MAMEWAH v1.6+ Basic Setup Guide

This is a brief setup guide, which while not exhaustive, in conjunction with the other docs (more about these later) should be enough to get MAMEWAH up and running, and customised to some extent.  If you are used to previous versions of MAMEWAH, please read this guide anyway, as this version of MAMEWAH is different to all previous versions in some *major* ways.

1) General Configuration

If you take a look in your MAMEWAH installation folder, you should see 'mamewah.ini'.  This file contains all general or global settings, and after installation is populated with default values.  You do not need to alter any of these settings (unless you wish to, in which case consult \docs\ini.txt to help).  If you ever wish to regenerate a fresh version of this file, simply delete it and run MAMEWAH.  Note that this file is re-saved by MAMEWAH each time it is run (unrecognised values will be replaced automatically by default values).

2) Configuring Emulators

There are two main parts to configuring emulators in MAMEWAH.  Firstly, you must have an ini file per emulator, which contains all emulator-specific settings (note: not list-specific settings, more on this later).  If you take a look in your \ini folder, you should see mame.ini - open this up and go through replacing values appropriately (again read \docs\ini.txt for help with this).  While this file is pre-configured as much as possible, filenames and paths will need to be altered, along with any other personal settings you may wish to adjust.  These emulator specific ini files are treated much the same as mamewah.ini, except that if you ever wish to regenerate a fresh version, you must delete the contents of the file, or place a blank file (named appropriately, eg mame.ini) in the \ini folder, and run MAMEWAH - the file will again be populated with default settings.

The second step to configuring emulators is the list-specific settings.  Look in the \ini folder and you should see mame-0.ini and mame-1.ini.  These files differ slightly in that mame-0.ini refers to the Main List (this is not filterable and is of fixed type), and mame-1.ini refers to Custom List 1 (all lists >0 offer more configuration options).  For starters don't worry too much about configuring these files, when you are ready to do so read \docs\ini.txt to help out.  List-specific ini files can be generated the same as the emuname.ini files above...simply place blank text files (appropriately named) in the \ini folder and run MAMEWAH.

3) Getting up and Running

Assuming you have completed the above, for at least 1 emulator and 1 list, you should now be ready to get stuck in...here's what to do (default ctrlr assumed):

a) Launch MAMEWAH
b) Hit '2' to bring up the Options menu
c) Use the down cursor key to select 'Games List Options', hit '1' to select
d) Use the down cursor key to select 'Generate List', hit '1' to select

After a short delay you should see a list of your games!  Now you can simply navigate the list and hit '1' to start any game.  Please read \ctrlr\default.ini and \docs\ctrlr.txt for details on the default input mappings (& how to modify them).

Here is a full list of the available options in the Options menu:

Select Platform			- use this to select the current emulator (if you have >1)
Select Games List		- use this to select a custom list (if you have >1)
Find Game			- use this to find a specific game, by entering the name letter-by-letter
Select Random Game		- select a random game
Games List Options		
 > Add Game to List		- add selected game to a custom list (selectable)
 > Remove Game from List	- remove selected game from current list
 > Generate List		- generate the list using the List Generation Method & settings in emuname.ini (MAIN LIST ONLY)
 > Generate Filtered List...	- generate list using available filters (CUSTOM LISTS ONLY)
Music Options
 > Next Track			- }
 > Previous Track		- } control music playback (if setup in mamewah.ini or emuname.ini)
 > Fast Forward			- }
 > Rewind			- }
Launch External Application	- use this to launch an application (if setup in emuname.ini)
Exit MAMEWAH
 > Exit to Windows		- }
 > Exit & Run App		- } pretty obvious!
 > Exit & Reboot		- }
 > Exit & Shut-Down		- }

Please note that there are shortcuts available for many of these options - again see \ctrlr\default.ini and \docs\ctrlr.txt for details.

4) Further Tweaking

If you wish to change the appearance of MAMEWAH (or add sounds), you need to change the Layout.  Please consult \docs\layouts.txt for details on how this works.  If you wish to remap keys/inputs for controlling MAMEWAH, please see \ctrlr\default.ini and \docs\ctrlr.txt.  For tips on how to improve performance see \docs\tips.txt.

That's it for now...if anyone with a good grasp of English and this version of MAMEWAH would like to write a more detailed manual, please let me know!

Good luck & have fun! :)



Credits & Thanks:

MAMEWorld. (http://www.mameworld.net) - many thanks to RocLobsta & co for hosting my site :)

John Crouse (http://home.comcast.net/~cpviewer) - thanks for your sample emulator ini files, utilities and general helping out :)

paintlib (http://www.paintlib.de/paintlib) - MAMEWAH uses paintX.dll, which contains paintlib code.  paintlib is copyright (c) 1996-2002 Ulrich von Zadow and other contributors.

Thanks for various reasons to all who appear in my links page at http://mamewah.mameworld.net/links.html

And finally, thanks to all who have used this program and submitted bug reports / suggestions :)