chooka1

First, Thanks to everyone for all the help in my other posts. The folks on this forum have been great. I really appreciate it. A couple of questions. 1) As some of you know from my other posts, I have had trouble with choppiness and sound on MAME via GAME EX. The solution I found is I can make everything run pretty smoothly by running the new dos version of MAME .122 instead of using MAME FX. However, it doesnt track hi scores and I am having some config issues. Is there a way (probably not) to easily be able to switch between which MAME GAME EX loads? RIght now, I just go into advanced setup and point GAME EX towards the different files. I realize a solution is to compile MAME and many of you have offered guidance on how to do so. That may be my next project. 2) Tweak questions. a) On the new version of MAME. Marvel Super Heroes volume is noticeably quieter than when I run it via MAME FX. I hit the volume key and it is at 0db, so I ruled out that the volume was somehow turned down by MAME. Any ideas on how to increase it? I have a trackball and I want to use that with Terminator II. It works fine on MAME FX but on the new MAME, I can only get it to go up and down and not left and right. Thanks guys! Chad P.S. I hope to be able to help others someday instead of asking people for help!

Ben Kenobi, Is there a thread or FAQ on how to first do the compiling? Is the way it works that you run a compile (not quite sure what that means) and then run these patches discussed in the thread to add features? IS there a good guide for morons like me on how to do this? Thanks for going above and beyond! Chad

Ben Kenobi, Thanks....I took a quick look at it. Hmm...I'm not the best at computers and I am having trouble following exactly what to do, especially because there seems to be a discussion about what works and doesnt work. Ill read it again and see if I can figure it out. If I do, what exactly does compling do for MAME? Is the current version .122 a "64 bit" version for purposes of that thread? Worst case I can live without the hi score saves. The only other lingering problem is getting the trackball to move left and right on T2. Many thanks...you have been an awesome help. Thanks again! Chad

Ben Kenobi and shaunopp: Thank you both for your help. We are down to the nitty gritty and I really appreciate the help getting there. I like the idea of the compiler but I have never done any compiling. Is there an FAQ quide on how to do it and what programs I should download? I am very nervouse about screwing everything up! Thank you again! Chad

Guys, just about there....downloaded MAME u122 and it seems to work much better with -waitvsync and -tripplebuffer. Thank you. IF I may indulge you for just a little more help... 1) With the new MAME I need to reconfigure some of the games. Terminator 2 problems. 1) Two "add on" reticles appear that dont seem part of the game. 2) I have a trackball and it only moves the recticle up and down not left to right. Worked fine before, any ideas? 2) I cant get the hi score to work. I downloaded the latest version: http://www.mameworld.net/highscore/download.htm which appears to maybe only support up to u113. Any workarounds or is that just a problem? 3) Finally, on GAME EX menu the arrow (from the mouse) appears every now and then and disapears when I move the joystick. Any way to avoid that? 4) Last...how do I tell which version of MAME my roms are designed for? Many thanks!I really appreciate it! Chad Chad

Ben kenobi, Sorry if I wasnt clear. My other mame is on an external hard drive which I hooked up to the new arcade machine and it had trouble running on the new arcade machine. The new machine has more memory on board but no additional graphics card like the old unit. The old unit is attached to a monitor and the new one attached to a TV. I will try and hook up the external hard drive again and see if it runs better for some reason. Thanks!

Great idea...thank you. I have an LCD, any problems with using that command on an LCD? Can you point me in the direction of how I can learn to do individual .ini files if your suggestion works? Many thanks! Chad

Ben Kenobi, Thank you for your time and patience. It's frustrating as MAME works great on my computer upstairs but not on the new computer arcade downstairs. I downloaded the new version of MAME (u.122 I think) and it seemed to run better. Metal Gear X (my test game) ran better---sound OK, no real tearing but the background screen images didnt scroll super smoothly like they do on my upstairs unit. The other small problem is I copied the high score dat file into the new MAME directory and scores arent being recorded. Any ideas? Dumb question, but how do I determine if my roms are also .120? Can I download the old .120 MAME from the MAME website? Other possible solutions, I could change the bios and allocate 128 mb to the onboard video card instead of the current 64mb? I could also look into a graphics card (my upstairs computer has one)? Thank you again! Chad

