Why not MESS?

[crummy]

Been looking through the massive emulator list that a lot of people have on their cabinets, and I have to ask: Why doesn't everyone use MESS? Isn't it more complex if you have to configure Fusion and Snes9x and a bunch of others - what do they offer that MESS does not?

[youki]

MESS is used for some of my plugnplay modules.

But generally dedicated emulator have better performance.

[torcer]

I use MESS for the more obscure systems – Atari 5200, 7800, Vectrex, Colecovision, etc. 

[Ummon]

I've wondered the same for Odyssey2. Doesn't O2EM not support controls configuration?

[ErikRuud]

O2em does support controls configuration.  In older releases it was done with command line parameters, but the newer releases support the use of a default configuration file. 

As far as I know the O2 emulation in MESS is not as complete as O2em.

[crummy]

Is speed really an issue for any of the systems MESS emulates though?

I was thinking specifically SNES and Genesis, due to the fact that MAME can bind two button presses to an exit key, while Fusion and zsnes can't.

[juggle50]

I think MESS is fantastic and use it for all retro console and computer emulators.  For a cocktail users it is ideal as it has MAME's rotation and cocktail features.  I think the only knock on it is that it is sort of a "jack of all trades master of none" kind of emulator.  I haven't used it much for SNES or Genesis though.  Huge MESS Fan!!

[ErikRuud]

This seems like a good reason not to use MESS for Odyssey2 emulation.

[gonzo90017]

I was thinking specifically SNES and Genesis, due to the fact that MAME can bind two button presses to an exit key, while Fusion and zsnes can't.

You could always use Closemul.

[joebells]

is mess actually fairly useable for alot of systems now? last time I tried it a year or two ago it wasn't great for things like snes or genesis. When they get all the Nintendo and Sega Systems working really well then I might switch.

Also what about filters and such. I run my emulators on a 55" tv and the filters are nice.

[Ummon]

is mess actually fairly useable for alot of systems now? last time I tried it a year or two ago it wasn't great for things like snes or genesis. When they get all the Nintendo and Sega Systems working really well then I might switch.

Also what about filters and such. I run my emulators on a 55" tv and the filters are nice.

I think, aside from atari, the big popular consoles aren't of that much interest to the MESS devs, but rather the computers and odd systems.

This seems like a good reason not to use MESS for Odyssey2 emulation.

I don't often mess with console systems and haven't touched MESS for a long time. I know that the MAME video rewrite affected it, and you need a beefier system in similar fashion to run newer versions. Plus, for Vectrex, they screwed up the auto overlay loading. Might be fixed now, who knows.

[btoddkelley]

This seems like a good reason not to use MESS for Odyssey2 emulation.

You might want to check the mess site, big updates to the odyssey 2 should be in the next release. It looks like the "not working 100%" has been fixed. I personally think any system that mess supports well should be used rather than stand alone emu's. It makes a cab much easier to modify. (controls ect.)

Todd

[ErikRuud]

I'll keep an eye on it, but that screen shot came from the current release.

This seems like a good reason not to use MESS for Odyssey2 emulation.

You might want to check the mess site, big updates to the odyssey 2 should be in the next release. It looks like the "not working 100%" has been fixed. I personally think any system that mess supports well should be used rather than stand alone emu's. It makes a cab much easier to modify. (controls ect.)

Todd