MultiMAME released!

[Lilwolf]

http://multimame.wikidot.com/start

MultiMAME is a middleware command line application which makes multiple emulators with different configurations act like a single MAME emulator to all (most) frontends.

You can configure multiple emulators (mame and zinc are tested, but there is a .dat parser so others should be configurable).

You can configure multiple filters with a wide variaty of conditions.  Like add all games from mame, then add all games from Zinc, then remove all the games that don't work, remove all games where you don't have the proper controllers, then add some games with special configurations.

Add -listxml support for Zinc games (and others)

This is great for me since I have some wierd configurations I like to keep (configure all my 8way6button games with buttons 1-3 on the top, and 4-6 on the bottom, configure all mortal kombat games to have the controls changed around to work with a 6 button configuration... )  ect.

Have to have some weird monitor setup for all your vertical games?  No problem.

Anyway, let me know how this works for you.  This is my first C# project and has been a quick week of work. 

Anyone have any questions on configuration or want something specific, let me know.

Thanks

Lilwolf

[Lakersfan]

Where on your website is the MultiMAME app located? 

I'm must be missing it but I've looked all over.

[Cakemeister]

I don't see it either. Where's the download and where's the source? This piece of code could really help me a lot.

[crzywolf]

The download file is at the bottom of the page on the right side . Just click on the word" file "and the download link should appear.

[Lakersfan]

weird. I tried that last night (I thought...)

Oh well, working now, thanks!

[Lilwolf]

Sorry, and yes.  I guess I can't complain if I'm not willing to pay for the site

I'll try and see if I can link directly to the file and add it above.

[Lilwolf]

New version V.02 released!

Mainly a few bug fixes after I got it working in my cab with my fighter control panel.
Hidden now properly removing entries
Added -debug command line option.

Oh yeah, I added an examples page (yes yes, with only one example right now).

Anyway, play away!

[Lilwolf]

Version .03 released (yes, bunch in a row... sorry). 

Fixed a bug with DAT file parsing adding " around the description (annoying if you have games sorted by description).
Added EMPTY and NOTEMPTY conditions for easier addition/removal of games based on catver.ini categories / genres

Also, I started compiling down to version 2.0 .net... I noticed there wasn't any reason to use 3.5 and that way people don't have to download a large file (as often).... NOTE:  You DO need 2.0 .net...  Works great though with 3.5 .net if you need to download a version, I would just get that.

Next version (not sure about how much more time I'll get this holiday) will be smart clone removal  (hide clones, unless the clones driver.status is better then the parents driver.status).
After that, I'm planning on trying to get more emulators added.

btw, anyone have any frontends they would like this tested with?  I've only tested mamewah and about to look at mala tonight. 

Thanks!

[headkaze]

I was thinking since your going to all the trouble of writing conditions and all that, I know quite a few people who would like a tool like this that will allow them to move groups of ROMs into different folders based on certain parameters. The idea is to write a GUI that communicates to MultiMame and uses it's engine to sort games. So you could have a list of all the games for the Mame version you have on the left (hilighted different colors depending on if you have the actual ROM & they match the checksum for the Mame version etc), and the ones you will move on the right. So I would have a list of options that I can add to the "filter box" (using boolean logic & variables like a search engine) that will filter in or out certain games and make them appear or disappear on the right list. Clicking on a game would give a detailed info about it (including CatVer, NPlayers, MameInfo, CloneOf, RomOf etc) and you can select to include or exclude individual games or hilight a group of games to add or remove them. It would also be a good way of testing your tool.

I haven't tested this program with any FE's but I'm wondering if your program replaces the Mame exe there are certain things it must do in order to work with most of them.

1. It must take command line options and launch Mame which needs to read it's stdout and send it to stdout. For example some FE's need to call "mame.exe -help" to get the version of Mame.

2. It must be able to launch Mame as if it is the Mame executable. That means running "MultiMame.exe 1942 -joy" will send those command line arguments to the real mame exe and launch it waiting for it to exit. That way the FE will wait for the MultiMame process to finish before exiting.

