MAME MANAGER DELUXE 1998 ------------------------ Ver 1.0 Paolo Nicoletti Marco Fichera Mark Van Der Molen Christopher Hinton Walter Gual Ugo Viti Fabio Rossi Giovanni Solinas Tim Furry This file is divided into sections listed here in the order in which they appear: a) "Most important" Three lines to read... b) "Disclaimer" the usual things... c) "Additional" absolutely must read !!! -) d) "Introduction" It is fundamental to read it in order to understand how MMD works and if it is adapted to your needs. If you only read one section...this is it! e) "Installation and configuration of MMD for a quick start!" Just read it! f) "User's Manual" This section is a like reference for every thing that you don't understand in the program. It contains, explained in detailed way, all the instructions for every single every button of every single window. g) "Technical Notes" h) "How can I..." This is a small MMD FAQ. i) "Troubleshooting" I hope that you do not have to look at this section!! i) "What's new" The history of the modifications to MMD. ****************************************************************************** * MOST IMPORTANT * ****************************************************************************** For correct use of the program the enclosed files, in particular "unzip32.dll" and "zip.exe", must reside in the directory of Mame Manager Deluxe!! It is reported that on some computers with Windows NT, the program does not work! Finally if you are a newbie, unfortunately you might have some slight difficulty using MMD. This because of the enormous number of things that MMD allows you to do. But sooner or later you will understand that all the MMD functions are necessary if you want take full advantage from the power of MAME. ****************************************************************************** * DISCLAIMER * ****************************************************************************** This product is freeware. You may use it for your own game playing needs and that's it! I won't take any responsibility (directly or indirectly) for any damage (temporary or permanent) that this program or any associated programs may cause. Also, you can freely distribute this program and its associated files as long as you respect the following restrictions: 1) The files "MameManagerDeluxe.exe", "Zip.exe", "UNZIP32.DLL", "MMD_ita.txt" "MMD_eng.txt" and all the files with extension ".MMD" are included in the distributed archive in an unmodified form; 2) It must NEVER be packaged with MAME or ROMs images; 3) No charge is made for copying or distribution of this program and its associated files (beyond reasonable access fees); 4) Mame Manager Deluxe may not be included in any commercial product or CD-ROM compilations without the author's express permission. ****************************************************************************** * ADDITIONAL * ****************************************************************************** If just you want to reward me in some way for the long hours expenses it took to realize this product you have the following methods to do it: 1) Send a postcard to the following address: Paolo Nicoletti Via Pietre 113 Alpignano (To) Italy 2) Send a dollar, 1000 Lira or whatever you want to the above address. However keep in mind that surely I won't become rich from this! The only thing that I will do is to buy some roses for my girlfriend so I will be able to continue to write future versions of MMD! ****************************************************************************** * INTRODUCTION * ****************************************************************************** It is advised that you read this section carefully. It contains general information that can be very useful to you in order to understand not only MMD, but also the behaviour of MAME. 1) What does it mean for a game to be an "original" or a "clone" ? I do not know on what basis the MAME TEAM determines if a game is original (I think from the year or the licence). However once the title of "original" is given to a game, I think that it's easy to understand what it means to be a "clone" of that game. A "Clone" of a game is simply another version of that same game in which there are slight changes in the graphics or in the sound effects. In MAME thare are many of the so-called "clones". In addition, there can be more than one for a particular game (at the moment, the family of PAC MAN has eight elements!!). 2) What do we mean by the term "Setting"? A setting is essentially an option of configuration for a game. When the MAME is launched, the game that will be emulated can be configured in several ways. As an example, we could want to play and hear the sounds effects! :-) If we don't specify the setting "-soundcard" followed by the number of the supported sourd card, we won't be able to hear anything. Another setting is "-noscanlines". If it is activated, MAME won't dsiplay the black lines between the displayed lines. Finally, the setting can be of varied nature (we will speak about them later). 3) What is a "Set of Roms" or "Set of Samples"? A "Set of Roms" is nothing more than the files (always contained in one zip) that are necessary to make MAME capable of emulating a certain game. In other words, within these files is contained the code, the graphics and the sound of the old games that have to be emulated. It's the function of MAME to decrypt and to interpret this information in the correct way. A "Set of Samples" instead, is always some files (always contained in one zip) but they have the characteristic for satisfying a lack of emulation related to the sound. In other words, these files are nothing more than files .WAV transformed in an easy interpretable format MAME can use. 4) What does it mean when a "Set of Roms" is "Split", "Merged", or "Stand Alone"? Until version .31 of MAME, only "Stand Alone" games existed! In other words, every game supported by MAME demanded a single zipped file containing the Roms necessary. At the moment of launching the game, MAME expands and checks the zip content. If the necessary Roms are all included, then the game executes correctly. If the demanded Roms are not found, MAME signals an error and the game does not start. >From version .33 of the mame, the behavior is slightly different. If the game is an "original", MAME behave exactly like in version .31. If the game is a "clone", the behavior is a little more complex. In fact the Roms that this game needs are in great part those of the original, and only some of them are different. In order to save space on Hard Disks, it can be very useful to compress the zip file of the clone only the Roms that differ from the original and to store the others in zip file linked to the original game. This is possible from MAME version .33 because it is programmed in a way that if the zip file of the clone doesn't contain all the Roms needed, MAME will try to find the missing one(s) in the zip of the original. Therefore the definition of "Split" applies to zip files that only contains the Roms that differ from the original. It's obvious, therefore, that only a clone can have the status of "Split", while in all the cases, in the zip file of an "original" game all the Roms it needs must exist. Moreover there is the last category, that one of the "Merged" in which all Roms (of the original game and of its clones) are contained in only one big zip file. MAME is programmed in order to