Hardware stretch

[deano7]

I setup through Mame32 to stretch using directdraw for Joust since it is annoying to have a invisible cieling at the top of the game. It works beautifully in Mame32, but it doesn't work for some reason when I run it through Gameex. Any ideas?

[chriss]

maybe your mame.exe is using another mame.ini ... could that be?

[deano7]

I thought that, but when I go into MAME and change the resolution, it is changed in gameex. But when I do the hardware stretching, it works in MameUI, but not in gameex. It is too wierd, but I am certain that the same ini file is being used by both...

[deano7]

I did more testing to try and figure out the problem.

1. Searched for other joust.ini files. None on my machine.

2. Modified the .ini file to flip the game and everything else. The image flipped on the game, but still no hardware stretching.

3. Changed global settings to use hardware stretching - Nothing...

Why would this work in Mame and then not in gameex? Is there something in gameex's settings somewhere that is precluding a game to run stretched? This is a bummer as I really want to stretch all of the gun games and joust to make them work better....

[Tempest]

What are your Mame options in GameEx? Is there something in them that may be causing this?

[deano7]

I really don't think so... Does anyone know what could cause Gameex to disallow the hardware stretch feature in mame?

[bkenobi]

GameEx calls a command line that you specify. If you specify the wrong command line, it will not display how you expect. There are only a couple places that these options can be set (command line, mame.ini). If you don't specify any options, MAME uses the defaults. If you specify something in mame.ini, that's what GameEx will use. BUT, if you specify something in the MAME options in GameEx, those will override your settings in the mame.ini and MAME defaults, so things could turn out different than you might have expected.

IMO, the best way to have MAME set up is to remove all options from the GameEx command line options section and specify everything in the mame.ini. This way you know exactly what should be happening because GameEx won't be changing anything.

[deano7]

GameEx calls a command line that you specify. If you specify the wrong command line, it will not display how you expect. There are only a couple places that these options can be set (command line, mame.ini). If you don't specify any options, MAME uses the defaults. If you specify something in mame.ini, that's what GameEx will use. BUT, if you specify something in the MAME options in GameEx, those will override your settings in the mame.ini and MAME defaults, so things could turn out different than you might have expected.

IMO, the best way to have MAME set up is to remove all options from the GameEx command line options section and specify everything in the mame.ini. This way you know exactly what should be happening because GameEx won't be changing anything.

Ahhh, that makes sense. I just was monkeying around in the gameex display settings page and I saw the stretchto256, etc. I probably should know this, but what file do I need to alter in order to remove the gameex display settings and leave it all up to MAME? I'd like to make a copy of that file first before I start hacking away. Thanks ben, er... bubba kenobi...

[bkenobi]

I don't think any of that hardware stretch stuff has to do with MAME. The only thing that you should need to do is go to the MAME options page (sorry, don't know which one off the top of my head) and delete all the options. By default, it has '-tripplebuffer' among others. Then, edit your mame.ini file (or whatever it's called for your version of MAME) and give it a try.

[IMBerzerk]

I don't think any of that hardware stretch stuff has to do with MAME. The only thing that you should need to do is go to the MAME options page (sorry, don't know which one off the top of my head) and delete all the options. By default, it has '-tripplebuffer' among others. Then, edit your mame.ini file (or whatever it's called for your version of MAME) and give it a try.

Try using the command line version of MAME. I'm curious to see if that helps. The commandline version has HW stretching turned on as default. All you need to do is add -skip_intro and -mouse to the GameEx command line so that your mouse works (which is associated to the trackball), and you skip the annoying warnings. If you really get into it, you can recompile, add the highscore patch and remove that annoying white box that opens. The command line version is 100% better.

http://mamedev.org/release.html

I've used the commandline version of MAME behind front ends for years. It's tricky at first, but it's easier on the PC's resources and you have a lot more control over the emulator. MAME32 is not supported by the MAME Dev team, so that should tell you something. Best to run everything bare-bones when using frontends like GameEx.

IMBerzerk

[bkenobi]

MAME32 is not supported by the MAME Dev team, so that should tell you something.

True, but then the MAME Dev team doesn't support anything but the official MAME code.

[IMBerzerk]

True, but then the MAME Dev team doesn't support anything but the official MAME code.

LOL! You're right about that. Good God, I remember trying to get support on that site was a nightmare. You had to have real thick skin to even create an account on there. Newbies beware!! Unfortunately, as RBelmont told me on the MESS forum, it had to be closed down. It just got ridiculous with annoyances.

Most of the guys that make MAME also frequent the MESS board as well. So if I have a question, I ask there, but at this point, I have using MAME down to a routine, and with GameEx running it, it's even easier.

IMBerzerk... and so are you if you don't use GameEx!!!

[deano7]

Sorry for the late response. I had to jet off to NYC for work.

Anyway, so the options in Gameex won't help according to Bkenobi.

