advancemame, what?

[freckleface]

So I d/l'd advmame and advmenu. I ran advmenu and any particular game screen is small!...like, just the size it would be I suppose if it were native. That makes sense....except it doesn't make sense....I thought it was supposed to run that resolution relative to the size of the monitor or something. I notice I can change the size in the menu...and when I do this it starts to look like cheesy computer graphics. And it runs choppy - at any size, but worse the larger it is. Advmenu doesn't run full screen, itself.  I don't get it.  Can anyone help me out, please?

[moloch]

I am just starting to use advance mame myself and was wondering if you could post the specs of the machine and operating system that you are using.

I probably can't solve your problem but it may help.

[RayB]

It's meant for arcade monitors. You are using an arcade monitor, right?

[freckleface]

It says on the site that it's good for PC monitors, also.  But I tried both and got nearly the same results.  Even tried with a faster computer and it ran slooooow.  Also, there seems to be no simple way to change anything in the front end (vs MAME32, where you have regular Windows-like tabs) - plus, it didn't by default select games with the mouse. I tell ya, I'm interested in trying these other things out....but the only one that works right off is MAME32.

[ahofle]

I wouldn't bother with advanceMAME if you aren't using an arcade monitor as RayB said.  Authentic game resolutions look horrible on a PC monitor (blocky 'cheesy computer graphics' as you said).  Also, if I'm not mistaken, advmame is no longer being updated anyway.

[clockwork]

I'm not sure if this is right, but what I gathered from AdvanceMAME is that it automatically sets the resolution and image enhancement features. I use MAMEPlus right now, and on certain games when I use image enhancement it'll act like you say, making a tiny screen or shoving it way off to a corner. You can set all these things manually for each game. And since AdvanceMAME isn't being updated anymore, as ahofle pointed out, you're probably better off using a different port.

[RayB]

It says on the site that it's good for PC monitors, also.  But I tried both and got nearly the same results.  Even tried with a faster computer and it ran slooooow.  Also, there seems to be no simple way to change anything in the front end (vs MAME32, where you have regular Windows-like tabs) - plus, it didn't by default select games with the mouse. I tell ya, I'm interested in trying these other things out....but the only one that works right off is MAME32.

Well there ya go. You can't compare it to MAME32. AdvMAME requires editing config files using a text file editor (notepad in windows, or "edit" in DOS).

[tetsu96]

I'm not sure if this is right, but what I gathered from AdvanceMAME is that it automatically sets the resolution and image enhancement features.

Not entirely accurate (missing an important item).

You can select filters and set them either per game / genre / or universally, but the 2 main draws are accurate resolution, and also accurate refresh rates.  In games running @ 60FPS, not a big deal, but you're not playing MK2 correctly if it's not at 53Hz.  Even Pac-Man runs at 60.606060 FPS.  Close enough with triple buffering (for most), but just slightly different that it's not perfect otherwise.

You do need to do a lot of reading and experimenting to find out how it works and then find out what works best for you.  My favorite build to be sure, but as it's not being updated anymore, I'm starting to look at others since 106 was the last core build it featured.

[RayB]

... the thing is, Freckles is expecting to run the program and have everything work peachy-keen, and configurable via a few little clicks, like a Windows app. Just doesn't work that with with AdvanceMAME (at least not the version I played with)

[tetsu96]

... the thing is, Freckles is expecting to run the program and have everything work peachy-keen, and configurable via a few little clicks, like a Windows app. Just doesn't work that with with AdvanceMAME (at least not the version I played with)

Nobody said AdvanceMAME was easy, it's just accurate.

But I agree with the sentiment already made - timings aside, the typical PC monitor isn't where AdvanceMAME really shines.  Not that you can't get some decent results from it, but it's complicated and won't look as authentic as using an arcade monitor would.