User talk:MrQuan

Using The Programme

mame <gamename> [options]

This is the usual way to run MAME is by telling it to run a particular game: For example mame robby –nosound will run Robby Roto without sound. There are many, many options available. All currently supported options are listed below.

mame <command> [parameters]

This is an alternative way to run MAME is to give it a command: For example mame -listsource gridlee will print the name of the source file where the gridlee driver lives to the screen. There are just a handful of these commands in MAME. They are all listed below, just before the options list.

Default Keys

All the keys below are fully configurable in the user interface. This list shows the standard keyboard configuration.

Tab

Toggles the configuration menu

~

Toggles the On Screen Display. Use the up and down arrow keys to select which parameter to modify (global volume, mixing level, gamma correction etc.) Use the left and right to arrow keys change modify the value. Some parameters adjust with finer or coarser control if you hold down the CTRL or SHIFT keys while pressing the left/right arrows. Use the ENTER key to reset a value to its default.

P

Pauses the game

Shift + P

While paused, advances to next frame

F1

Toggle crosshairs for games that use them

F2

Service Mode

F3

Resets the game

F4

Shows the game palette, decoded GFX, and any tilemaps. Use the ENTER key to switch between the three modes (palette, graphics, and tilemaps). Press F4 again to turn off the display. The key controls in each mode vary slightly: • Palette / colortable mode: o [ / ] switch between palette and colortable modes o up / down scroll up/down one line at a time o pgup / pgdn scroll up/down one page at a time o home / end move to top/bottom of list o - / + increase/decrease the number of colors per row o ENTER switch to graphics viewer • Graphics mode: o [ / ] switch between different graphics sets o up / down scroll up/down one line at a time o pgup / pgdn scroll up/down one page at a time o home / end move to top/bottom of list o left / right change colour displayed o R rotate tiles 90 degrees clockwise o - / + increase/decrease the number of tiles per row o ENTER switch to tilemap viewer • Tilemap mode: o [ / ] switch between different tilemaps o up / down / left / right scroll 8 pixels at a time o SHIFT + up / down / left / right scroll 1 pixel at a time o CTRL + up / down / left / right scroll 64 pixels at a time o R rotate tilemap view 90 degrees clockwise o - / + increase/decrease the zoom factor o ENTER switch to palette/colortable mode Note: Not all games have decoded graphics and/or tilemaps.

F6

Toggle cheat mode (if started with ‘-cheat’)

F7

Load a 'Save State'. You will be requested to press a key to determine which Save State you wish to load. Note that the 'Save State' feature is for developing drivers and not intended for users. It is incomplete and works only on a number of drivers. Use at own risk.

Shift + F7

Create a 'Save State'. Requires an additional key press to identify the state.

F8

Decrease frame skip on the fly

F9

Increase frame skip on the fly

F10

Toggles speed throttling

F11

Toggles speed display

Shift + F11

Toggles profiler display (debug builds only)

F12

Saves a screen snapshot.

Insert

Fast forward. While held, runs the game with throttling disabled and with the maximum frameskip.

ESC

Exits emulator

Core Commands

-help / -?

Displays current MAME version and copyright notice.

-validate / -valid

Performs internal validation on every driver in the system. Run this before submitting changes to ensure that you haven't violated any of the core system rules. Configuration Commands

-createconfig / -cc

Creates the default MAME.INI file. All the configuration options (not commands) described below can be permanently changed by editing this configuration file.

-showconfig / -sc

Displays the current configuration settings. If you route this to a file, you can use it as an INI file. For example, the command: mame -showconfig >mame.ini is equivalent to -createconfig.

-showusage / -su

Displays a summary of all the command line options. For options that are not mentioned here, the short summary given by mame –showusage is usually sufficient.

Frontend Commands

Note: By default, all the '-list' commands below write info to the screen. If you wish to write the info to a textfile instead, add this to the end of your command: > filename ...where 'filename' is the textfile's path and name (e.g., c:\mame\list.txt).

-listxml / -lx [<gamename|wildcard>]

List comprehensive details for all of the supported games. The output is quite long, so it is usually better to redirect this into a file. The output is in XML format. By default all games are listed; however, you can limit this list by specifying a driver name or wildcard after the -listxml command.

-listfull / -ll [<gamename|wildcard>]

Displays a list of game driver names and descriptions. By default all games are listed; however, you can limit this list by specifying a driver name or wildcard after the -listfull command.

