The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Software Support => GroovyMAME => Topic started by: Calamity on May 18, 2012, 03:15:02 pm
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Download 32/64-bit GroovyUME 0.146u4 binaries:
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GroovyUME 0.146u4 Windows 32bit (http://www.aburamushi.net/calamity/groovyume32_0146u4.013f.rar)
GroovyUME 0.146u4 Windows 64bit (http://www.aburamushi.net/calamity/groovyume64_0146u4.013f.rar)
Remind to download the complete MESS package from the official site and then place the exe above in the resulting folder.
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It seems that the MESS team has provided an official target that allows building a combined MAME/MESS binary. The target name is UME, for Universal Machine Emulator.
Check Haze's blog (http://mamedev.emulab.it/haze/2012/05/15/ume-is-go/) for details. Thanks to VeS for pointing me this.
By applying our previous GroovyMAME patch to the UME target we can benefit from the modeline stuff for console systems too, including the improved sync options GroovyMAME implements.
Now we've got a new interesting thing to play with. I've been doing basic testing and the modeline engine does work with the console and computer stuff. You can still launch your MAME games as usual by using the UME executable.
Keep in mind that many systems may not be accurately emulated yet, so there's probably a better standalone emulator for many of them (check this: http://nonmess.retrogames.com/ (http://nonmess.retrogames.com/)).
You can also use VMMaker as usual for retrieving the list of resolutions from GroovyUME's executable to create the appropiate modelines, so the process of setting things up is the same as before.
A quick how-to
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Rename the groovyume32_0146u4.013f.exe as ume.exe for convenience.
type ume -cc to create ume.ini. (or just rename your current GroovyMAME's mame.ini if you want to use your previous video settings)
In order to get it working with the proper rom paths, you can use a path structure like this:
; Edit this in ume.ini
rompath c:\roms\mame;c:\roms\mess
So in c:\roms\mame you would store your MAME roms as usual.
Now, in c:\roms\mess, you won't place the games roms but the specific system bioses and required stuff
Then for each console or computer, you'll create a subpath inside the mess path, like this:
c:\roms\mess\megadriv -> place Megadrive roms here
c:\roms\mess\snes -> place Super Nintendo roms here
The system names are not arbitrary, there's a proper name for each system that must be used. More info here:
http://www.mess.org/mess/howto (http://www.mess.org/mess/howto)
In order to launch a game:
ume rtype --> launches MAME R-Type
ume megadriv -cart c:\roms\mess\megadriv\sonic.zip --> launches Megadrive's Sonic the Hedgehog
etc.
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Far out! :o This is nuts! Just about to walk out the door but I'm looking forward to returning to this... Well done! :)
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Far out! :o This is nuts! Just about to walk out the door but I'm looking forward to returning to this... Well done! :)
I had thought that porting the Groovy patches to MESS would involve some work but the amazing thing is that the *exact same patch* did the job. Actually the only slightly complicated thing was figuring out how to invoke the games using my existing roms.
Here, etabeta provides some hints on properly using software lists and clrmame to simplify the loading command:
http://mamedev.emulab.it/haze/2012/05/15/ume-is-go/comment-page-1/#comment-21556 (http://mamedev.emulab.it/haze/2012/05/15/ume-is-go/comment-page-1/#comment-21556)
I must admit that the MAME / native resolutions stuff had captured my attention for the last two years and I had somewhat abandoned any other platform specific emulator, in part due to the pain of setting video up in the old fashion.
Those of you who have used the VMMaker stuff know that we need a separate list of video modes as input for the modeline generator (ReslList.txt) so we can support systems not included in MAME. These video modes are considered as 'static'. This means, in the most obvious case, that you need to create separate modelines for PAL/NTSC games. Some emulators don't allow you to specify the refresh rate to pick, for instance Kega Fusion. The only way to force Kega Fusion to run PAL games at 50 Hz is to create an unique modeline for the target resolution, say 320x240 at 50 Hz. If you happen to have another modeline for 320x240@60 present in the system (you'll have it for sure) chances are that Kega Fusion will pick this one and not the other so it'll run at the NTSC speed instead (I know NTSC is actually the *right* refresh for Megadrive stuff).