3. In .NET reading the stdout of Mame using the System.Diagnostics.Process namespace is VERY SLOW (Process.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput). I recommend you PInvoke (CreateFile/CreateProcess API functions) to get the -listxml from Mame and output it to a file to read in. It's the fastest method to get the game list and I've tried a few different methods. This is what I do in CPWizard and then I read in all the other data and write it to my own xml file combining all the different data into one file. Then next time I only read my data file in but check for a date modified change of any data file or Mame version update and if necessary create the new list again.

I believe if you do these things I can't see why it wouldn't work for all FE's out-of-the-box because then it really is acting as a middleman between the FE and Mame. You just want to make sure you handle stdout as efficiently as possible. In most cases you can just use the RedirectStandardOutput method, but for -listxml definately write to a file using PInvoke instead.

[Lilwolf]

I'm going to break up the reply...  As for creating a 'rom sorting tool'.

I will definately work with anyone who's interested in a gui.  I might look at it myself if the interest seems to be there.

I have a problem with this approach though.  This causes problems with (what I think) is the best way to keep your roms up to date with bit torrents. 

I wrote one years ago, but nobody used it (it required java and a database... part of the problem I thought).  It worked pretty well, you would describe what you wanted to move, it would highlight them, then you click select individual ones, and move away.  It didn't save what you wanted off though (another problem) so you had to do it over every new rom cycle. 

But maybe a program that would update / copy another computer's roms would be GREAT.

I have a full combined set of roms on my main computer.  And after I update my rom set on my main computer, I run a program that would seperate based on the conditions, then compare them to files in another drive/directory/computer and only copy the updated ones.

This way, you have them nicely sorted on another computer.

Anyone interested in a project?

[Lilwolf]

1. It must take command line options and launch Mame which needs to read it's stdout and send it to stdout. For example some FE's need to call "mame.exe -help" to get the version of Mame.

Perfect!  I was looking for needed methods.  I'm also considering having it forward all non-recognized arguments directly to the first emulator and then piping the stdout back to my stdout.  So later, if someone called "multimame -fred" it would send the "-fred" to mame.  And they get exactly what they would expect (well, in this case, crap)

but -help will be added.  I'll just return the first mame versions -help...  and if your only running zinc...well.... maybe I'll just return some madeup string.

[Lilwolf]

2. It must be able to launch Mame as if it is the Mame executable. That means running "MultiMame.exe 1942 -joy" will send those command line arguments to the real mame exe and launch it waiting for it to exit. That way the FE will wait for the MultiMame process to finish before exiting.

You can do it by hand now (you can add a set of arguments for each emulator and a set for each filters... the combination allows you to add -joy to all joystick games with one command).  But I will try and send any additional parameters sent to the end of the list.  Shouldn't be hard.

And yes, I wait for it to exit. 

[Lilwolf]

3. In .NET reading the stdout of Mame using the System.Diagnostics.Process namespace is VERY SLOW (Process.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput). I recommend you PInvoke (CreateFile/CreateProcess API functions) to get the -listxml from Mame and output it to a file to read in. It's the fastest method to get the game list and I've tried a few different methods. This is what I do in CPWizard and then I read in all the other data and write it to my own xml file combining all the different data into one file. Then next time I only read my data file in but check for a date modified change of any data file or Mame version update and if necessary create the new list again.

I believe if you do these things I can't see why it wouldn't work for all FE's out-of-the-box because then it really is acting as a middleman between the FE and Mame. You just want to make sure you handle stdout as efficiently as possible. In most cases you can just use the RedirectStandardOutput method, but for -listxml definately write to a file using PInvoke instead.

I'll look at PInvoke.  I didn't notice a huge speed decrease (my parse seemed to be as fast as mame -listxml, but that is probably a lot of console output slowing it down).  THANKS for the tip!

