With MAME 127 now out why wasn't Dragon's Lair the frist Laser Disc Game?

[mrclean]

Firstly I'm extremly excited that laser disc emulation is finally in MAME but why wasn't Dragon's Lair picked as the first game ? never heard of "Cube Quest" Any reason why that was picked? but at least this is mega good news as i would imagine others will soon follow

before ... And after

The flyer looks more like trippy quest then cube quest.  This game reminds me of polybius

[RayB]

Dragon's Lair is still actively sold and re-sold by the current owners. They'd go nutzoid on MAME's ass!

[mrclean]

I would guess that it's still going to make it to MAME alot sooner then you think mainly because it's emulating a laser disc quality they aren't blu-ray emulators so i think they should be good

[shmokes]

Mame can play loads of classics that are still sold and resold by the current owners.  Namco, Midway, etc.  They all release classic gamepacks for the current gen consoles.  They also release their titles on services like Xbox Live.  Hell . . . Ms. Pacman and Galaga are even actively being sold to arcades in the form of the 20th Anniversary cabinet.

[mrclean]

good point shmokes

[yugffuts]

Because it's the first one.  They want to start off with some lesser known LD games to iron out any bugs, instead of Dragon's Lair, which would cause the lamers to show up and ---smurfette--- about it incessantly.

Basically, Cube Quest is the first attempt.  Once refinements are made, the more popular games will show up.

[miles2912]

Hasn't Dragons Layer been emulated for years?  Nothing new by adding it to MAME.

[MrMojoZ]

Daphne staple isn't it?

[u_rebelscum]

Aaron has stated in the past that the most popular games will probably be last added for a few reasons.  
- As mentioned before, it's still WIP and the adding the more popular ones will bring in the crowd that expect perfection.
- Those popular games have multiple versions that haven't been ripped yet, and adding the common versions to mame often has the effect of people not saving the original media, including versions mame doesn't have.  MameDev would prefer to have all (or as many as possible) versions of these game so they all are preserved.
- They're already emulated in other emulators, so the drive to add them to mame is lower.
- There are more copies still out there, so there is less chance of losing the last copy than the less popular games.
- Mame is about documenting and saving the original games.  Not about satisfying the most users.  So they is no reason to do the more popular, and many to do the smaller games.

[TheShanMan]

I don't really know the specific goals of the Daphne project, but MAME is about accurate emulation and hardware "documentation", so the goals are probably a bit different, and the MAME team isn't going to ignore a certain class of arcade games just because there's another emulator that handles them.

But yeah, while it's a milestone for MAME and I look forward to playing these games in MAME, it's not THAT big of a deal because of the existence of Daphne.

You are wrong though - there will be something new in MAME's emulation - it will apparently include the score/lives/credits LED area that appeared above the monitor.

[CheffoJeffo]

You are wrong though - there will be something new in MAME's emulation - it will apparently include the score/lives/credits LED area that appeared above the monitor.

Doesn't Daphne do this now -- both with a real scoreboard and as an overlay ?

[wbassett]

Mame can play loads of classics that are still sold and resold by the current owners.  Namco, Midway, etc.  They all release classic gamepacks for the current gen consoles.  They also release their titles on services like Xbox Live.  Hell . . . Ms. Pacman and Galaga are even actively being sold to arcades in the form of the 20th Anniversary cabinet.

When I bought my TankStick (temp cp until I get my permanant one built) I got two discs with a bunch of arcade games on them, and I was up on Midways site and it looks like they are still selling their games too.

So is MAME 127 bascially including Daphnie now or is it a different emulator?

[TheShanMan]

You are wrong though - there will be something new in MAME's emulation - it will apparently include the score/lives/credits LED area that appeared above the monitor.

Doesn't Daphne do this now -- both with a real scoreboard and as an overlay ?

You could very well be right - even though I use Daphne, I'm a relative novice with it. I guess all I can say is that it doesn't appear by default.

Wbasset, MAME handles its own emulation.

[Visitor Q]

Dragon’s Lair 1, 2, Space Ace and Thayer’s Quest are all games you will not see anytime soon in Mame would be my guess because of licenses.

