summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstatshomepage
path: root/docs/config.txt
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
author Miodrag Milanovic <mmicko@gmail.com>2016-08-24 15:14:30 +0200
committer Miodrag Milanovic <mmicko@gmail.com>2016-08-24 15:16:43 +0200
commita86a53fb64dd4b9e6dfa3d6a1ebd48e30f9d3efa (patch)
tree0c51e0660a729b78010e0536d24ac3f91cd11166 /docs/config.txt
parentbade8ef9a962e7bcd83414c9e12e42d21cb51203 (diff)
remove old doc content (nw)
Diffstat (limited to 'docs/config.txt')
-rw-r--r--docs/config.txt1264
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 1264 deletions
diff --git a/docs/config.txt b/docs/config.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 25ba9844386..00000000000
--- a/docs/config.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,1264 +0,0 @@
-This file describes general usage information about MAME. It is intended
-to cover aspects of using and configuring the program that are common
-across operating systems. For additional OS-specific options, please see
-the separate documentation for your particular version of MAME.
-
-
-
-Using the program
------------------
-
-The usual way to run MAME is by telling it to run a particular game:
-
- mame <gamename> [options]
-
-For example:
-
- mame robby -sound none
-
-...will run Robby Roto without sound. There are many, many options
-available. All commonly supported options are listed below. Options that
-are specific to one operating system or version of MAME will be listed
-in a separate document.
-
-An alternative way to run MAME is to give it a command:
-
- mame <command> [parameters]
-
-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. When the on-screen display is
- visible, you can use the following keys to control it:
-
- Up - select previous parameter to modify
- Down - select next parameter to modify
- Enter - reset parameter value to its default
-
- Left - decrease the value of the selected parameter
- Control+Left - decrease the value by 10x
- Shift+Left - decrease the value by 0.1x
- Alt+Left - decrease the value by the smallest amount
-
- Right - increase the value of the selected parameter
- Control+Right - increase the value by 10x
- Shift+Right - increase the value by 0.1x
- Alt+Right - increase the value by the smallest amount
-
- If you are running with -debug, this key send a 'break'
- in emulation.
-
-P Pauses the game.
-
-Shift+P While paused, advances to next frame.
-
-F2 Service Mode for games that support it.
-
-F3 Resets the game.
-
-Shift+F3 Performs a "hard reset", which tears everything down and re-
- creates it from scratch. This is a more thorough and complete
- reset than an F3.
-
-LCtrl+F3 [SDL ONLY]
- Toggle Uneven stretch.
-
-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:
- [ ] - switch between palette and colortable modes
- Up/Down - scroll up/down one line at a time
- Page Up/Page Down - scroll up/down one page at a time
- Home/End - move to top/bottom of list
- -/+ - increase/decrease the number of colors per row
- Enter - switch to graphics viewer
-
- * Graphics mode:
- [ ] - switch between different graphics sets
- Up/Down - scroll up/down one line at a time
- Page Up/Page Down - scroll up/down one page at a time
- Home/End - move to top/bottom of list
- Left/Right - change color displayed
- R - rotate tiles 90 degrees clockwise
- -/+ - increase/decrease the number of tiles per row
- Enter - switch to tilemap viewer
-
- * Tilemap mode:
- [ ] - switch between different tilemaps
- Up/Down/Left/Right - scroll 8 pixels at a time
- Shift+Up/Down/Left/Right - scroll 1 pixel at a time
- Control+Up/Down/Left/Right - scroll 64 pixels at a time
- R - rotate tilemap view 90 degrees clockwise
- -/+ - increase/decrease the zoom factor
- Enter - switch to palette/colortable mode
-
- Note: Not all games have decoded graphics and/or tilemaps.
-
-LCtrl+F4 [SDL ONLY]
- Toggle Keepaspect ratio.
-
-LCtrl+F5 [SDL ONLY]
- Toggle Filter.
-
-Alt+Ctrl+F5 [WINDOWS ONLY. NON SDL]
- Toggle HLSL Post-Processing.
-
-F6 Toggle cheat mode (if started with "-cheat").
-
-LCtrl+F6 Decrease Prescaling.
-
-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 not supported for a large number of drivers. If
- support is not enabled for a given driver, you will receive a
- warning when attempting to save or load.
-
-LCtrl+F7 Increase Prescaling.
-
-Shift+F7 Create a save state. Requires an additional keypress to identify
- the state, similar to the load option above.
-
-F8 Decrease frame skip on the fly.