[SGT]

Lilwolf,

Can you give an example of how to setup MultiMAME using emulators that don't have dat or xml files? Below are two examples that I use Mala to launch a batch file with.  %1 is the rom name that is passed to the batch file from Mala.  %2 is the path of the rom that is passed to the batch file from Mala.  The batch file uses the path of the rom to determine which emulator to run with the following code:

Code: [Select]

if "%2" == "E:\emulators\Daphne\framefile" goto daphne
if "%2" == "E:\emulators\pc_games\roms" goto pcgames
Below is the Daphne example.  In my case, the frame file and the rom file have the same name:

Code: [Select]

:daphne
cd \emulators\daphne
start/wait daphne.exe %1 vldp -framefile E:\emulators\Daphne\framefile\%1.txt -fullscreen -blank_skips -blank_searches -preset 1
exit
Below is the PC games example.  In Mala, I have the rom names as the names of the lnk files (shortcut files)

Code: [Select]

:pcgames
cd \emulators\pc_games\roms
%1.lnk
exit

In both these examples, I had to manual add to mame.xml file the rom entries so that these games would show up in the same game lists as Mame.   Mala doesn't require all this as it allows for other emus to be configured, but unfortunately when you do it that way, you cannot have those games in the same game lists as Mame.

I would prefer to do away with the batch file and use MultiMAME.   I use 5 other emulators in this way, but if you could just get me started....

[Lilwolf]

I haven't added support other then Mame, Zinc and Dat games yet. 

I am right now adding smart clone support (remove clones unless they play better then the parent (then remove the parent). 

After that I will look at Daphne (on the list, and a good one to add to my arcademachine).  I think there may be a dat file for it already though.  I'll look at both solutions.

As for PC games....

Anyone know if there are any standards for this?  I can definely create a xml format for a PC game.   But I'm not sure if there is already a way to do this?  I would hate to create a file format and find that there is another one out there already being used.

[SGT]

Forgive my ignorance, but is there not a way to manually add emulators without you having to add them programatically? Can a user not manually create an xml file which could be in the same format as mame.xml so a new parser doesn't have to be added to your program?  I am just thinking that there a ton of emulators, and new ones that come out frequently.   I could see it would be nightmare situation for you if you had to programatically add new emulators to the program before the emulator could be used with MultiMAME.

[Lilwolf]

launching them isn't the problem.  Its getting the data of what games it supports.

I think I have a daphne solution with a very simple hand made dat file.  I'm just testing it out now. 

I was thinking of adding the ability to specify a listxml type file, but the dat file (much easier) and use the additional info from mame's listxml is much much faster and easier.

[SGT]

launching them isn't the problem.  Its getting the data of what games it supports.

That's what I meant when I asked if can we create our own xml file.  Then we could manually enter each game entry into that xml file.  I know its not the ideal way, but as the program is now, can we manually create our own XML files with the games that we want to play manually entered into that xml by us?  Will your program, as it currently is, launch any emulator with this user created xml file?  If it will, what else besides creating this xml file do I have to configure with MultiMAME ?  I'm not trying to be obstinate here, but based upon your answers, I don't feel I'm getting my question across very clearly. 

[Lilwolf]

I just uploaded version .04

This has the 'SMARTPARENT' and 'SMARTCLONE' options.  This allows you to select all parents, unless their clones run better.   I also added 'CLONE' and 'PARENT' because it was easy, but I don't know why anyone would use them.

Also, I added a daphne page on the wiki to get daphne working. 

Next version. 

Add listxml support from a file... <cough>now that I figured out what SGT was asking for </cough> LOL
Command line support...  I think... I'm still not sure the best way to do it.   I'm thinking about it.  I'm starting to think that a directory with just batch files might do.  But then I wont be able to add entries to the -listxml for frontends.  So the xml parser subclass might be better.

[Lilwolf]

I threw up a new version.

This one has both XML file support and also seperate app support!  I created a new page to show how to add applications (and the xml file support is added to the emulators.xml definitions)

Next, I think I will download a few other frontends and make sure they all work easily with it.

[Lilwolf]

I just threw .061 up on the site.  Since last post here I moved the clones / smartclones to the emulators.xml file instead of the filters (much easier).

Its also working with AAE now and I put a page to show you how to configure AAE.  (So now we have tested MAME, Zinc, Daphne and AAE.. plus command line apps).  Model2 is next on my list.

Have fun!

