Rules, Guides and MAP File

[GimmeClassics]

Welcome to our GameEx Hi-Score Competition !!

Because we want everybody to participate in a fair Hi-Score competition there are some basic rules we would like you to follow when submitting your Hi-Score.

Don't worry, it's pretty straightforward To make it even more easy we've also created a few guides:

# Guide > Making sure Mame is using the correct settings
# Guide > Take a snapshot of your Mame Hi-Score Screen or use Adultery's Hi-Score Snapper tool (recommended)
# Extra Guide > Use a Customized Hi-Score MAP File; this MAP file is for use with GameEx which allows you to have a customized version of the ROM list displaying ONLY those games included in our competition

Rules for submitting your hi-score
1) Use the correct (dip-switch) settings when playing your Mame-game
Look for the Hi-Score Competition-thread of the game you want to play and read post #1 for the settings you have to use when you want to submit your hi-score.
2) Only use 1 credit per game || Continues are NOT allowed *
3) Submit a screenshot of your hi-score screen
4) Be honorable and play with no cheats or hacks
5) You're allowed to submit as many hi-scores as you like **

* When continues are not available (e.g. Donkey Kong) the use of more credits are allowed but we still prefer the use of 1 credit . This prevents us having to check each game for the availability of continues.

** In post #1 of each Hi-Score Competition thread a Hi-Score Table is shown with the top hi-score of each player. You're allowed to submit as many hi-scores as you want. Your personal best score will be shown in the Hi-Score Table. This will prevent having a 'top player' populate the entire hi-score table. In other words: you can beat your score and we will update the table showing your personal best score.

# Please read this short walkthrough before submitting your hi-score:

1) Use the correct settings and play your game
a. Look for the Hi-Score Competition-thread of the game you want to play
b. Read post #1 for the (dip-switch) settings you have to use when you want to sumbit your hi-score
c. Start the Mame-game of your choice and follow this guide (> link) to make sure Mame uses the correct dip-switch settings
d. Play your game and make a screenshot of your hi-score screen *

* We have also made a short guide (> link) on how to make a printscreen of your hi-score screen (thank you Hansolo !). This method prevents having a black image after pasting your printscreen. It uses Mame to capture the screenshot while it's playing a game without needing to use any extra software (e.g. Fraps) or special mobile devices.

2) Submit your hi-score
Reply to the Hi-Score competition-topic of your game and add the following info:

> Your score
> Settings used of post #1 (please add this comment as a confirmation you have used the correct settings)
> Version of Mame used (Example: Mame 147 compiled)
> Screenshot of your hi-score

---

 

The settings being used for each game are the default settings Twin Galaxies uses. Twin galaxies is an organization that tracks video game world records since 1981. A fair competition is created as everybody uses the same settings.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask and send me a PM

 

Have fun playing Mame and setting hi-scores !

Thank you,

~ Hi-Score Team

tgts.pdf

[GimmeClassics]

Guide > Making sure Mame is using the correct settings

Because we want everybody to participate in a fair Hi-Score competition there are some rules you have to follow when submitting your Hi-Score. One of these rules is you have to use the correct (dip-switch) settings when playing your Mame-game.

Please follow the instruction below to make sure you're using the correct settings.

1) Please look for the Hi-Score Competition-thread of the game you want to play and read post #1 for the settings you have to use when playing this game

2) Start your Mame-game
3) Hit TAB on your keyboard
4) Select Dip Switches (see screenshot below)

5) Change your settings (see screenshot below)



It's possible the settings are correct by default. When this is the case you don't have to change anything.

6) Select "Return to Prior Menu" (see screenshot below)



7) Select Return to Game (see screenshot below)



8) Exit Mame

9) Start your Mame-game again and check if Mame has saved your changes (Tab > Dip Switches)

Changing your game settings once should be enough. Mame should remember this. Please send me a PM if this is not the case

Kind regards,

GC

[GimmeClassics]

Guide > Making a Printscreen of your Mame Hi-Score screen

A big thank you to Hansolo for creating this guide. I've also added the option to change the resolution of your printscreen / snap.

When using this guide you can have MAME capture your hi-score screen for you INSIDE the Mame snap directory. Because it uses Mame to capture the screenshot you don't need to use any extra software (e.g. Fraps) or special mobile devices.
A nice thing is that it will increment you're snaps, so you can have multiple ones, thereby fixing the inability to overwrite pre-existing hi-score screen images. While you can set up to use the incremential numbering in the root /snap directory, there are THOUSANDS in there, and finding the one you just took is way too complicated. So this method simplifies finding the image you're looking for!