-listsource / -ls [<gamename|wildcard>]

Displays a list of drivers and the names of the source files their game drivers live in. Useful for finding which driver a game runs on in order to fix bugs. By default all games are listed; however, you can limit this list by specifying a driver name or wildcard after the -listsource command.

-listclones / -lc [<gamename|wildcard>]

Displays a list of clones. By default all clones are listed; however, you can limit this list by specifying a driver name or wildcard after the -listsource command.

-listcrc

Displays a full list of CRCs of all ROM images referenced by all drivers within MAME.

-listroms <gamename>

Displays a list of ROM images referenced by the specified game.

-listsamples <gamename>

Displays a list of samples referenced by the specified game.

-verifyroms [<gamename|wildcard>]

Checks for invalid or missing ROM images. By default all drivers that have valid ZIP files or directories in the rompath are verified; however, you can limit this list by specifying a driver name or wildcard after the -verifyroms command.

-verifysamples

Checks for invalid or missing samples. By default all drivers that have valid ZIP files or directories in the samplepath are verified; however, you can limit this list by specifying a driver name or wildcard after the -verifyroms command.

-romident

Attempts to identify ROM files, if they are known to MAME, in the specified .zip file or directory. This command can be used to try and identify ROM sets taken from unknown boards. On exit, the errorlevel is returned as one of the following: • 0 means all files were identified • 1 means all files were identified except for 1 or more "non-ROM" files • 2 means some files were identified • 3 means no files were identified

-isknown

Very terse romident. The errorlevel is set the same as for -romident.

Configuration Options

-[no]readconfig / -[no]rc

Enables or disables the reading of the config files. When enabled (which is the default), MAME reads the following config files in order:

• mame.ini • <myname>.ini (i.e. if MAME was renamed mame060.exe, MAME parses mame060.iniI here) • mamed.ini (if this is a debug build, i.e. mamed.ini) • vector.ini (for vector games only) • <driver>.ini (based on the source filename of the driver) • <parent>.ini (for clones only, may be called recursively) • <gamename>.ini

The settings in the later ini's override those in the earlier ini's. So, for example, if you wanted to disable overlay effects in the vector games, you can create a vector.ini with the effect none line in it, and it will override whatever effect value you have in your mame.ini.

The default is ON (-readconfig).

-[no]skip_gameinfo

Forces MAME to skip displaying the game info screen.

The default is OFF (-noskip_gameinfo). Path And Directory Options

Headline text

IMPORTANT: Please use the path, directory and file options ONLY in mame.ini. Otherwise, the outcome may be unpredictable and not consistent across releases.

-rompath / -rp

Specifies a list of paths within which to find ROM or hard disk images. Multiple paths can be specified by separating them with semicolons. The default is roms (that is, a directory "roms" in the current directory).

-samplepath / -sp

Specifies a list of paths within which to find sample files. Multiple paths can be specified by separating them with semicolons. The default is samples (that is, a directory "samples" in the current directory).

-inipath

Specifies a list of paths within which to find .INI files. Multiple paths can be specified by separating them with semicolons. The default is .;ini (that is, search in the current directory first, and then in the directory "ini" in the current directory).

-cfg_directory

Specifies a single directory where configuration files are stored. Configuration files store user configurable settings that are read at startup and written when MAME exits. The default is cfg (that is, a directory "cfg" in the same directory as the MAME executable). If this directory does not exist, it will be automatically created.

-nvram_directory

Specifies a single directory where NVRAM files are stored. NVRAM files store the contents of EEPROM and non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) for games which used this type of hardware. This data is read at startup and written when MAME exits. The default is nvram (that is, a directory "nvram" in the same directory as the MAME executable). If this directory does not exist, it will be automatically created.

-memcard_directory

Specifies a single directory where memory card files are stored. Memory card files store the contents of removable memory cards for games which used this type of hardware. This data is read and written under control of the user via the "Memory Card" menu in the user interface. The default is memcard (that is, a directory "memcard" in the same directory as the MAME executable). If this directory does not exist, it will be automatically created.

-input_directory

Specifies a single directory where input recording files are stored. Input recordings are created via the -record option and played back via the -playback option. The default is inp (that is, a directory "inp" in the same directory as the MAME executable). If this directory does not exist, it will be automatically created.