[TheShanMan]

I'm trying to get multimame working with mala. I can launch multimame manually and it is launching mame or daphne as appropriate just fine. But in mala I pick multimame.exe as my mame executable, then pick a path for the xml file and click on mala's "create" button. Mala locked up on me. I then went to a command prompt and manually created an xml file with -listxml and it was only 3 mb, vs. about 30 mb for one retrieved directly from mame. Am I doing something wrong? Or is 90% of mame's list xml output filtered out due to irrelevance? (seems unlikely)

I'm not sure if the small xml file is the cause of mala locking up or what, but it seems suspect so I'm wondering if I'm somehow doing something wrong.

[Encryptor]

Sounds like a great tool. Could you test it with Maximus Arcade?


Encryptor

[Lilwolf]

The idea of multimame is the limit the results, so there is a definate chance that the xml file is smaller.

Also, I ignore the roms and a few other bits of the xml file.  Depending on the settings, it will also get rid of the children ect.

As for the lockup, there is a file console.out that will tell you what command mala runs (I can't remember... I use mala myself, but I don't remember if I made the xml file by hand or not.  I'll try and check when I get home).

But if you want to send me your emulators.xml and filters.xml I'll take a look.

Drake - aka - Lilwolf
drakewoodring@cinci.rr.com

[Lilwolf]

Isn't that a pay frontend?  I'm not sure if I can test it.  If it uses the -listxml or roms directory it should be fine.  I don't know if I will get a chance this weekend, but I will try and take a look.

Sounds like a great tool. Could you test it with Maximus Arcade?


Encryptor

[Encryptor]

Yes it is a pay product but a lot of people use it including myself. I appreciate you testing. Thanks.

Encryptor

[TheShanMan]

The idea of multimame is the limit the results, so there is a definate chance that the xml file is smaller.

Also, I ignore the roms and a few other bits of the xml file.  Depending on the settings, it will also get rid of the children ect.

I'm not limiting the roms at all, which is why I'm surprised by it dropping from 30 meg to 3 meg. Seems like such an excessive drop that something must be wrong.

As for the lockup, there is a file console.out that will tell you what command mala runs (I can't remember... I use mala myself, but I don't remember if I made the xml file by hand or not.  I'll try and check when I get home).

But if you want to send me your emulators.xml and filters.xml I'll take a look.

I'll have to check out that console.out file. Didn't know about that. I'll send my files to you - thanks for having a look!

[Lilwolf]

I think its right.  I modified the directories and looked at the output.

Notice the difference in each element.  I remove all the roms, sample, chips, dipswitchs, dipvalue and disks... that REALLY takes out a lot of space....

not sure if this will show up... but...  This was just the first example on the screen. 

   <game name="elvis" sourcefile="itgambl2.c">
      <description>Elvis?</description>
      <manufacturer>Unknown</manufacturer>
      <display type="raster" rotate="0" width="512" height="256" refresh="60.000000"/>
      <sound channels="1"/>
      <input players="1">
      </input>
      <driver status="preliminary" emulation="preliminary" color="good" sound="good" graphic="good" savestate="unsupported" palettesize="512"/>
   </game>


