -frameskip 0,
which skips no frames.
-seconds_to_run / -str <seconds>
This option can be used for benchmarking and automated testing. It tells
MAME to stop execution after a fixed number of seconds. By combining
this with a fixed set of other command line options, you can set up a
consistent environment for benchmarking MAME performance. In addition,
upon exit, the -str option will write a screenshot called final.png
to the game's snapshot directory.
-[no]throttle
Configures the default thottling setting. When throttling is on, MAME
attempts to keep the game running at the game's intended speed. When
throttling is off, MAME runs the game as fast as it can. Note that the
fastest speed is more often than not limited by your graphics card,
especially for older games. The default is ON (-throttle).
-[no]sleep
Allows MAME to give time back to the system when running with -throttle.
This allows other programs to have some CPU time, assuming that the
game isn't taxing 100% of your CPU resources. This option can
potentially cause hiccups in performance if other demanding programs
are running. The default is ON (-sleep).
Core rotation options
---------------------
-[no]rotate
Rotate the game to match its normal state (horizontal/vertical). This
ensures that both vertically and horizontally oriented games show up
correctly without the need to rotate your monitor. If you want to keep
the game displaying 'raw' on the screen the way it would have in the
arcade, turn this option OFF. The default is ON (-rotate).
-[no]ror
-[no]rol
Rotate the game screen to the right (clockwise) or left (counter-
clockwise) relative to either its normal state (if -rotate is
specified) or its native state (if -norotate is specified). The
default for both of these options is OFF (-noror -norol).
-[no]flipx
-[no]flipy
Flip (mirror) the game screen either horizontally (-flipx) or
vertically (-flipy). The flips are applied after the -rotate and
-ror/-rol options are applied. The default for both
of these options
is OFF (-noflipx -noflipy).
-[no]autoror
-[no]autorol
These options are designed for use with pivoting screens that only
pivot in a single direction. If your screen only pivots clockwise,
use -autorol to ensure that the game will fill the screen either
horizontally or vertically in one of the directions you can handle.
If your screen only pivots counter-clockwise, use -autoror.
Core artwork options
--------------------
-[no]artwork_crop / -[no]artcrop
Enable cropping of artwork to the game screen area only. This works
best with -video gdi or -video d3d, and means that vertically oriented
games running full screen can display their artwork to the left and
right sides of the screen. This does not work with -video ddraw
because of the way the game screens are rendered and scaled after the
fact. This option can also be controlled via the Video Options menu in
the user interface. The default is OFF (-noartwork_crop).
-[no]use_backdrops / -[no]backdrop
Enables/disables the display of backdrops. The default is ON
(-use_backdrops).
-[no]use_overlays / -[no]overlay
Enables/disables the display of overlays. The default is ON
(-use_overlays).
-[no]use_bezels / -[no]bezel
Enables/disables the display of bezels. The default is ON
(-use_bezels).
Core screen options
-------------------
-brightness <value>
Controls the default brightness, or black level, of the game screens.
This option does not affect the artwork or other parts of the display.
Using the MAME UI, you can individually set the brightness for each
game screen; this option controls the initial value for all visible
game screens. The standard value is 1.0. Selecting lower values (down
to 0.1) will produce a darkened display, while selecting higher values
(up to 2.0) will give a brighter display. The default is 1.0.
-contrast <value>
Controls the contrast, or white level, of the game screens. This
option does not affect the artwork or other parts of the display.
Using the MAME UI, you can individually set the contrast for each
game screen; this option controls the initial value for all visible
game screens. The standard value is 1.0. Selecting lower values (down
to 0.1) will produce a dimmer display, while selecting higher values
(up to 2.0) will give a more saturated display. The default is 1.0.
-gamma <value>
Controls the gamma, which produces a potentially nonlinear black to
white ramp, for the game screens. This option does not affect the
artwork or other parts of the display. Using the MAME UI, you can
individually set the gamma for each game screen; this option controls
the initial value for all visible game screens. The standard value is
1.0, which gives a linear ramp from black to white. Selecting lower
values (down to 0.1) will increase the nonlinearity toward black,
while selecting higher values (up to 3.0) will push the nonlinearity
toward white. The default is 1.0.
-pause_brightness <value>
This controls the brightness level when MAME is paused. The default
value is 0.65.
