Hi everyone, old MAME cab builder who's out of the loop again...

[HeadRusch1]

My Cab is running MAME on an Athlon chip...1.2ghz maybe.....does all the majors up to the time the CHD image games came out, which I had no real desire to play anyways........its running Windows 98 and Mame32.

Now.....I have SOME questions and I'm hoping you guys could steer me in the right direction:

Question 1:  The version of MAME I am running is many years old but complete.  From what I have learned, MAME really isnt' running a ton of new games that are playable or functional since those days...lots of revisions, breaking roms, more accurate emulation but gameplay wise I'm not sure there is any major reason to try to get a whole new version of games and roms.  I mean, why am I going to agonize that Cruisn USA doesn't work at full speed on my rig when I can play hyper realistic driving games just by running the PC itself and playing a PC racing game with a Logitech wheel (my thoughts anyways).

Anyways, regarding the new games not being worth the upgrade path....Is that a false statement?  I have no real burning desire to play the early polygonal fighters on MAME, particularly not on a slow rig like that......I remember once upon a time people were trying to get, like, Marvel Verssu Capcom 2 and such up on MAME with not much luck due to the hardware.........I like the games up to the early to mid 90's...after that its console territory for me.  Anything I need to be aware of? (I would tell you what version of mame I'm running but honestly I do not recall).


Question 2:  I run Mame32......but with all the really cool and simple front ends out there even today, is there one that can improve on MAME32 without forcing me to abandon mame32?  Or do I need to ditch mame32 entirely....

Question 3: I have a spare laptop now....an Athlon x64 dual core or something....its a few years old.  Its probably orders-of-magnitude better than my Athlon 1.2ghz rig.......but its running VISTA (bleh).  Is it worth switching over to that laptop as my main computer (won't need the lcd display) for MAME.......I think its a 2.12ghz chip or something....

Apologizes for the n00bishness....after I built my cab I slowly disappeared into the ether

Very happy to see BYOAC is still thriving...

[Gray_Area]

Check out the wiki....

[Howard_Casto]

There are several reasons to update mame, with a decent amount of new game releases as well.  Remember when something goes right nobody mentions it, but when something goes wrong everybody complains.  If mame exists 20 years form now we will get people that STILL insist that version .37 is the best version of mame. 

That being said, your pc might not be able to handle a newer version of mame... it's kind of puny. 

You need to look up games yourself and see if any of the new ones interest you.  The poly game master games come to mind in terms of fun games that most machines can still run. 

As for #2, mame32 (it isn't even called that anymore) is still wonky when used with a front end.  MAME is better because when you run into problems it automatically elimiantes one potential issue. 

Mame always loves processor power, so if the laptop is faster, use the laptop!  Of course video cards are also important, particularly with other emus and front-ends.  But then again, your current rig is kind of old anyway.

[ArcadeSeeker962]

MAME is better because when you run into problems it automatically elimiantes one potential issue.

Which version of MAME are you referring to? Are you referring to the original one programmed by Nicola Salmoria? If so, than how does that feature work(Note: I am not asking for ROMs in any shape or form, just wanted to know how that feature works)?

[Howard_Casto]

Well mameUI(aka MAME32), contrary to popular belief, is a custom build. 

Whenever something goes wrong with your setup one of the issues could be that your front-end of choice can't get the data/settings it needs from a custom build.  Using regular old mame just eliminates that one potential problem.

One of the problems mameUI has had over the years is that some builds won't output a listxml or other print-outs properly.  A lot of front-ends depend on that.  I can't tell you what issues (if any) mameui has atm because I haven't used it in years, but it's stuff like this that pops up. 

[ArcadeSeeker962]

Well mameUI(aka MAME32), contrary to popular belief, is a custom build. 

Okay, thank you for answering my question. I apologize if I sounded rude.

[kahlid74]

A lot of this information is on the wiki but I'll add onto what Howard said:

1). You need to understand what games you play.  If you're playing lots of old games like vendetta/narc/Moonwalker you probably don't need a new version of MAME.  Should you?  If you want to.  There will be accuracy fixes in games with newer version of MAME but at the end of the day this is entirely up to you based on what you currently play.

2). I'm not a fan of Mame32.  Just super cluttered and slow.  If you want a simple Frontend MameWAH is pretty slick and efficient.  Hyperspin is fun but requires lots of horse power.  I would ditch Mame32 and go with just MAME and a front end like Howard said.

