MAME PAGE

YES, a very interesting subject i know but wether you agree with MAME or not it is the only way we get to play some of the old classics now. This page contains my opinions on MAME and a simple tutorial on how you can download and experience MAME for yourself.

MAME
My Opinions

S ome people are more fussy than others when it comes too MAME,there are those who are unable to play the classics without using the proper arcade controlls some of these individuals will convert or even build there own cabinets to achieve this feeling of authenticity.On the other hand i personaly are not that fussy i am just gratefull to be playing old games again and i do not care if it means i have to use a cheap 4-button joypad to do so.
Converting cabs can be unpopular with collectors who stongly agree with arcade game preservation,i agree imagine a nice dedicated cab being stripped bare and having its guts removed for a PC to be inserted inside .But i do have a third party `VideoMaster` cabinet without a monitor at the moment which perhaps one day could be converted as it it practicaly an empty shell anyway. PIC
Another point worth mentioning is that game rom images (as they are called) also are still owned by the rightfull programers and are protected by copyright laws, there are only 3 arcade game roms that i know of that are legal to be distributed they are GRIDLEE,ROBBY ROTO and POLY PLAY.

Gridlee is kind of strange, a Q-bert type charater that spits and swallows balls (ooer!) at baddies,RobbyRoto is the best of the three a sort of Pacman underground type effort the idea is too tunnel underground and rescue your friends who resemble `smilies`. PolyPlay is in German so im not sure what i am doing with it which is just as well because it appears about as interesting as a huge skip of T-rex sh**te!.
As i repair arcade game boards i will download rom images to help me repair that game,i will also download roms for games i already own.(those game boards are safely stashed away im my collection,so to play the games i use MAME instead). As i paid for the games (faulty or working) i have paid for the game code at least as far as i am concerned anyway!.
If you wish to download other roms for boards you do not own or are not entiltled to thats upto you of course but i will not supply game rom images other than the three games listed above!- Jj
OKAY LETS GO!

STEP-1
Download the following zip file,if you do not have a unzip program clickHERE to download one.
MAME vr96 ZIP Just for the sake of this tutorial download the MAME.zip into your "DOCUMENTS" folder.

NOTE: This mame usually contains all the samples and artwork (700MB!!)which is WAY to big! so i have removed what i consider to be un important in the running of the main program including aditional artwork,marquees,cabinets,flyers and the contents of the snap folder.The MAME zip is now reduced to 246MB.

UPDATE 5th July 06 The Cabinets,Flyers,Marques and the Snap folders are now below in zip files if you want them-download them and using an unzip tool and move the contents into the main MAME folder overwriting the empty folders of the same name which should already be in there.
cabinets ZIP (91MB) flyers ZIP (97MB) marques vr96 ZIP (141MB) snap vr96 ZIP (108MB)

STEP-2
Now then if you open your "DOCUMENTS" folder you should see the Mame96.zip file,you have two options,using the ZIPGENIUS program i recomended above you can `right-click` on the MAMEvr96.zip file and highlight `ZIP GENIUS` and then `EXTRACT HERE,TO MAMEvr96 which will extract files into a folder called MAMEvr96.
If u do not use ZIPGENIUS as a zip program but some other then you should still be able to perform the same action,if not you can right-click on the screen and `create new folder` calling this new folder `Mame32` and extract files in to your newly created MAMEvr96 folder.

STEP-3
Double click on the new MAMEvr96 folder this should reveal a second!,then double click on that one too,this should reveal approx 21 folders,the help file and the orange cabinet shortcut.

STEP-4
Next we need some ROMS.I have provided them in the ROMS folder in the above MAME zip.
The offical free roms are Gridlee,Robyroto and Polyplay

STEP-5
Right!,enter back inside both MAMEvr96 folders remember that shortcut icon? the one with orange cab on we need to CREATE A NEW short cut to this folder from the desk top.
Right-click on the icon containing the orange cab and select `Create Shortcut` .When you have created new short cut icon transport the NEW shortcut to the desktop either by coipying it or moving it double-click on your new desk top icon to activate!

STEP-6
The main program should now start ,revealing three windows,the left is the roms types to be displayed (roms present,roms missing,display by manufacturer,etc).The second window is the status of the roms listed.the third is the snapshot window which at this moment may show nothing more than a yellow `Berzerk robot`,
We need to scroll down the middle window,you will notice each game has a `BLACK` empty square axcept for three games (Gridlee,Poly-Play and Robby Rotto) the icon should have turned GREEN or at least be filled with an icon of some sort,this shows the roms are present!,well done.If your boxes for the three games are empty smack yourself on the wrist and go back on the tutorial!

Well,thats about it!,there is a help file in the second MAMEvr96 folder but before you leave i would like to go over a few points i consider to be important.Firstly my recomended settings, this is how i have set mine,you can close the left and right window thus just leaving the central window which displays the game list.To do this on the main program up the top left under `File` you will see two window icons simply click on these two open/close the view windows.
If you download a rom file into the rom folder but the game icon does not turn green that does not mean the rom is not there!,you may need to perform an audit on what rom files you have to do this click on `File` up the top left corner then click on `Audit All Games`.Next we get to the nitty gritty! click on `Options` top left then select `Default Game Options` here you can alter various settings for Mame including video and controller settings.
Here are my settings which i find work best:

Video
Check boxes for options 2,3,4 `Start out maximized`,`Enforce aspect ratio` and `Throttle` but NOT the first option`Run in a window` leave this box empty!

Advanced
Check boxes to the following four options only! `Use direct draw`,`Stretch Using Hardware`,Switch Resolutions to fit`,Switch color depths to fit`

Controller
Check the box `Enable joystick input` obviously your joystick will not be automatically detected you have to check this box,if you do not have a joystick but wish to play Mame with the keyboard i wish you the best of luck!

Any problems contact me: \jup@jammajup.co.uk

BACK TO HOMEPAGE