help with ShifterMAME error

[vintagegamer]

Hello all,

This is my first post here, and you guys might have just become my new best friends LOL. I recently installed a copy of ShifterMAME to use on a PC that I have integrated into a dead Monaco GP cabinet. The ShifterMAME setup plays a bunch of driving games while allowing me to use the original legacy driving components in the game.

My issue is this: although Pole Position works great in ShifterMAME, at the end of the game, you can't enter your initials. I'm 99% sure it's an issue with the config file generated by ShifterMAME. If you play the game using a keyboard, all of the functions work fine.

Would anyone here be able to lend a hand in getting this error corrected? I wrote to the creator of ShifterMAME but have not heard back.

Regards,

VG

[Draco1962]

Welcome to the GameEx forums!

Usually, being able to update the high scores in MAME requires compiling the latest MAME build with whatever .diff files you desire to remove the Left-Right nag screen and hiscore.txt file to allow for saving of high scores.

I reviewed what few docs are available for this program and there is no mention of being able to save high scores. Since this is a non-standard modified build, your best bet is with the author unless someone here has had any success otherwise.I saw where you posted on the Arcade Controls forum a few days ago - have you tried to email Minwah at [email protected] (found in the text file with his post from June 2009)? Best I can tell he hasn't been very active on that site since 2009, so may not be actively involved in maintaining the project any longer.

Regards,

Mike

[vintagegamer]

Welcome to the GameEx forums!

Usually, being able to update the high scores in MAME requires compiling the latest MAME build with whatever .diff files you desire to remove the Left-Right nag screen and hiscore.txt file to allow for saving of high scores.

I reviewed what few docs are available for this program and there is no mention of being able to save high scores. Since this is a non-standard modified build, your best bet is with the author unless someone here has had any success otherwise.I saw where you posted on the Arcade Controls forum a few days ago - have you tried to email Minwah at [email protected] (found in the text file with his post from June 2009)? Best I can tell he hasn't been very active on that site since 2009, so may not be actively involved in maintaining the project any longer.

Regards,

Mike

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your reply- yes, Minwah was the person I reached out to but have not received a reply yet. I also find your comment about the high scores interesting, as almost every other game I can think of that I use in MAME allows me to save hi scores. Even the non-Shiftermame version of PP's high score save works fine. The file for some reason when being propagated by Shiftermame does not allow the gas pedal to be mapped as the confirmation peripheral (ie the ENTER button) in Shiftermame. For whatever reason, I can't even remap that function in the game configuration to any other key or control at all.

So, my current choices are: use the MAME copy that I have now which has 100% functionality, I just have to do an up-down combo every time I want to shift to lo or hi gear, or option B: use Shiftermame and have all functions working perfect, except for the hi score. It wouldn't bother me much if I was the only one playing it, but my daughter has a different view about this LOL.

[Draco1962]

I definitely understand your dilemma. Depending on your setup (Steering hardware, pedals, etc.) you may be able to use XPadder or other mapping software to create custom inputs for your regular MAME build and save the hi scores. There are quite a few here that swear by it and can probably help you on your way with how to do it in that build as opposed to ShifterMAME.

BTW, what frontend software are you using? If you are not currently using GameEx, I would encourage you to give it a go. It is very customizable and has great forum support from the users and author!

[vintagegamer]

I definitely understand your dilemma. Depending on your setup (Steering hardware, pedals, etc.) you may be able to use XPadder or other mapping software to create custom inputs for your regular MAME build and save the hi scores. There are quite a few here that swear by it and can probably help you on your way with how to do it in that build as opposed to ShifterMAME.

BTW, what frontend software are you using? If you are not currently using GameEx, I would encourage you to give it a go. It is very customizable and has great forum support from the users and author!