-hiscore_directory

Specifies a single directory where high score files are stored. High score files are managed by the soon-to-be-obsolete high score system, which is activated when it finds a hiscore.dat file. The high score data is read at startup and written when MAME exits. The default is hi (that is, a directory "hi" in the same directory as the MAME executable). If this directory does not exist, it will be automatically created.

-state_directory

Specifies a single directory where save state files are stored. Save state files are read and written either upon user request, or when using the -autosave option. The default is sta (that is, a directory "sta" in the same directory as the MAME executable). If this directory does not exist, it will be automatically created.

-artpath / -artwork_directory

Specifies a list of paths within which to find artwork files. Multiple paths can be specified by separating them with semicolons. The default is artwork (that is, a directory "artwork" in the same directory as the MAME executable).

-snapshot_directory

Specifies a single directory where screen snapshots are stored, when requested by the user. The default is snap (that is, a directory "snap" in the same directory as the MAME executable). If this directory does not exist, it will be automatically created.

-diff_directory

Specifies a single directory where hard drive differencing files are stored. Hard drive differencing files store any data that is written back to a hard disk image, in order to preserve the original image. The differencing files are created at startup when a game with a hard disk image. The default is diff (that is, a directory "diff" in the same directory as the MAME executable). If this directory does not exist, it will be automatically created.

-ctrlrpath / -ctrlr_directory

Specifies a list of paths within which to find controller-specific configuration files. Multiple paths can be specified by separating them with semicolons. The default is ctrlr (that is, a directory "ctrlr" in the same directory as the MAME executable).

-comment_directory

Specifies a single directory where debugger comment files are stored. Debugger comment files are written by the debugger when comments are added to the disassembly for a game. The default is comments (that is, a directory "comments" in the same directory as the MAME executable). If this directory does not exist, it will be automatically created.

-cheat_file

Specifies the name of the cheat database file. The default is cheat.dat.

Miscellaneous Options

-bios <biosname>

Specifies the specific BIOS to use with the current game, for game systems that make use of a BIOS. The -listxml output will list all of the possible BIOS names for a game. The default is default.

-[no]cheat / -[no]c

Enables the reading of the cheat database, if present, and the “Cheat” menu in the user interface. The default is OFF (-nocheat).

State / Playback Options

-state <slot>

Immediately after starting the specified game, will cause the save state in the specified <slot> to be loaded.

-[no]autosave

When enabled, automatically creates a save state file when exiting MAME and automatically attempts to reload it when later starting MAME with the same game. This only works for games that have explicitly enabled save state support in their driver. The default is OFF (-noautosave).

-playback / -pb <filename>

Specifies a file from which to play back a series of game inputs. This feature does not work reliably for all games, but can be used to watch a previously recorded game session from start to finish. In order to make things consistent, you should only record and playback with all configuration (.cfg), NVRAM (.nv), and memory card files deleted. The default is NULL (no playback).

-record / -rec <filename>

Specifies a file to record all input from a game session. This can be used to record a game session for later playback. This feature does not work reliably for all games, but can be used to watch a previously recorded game session from start to finish. In order to make things consistent, you should only record and playback with all configuration (.cfg), NVRAM (.nv), and memory card files deleted. The default is NULL (no recording).

-mngwrite <filename>

Writes each video frame to the given <filename> in MNG format, producing an animation of the game session. Note that -mngwrite only writes video frames; it does not save any audio data. Use -wavwrite for that, and reassemble the audio/video using offline tools. The default is NULL (no recording).

-wavwrite <filename>

Writes the final mixer output to the given <filename> in WAV format, producing an audio recording of the game session. The default is NULL (no recording).

Debugging Options

-[no]log

Creates a file called error.log which contains all of the internal log messages generated by the MAME core and game drivers. The default is OFF (-nolog).

-[no]oslog

Outputs the error.log data to the Windows debugger. This can be used at the same time as -log to output the log data to both targets as well. Default is OFF (-nooslog).

-[no]verbose / -[no]v

Displays internal diagnostic information. This information is very useful for debugging problems with your configuration. IMPORTANT: when reporting bugs, please run with mame -verbose and include the resulting information. The default is off (-noverbose).

-[no]debug

Activates the integrated debugger. This is available only if the program is compiled with MAME_DEBUG defined. By default, the debugger is entered by pressing the tilde (~) key during emulation. It is also entered immediately at startup. The default is OFF (-nodebug).

