Support for MAME in-game background artwork?

[Koop]

Certain MAME games utilize or even require a background image while playing. I am referring to the artwork that is displayed beneath the computer generated graphics of some games. It was used to enhance the look of the game by providing an interesting background image that didn't need to be rendered by the computer. I think Asteroids was a game that used one. Warriors is an example of one that is "required" because without it you cannot see the pits of the game playfield that you need to avoid. I asked over at EmuMovies where to download these backgrounds and I was told that it is contained in the "artwork" packages. However, I'm unclear where I need to put these files in order for GameEx to utilize them. It setup under Mame Settings there is a place to put in the path for the "artwork preview", but not for the normal Artwork. I can't seem to find a setting for that. Anyone know how to handle these files? Thanks.

[Koop]

I just wanted to add that I see the "background snap path " option, but from the description I think that is referring to the background image seen while browsing GameEx, not the background displayed during the game.

[AlphaUMi]

Koop, if I understood correctly, your question regards MAME's working, not GameEx. Anyway, I've never investigated this subject, so I'm not able to help. But wait... as usual someone of the crew will provide wise suggestions...

[nullPointer]

As AlphaUMi stated, MAME artwork is configured within MAME rather than GameEx. Typically the MAME artwork should go into an ‘artwork’ sub-directory located in the same directory as your MAME executable. If you access the MAME settings menu (typically using the tab key), all available artwork configurations are located under the ‘Video Options’ menu. There you will find any available alternate bezels, overlays, etc. available for the game that’s currently loaded. I’m away from my emulation rig, so I’m kind of working from memory here.

There’s a fantastic MAME Artwork FAQ over at Mr. Dos Arcade naturally (although that particular site is blocked on the machine I’m using, so hopefully the link works). Give that FAQ a read and it should put you on the right track.

I haven’t figured out if there’s a way to use the GameEx bezel settings in combination with MAME artwork though. In other words it would be cool if GameEx could determine whether a bezel was already being applied by MAME, and if so use the MAME artwork, otherwise apply the GameEx bezel. If anyone is already doing that, I’d love to hear how they pulled it off.

[Adultery]

Aside from making the zip with the artwork in it yourself theres not. Keep in mind that unless you disable GameEx bezel your MAME bezels won't show up (at least I am pretty sure).

[nullPointer]

Aside from making the zip with the artwork in it yourself theres not. Keep in mind that unless you disable GameEx bezel your MAME bezels won't show up (at least I am pretty sure).

That’s coincides with my findings as well. That’s what I was attempting to describe above (however poorly ). It would be neat if you could get the best of both worlds, where I could run GameEx with bezels enabled, but GameEx would only display the GameEx bezel (where applicable) when there was no other MAME artwork available through MAME (or artwork exists, but is not configured to display within MAME).

On the other hand, it might be like asking GameEx to anticipate what MAME is going to do before it does it, which could quickly become unmanageable. I thought about making a feature request, but I’ve already made a couple of requests recently, and wouldn’t want to be accused of spamming (or asking too much of Tom) .

[Koop]

Thanks everyone. I wasn't thinking of this from the perspective of being solely a MAME issue and not GameEx, but you are correct that it is. I was lumping it in with all the other artwork configuration settings that GameEx has. But thanks for the advice. When I get to my MAME computer later tonight I'll see if I can figure it out, but it sounds like you've answered my question and that guide looks helpful too. I'll report back if I can't get it working.

[Koop]

Backgrounds are working, though this has brought up another question. How can I change the default view to be "cropped". According to the guide linked above you can do this on a per game basis, but I'd like the default view for all games to be "cropped" instead of "full". This is because some games like Warrior are very small when all of the surrounding bezel artwork is displayed. I'm going to research that and post the results, but if anyone knows how to it, then let me know.

[Koop]

Well that didn't take long. I just added the argument "-artcrop" to the command line (MAME Options under Advanced MAME Settings). From there the default is cropped so you get the full size of the game field and you can always change the settings to FULL, but I imagine that the next time you launch the game it would start out as "cropped" again. So I guess this isn't a complete solution, but it works for me.

FYI, this is what gave me the answer:

http://mamedev.org/source/docs/config.txt.html

[Adultery]

Sorry I coulda told ya that too.

Edited August 16, 2012 by Draco1962
This thread is now closed. If the problem re-occurs, please start a new thread.