Best DOS-based emulator for arcade games?

[Timstuff]

What's the best arcade game emulator for DOS? Are there any that use the same ROMs as Mame? And you you please supply a link? Thanks!

[SirPeale]

It depends on your hardware.  Please detail.

[link2005a]

It depends on your hardware.

[SirPeale]

I too am looking for recommendations on Dos based emulators. I am hoping to use Mamewah as a front end...

MameWAH is a Windows program.  You may want to try Kymaera instead.  Although it's support for arcade monitors is quite shaky (if it works at all)

[Timstuff]

The computer I want to use in my cabinet is a Gateway Pentium 2 with a Voodoo 3 graphics card. I haven't checked the exact specs yet. It's roughly 4-5 years old. It'd be nifty if someone could link me to the best avalible Mame program for DOS.

[link2005a]

I know that Mamewah is a windows program, and don't mind running a windows program. It just seems that Mamewah wasn't mean to be run with mame32, as mame32 (if I am understanding this right) has it's own built in 'front end' that conflicts with Mamewah which is why I need dos based emulators. Am I correct?

I too am looking for recommendations on Dos based emulators. I am hoping to use Mamewah as a front end...

MameWAH is a Windows program.

[Timstuff]

I'd like a Dos emulator because I'm told that with Dos emulators, you can set things up so that the emulator launches as soon as you turn on the computer. It would be a much more convincing illusion for an arcade cabinet it didn't have to go through the windows startup, and I probably wouldn't have to deal with things like memory leaks if I left it on all day. If your friends are over and they see the you clicking through a windows menu when you turn on the machine, they'd figure out pretty fast that it's a computer inside there. But with Dos, I could just turn on the computer  and then up comes the emulator program.

[slicer_d]

If you want to run from dos all you need is mame compiled for dos.  The last official version of dos mame that came out was .91 which isn't to bad. Here is the link for the pentium optimized version.
http://www.mame.net/zips/mame091b_dos_i686.zip
Here is for the non optimized version for use with AMD's or the like
http://www.mame.net/zips/mame091b_dos.zip

Then you just need to find a front end that supports dos and set it up pointing it to your dos mame version.  After that edit your autoexec.bat and have it run your front end.  This is of course very simplified and if you dont know how to mess with dos its will take you a little while

I just started setting up my cocktail cab to run in dos and it was much harder than I thought it would be.  My original load time for a game was like 3+ minutes after a bunch of suggestions and playing with it I got it down to about 13 seconds but that took a decent amount of time.  I dont even have a sound card setup which could be very hard  depending on your soundcard/mobo. 

Just dont go into this thinking you can get a nice dos setup running as quick as you would get a windows setup running.  Stuff like getting the soundcard working and getting nice and quick load times on your games could take a little bit of work.  And if you dont have any dos experience it will be all the more difficult.

With that being said I think running DOS should work well for you.  You have a older system so without windows running in the backgroud games will run faster also there wont be that slowdown after you have switched between a couple games.  And of course not seeing that windows bootup screen is always nice.

Here is the thread I started about my extremely long loading time maybe it can help you get started.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,33963.0.html

Also here is a simple getting started page.  You will probably want some different setting than this but its a decent start.
http://www.mameworld.net/dosmame/

And one last thing the links I posted up top are the newest version of mame since you are running older hardware you might consider running an older version to decrease load times and increase speed.  If you want to dowload and older version just change to link to what ever version you want.  A lot of people running just the classics run something like version .33 or .35 and some people run versions from the .70's or .80's so they can play newer games but without all the new bells and whistles.

[Timstuff]

The link for dos mame didn't work.

[slicer_d]

Looks like they dont like people linking from other site try these at their miiror

http://mirrors.xmission.com/mame/main/mame091b_dos_i686.zip
http://mirrors.xmission.com/mame/main/mame091b_dos.zip

[JoyMonkey]

I know that Mamewah is a windows program, and don't mind running a windows program. It just seems that Mamewah wasn't mean to be run with mame32, as mame32 (if I am understanding this right) has it's own built in 'front end' that conflicts with Mamewah which is why I need dos based emulators. Am I correct?

Here's the standard flavours of Mame:

Mame: Windows based Mame with no GUI (ie, this is the one you want for MameWah).
Example: http://www.mame.net/zips/mame092b.zip (this link will only work if you go to www.mame.net first)

dMame: DOS based Mame (intended to run from the DOS prompt, not recommended to run from Windows).
Example: http://www.mame.net/zips/mame091b_dos.zip (this link will only work if you go to www.mame.net first)

Mame32: Windows based Mame with a GUI (ie, comes with its own graphical user interface).
Example: http://mame.joymonkey.com/mame32


Edit: Even though Mame32 comes with its own GUI, running it from a frontend will not show the Mame32 GUI. To try it out from Windows, click on Start>Run... and enter
C:\Mame32\Mame32.exe pacman (assuming that's where you keep your Mame32 folder)
This will run Pac-Man using Mame32, but it will not display the Mame32 GUI.

