I'm still hoping that someone will help me run the games from the first list displayed by default.
You're referring to the Software List menu at 0:45 in your video, not the second menu shown at 1:17, right?
Mame treats items on the Software List menu like it treats arcade ROMs.
- As long as the Software List version matches the MAME version
and you have the needed BIOS and device files in the roms folder, Software List items will launch and work.
- MAME looks for Software List game files in "mame\roms\[software list name]\", but
does not look for them in "mame\software\".
The second menu allows you to run most game files for the system, including homebrew games, hacks, etc.
- If the game you want to play is
not on the Software List, this menu is the only way to launch it.
- These game files can be zipped or unzipped in "mame\software\".
- This menu starts you browsing in "mame\software\".
Setup process for MAME Software List:1. Launch each console/system that you want to run to make sure you have any needed BIOS and/or device files in "mame\roms\".
2. Find and download a MAME Software List set. Make sure the source you download from identifies the version.
- Use a Software List version that matches (or is as close as possible to) your MAME version, just like you would for arcade ROMsets.
- The one I'm using is a "merged" set. If anyone reading this is not sure what that means, there's a great description
here.
- Each Software List set comes in it's own .zip file. For example, the Atari 2600 (NTSC) set comes in "a2600.zip", the Atari 2600 (PAL) comes in "a2600p.zip", and NES comes in "nes.zip".
- Some systems use more than one Software List. For example, the Coleco Adam system uses the three Software Lists "adam_cass" (cassette tapes), "adam_cart" (carts), and "adam_flop" (floppies). The Software List that the currently highlighted title comes from is shown in the info window at the bottom of the screen. Some games are on more than one list.
3. When you open the .zip file, you will see a folder with the Software List name.
- For example, "a2600.zip" contains a folder named "a2600" that contains all of the zipped Atari 2600 games and "adam_cart.zip" contains a folder named "adam_cart" that contains all of the zipped Adam game carts.
4. Copy the "a2600" folder and the (still zipped) contents to "mame\roms".
DO NOT rename the folder or the zipped game files or MAME won't be able to find them.
DO NOT combine game files from different folders into a single folder or MAME won't be able to find them. Fortunately, you don't need to add these folders to the path section of mame.ini.
You should now be able to launch games from the Software List.
One thing that you'll need to do on some games is reconfigure the hardware/controller.
For example, if you want to use a spinner as the NES Arkanoid "vaus" paddle controller:
- Open the NES system and launch Arkanoid from the Software List.
- When Arkanoid starts, the system is in the default configuration with "ctrl1" (controller 1) and "ctrl2" (controller 2) both set to "joypad". The "vaus" controller is not mounted to the system.
- Press TAB to bring up the MAME menu.
- Go to the "Slot Devices" menu.
- Change "ctrl2" from "joypad" to "vaus".
- Highlight the "Reset System" menu item and press ENTER. The system restarts Arkanoid with the configuration changes you've made. Controller 2 now shows up as "vaus" controller.
- First time you do this, you'll also need to check/remap the controls and maybe adjust the analog sensitivity.
Scott