Best version of mame

[gdilly]

So here's the deal...

I decided to update all the software on my machine.  New mame, new roms, new frontend, etc.  I got the complete set of 0136 roms and version of mame and soon realized that some games (Simpsons, X-men, etc.) wouldn't load because of a bad bios section.  I looked around and see where this is an issue with that version. 

Ok, no problem I think to myself I'll just grab the last version (0135).  The simpsons, x-men work no problem but now other games that would run in 0136 won't load (toobin, jurassic park, etc.). 

So I've simply switched back and am using the version I was using before (0116) and the romset for that version.

Not sure if I'm just missing something in my setups, but what version of Mame and romsets are everyone having the most luck with loading and playing the most games?

[garnerb350]

I had v114 when i first started...and i then upgraded to 129 when it first came out...(wasnt much difference to me expect 1 or 2 games that ran correctly)
I dont keep up with MAME like i should...but I havent had any problems with 129, nor really know of any problems with it (maybe thats a good thing)

I know I cant play Carnevil, Gauntlet Legends, ummm couple of Tekkens...(i know there are more, but I cant remember) And it might be because of my pc specs and also some games werent fully emulated yet...

I guess it boils down to which games do you want to have or play most...

129 has been good to me...
I plan on staying with 129, at least untill they have Star Wars trilogy fully running...

[Necro]

Hrm...didn't realize .136 had issues with games...

[Harakiri]

KOF 96 appears to have a sprite glitch on the right border of the screen. Or maybe it's not a glitch and i need to tweak the graphics settings to overcome that problem. Regarding to mame 1.36u3 of course!
I did enjoy compiling mame but the games take a few seconds longer to boot up. I have no nag screens though. Is it possible to tweak settings to improve game loading or it's just the way it is?

[Haze]

KOF 96 appears to have a sprite glitch on the right border of the screen. Or maybe it's not a glitch and i need to tweak the graphics settings to overcome that problem. Regarding to mame 1.36u3 of course!
I did enjoy compiling mame but the games take a few seconds longer to boot up. I have no nag screens though. Is it possible to tweak settings to improve game loading or it's just the way it is?

Most neogeo games have these issues on real hardware, for some reason all the games *assume* the visible area is 304 pixels across when it's been confirmed many times as 320 pixels.  MAME emulates the correct resolution, so you get the garbage.  The solution with real hardware is to simply adjust the monitor so that it's not visible.

A handful of games actually put proper graphics in this area, but most don't.  It's lazy programming of the original games.  It's possibly their development kits were also set up so they couldn't see that area, and so they didn't care. 

[Frigo]

I've been using WinKawaks for my CPS I, II, and Neo-Geo games, while running all three (plus others; i'll explain in a bit) through GameEx, my front end. I posted a thread in here a few days ago asking which version of MAME to use when running MK II, III, and UMK III. HarumaN told me that he was using version 0.78, so I decided to use that version to see how my MAME games played in that version vs 0.136 - which I have also had problems with running The Simpsons, TMNT, etc. 0.78 runs all of my MKs flawlessly, but it's crippled other games in various ways, e.g., Donkey Kong has random sounds that generate out of nowhere and his "squeak" when he walks is completely missing. So, what I did was set up GameEx to run 3 versions of WinKawaks - one for each set of games, CPS I, II and Neo-Geo, then created 2 separate entries for MAME - one for 0.78 and one for 0.135, which seemed to run most of what I wanted aside from the MKs, and took care of the bad ROM issue. In addition, I also have it set to run my NES, SNES, Genesis, Sega CD, etc. ROMs through the frontend, so it's completely seamless.

My point is, is that you might want to consider using your frontend to run different versions of MAME to suit your needs. Just create separate directories per version, and place the roms that work the best into each of those directories. Just a thought.

[MAME TIME]

FRIGO, when using older versions of mame it requires you to use sound samples for your games, IE marios walk in donkey kong, theirs a whole bunch of game samples you can download and put into the samples folder. I dont remember when they elimanated this?? maybe 110 not sure. I myself use 106, no sound problems, no nags, hi score support and most games work fine, also have another directory for 117 for the cps3 games,

[Frigo]

It wasn't just that, although thanks for the heads up on the sampling requirement. A lot of my games just run better on the newer versions, and I didn't want to sacrifice what I had already done with regards to the front end setup, emulator configuration, etc. This was the easiest way for me yo change things on the fly, and it worked out reasonably well. Much better than starting over from scratch.

[gdilly]

Well, I may just stick with my116 then.   

On a side note, should I keep using the 116 romset or try the 136 romset instead?  What are the drawbacks from using a newer set of roms on a much older version of MAME? 

[Hoopz]

You should always use the matching roms for the version of Mame that you are running. 

[Necro]

Could someone clarify or point me in the right direction for what the .136 issues are?

[Frigo]

My own experience shows that MK 2, 3, and  ultimate play like garbage - it's like the characters are fighting underwater. In addition some of the Konami games (simpsons, tmnt, tmnt2) have a bad rom check on start that loops over and over and you can't get rid of it. That's all I've seen so far.

[gdilly]

My own experience shows that MK 2, 3, and  ultimate play like garbage - it's like the characters are fighting underwater. In addition some of the Konami games (simpsons, tmnt, tmnt2) have a bad rom check on start that loops over and over and you can't get rid of it. That's all I've seen so far.

+1

[Necro]

Hrm.  Crappy.  I wanted to just 'set and forget' my cab (at least for a few months)...well..I don't be done it for a bit anyway so..

