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Software Support => GroovyMAME => Topic started by: abispac on May 21, 2018, 11:20:24 pm

Title: Mame split,merged or non merged roms for GM?
Post by: abispac on May 21, 2018, 11:20:24 pm
Im about to update my set but im not really sure wich one to use, so as the question says, wich one do i need? thanks for your help
Title: Re: Mame split,merged or non merged roms for GM?
Post by: buttersoft on May 22, 2018, 01:15:39 am
Up to you. If you download a complete romset of any of the types below you have everything you need to run any (working) game, but a complete romset is 30k+ games and most of it is garbage - no disrespect intended to either the devs or people who like games i don't ;)

Non-merged - all games and all their children/clones/bootlegs are totally separate zip files, each including all needed bios and driver files. All you do is click any title and it will work. Takes up the most space/download. MAME sees them all, and if you want to only remove/select any particular parent or clone you just grab the zip. I removed the TMNT/TMNT2 parent sets as i have a 2-player cab and want the child versions that have the character select screen.

Split - parent zips are complete, child/clone/bootleg zips contain only the roms that are different from the parent set. Bios and driver files are separate again, and required. Takes up a lot less space. Clones/children automatically see the parent, but no title will run without the parent present, and the right bios and drivers. You can start moving files around to create complete clone/child sets, but just using non-merged is easier for that.

Merged - parent/clones/bootlegs of a game are all in a single zip file. Doesn't really let you remove clones/children/bootlegs without opening the archives, which is a pain. Takes up least space, but is harder to work with because the filter in MAME will never do precisely what you want.

In total on my two cabs i picked out just under 300 roms, and i go for non-merged versions. I tend to want only one version of a game, and not always the parent, Black Tiger excepted.