Understanding MAME & all the different versions

[SteveB69]

Hi

I built an arcade cab some 8 - 9 years ago, using hyperspin & various emulators it all ran really well but I never really got into understanding Mame.

I'm doing a new build now & planning to use Hyperspin along with RocketLauncher & Mame, there are only about 15 - 20 games I want on my wheel so I have these stored in a Roms folder. But what I believe (?) is the best Mame version to use, Mame64 0.214, I point it to my Roms directory, when I click the available tab it shows nothing. If I type in the name of the game & then try to run it I get "The selected machine is missing a , please check you have the Rom or CHD"

In Mame32 Plus Plus 0.119 under available I have my games listed & they all run.

Under MameUI64 0.213 my games don't show at all (although there is a massive list) & when I search they don't come up.

So I guess my question is what is the best version of Mame to use, as said I would have thought the official Mame 0.214 but why won't it show just my Roms & why won't they run?

Appreciate any comments.

[PL1]

there are only about 15 - 20 games I want on my wheel so I have these stored in a Roms folder. But what I believe (?) is the best Mame version to use, Mame64 0.214, I point it to my Roms directory, when I click the available tab it shows nothing. If I type in the name of the game & then try to run it I get "The selected machine is missing a , please check you have the Rom or CHD"

Here's a little background reading to get you started.
https://choccyhobnob.com/demystifying-mame-roms/

1. The games may need driver files, BIOS files, and/or CHDs in addition to the ROMs.

2. If you have a "split" ROMset, the games may be "child" ROMs that need a "parent" ROM.

For example, Pac-Man (pacman) is a "child" ROM of the "parent" Puck Man (puckman) -- in a "split" ROMset, pacman will only contain the files that are different from puckman.  To run Pac-Man, you need both the pacman and puckman .zip files.

So I guess my question is what is the best version of Mame to use, as said I would have thought the official Mame 0.214 but why won't it show just my Roms & why won't they run?

You want the ROMset version to match your MAME version.
- Trying to use a v0.119 ROMset with MAME v0.213 will cause huge problems since many files have been renamed, others have been redumped, some device drivers have been moved from the game ROM file to a driver file, and many previously encrypted chips have been properly decoded and documented.
- The greater the difference between the ROMset and MAME versions, the more problems you will have.
- Many people prefer to find a ROMset first, then use the matching version of MAME.
- If any of the games on your list use CHDs, the CHD format has changed several times since v0.119.  You'll need to use the version of CHD that works with your updated version of MAME.


Scott

[Mr. Peabody]

Actively developed means things change.

[benarcade]

x2 Scott - This should be in bold at the top of every MAME tutorial:

You want the ROMset version to match your MAME version.

also

Many people prefer to find a ROMset first, then use the matching version of MAME.

Find the ROM set (Reference Set) that has all the games you like first, then install the MAME version for that set. The latest version of MAME is probably NOT the best version to run for most people. ROM set version 0.78 with mame2003 (for RetroPie) seems to be a popular choice. mame2003 for windows: 0.78 - 25 Dec 2003 - mame078s.zip on mame.org.

Note - some of the ROM sources list their games without indicating the version. In that case, it's just trial and error.

[Haze]

x2 Scott - This should be in bold at the top of every MAME tutorial:

You want the ROMset version to match your MAME version.

also

Many people prefer to find a ROMset first, then use the matching version of MAME.

Find the ROM set (Reference Set) that has all the games you like first, then install the MAME version for that set. The latest version of MAME is probably NOT the best version to run for most people. ROM set version 0.78 with mame2003 (for RetroPie) seems to be a popular choice. mame2003 for windows: 0.78 - 25 Dec 2003 - mame078s.zip on mame.org.

Note - some of the ROM sources list their games without indicating the version. In that case, it's just trial and error.

The 2003 set is a car crash of bad dumps and frankensets.  The emulation in 2003 was tragic in quality.  In 2003 we _barely_ had a grip on quality emulation of the 80s classics and there are literally hundreds of cases of incorrectly emulated protection devices causing severely different gameplay - nevermind anything from the 90s and newer, best not talk about any of that with a 2003 set.

This is not good advice.

The only thing that's a 'reference' for is how things shouldn't be done.

[benarcade]

This is not good advice.

OK - so what is your advice?

[Haze]

This is not good advice.

OK - so what is your advice?

Use the latest possible, with the correct files, unless there's an actual regression in the emulation.  (eg. for QBert sound you will have to go back a bit as it's in a transitional state - but not 2003 back)

MAME is an ever more correct collection of information, and even 1 year is a long time, nevermind 16

Typically if ROMs have changed to the point of breaking compatibility entirely it's because something has been added that improves the emulation.

The further back you go the worse the emulation gets.  The last few years have been when a large amount of absolutely incredible work has been done in terms of getting protection devices dumped and properly emulating many of the titles from the 80s and 90s, work that simply wasn't even possible 5 years ago because the knowledge / tools required to do that weren't available.  (this year marks the point where all the Taito C-Chips used on the likes of Rainbow Islands, Operation Wolf etc. are actually emulated for example)

Even if you're being super-cheap with hardware, a the Raspberry Pi 4 actually makes using current MAME versions realistic because unlike all the previous ones it has an acceptable amount of power under the hood (still nowhere near a proper PC, but a big improvement on previous and enough to run many things well with good quality emulation)

[Mr. Peabody]

OK - so what is your advice?

Read the docs.

[Howard_Casto]

I wouldn't recommend any set after mame and mess got a common rom set because it's an almost literal nightmare trying to sort all the crap out and you'll be wasting time and bandwidth downloading gigabytes of stuff you don't want or can't play.  Check out the "all killer no filler" sticky. 

[Mr. Peabody]

Why does there not exist download software that matches your destination folder contents?

[Howard_Casto]

Probably because the only two people that ever wrote complicated support software like that were me and Headkaze and we both do a lot less of that now. 

[Mr. Peabody]

Well, your desire to support goes a bit beyond what I consider sensible.