MAME For Classic Games

[tommykrash]

There seem to be a lot of links to get started for Mame. I have tried to download MAME,
a front end and a Rom with no luck. Just looking to play simple Pac Man era games on a PC.
Does anyone have a few simple links/steps to get me started? Not sure what I am doing wrong or if versions are not compatable. Thanks!!

[Trebuken]

Look for Mame32, no front-end needed and just put your rom in the roms sub-folder...

[OldSchoolGamer]

Guides:

http://classicgaming.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Guides.Detail&id=14

http://www.emuasylum.com/index.php?page=faqs&section=content&faqid=14

http://www.gopodular.com/mame_32_emulator_setup_tutorial/

[diskoboy]

There seem to be a lot of links to get started for Mame. I have tried to download MAME,
a front end and a Rom with no luck. Just looking to play simple Pac Man era games on a PC.
Does anyone have a few simple links/steps to get me started? Not sure what I am doing wrong or if versions are not compatable. Thanks!!

MAME32 is now known as MAMEui. It comes with a front end, and makes MAME setup a lot easier.

try it...

As for roms, you're on your own there. Asking about roms here is an automatic ban.

[Ed Oscuro]

Aside from the actual free ROMs listed on the MAMEdev.org site...those are legal to get! Games like Gridlee and whatever that top-down Galeco game just made free is.

The url for the easiest MAME port to use in Windows is here:
http://mameui.classicgaming.gamespy.com/

Edit: skip this and read my second post after this one
I would wait a while because the 125.4.1 signifies to me that this is a fix release. I try to wait for the full releases (i.e. the ones with no . in them; 126 will be the next full release, and 125.5 would be the next point release - I don't remember when I last saw a .1, if ever).

[kingpong]

This .1 release was just to fix a bug in -listxml, the option that generates input for ROM manager tools. Otherwise it is the same as 0.125u4.

[Ed Oscuro]

I still try to stick to full releases because updating my ROMset takes a while.

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

I'm not sure I understand the logic of waiting for non-update releases. It may not be worth updating the version you already have installed just for trivial updates, but if you don't have MAME installed already, there's no point in waiting for v126, just get whatever's current. Getting 125u4.1 certainly makes more sense than getting v125 or 125u4 and who knows how long it'll be until 126 is out.

It's true that all these updates make MAME a huge pain in the ass because you have to keep your ROMs updated to match the version of MAME you're using. It's pretty ridiculous and makes the emulator very very newbie unfriendly. I'm still using MAME (and ROMset) v.100u1 because I'll be buggered if I'm going to go through the trouble of updating my ROMs every time a new MAME release comes out.

tommykrash, if you're only interested in older arcade games, you might want to look into other emulators altogether. There's a number of other options, mot of them are long outdated, but that doesn't matter because they run fine for the games they're emulating and they're usually easier to use than MAME. Look into HIVE or Retrocade perhaps.


...word is bondage...

[Cryomancer]

pleasuredome makes keeping your roms up to date very simple 8)

[Ed Oscuro]

I'm not sure I understand the logic of waiting for non-update releases.
Edit: Lol unnecessarily huge post destroyed, I need to read bettar

Yes, I'd say jump into MAME with whatever's current, and get the last FULL RELEASE ROMset.

So get the latest release but don't go looking for an update torrent (especially if you use ClearMAME, which will cause you to need to rollback) unless you really need a specific ROM added since the last full release.

Apologies for any confusion caused by my inattentive post before!

[Ze_ro]

I'm not sure I understand the logic of waiting for non-update releases. It may not be worth updating the version you already have installed just for trivial updates, but if you don't have MAME installed already, there's no point in waiting for v126, just get whatever's current. Getting 125u4.1 certainly makes more sense than getting v125 or 125u4 and who knows how long it'll be until 126 is out.
Well, the u releases are theoretically less stable, as they usually include many changes that haven't gotten a lot of testing. For example, the 0.125uX series has seen the introduction of a new universal dynamic recompiler system courtesy of Aaron Giles... I imagine we won't see a 0.126 release until he's satisfied that this system is ready for prime-time.

I try to keep up-to-speed on the changes made to MAME, though I never bother updating for every u release... it's time consuming enough keeping up with the regular releases!

--Zero

[ThoughtBomb]

I've been using a program called extramame, it's not great but not horrible. There are certain games I can't get to play on it (Robocop, Bad Dudes, Godzilla) but most of the 80's/90's classics play fine on it. I've been wanting to get the latest version, but I'm so busy playing everything on everything else it probably won't matter much.

[tommykrash]

Thanks for all of the info. Got it running. Anyone have a favorite Joystick to play classics with on MAME?

[IronBuddha]

Thanks for all of the info. Got it running. Anyone have a favorite Joystick to play classics with on MAME?

At first I bought a Playstation controller to USB converter and was using a regular PS2 controller. But then a while back Blockbuster had these controllers (http://www.the-nextlevel.com/reviews/ps2/street-fighter-anniversary-collection/sf-ps2-controller-ryu.jpg) on clearance for $7 and work great.