Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: rackoon on October 08, 2006, 08:26:03 pm
-
I'm sure this is a simple question so be nice.
I have read in threads past that someones emulator isn't working right because they need to update their ROMs. I don't get it. Isn't a Pac-man ROM a Pac-man ROM. The original game hasn't changed and the whole idea of MAME is to preserve the original game so why doesn't a ROM from back in the day work with every emulator from now a days. :dunno
-
1) An older ROM was found to be dumped incorrectly, and the new dump fixes that.
2) An older ROM was a "No-Dump," and now it has been dumped.
3) A ROM that was previously "simulated" was now able to be dumped.
Those are the main three reasons.
-
Mr. Do, I believe you have just made this the shortest string in BYOAC history.
NEXT :applaud:
-
OK I get that part. So some games from the first version of MAME will work.
If a Rom was listed as competed on the first version of MAME than it would work with any modern emulator now right? :dizzy:
-
I think the following are just as, or even more, common reasons than the above three, but they are not as simple and require the concept that the ROMs are stored in ROM sets (aka zip files) and that there's a difference between the ROMs dumped and the zip files, and that the phrase "update the ROMs" assumes there isn't. The first three are more the official reasons though.
4) The first PCB dumped was a hacked mixture of ROMs from different sets, and the original sets were found and dumped. So the old zip is "split" into two sets each with its correct ROMs (plus the new ROMs). (Notice the ROMs themselves don't change, but the zip files do.) This is close to 1), except the dumps were correct; the PCB was wrong. It's also debatable that this "wrong" set should be emulated too, but that's a separate issue.
5) A new PCB is dumped with a non-dumped ROM set that is determined as a parent set, so the old parent becomes a clone. (Notice the ROMs themselves don't change, but the naming and which ROMs goes into which zip change.)
5a) The ROMs or zip file were named unconventionally, and it was decided to name them correctly. (Notice the ROMs themselves don't change, but the naming does.) This would include when old zip files are reordered in which is the "parent" and which are the "clones" when there is not a new dump.
None of these have the ROMs themselves changing, but all have the zips changing. And all cause people to say "update your ROMs".
added:
If a Rom was listed as competed on the first version of MAME than it would work with any modern emulator now right? :dizzy:
In general, the ROM will (probably) work, the zip file might not. You'll need something like CMPro to put the ROM in the right zip.
In the case of pacman, it's done a bunch of all (1-5a) changes, so the original zips from the beginng of mame will not work.
-
If a Rom was listed as competed on the first version of MAME than it would work with any modern emulator now right?
No it could still be found later to have been incorrectly dumped (or #3 in Mr. Do's example). It's probably simplest to just accept that no ROM set is guaranteed to never need to be changed again.
-
It's probably simplest to just accept that no ROM set is guaranteed to never need to be changed again.
It's simplest to find a version you like and just stick with it. Pretty much everything I want has been working perfectly for years.
-S
-
Thanks guys, I kind of get it now. I think I miss used the word ROM when I should have said ZIP file. That just goes to show you that I don't know squat but I'm trying to learn the computer side of MAME because my cab is close to being finished. I just need about $400.00 more bucks (drop in the bucket) and a crap load of time. I do most of my work in the winter when it snows. :blah:
-
I'm embarassed to say that I've been lurking around here for 5 years or more and don't know this: Who keeps the "official" set of MAME ROMs? Who is the "gold standard"? I'm pretty sure it isn't a member of MAMEdev, correct? I know that Guru does much of the dumping is he also the main archivist?
-
There isn't necessarily a reference set. The hashes are the reference.