[RESOLVED] How do I setup Mame as an emulator (non-integrated)?

[garetmax]

What is the command line to setup Mame as an emulator non-integrated? I've got it setup as integrated already but I also want it as a separate emulator as well.

I've tried command lines:

MAME.exe [ROM]
MAME.exe [ROM] -ROMPATH=[ROMPATH]
I also tried a few other things but no luck.

I'm pretty sure my rom path is correct. All the games are listed but when I launch a game it looks like it launches but after a second or two it comes right back to the launch menu..

I saw an older screenshot that it used to be in the Emulator Selection Menu in the Setup Wizard but its not there anymore. I'm running the latest GameEx release.

I attached my GameEx.ini.


Thanks

GameEx.ini

[tthurman]

Few things worth mentioning.

Is MAME working outside GameEx?

Once you complete your config, are you updating?

At the end of the setup wizard there is a verify section to check everything, paths etc., look for any errors you're getting in the mame emulator setup.

[DazzleHP]

Hi garetmax,

I think it should be something like: <yourmame>.exe -nowindow -joy "[ROMPATH]\[ROMFILE]"

Ignore the green if you don't want them options, but the rest should be OK

[cartisdm]

I was thinking about doing something like this as well. The MAME integration is just...intimidating. Is there documentation somewhere that explains the advantage of why MAME is integrated in the manner it is?

[Draco1962]

I found the MAME integration to be much easier than setting up as a standalone emulator. You simply point to the directory paths that store your MAME executible, ROMs, images, manuals, etc. It really couldn't be much easier IMO short of having it already setup for you.

[DazzleHP]

I was thinking about doing something like this as well. The MAME integration is just...intimidating. Is there documentation somewhere that explains the advantage of why MAME is integrated in the manner it is?

There isn't much documentation as such, but the integrated MAME setup is clear. If you use the integrated method you get: Full descriptions and history for each game/rom. You get series links and recommended games. You also get many advanced features.

Using MAME as a regular emulator, you are essentially bypassing what makes GameEx great!

If you feel intimidated, in any way, then make a thread and we will help you out

[nullPointer]

Hi cartisdm

I don't know if there's documentation to delineate the advantages of using the integrated MAME settings, but trust me when I say it's much, much easier. Here are a handful of advantages though, and I'm sure I'm still missing a bunch:

• Automatically bypass disclaimers and warnings without need for a custom compile
• Leverage MameInfo.dat and History.dat to add information regarding your games
• Enable Auto Rotate
• Leverage catver.ini to allow custom sorting of games by category
• Levarage Nplayers ini to allow custom sorting of your games by number of supported players
• Leverage Command.dat and Controls.ini to display controls and move sets for certain games
• No need to try and make you own map file
• Fine tuned handling of parent/clone relationships
• Ability to exclude specific categories of games (Adult, Mahjong, Casino)
• Automatically exclude non-working games

And that's just scratching the surface! Seriously, you'll have far fewer headaches if you use the integrated MAME settings. If you find your self needing to run multiple versions of MAME in order to support different sets of games, that's when you might consider running a different version of MAME as a standalone emulator, but ... ugh ... it's really not worth the headache IMO.

[DazzleHP]

Hi cartisdm

I don't know if there's documentation to delineate the advantages of using the integrated MAME settings, but trust me when I say it's much, much easier. Here are a handful of advantages though, and I'm sure I'm still missing a bunch:

• Automatically bypass disclaimers and warnings without need for a custom compile
• Leverage MameInfo.dat and History.dat to add information regarding your games
• Enable Auto Rotate
• Leverage catver.ini to allow custom sorting of games by category
• Levarage Nplayers ini to allow custom sorting of your games by number of supported players
• Leverage Command.dat and Controls.ini to display controls and move sets for certain games
• No need to try and make you own map file
• Fine tuned handling of parent/clone relationships
• Ability to exclude specific categories of games (Adult, Mahjong, Casino)
• Automatically exclude non-working games

And that's just scratching the surface! Seriously, you'll have far fewer headaches if you use the integrated MAME settings. If you find your self needing to run multiple versions of MAME in order to support different sets of games, that's when you might consider running a different version of MAME as a standalone emulator, but ... ugh ... it's really not worth the headache IMO.

HA! As always the incredibly articulate nullPointer puts it bluntly! You'd do well to listen! Legend.

[cartisdm]

You guys all rock. Now I know where all the documentation was....it was in nullPointer's brain all along!

[nullPointer]

Now I know where all the documentation was....it was in nullPointer's brain all along!

Ha, yeah it's a regular party in there. ... ... ... ... ...

And Dazzle is too kind. Really everyone else answered just as effectively in less time while I was still typing out my response.

[DazzleHP]

You guys all rock. Now I know where all the documentation was....it was in nullPointer's brain all along!

And i take a piece of it whenever i can

[CharlesLam]

maybe im the more pessimist of the bunch, but it friggin works with integrated. when you set it up separate, be prepared for problems.

[garetmax]

The integrated Mame is really easy to setup and I've got that working great and has many benefits over non-integrated as others posted about above. I'll be playing my games in the integrated mame so that's definitely the way to go.

I wanted to setup a non-integrated Mame to be able to see all of the 29,000 or so games in the full Mame list. I like to follow the devs websites and see what the're working on and progress made. I also saw a couple roms that are missing in the integrated mame, (race drivin and hard drivin), even though I've got all options set to display everything so I can look at things like that as well.

I finally got it working after much testing. I ran mame from the dos cmd prompt and it wasn't working there for me. After some testing and googling I got it working from the cmd prompt and then in GameEx.

I would still like to clear up the path syntax problem after -rompath to make it clean. I'm wondering if I'm scanning the rom path twice with my setup.

Here's what I came up with:

Rom Path:
C:\Emulators0 - Mame Roms\roms

Command Line:
MAME.exe [ROM] -nowindow -joy -skip_gameinfo -mouse -ctrlr X-Arcade -rompath "C:\Emulators0 - Mame Roms\roms"


Thanks for the comments and help.

[DazzleHP]

The integrated Mame is really easy to setup and I've got that working great and has many benefits over non-integrated as others posted about above. I'll be playing my games in the integrated mame so that's definitely the way to go.

I wanted to setup a non-integrated Mame to be able to see all of the 29,000 or so games in the full Mame list.

This seems to be a big hangup lately, which i find not only strange, but slightly disturbing too. There literally is no reason to want them (mechanical, slots etc) to work... they never will. We could have a discussion about the mechanics, and how cool it is, and i'm sure i'll agree, but when you boil things down - do you want to play? Or just "show"?