also recognize this kind of zip file. 5) Why MMD? MMD has been developed mainly in order to manage, in a correct way, this new characteristic of MAME. In other words, MMD is able to recognize if a zip file is in the state of "Stand Alone", "Splitted" or "Merged" and MMD is able to link it correctly to the original game or to its clone. Moreover, MMD is also able to transform the zip files from one format to another in a transparent and automatic way. 6) What else is new in MMD? MMD is improved remarkably in several aspects, beginning with the graphical interface (there are no longer those tremendous floating windows). What follows is a list of the improvements introduced with regards to the previous version. A) MMD can support an infinite number of games (There is no longer the limit of a maximum of 1500 games). B) MMD manages the settings dynamically. This means that if one new version of MAME supports some settings that were not present in the old version, the user will be able to easily insert these new settings directly from the program without having to wait for a new version of MMD. C) Also, the filters for ordering of supported games are dynamic. Therefore the user will be able to identify immediately a game or a category of games and to order them in the way that he likes. D) The navigation system is remarkably improved. Beyond being able to search for a particular game by typing the name of the game ("advanced navigation") it is possible to search for the games whose description contains a particular substring. Also, with a simple click on a button it is possible to display the clones that an original game supports. E) The information about the games supported is much more detailed now with information about the hardware and about the manufacturer. 7) What are the basics of MMD? MMD manages only the Roms and Samples that are ZIPPED. If you don't have them, you will not be able to use MMD. MMD assumes that the main directory of the Roms is always "...\Mame\Roms " and that the directory of the Samples is always "... \Mame\Samples ". This doesn't preclude the opportunity to use files that reside in other directories. However, it always uses these directories as the default. Particularly, the optimized files will be moved or copied in one of these two directories. Moreover also whichever function used "Merging", "Splitting", or "Stand Alone" will construct the new files in the directory "...\Mame\Roms", even if the original files were stored in another directory. Finally if the "Splitting", the "Merging" or the "Stand Alone" functions are applied on a particular game, the transformation will be on every member of the "family". In other words if a game has two clones that are "Split", and you decide to transform the state "Splitted" of one of the two to "Stand Alone" or "Merged", this transformation will be applied also to the other clone! Given the complexity of these mechanisms, no modifications will be made on the things cited in this part. So don't bother me with email about these things.... :-) ****************************************************************************** * INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION OF MMD FOR A QUICK START! * ****************************************************************************** MMD is extremely easy to install. Follow the steps and in a few minutes you will be ready to play to your favorite game! 1) Decompress the distribution zip in a directory. Although MMD supports the long names, there is one limitation. Make sure that the long name of the directory under which MAME and MMD is installed, does not contain spaces. As an example, an allowed long name of directory is: c:\Emulatori\MameManagerDeluxe A not allowed long name instead is: c:\Emulatori\Mame Manager Deluxe 2) Run MameManagerDeluxe.exe excutable from Windows or from Dos prompt. The first time you run MMD, you will have to enter the directory where the file "mame.exe" is located. This can be accomplished in various ways: A) Typing the name of the directory. B) Pressing the button "browse" and choosing the directory. C) Dragging with the mouse the directory to the text field. Once the name of the directory is entered press the "ok" button, MMD will perform a check for the games supported from the current version of MAME. If it finds new games, a list of these will be shown before entering the program. MMD automatically will find the new games supported (or inevetably, games removed like Alpine Ski :-) ) and it will update its tables with the data of these new games, in a few seconds. 4) Once entered in the program, if new games have been found, it is necessary to associate to them the file that contains the Roms that allows the game to be run properly. This characteristic has always been fundamental in MMD from the first DOS version. In fact, even if the phase of setup may appear a little more complex in MMD than in other products, it is fundamental and necessary in order to be always sure about the status of the Roms and for being able to identify in an inquivocabile way the Roms and Samples that exist and which are missing. MMD is the only one frontend today that has this characteristic. In other words, MMD will check for every game supported by MAME, and that the corresponding zipped file has the Roms or the Samples necessary to guarantee that the game will run properly. Consequently it will be a lot easier and immediate for the user, to know with exactitude which zip files of Roms or Samples need to be downloaded from the Internet. (It happens quite often, as an example, that from one version of MAME to the next, for some games changes which necessitate a new set of Roms.) In order to start the scanning of the zip files, it is necessary to activate the window called "Setup" by clicking on it. Once in this section, you must introduce in the text field the name of the directory that contains the zip files to analyze. This can be accomplished in the usuals three ways: A) Typing the name of the directory. B) Pressing the button "browse" and choosing the directory. C) Dragging with the mouse the directory to the text field. By default the directory will be "...\Mame\Roms". Also it is necessary to choose what kind of scanning we would like to perform (for the Roms or for the Samples), by clicking on the appropriate button. It is still possible to specify if MMD will have to analyze all games or only those which the zip files for the Roms or the Samples are missing by clicking on checkbox "Rescan all". When the directory has been entered and we have chosen the type of scanning, in order to proceed you have to press the button "Click here to begin the scansion' s process". MMD will start the scanning process. Once this process finishes correctly, (this process can last for several minutes) if MMD has found at least one file containing a Roms/Samples set missed before, the user will be asked if he wants to optimize the directory of the Roms or the Samples. If the user decides for the optimization, he will be asked if he wants to copy or to move the files in the directory of the Roms/Samples of MAME. Then the true process of optimization will start: A) Copy or moves the files found valid from the directory specified to the directory "...\Mame\Roms" or "...\Mame\Samples". B) Removed from the directory "...Mame\Roms" or "...Mame\Samples" the files that are no longer needed by MAME, by moving them in a subdirectory called "...