Managing MAME roms for a 2player cabinet

[Bobulus]

This is some info I wanted for myself that I couldn't find with a forum and wiki search, so I decided to just do it myself and repost it here in hopes that it helps the next person with the same problem.

So obviously in your standard 2player, 7button each MAME cabinet, there's lots of 3player and 4player games that are worth playing, but hard to operate due to the lack of extra controls. Thankfully, at least half of them have some alternate operation mode, either a system setting or a clone that can be operated in 2player mode. So I generated a MalaGameList of all mame game masters that use controls for more than 2players, and worked my way down the list, seeing which can be converted, which you have to play as-is, and which are just unplayable without extra controls. Here's my result. I did leave off some non-English-only games, since I was going to remove those with a different list query anyway.

Uses the .135 rom set, since u1 and u2 weren't out yet when I started this.  

Alien Vs. Predator (no change, defaults to 2player)
All American Football (Run rev D, 2 player clone instead)
Arabian Fight (f2 -> 2player)
Armored Warriors (f2->2player)
B. Rap Boys (dip->2player)
Battle Circuit (no change, defaults to 2)
Battle Toads (no change, defaults to 2)
Beast Busters (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Bishi Bashi Campionship Mini Game Senshuken (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Blazing Tornado (dip->2player, must choose vs or team)
Bomber Man World (dip->2player)
Brute Force (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Bucky O'Hare (dip->2player)
Cadilacs and Dinosaurs (f2->2player)
Captain American and the Avengers (no change, defaults to 2)
Captain Commando (no change, defaults to 2player)
Car Polo (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Checkmate (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Combatribes, The (no change, defaults to 2player)
Cops'n Robbers(no change, doesn't actually seem to be +2....)
Crime Fighters (run World 2 Players clone instead)
Crypt Killer (dip->2player)
Cyberball (run 2player clone instead)
Cycle Warriors (no change, defaults to 2player)
D. D. Crew (use 'set 2, World, 2 Player' clone instead)
Danny Sullivan's Indy Head (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Desert Breaker (dip->2player)
Double Dragon 3 (no change, defaults to 2player)
Dream Soccer '94 (no change, defaults to 2player)
Dungeon Magic (no change, defaults to 2player)
Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystera (no change, defaults to 2player)
Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom (f2->2player)
Dunk Mania (f2->2player)
Dunk Shot (not changable, cocktail only game, I just removed)
Dynablaster / Bomber Man (dip->2player)
Embargo (not changable, playable?, just ignore)
Escape Kids (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Fighting Soccer (Actually a 2player game, 3rd player start used to select a different 2player mode, remap to something like shift+2pStart)
Football Champ (no change, defaults to 2player)
Gain Ground (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Gauntlet (use '2 players, Rev 6' clone instead)
Gauntlet II (use '2 Players, rev 2' clone instead)
Gauntlet Legends (toggle Unknown0080 dip switch to ON to access service menu, use service menu to set 2player)
Gauntlet Dark Legacy (toggle Unknown0080 dip switch to ON to access service menu, use service menu to set 2player)
GI Joe (no change, defaults to 2player)
Gold Medalist (no change, defaults to 2player)
Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder (no change, defaults to 2player)
Got-cha Mini Game Festival (not changable, playable, just ignore
Growl (no change, defaults to 2player)
Grudge Match (dip->2player)
Guardians of the 'Hood (no change, defaults to 2player)
Hard Yardage (not changable, playable, ignore)
High Impact Football (not changable, playable, ignore)
Hit the Ice (dip->2player)
Hook (no change, defaults to 2player)
Hoops '96 (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Hot Rod (no change, defaults to 2player)
International Cup '94 (no change, defaults to 2player)
Ironman Ivan Stewart's Super Off-Road (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Ironman Ivan Stewart's Super Off-Road Trackpack (not changable, playable, just ignore OR use offrdtp2 clone instead)
John Elway's Team Quarterback (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Judge Dredd (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Karate Blazers (no change, defaults to 2player)
Kick and Run (no change, defaults to 2player)
King of Dragons, The (dip-2player)
Knights of the Round (dip->2player)
Knights of Valour 2 (no change, defaults to 2player)
Knuckle Heads (f2->2player)
Laser Ghost (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Main Event, The (use 'mainevt2p' clone instead)
Mercs (dip->2player, need to also set coin chutes to 1)
Metamorphic Force (no change, defaults to 2player)
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (dip->2player)
Muscle Bomber Duo (f2->2player)
Mystic Warriors (no change, defaults to 2player)
NBA Hangtime (no change, defaults to 2player)
NBA Jam (dip->2player)
NBA Jam TE (dip->2player)
NFL Blitz '99 (dip->2player)
NFL Blitz 2000 Gold Edition (dip->2player)
Night Slashers (no change, defaults to 2player)
Ninja Baseball Batman (no change, defaults to 2player)
Ninja Kids, The (no change, defaults to 2player)
Numan Athletics (f2->2player)
Off the Wall (no change, defaults to 2player)
Oriental Legend (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Paddle Mania (dip->match type A to C)
Pig Out (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Pit Fighter (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Power Drive (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Punk Shot (use 'punkshot2' 2player clone instead)
Quartet (Master has unemulated protection, 'quartet2' clone is 2 player and working)
Rampage (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Rampage: World Tour (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Rampart (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Revolution X (dip->2player)
Rim Rockin' Basketball (dip->2player)
Ring Rage (f2->2player)
Run and Gun (no change, defaults to 2player)
Saturday Night Slam Masters (f2->2player)
Silent Dragon (no change, defaults to 2player)
Simpsons, The (use 2player clone 'simpsons2p' instead)
Snow Bros. 2 (dip->2player)
Spider-Man: The Videogame (f2->2player)
Sprint 4 (not changable, cocktail game, I removed)
Sprint 8 (not changable, cocktail game, I removed)
Star Guards (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Stone Ball (dip->2player)
Sunset Riders (use 2player clone instead, like 'ssridersubc')
Super Cup Finals (not change, defaults to 2player)
Super High Impact (dip->2player)
Super Slam (dip->2player)
Super Sprint (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Super World Court (f2->2player)
Taito Power Goal (no change, defaults to 2player)
Tank 8 (cocktail game, not changable, I removed)
Tecmo Bowl (not changable?, playable, just ignore)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (use 2player clone 'tmnt2po' (english, 2player, 'ninja' not 'hero')
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Turtles in Time (use 2player clone 'tmnt22pu')
Three Stooges in Brides Is Brides, The (not changable, playable, just ignore)
Thunder Zone (no change, defaults to 2player)
Touchdown Fever (no change, defaults to 2player)
Trog (dip->2player)
Turbo Force (dip->2player)
U.S. Championship V'ball (dip->2player)
Undercover Cops (no change, defaults to 2player)
Vendetta (use 2player clone 'vendetta2p' instead)
Violent Storm (no change, defaults to 2player)
Warlords (dip->2player)
Warriors of Fate (f2->2player)
Wayne Gretzky's 3d Hockey (Hold F2->2player)
Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa (dip->2player)
World Beach Volley (f2->2player)
World Soccer Finals (not changable, playable, just ignore)
WWF WrestleFest (dip->2player)
X-Men (use 2player clone 'xmen2pa' instead)
Xenophobe (not changable, playable, just ignore)