-
-F9 Increase frame skip on the fly.
-
-F10 Toggle speed throttling.
-
-F11 Toggles speed display.
-
-Shift+F11 Toggles internal profiler display (if compiled in).
-
-Alt+F11 Record HLSL Rendered Video.
-
-F12 Saves a screen snapshot.
-
-Alt+F12 Take HLSL Rendered Snapshot.
-
-Insert [WINDOW ONLY, NON SDL]
-Page DN [SDL ONLY]
- Fast forward. While held, runs the game with throttling disabled
- and with the maximum frameskip.
-
-Alt+ENTER Toggles between full-screen and windowed mode.
-
-Scroll Lock Default mapping for the uimodekey. This key allows user to
- disable and enable the emulated keyboard in machines that require
- it. All emulations which require emulated keyboards will start in
- that mode and you can only access the internal UI (hitting TAB) by
- first hitting this key. You can change the initial status of the
- emulated keyboard is presented upon start by using -ui_active trigger
- as detailed below.
-
-Escape Exits emulator.
-
-
-
-Core commands
--------------
-
--help / -h / -?
-
- 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.
-
--listbrothers / -lb [<gamename|wildcard>]
-
- Displays a list of 'brothers', or rather, other sets which are located
- in the same sourcefile as the gamename searched for.
-
--listcrc [<gamename|wildcard>]
-
- Displays a full list of CRCs of all ROM images referenced by all
- drivers within MAME.
-
--listroms [<gamename|wildcard>]
-
- Displays a list of ROM images referenced by the specified game.
-
--listsamples [<gamename|wildcard>]
-
- 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 [<gamename|wildcard>]
-
- 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 [path\to\romstocheck.zip]
-
- 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
- 7: means all files were identified except for 1 or more "non-ROM"
- files
- 8: means some files were identified
- 9: means no files were identified
-
--listdevices / -ld [<gamename|wildcard>]
-
- Displays a list of all devices known to be hooked up to a game. The ":"
- is considered the game itself with the devices list being attached to give
- the user a better understanding of what the emulation is using.
-
--listslots [<gamename|wildcard>]
-
- Show available slots and options for each slot (if available). Primarily
- used for MESS to allow control over internal plug-in cards, much like PC's
- needing video, sound and other cards.
-
--listmedia / -lm [<gamename|wildcard>]
-
- List available media that the chosen game or system allows to be used. This
- includes media types (cartridge, cassette, diskette and more) as well as
- common file extentions which are supported.
-
--listsoftware [<gamename|wildcard>]
-
- Posts to screen all software lists which can be used by the entered gamename
- or system. Notice, this is simply a copy/paste of the .XML file which reside
- in the HASH folder which are allowed to be used.
-
--verifysoftware [<gamename|wildcard>]
-
- Checks for invalid or missing ROM images in your software lists. 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 specific driver name or wildcard
- after the -verifysoftware command.
-
--getsoftlist [<gamename|wildcard>]
-
- Posts to screen a specific software list which matches with the gamename
- provided.
-
--verifysoftlist [softwarelistname]
-
- Checks a specified software list for missing ROM images if files exist for issued
- softwarelistname. 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
- specific softwarelistname (without .XML) after the -verifysoftlist command.
-
-
-OSD related options
--------------------
-
--uimodekey [keystring]
-
- Key used to toggle emulated keyboard on and off. Default setting is SCRLOCK.
-
--uifontprovider
-
- Chooses provider for UI font: win, none or auto. The Default setting is AUTO.
-
-
-OSD CLI options
----------------
-
--listmidi
-
- Create a list of available MIDI I/O devices for use with emulation.
-
--listnetwork
-
- Create a list of available Network Adapters for use with emulation.
-
-
-
-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
- - <mymame>.ini (i.e. if MAME was renamed mame060.exe, MAME
- parses mame060.ini here)
- - debug.ini (if the debugger is enabled)
- - <driver>.ini (based on the source filename of the driver)
- - vertical.ini (for games with vertical monitor orientation)
- - horizont.ini (for games with horizontal monitor orientation)
- - arcade.ini (for games in source added with GAME() macro)
- - console.ini (for games in source added with CONS() macro)
- - computer.ini (for games in source added with COMP() macro)
- - othersys.ini (for games in source added with SYST() macro)
- - vector.ini (for vector games only)
- - <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).
-
-
-
-Core search path options
-------------------------
-
--rompath / -rp <path>
-
- 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 same directory
- as the MAME executable).