Another emulator with this problem is WinX68kHighSpeed, for the Sharp X-68000 (http://postback.geedorah.com/foros/viewtopic.php?id=1425 (http://postback.geedorah.com/foros/viewtopic.php?id=1425)). The X-68000 video modes run at 55.45 Hz. You can easily define these modes with VMMaker, but you need to create an special mode table for this system alone, otherwise the emulator will pick whatever video mode with the same resolution that the o.s. reports first. This involves running VMMaker and restarting the system each time you want to enable the right video modes for this system.
Actually the Switchres program would have helped with the above problems to some extent, at least that was the idea.
But it's even worse than that: unlike MAME*, most emulators expect the exact resolution to be used, otherwise they'll stretch things. So we can't usually round vertical resolutions to reduce the mode list, as we do for MAME (i.e. 224--->240). This adds a lot of redundancy to the mode list, and we soon run out of space (remind we can only store up to 120 modes).
*only true for DirectDraw
The point I want to reach is that from this perspective, the possibility of emulating every system with a single video core is a godsend. For instance, PAL/NTSC modes will be generated automatically just by selecting either the 'megadriv' or the 'genesis' system. You don't need to care about that anymore. But it's even better: many systems do change resolutions while in the game, and this has been usually impossible to achieve with existing emulators. The GroovyMAME patch already supported this functionality for arcade games so it just works out of the box for systems like SNES.
Today v0.146 is out and the UME target is now officially included. I'm thinking of moving the development over the MESS source base and making GroovyUME the main build. Compiling times will substantially increase, but not so much. It's actually a bigger executable, but its a matter of a 17 vs 22 MB .rar download. I'd like to hear your thoughts.
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Sounds good, I would like to see this for 146.
I have never tried MESS as I thought the emulation would be very slow or incomplete.
I dont think the 17mb vs 22mb download should be an issue
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Sounds really good!
I'm very excited :) .
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Thanks for your comments. By now I'm going to keep releasing both GroovyMAME and GroovyUME builds, for 32/64 bits. So anyone can decide which one to use.
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Thanks Calamity
:cheers:
DrArcade
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*Finally* gonna try to get this up and running tonight! :) Really curious to see how well it works... will report back with success (and photos) or further questions later. ;)
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Hi Paradroid,
I'm very happy with the UME's emulation for MAME/SNES/Megadrive, which are the systems I actually use. However I'm guessing that UME's emulation will be still imperfect for the Amiga systems, compared with existing emulators.
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Yeah! NES, SNES and Genesis are all looking pretty good! Tried out a few classic console games... nice!
Getting late here but I'm pretty impressed so far! Will continue exploring tomorrow... :)
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Couldn't resist fiddling some more... so cool! :) I think part of what's so amazing about this whole thing is seeing these classic console games running silky smooth in progressive modes on a TV that's of a size and quality I could never have afforded back in the day. SNES and Megadrive games never looked so good! ;D
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Yeah I used to play the Megadrive games on a 14" TV through RF back then, channel 36 :) Just until recently I didn't know that all games were slowed down by 50/60. Anyway it's nice to get the odd PAL speed back by switching genesis/megadrive.
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Sounds great, go for it!
Q:
Do we still need Groovymame?
Is UME the main emulator now?
UME will still run mame games as usual?
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Sounds great, go for it!
Q:
Do we still need Groovymame?
Is UME the main emulator now?
UME will still run mame games as usual?
GroovyUME already 'contains' GroovyMAME, so you just need GroovyUME to run both MAME and MESS games. The UME build runs MAME games as usual, it's the same emulator.
Afaik, MAME and MESS source trees are merged now, however both projects keep their separate identity, at least by now. UME is just a combined build target that's officially provided but somewhat unsupported, i.e. they don't release UME binaries and you can't report bugs based on this build.
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Thank you for the comprehensive explanation.
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Updated to 0.146u1 ;)
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Thanks!
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Just posted a few shots of GroovyUME up and running on my setup here (http://scarthunter.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/groovyume-mame-mess-combined.html). :)
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Thanks for testing this Paradroid! Nice to see you're back in action, I was missing some updates in your blog :)
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Yeah... I have such a backlog of stuff I want to get on there. Just takes time!
UME is awesome! I just need to sort out a front end. Using the command line is pretty tedious...
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Just wondering if anyone is using this with Hyperspin? If so are you using Hyperlauncher? and which version? Driving me crazy trying to get it to work.
I was using Hyperlauncher 2 but the process doesn't terminate since moving to Groovyume so I have stopped using hyperlauncher.
Cheers.
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I was using Hyperlauncher 2 but the process doesn't terminate since moving to Groovyume so I have stopped using hyperlauncher.