Core vector options
-------------------
-[no]antialias / -[no]aa
Enables antialiased line rendering for vector games. The default is ON
(-antialias).
-beam <width>
Sets the width of the vectors. This is a scaling factor against the
standard vector width. A value of 1.0 will keep the default vector
line width. Smaller values will reduce the width, and larger values
will increase the width. The default is 1.0.
-flicker <value>
Simulates a vector "flicker" effect, similar to a vector monitor that
needs adjustment. This option requires a float argument in the range
of 0.00 - 100.00 (0=none, 100=maximum). The default is 0.
Core sound options
------------------
-[no]sound
Enable or disable sound altogether. The default is ON (-sound).
-samplerate <value> / -sr <value>
Sets the audio sample rate. Smaller values (e.g. 11025) cause lower
audio quality but faster emulation speed. Higher values (e.g. 48000)
cause higher audio quality but slower emulation speed. The default is
48000.
-[no]samples
Use samples if available. The default is ON (-samples).
-volume / -vol <value>
Sets the startup volume. It can later be changed with the user
interface (see Keys section). The volume is an attenuation in dB:
e.g., "-volume -12" will start with -12dB attenuation. The default
is 0.
Core input options
------------------
-ctrlr <controller>
Enables support for special controllers. Configuration files are
loaded from the ctrlrpath. They are in the same format as the .cfg
files that are saved, but only control configuration data is read
from the file. The default is NULL (no controller file).
-[no]mouse
Controls whether or not MAME makes use of mouse controllers. When
this is enabled, you will likely be unable to use your mouse for other
purposes until you exit or pause the game. The default is OFF
(-nomouse).
-[no]joystick / -[no]joy
Controls whether or not MAME makes use of joystick/gamepad controllers.
When this is enabled, MAME will ask DirectInput about which
controllers are connected. The default is OFF (-nojoystick).
-[no]lightgun / -[no]gun
Controls whether or not MAME makes use of lightgun controllers.
Note that most lightguns map to the mouse, so using -lightgun and
-mouse together may produce strange results. The default is OFF
(-nolightgun).
-[no]multikeyboard / -[no]multikey
Determines whether MAME differentiates between multiple keyboards.
Some systems may report more than one keyboard; by default, the data
from all of these keyboards is combined so that it looks like a single
keyboard. Turning this option on will enable MAME to report keypresses
on different keyboards independently. The default is OFF
(-nomultikeyboard).
-[no]multimouse
Determines whether MAME differentiates between multiple mice. Some
systems may report more than one mouse device; by default, the data
from all of these mice is combined so that it looks like a single
mouse. Turning this option on will enable MAME to report mouse
movement and button presses on different mice independently. The
default is OFF (-nomultimouse).
-[no]steadykey / -[no]steady
Some games require two or more buttons to be pressed at exactly the
same time to make special moves. Due to limitations in the keyboard
hardware, it can be difficult or even impossible to accomplish that
using the standard keyboard handling. This option selects a different
handling that makes it easier to register simultaneous button presses,
but has the disadvantage of making controls less responsive. The
default is OFF (-nosteadykey)
-[no]offscreen_reload / -[no]reload
Controls whether or not MAME treats a second button input from a
lightgun as a reload signal. In this case, MAME will report the gun's
position as (0,MAX) with the trigger held, which is equivalent to an
offscreen reload. This is only needed for games that required you to
shoot offscreen to reload, and then only if your gun does not support
off screen reloads. The default is OFF (-nooffscreen_reload).
-joystick_map <map> / -joymap <map>
Controls how joystick values map to digital joystick controls. MAME
accepts all joystick input from the system as analog data. For true
analog joysticks, this needs to be mapped down to the usual 4-way or
8-way digital joystick values. To do this, MAME divides the analog
range into a 9x9 grid. It then takes the joystick axis position (for
X and Y axes only), maps it to this grid, and then looks up a
translation from a joystick map. This parameter allows you to specify
the map. The default is 'auto', which means that a standard 8-way,
4-way, or 4-way diagonal map is selected automatically based on the
input port configuration of the current game.
Maps are defined as a string of numbers and characters. Since the grid
is 9x9, there are a total of 81 characters necessary to define a
complete map. Below is an example map for an 8-way joystick:
777888999 Note that the numeric digits correspond to the keys
777888999 on a numeric keypad. So '7' maps to up+left, '4' maps
777888999 to left, '5' maps to neutral, etc. In addition to the
444555666 numeric values, you can specify the character 's',
444555666 which means "sticky". In this case, the value of the
444555666 map is the same as it was the last time a non-sticky
111222333 value was read.
