Merged or split rom sets--Any diffference?

[arcadecab]

I have a fair number of merged rom sets with my roms through MAME 0.77.  I am running MAMEwah and have to verify rom sets when refreshing the gamelist for merged sets.  Is there any good reason to keep the roms merged or is it recommended to go ahead and split them with romcenter.  Just wanted to make sure there wasnt a good reason they were merged in the first place  or why it is recommended to leave them merged.  Thanks.

[Minwah]

AFAIK there is no real advantage using one way over the other.

Some people just prefer using merged sets - perhaps they find it more organised.  Personally I prefer using split sets

[wpcmame]

There is a problem using split sets if you use clrmame.

If you don't have a complete parent set, the clones will not work since clrmame removes the parent.

[Minwah]

There is a problem using split sets if you use clrmame.

If you don't have a complete parent set, the clones will not work since clrmame removes the parent.

I'm not sure what you mean.  Yes, ClrMAME will remove the parent rom(s) from a clones set, but the clone will still work fine.  You just need to make sure you have the parent romset as well as the clone set you wish to play.  If you don't have the parent roms then you won't be able to play the clones splt/merged or whatever...

[paigeoliver]

I prefer split sets as it allows me to keep the unwanted clones out of my menus, while putting in the few clones that I do want.

One neat trick when you want a clone without the parent is to add the contents of the parent romset into the clone zip. That will make the clone show up and work, but the parent won't be on the list. That is a great solution for games like Pac-Man and those Sega games that have non-working parents but working clones.

Also good if you just prefer one of the clone sets. Not that I can even tell the difference between most of them. I don't really know of a lot of major differences between clones and parents (aside from title differences).

Here are the ones I DO know.

Nibbler - Clone keeps your snake full length after you die, parent doesn't.

The End - One version has you on top of the shields, the other underneath.

Pleiads - Tehkan version doesn't give you as many/fast shots on screen.

Donkey Kong - The barrels won't turn onto a ladder when you are one it, if you are near the top (Japan version).

Anybody else know any differences? Any good websites on this (The main differences between William's versions seems to be default difficulty, which you can change anyway).

[Minwah]

Anybody else know any differences? Any good websites on this (The main differences between William's versions seems to be default difficulty, which you can change anyway).

I know Final Fight (Japan) shows Jessica in a bra   on the TV in the intro, but the World version doesn't.

[wpcmame]

I'm not sure what you mean.  Yes, ClrMAME will remove the parent rom(s) from a clones set, but the clone will still work fine.  You just need to make sure you have the parent romset as well as the clone set you wish to play.

Yes I know how to fix it but my point is that it is tricky to use clrmame to keep your game list updated with split sets.
You have 4 chioces:

1. Put the common roms in the parent zip: Clrmame will delete them since the parent is not complete.
2. Put the common roms in the clone zip: clrmame will delete them since they belong to parent zip (when using split sets)
3. Use 1 above and instruct clrmame to not delete incomplete sets: your game list will not reflect the games that are working.
4. The obvious one: always keep all parents complete even if they don't work or you never play them.

[Minwah]

Yes I know how to fix it but my point is that it is tricky to use clrmame to keep your game list updated with split sets.
You have 4 chioces:

1. Put the common roms in the parent zip: Clrmame will delete them since the parent is not complete.
2. Put the common roms in the clone zip: clrmame will delete them since they belong to parent zip (when using split sets)
3. Use 1 above and instruct clrmame to not delete incomplete sets: your game list will not reflect the games that are working.
4. The obvious one: always keep all parents complete even if they don't work or you never play them.

I suppose the way I looked upon it was 4 - always have parents complete for games or clones that you want to play...

[Howard_Casto]

Something that should be noted.... fully merged romsets aren't supported with all front ends (read ANY front end that doesn't do a crc check)  

also btw there are three formats

merged
merged/split
split


Personally I prefer merged/split sets....

merged/splits have all of the similar rom data stored in the parent and clones have a seperate zip, but contain only that bits that differ form the parent.  Most rom sites (read 99%) present their roms this way... it's the best way.  There is zero benefit from having a fully merged set and zero benefit from having a fully split set.  

A fully split set has tons of redundant data and could triple the footprint of your rom collection.

Fully merged only saves maybe like 100 megs total (the combined extra data of the 15kb footprint of a empty zip file) and confuses may mame-related front ends and utilities.  

In other words, don't touch your roms... they are fine and by default in the best format.  

[Minwah]

Something that should be noted.... fully merged romsets aren't supported with all front ends (read ANY front end that doesn't do a crc check)  

also btw there are three formats

merged
merged/split
split


Personally I prefer merged/split sets....

merged/splits have all of the similar rom data stored in the parent and clones have a seperate zip, but contain only that bits that differ form the parent.  Most rom sites (read 99%) present their roms this way... it's the best way.  There is zero benefit from having a fully merged set and zero benefit from having a fully split set.  

A fully split set has tons of redundant data and could triple the footprint of your rom collection.

Fully merged only saves maybe like 100 megs total (the combined extra data of the 15kb footprint of a empty zip file) and confuses may mame-related front ends and utilities.  

In other words, don't touch your roms... they are fine and by default in the best format.  

Also of note, is that ClrMAMEPro refers to the 3 types as:

Not Merged Sets
Split Sets
Merged Sets

I think these wordings are confusingly different to yours Howard.  I use what ClrMAME calls 'Split Sets', which does not contain any duplicate roms - this is what you describe as 'merged/split'.  I think what you call 'split', ClrMAME calls 'Not Merged'.

Agreed that merged sets are a pain as far as FE's are concerned...

[arcadecab]

I am thinking of using ClrMAMEpro to rebuild my rom set to the "split roms" that Minwah mentioned in the previous post so that I know they are the right build and will work with any FE as I know that some roms dont appear readily in MAMEwah because they are merged.  Is there any danger to this, ie rebuilding roms?  Would this be a worthwhile endeavor??
Thanks.  

[Minwah]

I am thinking of using ClrMAMEpro to rebuild my rom set to the "split roms" that Minwah mentioned in the previous post so that I know they are the right build and will work with any FE as I know that some roms dont appear readily in MAMEwah because they are merged.  Is there any danger to this, ie rebuilding roms?  Would this be a worthwhile endeavor??
Thanks.  

I've never done that exactly (I've never had a full set of merged roms), but it should be fine.  If you have any doubts, back up your current set if possible, although that shouldn't really be neccessary.

FWIW I would recommend going ahead - split sets are IMO the way to go

[Howard_Casto]

I was referring to what romcenter calls the different sets.  Although clrmamepro technically is more powerful, I would never reccomend using it to a beginner.  I've done without using clrmamepro for about 6 years now, so I honesty can't see the big deal

[Rocky]

I am thinking of using ClrMAMEpro to rebuild my rom set to the "split roms" that Minwah mentioned in the previous post so that I know they are the right build and will work with any FE as I know that some roms dont appear readily in MAMEwah because they are merged.  Is there any danger to this, ie rebuilding roms?  Would this be a worthwhile endeavor??
Thanks.  

I split my merged set with ClrMamepro and it worked fine.  I did back them up first, though.