\Mame\Roms\NotNeed" or "...\Mame\Samples\NotNeed". The phase of setup is finally finished. You are ready to play!! (Nearly!) ****************************************************************************** * USER MANUAL * ****************************************************************************** MMD is divided mainly in two parts. A left pane and a right pane. It is possible to navigate through the individual panes by pressing the appropriate label on the high part of the pane. +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | (A) (B) (C) (D) +(N)--+ +(O)--+ +(P)--+ | | +--------------------------+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ | | | | | | | | (E) (F) (G) (H) (I) (L) (M) | | | | +--------------------------+ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Left pane | | Right pane | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | +--------------------------+ +--------------------------+ | | | +-(Q)-----------------------------------------------------------+ +---------------------------------------------------------------+ (a) "Games" (b) "Filters..." (for EXPERT user) (c) "Sortings..." (for EXPERT user) (d) "Settings..." (for EXPERT user) (e) "Info" (f) "Settings" (g) "Snaps" (h) "Help" (i) "Misc" (l) "Setup" (m) "Utils" (n) "Statistics" button (o) "Credits" button (p) "Quit" button (q) Information bar. The "Quit" button obviously quits MMD. The "Games" Window The "Games" window is the heart of MMD. It lists the games supported from the current version of the MAME. It also offers a series of functions for easing the user in the search for a specific game or for a specific category of games. +--------------------------+ | +-(A)-----------+ +(B)-+ | | | | +----+ | | | | | | | | +(C)-+ | | | | +----+ | | | | x (D) | | | | x (E) | | | | | | | | +(F)-+ | | | | +----+ | | +---------------+ _(G)__ | | | | +-(H)-----------+ | | | \/| | | +---------------+ +(L)-+ | | +-(I)-----------+ +----+ | | | x | | | | x | +(M)-+ | | +---------------+ +----+ | +--------------------------+ (a) The list of the supported games It lists ALL the games supported from the current version of MAME if no filters are selected. In this case it will display only a part! (See points (I), (l) and (m) of this same window). Moreover it will show the games sorted by a specific ordering (See point (h) of this same window). In order to select a game, click with the mouse on the name of the game. It is also possible to navigate in this list with the arrow buttons. It is possible to navigate by typing the first letter of the name of the game. In this case, the first game that begins with the pressed letter will be selected. Finally, if the user types more letters, the games will be also searched and selected (advanced Navigation). If the right mouse button is pressed on a selected game, a series of functions will be shown in a pop up menu (these functions will be explained later in the manual because thay are shotcuts for other functions present in other panels). (b) The "Play" button Launches the selected game in the list. If this button is disabled it means that you don't have the Rom set of the game and, consequently, will not able to run it. (c) The "Play Random" button Launches a randomly-chosen game from the list of the available ones. (d) The "Get replay" checkbox If this checkbox is activated, MMD will make a replay file of the next game that is run. This replay will be available for successive re-use in the "Misc" panel. (e) The checkbox "Use Univbe" If this checkbox is activated, MMD will run the program UNIVBE before launching MAME. Univbe is a useful utility that offers support for the Vesa 2.0 standard. The Vesa 2.0 standard is needed to launch the MAME games with some settings. For example, if you try to launch a game with the setting 'vesa20' and you don't have the support for Vesa 2.0 on your system, it will crash. The first time it is checked, one selection window will appear. You will need to search for the file UNIVE.EXE manually and to select it. (f) The "Show family" button This button will show, in the list only, the games that are clones of the game currently selected, in addition to the original game listed. (g) The text field "Substring" If the user types text in this field, only the games whose description contains this text will be shown in the list. (h) The combobox of the available sortings. This combo box contains a list of the available sortings to apply at the list of the games. By the selection, the games in the list will be shown ordered in various ways. It is possible to create directly from MMD a new sorting (See "Sortings... " panel) (i) The list of the available filters It is possible to specify one or more of these filters by activating every single checkbox in the list. A filter is essentially a condition that must be satisfied in order to make a game be shown in the list. The more filters that are selected, the more the user succeeds to identify a determined series of games with particular characteristics. Note that if no game satisfies the characteristics of the selected filter the list will be empty. If no filter is selected, all the supported games will be shown. It is possible to create new filter conditions directly from the program (see "Filters... " Window). (l) The "Unselect All" button It is a "shortcut" button in the sense that if there are two or more selected filters and you want to return the display to all the games, just press this button in order to abort every active selection and consequently to pass only once from the phase of "refilter" (that I admit can be boring!). (m) The "And/Or" button This is a fundamental button for the concatenation of the conditions specified by two or more filters. It applies the AND or the OR booleans between these conditions. As an example, if we activate the filter "Games out on 1984", the list will show only these games. If another filter, "Games out on 1985",is activated and the button "And/Or" is in the "And" position, the list of the supported games will be shown as empty. This is because LOGICALLY there aren't games that were out in 1984 AND in 1985. In other words, the same game CAN NOT BE released in 1984 AND in 1985. Consequently one of the two conditions of the filter is destined to fail and the games won't be shown. If the button "And/Or" had been in the "OR" position, the list would show all the games that came out in 1984 and all the games out in 1985. This because the logical operator "OR" only needs one of the conditions of the filter to be satisfied in order to display the game, while with the "AND" condition, all the specific conditions must be satisfied. It is possible to create new conditions for filters directly from the program (see " Filters... " Window) The "Filters" Window This window is for expert users only. It allows you to create, to modify or to cancel the filter conditions. In order to insert or to modify a condition, just press the button "New" or "Modify". Subsequently it is necessary to select the members that comprise the filter that you are inserting (in the case of modification these values are already selected). The members of a filter are: A) A name that identifies the filter. B) A MMD field on which we have to apply a comparison operator. (MMD fields are fully explained in point (F) of this section) C) A comparison operator. (these operators are fully explained in point (G) of this section). D) Eventually a