111222333
111222333
To specify the map for this parameter, you can specify a string of
rows separated by a '.' (which indicates the end of a row), like so:
777888999.777888999.777888999.444555666.444555666.444555666.
111222333.111222333.111222333
However, this can be reduced using several shorthands supported by the
<map> parameter. If information about a row is missing, then it is
assumed that any missing data in columns 5-9 are left/right symmetric
with data in columns 0-4; and any missing data in colums 0-4 is
assumed to be copies of the previous data. The same logic applies to
missing rows, except that up/down symmetry is assumed.
By using these shorthands, the 81 character map can be simply
specified by this 11 character string: 7778...4445
Looking at the first row, 7778 is only 4 characters long. The 5th
entry can't use symmetry, so it is assumed to be equal to the previous
character '8'. The 6th character is left/right symmetric with the 4th
character, giving an '8'. The 7th character is left/right symmetric
with the 3rd character, giving a '9' (which is '7' with left/right
flipped). Eventually this gives the full 777888999 string of the row.
The second and third rows are missing, so they are assumed to be
identical to the first row. The fourth row decodes similarly to the
first row, producing 444555666. The fifth row is missing so it is
assumed to be the same as the fourth.
The remaining three rows are also missing, so they are assumed to be
the up/down mirrors of the first three rows, giving three final rows
of 111222333.
-joystick_deadzone <value> / -joy_deadzone <value> /
-jdz <value>
If you play with an analog joystick, the center can drift a little.
joystick_deadzone tells how far along an axis you must move before the
axis starts to change. This option expects a float in the range of
0.0 to 1.0. Where 0 is the center of the joystick and 1 is the outer
limit. The default is 0.3.
-joystick_saturation <value> / joy_saturation
<value> / -jsat <value>
If you play with an analog joystick, the ends can drift a little,
and may not match in the +/- directions. joystick_saturation tells how
far along an axis movement change will be accepted before it reaches
the maximum range. This option expects a float in the range of 0.0 to
1.0, where 0 is the center of the joystick and 1 is the outer limit.
The default is 0.85.
Core input automatic enable options
-----------------------------------
-paddle_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun|none>
/ -paddle
-adstick_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun|none>
/ -adstick
-pedal_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun|none>
/ -pedal
-dial_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun|none>
/ -dial
-trackball_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun|none>
/ -trackball
-lightgun_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun|none>
-positional_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun|none>
Each of these options controls autoenabling the mouse, joystick, or
lightgun depending on the presence of a particular class of analog
control for a particular game. For example, if you specify the option
-paddle mouse, then any game that has a paddle control will
automatically enable mouse controls just as if you had explicitly
specified -mouse. Note that these controls override the values of
-[no]mouse, -[no]joystick, etc.
Debugging options
-----------------
-[no]log
Creates a file called error.log which contains all of the internal
log messages generated by the MAME core and game drivers. The default
is OFF (-nolog).
-[no]verbose / -[no]v
Displays internal diagnostic information. This information is very
useful for debugging problems with your configuration. IMPORTANT: when
reporting bugs, please run with mame -verbose and include the
resulting information. The default is OFF (-noverbose).
-[no]debug
Activates the integrated debugger. This is available only if the
program is compiled with MAME_DEBUG defined. By default, the debugger
is entered by pressing the tilde (~) key during emulation. It is also
entered immediately at startup. The default is ON (-debug).
-debugscript <filename>
Specifies a file that contains a list of debugger commands to execute
immediately upon startup. The default is NULL (no commands).
Core misc options
-----------------
-bios <biosname>
Specifies the specific BIOS to use with the current game, for game
systems that make use of a BIOS. The -listxml output will list all of
the possible BIOS names for a game. The default is 'default'.
-[no]cheat / -[no]c
Enables the reading of the cheat database, if present, and the Cheat
menu in the user interface. The default is OFF (-nocheat).
-[no]skip_gameinfo
Forces MAME to skip displaying the game info screen. The default is
OFF (-noskip_gameinfo).
This file describes
Windows-specific usage information about MAME. It is
intended to cover aspects of using and configuring the program that are
specific to running MAME from the command line on a Windows-based system.