vs

   <game name="elvis" sourcefile="itgambl2.c">
      <description>Elvis?</description>
      <manufacturer>Unknown</manufacturer>
      <rom name="elvis_hd64f3337cp16.mcu" size="16384" region="main" status="nodump" offset="0"/>
      <rom name="1.bin" size="524288" crc="9e15983f" sha1="272673ac9685cf0f5cc8a9263c91e4f93c30197f" region="gfx1" offset="0"/>
      <rom name="2.bin" size="524288" crc="c420af73" sha1="fb0e03456a4b2f18c35d5ee2efeb29e3f2f26eae" region="gfx1" offset="80000"/>
      <rom name="3.bin" size="524288" crc="bc10b1b6" sha1="ef25f974cd0b44b91a8db215ff8d2dd3f4313bd8" region="gfx1" offset="100000"/>
      <rom name="0.bin" size="131072" crc="833c5be5" sha1="89110cb52265ee5bfdf73c0af343b7ce2356e394" region="upd" offset="0"/>
      <chip type="cpu" tag="main" name="H8/3044" clock="16000000"/>
      <chip type="audio" tag="upd" name="UPD7759" clock="640000"/>
      <display type="raster" rotate="0" width="512" height="256" refresh="60.000000" />
      <sound channels="1"/>
      <input players="1">
      </input>
      <dipswitch name="Unknown">
         <dipvalue name="Off" default="yes"/>
         <dipvalue name="On"/>
      </dipswitch>
      <dipswitch name="Unknown">
         <dipvalue name="Off" default="yes"/>
         <dipvalue name="On"/>
      </dipswitch>
      <dipswitch name="Unknown">
         <dipvalue name="Off" default="yes"/>
         <dipvalue name="On"/>
      </dipswitch>
      <dipswitch name="Unknown">
         <dipvalue name="Off" default="yes"/>
         <dipvalue name="On"/>
      </dipswitch>
      <dipswitch name="Unknown">
         <dipvalue name="Off" default="yes"/>
         <dipvalue name="On"/>
      </dipswitch>
      <dipswitch name="Unknown">
         <dipvalue name="Off" default="yes"/>
         <dipvalue name="On"/>
      </dipswitch>
      <dipswitch name="Unknown">
         <dipvalue name="Off" default="yes"/>
         <dipvalue name="On"/>
      </dipswitch>
      <dipswitch name="Unknown">
         <dipvalue name="Off" default="yes"/>
         <dipvalue name="On"/>
      </dipswitch>
      <dipswitch name="Unknown">
         <dipvalue name="Off" default="yes"/>
         <dipvalue name="On"/>
      </dipswitch>
      <dipswitch name="Unknown">
         <dipvalue name="Off" default="yes"/>
         <dipvalue name="On"/>
      </dipswitch>
      <dipswitch name="Unknown">
         <dipvalue name="Off" default="yes"/>
         <dipvalue name="On"/>
      </dipswitch>
      <dipswitch name="Unknown">
         <dipvalue name="Off" default="yes"/>
         <dipvalue name="On"/>
      </dipswitch>
      <dipswitch name="Unknown">
         <dipvalue name="Off" default="yes"/>
         <dipvalue name="On"/>
      </dipswitch>
      <dipswitch name="Unknown">
         <dipvalue name="Off" default="yes"/>
         <dipvalue name="On"/>
      </dipswitch>
      <dipswitch name="Unknown">
         <dipvalue name="Off" default="yes"/>
         <dipvalue name="On"/>
      </dipswitch>
      <dipswitch name="Unknown">
         <dipvalue name="Off" default="yes"/>
         <dipvalue name="On"/>
      </dipswitch>
      <driver status="preliminary" emulation="preliminary" color="good" sound="good" graphic="good" savestate="unsupported" palettesize="512"/>
   </game>

[Lilwolf]

btw, I also checked the -listfull command (name and description only) and they are the same for multimame and mame...  And both -listfull and -listxml uses the same code to load the data.  So I'm 98% sure the list is full

[TheShanMan]

OK, sorry for doubting the mighty multimame! I am looking forward to getting it working. Thanks for having a look, and thanks for writing the app to begin with!

[Todd H]

I wonder if it will work with Hyperspin? I'll have to test it out.

[Lilwolf]

I haven't tested it since the direct to mame parsing... but before then, it did work... It didn't do much for it since you had to create your own xml files... but it did work. 

I started working on a config program for hyperconfig that would update those xml files from a web browser...  And the project go put on hold... probably a good thing since those xml files doesn't seem to be used anymore.

Now I'm combining multimame and a webbrowser.  So you can add / remove games at will... launch directly from a webbrowser (this one I think is pretty cool)... But I haven't had time to work on it recently

But it looks like it might end up being a near complete rewrite... but for different kinda strange reasons.  I would end up having the web server completely control the emulation launching... and the executable would just forward stuff to the app server.  This would allow me to cache stuff so it should speed things up... 

but again, I haven't had much time recently

[Ummon]

I haven't tested it since the direct to mame parsing... but before then, it did work... It didn't do much for it since you had to create your own xml files... but it did work. 

I started working on a config program for hyperconfig that would update those xml files from a web browser...  And the project go put on hold... probably a good thing since those xml files doesn't seem to be used anymore.

