Mame4all For Gp2x V1.0

[NickLoTurco]

All my games were crashing so I'm currently getting the new romset. This may be a stupid question but why can't games like Afterburner work on it? Also, is there any way of getting Bishi Bashi to work on the GP2X as thats gotta be one of the most fun games ever made!?!?

 

[osn19]

With all due respect for Franxis immense work, I had the exact same feeling. I was expecting improved performance over last version of Mame GP2x, but unfortunately there is no change about performance in this release. The compatibility is certainly higher, but honestly the new games (sunset riders, r type, aliens, etc) or the more recent ones (Shinobi, Double Dragon, etc...) run too slow to be enjoyed. And knowing that FBAX runs neogeo, Cave, cps1 and cps2 perfectly and fullspeed, there is no point on using Mame for those games.

Still Mame4all is perfect to enjoy the oldies (Galaga, Pacman, Donkey Kong, Ghost & goblins, etc...).
I still secretly hope that the next steps will be performance improvement over compatibility improvement. Cause what's the point of being able to play 10000 games if only 10% run OK ?

I hate to sound negative and unappreciative but so far I haven't gotten too much out of this new version of mame. The older version seems to run most games faster and better. cps-1 games supposedly run better with this version but I've already moved on to FBA2x for those games. There seems to be a load of new games but besides simpsons, xmen, and sunset riders kind of hard to tell what to play thats new. also the new games like those seem kind of slow too. vector games have image problems. Hopefully things will improve with new versions of the emulator especially since he did kind of start from scratch on this version. On a good note hang on at least seemed to run better with this version.

what new (didn't work with previous mame) games that are fun work well with this new version of mame? The biggest advantage of this new version is the greatly expanded list of games to play so I want to know how to best take advantage of that.

I do appreciate the effort put into this just giving an honest overview of my experience so far and trying to see if it should be better. Maybe I should be using different settings too.

 

[chaos engineer]

come on guys, nobody prevents you from using mame gp2x 5.1.

I am really excited about this release and there are plenty of new games that can be enjoyed at decent speed.

 

[fishybawb]

Plus this is just 1.0, at least give Franxis and team a chance to get some updates out first before slamming it too hard. Anyone remember what the early versions of Mame2x were like compared to 5.1?

 

[Franxis]

With all due respect for Franxis immense work, I had the exact same feeling. I was expecting improved performance over last version of Mame GP2x, but unfortunately there is no change about performance in this release. The compatibility is certainly higher, but honestly the new games (sunset riders, r type, aliens, etc) or the more recent ones (Shinobi, Double Dragon, etc...) run too slow to be enjoyed. And knowing that FBAX runs neogeo, Cave, cps1 and cps2 perfectly and fullspeed, there is no point on using Mame for those games.

Still Mame4all is perfect to enjoy the oldies (Galaga, Pacman, Donkey Kong, Ghost & goblins, etc...).
I still secretly hope that the next steps will be performance improvement over compatibility improvement. Cause what's the point of being able to play 10000 games if only 10% run OK ?

Simply i don't agree with you.

There are tons of new games to be played correctly with this new port. And the number is not 10%, it is 90%. Almost all games run faster than the previous port (with some exceptions of course, like Bubble Bobble), this is because this MAME version has a more efficient memory access, faster drawing code, integrated sound mixer, etc. Anyway the DrZ80 compatibility has to be improved to see the difference in a lot of games...

If the CPS1, Neo·Geo or Cave games run faster in other emulators i have no problem. This emulator is done to emulate the most complete collection of arcade games, if some games run better with other emulators and you prefer to use them, it is ok, i already do it myself. This emulator doesn't have to be perfect to discard MAME GP2X, FBAX or GNGEO, it can be a complement to the previous emulators.

I also see a lot of beneficts to this new MAME port: The complete MAME is there, with all the command line options and frontend options, to be used and improved in the following versions. Also this version could be easily upgraded to support more games... An the most important thing: Almost all games run better than in the previous version and it occurs NOW (without optimizations done to the source code yet). I think the following versions will improve the speed easily...

Keep the faith <_<

Regards.

 

[namco]

QUOTE

Anyway the DrZ80 compatibility has to be improved to see the difference in a lot of games...



Yeah, like in Golden Axe, as I found that this rom only works if you enable Cyclone ASM rather than both the Cyclone and Z80 ASM

 

[geise69]

System-16 games for me run about the same or a bit faster! The only game that doesn't run better and is actually slower than 5.1 is Double Dragon. DD ran great for me on 5.1 and I'm lucky enough to be able to OC to 290 stable. So like some say I'll just keep 5.1 and use that for Double Dragon for now. Also there are tons of great games. If you're into shooters try Cybattler by Jaleco. Also Air Buster is quite nice =) There's tons of games. Just you need to look at the game list and use the game names to search on MAWS. It's a mame search database. Very useful. One can't be lazy when it comes to finding games to play in mame.