-
--hashpath <path>
-
- Specifies a list of paths within which to find Software List HASH files.
- Multiple paths can be specified by separating them with semicolons.
- The default is 'hash' (that is, a directory "roms" in the same directory
- as the MAME executable).
-
--samplepath / -sp <path>
-
- 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 same directory as
- the MAME executable).
-
--artpath <path> / -artwork_directory <path>
-
- 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).
-
--ctrlrpath / -ctrlr_directory <path>
-
- 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).
-
--inipath <path>
-
- 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 same directory as the MAME executable).
-
--fontpath <path>
-
- Specifies a list of paths within which to find .BDF font files. Multiple
- paths can be specified by separating them with semicolons. The default
- is '.' (that is, search in the same directory as the MAME executable).
-
--cheatpath <path>
-
- Specifies a list of paths within which to find .XML cheat files.
- Multiple paths can be specified by separating them with semicolons. The
- default is 'cheat' (that is, a folder called 'cheat' located in the same
- directory as the as the MAME executable).
-
--crosshairpath <path>
-
- Specifies a list of paths within which to find crosshair files. Multiple
- paths can be specified by separating them with semicolons. The default
- is 'crsshair' (that is, a directory "crsshair" in the same directory as
- the MAME executable). If the Crosshair is set to default in the menu,
- MAME will look for gamename\cross#.png and then cross#.png in the
- specified crsshairpath, where # is the player number. Failing that,
- MAME will use built-in default crosshairs.
-
-
-
-Core Output Directory Options
------------------------------
-
--cfg_directory <path>
-
- 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 <path>
-
- 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.
-
--input_directory <path>
-
- 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.
-
--state_directory <path>
-
- 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.
-
--snapshot_directory <path>
-
- 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 <path>
-
- 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.
-
--comment_directory <path>
-
- 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.
-
-
-
-Core 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).
-
--aviwrite <filename>
-
- Stream video and sound data to the given <filename> in AVI format,
- producing an animation of the game session complete with sound. 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).
-
--snapname <name>
-
- Describes how MAME should name files for snapshots. <name> is a string
- that provides a template that is used to generate a filename. Three
- simple substitutions are provided: the / character represents the
- path separator on any target platform (even Windows); the string %g
- represents the driver name of the current game; and the string %i
- represents an incrementing index. If %i is omitted, then each
- snapshot taken will overwrite the previous one; otherwise, MAME will
- find the next empty value for %i and use that for a filename. The
- default is %g/%i, which creates a separate folder for each game,
- and names the snapshots under it starting with 0000 and increasing
- from there. In addition to the above, for drivers using different
- media, like carts or floppy disks, you can also use the %d_[media]
- indicator. Replace [media] with the media switch you want to use.
- A few examples: if you use 'mame robby -snapname foo/%g%i' snapshots
- will be saved as 'snaps\foo\robby0000.png' , 'snaps\foo\robby0001.png'
- and so on ; if you use 'mess nes -cart robby -snapname %g/%d_cart'
- snapshots will be saved as 'snaps\nes\robby.png' ; if you use
- 'mess c64 -flop1 robby -snapname %g/%d_flop1/%i' snapshots will be
- saved as 'snaps\c64\robby\0000.png'.
-
--snapsize <width>x<height>
-
- Hard-codes the size for snapshots and movie recording. By default,
- MAME will create snapshots at the game's current resolution in raw
- pixels, and will create movies at the game's starting resolution in
- raw pixels. If you specify this option, then MAME will create both
- snapshots and movies at the size specified, and will bilinear filter
- the result. Note that this size does not automatically rotate if the
- game is vertically oriented. The default is 'auto'.
-
--snapview <viewname>
-
- Specifies the view to use when rendering snapshots and movies. By
- default, both use a special 'internal' view, which renders a separate
- snapshot per screen or renders movies only of the first screen. By
- specifying this option, you can override this default behavior and
- select a single view that will apply to all snapshots and movies.
- Note that <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, -snapview native will match the
- "Native (15:14)" view even though it is not a perfect match.
- <viewname> can also be 'auto', which selects the first view with all
- screens present. The default value is 'internal'.
-
--[no]snapbilinear
-
- Specify if the snapshot or movie should have bilinear filtering
- applied. Shutting this off can make a difference in some performance
- while recording video to a file. The default is ON (-snapbilinear).