Currently no front-end app running, just shortcuts on the Windows desktop. My initial plan was to get a racing game running in Monaco GP, and I only planned on running Pole Position 1. I made the mistake of showing my daughter PP2, so I had to load that, and then I ended up playing some Demolition Derby, then some Super Sprint and... well, you know how that goes LOL

[Draco1962]

I was initially looking at just running MAME when I got started for the old arcade games. I was OK with the GUI version but it seemed lacking, especially when I got turned on to the idea of possibly building an arcade cab. So I started looking at frontends. I chanced upon GameEx while looking at several others. What hooked me, besides the ease of integration with HTPC and arcade systems and a slew of emulators, was the amount of active support from the author down to the users in the forum. You should definitely give it a try especially if you are running multiple emulators.

[Adultery]

Hey Tom! Looks like we brought another one over! The GameEx sedative is kicking in good now! Haha!

J/K Draco.

He's right though, we're lucky to have such a great user base here. There's seldom a day where a post goes unanswered. I also use xpadder if that's the option you choose to take. To be honest you could still get the support you need for your shifter and wheel, and also map that shifter as a combo. You can even launch a different controller setup for each game. We will do everything we can to ensure you get the glamor and glitz on your project should you decide GameEx is what you want.

Welcome to the forums!

[Draco1962]

I admit it - I drank the Kool-Aid. Now if I can just find me a nice pair of Raybans and some cheap Hawaiian shirts, I will be ready to book my flight to Central America and start a GameEx cult!

[Adultery]

Hey wait, I thought there were also Members Only jackets as the standard issue uniform?

*LOLrus*

[Draco1962]

Members Only is so 1980s. My taste in games may be retro but not clothing! Now where did I sit that bottle of tiger blood...

[vintagegamer]

If someone helps me resolve my Shiftermame initial-entry issue, I promise to learn the ways of the GameEx!

[Draco1962]

The problem is that minwah had modified the MAME source file. If there was a copy of a current source file with his mods, likely could compile that with the hi-score diff files to possibly make hi scores work with it. Since it does not appear that there is anything current to work with, I don't see much happening with your request.

I noticed you have been at this for some time on the otther forums. Did you ever obtain a copy of the MAME 0.125 Source file and try compiling it with minwah's shiftermame diff file?

[vintagegamer]

I noticed you have been at this for some time on the otther forums. Did you ever obtain a copy of the MAME 0.125 Source file and try compiling it with minwah's shiftermame diff file?

No, I've never done any type of compiling with MAME at all. Up until now, I, like you, was just playing it on a plain PC. It was when I came up with the hairbrained idea of making my dead Monaco GP cockpit come to life with MAME for driving games, that I ended up heading down this dark path LOL

[Draco1962]

You aren't on a dark path, just simply on a path to enlightenment and increasing your knowledge of MAME!

The easiest way to compile is using Headkaze's Mame Compiler - follow the instructions to the letter. You will probably need to use the version of the compiler linked under the Older Versions of MAME section. Next, you will need to locate the diff file that Minwah created and the hiscore.txt file for the version he wrote the diff file for (MAME 0.125) in addition to the MAME 0.125 source file(and not Minwah's compiled version). Not sure if this will even work for you as I am not aware if there were any mods made by Minwah to the source file. I would also encourage you to backup the contents of your ShifterMAME directory before testing your compiled build in the event you need to revert back to the original.

[vintagegamer]

You aren't on a dark path, just simply on a path to enlightenment and increasing your knowledge of MAME!

The easiest way to compile is using Headkaze's Mame Compiler - follow the instructions to the letter. You will probably need to use the version of the compiler linked under the Older Versions of MAME section. Next, you will need to locate the diff file that Minwah created and the hiscore.txt file for the version he wrote the diff file for (MAME 0.125) in addition to the MAME 0.125 source file(and not Minwah's compiled version). Not sure if this will even work for you as I am not aware if there were any mods made by Minwah to the source file. I would also encourage you to backup the contents of your ShifterMAME directory before testing your compiled build in the event you need to revert back to the original.

