Mala and Multiple Versions of Mame

[rawbe]

Hey guys-

I am currently running Mame 142 with Mala. I wanted to add the Mame build 147 to Mala also. Run both versions of Mame. So I added 147 as an additional Emulator. It works but the game names are the zip file names. Where do I add snaps? Their is no option under Mala to add this under the additional emulator section.

Thanks!

[rawbe]

Anyone??

[NOP]

look at the sticky topics at the top of the mala forum here...

[rpgposer]

I have looked at that sticky a few times and it just seems confusing, but there is a lot I don't know.  Out of the box, Mala isn't set up for what you want to do with it.
You could try running two separate mala installs, one for .142 and the other for .147.

[rawbe]

I could be wrong but the sticky describes how to bring games from one mame to another not using two different mame builds. I have Mame 147 as Mala's main mame and 142 as an additional emulator. Still the additional emulator, now Mame 142's games have no names. It is just the zip name. The snaps are working though. So I can see a pic of the game. I guess I am the only person ever to try this 

[chopperthedog]

You need to create a layout for the other "emu" to include a snap window and define the location under other emu config/options tab in mala config.

http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Mala_Layout


good day.

[NOP]

Ok, color me curious then.  what benefit do you get from having 2 different mames in the way you describe?

the stickied topic discusses a workaround for the fact that some games run better in mame version x than in mame version y. 
you change the game launch to run the correct version of mame based on the game selected by the user.  it's all invisible to the end user that way.

perhaps you're thinking more for experimenting/tinkering over an end user experience?  why have a front end at all then?

[rawbe]

The reason (I'm not for sure if it is a good one) is I have both Mame builds and I would like to play each to see which games work better for which Mame. Then I will start building my simplified gamelist. I dunno seemed like a good idea. ahhaha.

I have made a layout which works for one Mame but the other still does not display the proper name. Just the zip name. I'm probably missing something or Mala will not display two separate Mame lists.

[NOP]

i guess what i'd do then is have some batch scripts available on your desktop which you can run which would swap out mame.exe with the other one whenever you wanted. 

Thinking something like this:
2 batch files on your desktop, each one just copies mame.exe into the mala folder from your 2 different builds.  let's call them 1.bat and 2.bat
launch mala, run it in a window
run 1.bat
select a game from mala and playtest it
exit game
run 2.bat
pick same game in mala to play it now in the other version of mame.

that way you're not forced to switch lists in mala to check out the same game in a different version of mame, which would be time consuming.  Now you've got one list and just one configuration but an externally controllable swapper to let you experiment.

[rawbe]

Thanks for the advice NOP!

[Ben1981]

Hey rawbe,

had the exact same problem, 2 versions of mame for running Cave SH3 games and older ones that were not working with this build.
NOP already pointed you in the right direction. You can find an easy step by step guide here:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,68419.0.html

Helped me a lot and answered all my questions 

Cheers Ben

[rawbe]

Thanks Ben. Good link!