Can someone educate me how gameex interfaces with MAME or MAME32? So when I run MAME32 and it stretches, the command line to open passes to the game information that it needs to stretch. Could it be that Gameex is incorrectly passing that parameter to the file? I just don't see how switching to MAME could fix it unless I understand how it actually works. I am willing to give it a shot, just I would then had to recompile MAME do the hiscore.diff, etc. If I knew it would work, of course I would give it a shot, but you know the drill, then something else won't work

Thanks for the responses!

[bkenobi]

GameEx calls the command line for any app/emulator you configure...period.

For MAME, the command that is used is set in the MAME Options section of the Advanced MAME settings. I personally recommend deleting that line and using the mame.ini file. If you specify things in GameEx, you can get it to work. Either way, GameEx runs exactly the commands you can find in the "Run Last Game.bat" file in the GameEx Start menu. If that works outside of GameEx, then you should be golden!

[IMBerzerk]

Sorry for the late response. I had to jet off to NYC for work.

Anyway, so the options in Gameex won't help according to Bkenobi.

Can someone educate me how gameex interfaces with MAME or MAME32? So when I run MAME32 and it stretches, the command line to open passes to the game information that it needs to stretch. Could it be that Gameex is incorrectly passing that parameter to the file? I just don't see how switching to MAME could fix it unless I understand how it actually works. I am willing to give it a shot, just I would then had to recompile MAME do the hiscore.diff, etc. If I knew it would work, of course I would give it a shot, but you know the drill, then something else won't work

Thanks for the responses!

MAME32 is a GUI version of MAME. It's been around almost as long as MAME. For years people have tried to use it behind a front end, some with success, other not. We've seen a few members on this forum have strange troubles with it when using GameEx. But when we recommended changing to command line MAME, it worked. MAME has HS Stretching turned on by default, the only way to turn it off is to specify that option in the run statement. Perhaps something in the MAME32 GUI is messing up GameEx when it attempts to run the game. The only options you really need to add to the command line in GameEx to run the command line version of MAME is:

-skip_gameinfo

-skip_disclaimer (might not even be active anymore)

-mouse

I have been using the Windows command line version of MAME for years, on all of my 3 cabinets, 2 running GameEx and 1 running Mala. No issues... never were, and I don't think there ever will be as I am done updating MAME. Take my best advice and dump MAME32. It's good if you are going to use it as a stand alone for yourself, but if you are using a front-end like GameEx, or any others, use the command line version of MAME.

To re-compile it with the Highscore patch is a breeze with HeadKaze's MAME compiler. I am the worst for programming, and all the intricate stuff of emulation. I can do it, so you can to. He made it idiot proof, and I did it... so I'm definitely NOT an idiot... maybe something else... ? I won't call myself an expert of MAME, but I have been using it for 10 years now, and 8 of them have been in a game cabinet, using MAMEWah, Mala, ArcadeOS, and now.. the best of them all, GameEx.

I hope that helps you out some. Hang with us, we'll get you through this.

[deano7]

MAME32 is a GUI version of MAME. It's been around almost as long as MAME. For years people have tried to use it behind a front end, some with success, other not. We've seen a few members on this forum have strange troubles with it when using GameEx. But when we recommended changing to command line MAME, it worked. MAME has HS Stretching turned on by default, the only way to turn it off is to specify that option in the run statement. Perhaps something in the MAME32 GUI is messing up GameEx when it attempts to run the game. The only options you really need to add to the command line in GameEx to run the command line version of MAME is:

-skip_gameinfo

-skip_disclaimer (might not even be active anymore)

-mouse

I have been using the Windows command line version of MAME for years, on all of my 3 cabinets, 2 running GameEx and 1 running Mala. No issues... never were, and I don't think there ever will be as I am done updating MAME. Take my best advice and dump MAME32. It's good if you are going to use it as a stand alone for yourself, but if you are using a front-end like GameEx, or any others, use the command line version of MAME.

To re-compile it with the Highscore patch is a breeze with HeadKaze's MAME compiler. I am the worst for programming, and all the intricate stuff of emulation. I can do it, so you can to. He made it idiot proof, and I did it... so I'm definitely NOT an idiot... maybe something else... ? I won't call myself an expert of MAME, but I have been using it for 10 years now, and 8 of them have been in a game cabinet, using MAMEWah, Mala, ArcadeOS, and now.. the best of them all, GameEx.

I hope that helps you out some. Hang with us, we'll get you through this.

Ok, so I put the mame.exe file in the same location as mameui32.exe. I went to the mame options and changed to mame. Then when gameex came back on, I went to my favorites to try and it said that I needed to update game list. I let it update and now all of my games are gone except for 300 of them. What could have happened? The 300 games do work FYI. I guess I can change her back, but I am not sure why it wouldn't work with mame.exe?

