Best frontend & version of MAME for a TV

[brianoneill]

Hi,

I'm building a cabinet and am using a 25" TV.
Which frontend do people recommend I use to get best 'authentic' display on TV and which version of MAME gives best display for a TV ?

ANy hints for optimal performance/display quality on a TV with MAME ?

Regards,
Brian.

[MrTeamWork]

I would be most interested in the answer as well! I plan to use a 27" S-Video TV, and I would love the answer as well!

 User tips are the best, because it comes from actual experence, not just a FAQ!

 I hope I can use MAME32 with TV out S-video - I was not raised on 'command lines'

 

[radiator]

Brian,

i'd say just go with the normal version of MAME (cmd line) and use Mamewah as your frontend (it looks lovely on my 25" s-video tv)

the frontend is a bit of a personal preference though...i tried GameLauncher first, but then discovered Mamewah and stuck with it (i looked at lazarus too, but i couldn't be bothered with all the setting up you have to do - if this doesn't bother you then give it a go - i've heard good things about it)

 

[Distortion]

Only disadvantage I've noticed in MameWah as compared to Game Launcher is the font size.  On a TV it can be nice to have big font...however bear in mind that I'm running a TV in my cabinet with MameWah, so don't be thinking it's that bad.  MameWah has clearly been the easiest to configure of all the multiple emulator font ends i've tried.

[brianoneill]

cheers  
I'm downloading MAMEwah right now

[radiator]

Only disadvantage I've noticed in MameWah as compared to Game Launcher is the font size.  On a TV it can be nice to have big font...however bear in mind that I'm running a TV in my cabinet with MameWah, so don't be thinking it's that bad.  MameWah has clearly been the easiest to configure of all the multiple emulator font ends i've tried.

...but it has adjustable font sizes...

I'm running through a TV with size 12 font (and using the Atari font (can't remember where I downloaded it)) and it looks great

 

[El Pato]

Just want to add my 2 cents on this topic. There was a similar post to this when I was going through my set up (about 3 months ago). After investigating several of the frontends, someone mentioned Emulaxian. So, I tried it. Let me tell you ... if you want a true "arcade" experience this is the frontend. I know my friends have been totally impressed with it. There is nothing like the looks on their faces when you launch it and they are standing in the middle of a virtual arcade!

Here are a few words of warning though. Emulaxian takes a little while to "learn". There is a lot of configuration, but if you stick with it, you will be very happy. There is also a lot of customization you can do with downloads from the 3darcade website. However, you can run it "out of the box" and that is what will hook you. Well, it hooked me. Also, it would seem to me to take a little bit of horsepower to run. I am running Windows XP on an Athlon 1GHz with a ATI Radeon 8500LE video card to a JVC 27" TV via S-video out, and it is awesome. I am really happy with the results. Sure, it may not be perfect, but it looks pretty good. Yes, you do have to use the command-line Mame but setting that up is really simple inside the frontend.

Give Emulaxian a try ... as I said my 2 cents.

[AceTKK]

I second the vote for Emulaxian!  It is somewhat difficult to set up and configure but once you've it right it blows all the other front ends out of the water.  If you try it out be sure to use the tutorial that is provided with the download (in the docs folder) to get it setup.  The tutorial does a great job of walking you through the setup.

-Ace-

[Wade]

I use GameLauncher for DOS and I'm really happy with it.  It is simple and shows screenshots in the background.  That's just what I wanted.  I set it to rebuild the ROM list each time the PC boots, so if I've added more games they get added to the list automatically.

All the "extras" in some of the other FE's weren't worth the time to set up, IMO, and some of the front ends look too much like a PC program.  I wanted my game to seem more like an arcade game than a PC.

Wade

[GroovyTuesdaY]

Does mamewah show sceen shots ?

[Minwah]

Does mamewah show sceen shots ?

Yes it does

[Wienerdog]

Will any of the FEs help with an overscann problem?  I'm cutting off about two inches from the top and bottom of my games.

That would be the deciding factor for me.