comparison value. ("Eventually" because not all the comparison operators demand it). Once that these members have been selected, it is possible to save the data using the "Save" button or to abort any changes by pressing the "Cancel" button. If you have inserted a new filter, this will be immediately made available in the "Games" Window. +--------------------------+ |+(A)---------------------+| || || || || |+------------------------+| |+(B)-+ +(C)-+ +(D)-+| |+----+ +----+ +----+| | __________(E)___________ | | | | +(F)------+ +(G)------+ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | +---------+ +---------+ | | __________(H)___________ | | | | +(M)-+| |+(I)-+ +(L)-+ +----+| |+----+ +----+ (N) | +--------------------------+ (A) The list of available filters If you navigate through the list, you will note that for every selected filter, the details of the filter will be shown in its members (E),(F),(G) and (H). (B) The "New" button If pressed, allows the insertion of a new filter. (C) The "Modify" button If pressed, allows the modification of the data of the currently selected filter. (D) The "Delete" button Permanently removes the currently selected filter. (E) The text field "filter name" Obviously contains the name of the filter. (F) The list of the fields managed by MMD So what are the fields managed from MMD? They are like "categories" that contain information that MMD has collected about the games supported by MAME. What follow is a list with a short description of each field: "Raw name": the "pure" name of the supported game. As an example the pure name of "Ghosts n'Goblins" is "gng". Never empty. "Description": the description of the game. Never empty. "Roms zip file": the complete path of the zip file that contains the Roms. Can be empty if you don't have the Roms set. "Samples zip file": the complete path of the zip file that contains the Samples. Can be empty if you don't have the Samples set. Is always empty if the game doesn't need samples. "Need Sample": determines if a game needs a Samples set. It contains "yes" in case the game needs it It's empty if the game does'nt need it. "Is one of my favorities": determines if the game belongs to favorities! It contains "1" in this case. It is empty when the game is not a preferred one. "Is a clone?": determines if the game is a clone of another game. It contains the "raw name" of the original game if the game is a clone. It is empty if the game is itself an original. "Last played": contains the date of the last time you launched the game. It is empty if the game has never been launched. "Launched": contains the number of times that the game has been launched It is empty if the game has never been launched. "Playing Time": contains the number of seconds elapsed playing a game. It is empty if the game has never been launched. "Is a special game? (neogeo)": determines if a game is a neogeo game. In this case it contains "neogeo". Otherwise it's empty. "Rating": contains the rating of the game expressed in percentage. If we haven't yet rated the game this field contains "0". "Supported from version...": contains the number and the date of the version of MAME which the game was first supported. It is always full! "Insert date": contains the insert date of the game in MMD archives Never empty. "MAME executable used": contains a substring that identifies the executable to use as an alternative to the executable of the current version of MAME. It's empty if the version used it the current one. "Category": contains a free string that the user has introduced in the text field "category" of the "Info" panel. "Clone's dependencies": contains the state of dependency of the Roms zip file of a clone related to his original. If the game is orginal this field is always empty. If the game is a clone the field can: A) Be empty if the zip file of the clone is of the "Stand Alone" status. B) Contain "Partial" if the zip file of the clone is of the "Split" status. C) Contain "Total" if the zip file of the clone is of the "Merged" status. "Manufacturer": contains the name of the company that produced the game. Never empty. "Year": contains the year of publication of the game. Never empty. "Average frame rate": contains the number of frames per second you run that game at on average. Empty when the information is not available. "Cpu 1": contains the name of the main cpu emulated by MAME. Never empty. "Cpu 2": contains the name of the secondary cpu emulated by MAME. This field can be empty. "Cpu 3": contains the name of the third cpu emulated by MAME. This field can be empty. "Sound 1": contains the name of the main sound chip emulated by MAME. This field can be empty. "Sound 2": contains the name of the secondary sound chip emulated by MAME. This field can be empty. "Sound 3": contains the name of the third sound chip emulated by MAME. This field can be empty. (G) The list of the available operators. An operator is a condition that is applied to a MMD field. What follows is a list with a short description of each operator: "Equals to...": the value contained in the selected MMD field must be equal to the value specified in the field (H). "Not equals to...": the value contained in the selected MMD file has to be different compared to the value specified in the field (H). "Greater or equals than...": the value contained in the selected MMD field must be greater or equal than the value specidied in the field (H). "Less or equals than...": the value contained in the selected MMD field must be smaller or equal than the value specified in the field (H). "is empty!" no value has to be present in the selected MMD field. "is not empty!" the value in the selected MMD field does not have to be empty! "contains...": the value contained in the MMD field must contain the substring entered in the field (H). (H) The text field "specific value" Indicates the value used by the operator for comparing it to the MMD field. There are only two cases where this text field can be empty. When the operator is "is empty!" or "is not empty!" for obvious reasons. (I) The "Save" button If pressed, it records the variation or the insertion. If the data entered is incomplete or wrong the user will be alerted. (L) The "Cancel" button Aborts every modify/insertion you are making. (M) The "Test" button When pressed, it performs a test about the condition of the filter. In other words, it checkd how many games in the archives satisfy the condition that you have specified in the currently selected filter and it shows the result in the label (N). (N) The label with the result of the test Displays the result of a test performed on the currently selected filter. The "Sortings..." Window This window is for expert users only. It allows you to create or delete sortings. In order to insert a new sorting, just press the "New" button. Subsequently, it is necessary to select the members of the sortings that you are inserting. The members of a sorting are: A) A name that identifies the sorting. B) A MMD field on which to apply the sorting. (MMD fields are fully explained to point (F) of the "Filters..." panel) C) The condition of ordering (ascending or descending). Once members are selected, you can record the new sorting by pressing the "Save" button. Press "cancel" if you don't want to save the data. If you have inserted a new sorting, this will be immediately made available in the "Games" Window. +--------------------------+ |+(A)---------------------+| || || || || |+------------------------+| |+(B)-+ +(C)-+| |+----+ +----+| | __________(D)___________ | | | | +(E)------+ +(F)-+ | | | | +----+ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | +(G)-+ | | | | +----+ | | | | | | | | +(H)-+ | | +---------+ +----+ | +--------------------------+ (A) The list of the available sortings If you navigate through the list, you will note that for every selected sorting, the details of the filter will be shown in its members (D),(E) and (F). (B) The "New" button If pressed, it allows the insertion of a new sorting. (C) The "Delete" button Permanently removes the currently selected sorting. (D) The text field "Sorting name" Obviously contains the name of the sorting. (E) The list of the fields managed by MMD So what are the fields managed from MMD? They are like "categories" that contain information that MMD has collected about the games supported by MAME. (MMD fields are fully explained in point (F) of the section "Filters...") (F) The "Ascending/descending" button Determines the way the data will be sorted. (G) The "Save" button If pressed, it records the insertion. If the data entered is incomplete or wrong, the user will be alerted. (H) The "Cancel" button Aborts every insertion you have made. "Settings.." Window This window is for expert users only. It allows you to create or cancel settings. It is very useful for several reasons. As an example, in case a new version of MAME with new settings supported come out, the user will have the chance to modernize MMD by himself. Moreover it's very useful in case you want to insert some particular settings supported by other emulators, but that you want to use in MMD in order launch the games that are supported both from Mame and other emulators. In my personal case, I use the Callus executable in order launch the MAME games that Callus also supports. However, Callus-settings are different from those of MAME, so we have to create them. As an example I have created only one big setting with this name: " - res 384 224 - resv 640 480 - pcxdir f:\mmd98\mame\pcx". Thus when I launch a game with this setting enabled and by using the executable of Callus (See "Info" panel) beyond having my preferred resolution, in case I press "F9" during the emulation, the snapshots taken will be saved in the directory pcx also used from MAME. Once exited from the emulation, MMD will be able to take these snapshots and MMD will be able to display them all. In order to insert a new setting you have to press the "New" button. Subsequently it is necessary to select the members of the setting that you are inserting. The members of a setting are: A) A name that identifies the setting. (Be careful with this name, take a look at point (D) of this section) B) The type of the setting. (See point (E)). C) Eventually the associated variable value used for default (See point (F)) D) Eventually the fixed values from which choosing. (See point (G)). E) Eventually some lines of description about the setting. Once members are selected, you can record the new setting by pressing the "Save" button. Press "cancel" if you don't want to save data. If you have inserted a new sorting, this will be immediately made available in the "Games" window. +--------------------------+ |+(A)---------------------+| || || || || |+------------------------+| |+(B)-+ +(C)-+| |+----+ +----+| | __________(D)___________ | |+(E)---------------------+| || || || || |+------------------------+| | __________(F)___________ | |+(G)---------------------+| || || |+------------------------+| | __________(H)___________ | |+(I)-+ +(L)-+| |+----+ +----+| +--------------------------+ (A) The list of the available settings. If you navigate through the list, you will note that for every selected setting, the details of the filter will be shown in its members (D),(E),(F),(G) and (H). (B) The "New" button If pressed, it allows the insertion of a new setting. (C) The "Delete" button Permanently removes the currently selected setting. (D) The text field "Setting name" Obviously contains the name of the setting. Warning: this name is the one that will be used to produce the commandline for launching a game if the setting is enabled. So be sure to use the appropriate name! (E) The list of the types of setting Three fundamental types of settings exist: "On/Off type": The setting can be only enabled or disabled. As an example the setting -noscanlines is of this type "Variable value type": if this setting is enabled, it needs also a value to be antered. As an example the setting -skiplines n belongs to this category. "n" is a number that indicates the number of the lines "to skip" in the visualization of a game. "Fixed selection type": if this setting is enabled, it needs also a value to be entered. But this value can only be chosen from a set of predefined values As an example the setting -soundcard n belongs to this category. "n" is a number that indicates the soundcard that will be used, but "n" can only be 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. (F) The text field of the "Variable Value" This field is only needed by the settings that belongs to the category of "Variable value type". In this case, the user can type in this field the default value associated with this setting. (G) The text field of the decomposition of the "fixed values" This field is only needed by the settings that belongs to the category of "Fixed selection type". For EVERY value that we would like to make available we have to insert ONE line with the following syntax: ; (H) The text field "help" In this field the user can type a short description of the setting. (G) The "Save" button If pressed, it records the insertion. If the data entered is incomplete or wrong the user will be alerted. (H) The "Cancel" button Aborts every insertion you have made. The "Info" Window It essentially shows the information available about the currently selected game. Moreover from this card it is possible to rate a game, add it to favorites, add to it a short description and to specify which executable will be used to start the game. +--------------------------+ | (A) (M) | |+(B)----------------+ | || | | |+-------------------+ | |+(C)---------------------+| || __(D)__|| |+------------------------+| |+(E)---------------------+| || || |+------------------------+| |+(F)---------------++----+| || || || || || || || ||_(I)|| |+------------------+|x(L)|| |________(G)________ +----+| +--------------------------+ (A) The label of the currently selected game. This label contains the description followed by the "Raw Name" of the currenlty selected game. It can be displayed in three colors: A) Green: the game has the Roms and Samples (where necessary). B) Yellow: the game has the Roms but it does not have the Samples that needs. C) Red: the game does not have the Roms. (B) The "info date" panel It contains the following information: A) The date of insertion of the game in the MMD archives. B) The version of MAME from which the game has been supported. C) The last playng date. (C) The "info performances" panel It contains the following information: A) The number of times that you have launched the game. B) The total playing time. C) The name of the executable that MAME uses in order launch the game. (see the following point) (D) The name of the MAME executable This is a text field that indicates the name of the executable used by MAME in order launch the game. If the field contains the value "Last" will be used the currently mame version. If the user wants to specify another executable, he must write in this field the subtring that completes the name of the executable. This executable MUST stand in the subdirectory "...