[RELEASE] Mame Emu Mapping Magician

[Tempest]

A Graphical User Interface (GUI) for the

mameumumap feature introduced in GameEx 9.95. The mameemumap feature is a for registered users.

Mame Emu Mapping Magician is now included in the GameEx Install.

Documentation:

I'll try not to ramble on too long. There are tooltips for almost everything, so when in doubt, hover on a control (button, checkbox, etc.), or click an item (tab, column header, etc.) just leave the tooltips on until you get comfortable with the GUI. I have included in the download a copy of the mameemumap.ini that was created from the steps that I took below. Please back up your own mameemumap.ini.

Put a check next to each emulator that you want to use with mame emu mapping. The checked emulators will be added to the dropdown list above, and you can choose the current emulator from the list. It is recommended that you enable all arcade emulators, to get the most out of the GUI.

You can map emus, or send commands based on one of the properties shown. I should mention that everything is setup so that as you work from top to bottom in a tab, and left to right in the GUI, the last item has priority. I will explain this further shortly. I clicked on a column header to show the tooltip for that column.

If you click on a property name, you can view a list of roms for that property.

This works the same as properties, except using drivers. Again, clicking on a column header shows a tooltip for that column. I typed 'tem' in the search box to take me to the driver 'tempest.c'

Click on a driver to get a list of roms for that driver.

I should mention, that for best results I recommend that you turn off all of your filters, and have GameEx build a full list of roms for gamelist.txt. You don't have to, but any roms that are in the .dat files, but not in your gamelist.txt wil be highlighted in yellow. Any roms that are neither in gamelist.txt, or in the provided .dat files will be shown in red.

You may not have noticed, but along the way, I have been adding emus and commands, for properties and drivers that will affect the rom "Tempest". (Vector > Vertical > Cocktail and tempest.c) You can easily see how the choices I have made will affect individual roms. This is what I was meant when I mentioned 'Priority'. Each item is over-written by the next item that applies to each rom.

I can click on each individual rom in the list to 'Map to Emu', or if I want to set all roms to this Emu, I can set one rom to true (or blank), hold the 'shift' key down, and click on the text True (or blank), and all roms will be set to 'true' (or blank).

I want to have 'tempestm' in my Mame Games list, so I clicked in the 'Add to List' column in the same row as 'tempestm'

It looks like I put alot of work into entering game information for 'tempestm', but that is not the case. I typed 'tem' in the search box, and when 'tempest was at the top of the list, I hit 'enter', and the information was filled in for me. I can also click on a name in the list. Most of the time, when you 'Add to list' you won't even have to search for the appropriate rom, it will already be done for you.

You can also enter your own information in each of the boxes, if the available information does not suit you. Click on 'Add to List' to save, or close to exit.

In the last tab, you can override all previous settings for individual roms. All information through out the GUI is updated in real time, so you always know how your choices will affect individual roms. Sometimes it may take a second or two to udate a tab, so please be patient.

Clicking on a RomName in this tab will show you the emulators that you have, and all available emus for that rom. That is why I suggest that you enable all arcade emus in the 'Enable Emulators' Tab.

If you have an emulator with 'Zinc' in the title, you can put a tick in the box 'Rename for Zinc', and the Rename column will be filled in for you.

FAQs:

Q: I can't see how to map an individual game to an emulator.

A: Click on the box in the column 'Map to Emulator' for the Rom that you want to map. The box will be set to 'True', Click again to make it blank again.

Everything pretty much works the same way, click in the list view to make the changes that you want. The only thing that is different, is that for Properties, and Drivers, the choice from the drop downs is entered.

Double-click in the rename column to rename a rom.

Known Issues:

Resizing the columns can cause the information in the columns to disappear. If that happens, click on a different tab, and then back again.

License:

I included a copy of my source code, because I have used functions from other authors on the AutoHotkey forum. I ask that the comments that give them credit for their work to remain intact, and also any comments regarding my code, and the credit for my portion of the code to be left intact as well. Otherwise this code is released for public use, and may be distributed with GameEx.

[Tempest]

cquealy wrote:

Thank you for posting the MAME Emu Maps tutorial. I'm having a bit a problem figuring it out and was wondering if you could help me. I can't see how to get it to look for different versions of mame. I'm running Windows7 64 so I have Mame64 v136 as my standard. The directing is located on my "F" drive. I have my old mame version from Brian Hoffman named Hackedmameplus118 located on my "c" drive. I want to run my light gun games from that directory as well as birdie king. I tested with birdie king so I put in the command line the old mame path but gameex just doesnt start the rom. Obviuously i didnt put the right command line.

any specific help would be greatly appreciated.

For starters, the mameemumap feature is for registered users. Assuming that you are registered:

You should have your second version of Mame (Hackedmameplus) set up, working, and enabled as an emulator in GameEx. Hackedmameplus should already be configured to run the games that you want to run in Hackedmameplus. I would use the mame.ini file to setup the emulator options. After you have the games running correctly in Hackedmameplus:

1. In the 'Enable Emulators' tab, put a tick in the box next to Hackedmameplus

2. Make sure that Hackedmameplus is shown in the emulators drop-down at the top of the GUI.

2. In the 'Map Properties' tab, in the 'Emulators' column, click on the box next to gun. Hackedmameplus will be shown in the box.

3. In the 'Map Emulators' tab, in the 'Map Emulators' column, click on the box in the same row as the rom for Birdie King. 'True' will be shown in the box

4. Click on 'Save'

5. Make sure Mame Mapping is enabled. If it is disabled, click on the button to enable it. (See Pic)

6. You may want to 'Hide Emulator' (See Pic)

That should do it.