Lots o' MAME questions (you've been warned)

[Gamereviewgod]

I'm using the latest version of Win32 MAME on a PIII 750 with 256 megs o' RAM. Here we go:

I have a 3-D card (NVIDA maybe?) in this desktop my aunt gave me. Got it all installed. What difference can this make in MAME? Do I need to do anything with it or is it used automatically? Can it help with 2-D stuff at all (like video memory or something)?

I get a lot of sound skipping. I understand it when the game is slowing down (it's not the fastest PC on the planet), but it has real trouble with voice work and/or digitized sound. What do I need to do? I won't let me change the audio latency. It won't let me (games won't load).

I want to use the two analog sticks I have for dual joystick games. What's the function I'm looking for in that menu (when you press tab in a game) to assign them?

Anything I can do in Windows to speed MAME up until I can afford some upgrades? Any special tricks or anything? I'm using this PC for nothing other than MAME. Got rid of all the spyware and ran a defragmenter I found online.

I've heard about using a PS2 controller via the USB port. I can't seem to find anything on E-bay. What am I looking for exactly (links)?

Anyway to assign the pause function to the controller? Can't seem to find it anywhere to assign it.

I've got more, but this is all I can think of right now. Thanks in advance!!!!!

[Flack]

What OS are you running? If you're running Windows 2000, you might do better with Windows 98, which uses a lot less system resources. You can streamline it even more by setting up everything to run in DOS but it's a lot of work and you might not want to go that far. If I were setting up a MAME machine on a p750, I'd go with '98.

From what I understand, 3D cards to not help MAME's performance at all. The best thing to improve MAME's performance is more processor power and more RAM.

PS2 to USB: http://www.lik-sang.com/list.php?nav...b&category=161

P is Pause in MAME, you can map a key to your controller to P.

That's all I got.

[Gamereviewgod]

Yeah, Win 98. That was one of the other questions I had but couldn't think of (which Windows to use). Thanks for clearing it up.

I'd never figure out DOS. Used it when I was younger, but there's no way I'd remember it now.

If the 3D card doesn't help, what's all the 3D options in the prefrences? I didn't want to touch anything since I didn't know what the did. What purpose do they have.

See, you answer some questions, confuse me some more, and get me started again!

[Gapporin]

I'm using the latest version of Win32 MAME on a PIII 750 with 256 megs o' RAM. Here we go:

I have a 3-D card (NVIDA maybe?) in this desktop my aunt gave me. Got it all installed. What difference can this make in MAME? Do I need to do anything with it or is it used automatically? Can it help with 2-D stuff at all (like video memory or something)?

If you enable Direct3D within MAME, I think that it takes advantage of your 3D card's capabilities.

I want to use the two analog sticks I have for dual joystick games. What's the function I'm looking for in that menu (when you press tab in a game) to assign them?

In the control menu, you just have to assign them differently. For example, if you press up on the left joystick, MAME will read it as "Stick 1 Up" (or something like that). If you press up on the right joystick, MAME will read it as "Stick 2 Up". MAME will know the difference automatically. To assign them as seperate joysticks a la Crazy Climber, look for the section marked "Left/Up", "Left/Down", etc. This means "left joystick, up movement" or "left joystick, down movement", etc.. You can set up the left analog stick this way. Then look for "Right/Up", "Right/Down", etc. Set up the right analog joystick this way as well.

Anything I can do in Windows to speed MAME up until I can afford some upgrades? Any special tricks or anything? I'm using this PC for nothing other than MAME. Got rid of all the spyware and ran a defragmenter I found online.

You can press F11 to frameskip upwards to run faster. Of course, this has trade-offs, such as choppier movement, etc. Press F10 to get a bearing on how fast it's going (and how fast it is supposed to go).

I've heard about using a PS2 controller via the USB port. I can't seem to find anything on E-bay. What am I looking for exactly (links)?

I picked up this over at Radio Shack. Not bad for about $10, it works great with a PS2 controller. Awesome for playing games like Robotron.

Anyway to assign the pause function to the controller? Can't seem to find it anywhere to assign it.

What Flack said. :P

I've got more, but this is all I can think of right now. Thanks in advance!!!!!

No problem. I'd be glad to help you with any other questions you might have.

[scooterb23]

I know this may sound blasphemous, but if your games are running slowly...you may want to turn off the sound. Sound uses up cycles, and if you free up some of those cycles...they can go over to making the game run more smoothly.

[kingpong]

I'm using the latest version of Win32 MAME on a PIII 750 with 256 megs o' RAM. Here we go:

I have a 3-D card (NVIDA maybe?) in this desktop my aunt gave me. Got it all installed. What difference can this make in MAME? Do I need to do anything with it or is it used automatically? Can it help with 2-D stuff at all (like video memory or something)?

If you enable Direct3D within MAME, I think that it takes advantage of your 3D card's capabilities.