\Mame\Oldmame" that MMD creates for you. As an example, if you want to use the mame version 33 in order launch the selected game, we have to follow these steps: A) Copy the executable "mame.exe " of version 33 in the subdirectory "...\Mame\Oldmame". B) Rename the file just copied as "mame33.exe". C) Write in the text field the substring "33". MMD will now use this old executable when you want to play at that game. Obviously you can copy into "...\Mame\Oldmame" also the executable of Callus or of Neorage and use these executables in order launch the Callus or Neogeo games that MAME also supports. Obviously you have to rename these two files "callus.exe" and "neorage.exe " in (for example) "mamecallus.exe" and "mamerage.exe" and finally you have to specify in this text filed the substring "callus" and "rage" for the games that we want to launch with these executables. A last note: when you do this MMD won't perform a check of the Roms for the selected executable, so if you want to use an old version of MAME (let's say ver. 29) in order launch a game that has been twisted by the last "MAME renaming revolution" the game would also not start. In addiction, the only game that can't be run using the Callus executable is Ghouls n' ghosts because the Mame Raw Name is different for the Callus Raw name. ( Let's email Sardu about changing the Raw Name from "gng" to "ghouls" (E) the "info files" pane This panel indicates the zip files of Roms and Samples eventually associated to the currently selected game. The files of the Roms will be displayed in green if you have the Roms. Otherwise "You don't have the Roms set" in red will appear. The files of the Samples will be displayed in green if you have the Samples. Green will be used even if the game doesn't need the Samples ("This game doesn't need the Samples set!"). Instead, if the game needs the Samples and you don't have them "You don't have the Samples set" in red will appear. Also in this same panel, there are 4 small buttons, 2 related to the Roms, and 2 related to the Samples. The little "the Break" buttons, when pressed if enabled, remove the link between the game and his Roms or Samples zip file. The little "change/select" buttons, when pressed, will let the user select manually the zip file of the Roms or the zip file of the Samples. These two functions are also available in the pop up menu that appears if the user right-click on a game. (F) The "info identifying" pane It contains the following informations: A) The manufacturer of the game. B) the year of publication. C) The cpu emulated. D) the soud chip emulated. (if no sound chip are still emulated "Not sound emulated yet!" in red will appear). E) The status of the game: "Original" in green if the game is an original one! "Original (neogeo)" in green if the game is an orignal neogeo game. If the game is a clone: the Raw Name of the original (in blue). Moreover, if the game is clone will be displayed the status of dependency of the clone in comparisons of the original: "Stand Alone" in green, "Splitted" in yellow and "Merged" in red. (G) The text field "Category" This field be filled with what you want and therefore used by filters (see "Filters..." Window) (I personally hold in there two pieces of information: The name of the bar in my country in which I went to play that game and the string "He exited"/"He didn't exit" that indicates if a friend of mine (that always comes to my house in order to see the MAME games), at the time that a particular games came out, his mother let him out or not. Consequently when it comes to my house I only display games in which "He exited" ! :-) ) (H) The text field "Rating" In this field it is possible to specify a rating for the currently selected game. The rate is expressed in percentage. Initially "NP" is contained. NP indicates that the game is not working or you have not played it yet! When you change the percentage, it will change also the image over the rating. (I) The check of "favorities" Simply indicates if the currently selected game belongs to favorities or not. Subsequently it is possible to simply display only the preferred ones by selecting the right filter. (I) "the eventual awards" If you have assigned a rating greater than 90% and less than 94% the "Sizzler" image will be displayed! If the rating exceeds 94% the game will be awarded with the gold medal! The "Settings" Window In this window you can select for each game the settings you like best. In order to assign a setting you have only to locate it in the setting list and then activate it by clicking on the appropriate check. Moreover it is possible to assign automatically the entire, or a part of the, "set of settings" of the selected games to the other games.(See points (E) (F) (G) (H)). +--------------------------+ |+(A)----------+ +(E)-+ | || x | +----+ | || x | +(F)-+ | || x | +----+ | || x | | || x | +(G)-+ | || x | +----+ | || x | +(H)-+ | |+-------------+ +----+ | | __________(B)___________ | | | |+(C)---------------------+| || \/|| |+------------------------+| | | | (D) | +--------------------------+ (A) The list of the available settings It is possible to activate or deactivate a setting by clicking on his check. If you desire to create new settings take a look at the "Settings..." window (B) The text field "Variable value" This field will be available only when you have checked a setting which is a "Variable value type". As an example if we check the setting "-skiplines", into this field will be shown the default value of this setting (if any). Obviously the user can change it as he prefers. (C) The combo box "Fixed value" This combo box will be available only when you have checked a setting which is a "Fixed selection type". As an example if we check the setting "-soundcard", you will see listed into this combo box all the soundcard available. You'll only have to select one. (D) The label "Behaviour" This label offers a description of the "repercussions" of the currently selected setting on the emulation. (E) The "Select All" button This button automatically selects all games in the list. (F) The "With equal settings" button This button automatically selects the games that have the same "set of settings" specified in the setting list. (G) The "Apply single setting" button By pressing this button, MMD automatically will set on each selected game in the list the value of the currently selected setting in the setting list. (G) The "Apply all settings" button By pressing this button MMD automatically will set on each selected game in the list the COMPLETE "set of settings" currently selected on the setting list. The "Snaps" Window It displays an image (if any) of the currently selected game. +--------------------------+ |+----------(A)-----------+| || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || |+------------------------+| |+(B)-+ +(C)-+ +(D)-+| |+----+ +----+ +----+| |+(E)---------------------+| |+------------------------+| +--------------------------+ (A) One of the available images of the game If the game possesses at least one snapshot this will be shown here. If the game does not possess a preview you can take one directly from MAME. In order to capture an image of the