Is the Ultracade program mameable??

[arcadecab]

I just saw a newer version of Ultracade at a local arcade and thought the frontend, animated selection screen was really nice.  I know that many frontends are now attempting to create something similiar to the wheel concept of Ultracade, but is the exact program itself "mameable" as other arcade boards are?  Can Ultracade at some point be listed as a MAME rom set as with other games? Can an exact copy of Ultracade be made just like any other arcade board game?  I believe Ultracade is just run on modified computer hardware--can the frontend be mamed to run a select number of roms or all roms?  The animated scenes when selecting is very nice--any chance of that option in a MAME frontend anytime soon?
Just wondering.

[BobA]

Already had a bit of a discussion about the ultracade here:
http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=6;action=display;threadid=9110

Basically a PC with hardware protection so there is no need to emulate it with MAME.  What would be needed is a work around for the protection and an image of the ultracade distro cdrom and distribution packs.

Edit:
Here is an interesting link that is a copy of the Ultracade Installation manual.
http://www.ultracade.com/downloads/Ultracade-kit-3.0.pdf
The operation manual is also available.

BobA

[Howard_Casto]

If somone mame's ultracade, it's hit the fan.  Old roms nobody cares about anymore don't draw attention if they get emulated, but a brand new system still in production, of which the ultracade people have spent a lot of money to aquire rom liscenses, they would sue our arses off.  If the copy protection was circumvented, that means that people could make money off of their product without paying for it, which is a super bad thing.  

[BobA]

"no need to emulate it with MAME"  

Not only do you not need to but you shouldnt for ethical reasons and there is no sense in emulating a PC with an emulation program running on a pc.

I agree with you fully on this one Howard.   Just pointing out why it technically would not be emulated.  It can however be imitated with a good FE setup.  Sort of the look and feel type of setup.

BobA

[jakejake28]

what games does ultracade have that mame hasn't emulated yet? if you want the wheel, )p( showed how to use it with Emulaxian

[BobA]

The standard distribution pac with the ultracade is listed below.
Probably all MAMED already.

[Howard_Casto]

They are all mamed.  BUT the ultracde interface makes it easy to run these games on a pc and in an arcade cab and legally make money from it.  

And BobA is absolutely right, but I just wanted to point out that if a person hacks a system that generally requires a $500 liscense to run, it will draw some major negative attention to the emulation community.  

Don't hack it for the interface as several people (myself included) are working on ultracade-esque interfaces.  Peter's is already up and running great, so no excuses.