I cool with Daphne and use Game Ex... I guess it would be nice if the games where in Mame but it really don't matter much too me at this point.

[M.Lanza]

That is officaly the coolest cabinet i've ever seen.

[ChadTower]

Cube Quest is cool because it was developed on the Vectrex... the programmer worked for CGE and did all his coding on that first because he had the dev hardware.  The game was never released for the Vectrex until it was later brought out by some collectors 6-7 years ago.  An "original release" copy from then is a pretty highly sought after Vectrex item.

[Ummon]

I think this is great because it's not available in Daphne. (Now we'll see if my machine can handle it.) I'm not even sure I got to play this game...maybe at Six Flags Magic Mountain eons ago. I hadn't even thought where to get the files for this. Makes sense on DL - all those versions.

[wbassett]

Dumb question, but I'll ask anyway...

When they come out with a new version of MAME like this... does everyone dump their roms and get new ones to match the MAME version?

[ark_ader]

It would be nice to see Cube Quest properly emulated.  That machine is so rare as is Freedom Fighter.

Cube Quest had so many custom chips made for it, that I think it made the Daphne Team avoid it. 

I really like the Daphne Developers, and they are a nice crowd over at the Dragon's Lair Project.  I just think that the amount of coders for their projects are limited, compared to the vast army of coders for Mame.

It would be nice for all the laserdisc games including American Laser to be in MAME.

But like other people said.  There is no rush.  I would head over to the Daphne website and check out their newest release.  Check the help pages on their site.  You might find something very interesting......

We have waited 3 years we can wait some more.   

By that time we should all have saved up for all those 5x 1TB drives to put the images on.     

[S0L]

I wonder if this means they'll get Firefox in Mame then?

One of the games I've never seen, and always wanted too!

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S0L
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[Turnarcades]

It's only a matter of time before DL appears. Plus, even though the dev team's goals are different and they aim for accuracy, they have in the past borrowed on code from different emulator projects to help them along in emulation refinement.

[Spaced Ace]

My question is, since the newer games cant be emulated or it is harder to do so now, why even continue MAME?  Now, the MAME crew is just grabbing life lines if they are going to emulate Dragons Lair or Space Ace.  I dont know about anyone else, but the latest version of MAME and MAME32 is so unstable I cant even run it and I have a gaming PC.  With games exclusive to Japan, by the time "we" get them or run the games on MAME, their either unstable or a bad dump.  So, why even continue to emulate the same 4,500 games over and over with each new release of MAME?

Its the same thing with Digital Leisure, why emulate DL 20 times?  Nothing ever changes....

[Loafmeister]

Well, there are still some older games not emulated (example: the arcadia boards), some are partially emulated but remain unplayable, some have issues with sound. Additionally, there are still games that have hacks built it to get them to work, so in essence they need to be "fixed" to work accurately.  Anyway, it doesn't hurt anyone for them to continue, so more power to Mame updates me think .

Perhaps that wasn't your intention but Mame purpose isn't about adding "new games" to the playability list.

Good point on latest versions, but that's typical sometimes stuff gets broken.  That happens when so many hands are in the pot but I'll say this, they do tend to get around to bugs if people post about them.

[Paul Olson]

MAME is, and probably always will be, a work in progress. The devs are continually improving the drivers for existing games as they figure out how the original hardware worked. I know people don't like to believe it, but MAME is a documentation project. As such, accuracy improvements are definitely worth their continued efforts. They add the new games while the hardware is easy to acquire. Some of the old game boards cost hundreds, or even thousands of dollars if they can be found. There is certainly no reason to be put in that position later on for games that can easily be found now.

Laser disc games need to be added as part of the documentation project. It doesn't matter if they are already playable elsewhere.

Filter out all but the working games, and you will have a much better experience. There are more currently working games than you will ever have time to play as it is.

[CheffoJeffo]

MAME is, and probably always will be, a work in progress. The devs are continually improving the drivers for existing games as they figure out how the original hardware worked. I know people don't like to believe it, but MAME is a documentation project. As such, accuracy improvements are definitely worth their continued efforts. They add the new games while the hardware is easy to acquire. Some of the old game boards cost hundreds, or even thousands of dollars if they can be found. There is certainly no reason to be put in that position later on for games that can easily be found now.

