Noob help with MAME

[Jamie64326]

So I want to start playing arcade games on my PC, and I've known about MAME for years. So over the course of knowing about MAME, I've only been able to get one game running and that was Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. So now it's been a while since then, and I need help starting out with the emulator.

So here is what I've done so far. I've downloaded MAME (can't remember where), and it's 0166b, and I've got myself Puzzle Bobble. It wouldn't start because apparently it has missing ROM files or CHD files, so I thought I'd look with a Google search, and got confused reading some of the stuff, but managed to see that Neo-Geo games require the bios, which in directory terms is neogeo.zip, which I got a hold of and placed inside the ROM directory of MAME. So after that, I'd thought I'd try it again, and still nothing. Can someone help a noob out please, as MAME to me has been one of the most confusing emulators I've ever experienced. I know it'll be a good experience once I get used to it.

[Zorlon]

You can use FBA instead of MAME that is far from user friendly, that and MAME may be a bit slow for some of the newer games and it does have a lot of WIP drivers that can't play some of the games in the large list of supported games in MAME

As for the issue you have, you possibly just don't have the parent rom or if you got the Neo Geo version you will be missing the Neo-Geo bios rom or maybe both the parent and that bios image

P.S. if you are using a gui version of mame (like MameUI) you can right click on any game and hit the audit option it will then tell you exactly what you are missing and where it looks (it lists folders as a location but this means zip files not actual folders)

[Jamie64326]

Right I don't know if this image helps you see what type of MAME I'm using but here it is.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4hcfq0dm.png

Also like I said I downloaded what I believed where the Neo-Geo bios files and got told to put it in the ROM folder of MAME. Also where I downloaded Puzzle Bobble it was known as this on the site. Puzzle Bobble / Bust-A-Move (Neo-Geo) (NGM-083). I'd like to add also that I got it working with FBA, but of course I'm still want to get MAME working as well. Thanks for telling me about FBA.

[Zorlon]

http://www.progettosnaps.net/mameui/ <- grab a gui version of MAME
or you can get IV/Play from http://www.mameui.info/

The first link is an unofficial page of MAMEUI but has 32bit versions as well as the 64bit versions the second link is the official MAMEUI page but they only build the 64bit version now but they have the IV/Play front end, up to you what you get

What you have is the official command line version for windows

[Jamie64326]

So I want to ask some more things, just to make things more clear for me. When downloading an arcade game, do you always need the parent ROM? I've done this just a moment ago, but just wanted to ask to make sure. Also, when MAME says there are files missing, is the due to the lack of a parent ROM file?

[Rodimus Primal]

With MAME, you always must have the parent ROM. It's annoying sure, but the idea is that the various versions of one game can share files with each other. Some games require the separate bios files like Neo Geo or ZN1. Some older games that have sound driver issues (like Congo Bongo or Zaxxon) need extra files for samples for them to sound properly. And in addition to ROM files, some games used a hard drive to store information. Those games, like Street Fighter III or Gauntlet Legends, require a CHD file to run as well.

[Zorlon]

So I want to ask some more things, just to make things more clear for me. When downloading an arcade game, do you always need the parent ROM? I've done this just a moment ago, but just wanted to ask to make sure. Also, when MAME says there are files missing, is the due to the lack of a parent ROM file?

Yes you will always need the parent rom

sub roms aka alt regional or different revisions will only contain the parts that are different from the parent rom but will still use parts of the parent rom to run

there are also hack roms around that would also need the original parent rom to be able to run

When mame says there is something missing no it is not always the parent rom, it could be a chd or just that there is a newer dump of the rom and you have an older dump, best to get a gui version of mame and audit games that say they are missing something so you know exactly what that something is and where it looks for them

[Jamie64326]

Right thank you for the help. Also Emuparadise is also a good help when you go to downloading the game, because it tells you about the parent and chd files it needs

[Zorlon]

Mostly yeah there is still the odd needed rom not listed as required like the sound chip rom for CPS2 games, but can cross that bridge when you need to

[Jamie64326]

I just come across another problem. I'm trying to run two Namco classics, Galaga and Dig Dug. With both of them, it's saying when I click on the audit, Romset not found and when I did try and load them both up, they were saying 51xx.bin and 54xx.bin are missing for Galaga, and 51xx.bin and 53xx.bin are missing for Dig Dug.

[Zorlon]

http://www.emuparadise.me/M.A.M.E._-...rting-With-N/7

Grab all the ones named namco## and namcoc## all are shared rom files used by a number of older namco games

Hint if you audit a rom it should of said something like

" 51xx.bin NOT FOUND (tried in galaga namco51)"
" 54xx.bin NOT FOUND (tried in galaga namco54)"

galaga is obviously the games rom
namco51 is a different rom
namco54 is another rom also

[Jamie64326]

Thank you once again. I'm curious though, how come when I went to audit the games, it didn't come up with the missing files, but said Romset not found?

[Zorlon]

Can't say I have ever noticed that so a new one on me :/