Is there a list of what other roms mame requires?

[flammingcowz]

A few days ago I tried to get pac man to play and found out that I also needed Puckman or something similar.

 

Well now i'm trying to play Joust and can't find what it depends on.

 

So is there a list that says what you need for some popular classic games?

[Rybags]

The Roms needed for each game are usually in the one Zip file. Generally they're one file per chip, so you might have a dozen or more.

As support "improves" for some games, sometimes a file that wasn't needed before becomes necessary which can be a breaking point if you don't have up to date files.

 

It's one of the reasons I got a full stable set about 7 years ago and don't bother trying to keep up to date.

 

As for getting the Rom images, it's not really legal so no point looking on forum or emulation sites. Generally they're available in torrents or from sites in countries where the laws aren't so strict.

 

Getting a full set - my Mame install is about 13 Gig, that's omitting most of the modern HDD files - a full install would come to well over 50 Gig.

 

In the case where a game doesn't work for you, it's worth trying the other variants and revisions to see if you have the files for it.

[VectorGamer]

If you're using MAME UI, change the view to "Grouped" - the top most ROM in a group is the parent (i.e. the required ROM) and anything below is the child ROM.

[BillyHW]

If you're using MAME UI, change the view to "Grouped" - the top most ROM in a group is the parent (i.e. the required ROM) and anything below is the child ROM.

 

This is useful. Also, if the ROM site lists the number of downloads for each file, the one with the most downloads is usually the parent.

[mbd30]

What you need is the "parent rom" for each game, which should be included in a zip file. This explains it. http://www.mameworld.info/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=122191&page=0&view=expanded&sb=5&o=&fpart=1&vc=1

[Gregory DG]

I stopped updating my copy of MAME years ago. Everytme I did, half my games would stop working! And perfectly fine working games too! I think the MAME crew is just waaaay to obesssive about perfection. Especially when a game is already 99.999999% perfect.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

It typically "needs" a romset version Identical to the version of MAME you are currently using, it's that simple.

[BillyHW]

What I don't get is why the ROM needs to change with each version of the MAME app. No other emulator operates this way.

[NE146]

So is there a list that says what you need for some popular classic games?

 

You can easily audit single games within Mame, or use a tool like CLRMAMEPRO to check and generate lists of entire romsets, but from the sounds of it, it'd probably be a leap.

 

Just see attached for puckman & Joust.

joust.zip

puckman.zip

[Emehr]

What I don't get is why the ROM needs to change with each version of the MAME app. No other emulator operates this way.

 

Yeah, that doesn't make sense to me either. ROMs should be static. Are they modifying the ROMs to work with MAME? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

[jhd]

I stopped updating my copy of MAME years ago.

 

That's my approach too. I only have a small handful of games in MAME, basically just those titles that have not been released on a compilation disk for the PS 2 or PSX.

 

I found a working version of MAME, I found the specific games that I wanted, and I see no reason to update it further. The fact that it may not perfectly (or at all) emulate a game that I don't want to play is not really a concern for me.

[mbd30]

What I don't get is why the ROM needs to change with each version of the MAME app. No other emulator operates this way.

 

I understand the need for change if some previous dumps were faulty/incomplete and superior ROM images are now available. Otherwise I agree.

 

I still use MameUI version 0.135 from 2009. Maybe newer versions have fewer bugs, but having to download new roms for every Mame upgrade is annoying.

[BillyHW]

What I don't get is why the ROM needs to change with each version of the MAME app. No other emulator operates this way.

 

I understand the need for change if some previous dumps were faulty/incomplete and superior ROM images are now available. Otherwise I agree.

 

I still use MameUI version 0.135 from 2009. Maybe newer versions have fewer bugs, but having to download new roms for every Mame upgrade is annoying.

 

But why should it be so hard to get a correct ROM dump?

[NE146]

But why should it be so hard to get a correct ROM dump?

 

Is it? If you go the usual route of Usenet or Torrents it takes all of 2 - 3 clicks to queue up entirely full sets of correct ROMS. I'm not a huge torrent fan, but most people know what it is so if you want Mame roms, check out http://www.pleasuredome.org.uk/ or www.underground-gamer.com I believe.

[BillyHW]

But why should it be so hard to get a correct ROM dump?

 

Is it? If you go the usual route of Usenet or Torrents it takes all of 2 - 3 clicks to queue up entirely full sets of correct ROMS. I'm not a huge torrent fan, but most people know what it is so if you want Mame roms, check out http://www.pleasuredome.org.uk/ or www.underground-gamer.com I believe.

 

No, I meant why can't the MAME people get a good dump from the machines the first time around.