-debugscript <filename>

Specifies a file that contains a list of debugger commands to execute immediately upon startup. The default is NULL (no commands). Perormance Options

-[no]autoframeskip / -[no]afs

Automatically determines the frameskip level while you're playing the game, adjusting it constantly in a frantic attempt to keep the game running at full speed. Turning this on overrides the value you have set for -frameskip below. The default is OFF (-noautoframeskip).

-frameskip / -fs

Specifies the frameskip value. This is the number of frames out of every 12 to drop when running. For example, if you say -frameskip 2, then MAME will display 10 out of every 12 frames. By skipping those frames, you may be able to get full speed in a game that requires more horsepower than your computer has. The default value is -frameskip 0, which skips no frames.

-frames_to_run / -ftr

This option can be used for benchmarking and automated testing. It tells MAME to stop execution after a fixed number of frames. By combining this with a fixed set of other command line options, you can set up a consistent environment for benchmarking MAME performance. In addition, upon exit, the -ftr option will write a screenshot called _<gamename>.png to the snapshot directory.

-[no]throttle

Configures the default thottling setting. When throttling is on, MAME attempts to keep the game running at the game's intended speed. When throttling is off, MAME runs the game as fast as it can. Note that the fastest speed is more often than not limited by your graphics card, especially for older games. The default is ON (-throttle).

-[no]sleep

Allows MAME to give time back to the system when running with -throttle. This allows other programs to have some CPU time, assuming that the game isn't taxing 100% of your CPU resources. This option can potentially cause hiccups in performance if other demanding programs are running. The default is ON (-sleep).

-[no]rdtsc

Specifies that MAME should use RDTSC for timing. RDTSC is very fast but unfortunately rather inaccurate on many modern CPUs that dynamically change clock speeds to conserve power. By default, MAME uses the Windows function QueryPerformanceCounter for timing. The default is OFF (-nordtsc).

-priority <priority>

Sets the thread priority for the MAME threads. By default the priority is left alone to guarantee proper cooperation with other applications. The valid range is -15 to 1, with 1 being the highest priority. The default is 0 (NORMAL priority).

-[no]multithreading / -[no]mt

Enables multithreading within MAME. At the moment, this causes the window and all DirectDraw/Direct3D code to execute on a second thread, which can improve performance on hyperthreaded and multicore systems. Consider this switch experimental for the moment. The default is OFF (-nomultithreading).

Video Options

-video <gdi|ddraw|d3d|none>

Specifies which video subsystem to use for drawing.

By specifying 'gdi' here, you tell MAME to render video using standard Windows graphics drawing calls. This is the slowest but most compatible option.

Specifying 'ddraw' instructs MAME to use DirectDraw for rendering. This causes MAME to render everything at a lower resolution and then upscale the results at the end. This produces high performance, especially on older or low-power video cards, but has a noticeably lower output quality.

Specifying 'd3d' tells MAME to use Direct3D for rendering. This produces the highest quality output and enables all rendering options. It is recommended if you have a recent (2002+) video card.

The final option 'none' displays no windows and does no drawing. This is primarily present for doing CPU benchmarks without the overhead of the video system. The default is d3d.

-numscreens <count>

Tells MAME how many output windows to create. For most games, a single output window is all you need, but some games originally used multiple screens. Each screen (up to 4) has its own independent settings for physical monitor, aspect ratio, resolution, and view, which can be set using the options below. The default is 1.

-[no]window

Run MAME in either a window or full screen. The default is OFF (-nowindow).

-[no]maximize / -[no]max

Controls initial window size in windowed mode. If it is set on, the window will initially be set to the maximum supported size when you start MAME. If it is turned off, the window will start out at the smallest supported size. This option only has an effect when the -window option is used. The default is ON (-maximize).

-[no]keepaspect / -[no]ka

Enables aspect ratio enforcement. When this option is on, the game's proper aspect ratio (generally 4:3 or 3:4) is enforced, so you get the game looking like it should. When running in a window with this option on, you can only resize the window to the proper aspect ratio, unless you are holding down the CONTROL key. By turning the option off, the aspect ratio is allowed to float. In full screen mode, this means that all games will stretch to the full screen size (even vertical games). In window mode, it means that you can freely resize the window without any constraints. The default is ON (-keepaspect).

