Changing Mame32, anyone try this?

[PkingRoch]

I'm thinking of changing Mame32, but with all the varients of MAME out there, I thought I would ask if anyone else has done this first.  Here's what I want:

• Mame32 FE - I'm not that picky about picking games, but I don't want cmdline.
• AdvanceMame video modes - I want to use that D9200.
• Mame32 for sound and controller support - AdvanceMame doesn't work easily with my setup, but Mame32 is perfect.

So, has anyone tried this variation?  I haven't poked into the source much, but I'm assuming that most of the video routines can be picked up from AdvanceMame and moved into Mame32 without much hassle.  This is really all I want to get to, AdvanceMame's video in with Mame32.

Any advice?

[Jakobud]

You should just get rid of using Mame32 all together.  Mame32 is a wierd hack of Mame.  Just get a real frontend and run the official windows build of Mame (or Adv Mame for you maybe).

[PkingRoch]

ok - I guess I asked for it.  

That was advice, but it really didn't have anything to do with my question.  Perhaps you can educate me about what is wierd and hacky in Mame32?  Here's your chance to educate me!

Note - I'm not going to debate you about this.  This is a chance for you to teach me something.  If you have something substantial to say that will convince me of the same then I want to hear it.  If this is just a whine post about FE XXX being SUPER AWESOME, then don't bother.

[Howard_Casto]

1.  Mame32 is fugly.  

2. Mame32 uses non-standard config files.

3.  Because of #2 many of the advanced mame options are missing, buried, or hacked to work differently.

4.  Because of the fugly gui, many options are a few versions late to appear because someone has to make a nifty checkbox for them.  


Any other questions?
 

[kq]

Mame32 works perfectly fine for me. Maybe I don't get into all the nitty gritty stuff or whatever. When I've wanted to play a game, I click on it and it plays. That's enough for me.

I guess it all comes down to what's comfortable for people and what works for them. --- If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
 

[Minwah]

So, really you just want MAME32 with AdvanceMAME video modes?

I haven't heard of such a thing yet, but I expect someone might build a AdvanceMAME32 some day.  I know 'MAME32 Plus' has some extra video options, for stretching and the like, but not 'advanced' video mode stuff I don't think.

I think the only way atm is to use AdvanceMAME with a FE.  It sounds like you don't like the FE's featured here but you could get a Windozy FE like EmuLoader for example.  You probably wouldn't ever need to use a commandline for this to work fine, and you should be able to configure AdvanceMAME for your sound/controls with a few minutes work.

[Minwah]

Oh, and I don't know for sure, but I expect using code from AdvanceMAME in MAME32 would be difficult since AdvanceMAME has it's own config files etc. - it may be a bit more involved than it first seems.

Have a go though

[PkingRoch]

So, really you just want MAME32 with AdvanceMAME video modes?

Yeah, that's it!

I know 'MAME32 Plus' has some extra video options, for stretching and the like, but not 'advanced' video mode stuff I don't think.

I haven't heard of this one - can you leave me a link?

I think the only way atm is to use AdvanceMAME with a FE.  It sounds like you don't like the FE's featured here but you could get a Windozy FE like EmuLoader for example.  You probably wouldn't ever need to use a commandline for this to work fine, and you should be able to configure AdvanceMAME for your sound/controls with a few minutes work.

I don't really have a problem with FE's mentioned here.  I prefer to use Mame32 because the sound emulation with my setup is perfect.  AdvanceMame garbles too many games - perhaps there is a setting for the sound that I don't have inserted correctly.  Additionally, I can't figure out how to make my trackball and spinner work with AdvanceMame, any ideas?

Thanks for your help,
Paul

[Spaced Invader]

The home page appears to be down ATM but you can D/L from Zophars Domain (lots of different versions there); just scroll toward the middle of the page.

http://www.zophar.net/mame.html

Hope this helps! And remember, opinions vary!

[Minwah]

I don't really have a problem with FE's mentioned here.  I prefer to use Mame32 because the sound emulation with my setup is perfect.  AdvanceMame garbles too many games - perhaps there is a setting for the sound that I don't have inserted correctly.  Additionally, I can't figure out how to make my trackball and spinner work with AdvanceMame, any ideas?

Well if the sound works fine in MAME32, I would say it *should* be possible to get the sound working fine in AdvanceMAME.  Are you using the DOS version maybe?

To get the trackball/spinner working in AdvanceMAME you will probably have to alter a config file slightly.  I don't have much experience with AdvanceMAME, but the file you need to edit is the equivalent of standard MAME's MAME.INI (from memory the file has the extension '.RC').  There will be a line that says 'mouse 0' or something along those lines - change to 'mouse 1' to get your spinner / trackball working.

Hope that helps...

[PkingRoch]

Well if the sound works fine in MAME32, I would say it *should* be possible to get the sound working fine in AdvanceMAME.  Are you using the DOS version maybe?

Nope, using the windows version.

To get the trackball/spinner working in AdvanceMAME you will probably have to alter a config file slightly.  I don't have much experience with AdvanceMAME, but the file you need to edit is the equivalent of standard MAME's MAME.INI (from memory the file has the extension '.RC').  There will be a line that says 'mouse 0' or something along those lines - change to 'mouse 1' to get your spinner / trackball working.

I didn't edit the config files directly, I just remapped some of the games using the 'Change input for this game' method or whatever it is called from hitting the tab key in game.  When I tried to roll the trackball, nothing changed on the input screens.  I'll take a look at the mouse 0, mouse 1 thing and see if I can get that to make a difference for the mouse.

It may be easier to change the sound in AdvanceMame than the video in Mame32, but at least Mame32 has a FE built in.  I need to spend more time with the source code to see what is involved.  I just thought I would try a 'has anybody ever...' thread here before I dove into it.  It seems this is a hobby that never ends; I thought I would be done with this when I finished the cab  

[Minwah]

You must set 'mouse 1' or MAME will simply not have mouse input enabled.  That one is easy.

There are several things that could affect your sound.  Again, adjusting things in the config file will be neccessary.  As well as adjusting sound options, I expect some performance-affecting options may need to be tweaked.

You said 'at least Mame32 has a FE built in', but as I say you could use a separate FE which is capable of everything MAME32 can do and more.

I think the above route will in the long run be much quicker and easier than trying to make your own build - you'll have to do this every new MAME release remember.

[PkingRoch]

You must set 'mouse 1' or MAME will simply not have mouse input enabled.  That one is easy.

Yep - I got that one worked out...

There are several things that could affect your sound.  Again, adjusting things in the config file will be neccessary.  As well as adjusting sound options, I expect some performance-affecting options may need to be tweaked.

Some of the sound worked it's way out when I picked up the samples directory, some are perfect, some are still a mess.  What sort of performance options do you think I need to tweak?  I'm leaning toward this being a problem with the weak sound emulation on my MB.  I'm going to throw a SoundBlaster card in the machine and see if that helps clear things up.

You said 'at least Mame32 has a FE built in', but as I say you could use a separate FE which is capable of everything MAME32 can do and more.

Yes, I know this, but I really would like to stay away from yet another piece of SW to configure.  I know it's an excuse, but unless I can get AdvanceMame to clear up on my sound, then the whole point of a FE doesn't really matter much.  I will not play my games with AdvanceMame with the sound being poor in some of the games.  For example, Donkey Kong and Robotron on pretty garbled, but games like PacMan, Millipede and Wheel of Fortune (kid fav) are perfect.

Thanks for your continued help,
Paul