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 currently supported options are listed below.
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. Use the up and down arrow keys to
select which
parameter to modify (global volume, mixing level,
gamma
correction etc.) Use the left and right to arrow keys to
change
modify the value. Some parameters adjust with finer or
coarser
control if you hold down the CTRL or SHIFT keys while
pressing the
left/right arrows. Use the ENTER key to reset a value
to its default.
P Pauses the
game
SHIFT+P While
paused, advances to next frame
F1 Toggle
crosshairs for games that use them
F2 Service Mode
F3 Resets the
game
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
pgup/pgdn - 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
pgup/pgdn - 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
CTRL+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.
ESC Exits
emulator
Core commands
-------------
-help / -?
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
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
1:
means all files were identified except for 1 or more "non-ROM"
files
2:
means some files were identified
3:
means no files were identified
-isknown
Very terse
romident. The errorlevel is set the same as for -romident.
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).
-[no]skip_gameinfo
Forces MAME
to skip displaying the game info screen. The default is OFF
(-noskip_gameinfo).
Path and directory options
--------------------------
IMPORTANT: Please use the path, directory and file options
ONLY in mame.ini.
Otherwise, the outcome may be unpredictable and not
consistent across
releases.
-rompath / -rp
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
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).
-inipath
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).
-cfg_directory
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
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
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
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.
-hiscore_directory
Specifies a
single directory where high score files are stored. High
score files
are managed by the soon-to-be-obsolete high score system,
which is
activated when it finds a hiscore.dat file. The high score data
is read at
startup and written when MAME exits. The default is 'hi'
(that is, a
directory "hi" in the same directory as the MAME
executable).
If this directory does not exist, it will be automatically
created.
-state_directory
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.
-artpath / -artwork_directory
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).
-snapshot_directory
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
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.
-ctrlrpath / -ctrlr_directory
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).
-comment_directory
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.
-cheat_file
Specifies
the name of the cheat database file. The default is
'cheat.dat'.
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).
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).
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]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).
-[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 OFF (-nodebug).
-debugscript <filename>
Specifies a
file that contains a list of debugger commands to execute
immediately
upon startup. The default is NULL (no commands).
Perormance 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
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.
-frames_to_run / -ftr
This option
can be used for benchmarking and automated testing. It tells
MAME to
stop execution after a fixed number of frames. 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 -ftr option will write a screenshot called
_<gamename>.png
to the 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).
-[no]rdtsc
Specifies
that MAME should use RDTSC for timing. RDTSC is very fast but
unfortunately
rather inaccurate on many modern CPUs that dynamically
change
clock speeds to conserve power. By default, MAME uses the
Windows
function QueryPerformanceCounter for timing. The default is
OFF
(-nordtsc).
-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. Consider
this switch
experimental for the moment. The default is OFF
(-nomultithreading).
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.
-pause_brightness
This
controls the brightness level when MAME is paused. The default
value is
0.65.
-[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).
Video 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.
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.
Game 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.
Vector rendering 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.
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).
Sound options
-------------
-[no]sound
Enable or
disable sound altogether. The default is ON (-sound).
-samplerate / -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.
-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
--------------------
-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 looks for a mouse controller to use. Note
that in
many cases, lightguns are treated as mice by the operating
system, so
you may need to enable this to enable lightgun support. When
this is
enabled, you will not be able to use your mouse in Windows
while
playing a game. If you want to get control of your computer back,
you will
need to either pause the game or quit. The default is OFF
(-nomouse).
-[no]joystick / -[no]joy
Controls
whether or not MAME looks for 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 treats mouse inputs as lightgun inputs.
Note that
most lightguns map to the mouse, so using -lightgun and
-mouse
together may produce strange results. The default is OFF
(-nolightgun).
-[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).
-[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).
-[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 PC 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)
-a2d_deadzone / -a2d
If you play
with an analog joystick, but the game requires digital
input, MAME
needs to convert the signals. Here you can give the ratio
of movement
along an axis that accounts for a digital signal. This
option
expects a float in the range of 0.0 to 1.0. Note that the
current
handling is not accurate enough to handle diagonal movement
properly.
The default is 0.3.
-digital
<all|none|j<N>[a<M>[a<K>...]][,j<X>[a<Y>...]][,...]>
Controls
which joystick axes are considered digital. If MAME knows that
a given
joystick axis is digital, it can make much better decisions about
how to
treat that axis. If you are using a digital gamepad with MAME,
you will
want to use this option. There are a number of ways to do this:
-digital
all means that all axes of all connected joysticks will be
treated
as digital.
-digital
none means that all axes of all connected joysticks will be
treated
as analog (this is the default behavior).
-digital j2
will treat all axes of joystick #2 as digital; axes on all
other
joysticks will be treated as analog.
-digital
j1a0a1 will treat axis 0 and 1 on joystick #1 as digital; all
other
axes will be treated as analog.
-digital
j1a0a1,j2a5 will treat axis 0 and 1 on joystick #1 as digital,
as
well as axis 5 on joystick #2; all other axes will be treated
as
analog.
Make use of
the information provided by -verbose to determine which
joysticks
and axes you should be configuring this way. The default is
'none'.
Automatic device selection options
----------------------------------
-paddle_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun> /
-paddle
-adstick_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun> /
-adstick
-pedal_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun> /
-pedal
-dial_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun> /
-dial
-trackball_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun> /
-trackball
-lightgun_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun>
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.