-prescale <amount>

Controls the size of the screen images when they are passed off to the graphics system for scaling. At the minimum setting of 1, the screen is rendered at its original resolution before being scaled. At higher settings, the screen is expanded by a factor of <amount> before being scaled. With -video ddraw or -video d3d, this produces a less blurry image at the expense of some speed. In -video ddraw mode, this also increases the effective resolution of non-screen elements such as artwork and fonts. The default is 1.

-effect <filename>

Specifies a single PNG file that is used as an overlay over any game screens in the video display. This PNG file is assumed to live in the root of one of the artpath directories. The pattern in the PNG file is repeated both horizontally and vertically to cover the entire game screen areas (but not any external artwork), and is rendered at the target resolution of the game image. For -video gdi and -video d3d modes, this means that one pixel in the PNG will map to one pixel on your output display. For -video ddraw, this means that one pixel in the PNG will map to one pixel in the prescaled game screen. If you wish to use an effect that requires mapping n PNG pixels to each game screen pixel with -video ddraw, you need to specify a -prescale factor of n as well. The RGB values of each pixel in the PNG are multiplied against the RGB values of the target screen. The default is 'none', meaning no effect.

-pause_brightness

This controls the brightness level when MAME is paused. The default value is 0.65.

-[no]waitvsync

Waits for the refresh period on your computer's monitor to finish before starting to draw video to your screen. If this option is off, MAME will just draw to the screen at any old time, even in the middle of a refresh cycle. This can cause "tearing" artifacts, where the top portion of the screen is out of sync with the bottom portion. Tearing is not noticeable on all games, and some people hate it more than others. However, if you turn this option on, you will waste more of your CPU cycles waiting for the proper time to draw, so you will see a performance hit. You should only need to turn this on in windowed mode. In full screen mode, it is only needed if -triplebuffer does not remove the tearing, in which case you should use -notriplebuffer -waitvsync. Note that this option does not work with -video gdi mode. The default is OFF (-nowaitvsync).

-[no]syncrefresh

Enables speed throttling only to the refresh of your monitor. This means that the game's actual refresh rate is ignored; however, the sound code still attempts to keep up with the game's original refresh rate, so you may encounter sound problems. This option is intended mainly for those who have tweaked their video card's settings to provide carefully matched refresh rate options. Note that this option does not work with -video gdi mode. The default is OFF (-nosyncrefresh). Video Rotation Options

-[no]rotate

Rotate the game to match its normal state (horizontal/vertical). This ensures that both vertically and horizontally oriented games show up correctly without the need to rotate your monitor. If you want to keep the game displaying 'raw' on the screen the way it would have in the arcade, turn this option OFF. The default is ON (-rotate).

-[no]ror

-[no]rol

Rotate the game screen to the right (clockwise) or left (counter-clockwise) relative to either its normal state (if -rotate is specified) or its native state (if -norotate is specified). The default for both of these options is OFF (-noror -norol).

-[no]flipx

-[no]flipy

Flip (mirror) the game screen either horizontally (-flipx) or vertically (-flipy). The flips are applied after the -rotate and -ror/-rol options are applied. The default for both of these options is OFF (-noflipx -noflipy).

-[no]autoror

-[no]autorol

These options are designed for use with pivoting screens that only pivot in a single direction. If your screen only pivots clockwise, use -autorol to ensure that the game will fill the screen either horizontally or vertically in one of the directions you can handle. If your screen only pivots counter-clockwise, use -autoror. DirectDraw-Specific Options

-[no]hwstretch / -[no]hws

When enabled, MAME uses the hardware stretching abilities of your video card to scale the game image and associated artwork to the target resolution. Depending on the quality of your graphic card and its drivers, this may be a fractional, antialiased scaling (nice) or an integer, blocky scaling (not so nice), in which case you might want to disable this option. In addition, if you have configured specific arcade-like video modes for MAME and don't want MAME to perform any non-integral scaling of the image, you should also disable this option. The default is ON (-hwstretch).

Direct3D-Specific Options

-d3dversion <version>

MAME supports both Direct3D 9 and Direct3D 8 for maximum compatibility. By default, it will automatically detect which one it can use and use that version exclusively. You can override MAME's selection with this option. It is primarily intended as a means for the MAME developers to test compatibility with older hardware; for the most part, there is no reason to alter this setting. The default is 9.

