M.A.M.E resources :
getting the best out of M.A.M.E
MAME's
official website is
www.mame.net
MAME is in
constant development, and each month, a new
beta is released. The betas fix
bugs, add new games and/or
drivers, and sometimes new
functions.
The
emulator comes in many flavors :
- DOS MAME (www.mame.net/download.html) is the original version, it has the priority.
- MAME32 (www.classicgaming.com/mame32/)is the Windows port, including a nice GUI and many useful features. It is generally released a few days after the new version of DOS MAME.
- MacMAME (www.macmame.org/) is the Macintosh version.
- XMAME (x.mame.net/) is the *nix version.
You will also find MAME ports for
OS/2,
QNX,
AmigaPPC,
AmigaOS,
AROS,
RISC OS,
BeOS,
Digita OS,
EPOC32 and some
more on www.mame.net/downports.html.
The MAME
community is very active. You can meet a lot of
interesting and
helpful people on
alt.games.mame.
One of the best source for
dumped ROMS is www.mame.
dk. They have ALL of the MAME roms, bios and drivers
for free.
A great addition to MAME is either
building a MAME cabinet (
arcade cabinet with a MAME
computer inside) or using a HotRod SE. The HotRod is a wonderful arcade
joystick (
2 players) with true arcade
components and an authentic
arcade feeling. More info about
it here :
www.hanaho.com/products/HotRodJoystick/
Many people
enhance the MAME
experience with useful artwork such as game
icons and
screenshots. One of those best sites (also, but
not only, dedicated to MAME32) is www.classicgaming.com/mame32qa
Another way to enhance the MAME experience is to use
frontends. MAME32 is an
integrated Windows frontend. Most others will use the DOS MAME
binary. Arcade
OS (
www.mameworld.net/pc2jamma/frontend.html) is very useful if you want to plug a real arcade
monitor to your MAME
PC. All the frontends are listed here :
www.mame.net/frontend.html.
Enjoy your
travel to the past.