Basic High Score explanation?

[mark6437]

I tried reading as many posts about high score as I could. None of them made much sense to me though.

So I put highscore.dat in my mame directory. Some high scores save but some dont. Robotron saves, donkey kong doesnt etc...

I am using .125 about to upgrade to .126

Can someone give me a basic explanation of why some games work and some dont? Is there an easy way to make em all work?

Thx
Mark

[CathalDublin]

I had similar trouble with mame
updated to mameplus and havent looked back since

[TheShanMan]

What it boils down to is games which didn't retain high scores when they were powered off will not retain them in mame when you exit. However, you can easily compile your own mame with a patch that causes high scores on those games to be saved. The high score support is no longer in mame itself because mame is all about accurately emulating the games, and obviously it wouldn't be accurate to save high scores in those games.

Anyway, grab the hiscore patch from the SW forum sticky thread, download Mame Compiler created by headkaze (there's a non-sticky thread in the SW forum), download mame source, apply the patch using Mame Compiler, then compile it with Mame Compiler.

Of course you also need the hiscore.dat file too, but you already know that.

[Ginsu Victim]

I simply have two buttons hidden under my CP.

Save State

Load State

Solves the problem without much fuss.

[Jdurg]

I simply have two buttons hidden under my CP.

Save State

Load State

Solves the problem without much fuss.

Yeah, that works great as long as the driver your game is on supports the Save State feature, AND you don't upgrade your version of MAME.  Save States tend to crap out more frequently than a tourist in Mexico who drank the water.  :p

I've actually found that compiling MAME is pretty easy, and once you start really digging into it you can customize the program a little bit to your own liking.  (Like for me when it comes to labelling the controller inputs in games I play frequently so that I see the buttons as "High Punch", "Low Punch", etc. etc. instead of Button 1, Button 2....   

[u_rebelscum]

Can someone give me a basic explanation of why some games work and some dont? Is there an easy way to make em all work?

To answer in reverse:
No, not all games in official mame.  (see below)

My basic is pretty long:
Case 1: Original machine saved all high scores when it was turned off.
If mame properly emulates the game, mame will save the high scores, too.

Case 2: Original machine saved some high scores when it was turned off.
If mame properly emulates the game, mame by default will save the same high scores and not save the same high scores as the original game (example: one game might same just the top 3 of the top 10 list).

Case 3: Original machine did not save high scores when it was turned off.
Mame by default will not save the high score, also.

Summary of three cases: Mame by default will emulate the original game's save high score, and exiting the game is like turning off the machine.

Now, if you want to save the high score even though the original machine didn't (cases 2 & 3), there are three ways to do so:

Method 1: use auto save state
Emulates like you left the machine on when you exit the game, and starts off where you last exited when you start up the game again.  (Sometimes manual save state works even when auto statestate doesn't.)
Problems: not all games support auto save state, a saved game probably won't work in a different version of mame if any part of the emulation was changed (such the cpu, sound, video, or game driver).  (If used manual save state because auto doesn't work, might cause crashes or wierd behivior, and even higher chance won't work on newer/older version of mame.)

Method 2: use the hiscore.dat file official mame removed
The file is a list of games and the memory locations that holds the high scores, and the contents of that memory location (IOW, the high scores) are saved on exit are dropped back in at restartup.
Problems: need to CYO or use a devivative of mame, can cause crashes or other wierd behivior (the reason it was dropped from official mame), if a game is not on the list it won't be saved, sometimes a score doesn't work on newer mame (much rarer that savestate though).

Method 3: use some other way
Including screen snaps, photographs, video, writing on dry erase board.  Works on all games.
Problems: "not the same"

[mark6437]

I simply have two buttons hidden under my CP.

Save State

Load State

Solves the problem without much fuss.

Yeah, that works great as long as the driver your game is on supports the Save State feature, AND you don't upgrade your version of MAME.  Save States tend to crap out more frequently than a tourist in Mexico who drank the water.  :p

I've actually found that compiling MAME is pretty easy, and once you start really digging into it you can customize the program a little bit to your own liking.  (Like for me when it comes to labelling the controller inputs in games I play frequently so that I see the buttons as "High Punch", "Low Punch", etc. etc. instead of Button 1, Button 2....   

Sweet! I did not even know you could do that. I gotta try that.

Ok well I guess I will attempt to compile my own MAME.

Hold on boys, I am going in!

[mark6437]

I had similar trouble with mame
updated to mameplus and havent looked back since

What version of MAME is MAMEPLUS based on?

[Jdurg]

I simply have two buttons hidden under my CP.

Save State

Load State

Solves the problem without much fuss.

Yeah, that works great as long as the driver your game is on supports the Save State feature, AND you don't upgrade your version of MAME.  Save States tend to crap out more frequently than a tourist in Mexico who drank the water.  :p

I've actually found that compiling MAME is pretty easy, and once you start really digging into it you can customize the program a little bit to your own liking.  (Like for me when it comes to labelling the controller inputs in games I play frequently so that I see the buttons as "High Punch", "Low Punch", etc. etc. instead of Button 1, Button 2....   

Sweet! I did not even know you could do that. I gotta try that.

Ok well I guess I will attempt to compile my own MAME.

Hold on boys, I am going in!

Yup.  But you'll have to dig around the source code to find out where that information is held so it means opening, editing, saving, and closing quite a few drivers if you want to do that on all of your games.  Therefore, I only do it on games where it's a bit confusing such as the MK games.

[mark6437]

Ok the compiling thing is over my head. I am gunna use MAME Plus. Thx for the suggestion!

[TheShanMan]

Really? You looked at headkaze's Mame Compiler post and you couldn't figure it out? If something in particular puzzles you, ask about it. Compiling with his program really is super simple.

Not trying to steer you away from MAME Plus (I know almost nothing about it), but I'm just surprised at your reaction to compiling.

Good luck either way!

[Ummon]

Isn't mameplus have a GUI? If so, and are going that route, you have another option: MameUIFX32. Of course, one of the main reasons people go for plus is the different effects features...and I think net play....neither of which I care for so I use FX.

[Tafoid]

Isn't mameplus have a GUI? If so, and are going that route, you have another option: MameUIFX32. Of course, one of the main reasons people go for plus is the different effects features...and I think net play....neither of which I care for so I use FX.

Effects, yes.  Netplay (kaillera?) - no.  That was a build called Mame Plus Plus (++) which publicly died some months ago and had to go underground due to it's abuse and disregard of the MAME source license.  They not only added the closed source Kaillera stuff and Zinc plug-ins, they added games which were too new as well games which manufacturers has requested taken out of MAME.  MAME Plus, to it's credit, also adds a bunch of console functionality to it (via MESS) such as many classic Atari, Nintendo and Sega systems.