game, just press F12 key while playing. MMD will take automatically the images saved from MAME and you will be able to see them all. Attention: the previous user of MMAW will have zounds images. These no longer will be displayed by MMD because I have changed the format of the name in a "more human" one. The new format is simply.... rawnameXXX.pcx where XXX indicate one number comprised between 0 and 999. In order to import the old images in the new format, you have to choose the appropriate function "Convert Picture from MMAW format" in the "Utils" window. (B) The "Next" button If pressed, the following image will be shown. It is disabled in the case that you have a single image or no images at all. (C) The "Previous" button If pressed, the previous image will be shown. It is disabled in the case that you have a single image or no images at all. (D) The "Delete" button If pressed, permanently deletes the image displayed. It is disabled in the case you that have no images at all. (E) The "Start/stop slideshow" nutton By pressing it, the images will be shown in sequence to regular intervals of time. The interval time can be set in the "Utils" window with the appropriate bar. The "Help" Window It displays the instructions of the game and one short review. +--------------------------+ |+----------(A)-----------+| || || || || || || |+------------------------+| | _(B)_ _(C)_ _(D)_ _(E)_ | | _(F)___________________ | |(G)+ (H)+ (I)+ (L)+ (M)+ | |+--+ +--+ +--+ +--+ +--+ | |+----------(N)-----------+| || || || || || || |+------------------------+| |+(O)-+ +(P)-+| |+----+ +----+| +--------------------------+ (A) The text field of the instructions In this field will be shown the instructions of the game taken from the file "GAMELIST.TXT" that comes with MAME. (B) The text field of the review In this field will be shown a small review written by Fabio Rossi, a famous game reviewer of experience. Have a look at his personal card in the credits window. The "Misc" Window +--------------------------+ |+----------(A)-----------+| (A) The list of cheats available || || (B) The text field "Cpu" || || (C) The text field "Addr" || || (D) The text field "Data" |+------------------------+| (E) The text field "Type" | _(B)_ _(C)_ _(D)_ _(E)_ | (F) The text field "Description" | _(F)___________________ | (G) The "New" button |(G)+ (H)+ (I)+ (L)+ (M)+ | (H) The "Modify" button |+--+ +--+ +--+ +--+ +--+ | (I) The "Delete" button |+----------(N)-----------+| (L) The "Save" button || || (M) The "Cancel" button || || (N) The list of replays available || || (O) The "Replay it!" button |+------------------------+| (P) The "Delete" button |+(O)-+ +(P)-+| |+----+ +----+| +--------------------------+ (A) The list of the cheat available This list all the cheats that you have relative to the currently selected game. These cheats are read directly from the file "cheat.dat" that MUST be located in the directory of MAME. If you don't have this file the message "cheat.dat not found!" will be shown in the list. (B) the text field "Cpu" (C) the text field "Addr" (D) the text field "Data" (E) the text field "Type" (F) the text field "Description" These fields will be enabled exclusively in phase of insertion or modification of the data of a cheat. In order to know how to put in these fields, take as reference the file "cheat.doc" included in the zip file of MAME. (G) The "New" button If pressed, allows the insertion of a new cheat. (H) The "Modify" button If pressed, allows the modification of the data of the currently selected cheat. (I) The "Delete" button Permanently removes the currently selected cheat. (L) The "Save" button If pressed, it records the variation or the insertion. If the datas entered are incomplete or wrong the user will be alerted. (M) The "Cancel" button Aborts every modify/insertion you have made. (N) The list of the available replays Shows the replays available for the currently selected game. It is possible to make a replay by activating the check "Get Replay" in the "Games" window. (O) The "Replay it!" button It replays the currently selected replay! (P) The "Delete" button Permanently removes the currently selected replay. The "Setup" Window This is one of the fundamental windows of MMD. From here you will be able to search for and to analyze the files of the Roms and the Samples. Just take a look at the chapter "INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION OF MMD FOR A QUICK START!" for information on how to use this window. +--------------------------+ | +(A)-+| | +----+| | __________(B)___________ | | +(C)-+ x(E) | | +----+ +(F)---\+| | x(D) +-------+| |+----------(G)-----------+| |+------------------------+| | | |+----------(H)-----------+| |+------------------------+| |+----------(I)-----------+| |+------------------------+| |+----------(L)-----------+| |+------------------------+| |+----------(M)-----------+| |+------------------------+| +--------------------------+ (A) The "source directory" selection button By pressing this button a window will be displayed on the screen. You have to select the source directory that contains the zip files you want to analyze. (B) The text field of the name of the "source directory" Type here the name of the source directory that contains the zip files you want to analyze. (C) The "Switch Roms/Samples scanning" button If you want to perform a Roms scan make sure that this buttons read "Roms". If you want to perform a Samples scan make sure that this buttons read "Samples". (D) The checkbox "Rescan all" If this checkbox is activated, MMD will perform a scan for all the games independently if they already have a set of Roms/Samples linked. (E) Checkbox "Very fast scanning" This checkbox will be enabled only when the button (C) reads "Roms". By checking it, MMD (during the scan) once identifying the zip to analyze will not validate his content, but automatically MMD assumes that it is a valid one. This type of scan must be used ONLY when you are sure about what you are doing... when you are sure that every Roms zip file contains the requested Roms set. IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO NOT USE THIS FUNCTION: 1) The first time you run MMD 2) When you have the clones by various type, some "Merged", some "Stand alone" and some "Split ", because the gained information surely will be false and this COULD MAKE MMD CRASH! (F) The combobox "assume clone status" During the "Very fast" scan, it is necessary to specify the behavior that MMD must assume when is analyzing the Roms set of a clone. Obviously the assumed behavior will be applied to every clone found and for this reason you have to be very wise in the use. (G) The "Begin scanning process" button By pressing this button the process of scanning will start. It is possible to interrupt it at any time by pressing the button "cancel" in the window. (H) The "Select all games in list" button By pressing this button, all the games in the list will be selected (I) The "Create Stand Alone zip..." button (L) The "Create Split zip..." button (M) The "Creat one big Merged zip" button These three push-buttons act on the games selected in the main list. Their FUNDAMENTAL function is to transform the Roms set of a clone from one format to another in automatic way. However there are some cases where this transformation won't work. As an example, if we try it on a game clone of an other game and: A) the state of the Roms of this clone is "Stand