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just a mame rant
speedklz:
Why with every new release of mame with all the cool new features I have to have do the roms all have to change, why cant it just be so easy and use the old roms...
Just a rant.....to ease the mind. :banghead:
MaximRecoil:
I've never understood that either. ROM files are supposed to contain the same data as the ROM chips from the actual game, so where's the room for change? I understand that "bad dumps" can happen, but you'd think that'd be a rare exception. Isn't there any way to verify that the ROM file is an exact copy of the ROM chip?
mrbones:
I feel the same way. I'm building a new cabinet and thought I'd put the latest release on it. I go to test my trackball on Marble Madness and it doesn't work because the ROM has changed. I put back the MAME version I had from '06 (.111 I think) and it works. I'm just going to use that as I'm through chasing ROMs down again.
bkenobi:
There are others who could explain better, but basically:
* Redump (one or more of the chips was bad/missing/etc)
* New version (as new versions are discovered, the parent rom might be changed say from USA v.1 to USA v.2)
* Other (probably more reasons, but those are the big 2 I know of)
You can always keep your old roms and just update the MAME executable, but you will start having problems with more games not working as versions progress.
CheffoJeffo:
There was a posting that I read somewhere a few years ago that explained the situation reasonably well and mentioned stuff like simply renaming the individual ROM files as the drivers are refined/fixed, as well as issues with merged and split ROM sets. I can't find the posting, but it did make some sense to me at the time.
One thing is for certain -- it will continue to happen and the MAMEDevs are happy with it being that way.
I just don't update frequently and start locking configurations as they go into cabinets.