I do not know what specific file(s) he modded, but he made changes regarding how the game code defined the use of the gear shift functionality. Instead of it being configured for one key that you would click once for lo, and then again for hi, he made changes to the source code so that when you went from lo to hi, the code recognized it as a "down for low, up for hi" interaction. Which file he needed to make that update in though, I do not know.

I've seen the Shiftermame name passed around quite a few times, that frankly I can't believe I'm the only person on all of the interwebs who's run across this issue! Or am I just the only one dumb enough to try to get it fixed? LOL

Thanks for the input, I'll see what I can figure out.

[fRequEnCy]

My issue is this: although Pole Position works great in ShifterMAME, at the end of the game, you can't enter your initials. I'm 99% sure it's an issue with the config file generated by ShifterMAME. If you play the game using a keyboard, all of the functions work fine.

What interests me is this part of the post. So if you use the keyboard then you're able to enter you initials just fine?

[Draco1962]

Could it be an issue with the diff file that was used to compile MAME? Or the config that is generated?

[Adultery]

I'm sure the pedal isn't passing an enter function, and instead it's passing an axis command. I thought the original hardware used both an axis and a 1-P Start config for the pedal depending on which function you were using.

Can you select another track OK using your pedal as the confirmation button?

[fRequEnCy]

I would think it's just a control issue. I don't see the need for compiling.

[vintagegamer]

What interests me is this part of the post. So if you use the keyboard then you're able to enter you initials just fine?

Well, it's 2 parts actually- if you play the regular MAME version (mine's on build v.90), you can use the predefined keyboard mapping to enter your initials. It sees the shifter as the spacebar, and the left control button as the gas pedal. The arrows steer, so you use the arrows left and right to get to your letter, and then hit the left control button (AKA gas pedal) and it accepts the initial that was selected.

In the shiftermame version, there is no mapping for the function of using the gas pedal as the ENTER or left control button equivalent. When you look through the config file for both versions, it is evident that the "ENTER" type function seen by MAME v.90 is mapped as the gas pedal DECREASE. There is no mapping for that function in Shiftermame, and you can't edit the config file, because it says right at the top of the contents of the config file in Shiftermame that any changes or additions to that file will be overwritten by the source code on the next launch of Shiftermame. So, that's why the source code, imo, needs to be modded.

If I'm wrong tell me! I'd be happy to be wrong on this!

VG

[Draco1962]

My first guess would be that it is in the diff file he created and, once compiled into the original 0.125 Source Code, effects the changes in the config file noted. Here is the link to ShifterMAME125. I tried just attaching the diff file but, even zipped, was not able to upload it due to size. Tried .zipx format and that failed.

[vintagegamer]

My first guess would be that it is in the diff file he created and, once compiled into the original 0.125 Source Code, effects the changes in the config file noted. Here is the link to ShifterMAME125. I tried just attaching the diff file but, even zipped, was not able to upload it due to size. Tried .zipx format and that failed.

Yes, v.125 is the Shiftermame version I have as well, which has the initial-entering error. The MAME v.90 I mentioned that I have is just plain vanilla MAME, not Shiftermame.

[vintagegamer]

I got a response from the creator of ShifterMAME- here is his response..

"Hi Jim,

Glad you like my Mame build!

As for the problem with entering initials...I haven't come across that but then I do have analog pedals.

I certainly did not alter the way the pedals work as far as I know, and it seems odd that the pedal works in game but not for entering initials. It may be that there was a problem in the official Mame that I made my derivative from? Or perhaps I did break it somehow, although as I say I am quite sure I did not mess with the pedal code.

I am not sure what to suggest other than to play around with some of the input settings...does adjusting the 'key speed' (I forget the exact term) in analog settings make any difference?

Sorry I can't be more help."

So, I guess I'm on my own!

[Draco1962]

Sorry to hear that but like I noted, if he had any interest in maintaining this derivative beyond 0.125 he would have done so. It is safe to say that he has moved on and does not appear that other than looking at what he has suggested that there is much more you or anyone can do.