For common options that apply to all systems, please see config.txt.
Default Keys
------------
In addition to the keys described in config.txt, the following additional
keys are defined for Windows versions of MAME:
Alt+Enter Toggles between full-screen and windowed
mode.
Windows debugging options
-------------------------
-[no]oslog
Outputs the error.log data to the Windows debugger. This can be used at
the same time as -log to output the log data to both targets as well.
Default is OFF (-nooslog).
Windows performance options
---------------------------
-priority <priority>
Sets the thread priority for the MAME threads. By default the priority
is left alone to guarantee proper cooperation with other applications.
The valid range is -15 to 1, with 1 being the highest priority. The
default is 0 (NORMAL priority).
-[no]multithreading / -[no]mt
Enables multithreading within MAME. At the moment, this causes the
window and all DirectDraw/Direct3D code to execute on a second thread,
which can improve performance on hyperthreaded and multicore systems.
The default is OFF (-nomultithreading).
Windows video options
---------------------
-video <gdi|ddraw|d3d|none>
Specifies which video subsystem to use for drawing. By specifying 'gdi'
here, you tell MAME to render video using standard Windows graphics
drawing calls. This is the slowest but most compatible option.
Specifying 'ddraw' instructs MAME to use DirectDraw for rendering.
This causes MAME to render everything at a lower resolution and then
upscale the results at the end. This produces high performance,
especially on older or low-power video cards, but has a noticeably
lower output quality. Specifying 'd3d' tells MAME to use Direct3D for
rendering. This produces the highest quality output and enables all
rendering options. It is recommended if you have a recent (2002+)
video card. The final option 'none' displays no windows and does no
drawing. This is primarily present for doing CPU benchmarks without
the overhead of the video system. The default is d3d.
-numscreens <count>
Tells MAME how many output windows to create. For most games, a single
output window is all you need, but some games originally used multiple
screens. Each screen (up to 4) has its own independent settings for
physical monitor, aspect ratio, resolution, and view, which can be
set using the options below. The default is 1.
-[no]window
Run MAME in either a window or full screen. The default is OFF
(-nowindow).
-[no]maximize / -[no]max
Controls initial window size in windowed mode. If it is set on, the
window will initially be set to the maximum supported size when you
start MAME. If it is turned off, the window will start out at the
smallest supported size. This option only has an effect when the
-window option is used. The default is ON (-maximize).
-[no]keepaspect / -[no]ka
Enables aspect ratio enforcement. When this option is on, the game's
proper aspect ratio (generally 4:3 or 3:4) is enforced, so you get the
game looking like it should. When running in a window with this option
on, you can only resize the window to the proper aspect ratio, unless
you are holding down the CONTROL key. By turning the option off, the
aspect ratio is allowed to float. In full screen mode, this means that
all games will stretch to the full screen size (even vertical games).
In window mode, it means that you can freely resize the window without
any constraints. The default is ON (-keepaspect).
-prescale <amount>
Controls the size of the screen images when they are passed off to the
graphics system for scaling. At the minimum setting of 1, the screen
is rendered at its original resolution before being scaled. At higher
settings, the screen is expanded by a factor of <amount> before being
scaled. With -video ddraw or -video d3d, this produces a less blurry
image at the expense of some speed. In -video ddraw mode, this also
increases the effective resolution of non-screen elements such as
artwork and fonts. The default is 1.
-effect <filename>
Specifies a single PNG file that is used as an overlay over any game
screens in the video display. This PNG file is assumed to live in the
root of one of the artpath directories. The pattern in the PNG file is
repeated both horizontally and vertically to cover the entire game
screen areas (but not any external artwork), and is rendered at
the target resolution of the game image. For -video gdi and -video d3d
modes, this means that one pixel in the PNG will map to one pixel on
your output display. For -video ddraw, this means that one pixel in the
PNG will map to one pixel in the prescaled game screen. If you wish to
use an effect that requires mapping n PNG pixels to each game screen
pixel with -video ddraw, you need to specify a -prescale factor of n as
well. The RGB values of each pixel in the PNG are multiplied against the
RGB values of the target screen. The default is 'none', meaning no
effect.
