What is the deal with High Scores

[TheShaner]

So I have been trying to look into high scores and am a little confused.  Highscore.dat support is not in MAME anymore, which seems weird. I have read that most games save their high scores anyway, but that sure doesnt seem to be the case for me, none of mine are saving.  What is the best approach to keeping record of my killer Galaga score?

[Ravenger]

Best way is to compile your own verson of Mame with the high score code patched back in. I've done this and it works great. It was easier than I thought.

[TheShaner]

Hmm ... Im a UI designer, not a coder Jim! 

Can you point me in a direction that will get me started?

[Ravenger]

How to compile mame:
http://mrdo.mameworld.info/compile.html

Patching in high-score support using Mame source DIFF files.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=64298.0

I used the Mame compiler from here:
http://www.headsoft.com.au/index.php?category=mame&page=mc64

[mamenewb100]

The easiest way to add Highscore support in MAME if you want to avoid compiling involve these steps:

#1 Obtain Groovymame and place the executable in your MAME root folder. This is already pre-compiled with Highscore support and makes your games run smoother

#2 Obtain Hiscoredat.zip from Mameworld

#3 Create a folder named hi in your root MAME directory

#4 Unzip Hiscoredat.zip into the hi folder you created containing Hiscore.dat

#5 Create a new MAME.ini file by typing the command Groovymame32 -cc (or Groovymame64 depending on whatever the executable is named) if you use command-line version of mame

#6 Make sure disable_highscore_patch is set to 0 under CORE MKChamp OPTIONS in your newly created MAME.ini

Now just run a high score supported game like Donkey Kong, post a score, fully exit MAME, re-enter the same game again and your score will be there if it was successful.

IMPORTANT: If you are running a Frontend that uses a launcher like Hyperspin, you must disable it or your highscore saves will not work.

Hopefully this will help out allot of people. I had to go through this on my own since the Mame compilers would always crash before I could make a build.  

[TheShaner]

Awesome, this is lots of good info.

After looking into it, compiling is very easy, and kicks some pretty serious butt because you can tweak the build to suit your needs.  Very cool.  So I went ahead and compiled my own MAME the other day, and it worked pretty good, but it had a few issues.  After knowing a little more now, I am going to try again, but am going to compile with groovymame diff's. I just have one question pertaining to the compiling:  After I compile, am I just using the executable?  Or should the output have all the folders I need in it for a fresh install?

[Cynicaster]

Authentic, shmauthentic—I don’t know how anybody can stand not having high score support on their cabinet.  Not only is it handy as heck for tracking your scores, but it can make for some fun competition as different people swing in to try to gain the crown in certain games.  For example, my brother has a handful of high scores on my cabinet—some of them on top-shelf classics—and it’s fun to try to knock them down; it gives me something to strive for rather than just chasing myself all the time.  What happens is that the three letter spaces at the top of those saved score lists become prime real estate, and I love the feeling of stealing it from others after a hard fought battle.  Just a few weeks ago I re-claimed the Rush N Attack title from my brother, after his initials sat at the top spot for a full year.  I haven’t been so lucky with dethroning him in Centipede and Burgertime, however.   

Another thing I like about it is when I fire up some obscure random game and see some long lost score that I posted in the past but completely forgot about; kinda cool in a “time capsule” sort of way. 

[TheShaner]

Good stuff in this thread.  I ended up just grabbing a precompiled copy of groovymame.  It not only has made my motion smoother, but also has nonag, highscores and no loading screen patches in it.  Killer build.  Thanks for the advice.