Rom Advice (newbie)

[jeffco]

Hi,

I'm new to the emu scene, I have a arcade made with a jamma board and want to upgrade to a pc system, I tried a few years ago to run mame on my mac but had a nightmare doing so. I've been looking around to find out more about how to set it up and have come across FE like retroarch and hyperspin etc..

I think I will set it up with Bigbox (Launchbox) using retroarch for the emu. But the thing that is really confusing me is rom sets. I understand that mame is now on v. 0.177 but I can't find want mame v retroarch is using and what I'm meant to do in regards to rom set.

I know I have to use the rom set that matches the emu version but when I look around I only find merged version and updates and I have no idea if these are ok to use or if I need to find a particular romset release and use the update files to update them.

Can anyone please explain what I need to do please (is relatively basic terms lol), any advice on anything relating getting this up and running would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks jeff

[Titchgamer]

Me personally I would just use MAME as the emu on a PC and download the corresponding ROM set.
Merged or split is up to you but I prefer merged for tidiness and ease.
The upgrade sets are to upgrade one set to another so are of no use to you.

[nordemoniac]

The full romsets aren't updated that often, so you can't get 0.177, but you can get 0.161 (I think that's the latest) and apply the update packs all the way up to 0.177.

HyperSpin requires a decent computer, both CPU and GPU to run smooth. It is a front-end, meaning it has no emulators installed - it is designed to start emulators.
You download MAME 0.177 and tell HyperSpin where it is, and tell it where you have the ROMS.
(If you want to get rid of nag-screens at startup, you can compile your own MAME build, it isn't too hard!).

Configuration for MAME has to be inside the emulator, HyperSpin just launches it.

There are a lot of configuration tools available, but to get all video/art, you need to purchase a subscription at HyperSpin and Emumovies to be able to set it up easily. With the subscription at these services, you can use "HyperSync" to make it much easier to automate downloading the artwork and movies.

The ROM-sets for MAME has the correct naming for the XML at HyperSpin, so everything should show up. You can hide clones/duplicates etc (remember that Pac-Man is a clone of Puck-Man!)
For consoles, "No-Intro" naming convention is being used.

I hope this cleared up some of your questions

[Titchgamer]

You can download the new full rom sets.
You just have to know where to look

You can then update as you go if you wish.

For me though I actually download the new set each month as my laptop takes sooo long to update a set its actually faster for me to download the set!!

[JDFan]

You can download the new full rom sets.
You just have to know where to look

You can then update as you go if you wish.

For me though I actually download the new set each month as my laptop takes sooo long to update a set its actually faster for me to download the set!!

If you point the new download to your old set it will audit the existing set and only download any files that have changed between the sets so you don't have to download the entire set just any files that have been updated. (only thing is it will not delete any unused files so once in a while you need to go back and delete them if doing it this way or you'll have some unused files sittting in the folder (ie. if files are renamed it will download the new file but not delete the one with the old name)

[Titchgamer]

You can download the new full rom sets.
You just have to know where to look

You can then update as you go if you wish.

For me though I actually download the new set each month as my laptop takes sooo long to update a set its actually faster for me to download the set!!

If you point the new download to your old set it will audit the existing set and only download any files that have changed between the sets so you don't have to download the entire set just any files that have been updated. (only thing is it will not delete any unused files so once in a while you need to go back and delete them if doing it this way or you'll have some unused files sittting in the folder (ie. if files are renamed it will download the new file but not delete the one with the old name)

You got a more comprehensive guide on that JD as it sounds a better way of doing it.
Well audit time depending as I said my lappy is sllooowwwww!!

[JDFan]

You got a more comprehensive guide on that JD as it sounds a better way of doing it.
Well audit time depending as I said my lappy is sllooowwwww!!

Haven't done it in a while now as I got tired of updating the set monthly (still using 0.172 currently) but what I used to do was make a copy of my current set and place in a new folder - then start the torrent program and download the torrent for the new fullset and set it to download the files to that new folder.

When the torrent program starts to download it will check the folder to see what files already exist (or you can force a recheck) and any files that match the torrent downloads will show as already downloaded and % downloaded will update - then after it checks for files it will download any missing ones into that folder.