Only in an effectively trivial way. Rather than using DirectDraw and traditional 2D graphics techniques to draw the screen, Direct3D is used by drawing one big rectangle on the screen with the game's graphics as the texture map. If you're scaling the image or playing with the other effects there may be some barely noticeable differences in the image quality based on which API is used, but which is better and/or faster will likely vary between video cards. Barring unusual performance one way or the other from the video card, you're not going to find any speed gains messing with this.


Keep in mind that there are a lot of games you just won't be able to play because that PC isn't fast enough. Sound emulation, in some cases, can be very costly, especially as the emulation matures (like Derrick Renaud's recent work). The DCS sound hardware, for example, is emulated much better now than it used to be, but it also requires a relatively beefy PC to run it. If you're desperate to play those games, you might try to find older versions of MAME.

If you stick with new releases though, with that old of hardware it may be worthwhile to check out the appropriate processor optimized version.

And just to clarify... You mention the "3D options in the prefrences" (sic) - you're running MAME32, not Win32 MAME, correct? That's a pet peeve of mine...

[Gamereviewgod]

Gapporin: Got that adapter today. Thanks. Works great. Now I can use my X-Arcade without spending $30 for their adapter.

I decided to give the Direct 3D thing a shot, but it caused major video issues with 2-D games. I noticed nothing with the 3-D stuff. Maybe an extra frame or two at the most.

Scooter: Can't really turn the sound off if I'm going to be reviewing the game. Kinda important. I know the speed difference it can make (lets me play my guilty pleasure, Tattoo Assasians), but it just won't work for me most of the time. Thanks though!

The analog stick doesn't work for me at all. I'm not real sure why. I guess the sticks aren't calibrated right. My guy either won't move or spins in circles. This is too much work to get through Ikari Warriors!

Frameskip doesn't seem to work on a lot of games. They won't load. Why?

Anyone know a solution to the sound problem? Most of the games I have issues with run fine perfect speed, frame rate, etc) but that sound just skips constantly.

Oh, and yes, MAME32. Sorry. Not sure where I got the Win32 from.

[Arcade Antics]

Frameskip doesn't seem to work on a lot of games. They won't load. Why?

Wait until a game is loaded, then turn on the frameskip with the F10 or F11 (I forget which one - one is "turbo" the other is frameskip) key.

For the sound skip thing, it might just be a matter of processor speed. Maybe try the Win version + a front end instead of Mame32, see if that helps.

[Gamereviewgod]

Thanks Arcade...

Another question (surprise!).

Did the ROM's change since .80? For instance, I just grabbed some ROM's off of my old PC and put them on this one via CD-R (this new one has no NIC card). .90 refuses to find certain games like the Skins Game by Irem. It seems it's looking for a differently named zip file when I look under that section in the GUI. Anyway to make it recognize it?

[Gapporin]

Did the ROM's change since .80? For instance, I just grabbed some ROM's off of my old PC and put them on this one via CD-R (this new one has no NIC card). .90 refuses to find certain games like the Skins Game by Irem. It seems it's looking for a differently named zip file when I look under that section in the GUI. Anyway to make it recognize it?

If it's the just the name that has changed, then all you would need to do rename the *.zip file to the new name. If the ROMs themselves have changed, you'll need to re-download the whole file (or find a place that allows you to download individual files within an archive, and then just download the files that have changed).

[Gamereviewgod]

Ok, that worked. Thanks.

However, I now get a Checksum error when I try to run these games. I know the files are fine as I played them on my old PC. It's mostly Geo games like Art of Fighting 3 and Kabuki Klash. They run, but the graphics are garbled beyond all playabliltiy. Do I need some other file? All the other Geo games work fine.

[NE146]

Frameskip doesn't seem to work on a lot of games. They won't load. Why?

Wait until a game is loaded, then turn on the frameskip with the F10 or F11 (I forget which one - one is "turbo" the other is frameskip) key.

F11 shows the framerate in a display on top of the screen. F8 and F9 adjust it.

F10 turns off speed throttling.

[Gapporin]

However, I now get a Checksum error when I try to run these games. I know the files are fine as I played them on my old PC. It's mostly Geo games like Art of Fighting 3 and Kabuki Klash. They run, but the graphics are garbled beyond all playabliltiy. Do I need some other file? All the other Geo games work fine.

Try grabbing the newest "neogeo.zip". I know that it's changed a lot from version to version recently, so you might have an out-of-date BIOS.

[Gamereviewgod]

Thanks a lot guys. I think I'm all up to date and running well. Kudos!

[Lady Jaye]

Regarding using a PS2 controller with MAME: you have to make sure the Analog button on the controller is on, or else MAME won't recognize the joysticks.

Change in older romsets can be a pain in MAME. I just updated to MacMAME .88u4b1 (the latest version) and there are some ROMs that need to be replaced with newer sets (and we're talking games like Galaga...). And Robotron 2084 now runs wayyyy too fast. *sigh* I really miss mame.dk sometimes...