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-This file describes Windows-specific usage information about MAME. It is
-intended to cover aspects of using and configuring the program that are
-specific to running MAME from the command line on a Windows-based system.
-For common options that apply to all systems, please see config.txt.
-
-In addition to the keys described in config.txt, the following additional
-keys are defined for Windows versions of MAME:
-
-
-
-Windows debugging options
--------------------------
-
--[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).
-
--watchdog <duration> / -wdog <duration>
-
- Enables an internal watchdog timer that will automatically kill the MAME
- process if more than <duration> seconds passes without a frame update.
- Keep in mind that some games sit for a while during load time without
- updating the screen, so <duration> should be long enough to cover that.
- 10-30 seconds on a modern system should be plenty in general. By default
- there is no watchdog.
-
--debugger_font <fontname> / -dfont <fontname>
-
- Specifies the name of the font to use for debugger windows. By default,
- the font is Lucida Console.
-
--debugger_font_size <points> / -dfontsize <points>
-
- Specifies the size of the font to use for debugger windows, in points.
- By default, this is set to 9pt.
-
-
-
-Windows performance options
----------------------------
-
--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.
- The default is OFF (-nomultithreading).
-
--numprocessors <auto|value> / -np <auto|value>
-
- Specify the number of processors to use for work queues. Specifying
- "auto" will use the value reported by the system or environment
- variable OSDPROCESSORS. To avoid abuse, this value is internally limited
- to 4 times the number of processors reported by the system.
- The default is "auto".
-
--profile [n]
-
- Enables profiling, specifying the stack depth of [n] to track.
-
--bench [n]
-
- Benchmark for [n] number of emulated seconds; implies the command string:
- -str [n] -video none -sound none -nothrottle
-
-
-
-Windows 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 / -[no]w
-
- 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.
-
--[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).
-
-
-
-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
--------------------------
-
--[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.
-
-
-
-Windows sound options
----------------------
-
--sound <dsound|sdl|none>
-
- Specifies which sound subsystem to use. 'none' disables sound altogether.
- The default is dsound.
-
-
--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
---------------------
-
--[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).