I prioritized simple dip or service menu changes over using clones, just for simplicity or a smaller number of roms. In theory, you could also use this list to find 4-player games that default to 2-players, so you know what you need to fix for your 4-player setup.

If I missed one or if anyone can test the ones with CHDs, let me know and I'll update the posting.

Attached is the MalaGameLists for replacing 4player masters with 2player clones.

[drventure]

Nice work! This would be a great resource for anyone with a 2p cab.

Maybe you could get this into the Files or wiki areas?

[Bobulus]

I've got a plan before I do that: I have a fresh, unmodified copy of Mame .135 installed on a computer. I'm going to open these games, do nothing but modify the dip/f2 setting, and close it. That should give me a set of config files I can zip up, and anyone can unzip to configure all these games for them.

[TheSlim]

Thanks I got a 2 player cab, been looking for a list like this.

[Bobulus]

Okay, I grabbed the CHDs for Gauntlet Legends and Gauntlet Dark Legacy, but I can't seem to reach the service menu in either game. F2 does nothing, and that's what mame says is mapped to the service menu button for those specific games. Ideas?

Anyone know if they even have service menus? Seems like a game that new would.

Oh, hey, I figured it out. One of the unlabeled dip switches, Unknown0080, in both games, gets you to a service menu where you set it to two-player mode. Neat. I'll update the post. (I wonder if the mame devs would care about that fact?)

edit2: Oh, hey, holding f2 works in those games, too. I'm dumb. 

Now if I could just figure out how to get to a service menu in Wayne Gretsky's 3d Hockey...

Okay. Gotta press and HOLD f2 for that game. Updated.

[Bobulus]

Okay, here are all the zipped up cfg and nvram files needed to fix the games listed above as needing dip switch or system config changes.

...I think.

I'm running into a weird bug, and I'd like to confirm. For games that use the Capcom Play System hardware (Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, Warriors of Fate, etc), it seems like my fresh copy of MameUI .135u2 isn't reading or writing to the nvram...but on my hiscore diff copy of Mame .135, it does. So for those games, I had to use the hiscore diff version of the nvram file, and so I'd really like it if someone with another version of mame could confirm for me that they work. Thank you.

[Bobulus]

Also, I would like to stick some of this info in the wiki, so that someone else can find it easier, but I'm pretty stumped on the best place to link it / what to call it.

[CheffoJeffo]

Under ROM Management perhaps ?

http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Software

 

[Bobulus]

A good spot for it! 

I started making a page, but alas it is time to sleep, so I'll work on it a bit more tonight.

[Bobulus]

Okay. Got it copied into the wiki. Sorry for bumping this so many times. I'm done now. Just wanted to link it in case someone found the thread and not the wiki page, since it's a lot better formatted there. 

http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/2Player_Management