A couple of questions about MAME

[Galsia]

Being fairly new to the whole MAME thing I feel the need to ask a couple of questions that I couldn't find the answers to anywhere else.

Can I actually play ROMS that aren't in MAME's ROM list? E.G. Gals Panic S in Mame32. If this is possible, how do I do it?

How exactly would a person use MAME with a MAME cabinet? Do you need to use the mouse every time you want to change a game or could you assign a button to this duty?


Thanks. ^_^

[Flack]

How exactly would a person use MAME with a MAME cabinet? Do you need to use the mouse every time you want to change a game or could you assign a button to this duty?

There are two ways around this. The first is to use what's called a "front end". These are programs that act as a GUI for MAME and make it easy to start and select games using the default joystick and button settings.

The other way is that MAME already has shortcuts built in! You know that "OK" you have to type when you begin to play a MAME rom? That can be disabled, but if you haven't, you can just do joystick left, joystick right! The first player start button works like a "shift" button, just like on your keyboard. P1 + Joystick Left = Enter. P1 + P2 = Escape. P1 + Joystick Right = Tab (for all the game settings). You can get around pretty well using these. The only problem I've run into so far is the up and down on the joystick doesn't "repeat", so if you want to scroll down 200 games you're going to to down on the joystick 200 times ...

[Galsia]

The first is to use what's called a "front end". These are programs that act as a GUI for MAME and make it easy to start and select games using the default joystick and button settings.

I've just downloaded a front end called ArcadeFX which is pretty nice.

One more question for the masses. Is there an online guide anywhere on making your own arcade controls? I've had a look on www.arcadecontrols.com but its pretty basic.

[Flack]

There are several you can buy for around the $99 range. If you're looking to build, I used the IPAC and was amazed at how simple it all went together. It is set up to use the MAME default keys, so for each button you run one wire from the button to the IPAC, and one for each joystick direction. That's it. Installation time was about 5-10 minutes and I was up and running. On one end is a PS/2 adapter so you can plug into the keyboard port of your computer. There's also a thru port so you can still plug a keyboard in and use it if necessary.

http://www.ultimarc.com/ipac1.html

[Galsia]

That ipac thing looks pretty nifty...

Can I actually play ROMS that aren't in MAME's ROM list? E.G. Gals Panic S in Mame32. If this is possible, how do I do it?

Someone answer this question for me and I'll be a happy man indeed. ^_^

[Jorpho]

Well, what do you mean when you say the game isn't in MAME's ROM list? (It most certainly appears to be in MAME.) Do you mean a ROM you haven't downloaded yet?

[Galsia]

Well, at the moment I'm using MAME version 0.59. I downloaded the newest version last night but it don't want to have to go into DOS every time I want to use it so I've gone back to the old version.
When you open 0.59, there is a directory called 'all games'. Gals Panic S isn't in this list. Does that mean I can't play this game with this version of MAME?

[ddockery]

Yes, you need a newer version of MAME. Try downloading MAME32, it has a built in GUI so you don't have to worry about using the command line.

[Flack]

MAME32 v.80
http://www.zophar.net/Files/me32v80b.exe

Download that and you'll be playing Gals Panic S in no time.

[Jorpho]

(You know, Zophar's Domain doesn't allow offsite linking.)

[kitbasher]

Galsia, I suggest you take a second look at www.arcadecontrols.com as it has a lot more to it than initially meets the eye. The forums are always active; there are lots of very helpful people there. You need to look at the examples websites to see what others have accomplished.
Flack is absolutely right there are a number of off the shelf solutions for $99 that will work well for most people. Its all up to how much you want to spend, and how hard you want to work. On the cheap end there is keyboard hacking, something I would not bother with. Next there is hacking a cheap usb gamepad which I have three working examples on my homepage. And lastly there is the ipac. If you are even remotely considering building an arcade cabinet go for the ipac. It looks to be the best bet for the money and everyone who has one says great things. If you are like me and the misses has vetoed the cabinet, build custom controllers around hacked gamepads.
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