-[no]filter / -[no]d3dfilter / -[no]flt

Enable bilinear filtering on the game screen graphics. When disabled, point filtering is applied, which is crisper but leads to scaling artifacts. If you don't like the filtered look, you are probably better off increasing the -prescale value rather than turning off filtering altogether. The default is ON (-filter).

Per-Window Options

-screen <display>

-screen0 <display>

-screen1 <display>

-screen2 <display>

-screen3 <display>

Specifies which physical monitor on your system you wish to have each window use by default. In order to use multiple windows, you must have increased the value of the -numscreens option. The name of each display in your system can be determined by running MAME with the -verbose option. The display names are typically in the format of: \\.\DISPLAYn, where 'n' is a number from 1 to the number of connected monitors. The default value for these options is 'auto', which means that the first window is placed on the first display, the second window on the second display, etc. The -screen0, -screen1, -screen2, -screen3 parameters apply to the specific window. The -screen parameter applies to all windows. The window-specific options override values from the all window option.

-aspect <width:height> / -screen_aspect <num:den>

-aspect0 <width:height>

-aspect1 <width:height>

-aspect2 <width:height>

-aspect3 <width:height>

Specifies the physical aspect ratio of the physical monitor for each window. In order to use multiple windows, you must have increased the value of the -numscreens option. The physical aspect ratio can be determined by measuring the width and height of the visible screen image and specifying them separated by a colon. The default value for these options is 'auto', which means that MAME assumes the aspect ratio is proportional to the number of pixels in the desktop video mode for each monitor. The -aspect0, -aspect1, -aspect2, -aspect3 parameters apply to the specific window. The -aspect parameter applies to all windows. The window-specific options override values from the all window option.

-resolution <widthxheight[@refresh]> / -r <widthxheight[@refresh]>

-resolution0 <widthxheight[@refresh]> / -r0 <widthxheight[@refresh]>

-resolution1 <widthxheight[@refresh]> / -r1 <widthxheight[@refresh]>

-resolution2 <widthxheight[@refresh]> / -r2 <widthxheight[@refresh]>

-resolution3 <widthxheight[@refresh]> / -r3 <widthxheight[@refresh]>

Specifies an exact resolution to run in. In full screen mode, MAME will try to use the specific resolution you request. The width and height are required; the refresh rate is optional. If omitted or set to 0, MAME will determine the mode auomatically. For example, -resolution 640x480 will force 640x480 resolution, but MAME is free to choose the refresh rate. Similarly, -resolution 0x0@60 will force a 60Hz refresh rate, but allows MAME to choose the resolution. The string "auto" is also supported, and is equivalent to 0x0@0. In window mode, this resolution is used as a maximum size for the window. This option requires the -switchres option as well in order to actually enable resolution switching with -video ddraw or -video d3d. The default value for these options is 'auto'. The -resolution0, -resolution1, -resolution2, -resolution3 parameters apply to the specific window. The -resolution parameter applies to all windows. The window-specific options override values from the all window option.

-view <viewname>

-view0 <viewname>

-view1 <viewname>

-view2 <viewname>

-view3 <viewname>

Specifies the initial view setting for each window. The <viewname> does not need to be a perfect match; rather, it will select the first view whose name matches all the characters specified by <viewname>. For example, -view native will match the "Native (15:14)" view even though it is not a perfect match. The value 'auto' is also supported, and requests that MAME perform a default selection. The default value for these options is 'auto'. The -view0, -view1, -view2, -view3 parameters apply to the specific window. The -view parameter applies to all windows. The window-specific options override values from the all window option.

Full Screen Options

-[no]triplebuffer / -[no]tb

Enables or disables "triple buffering". Normally, MAME just draws directly to the screen, without any fancy buffering. But with this option enabled, MAME creates three buffers to draw to, and cycles between them in order. It attempts to keep things flowing such that one buffer is currently displayed, the second buffer is waiting to be displayed, and the third buffer is being drawn to. -triplebuffer will override -waitvsync, if the buffer is sucessfully created. This option does not work with -video gdi. The default is OFF (-notriplebuffer).

-[no]switchres

Enables resolution switching. This option is required for the -resolution* options to switch resolutions in full screen mode. On modern video cards, there is little reason to switch resolutions unless you are trying to achieve the "exact" pixel resolutions of the original games, which requires significant tweaking. This option is also useful on LCD displays, since they run with a fixed resolution and switching resolutions on them is just silly. This option does not work with -video gdi. The default is OFF (-noswitchres).