-
--statename <name>
-
- Describes how MAME should store save state files, relative to the
- state_directory path. <name> is a string that provides a template that
- is used to generate a relative path. Two simple substitutions are
- provided: the / character represents the path separator on any target
- platform (even Windows); the string %g represents the driver name of
- the current game. The default is %g, which creates a separate folder for
- each game. In addition to the above, for drivers using different
- media, like carts or floppy disks, you can also use the %d_[media]
- indicator. Replace [media] with the media switch you want to use.
- A few examples: if you use 'mame robby -statename foo/%g' save states
- will be stored inside 'sta\foo\robby\' ; if you use 'mess nes -cart
- robby -statename %g/%d_cart' save states will be stored inside
- 'sta\nes\robby\' ; if you use 'mess c64 -flop1 robby -statename
- %g/%d_flop1' save states will be stored inside 'sta\c64\robby\'.
-
--[no]burnin
-
- Tracks brightness of the screen during play and at the end of
- emulation generates a PNG that can be used to simulate burn-in
- effects on other games. The resulting PNG is created such that the
- least used-areas of the screen are fully white (since burned-in areas
- are darker, all other areas of the screen must be lightened a touch).
- The intention is that this PNG can be loaded via an artwork file with
- a low alpha (e.g, 0.1-0.2 seems to work well) and blended over the
- entire screen. The PNG files are saved in the snap directory under
- the gamename/burnin-<screen.name>.png. The default is OFF (-noburnin).
-
-
-
-Core performance 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 <level>
-
- 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.
-
--seconds_to_run / -str <seconds>
-
- This option can be used for benchmarking and automated testing. It tells
- MAME to stop execution after a fixed number of seconds. 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 -str option will write a screenshot called final.png
- to the game's 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).
-
--speed <factor>
-
- Changes the way MAME throttles gameplay such that the game runs at some
- multiplier of the original speed. A <factor> of 1.0 means to run the
- game at its normal speed. A <factor> of 0.5 means run at half speed,
- and a <factor> of 2.0 means run at 2x speed. Note that changing this
- value affects sound playback as well, which will scale in pitch
- accordingly. The internal resolution of the fraction is two decimal
- places, so a value of 1.002 is the same as 1.0. The default is 1.0.
-
--[no]refreshspeed / -[no]rs
-
- Allows MAME to dynamically adjust the gameplay speed such that it does
- not exceed the slowest refresh rate for any targeted monitors in your
- system. Thus, if you have a 60Hz monitor and run a game that is
- actually designed to run at 60.6Hz, MAME will dynamically change the
- speed down to 99% in order to prevent sound hiccups or other
- undesirable side effects of running at a slower refresh rate. The
- default is OFF (-norefreshspeed).
-
-
-
-Core 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]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.
-
--[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).
-
-
-
-Core 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]bezels
-
- Enables/disables the display of bezels. The default is ON
- (-use_bezels).
-
--[no]use_cpanels / -[no]cpanels
-
- Enables/disables the display of control panels. The default is ON
- (-use_cpanels).
-
--[no]use_marquees / -[no]marquees
-
- Enables/disables the display of marquees. The default is ON
- (-use_marquees).
-
-
-
-Core 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.
-
--pause_brightness <value>
-
- This controls the brightness level when MAME is paused. The default
- value is 0.65.
-
--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.
-
-
-
-Core vector options
--------------------
-
--beam_width_min <value>
--beam_width_max <value>
-
- Sets the minimum and maximum width of the vectors. This is a scaling factor
- against the standard vector width, which is interpolated between minimum and
- maximum according to the beam's intensity. 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.
-
--beam_intensity_weight <value>
-
- Applies an exponential weight to the minimum and maximum beam width. For positive
- values the interpolated scaling factor will affect lines with higher intensity
- more than lines with lower intensity. The default is 0.0.
-
--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.
-
-
-
-Core sound options
-------------------
-
--samplerate <value> / -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.
-
-
-
-Core input options
-------------------
-
--[no]coin_lockout / -[no]coinlock
-
- Enables simulation of the "coin lockout" feature that is implmeneted
- on a number of game PCBs. It was up to the operator whether or not
- the coin lockout outputs were actually connected to the coin
- mechanisms. If this feature is enabled, then attempts to enter a coin
- while the lockout is active will fail and will display a popup message
- in the user interface (In debug mode). If this feature is disabled, the
- coin lockout signal will be ignored. The default is ON (-coin_lockout).
-
--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 makes use of mouse controllers. When
- this is enabled, you will likely be unable to use your mouse for other
- purposes until you exit or pause the game. The default is OFF
- (-nomouse).
