Can't decide which Version of Mame32 to go with...need some insight

[savj14]

First off here is my setup and specs:

- Windows XP Pro
- P4 3.20GHz
- 2 GB Ram
- Latest PCIe ArcadeVGA Video Card
- WG 27" D9200 Arcade Monitor

I have been using Mame32 v0.106 for a long time now and have been happy with it for the most part. My only complaints are with Mortal Kombat 2 and Ultimate MK 3. The sound volume in MK2 is always very low until I go into the Service Menu(F2) and adjust it. But I have to do this every time I play, as it won't save these settings for some reason. In UMK3 after unlocking the hidden characters, the graphics get all messed up at the character select screen. If the hidden characters are not unlocked everything is fine.

If I try more recent versions of Mame32/UI both issues are resolved. But different issues arise. If I use the latest build(v0.132), most games don't seem to run as smooth as they do in v0.106. My biggest complaint is with NBA Jam. The sound seems to be at a deeper pitch. The MK, NBA Jam, and Street Fighter 2 series all seem to run a bit more sluggish. Some times it's not noticeable, but at times the sound/graphics skip a little.

Just looking for suggestions, insight, etc.

Is it possible to only run Mame v0.132 for MK2 and UMK3 and run v01.06 for the rest? I am using MaLa as my Frontend also.

[bkenobi]

I don't know that FE, but I know that you can do this kind of stuff with MultiMAME.

[savj14]

Does anyone know where I can get the source for Mame32 v0.106? I want to recompile it with the No Nag patch?

Assuming I can get both Versions of Mame working with MultiMame and MaLa, I will need to recompile v0.106.

[Hogie1418]

I had the same probelem using MAMEUI32.132 with NBA Jam and a few other games that I didnt have trouble with in previous versions. The only thing that corrected this was for me to go into the settings of the game in MAMEUI and change it from direct3d to directdraw. Not sure what the downside to this is but it made nearly every game run perfectly with the exceptions of Tekken and Blitz. I can get every MK, SF and MVC game and Im only running a P4 1.8ghz with 1 gig of ram.

[savj14]

I had the same probelem using MAMEUI32.132 with NBA Jam and a few other games that I didnt have trouble with in previous versions. The only thing that corrected this was for me to go into the settings of the game in MAMEUI and change it from direct3d to directdraw. Not sure what the downside to this is but it made nearly every game run perfectly with the exceptions of Tekken and Blitz. I can get every MK, SF and MVC game and Im only running a P4 1.8ghz with 1 gig of ram.

I am currently using DirectDraw as well. Most of it is just me being picky and anal, but at the same time I can definitly see the difference between the two versions of Mame. And I really like the way  v106 runs all games(minus MK2/UMK3)

[Ummon]

Yeah, but sav's got everything (or nearly so) on DD, cos he has an arcade multisync, right?

[Malenko]

use a save state with the volume issue on MK2? Sometimes the emulator uses the wrong palette on the select screen of UMK3. I'd rather have a funny select screen then playability/speed issues with other games.

[savj14]

I have been playing around with the settings in v132 and I think I am pretty happy with everything now. I just need to continue testing though. To solve my NBA Jam issues, I set the Emulation Speed option to 1.03 and it sounds and runs pretty good.

Here are my Default settings:

# CORE PERFORMANCE OPTIONS
autoframeskip           0
frameskip                 0
seconds_to_run        0
throttle                   1
sleep                      0
speed                     1.0
refreshspeed            0

# CORE SOUND OPTIONS
sound                     1
samplerate               22050
samples                   1
volume                    0

# WINDOWS PERFORMANCE OPTIONS
priority                  0
multithreading         0

# WINDOWS VIDEO OPTIONS
video                     ddraw
numscreens              1
window                    0
maximize                  0
keepaspect              1
prescale                  1
effect                    none
waitvsync                0
syncrefresh              0

# DIRECTDRAW-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
hwstretch                 0

# PER-WINDOW VIDEO OPTIONS
aspect                    auto
resolution                auto
screen0                   \\.\DISPLAY1
aspect0                   auto
resolution0               auto
view0                     auto
screen1                   auto
aspect1                   auto
resolution1               auto
view1                     auto
screen2                   auto
aspect2                   auto
resolution2               auto
view2                     auto
screen3                   auto
aspect3                   auto
resolution3               auto
view3                     auto

# FULL SCREEN OPTIONS
triplebuffer                   0
switchres                     1
full_screen_brightness    1.0
full_screen_contrast      1.0
full_screen_gamma        1.0

# WINDOWS SOUND OPTIONS
audio_latency             2

Am I using the best settings for my current setup? Or is there something I should change that would help my performance?