[Timstuff]

Sorry, I'm a little new to the dos-based-emulator scene, and I'm not familiar with the term "front end". People say I need a "front end" in windows if I want to run the dos one properly or something like that, but I really don't know what any of that means. Can someone please fill me in on the basics? Thanks.

[JoyMonkey]

Sorry, I'm a little new to the dos-based-emulator scene, and I'm not familiar with the term "front end". People say I need a "front end" in windows if I want to run the dos one properly or something like that, but I really don't know what any of that means. Can someone please fill me in on the basics? Thanks.

You really need Saint's Project Arcade book.

A front-end (be it for DOS, Windows, Linux or Mac) is basically a graphical user interface used to launch games. If you're using Windows, you should use emulators and front-ends written for Windows, not DOS.

[link2005a]

You really need Saint's Project Arcade book.

A front-end (be it for DOS, Windows, Linux or Mac) is basically a graphical user interface used to launch games. If you're using Windows, you should use emulators and front-ends written for Windows, not DOS.

A book that I bought this weekend! Easy read so far too.

[Timstuff]

You really need Saint's Project Arcade book.

A front-end (be it for DOS, Windows, Linux or Mac) is basically a graphical user interface used to launch games. If you're using Windows, you should use emulators and front-ends written for Windows, not DOS.

A book that I bought this weekend! Easy read so far too.

Yeah, I know I'm gonna need that book sooner or later. So basically, if I'm going to be using DOS for my cab, use the dos version of Mame. But if I'm in windows, I should use the windows version, rather than trying to run the DOS version through a command prompt. Is this basically the concept behind using a front end?

[lokki]

Yeah, I know I'm gonna need that book sooner or later. So basically, if I'm going to be using DOS for my cab, use the dos version of Mame. But if I'm in windows, I should use the windows version, rather than trying to run the DOS version through a command prompt. Is this basically the concept behind using a front end?

I think you are confusing terms.
There a version of MAME (dmame) that only runs under DOS.
There is a version of mame (official mame build) which runs under windows.
The official version runs under the command line (does not have a front end).

I think you want the official MAME windows command line version and use mamewah

[daywane]

To get your feet wet try Mame 32. (windows built in GUI) (frontend in other words) A PII PC can play a good deal of old games.
I started this way and now trying dos
but I am trying VANTAGE for my PII. ( MS PAC at least)
if I like that then I want to try PAC MAME in my super PAC cab

[link2005a]

Even though Mame32 comes with its own GUI, running it from a frontend will not show the Mame32 GUI. To try it out from Windows, click on Start>Run... and enter
C:\Mame32\Mame32.exe pacman (assuming that's where you keep your Mame32 folder)
This will run Pac-Man using Mame32, but it will not display the Mame32 GUI.

Yes, but can your front end emulator (mamewah) hide the fact that you are using a PC, meaning can you still select games, exit games back to mamewah without a mouse and keyboard should you set this up in a Cabinet? Or do only Command line versions work for stuff like this?

[Brad]

You can set your cab up using Windows 98, XP with Commandline Win32 Mame and Mamewah. If you have it startup with Mamewah as the shell and replace the startup splash screens with a mem one or custom no one will ver know your using Windows.

My cab is setup like this except I don't bother with the shell option. I just have a shortcut to Mamewah in my startup folder so when I turn my cab on I see an XP spalshscreen and then Mamewah. NO need for Mouse of keyboard. I just use the the arcade joysticks and buttons on my panel for navigating between games and the 45 different emulators setup.

Brad

[JLR2000]

Even though Mame32 comes with its own GUI, running it from a frontend will not show the Mame32 GUI. To try it out from Windows, click on Start>Run... and enter
C:\Mame32\Mame32.exe pacman (assuming that's where you keep your Mame32 folder)
This will run Pac-Man using Mame32, but it will not display the Mame32 GUI.

Yes, but can your front end emulator (mamewah) hide the fact that you are using a PC, meaning can you still select games, exit games back to mamewah without a mouse and keyboard should you set this up in a Cabinet? Or do only Command line versions work for stuff like this?

There are front ends that will conceal the fact that it is running in Windows (MAMEWAH) and there are front ends that have a very Windows look to them (Emuloader).  Most people with cabinets choose a front end that HIDES the windows desktop look.  In my main cab I run MAMEWAH now (running windows) but I also have a Pole Position cab that has just a basic PIII233 running dos that boots up to Pole Position with no front end (Like a PP machine would have in an arcade, sort of).  For windows look at Mamewah and Emuloader, for DOS look at GameLauncher and AdvanceMenu.  There are tons more, but these are what I have used. MameWorld links to all the major frontends I believe and is another great resource for info (other than this site of course).  Good Luck.

I should have added this originally:  www.mameworld.net 
Scroll down and look at the left hand navigation to see all the front ends listed with links to their websites....also links to DOS Mame sites plus others.....

[elvis]

What's the best arcade game emulator for DOS? Are there any that use the same ROMs as Mame? And you you please supply a link? Thanks!

Define "best".  Largest game compatibility?  MAME.  Runs best on old (sub-pentium) hardware?  Vantage.