Config Files
In MameUI you have always been able to configure each game individually. This is of great use if for instance you are having performance issues with games or say want to run certain games on the Windows desktop and certain in full screen. The command line version of MAME never had this option so you had to change the command line for each game you wanted different settings on.
Now with the latest versions of MAME you can have configuration files for any game or game type you want and when MAME starts it will automatically load the settings for you.
The settings files are based on the mame.ini file that is created when Mame starts. The easiest way to create a new config file is to simply duplicate the original file and remove/change the stuff you don't want. Open you Mame folder and find the mame.ini file. It'll look someting like this. Right click on the file. Well I need to delete my cfg file in mame2003. Either using my Mac or using terminal on my pi, I can find the cfg folder, but it's empty. So what am I to delete?
Creating The Files
The settings files are based on the mame.ini file that is created when Mame starts. The easiest way to create a new config file is to simply duplicate the original file and remove/change the stuff you don't want.
Open you Mame folder and find the mame.ini file. It'll look someting like this..
Configuring MAME™ For X-Arcade™ Use - The Easy Way. Advanced MAME™ Configuration & Config File Download. Troubleshooting MAME™ Problems. Add Extra Key Functions to your X-Arcade on PC and for MAME, Including Macros. How To Use X-Arcade Joysticks With MUGEN PC Game. Does anyone know how I can get joystick 2 (and buttons on the right) on my x-arcade tankstick to work with Mame? I have added the config file to controller folder. I've checked two different downloads of conf file and they appear to be the same. All buttons and joysticks work in the X-arcade Test Utility. I tried Smash TV.
Right click on the file and select copy. Now right click on a blank area and select paste and you will see a file 'copy of mame' appear. Right click over this file and select rename. In the box type the name of the game as it appears on the original rom zip file e.g. Pole Position (Atari) = polepos1.
It will keep things alot tidier if you move your new config file to the ini folder. Mame will by default look there anyway.
Double click your config file and it should open up in notepad. Below you can see the default mame.ini file.
# # CORE CONFIGURATION OPTIONS # readconfig 1 # # CORE SEARCH PATH OPTIONS # rompath roms samplepath samples artpath artwork ctrlrpath ctrlr inipath .;ini fontpath . # # CORE OUTPUT DIRECTORY OPTIONS # cfg_directory cfg nvram_directory nvram memcard_directory memcard input_directory inp state_directory sta snapshot_directory snap diff_directory diff comment_directory comments # # CORE FILENAME OPTIONS # cheat_file cheat.dat # # CORE STATE/PLAYBACK OPTIONS # state autosave 0 playback record mngwrite aviwrite wavwrite snapname %g/%i snapsize auto snapview internal # # CORE PERFORMANCE OPTIONS # autoframeskip 0 frameskip 0 seconds_to_run 0 throttle 1 sleep 1 speed 1.0 refreshspeed 0 # # CORE ROTATION OPTIONS # rotate 1 ror 0 rol 0 autoror 0 autorol 0 flipx 0 flipy 0 # # CORE ARTWORK OPTIONS # artwork_crop 0 use_backdrops 1 use_overlays 1 use_bezels 1 # # CORE SCREEN OPTIONS # brightness 1.0 contrast 1.0 gamma 1.0 pause_brightness 0.65 # # CORE VECTOR OPTIONS # antialias 1 beam 1.0 flicker 0 # # CORE SOUND OPTIONS # sound 1 samplerate 48000 samples 1 volume 0 # # CORE INPUT OPTIONS # coin_lockout 1 ctrlr mouse 0 joystick 1 lightgun 0 multikeyboard 0 multimouse 0 steadykey 0 offscreen_reload 0 joystick_map auto joystick_deadzone 0.3 joystick_saturation 0.85 # # CORE INPUT AUTOMATIC ENABLE OPTIONS # paddle_device mouse adstick_device joystick pedal_device joystick dial_device joystick trackball_device mouse lightgun_device mouse positional_device mouse mouse_device mouse # # CORE DEBUGGING OPTIONS # log 0 verbose 1 update_in_pause 0 debug 0 debugscript # # CORE MISC OPTIONS # bios cheat 0 skip_gameinfo 1 # # WINDOWS DEBUGGING OPTIONS # oslog 0 watchdog 0 # # WINDOWS PERFORMANCE OPTIONS # priority 0 multithreading 1 # # WINDOWS VIDEO OPTIONS # video d3d numscreens 1 window 1 maximize 0 keepaspect 1 prescale 1 effect none waitvsync 1 syncrefresh 0 # # DIRECTDRAW-SPECIFIC OPTIONS # hwstretch 1 # # DIRECT3D-SPECIFIC OPTIONS # d3dversion 9 filter 1 Pudhu vellai mazhai tamil mp3 song download. # # PER-WINDOW VIDEO OPTIONS # screen auto aspect auto resolution auto view auto screen0 auto aspect0 auto resolution0 auto view0 auto screen1 auto aspect1 auto resolution1 auto view1 auto screen2 auto aspect2 auto resolution2 auto view2 auto screen3 auto aspect3 auto resolution3 auto view3 auto # # FULL SCREEN OPTIONS # triplebuffer 0 switchres 0 full_screen_brightness 1.0 full_screen_contrast 1.0 full_screen_gamma 1.0 # # WINDOWS SOUND OPTIONS # audio_latency 2 # # INPUT DEVICE OPTIONS # dual_lightgun 0 |
As you can see most of the lines mimic the command line options use by MAME and you can find detailed explanantions of these commands on the Command Line Options page. The only difference is the 1 or 0 that follows the command. These mean yes (1) or no (0) on most commands but check on the setup page as they may refer to a value. The lines starting with # are comments and are ignored by Mame.
Remember no matter what changes you make you cant mess up MAME, just change the setting back or delete the config file and start again.
Types Of Config File
There are four types of config types. You have one for vector games called vector.ini and one for specific drivers for games e.g. cps2.ini or neogeo.ini. You can also create files for specific parent rom sets that will be used by all of the clones or you can make config file for specific clones.
To find out what drivers a game uses you can add the -listxml option to your command line. e.g. mame robocop -listxml and will give you a load of text. Look through it to find the below part and the game and driver names I've highlighted.
<mame build='0.125u8 (Jun 27 2008)' debug='no'> <game name='robocop' sourcefile='dec0.c'> <description>Robocop (World revision 4)</description> <year>1988</year> <manufacturer>Data East Corporation</manufacturer> |
X Arcade Config
Robocop is obviously the game name where as dec0 is the driver name. Adding a dec0.ini file will affect all the games in the dec0 driver. If it is a clone then it will have 'clone of' in the same line.
MAME parses ini files in a specific order first mame.ini, then <driver>.ini, then <parent game>.ini and finally <clone game>.ini . Each subsequent ini file will override the previous
Example
As an example of a config file, here is one that I have made up for the Atari version of Pole Position. The reason behind it was that I preferred it in cockpit mode rather than upright.
#Pole Position Cockpit Mode artwork 1 use_backdrops 1 use_overlays 1 use_bezels 1 artwork_crop 0 view cockpit |
Mame Keyboard Config
You could also for instance move all your Neo-Geo games to a separate folder and make a config file to change the default roms folder. The possibilities are limitless.
X Arcade Config File For Mame Mac
Once you are happy with your file save it and run Mame and it will use your new settings.