[deano7]

Ok, so I put the mame.exe file in the same location as mameui32.exe. I went to the mame options and changed to mame. Then when gameex came back on, I went to my favorites to try and it said that I needed to update game list. I let it update and now all of my games are gone except for 300 of them. What could have happened? The 300 games do work FYI. I guess I can change her back, but I am not sure why it wouldn't work with mame.exe?

[chriss]

which rom set are you using and which mame build?

[bkenobi]

Yup, this is an issue with mismatched rom set and/or your filters. Just update your rom set to the same version as MAME, get an older version of MAME to match your roms, or use CLRMAMEPro to build a set based on the version of MAME that you plan on using. Note that the latter option will result in ~300 roms which is what GameEx is reporting...

[deano7]

Yup, this is an issue with mismatched rom set and/or your filters. Just update your rom set to the same version as MAME, get an older version of MAME to match your roms, or use CLRMAMEPro to build a set based on the version of MAME that you plan on using. Note that the latter option will result in ~300 roms which is what GameEx is reporting...

Ok, all fixed, but a mystery remains....

I switched to MAME from Mameui32. Then when I only got ~300 roms, I switched back to Mameui. Well, now for some reason the stretching works. I am not complaining because this closes out my trouble ticket

The question is though, how did this happen? Nothing changed since I only changed the filename in gameex settings and then changed it right back - same exact file...

I think based on everyones advice I will switch to Mame from mameui32. how do I check which ROMset I have and if there is a mamefile mame.exe, how do I see what version that is? I assume clrmamepro is just simply clrmame.com.

Thanks again guys for all of the help. I truly appreciate all of the help.

[bkenobi]

Determining the rom set version requires the use of a program like CLRMAMEPro. It goes through each rom and builds the set for you however you ask, but I believe it will also report what version you are running. I don't use it, so I can't help with that.

There are 2 easy ways to see what version of MAME you are using.

1) right click on the mame.exe file and select properties. Select the version tab and it will display. This isn't always available.

2) open a command prompt and navigate to the MAME directory. Type 'mame -help'. This will display a line that gives the version info up at the top of the output.

[deano7]

Ok, all fixed, but a mystery remains....

I switched to MAME from Mameui32. Then when I only got ~300 roms, I switched back to Mameui. Well, now for some reason the stretching works. I am not complaining because this closes out my trouble ticket

The question is though, how did this happen? Nothing changed since I only changed the filename in gameex settings and then changed it right back - same exact file...

I think based on everyones advice I will switch to Mame from mameui32. how do I check which ROMset I have and if there is a mamefile mame.exe, how do I see what version that is? I assume clrmamepro is just simply clrmame.com.

Thanks again guys for all of the help. I truly appreciate all of the help.

Actually, I just tried to play Arkanoid and the resolution is coming up wrong and the spinner no longer works. I see what you guys are saying about MAMEui32. There really can't be a logical reason why there are different problems with the exact same setup, can there? I will try and switch to Mame this weekend and see if that fixes it.

I am scared of CLRMame because I have never used it. What does it do the ROM files to make them compatible with different versions of MAME?

Lastly, should I transition to the newest version of Mame or should i try and figure out what version my ROMS are and create MAME for the rom files and forget about CLRMame?

[Tempest]

I am pretty sure that Mame32 keeps the mame.ini file in mame32\ini, while mame keeps it in the root folder mame\

You may be unknowingly be using two different ini's between the two versions.

So far as what's best for your romset, it's difficult to say, You would have to audit them with a dat from every version of mame to see what's best for you, because we don't know what you have.

Always, Always, Always backup your roms before using CMP, or any other tool on your romset!

I can copy a nice tutorial from another site for CMP, but I can't link to it do to forum rules. If you want to see the tutorial, let me know.

[fRequEnCy]

You always wanna build your set for the version you're using. Unfortunately there is no way of determining the version of ROMS you currently have unless you go through each executable and see which one it matches with. That could get ugly as there are so many releases. Clrmame does NOT tell you the version of ROMS you have. No program does that I'm aware of. But I could be wrong. I use Clrmame on a daily basis so I'm pretty familiar with it. Unless there's a setting that I just don't know about. But I've never known it do this.

[deano7]

OK, as expected, mo money mo problems...

I updated my ROMset and I compiled MAME 0128U6.

Now, I have a bunch of questions because it is not working too well. (I should have left well enough alone!)

1. In some games, my spinner and trackball aren't even recognized. It works in Arkanoid, but when I go into setting on some games (like missile command), I click on trackball X axis and when I try to set it, it won't even recognize the spinner or trackball. What happened to my controls? The trackball and spinner work fine in windows and in gameex.

2. When I go into mameui in order to change resolutions on some of the games, there are no options under resolution - the only option is "Auto".

3. How would I even change vector lines to be 2.9 in Mame? This is why I liked Mameui32 - because I could go into the GUI interface and make changes in mameui32. Now how would I go about making global changes to MAME settings?

I am using arcadeVGA graphics card and win xp.

Thanks guys!

Dean