I don't use HS but some people are using it and it seems you need to disable Hyperlaunch indeed:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=121216.msg1286934#msg1286934 (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=121216.msg1286934#msg1286934)
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Thanks, will definetely use this. Im still amazed by the quality and feel of running MAME games on original resolution and refresh rates (I got my UMSA some days ago), and was kind of dissapointed of other emulators.
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I installed GroovyUME but some strange things are happening.
First of all I used VMMaker, with exactly the same .ini file, just changed the executable to point to GroovyUME, and instead off adding new modes, it dropped some.
Then I tried to run Super Mario All Stars for the SNES, the NTSC version. Some menus run fine at 100% speed, but the game and some screens run at 50% speed.
Im using an old Athlon XP 3000 with an ATI X1600 Pro, with CRT EMU driver v6. Perhaps MESS is too cpu intensive? Although I can easily run playstation emulators with software graphics renderer on full speed on this machine.
Perhaps something else happening with the refresh rates? Any Ideas?
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Yeah it's the CPU I'm afraid, I can't play SNES games properly in my Pentium IV, but I have one Core 2 Duo inside my cab that emulates it fluently. Megadrive emulation seems to require less CPU.
As for the VMMaker issue, make sure you get the latest version, it's the only one reading v0.146 XML: http://aburamushi.net/calamity/VMMaker_1.3c_Arcade_OSD_1.3b.rar (http://aburamushi.net/calamity/VMMaker_1.3c_Arcade_OSD_1.3b.rar)
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What a shame about the CPU usage. Seems im stuck with SNES9x.
Im using the latest VMMaker though, dont know why it dropped some modes. Still since Im using GroovyMAME/UME the available display modes are virtually unlimited, right?
This is what i get:
D:\emu\mame>VMMaker.exe
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:: VideoModeMaker :: - version 1.3c - by Calamity - 2008/2012
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CRT_EmuDriver 1.2 found! Based on Catalyst 06.11
Extracting mame.xml...
Mame v0.146u2 (Jul 8 2012)
Importing video modes from Mame.xml...
829 different video modes found.
Generating dynamic mode table... 682 redundant video modes found.
Reducing mode list... 27 video modes dropped.
120 modelines generated.
Storing modelines in system registry...
System must be restarted for the changes to take effect.
Finished. Press any key...
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Udpated Windows binaries.
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This is the coolest thing I've seen in ages :)
Thanks for this calamity, I think it's about time I made a console emu box now!
:cheers:
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Hi Guys
I'm using Groovyarcade under Linux. And I can't launch groovyume with a nes game. I have to launch groovyume from advmenu. In command line the switchres don't start...
I tried to launch trhought groovyume an arcade game (ex:RTYPE) from advmenu and all is fine, but i can't do it with a console game.
Is necessary to modify the standard groovyarcade switchres file? I think are some problem related config groovyume and launch nes -cart in the advmenu.rc.
Someone who use Groovyume from ArchLinux GA version cand post the Advmenu.rc file, ume.ini and switchres files? :cry:
Thanks :banghead:
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Hi Rockman,
Here are my ume.ini and advmenu.rc files, set up for SNES and Megadrive, hope that helps!
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Hi All, any idea when this will be updated to 0.147? Thanks again for all your hard work.
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http://groovyarcade.googlecode.com/files/groovyume32_0147.013f_wiimote_linuxFix.tar.bz2 (http://groovyarcade.googlecode.com/files/groovyume32_0147.013f_wiimote_linuxFix.tar.bz2)
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Now, with the grovyume 0.147 i can launch nes, snes, and megadrive without the fragmentation crash error.
ThAnks GroovyTEAM ;)
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Any window binaries around?
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Any window binaries around?
Hi blontic and others,
I'm sorry I'm not building any other Windows binary until I got the new patch figured out, I need to concentrate my little time on this. Building v0.147 involves updating the compile tool chain and I'm definitely not doing it until I got everything up and running for the previous version, otherwise there will be too many uncertainty factors to deal with. Anyway the 0.147 is said to be a premature version, so I'll try to sync with 0.147u1, if possible.
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Any window binaries around?
Hi blontic and others,
I'm sorry I'm not building any other Windows binary until I got the new patch figured out, I need to concentrate my little time on this. Building v0.147 involves updating the compile tool chain and I'm definitely not doing it until I got everything up and running for the previous version, otherwise there will be too many uncertainty factors to deal with. Anyway the 0.147 is said to be a premature version, so I'll try to sync with 0.147u1, if possible.
