Multiplayer MAME

[DashRendar]

So I have great memories of playing multiplayer games at the arcade.  These were games where there were usually 2 to 4 separate machines that were networked together somehow.

I know that these games exist in MAME.  Does MAME support network play in these games?

A specific example would be T-Mek.  In the original, this could support up to 4 players.  Many of the driving games are set up this way.

[acidblue0]

I like to know that myself

[acidblue0]

looks like there is a older version of mame32 that has netplay/lan mode. Maybe someone here can chime in.

[drventure]

From what I know, there was a version of mame put out called, I think, Kalleria or something like that that had some network support. But, as I understand it, that was against the rules of the Mame Team, and so it's not discussed too much. I've never messed with it myself.

But even then, i think that was more for playing a two player game where the 2 players were on different machines, not technically for playing a game that was originally designed for multiplayer support.

[acidblue0]

try this link http://www.kaillera.com/download.php

[DashRendar]

Next question- does anyone in the BYOAC community use Kaillera?  Is it worth attempting?

[DillonFoulds]

I think kaillera is actually just a program/module added to emulators etc. that enables a second player of the same emulator via network play.

You guys are thinking a little backwards. In this scenario, kaillera would enable 2 players on the same game. Ie: P1 elf and p2 warrior in gauntlet, rather than say p1 on this machine and p2 on this machine, playing the same game linked together.

[thatdecade]

exactly, dillonfoulds

I was just thinking about netplay myself today.  In arcades I visit, I often find two cabinets back-to-back and linked together for fighter games.  kaillera would not allow this functionality.

The only thing I came up with was to cheat by having a single pc control both cabinets.  What I would like for is the players to have their own character select screens.  Which means each cabinet needs it's own pc.

[Turnarcades]

Kaillera builds of emulators just support multi-player on regular games over a network. What the OP is thinking of is linked arcade games where seperate players used their own controls, display etc. like racing games and the like. Whilst not exactly what you are hoping for, MAME can display multiple monitors within one desktop display, so in theory this could be used in certain games that shared a machine/interface/PCB but just broadcast to multiple monitors. Friz was looking into this to create a Playchoice cabinet, and I suggested using a graphics card that allowed desktop spanning, as you could then span the desktop so each display looks like it is being broadcast separately, though you may need a powerful PC to display things at good speed etc. if attempting this.

FWIW, Kaillera MAME is great, but you gotta get someone within decent PING distance to play the games well, and unfortunately most people just play Jap fightin g games on there, which is not ideal if like me you like co-op play but can't always find a willing second player. I did manage to get a 4-player Simpsons and Turtles game running about once, but it only takes one person to drop out and you have to quit the game.  

[u_rebelscum]

Yeah, don't confuse linked arcade games with hacked network play.

I tried kaillera way back when, but couldn't sync on a local wired network on any of the games I tried (mostly co-op and puzzle comp), so I said forget it.  FWIW, it just sends inputs across the net, and relies on the two computers to stay synced without checks for un-syncing.

AFAIK, some people in mameDev wouldn't mind adding emulation of linked machines, but it will take some pretty big changes to get it to work.  And even after (if) mame has linking emulated, both emulated cabs might have to be run from the computer.  Which means computers with 8-32 cores all running at at least 5 Ghz to run some of the later 8 cab games.  Which might be possible when (if) mame get it, because it won't be soon.


So... no mame doesn't support linked games yet.  And may never will, or maybe might.

[Jack Burton]

GGPO supports a few co-op games I think, and it is much more stable than Kailera. 

If the netcode for GGPO could be extended to regular MAME it would be a dream, but is unlikely to happen.

[IG-88]

Shoot Aaron Giles an email. Nice guy. Met him at CAX this summer. If anybody would have up-to-date info and probably a definitive answer about it, he would.

http://www.aarongiles.com/

[SavannahLion]

And even after (if) mame has linking emulated, both emulated cabs might have to be run from the computer.  Which means computers with 8-32 cores all running at at least 5 Ghz to run some of the later 8 cab games.  Which might be possible when (if) mame get it, because it won't be soon.

How would MAMEDev even go about emulating networking? Emulate the NIC, wrap the output into new packets, feed them into the physical NIC, then send that out across the wire? Jesus, how much of a performance impact just on the network alone would that be?

I wonder, are the stubs for connectivity even in MAME for the linkable games?