 

[shuggymacnab@lycos.co.uk]

Anybody else out there finding the new version isn't saving high scores?


Luv the new options btw, it's a step forward for our favourite emulator!

 

[osn19]

I totally agree with you and I am praising your skill and the time you spend on this project since GP32 so we can enjoy Mame on our GP2X. I've been using your emu on GP32 and then now every week on GP2x.

But it also depends on what one means when he says a game runs "ok".

For example, I know that I only enjoy playing a game that runs perfectly : fullspeed with 0 (or 1) frameskip and 22khz sound and vsync. Also, my gp2x freezes @250. So I usualy play @233. In 2 words, when I play, I don't want to feel that I am using an emu (that's also why I am an arcade PCB and cabs collector ^^).

So if you try these settings (frameskip 0, sound 22, speed 233, etc), you'll see that you won't be able to play the majority of the romset, only the older games will run smoothly and at fullspeed.

But I also know that many people are probably less demanding, and will enjoy a game that runs approximatively.

This is just my humble point of view and I can't wait for the next releases.

With all due respect for Franxis immense work, I had the exact same feeling. I was expecting improved performance over last version of Mame GP2x, but unfortunately there is no change about performance in this release. The compatibility is certainly higher, but honestly the new games (sunset riders, r type, aliens, etc) or the more recent ones (Shinobi, Double Dragon, etc...) run too slow to be enjoyed. And knowing that FBAX runs neogeo, Cave, cps1 and cps2 perfectly and fullspeed, there is no point on using Mame for those games.

Still Mame4all is perfect to enjoy the oldies (Galaga, Pacman, Donkey Kong, Ghost & goblins, etc...).
I still secretly hope that the next steps will be performance improvement over compatibility improvement. Cause what's the point of being able to play 10000 games if only 10% run OK ?

Simply i don't agree with you.

There are tons of new games to be played correctly with this new port. And the number is not 10%, it is 90%. Almost all games run faster than the previous port (with some exceptions of course, like Bubble Bobble), this is because this MAME version has a more efficient memory access, faster drawing code, integrated sound mixer, etc. Anyway the DrZ80 compatibility has to be improved to see the difference in a lot of games...

If the CPS1, Neo·Geo or Cave games run faster in other emulators i have no problem. This emulator is done to emulate the most complete collection of arcade games, if some games run better with other emulators and you prefer to use them, it is ok, i already do it myself. This emulator doesn't have to be perfect to discard MAME GP2X, FBAX or GNGEO, it can be a complement to the previous emulators.

I also see a lot of beneficts to this new MAME port: The complete MAME is there, with all the command line options and frontend options, to be used and improved in the following versions. Also this version could be easily upgraded to support more games... An the most important thing: Almost all games run better than in the previous version and it occurs NOW (without optimizations done to the source code yet). I think the following versions will improve the speed easily...

Keep the faith <_<

Regards.

 

[jbrodack]

System-16 games for me run about the same or a bit faster! The only game that doesn't run better and is actually slower than 5.1 is Double Dragon. DD ran great for me on 5.1 and I'm lucky enough to be able to OC to 290 stable. So like some say I'll just keep 5.1 and use that for Double Dragon for now. Also there are tons of great games. If you're into shooters try Cybattler by Jaleco. Also Air Buster is quite nice =) There's tons of games. Just you need to look at the game list and use the game names to search on MAWS. It's a mame search database. Very useful. One can't be lazy when it comes to finding games to play in mame.

thanks for the game suggestions. Theres so many games out there its hard to know what to try. I was recently having fun with blood bros.
I'm using cyclone for all games since that has no compatibility problems. z80 seems to not work with most games.

I notice when loading games and going on the press ok screen I hear of lot of loud pops and such. not a big deal just kind of annoying.

I'm only a bit hard on this version cause the 5.1 version was so perfectly made. I have faith that the new version will be great with some tweaks and I'm sure there is some great new games I could play on the new one that I just don't know about yet.

 

[Twinbee]

I appear to be having a little bit of an issue with this emulator and TATE.

It doesn't automatically change the controls.

The screen rotates fine but the controls stay exactly the same and don't change with the rotation.

I've tried to manually change the controls but I can't seem to change volume up and volume down to fire buttons.

Any advice? What am I doing wrong?

