First install of MAME - Simple Questions

[javeryh]

Any help would be great.

1.  Do I just copy each and every rom file, every sample and every chd to their respective folders?

2.  What about all variations on the different games? 

THANKS!!!

[unclet]

ROMS and CHDS

Every game has a ROM ZIP'd file.    Some games have a CHD file also associated with it.

Place all ZIP'd ROM files (keep them zipped) into the "..\Mame\roms\" folder.

For the roms which have an associated CHD file, you must create a subfolder (using the rom name as the name of the folder) within the "..\Mame\roms\" folder.


For example Area51 has a rom file and a CHD file and the structure would be the following:

..\Mame\roms\area51.zip
..\Mame\roms\area51\area51.chd

Just make sure your sub-folder is named with the Rom which it is related to.... do not name the sub-folder to be the name of the CHD file since some CHD files do not share the same name as the Rom ......for example:

..\Mame\roms\sfiii.zip
..\Mame\roms\sfiii\sf3000.chd

(see how the Rom name is used for the sub-folder and not the CHD name)


SAMPLES

Just place all sample files in the "..\Mame\samples\" folder and keep the files ZIP'd.


ARTWORK

Just place all artwork files in the "..\Mame\artwork\" folder and keep the files ZIP'd.  I believe you can download the artwork from www.mame.net


SCREENSHOTS (aka SNAPS)

Unzip these image files and place them in the "..\Mame\snaps\" folder.


MARQUEES, FLYERS, CONTROL PANELS, CABINETS and TITLES

Unzip these image files and place them in the appropriate folders:

"..\Mame\marquees\"
"..\Mame\flyers\"
"..\Mame\ctrlpanel\"
"..\Mame\cabinets\"
"..\Mame\titles\"



You might want to go to www.mame.net, go under Documents and read the FAQ.....

[javeryh]

Awesome - thanks for taking the time to type all that out - very helpful!! 

I read the FAQ but I didn't really see a clear answer to what happens when, for example, you put all the Street Fighter II roms in the roms folder - there are japan and asian versions in addition to the US one that I want to play.  I don't want every single version to appear in the game menu (I'm using Gamelauncher as my FE) - is there an easy way to consolidate these games or do I actually have to figure out what each game is and delete repeats accordingly?  If so, how do I make sure I'm not deleting the parent or something?

Also, how do I weed out stuff like Tekken which doesn't work properly (if I recall correctly)? 

THANKS!!

[unclet]

You place ALL ROM files in the \roms\ folder.   Some frontends allow you to hide non-working games, hide cloned games (so only the parent game will be listed) and also allow you to hide ROMs based on certain genre as well.  The games which are left, which you find you do not like or do not work properly can then be removed individually.

There is also a real cool Mame Content Manager program which allows you to rename (or remove) certain ROM files which relate to "Mature" content, "Mahjonng(sp?)" games,  etc.....   

As for how you do this in Gamelauncher ...... I can not say since I do not use GameLauncher ..... I use MALA instead.

[javeryh]

I guess it's time to figure out MaLa then...  I have an unbelievably huge list under one menu ("Arcade Games") and by just randomly launching one game here and there it seems like there are a ton that don't work...  I also have aomething like 15 Street Fighter II variations listed and that just won't do...

[unclet]

I would assume there would be come way to "only display parent roms" or "do not display clones" or something like that ....

Anyway, you might just have bad ROM images..... you should use ClrMamePro to verify all your Rom sets before proceeding if "tons" do not work ......

ROM files can change between each Mame release.    A bunch of the older games are mostly stable and do not change really, but if you got a ROM set which is about two or three years old and are now trying to use them on a current version of Mame then you might find problems.

I would verify your ROM set using ClrMamePro ..... then you will know exactly what ROM files are good and bad.....

[gamecreature]

I would assume there would be come way to "only display parent roms" or "do not display clones" or something like that ....

Yes, MaLa has that. It also has filters and a list editor that lets you maintain multiple lists and switch between them. I have a list of just my favorite games and another list of all simultaneous multi-player games. Right and Left arrow lets me jump between them.