Thanks for the update. Appreciate all the work you do Calamity.
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Does anyone know how to have different buttons assigned for different consoles using MESS? I find that the 2 buttons on the NES emu are around the wrong way but when I change them it also changes them for MAME.
Thanks.
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Does anyone know how to have different buttons assigned for different consoles using MESS? I find that the 2 buttons on the NES emu are around the wrong way but when I change them it also changes them for MAME.
I worked this out. Seems the Groovy/MESS version is missing the "Input (this System)" in the TAB menu. I had to load the actual MESS binary, configure the buttons then copy the config over to my Groovy/MESS config folder.
Would be nice to get "Input (this System)" added into a newer build. Sorry if I am missing something and it's there for others :)
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Hi Calamity,
Thank you for creating GroovyUME, it's totally awesome. This has brought back for me the true enjoyment of using MAME/MESS again. It's soo cool that it switches screenmodes within the machines, like with Genesis, SNES and the likes. Love it!
Thanks again and looking forward to the next update!
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Thanks for your comments Dr Venom. Yes there will be an update quite soon, hopefully :)
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That sounds great, keeping fingers crossed :)
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I've just discovered GroovyMAME and have been using it with my MAME setup. It works really perfect and I'm impressed at how much better some of my games look when using it (as opposed to just MAME).
I'd love to do the same with MESS, but I'm having issues getting GroovyUME to work with MESS: It always crashes before loading. I'm sure it's my fault, but hopefully someone can point me in the right direction:
I never "installed" GroovyMAME...all I did was extract the exe to my MAME folder and replace "mame.exe" with "GroovyMAME.exe" in all my launch commands. Literally, that's it, nothing else. It works perfect. I tried doing the same with GroovyUME and MESS, but it wouldn't work. I even tried manually running it from a command line and all I get is the following. Can anyone suggest a fix:
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Exception at EIP=01C1003E (not found): ACCESS VIOLATION
While attempting to write memory at 0005B6C8
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EAX=00000000 EBX=00000003 ECX=772E6500 EDX=00000004
ESI=00000000 EDI=00000000 EBP=0000003C ESP=001CEFE0
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Stack crawl:
001CEFDC: 01C1003E (not found)
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Hi robneal81,
It's a miracle that GroovyMAME worked fine without creating its specific ini. What you have to do is place their executables (GroovyMAME/UME) in an empty folder, then from command line run:
>groovymame.exe -cc
>groovyume.exe -cc
This will create both mame.ini and ume.ini as required by the 'Groovy' builds. Then edit the usual options for rompaths, etc.
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Hi robneal81,
It's a miracle that GroovyMAME worked fine without creating its specific ini. What you have to do is place their executables (GroovyMAME/UME) in an empty folder, then from command line run:
>groovymame.exe -cc
>groovyume.exe -cc
This will create both mame.ini and ume.ini as required by the 'Groovy' builds. Then edit the usual options for rompaths, etc.
I JUST noticed your response! I'm so sorry, I never got an auto-notification!
Anyway, I actually just tried that again to make sure I didn't do anything wrong the first time and I still get the same error I posted above. I feel like I'm missing something simple. I'm not a total amateur though, as my setup is working fine otherwise:
I have MAME working perfectly, using GroovyMAME.
I have MESS working fine as well. For testing, I extracted UME to my MESS directory and changed my launch command to "ume.exe", instead of "mess.exe". That works perfect too. Then, if I extract GroovyUME to the same directory and switch my launch command to it, nothing happens. If I run the command manually in DOS, I get the error I posted.
Am I just making a silly mistake?
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So you created the ume.ini file using groovyume.exe -cc as explained above?
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So you created the ume.ini file using groovyume.exe -cc as explained above?
Yes. I even started from scratch in a new folder and did the same.
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That's odd. Try disabling -multithreading in ume.ini.
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That's odd. Try disabling -multithreading in ume.ini.
That didn't seem to make a difference. Here's a screenshot
(http://i.imgur.com/A3VNoyV.jpg)
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Man, that version is ancient. Grab the newer one (0.149) here: https://code.google.com/p/groovyarcade/downloads/list
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That seemed to do the trick! I'll test on my arcade machine when I get home and see if it makes a difference. Mame to GroovyMame was a HUGE difference in video quality and I'm hoping for the same results with mess.