-full_screen_brightness / -fsb <value>

Controls the brightness, or black level, of the entire display. The standard value is 1.0. Selecting lower values (down to 0.1) will produce a darkened display, while selecting higher values (up to 2.0) will give a brighter display. Note that not all video cards have hardware to support this option. This option does not work with -video gdi. The default is 1.0.

-full_screen_contrast / -fsc <value>

Controls the contrast, or white level, of the entire display. The standard value is 1.0. Selecting lower values (down to 0.1) will produce a dimmer display, while selecting higher values (up to 2.0) will give a more saturated display. Note that not all video cards have hardware to support this option. This option does not work with -video gdi. The default is 1.0.

-full_screen_gamma / -fsg <value>

Controls the gamma, which produces a potentially nonlinear black to white ramp, for the entire display. The standard value is 1.0, which gives a linear ramp from black to white. Selecting lower values (down to 0.1) will increase the nonlinearity toward black, while selecting higher values (up to 3.0) will push the nonlinearity toward white. Note that not all video cards have hardware to support this option. This option does not work with -video gdi. The default is 1.0.

Game Screen Options

-brightness <value>

Controls the default brightness, or black level, of the game screens. This option does not affect the artwork or other parts of the display. Using the MAME UI, you can individually set the brightness for each game screen; this option controls the initial value for all visible game screens. The standard value is 1.0. Selecting lower values (down to 0.1) will produce a darkened display, while selecting higher values (up to 2.0) will give a brighter display. The default is 1.0.

-contrast <value>

Controls the contrast, or white level, of the game screens. This option does not affect the artwork or other parts of the display. Using the MAME UI, you can individually set the contrast for each game screen; this option controls the initial value for all visible game screens. The standard value is 1.0. Selecting lower values (down to 0.1) will produce a dimmer display, while selecting higher values (up to 2.0) will give a more saturated display. The default is 1.0.

-gamma <value>

Controls the gamma, which produces a potentially nonlinear black to white ramp, for the game screens. This option does not affect the artwork or other parts of the display. Using the MAME UI, you can individually set the gamma for each game screen; this option controls the initial value for all visible game screens. The standard value is 1.0, which gives a linear ramp from black to white. Selecting lower values (down to 0.1) will increase the nonlinearity toward black, while selecting higher values (up to 3.0) will push the nonlinearity toward white. The default is 1.0.

Vector Rendering Options

-[no]antialias / -[no]aa

Enables antialiased line rendering for vector games. The default is ON (-antialias).

-beam <width>

Sets the width of the vectors. This is a scaling factor against the standard vector width. A value of 1.0 will keep the default vector line width. Smaller values will reduce the width, and larger values will increase the width. The default is 1.0.

-flicker <value>

Simulates a vector "flicker" effect, similar to a vector monitor that needs adjustment. This option requires a float argument in the range of 0.00 - 100.00 (0 = none, 100 = maximum). The default is 0.

Artwork Options

-[no]artwork_crop / -[no]artcrop

Enable cropping of artwork to the game screen area only. This works best with -video gdi or -video d3d, and means that vertically oriented games running full screen can display their artwork to the left and right sides of the screen. This does not work with -video ddraw because of the way the game screens are rendered and scaled after the fact. This option can also be controlled via the Video Options menu in the user interface. The default is OFF (-noartwork_crop).

-[no]use_backdrops / -[no]backdrop

Enables/disables the display of backdrops. The default is ON (-use_backdrops).

-[no]use_overlays / -[no]overlay

Enables/disables the display of overlays. The default is ON (-use_overlays).

-[no]use_bezels / -[no]bezel

Enables/disables the display of bezels. The default is ON (-use_bezels).

Sound Options

-[no]sound

Enable or disable sound altogether. The default is ON (-sound).

-samplerate / -sr <value>

Sets the audio sample rate. Smaller values (e.g. 11025) cause lower audio quality but faster emulation speed. Higher values (e.g. 48000) cause higher audio quality but slower emulation speed. The default is 48000.

-[no]samples

Use samples if available. The default is ON (-samples).

-volume / -vol <value>

Sets the startup volume. It can later be changed with the user interface (see Keys section). The volume is an attenuation in dB: e.g., "-volume -12" will start with -12dB attenuation. The default is 0.