3). Processor power big time just as Howard said.  Upgrade!

[ArcadeSeeker962]

I'm not a fan of Mame32.  Just super cluttered and slow.  If you want a simple Frontend MameWAH is pretty slick and efficient.  Hyperspin is fun but requires lots of horse power.  I would ditch Mame32 and go with just MAME and a front end like Howard said.

I'm not really a fan of Mame32 either. Just like what you said, it runs kind of slow, and I prefer just only having the games being viewed that I added. I do have Mame32 on this computer, but I'm considering deleting it for a better version of MAME(like MameWAH). So that way, once my cabinet's complete, I'll have the right version of MAME for my arcade cabinet. I'll look into the Wiki as well.

[HeadRusch1]

Thanks for the replies everyone.  I'm running MAME32 Version 0.82 with a complete set of ROMS.

My concern at this point is not upgrading to a newer release of MAME (command line) with a Front End, but having to have a rig powerful enough to run it.

I have two options:
Athlon X2 dual core laptop with craptacular video card.
Or
Intel P4 at 3.5ghz with an older Nvidia part......maybe a GTX 200 or something......several years old.

Also, obtaining a complete set of roms used to be easy (I received them all on CD)...now....not so much.  Right now I'm running .82......so what, circa 2005?

Question: Is there a repository of games that have been added with each release that are new?  For example, browsing the web its hard to find what new games are supported in the releases, at least I sure don't know where to look.  And...."running" is one thing...but "runs like ass on your computer" is another.  to be honest, unless there are more 2D beat em ups or fighters being added, I'm not sure I'd go from .82.

Also does MAME work fine on windows 2000 or do I need to upgrade to XP.......back in the day there were all sorts of incompatibilities...

I guess i should check the wiki but I appreciate the direct responses.  Thanks again.

[kahlid74]

Wiki is all your answers but in short:

Windows XP is the preferred platform.  Windows 7 works but has some comparability issues with FE's and some games, etc.

MAME is now being compiled to utilize a dual core so dual core is the way to go.  Graphics cards aren't really important until you get to CHD's and other special titles.  If you plan to play CHD's you'll want to upgrade the graphics.  The P4 would work just fine but some games would run slowly (mostly CHD's but some ROMS too).

There are a few places with repositories but I can't remember them off the top of my head.  Your best bet is to hit up BitTorrent and grab a newer copy of the ROMS.  Like .142.  The roms are pretty quick but the CHD's at 200+ GB take a while.

[boardjunkie]

I just redid my cab with Groovymame using MaLa for a frontend. Its a bit of a learning curve to get it setup, but its worth the hassle 'cause the games look and work much better. This assumes you are using a regular arcade monitor, not a PC monitor or LCD screen. For PC monitors or LCD I don't think GM is gonna gain you anything.....games will look like crap no matter what you do....

[Howard_Casto]

I just redid my cab with Groovymame using MaLa for a frontend. Its a bit of a learning curve to get it setup, but its worth the hassle 'cause the games look and work much better. This assumes you are using a regular arcade monitor, not a PC monitor or LCD screen. For PC monitors or LCD I don't think GM is gonna gain you anything.....games will look like crap no matter what you do....

LCD monitors are slowly becoming the defacto standard for mame cabs actually.  The hlsl effects make for a very convincing arcade monitor effect and a lcd is lighter, cheaper, and a lot easier to configure. 

Even ignoring this, lcd monitors don't make the games look like crap at all, they just pixelated.

[boardjunkie]

And pixelated looks like crap to me. The old stuff that was programmed for a std res monitor won't look right unless its displayed at std res. Much like Visual Pinball is intended for hi res monitors. Its blurry and worthless on a std res monitor....the exact opposite.

I wouldn't go as far as to say that LCD is becoming std for MAMe cabs. There's alotta ppl going thru the hassle of hacking std res TVs to use them as arcade monitors. Why? Because it looks right.

[Howard_Casto]

I wouldn't go as far as to say that LCD is becoming std for MAMe cabs. There's alotta ppl going thru the hassle of hacking std res TVs to use them as arcade monitors. Why? Because it looks right.

And as I said, the hlsl effects in mame make for a very convincing arcade monitor simulation.  The argument would have been relevant just a few years ago (and I would have been on your side), but it isn't anymore.