-[no]waitvsync
Waits for the refresh period on your computer's monitor to finish
before starting to draw video to your screen. If this option is off,
MAME will just draw to the screen at any old time, even in the middle
of a refresh cycle. This can cause "tearing" artifacts, where the top
portion of the screen is out of sync with the bottom portion. Tearing
is not noticeable on all games, and some people hate it more than
others. However, if you turn this option on, you will waste more of
your CPU cycles waiting for the proper time to draw, so you will see a
performance hit. You should only need to turn this on in windowed mode.
In full screen mode, it is only needed if -triplebuffer does not
remove the tearing, in which case you should use -notriplebuffer
-waitvsync. Note that
this option does not work with -video gdi mode.
The default is OFF (-nowaitvsync).
-[no]syncrefresh
Enables speed throttling only to the refresh of your monitor. This
means that the game's actual refresh rate is ignored; however, the
sound code still attempts to keep up with the game's original refresh
rate, so you may encounter sound problems. This option is intended
mainly for those who have tweaked their video card's settings to
provide carefully matched refresh rate options. Note that this option
does not work with -video gdi mode.The default is OFF (-nosyncrefresh).
DirectDraw-specific options
---------------------------
-[no]hwstretch / -[no]hws
When enabled, MAME uses the hardware stretching abilities of your
video card to scale the game image and associated artwork to the
target resolution. Depending on the quality of your graphic card and
its drivers, this may be a fractional, antialiased scaling (nice) or
an integer, blocky scaling (not so nice), in which case you might want
to disable this option. In addition, if you have configured specific
arcade-like video modes for MAME and don't want MAME to perform any
non-integral scaling of the image, you should also disable this option.
The default is ON (-hwstretch).
Direct3D-specific options
-------------------------
-d3dversion <version>
MAME supports both Direct3D 9 and Direct3D 8 for maximum compatibility.
By default, it will automatically detect which one it can use and use
that version exclusively. You can override MAME's selection with this
option. It is primarily intended as a means for the MAME developers to
test compatibility with older hardware; for the most part, there is no
reason to alter this setting. The default is 9.
-[no]filter / -[no]d3dfilter / -[no]flt
Enable bilinear filtering on the game screen graphics. When disabled,
point filtering is applied, which is crisper but leads to scaling
artifacts. If you don't like the filtered look, you are probably better
off increasing the -prescale value rather than turning off filtering
altogether. The default is ON (-filter).
Per-window options
------------------
-screen <display>
-screen0 <display>
-screen1 <display>
-screen2 <display>
-screen3 <display>
Specifies which physical monitor on your system you wish to have each
window use by default. In order to use multiple windows, you must have
increased the value of the -numscreens option. The name of each
display in your system can be determined by running MAME with the
-verbose option. The display names are typically in the format of:
\\.\DISPLAYn, where 'n' is a number from 1 to the number of connected
monitors. The default value for these options is 'auto', which means
that the first window is placed on the first display, the second
window on the second display, etc.
The -screen0, -screen1, -screen2, -screen3 parameters apply to the
specific window. The -screen parameter applies to all windows. The
window-specific options override values from the all window option.
-aspect <width:height> / -screen_aspect <num:den>
-aspect0 <width:height>
-aspect1 <width:height>
-aspect2 <width:height>
-aspect3 <width:height>
Specifies the physical aspect ratio of the physical monitor for each
window. In order to use multiple windows, you must have increased the
value of the -numscreens option. The physical aspect ratio can be
determined by measuring the width and height of the visible screen
image and specifying them separated by a colon. The default value for
these options is 'auto', which means that MAME assumes the aspect
ratio is proportional to the number of pixels in the desktop video
mode for each monitor.
The -aspect0, -aspect1, -aspect2, -aspect3 parameters apply to the
specific window. The -aspect parameter applies to all windows. The
window-specific options override values from the all window option.
-resolution <widthxheight[@refresh]> / -r <widthxheight[@refresh]>
-resolution0 <widthxheight[@refresh]> / -r0 <widthxheight[@refresh]>
-resolution1 <widthxheight[@refresh]> / -r1 <widthxheight[@refresh]>
-resolution2 <widthxheight[@refresh]> / -r2 <widthxheight[@refresh]>
-resolution3 <widthxheight[@refresh]> / -r3 <widthxheight[@refresh]>
Specifies an exact resolution to run in. In full screen mode, MAME
will try to use the specific resolution you request. The width and
height are required; the refresh rate is optional. If omitted or
set to 0, MAME will determine the mode auomatically. For example,
-resolution 640x480 will force 640x480 resolution, but MAME is free to
choose the refresh rate. Similarly, -resolution 0x0@60 will force a
60Hz refresh rate, but allows MAME to choose the resolution. The
string "auto" is also supported, and is equivalent to 0x0@0. In window
mode, this resolution is used as a maximum size for the window. This
option requires the -switchres option as well in order to actually
enable resolution switching with -video ddraw or -video d3d. The
default value for these options is 'auto'.