-audio_latency <value>

This controls the amount of latency built into the audio streaming. By default MAME tries to keep the DirectSound audio buffer between 1/5 and 2/5 full. On some systems, this is pushing it too close to the edge, and you get poor sound sometimes. The latency parameter controls the lower threshold. The default is 1 (meaning lower=1/5 and upper=2/5). Set it to 2 (-audio_latency 2) to keep the sound buffer between 2/5 and 3/5 full. If you crank it up to 4, you can definitely notice the lag.

Input Device Options

-ctrlr <controller>

Enables support for special controllers. Configuration files are loaded from the ctrlrpath. They are in the same format as the .cfg files that are saved, but only control configuration data is read from the file. The default is NULL (no controller file).

-[no]mouse

Controls whether or not MAME looks for a mouse controller to use. Note that in many cases, lightguns are treated as mice by the operating system, so you may need to enable this to enable lightgun support. When this is enabled, you will not be able to use your mouse in Windows while playing a game. If you want to get control of your computer back, you will need to either pause the game or quit. The default is OFF (-nomouse).

-[no]joystick / -[no]joy

Controls whether or not MAME looks for joystick / gamepad controllers. When this is enabled, MAME will ask DirectInput about which controllers are connected. The default is OFF (-nojoystick).

-[no]lightgun / -[no]gun

Controls whether or not MAME treats mouse inputs as lightgun inputs. Note that most lightguns map to the mouse, so using -lightgun and -mouse together may produce strange results. The default is OFF (-nolightgun).

-[no]dual_lightgun / -[no]dual

Controls whether or not MAME attempts to track two lightguns connected at the same time. This option requires -lightgun. This option is a hack for supporting older dual lightgun setups. If you have multiple lightguns connected, you will probably just need to enable -mouse and configure each lightgun independently. The default is OFF (-nodual_lightgun).

-[no]offscreen_reload / -[no]reload

Controls whether or not MAME treats a second button input from a lightgun as a reload signal. In this case, MAME will report the gun's position as (0,MAX) with the trigger held, which is equivalent to an offscreen reload. This is only needed for games that required you to shoot offscreen to reload, and then only if your gun does not support off screen reloads. The default is OFF (-nooffscreen_reload).

-[no]steadykey / -[no]steady

Some games require two or more buttons to be pressed at exactly the same time to make special moves. Due to limitations in the PC keyboard hardware, it can be difficult or even impossible to accomplish that using the standard keyboard handling. This option selects a different handling that makes it easier to register simultaneous button presses, but has the disadvantage of making controls less responsive. The default is OFF (-nosteadykey)

-a2d_deadzone / -a2d

If you play with an analogue joystick, but the game requires digital input, MAME needs to convert the signals. Here you can give the ratio of movement along an axis that accounts for a digital signal. This option expects a float in the range of 0.0 to 1.0. Note that the current handling is not accurate enough to handle diagonal movement properly. The default is 0.3.

-digital <all|none|j<N>[a<M>[a<K>...]][,j<X>[a<Y>...]][,...]>

Controls which joystick axes are considered digital. If MAME knows that a given joystick axis is digital, it can make much better decisions about how to treat that axis. If you are using a digital gamepad with MAME, you will want to use this option. There are a number of ways to do this: • -digital all means that all axes of all connected joysticks will be treated as digital. • -digital none means that all axes of all connected joysticks will be treated as analogue (this is the default behavior). • -digital j2 will treat all axes of joystick #2 as digital; axes on all other joysticks will be treated as analogue. • -digital j1a0a1 will treat axis 0 and 1 on joystick #1 as digital; all other axes will be treated as analogue. • -digital j1a0a1,j2a5 will treat axis 0 and 1 on joystick #1 as digital, as well as axis 5 on joystick #2; all other axes will be treated as analog. Make use of the information provided by -verbose to determine which joysticks and axes you should be configuring this way. The default is 'none'.

Automatic Device Selection Options

-paddle_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun> / -paddle

-adstick_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun> / -adstick

-pedal_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun> / -pedal

-dial_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun> / -dial

-trackball_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun> / -trackball

-lightgun_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun>

Each of these options controls autoenabling the mouse, joystick, or lightgun depending on the presence of a particular class of analogue control for a particular game. For example, if you specify the option -paddle mouse, then any game that has a paddle control will automatically enable mouse controls just as if you had explicitly specified -mouse. Note that these controls override the values of -[no]mouse, -[no]joystick, etc.