[XtraSmiley]

i think .136 has problems they are fixing for .137 that weren't there in .135.  I'd hang on for .137. 

It seems like every once in awhile, updates break a bunch of games, but it gets fixed in a month or so when the next version comes out.

I have to have BOTSS and F-15 so only the newer versions for me!  Also I just tried out the 64bit version, and it rocks.

[Thenasty]

only reason to update is for New/Working Games.

But you can use as many versions you like.

If its broken in the New Version, stick with old one. Use the New one with New/Working Games that the onld one did not supoprt.

[Frigo]

only reason to update is for New/Working Games.

But you can use as many versions you like.

If its broken in the New Version, stick with old one. Use the New one with New/Working Games that the onld one did not supoprt.

Agreed. This is why I'm running two seperate versions. I doubt I'll update to 0.137 because that would entail me reprogramming all of my game configs, not to mention, I'm good where I'm at right now. GameEx is a great frontend, one that only takes a few seconds to choose an emulator and load a game. Granted, the initial setup is a LOT of work (I'm still not done), but the payoff is excellent. I have no problem loading MAME 0.78, playing MK2 for an hour, then switching over to 0.135 for some Simpsons. It's a smooth transition the entire way.

[Haze]

only reason to update is for New/Working Games.

But you can use as many versions you like.

If its broken in the New Version, stick with old one. Use the New one with New/Working Games that the onld one did not supoprt.

Uh, this isn't exactly true.

The emulation of older games is improving all the time too.

Yes, things get broken along the way, and yes, .136 was a very shoddy release that should have undergone more testing prior to being released as it had some critical core bugs which broke eeprom handling in a lot of Konami games completely.

While I'm not going to defend the code-churn that's going on recently and introducing a lot of these issues you will find there are worthwhile improvements to be seen in drivers across the board.  Let's just take 2 of the most recent releases for example.

136u2 for example had some very nice fixes if you like the Psikyo games (Strikers 1945 II, Daraku, Sol Divide etc.) which now have a variety of previously unemulated effects handled properly.  In the S1945II and Sol Divide cases it might no be obvious if you just run the games, but the last levels of both looked incorrect before due to missing zoom, and incorrect handling of a special blend mode.   For the same release Jaleco's classic 'D-Day' has had it's colour PROMs redumped, and now has correct colours.  That isn't listed under the New Games either.

136u1 had YM2612 improvements, emulating subtle odd behaviors of the chip, that has the potential to affect the sound in any game using that chip, even if the known test cases for the changes were Megadrive games on the MESS side of things.  (Consoles in general push chips a lot harder than arcades, but it's entirely possible some arcade games also used these features, and had unnoticed incorrect sound until this point)

There have also been small changes to other games (correct priorities for Super Slams so the high score table is visible etc.) which again, if you happen to like that game is going to be a significant fix.

So to say the only thing worth looking at is the 'New/Working' list is really a very narrow-minded approach even if lately the majority of the changes being made offer no real benefit from anything other than a software engineering point of view which sadly seems to be becoming more and more the case because people are struggling to fix other issues, most of the talented devs don't have a great deal of time or interest in the remaining problems, and so people are resorting to simply changing the codebase over and over again.  Keep an eye out for the worthwhile changes tho, even if they are buried in a mess of things you don't understand, or care about.

There are changes in almost every release that make a real difference.

[Necro]

Yeah, I just didn't want my cab to turn into my HTPC (an ever evolving WIP)...and was going to 'pick and stick' with a version for at least a year or so.  Sounds like .137 or .138, depending on when I get my first CP completed (and the cab fully 'functional' and ready to be moved from the work room) is the way to go.

Thanks guys!

[XtraSmiley]

i think .136 has problems they are fixing for .137 that weren't there in .135.  I'd hang on for .137. 

It seems like every once in awhile, updates break a bunch of games, but it gets fixed in a month or so when the next version comes out.

I have to have BOTSS and F-15 so only the newer versions for me!  Also I just tried out the 64bit version, and it rocks.

Thanks Haze.  I'll quote myself and add, yes, updates to improve games I already play is another reason I stay right behind the cutting edge.  (usually 2 versions).  MAME rocks and thanks for all your hard work.

[sham69]

is there any way of knowing from the roms what version of mame they are from?
Thanks.

[geocab]

Does anyone know where I can download older versions of MAMEUI?  I'm specifically looking for v129.5 or v130, the version right before the CHD names changed.  I was running that version until I had to re-install Windows on my computer, but I decided if I'm going to do a fresh install I should upgrade to Win7 64-bit.  So I'd like to get the 64-bit version of MAMEUI 129.5 if anyone can point me in the right direction.  Thanks!

[Huggybaby]

You can find full versions here: http://www.progettosnaps.net/mameui_en
I don't know where to get intermediate versions.

[geocab]

Thank you very much, v130 will work for me so I don't need the intermediate versions.    Appreciate it.

[Kharn]

is there any way of knowing from the roms what version of mame they are from?
Thanks.

Romwiz if you're running Linux.

[E-Man]

Well I have two versions of MAME. I have MAME32+ and it lists all the games but only set back is it runs Killer Instinct 1 & 2 real slow.

I have MAME UI .136 and for some reason it only lists half my games on the list. WTH? Anyone know why?

[Kangum]

i thought something had happened to TMNT in 136. it starts up and plays but randomly resets when you play.