Mame Update .71 to 106

[Unkis17]

Hey all,  I'm back in the mame scene after almost 3 yrs happy.  I sold my mame box as we moved and it was easier to sell it then move it.  I got approval to build another and I'm excited to get back into it.

I'm looking into some of the new hardware (IE UltraStik) as well as the updated software.  I was running .71 very happily with Mamewah.  I took the time to DL 106 and now it seems most of my roms don't work anymore!

My question is should I upgrade to 106?  I play alot of the classics so the ability to play new roms isn't too big a deal for me.  Has MAME made some great upgrades since or is it more work on rom compatability? I ordered in the UltraStik and am playing with doing MAME through an entire joysitck (IE no I-PAC needed) and I have now taken control of using Ctrlr files, but that is about as technical as I have gotten.  Any cool features I should be taking advantage of?  I plan on adding a trackball (and opti-pac I guess) cause I can't live without MISSILE and TEMPTEST.

Thanks in advance,  Unkis

[Quarters]

If you play mainly classics there is no reason to upgrade MAME. Game loading speed will be much slower. Personaly I pick the earliest verson of MAME with all the features that I want, then run a full new rom collection though clrmame pro to downgrade the roms to that version.

[Unkis17]

Sorry a bit confused.  Game loading will be slow in a new version or the old?  I noticed in my old .71 version the exe is only like 4 megs with a full set and in the 106 the exe is like 34 megs.

[Havok]

They are no longer compressing the executable, so running the actual Mame.exe file will be faster: the computer will not have to uncompress the file, and then execute.

As as far getting the latest, wait until .107 comes out - they are still sorting out a bunch of bugs in the latest release, where they added a ton of new feaures. Check out  the Release Notes.

You should also check out GroovyGameGear - they have a really cool lit trackball, and a high resolution spinner...

[Buddabing]

I would say do not update to v0.106. If you are going to upgrade, go to v0.107 which will be coming out soon. Don't upgrade just for the sake of upgrading.

[Dreamwriter]

Would 107 really be a good choice, though?  With a completely new Direct3D renderer, it'll be more buggy, and require more powerful computer than 106.  Yeah, it can do cool things like support dual monitors for games that had em, and better compatibility for certain types of games, but will it really do a lot for the classics?  Might be better to stick to 106.

[Buddabing]

The new rendering system should help games with artwork, such as Armor Attack. I think the OP will be buying a new computer for his new machine, so I definitely recommend 0.107 over 0.106.