-
--[no]joystick / -[no]joy
-
- Controls whether or not MAME makes use of 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 makes use of lightgun controllers.
- Note that most lightguns map to the mouse, so using -lightgun and
- -mouse together may produce strange results. The default is OFF
- (-nolightgun).
-
--[no]multikeyboard / -[no]multikey
-
- Determines whether MAME differentiates between multiple keyboards.
- Some systems may report more than one keyboard; by default, the data
- from all of these keyboards is combined so that it looks like a single
- keyboard. Turning this option on will enable MAME to report keypresses
- on different keyboards independently. The default is OFF
- (-nomultikeyboard).
-
--[no]multimouse
-
- Determines whether MAME differentiates between multiple mice. Some
- systems may report more than one mouse device; by default, the data
- from all of these mice is combined so that it looks like a single
- mouse. Turning this option on will enable MAME to report mouse
- movement and button presses on different mice independently. The
- default is OFF (-nomultimouse).
-
--[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 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)
-
--[no]ui_active
-
- Enable user interface on top of emulated keyboard (if present). The
- default if OFF (-noui_active)
-
--[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).
-
--joystick_map <map> / -joymap <map>
-
- Controls how joystick values map to digital joystick controls. MAME
- accepts all joystick input from the system as analog data. For true
- analog joysticks, this needs to be mapped down to the usual 4-way or
- 8-way digital joystick values. To do this, MAME divides the analog
- range into a 9x9 grid. It then takes the joystick axis position (for
- X and Y axes only), maps it to this grid, and then looks up a
- translation from a joystick map. This parameter allows you to specify
- the map. The default is 'auto', which means that a standard 8-way,
- 4-way, or 4-way diagonal map is selected automatically based on the
- input port configuration of the current game.
-
- Maps are defined as a string of numbers and characters. Since the grid
- is 9x9, there are a total of 81 characters necessary to define a
- complete map. Below is an example map for an 8-way joystick:
-
- 777888999 Note that the numeric digits correspond to the keys
- 777888999 on a numeric keypad. So '7' maps to up+left, '4' maps
- 777888999 to left, '5' maps to neutral, etc. In addition to the
- 444555666 numeric values, you can specify the character 's',
- 444555666 which means "sticky". In this case, the value of the
- 444555666 map is the same as it was the last time a non-sticky
- 111222333 value was read.
- 111222333
- 111222333
-
- To specify the map for this parameter, you can specify a string of
- rows separated by a '.' (which indicates the end of a row), like so:
-
- 777888999.777888999.777888999.444555666.444555666.444555666.
- 111222333.111222333.111222333
-
- However, this can be reduced using several shorthands supported by the
- <map> parameter. If information about a row is missing, then it is
- assumed that any missing data in columns 5-9 are left/right symmetric
- with data in columns 0-4; and any missing data in colums 0-4 is
- assumed to be copies of the previous data. The same logic applies to
- missing rows, except that up/down symmetry is assumed.
-
- By using these shorthands, the 81 character map can be simply
- specified by this 11 character string: 7778...4445
-
- Looking at the first row, 7778 is only 4 characters long. The 5th
- entry can't use symmetry, so it is assumed to be equal to the previous
- character '8'. The 6th character is left/right symmetric with the 4th
- character, giving an '8'. The 7th character is left/right symmetric
- with the 3rd character, giving a '9' (which is '7' with left/right
- flipped). Eventually this gives the full 777888999 string of the row.
-
- The second and third rows are missing, so they are assumed to be
- identical to the first row. The fourth row decodes similarly to the
- first row, producing 444555666. The fifth row is missing so it is
- assumed to be the same as the fourth.
-
- The remaining three rows are also missing, so they are assumed to be
- the up/down mirrors of the first three rows, giving three final rows
- of 111222333.
-
--joystick_deadzone <value> / -joy_deadzone <value> / -jdz <value>
-
- If you play with an analog joystick, the center can drift a little.
- joystick_deadzone tells how far along an axis you must move before the
- axis starts to change. This option expects a float in the range of
- 0.0 to 1.0. Where 0 is the center of the joystick and 1 is the outer
- limit. The default is 0.3.
-
--joystick_saturation <value> / joy_saturation <value> / -jsat <value>
-
- If you play with an analog joystick, the ends can drift a little,
- and may not match in the +/- directions. joystick_saturation tells how
- far along an axis movement change will be accepted before it reaches
- the maximum range. This option expects a float in the range of 0.0 to
- 1.0, where 0 is the center of the joystick and 1 is the outer limit.