Since the site I download from has the uploaders always run the torrent files through the same program (torrentzip) before uploading the full sets will always have the same SHA for a particular zip file in the new download and only roms that have changed in some way will not match the Sha - so having it replace any files that do not match will update the files that have changed and not download any that already match.

[Titchgamer]

Thanks JD I will try that on the new batch tomorrow

[Slippyblade]

You guys are making me feel like a caveman.  I'm still running .149

[BadMouth]

You guys are making me feel like a caveman.  I'm still running .149

I'm running v.142 (or v.146?) and am perfectly fine with it.
I gave v.170 a try on an identical PC and all the late 90's games I like choked hard on it.

To update, I'd have to drop $500-800 on a new PC just to be able to play the same games.

I will eventually drop in the newer version just for Raiden 2, but that will be the only rom running on it.

[jeffco]

wow, thanks to all of you.

So in truth I'm only interested in about 50 games or so in Mame - so would I be better off just downloading the individual files?

Also with the bios files etc, do I need a copy of that in each game folder that requires it or just in the rom folder it's self?

I would also like to run snes, nes, dreamcast etc. emu's too, does that work the same way as Mame i.e. romset must be same version as emu or is this a little bit more flexible?

thanks again guys

[jeffco]

sorry i'm currently DL 0.161 full set, when updating do I have to get each rev and update each or can i update from 0.161>0.177?

Also to do the update do I need software or is it a case of overwriting the old files? 

Thanks Jeff

[PL1]

Updates usually cover only one revision step i.e. 0.161 to 0.162 and contain only the changed files.

Be sure to do each update in ascending order. First 0.161 to 0.162, then 0.162 to 0.163, etc.

Copy the contents of the update into your ROM folder, overwriting any already-existing files.

For example, if ROMset 0.161 has:
  GAME  -- Rev. 3
  GAMEa -- Rev. 1

. . . and 0.162 adds a dump of Rev. 2, the update will contain:
  GAMEb -- Rev. 2
(adds 1 new file, no files overwritten)

. . . and if 0.163 adds a dump of Rev. 4, the update will contain:
  GAME  -- Rev. 4 (newer revision becomes the parent ROM)
  GAMEc -- Rev. 3 (the old parent ROM becomes a child ROM)
(adds 1 new file and 1 file overwritten)

When you fiinish updating from 0.161 to 0.163 you will have:
  GAME  -- Rev. 4 (Last updated in 0.163)
  GAMEa -- Rev. 1 (Unchanged since 0.161)
  GAMEb -- Rev. 2 (Added in 0.162)
  GAMEc -- Rev. 3 (Last updated in 0.163 -- Was named GAME in 0.161 and 0.162)


Scott

[haynor666]

Better fix Your set with clrmamepro using latest mame and them join existing torrent. It's the easiest way.

Manually downloading roms when You didn't update rom set for several months or years will be very time comsuming.

[nordemoniac]

wow, thanks to all of you.

So in truth I'm only interested in about 50 games or so in Mame - so would I be better off just downloading the individual files?

Also with the bios files etc, do I need a copy of that in each game folder that requires it or just in the rom folder it's self?

I would also like to run snes, nes, dreamcast etc. emu's too, does that work the same way as Mame i.e. romset must be same version as emu or is this a little bit more flexible?

thanks again guys

Yeah, MUCH easier to download what you are interested in, but at least you know the version they are supported on when you get a rom pack.
Regarding consoles - get the rom, use an emulator, don't worry about anything else. Just that the front-ends usually go after the "No-Intro" naming convention.

Just put the roms and bios's in the same roms folder.

[jeffco]

Thanks all,

very helpful, I'm gonna try the update now.

[jeffco]

sorry I have another question please, I've seen that some games need CHD or bios files to run the roms, how do you know if you require it and are they rom specific or is it a certain one per Mame version?

thanks jeff

[Titchgamer]

Mame Ui tells you which ones need the CHD's.

The CHD's are only needed for bigger games that used to run from CD or HDD etc.

Like the ROMs they are version specific but they dont change that often I dont think.

Those you are best downloading the ones you need because a full set is several hundred GB and most you will never use or play!