Alone" B) we don't have the zip file containing the Roms of the original. if we try to transform the zip file of the clones from the state of "Stand Alone" to the state "Split" or "Merged", this won't work because these last two states demand the partial or total dependency from the file linked to the original. I suggest however to hold the Roms of the clones in only one state in order to avoid problems in furture scans "Very Fast" (See points (E) and (F) of this section) The "Utils" Window It contains the service functions. +--------------------------+ | | | (A)-------/----------- | | | |+----------(B)-----------+| |+------------------------+| |+----------(C)-----------+| |+------------------------+| | | |+----------(D)-----------+| |+------------------------+| | | | | |+----------(E)--+ | |+---------------+ +(G)---+| |+----------(F)--+ +------+| |+---------------+ | +--------------------------+ (A) The "delay of slideshow" slider This slider controls the elapsed seconds between the display of one snapshot and the following ones in the "Snaps" window The time interval can vary from 1 second to 10 seconds. (B) The button "Import data from MMAW" If you are an old user of Mame Manager, it is possible for you to import part of the old data into the MMD archives Before doing this, just copy the file "mame.ini" from the old directory of Mame Manager, to the directory of MMD. The imported data will be the following: 1) Lauched 2) Playing times 3) Rating of the game (C) The "Convert picture from MMAW..." button Transforms the name of the pictures taken with the old Mame Manager in the new format. When this button is pressed you will be asked to select the name of the directory in which the old pictures were kept. (D) The "Merge cheat codes files" button This will merge the values contained in the file "cheat.dat" with another one. (E) The "Optimize Roms directory" button (F) The "Optimize Samples directory" button (G) The "switch Move/Copy" button The first two buttons works in conjunction with the third one. Optimize a directory means mainly two things: 1) Copy or move all the files that have valid link in the directory "...\Mame\Roms" or "...\Mame\Samples" (After multiple scans some files can reside in various directories) 2) Remove from directory "...\Mame\Roms" or "...\Mame\Samples" the files that are no longer connected to a game. (In this case MMD will move these files in a subdirectory of "...\Mame\Roms" or "...\Mame\Samples" called "NotNeed" The third button specifies if during the first phase of the optimization the files found will be MOVED or ONLY COPIED in the directory "...\Mame\Roms" or "...\Mame\Samples" The "Statistics" Window You can open it by pressing the "Statistics" button in the main window. In this window there are the top ten of the games more played and of the games less played, plus one general list. Have fun! The "Credits" Window The people behind the magic of MMD! :-) In this section you can also find useful links anout MMD and MAME.. ****************************************************************************** * TECHNICAL NOTE * ****************************************************************************** MMD was written using Visual C/C++ 5,0. The minimal resolution needed is 800x600. Also, for a better visualization, I suggest you install the font "Tahoma" (in the greater majority of computers this font is already installed) ****************************************************************************** * HOW CAN I .... ? * ****************************************************************************** 1) How can I use the executables of Callus or Neorage in order to play the games that MAME supports too? Look at the introduction of the "Settings..." panel and to point (D) of the "Games" panel. 2) How can I transform a set of Roms from one format to another ("Split", "Stand alone" or "Merged")? Look at points (I) (L) and (M) of the "Setup" panel. 3) Why does MMD transform just one game at time to "Stand alone", "Split" or "Merged"? I want this transformation to apply to all games that I have! What's wrong? You have selected only one game in the list! You have to select all games by pressing the "Select all" button in the "Setup" panel. Or you can also manually selec the games in the list by holding down the "CTRL" key and clicking on the games you want. 4) A new version of MAME is out! This version supports a setting that MMD does not have! How can I insert this new setting and use it? Look at point of the "Settings..." panel! 5) I want to display only the games that... You can create any filter you want! Look at the section regarding "Filters..." 6) I want to sort the list of the games by... You can create the sorting you prefer! Look at the section regarding "Sortings..." 7) I have just assigned some settings to a game. How can I apply these settings to the other games in the list? It's very simple! Just press the button "select all" in the "Settings" panel or manually select the games you want. Then press the "apply to all" button in the same panel. 8) O.K. now I want to apply a single setting to the games I have selected without losing the other settings that can be different for each game. It's very simple! Just select the setting you want to apply by clicking on it! The press the "Aplly single setting" button! 9) How can I save a replay of a game? Just check the checkbox "Get replay" in the "Games" panel. 10) Ok, I've taken the replay. How do I replay it? Go to the "Misc" panel and in the lower part you will find a list of the replays available for that game. Just select the replay you want and then press the "Replay it" button. ****************************************************************************** * TROUBLESHOOTING * ****************************************************************************** Q: Why does MMD crash? A: Ah ah ah! There are several reasons why this could happen. What follows are the most common reasons. If you are experiencing a different problem not explained anywhere in this file, email me with a detailed description of the error. By description I mean the exact moment when MMD crashes! a) Although it is unlikely to receive such an error, it may be the result of a conflict between an old win 3.1 program and MMD. For example, a user has a mouse control TSR-like program that enables the middle mouse button that sits on the win95 task bar. If the mouse control program is left on and the user attempts to load a game with MMD, an error such as the one above is displayed, resulting in a system crash. The solution to this problem is to shut down any programs that may be causing this problem. This is a rare case and MMD allows for multitasking with most programs. b) Your path to the Roms or Samples contains spaces. Although MMD supports the long names, does not support long names that contain spaces. c) You have performed the scanning "Very fast". I have warned you..... In order to resolve this problem you have to perform the normal scanning with the check box "Rescan all" enabled. ****************************************************************************** * HISTORY * ****************************************************************************** - Just out.... :-) Final Note: If you want to contact me you can do it by: Email: 1) p.nicoletti@radiostudio.it (try this first) 2) p.nicoletti@usa.net 3) paolo.nicoletti@csi.it ICQ 1) Uin 4939760 IRC 1) Irc net on channel #emuita, nickname IlTimido