Ben Kenobi, Back again...thank you for the help. Problem is with both MAME FX and GAMEEX. Vesion installed is Mame32fx 0.120 (Oct 15, 2007) I notice when I run Mame32x from the desktop, a graphical version opens up and I can select the games there. GAME EX runs the same program but no graphical version opens up. SHould I be using a command run MAME (E.g. vanialla mame or something like that) so I am not using GAME EX to open a graphical version of MAME that might use extra processing power? Can you recommend another version of MAME to download and try? The command line in GAME EX is: -skip-gameinfo(not sure if that is necessary) -tripplebuffer -nowindow -joy -video d3d Anything else you recommend? Thank you so much! Chad

BenKenobi, Thanks...you have been an awesome help. I am out of town at the moment but I will check tomorrow night when I get back. I believe the problem is with both MAME FX and GAMEEX. I will let you know...thank you! This problem is the one things keeping me from enjoying my new arcade. Many thanks! Chad

Thank you for the help. I tried both of them. If I use video d3d and triple buffer, the music/sound fx is stuttering. I tried video -ddraw with -triplebuffer and no stuttering but when the screen would scroll as the character moved instead of horizontal tearing (like whne triplebuffer is not used), horizontal "wavy" lines would apperar as it moved. Please keep the ideas coming...I will try all of them! Chad

1 gig of ram. Stock default in bios is 64mb for the video card. Playing around a little more it definetly is either stuttering music (with triplebuffer on) or clear music but tearing (no triplebuffer). Thank you for the help!

1 gig of ram. I will have to check how much is allocated to the video card. Do you know how I check? Thanks!!!

Ben Kenobi, The computer the seller installed is a stock 2.2ghz Dell with no video card. He told me it wouldnt matter since MAME uses the regular processor power. If it would make a difference, I would certaintly buy a video card. Because I dont have a video card, are there any commands I shouldnt use in the command line? Because the games run fine under MAME FX, I am guessing I just need to figure out how to duplicate the FX settings in the GAME EX command line. Does that make sense or does GAME EX use up a bunch of processing power? Thank you, as always, for your help!

Ben Kenobi, Thanks--again--for the response. I have a dell 2.20 ghz machine with 1 gig of ram. I havent yet tried the -d3d and -tripplebuffer commands together. I wil try them tonight. Thank you for the help!! Chad

Dumb question, how do you play with the refresh rate of the monitor? I am using a 32 inch LCD VIZIO in an arcade cabinet? The games work fine when I run them in MAME32FX, so I wonder if the extra processing required for the GAMEEX is causing trouble or if I just don't have the right commands in the GAMEEX MAME Command Line. Should I try -tripplebuffer -direct3d (whatever the command is) -joy (anything else)? Many thanks..I really appreciate the help from everyone.

Thank you...I removed tripple buffer and the sound worked great. However, there seems to be video tearing now. Any ideas? Thank you so much for the helP!

Folks, Im a newbie registered user. WHen I run games like the ones mentioned in the subject line, the sound stutters. If I go out of GAME EX and run the games directly through MAME 32X, no problem. I downgraded the sounds samples to 41000. No luck? Any ideas? Thanks in advance! Chad

Ben Kenobi, Thank you for your help! I will give it a try and hopefully wont have to ask for further help! Chad

Fellow Gamers, I looked at the FAQ and I thought I followed the directions for Galaga fast shoot and other imperfect games. Settings: Show All Mame Games Only Working Allow Imperfect Show clones only if better I then updated the list and no Galaga fast shoot. Any ideas? Also, any way to get rid of the "media center" on the first menu? Sorry, if these are basic questions. Chad

Thanks in advance for the help. I noticed on regular MAME Galaga (fast shooter) is available but is not on Game EX under all MAME games. I enabled all games to be displayed (clones, etc) under advanced settings and I ran the update list but I still can't see it. Any ideas? Also, when I set the attract mode to include videos, the screen goes black and Game EX locks up and requires a three key reset. Strange things is I use the same directory for the startup video. Any ideas? Finally, as an aside, anyone know how to get a spinner to work on Arkanoid? My trackball and joystick work but I cant get the spinner to work. Thanks for helping out a newbie. Chad