MESS - whats the difference?

[gman314]

I was just wondering what the difference is from one version of MESS to the next.  To my knowledge,
since you can't update a MESS rom set like you would for MAME, what's the advantage of having a newer version? Also, does anyone know where to find a compiled version of MESS that has the nag screens removed? Thanks.

[Ansa89]

http://mamedev.org/updates/messnew_0147u1.txt

[gman314]

Thanks for the info, but I was asking about MESS, not MAME.

[Ansa89]

My answer is about MESS, not MAME.

[Tafoid]

I was just wondering what the difference is from one version of MESS to the next.  To my knowledge,
since you can't update a MESS rom set like you would for MAME, what's the advantage of having a newer version? Also, does anyone know where to find a compiled version of MESS that has the nag screens removed? Thanks.

As far as function, there are little differences between MAME and MESS.  MAME, historically, deals with arcade and coin operated hardware and amusement devices.  MESS deals more with consumer electronics - computers, game consoles, handhelds, calculators, chess machines and virtually anything else you can think of that ran on CPU-based hardware.  Roms change for MESS as well, but not nearly as often as MAME simply due to numbers (26k+ MAME sets/devices vs. less than 2k MESS sets/devices) as well as there are often not too many revisions on a consumer electronic whereas arcade games had different regions, languages and bootlegging which all require different roms.

I always point people to the latest and greatest revision when it comes to MAME and MESS for multiple reasons including ability to find romsets, developer support in fixing bugs and you always have any improvements in emulation that happen and general support from the userbase as most people run later/latest versions.  At the same time, personally, I'm strongly against NO-NAG patches.  The patches remove essential information which inform the user as to driver status.  Production of such binaries for MAME or MESS is against the developer's wishes as noted at http://mamedev.org/about.html - Under "Derivative Works".  As such, there shouldn't be binaries with such function as default being distributed.  You have the right modify your own code for private use, however.

MESS is a capable emulator for many dozens of popular computers, consoles and handhelds and while generally never as good as the very best single system emulators available, they perform at a level which the casual gamer will likely find acceptable in most cases.  Best thing you can do is try it and choose for yourself

[Haze]

I was just wondering what the difference is from one version of MESS to the next.  To my knowledge,
since you can't update a MESS rom set like you would for MAME, what's the advantage of having a newer version? Also, does anyone know where to find a compiled version of MESS that has the nag screens removed? Thanks.

The answers you've already been given are correct.  MAME / MESS are one and the same, just with a different driver selection, and MESS being slightly more complex to use.  As of 0.147u1 you can even find the MESS whatsnew details with the MAME update, which makes them more visible (I can understand why you might have struggled to find them before, even I did)

You update the MESS system roms just like you would the MAME roms, and that even includes some playable standalone games (batmantv for example)

The MESS software roms can also be updated in a similar way using CLRMame etc.

As mentioned before, I offer (command line builds of) the 'all-in-one' version of the emulator, known as UME which contains both the MAME and MESS functionality
http://mamedev.emulab.it/haze/2012/10/08/ume-0-147u1/

I don't however offer no-nag versions.  Like Tafoid, and any other developer, we consider those screens to provide essential information on how well something should / shouldn't work, and don't want them to be skipped.

[gman314]

I don't however offer no-nag versions.  Like Tafoid, and any other developer, we consider those screens to provide essential information on how well something should / shouldn't work, and don't want them to be skipped.

My concern is that I will be running MESS through the Maximus Arcade FE.  The nag-screens are not very arcade like.  I complied a "no-nag" MESS once before, but my HDD recently died and I lost everything.  Does anyone know of a link where I can find one already compiled?  It was a pain for me to do this the first time around.

Also, I am only using MESS for the Atari 2600 emulator (maybe Colecovision, 5200, 7800, and Vectrex down the road).  As a result, will it matter if I am using an old 2600 set on an up to date version of MESS?

[Hoopz]

Did you READ what Tafoid and Haze said about people distributing versions without nag screens?  If you want a version like that, go ahead and compile it again yourself.

[Haze]

Did you READ what Tafoid and Haze said about people distributing versions without nag screens?  If you want a version like that, go ahead and compile it again yourself.

Yeah, please compile your own if you want to do something like that, it's not difficult, even today (you could argue it's easier)

MESS is MAME, MAME is MESS, UME is both of them, the same patches apply. 

Putting 'nag-free' binaries in the hands of people who just think it's some kind of 'MAME demo version crack' is dangerous, doing it yourself, and keeping it to yourself if you know what you're doing less so (although even that hasn't completely stopped morons doing it and reporting bugs in non-working systems)

[gman314]

Will Headkaze's compiler also work for MESS? I used it to successfully compile MAME 127 about 4 years ago.
I have been trying to follow the steps on the official MESS page, but I cant get the command line to "verify" my install of mingw (like the instructions say).   

[Haze]

Will Headkaze's compiler also work for MESS? I used it to successfully compile MAME 127 about 4 years ago.
I have been trying to follow the steps on the official MESS page, but I cant get the command line to "verify" my install of mingw (like the instructions say).   

It might, it certainly could, there's no reason it shouldn't be able to.  If it actually allows it is another matter altogether.

But just compiling MAME / MESS isn't hard, it's by far the easiest project I've ever encountered online when it comes to building your own.

Grab the packages on mamedev.org, follow the basic instructions and there you go.  MESS is even packaged with MAME now so all you need do is adjust the line you type to set it going.

I'm not a big fan of these automated compilers because if people can't follow the basic steps then they're probably not the type of people we want making changes to the source in the first place, some of the popular patches are incredibly high risk in terms of overall stability.

[Gray_Area]

Aeons past, there was a feature to turn info screens off, that was disabled by default. I see no issue with having it resurrected. Simply ignore those who come and ask about things they apparently have turned off the info for and forgotten they did it.