Laser disc games need to be added as part of the documentation project. It doesn't matter if they are already playable elsewhere.

Filter out all but the working games, and you will have a much better experience. There are more currently working games than you will ever have time to play as it is.

 

Exactly right ... I stopped updating my MAME boxes the last time they added/fixed games that I wanted. I won't update again (although I occasionally grab new filesets, just so I have them) until there is a compelling reason. I want the work to continue because there are still games that I would like to see preserved (unlike many folks here, for me those games are older).

[Jdurg]

The reason DL, DL2, Space Ace, etc. are not in MAME right now has NOTHING to do with licensing, etc.  It has to do with the fact that it is very easy to get copies of those games and therefore the need to get them emulated right now just isn't there.  Cube Quest and the other games that have already been added are much, MUCH more rare than the DL games.  As a result, there is a bigger push to get them emulated properly right now.

[Spaced Ace]

Well, I agree with you guys somewhat.  I guess its just a matter of taste.  For me, personally, MAME will be complete when they sucessfully emulate Star Wars Trilogy Arcade.  Which it looks like wont happen in my life time.

 

[Ummon]

Well, I agree with you guys somewhat.  I guess its just a matter of taste.  For me, personally, MAME will be complete when they sucessfully emulate Star Wars Trilogy Arcade.  Which it looks like wont happen in my life time.

 

Isn't there a PC version for this unremarkable game? I don't think Mame is unstable. It may be that your system is so geared up that it throws Mame about by the neck. There's much more than just accuracy involved in Mame; novel programming is another factor.


wbassett: no, that's what clrmamepro is for. Where you get the files is another matter.

[wbassett]

wbassett: no, that's what clrmamepro is for. Where you get the files is another matter.

Thanks, I'll take a look at clrmamepro.  As far as ROMS, I understand that is another matter and wasn't asking about that, just if going to another version of MAME meant getting all new roms.  I guess it depends on the game right?

[southpaw13]

My two cents.  The push for laser disc emulation is based around the fact that the laser discs themselves are starting to fail (laser rot).  The glue used to make the discs is starting to separate the layers.  Even though there are other options to play these games, true emulation has to happen from original equipment.   I am pretty sure no one will care about emulating most of the games.  BUT, Cliffhanger rights have always been an issue even for Digital Leisure.   And yes, Daphne can emulate the original score board of Dragon's Lair through a serial port.

Southpaw

[southpaw13]

Another answer as to why this is the first game, because you can play it without any background laserdisc footage???

[DJ Infinity]

I really don't see all the hubbub about it in Mame. True it is a nice addition, But IMHO Daphne is a better choice for gameplay as you don't need a Oc'd Core Duo to get a decent framerate. Just my 2 cents. I haven't really Mamed since I found the Blitz bug that hasn't been addressed even. I started buying boards. 

[Ummon]

Thanks, I'll take a look at clrmamepro.  As far as ROMS, I understand that is another matter and wasn't asking about that, just if going to another version of MAME meant getting all new roms.  I guess it depends on the game right?

What I meant was there are complement sets vs the whole rom set. It depends on what changes were made to any particular game between versions you're using. Personally, and particularly as I'm not a pokerom, I don't bother. If I go to play something on a new mame version and it needs files, I go find the whole set and get it. Or not. I mostly use Advancemame .104 .

Another answer as to why this is the first game, because you can play it without any background laserdisc footage???

Not that you'd want to. But, no, that ain't why.

I really don't see all the hubbub about it in Mame. True it is a nice addition, But IMHO Daphne is a better choice for gameplay as you don't need a Oc'd Core Duo to get a decent framerate. Just my 2 cents. I haven't really Mamed since I found the Blitz bug that hasn't been addressed even. I started buying boards. 

I'm betting just Mame in general will be this way in a couple years. So that'll be the time to upgrade or buy for it.

[DJ Infinity]

Only way I'd switch to Mame is if they got Goal To Goal working.