Now I'm combining multimame and a webbrowser.  So you can add / remove games at will... launch directly from a webbrowser (this one I think is pretty cool)... But I haven't had time to work on it recently

But it looks like it might end up being a near complete rewrite... but for different kinda strange reasons.  I would end up having the web server completely control the emulation launching... and the executable would just forward stuff to the app server.  This would allow me to cache stuff so it should speed things up... 

but again, I haven't had much time recently

Sounds neat.

[TheShanMan]

For daphne games that aren't also in mame (dragon's lair 2), how can I provide game properties (description, manufacturer, year, etc.) without having to hand-edit the mame.xml output generated by multimame every time there's an update?

[Lilwolf]

I have a listxml, listinfo and dat parser.  I supply a daphne.dat on the webpage.  Each emulator can get information from different sources... then I generate the xml from the combined data of the visible games.

[TheShanMan]

That doesn't answer my question. I am using the daphne dat as my starting point, but I don't see how I'm supposed to specify the parameters I mentioned. The web site doesn't give any direction in that regard.

Do I just add lines for each of those game properties and mimic the format used on the other existing lines, such as the "name" line? It would be nice if the web page addressed this.

[Lilwolf]

ahh..

no, you should modify the daphne.dat file.  Here is an example of the zinc.dat file with more information

game (
   name starglad
   description "Star Gladiator (US 960627)"
   year 1996
   manufacturer "Capcom"
   romof cpzn1
   rom ( name coh-1000c.353 merge coh-1000c.353 size 524288 crc 50033af6 sha1 486d92ff6c7f1e54f8e0ef41cd9116eca0e10e1a )
   rom ( name ps1u-04.2h size 524288 crc 121fb234 sha1 697d18d37afd95f302b40a5a6a78d8c92a41ea73 )
   rom ( name ps1-05m.3h size 4194304 crc 8ad72c4f sha1 c848c37eb5365000b4d4720b5c08d89ddd8e2c33 )
   rom ( name ps1-06m.4h size 4194304 crc 95d8ed61 sha1 e9f259d589dc38a8321a6fea1f5dac741cadc0ff )
   rom ( name ps1-07m.5h size 4194304 crc c06752db sha1 0884b308e9cd9dde8660b422bc8fec9a362bcb52 )
   rom ( name ps1-08m.2k size 4194304 crc 381f9ded sha1 b7878a90740f5b3c5881ac7d46e2b84b18727337 )
   rom ( name ps1-09m.3k size 4194304 crc bd894812 sha1 9f0c3365e685a53ae793f4a256a6c177a843a424 )
   rom ( name ps1-10m.4k size 4194304 crc ff80c18a sha1 8d01717eed6ec1f508fe7c445da941fb84ef7d22 )
   rom ( name ps1-02a.2e size 131072 crc b854df92 sha1 ea71a613b5b19ec7e9c6e342e7743d320582a6bb )
   rom ( name ps1-03a.3e size 131072 crc a2562fbb sha1 3de02a4aa7ea620961ca2a5c331f38134033db79 )
   rom ( name ps1-01m.3b size 4194304 crc 0bfb17aa sha1 cf4482785a2a33ad814c8b1461c5bc8e8e027895 )
)

[TheShanMan]

Cool - thanks. How about adding some mention of this to the MultiMAME site?

[Todd H]

Just wanted to let you know Lilwolf that I have MultiMAME working perfectly in Maximus Arcade. Getting Dragon's Lair 2 to show up was the hardest part but I eventually got it working by creating a dummy dlair2.zip file and adding a Dragon's Lair 2 entry in the mame XML file in the Maximus Arcade's preferences folder. Thanks again for the excellent program. 

[strontium]

Guys I'm banging my head against the wall with this one, I have followed the website.

1.)Ran multimame and created the default xml files.
2.)Edited the xml files to point to my emulator and roms
3.)Left the filter as the default one should be adding all mame roms, special fighters and then all zinc games.
4.)Ran multimame from the command line and the game runs but no matter what I choose it always uses mame.

I can't see how I am supposed to debug this? My setup is a directory for emulators then a subdirectory for each emulator (Mame, Zinc, Daphne). I have a folder called roms with a subdirectory for each system (Mame, Zinc etc...)

Please will some one help me get this working as I really like the concept of being able to run games from one list using the best emulators available at the time.

Thanks in advance

Strontium