The -resolution0, -resolution1, -resolution2, -resolution3 parameters
apply to the specific window. The -resolution parameter applies to all
windows. The window-specific options override values from the all
window option.
-view <viewname>
-view0 <viewname>
-view1 <viewname>
-view2 <viewname>
-view3 <viewname>
Specifies the initial view setting for each window. The <viewname>
does not need to be a perfect match; rather, it will select the first
view whose name matches all the characters specified by <viewname>.
For example, -view native will match the "Native (15:14)" view even
though it is not a perfect match. The value 'auto' is also supported,
and requests that MAME perform a default selection. The default value
for these options is 'auto'.
The -view0, -view1, -view2, -view3 parameters apply to the
specific window. The -view parameter applies to all windows. The
window-specific options override values from the all window option.
Full screen options
-------------------
-[no]triplebuffer / -[no]tb
Enables or disables "triple buffering". Normally, MAME just draws
directly to the screen, without any fancy buffering. But with this
option enabled, MAME creates three buffers to draw to, and cycles
between them in order. It attempts to keep things flowing such that one
buffer is currently displayed, the second buffer is waiting to be
displayed, and the third buffer is being drawn to. -triplebuffer will
override -waitvsync, if the buffer is sucessfully created. This option
does not work with -video gdi. The default is OFF (-notriplebuffer).
-[no]switchres
Enables resolution switching. This option is required for the
-resolution* options to switch resolutions in full screen mode. On
modern video cards, there is little reason to switch resolutions unless
you are trying to achieve the "exact" pixel resolutions of the original
games, which requires significant tweaking. This option is also useful
on LCD displays, since they run with a fixed resolution and switching
resolutions on them is just silly. This option does not work with
-video gdi. The default is OFF (-noswitchres).
-full_screen_brightness
/ -fsb <value>
Controls the brightness, or black level, of the entire display. The
standard value is 1.0. Selecting lower values (down to 0.1) will produce
a darkened display, while selecting higher values (up to 2.0) will
give a brighter display. Note that not all video cards have hardware to
support this option. This option does not work with -video gdi. The
default is 1.0.
-full_screen_contrast /
-fsc <value>
Controls the contrast, or white level, of the entire display. The
standard value is 1.0. Selecting lower values (down to 0.1) will produce
a dimmer display, while selecting higher values (up to 2.0) will
give a more saturated display. Note that not all video cards have
hardware to support this option. This option does not work with
-video gdi. The default is 1.0.
-full_screen_gamma / -fsg
<value>
Controls the gamma, which produces a potentially nonlinear black to
white ramp, for the entire display. The standard value is 1.0, which
gives a linear ramp from black to white. Selecting lower values (down
to 0.1) will increase the nonlinearity toward black, while selecting
higher values (up to 3.0) will push the nonlinearity toward white. Note
that not all video cards have hardware to support this option. This
option does not work with -video gdi. The default is 1.0.
Windows sound options
---------------------
-audio_latency <value>
This controls the amount of latency built into the audio streaming. By
default MAME tries to keep the DirectSound audio buffer between 1/5 and
2/5 full. On some systems, this is pushing it too close to the edge,
and you get poor sound sometimes. The latency parameter controls the
lower threshold. The default is 1 (meaning lower=1/5 and upper=2/5).
Set it to 2 (-audio_latency 2) to keep the sound buffer between 2/5 and
3/5 full. If you crank it up to 4, you can definitely notice the lag.
Input device options
--------------------
-[no]dual_lightgun / -[no]dual
Controls whether or not MAME attempts to track two lightguns connected
at the same time. This option requires -lightgun. This option is a hack
for supporting older dual lightgun setups. If you have multiple
lightguns connected, you will probably just need to enable -mouse and
configure each lightgun independently. The default is OFF
(-nodual_lightgun).