So here's the instructions! The guide is based upon using MAMEUI64. Your own settings might be slightly different, but it shouldn't be that difficult to find...

1) Click on the OPTIONS tab at the top of the screen.

2) Click on the INTERFACE OPTIONS... menu item.

3) Change the "Screenshot Pattern" option to "Gamename/Gamename + Increment"



4) Play your game, press F12 to save the screenshot. When you go into your predefined path for snaps*, you should see a new folder using the ROM name, and inside that is a newly created snapshot. Each time you hit F12, it should create a new image for you!



* When you want to change the path for your snaps:
a. Go to Options > Directories



b. Select "Snapshots" and browse to the directory you want your snaps to be saved




Optional: change the resolution of your printscreen / snap

By default Mame saves a rather small sized snapshot. If you want it to be bigger (which I like) here is what you should do:

1) Go to Options > Default Game Options



2) Select the Miscellaneous Tab



3) Deselect "Autoselect snapshot size" and change the snapshot's size
Hit "Apply" after you have unchecked "Autoselect Snapshot Size". Only then you are able to change the resolution of your snaps
I changed it to 1280 x 1024. This can be changed to any size



Hopefully this will help make adding screenshots to post your highscores easier.

GC

[hansolo77]

Official MAP File and Guide

This is a customized MAP file for you to use with GameEx. A map file simply allows you to have a customized version of the ROM list. Usually this is used if you have a bunch of weird ROM names and you don't know what the game is called (for example, bublbobl is Bubble Bobble). Another use of MAP files is to minimize the ROM list to certain criteria. I use MAP files to sort my MAME ROM path and extract AtomisWave and NAOMI ROMs out of it. This is what our official MAP file does; it lists ONLY those games included in our competition. This way you can easily see, from within GameEx, what our competition games are, so you won't have to remember them all. This makes it much easier and faster to get to those games you really want to hammer on for a good score!

That being said, there is a few things you need to do to your GameEx configuration to make the MAP file work for you. Step one is to download the MAP file:

UPDATE!!!

Thanks to Adultery, this MAP is now being regenerated automatically whenever we add a new game! You can grab the MAP file directly from HERE now!

To help make sure you always have the latest version of this file, Adultery has also created a HiScore Updater program. You simply need to configure GameEx to run this little program FIRST when you launch GameEx, then it will update the MAP file automatically! You can get the file HERE and read about how to set it up HERE and discuss it HERE.

Step 2 is configure GameEx with a new emulator entry. Just follow these steps:

Choose Custom to go to a specific area of the Wizard and click the Right Green Arrow.

Put a check in "MAME Settings", and the two "Emulator Setup" boxes, then click the Right Green Arrow.

In the MAME Settings screen, copy and paste to Notepad your MAME EXE. This is what our command line is. Scroll down to the Advanced MAME settings area on this same screen:

If you have anything in the MAME options, add that to your Notepad too. My settings tell MAME to launch full screen, enable the joystick, and skip the Game Info screen(s). Click the Right Green Arrow.

Configure your basic Emulator like this. Make sure to set "Enabled" to yes, or it won't show up in GameEx! Also Start Page Name, etc, can be whatever you want. The command line here should be what you have in your Notepad. All you need to do now is add the "[ROMPATH]\[ROMFILE]" bit. The " (quotes) is used incase we have a path that includes spaces or longer words longer than 8 characters. Speaking of paths, your's might be different than mine. Just go with it. I chose to have my Arcade Cabinets show as the Box Art when I see them in GameEx. Also the Control Panels are now displayed when I choose Cartridge Art. Manuals is nice if you want to see the owner's manuals (if you have them). If you include the Database, GameEx will list details about the game (story, etc) as well as show you what other systems the game is available on. When finished, click the Green Right Arrow.

On the Advanced Emulator Setup screen, the only thing needing changed is the MAP File. You just need to click the [...] box on the right and tell it where it is. My advice is to put it someplace OUTSIDE the /GameEx path so if GameEx updates it doesn't accidentally remove the MAP file. I have it stored in my root. Everything else on this screen is trivial and up to your own options. When all finished, click the RED X.

That is all you have to do. If you wanna get REALLY fancy, and have setup a custom menu structure for GameEx, you should already know how to add this entry to it. But incase you forgot, here is what mine looks like:

Enjoy! If you have further questions or comments, please post them here -> [LINK]

-Han

HighScoreCompetiton.rar