- The default is 0.85.
-
--natural
-
- Allows user to specify whether or not to use a natural keyboard or not.
- This allows you to start your game or system in a 'native' mode, depending
- on your region, allowing compatability for non-"QWERTY" style keyboards.
- The default is OFF (-nonatrual)
-
--joystick_contradictory
-
- Enable contradictory direction digital joystick input at the same time
- such as Left and Right or Up and Down at the same time. The default
- is OFF (-nojoystick_contradictory)
-
--coin_impulse [n]
-
- Set coin impulse time based on n (n<0 disable impulse, n==0 obey driver,
- 0<n set time n). Default is 0.
-
-
-
-Core input automatic enable options
------------------------------------
-
--paddle_device enable (none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick) if a paddle control is present
--adstick_device enable (none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick) if an analog joystick control is present
--pedal_device enable (none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick) if a pedal control is present
--dial_device enable (none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick) if a dial control is present
--trackball_device enable (none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick) if a trackball control is present
--lightgun_device enable (none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick) if a lightgun control is present
--positional_device enable (none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick) if a positional control is present
--mouse_device enable (none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick) if a mouse control is present
-
- Each of these options controls autoenabling the mouse, joystick, or
- lightgun depending on the presence of a particular class of analog
- 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.
-
-
-
-Debugging options
------------------
-
--[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]oslog
-
- Output error.log data to the system debugger. The default is OFF
- (-nooslog).
-
--[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]debug
-
- Activates the integrated debugger. 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).
-
--[no]update_in_pause
-
- Enables updating of the main screen bitmap while the game is paused.
- This means that the VIDEO_UPDATE callback will be called repeatedly
- during pause, which can be useful for debugging. The default is OFF
- (-noupdate_in_pause).
-
-
-Core communication options
---------------------------
-
--comm_localhost <string>
-
- Local address to bind to. This can be a traditional xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
- address or a string containing a resolvable hostname. The default is
- value is "0.0.0.0"
-
--comm_localport <string>
-
- Local port to bind to. This can be any traditional communications port
- as an unsigned 16-bit integer (0-65535). The default value is "15122".
-
--comm_remotehost <string>
-
- Remote address to connect to. This can be a traditional xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
- address or a string containing a resolvable hostname. The default is
- value is "0.0.0.0"
-
--comm_remoteport <string>
-
- Remote port to connect to. This can be any traditional communications port
- as an unsigned 16-bit integer (0-65535). The default value is "15122".
-
-
-
-Core misc options
------------------
-
--[no]drc
- Enable DRC cpu core if available. The default is ON (-drc).
-
--drc_use_c
-
- Force DRC use the C code backend. The default is OFF
- (-nodrc_use_c).
-
--drc_log_uml
-
- Write DRC UML disassembly log. The default is OFF
- (-nodrc_log_uml).
-
--drc_log_native
-
- write DRC native disassembly log. The default is OFF
- (-nodrc_log_native).
-
--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).
-
--[no]skip_gameinfo
-
- Forces MAME to skip displaying the game info screen. The default is
- OFF (-noskip_gameinfo).
-
--uifont <fontname>
-
- Specifies the name of a font file to use for the UI font. If this font
- cannot be found or cannot be loaded, the system will fall back to its
- built-in UI font. On some platforms 'fontname' can be a system font
- name (TTF) instead of a (BDF) font file. The default is 'default' (use
- the OSD-determined default font).
-
--ramsize [n]
-
- Allows you to change the default RAM size (if supported by driver).
-
--confirm_quit
-
- Display a Confirm Quit dialong to screen on exit, requiring one extra
- step to exit MAME. The default is OFF (-noconfirm_quit).
-
--ui_mouse
-
- Displays a mouse cursor when using the built-in UI for MAME. The default
- is (-noui_mouse).
-
--autoboot_command "<command>"
-
- Command string to execute after machine boot (in quotes " "). To issue
- a quote to the emulation, use """ in the string. Using \n will issue a
- create a new line, issuing what was typed prior as a command.
- Example: -autoboot_command "load """$""",8,1\n"
-
--autoboot_delay [n]
-
- Timer delay (in seconds) to trigger command execution on autoboot.
-
--autoboot_script / -script [filename.lua]
-
- File containing scripting to execute after machine boot.