 

[Franxis]

I appear to be having a little bit of an issue with this emulator and TATE.

It doesn't automatically change the controls.

The screen rotates fine but the controls stay exactly the same and don't change with the rotation.

I've tried to manually change the controls but I can't seem to change volume up and volume down to fire buttons.

Any advice? What am I doing wrong?

Use "rotated" modes instead of "TATE" modes.

 

[Laser]

Can someone advise the best way (or even if it's possible) to filter out the rom-sets you don't want?

I've never understood why MAME has such a complicated rom setup, nor why it keeps changing, but it is clear that a zip-file full of roms for Game A wont run without some of the roms from zip files for Games B, C and D.

I have clrmame, so I can manipulate the rom-sets to some extent. But lets just say for the sake of argument that, having obtained the entire 2200-odd sets, I just want to put Pacman and Bubble Bobble on my GP2x and no others. How would I do that without repeatedly running each game to determine which roms it claims it cannot find, then trying to locate them?

Hope that makes sense... :unsure:

 

[dairugger]

Can someone advise the best way (or even if it's possible) to filter out the rom-sets you don't want?

I've never understood why MAME has such a complicated rom setup, nor why it keeps changing, but it is clear that a zip-file full of roms for Game A wont run without some of the roms from zip files for Games B, C and D.

I have clrmame, so I can manipulate the rom-sets to some extent. But lets just say for the sake of argument that, having obtained the entire 2200-odd sets, I just want to put Pacman and Bubble Bobble on my GP2x and no others. How would I do that without repeatedly running each game to determine which roms it claims it cannot find, then trying to locate them?

Hope that makes sense... :unsure:

look at the gamelist readme file that came with the emu, itll tell you the name of the game, and the rom name you need to run it.

has anyone gotten Terminator 2 to work with the guns calibrated? all i can do is shoot to the upper left of the screen.

btw- thanks for such a great emu!, its a dream come true that i can play simpsons, aliens, and both tmnts all in my pocket- and they all run great! (i clock my system at 277 for them)

 

[Twinbee]

Use "rotated" modes instead of "TATE" modes.

Oops!

Thank you.

 

[slaanesh]

I have to agree with Franxis. This will be the top emulator for the GP2X. Look at the past - Franxis has supported and continously released new versions of MAME all the way back from the original version of MAME on the GP32!
9 versions for the GP32 and 41 versions for the GP2X - that is really astounding. How many other devs make so many regular improvements? For such a massive undertaking, MAME4ALL 1.0 is a fantastic and already highly polished piece of software.
Anyway, it will get better and I'm sure it will get faster here and there. It's just a matter of time.
Once again, thanks for this emulator Franxis. It's a really great contribution to handhelds and we're lucky that it's for the GP2X (I bet we'll see some ports appearing soon though ;-)

 

[naples39]

A few thoughts on the new version.

The two big issues (random in-game crashes and game specific configs) seem to be working nicely, so good work on that Franxis.

Two issues remain for me though;
-as was previously mentioned, hi scores don't seem to be saving
-still getting crashes when exiting games that I ran with DrZ80

 

[dairugger]

i wonder if savestates would be a possability?

 

[Franxis]

A few thoughts on the new version.

The two big issues (random in-game crashes and game specific configs) seem to be working nicely, so good work on that Franxis.

Two issues remain for me though;
-as was previously mentioned, hi scores don't seem to be saving
-still getting crashes when exiting games that I ran with DrZ80

About the problems:
- High scores: I have tried to fix it today without success... I will keep investigating it...
- DrZ80: I have fixed the DrZ80 compatibility today, it has now good compatibility (neo·geo, bubble bobble and a lot more).
- Vector games: Easy fix.
- Somebody reported that sometimes the USB joypad doesn't work correctly ???
- Some crashes still appears...
- I can do less overclocking than in other GP2X applications (MAME GP2X included). I don't know why yet.

 

[DaveC]

I think this version is the best so far. I don't do NeoGeo and CPS1 on it as the other emus are fine for that, so I don't care about those. For the classics this emu is a HUGE improvement (other than the vector game screen cropping). The sound is better, samples work MUCH better, the per game settings are nice, the dip switch settings are great. Games that had NO sound before now have it. The sound in Frogger is perfect now too.

To me the biggest issue is the vector games. They do work with vsync on, but there is no good way to display them. I like the antialiasing in "normal" mode, it looks great but it is cropped. Scaling down doesn't look good at all. If there was a mode to display 1:1 like the MAME 5.1 version but with the antialiasing 5.1 would not be needed. and this version would replace it.

This will be a fantastic version especially when/if these issues are fixed.

Thanks, Franxis