MAME ROMs Explained
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- čas přidán 20. 07. 2021
- MAME is a fantastic arcade machine emulator. But getting hold of the game ROMs can be a bit confusing. ROM sets, split ROM sets, merged ROM sets, BIOS and Device ROM sets.
What do you need and what sets run with which MAME versions?
I this video I'll explain what it all means and what you need to get hold of to be able to play the games.
Don't forget to check out my project page on my main website for more details and links.
bytesnbits.co.uk/mame-roms-explained
Arcade Game Database - adb.arcadeitalia.net/
I never would have imagined that the roms have to match the version of mame! Thanks!
Mame ROMs can be confusing but matching versions as closely as you can always gives the best results.
I had the same issue this channel is invaluable imho
Is there a way to know for sure what version the Mame or roms are? Or is the only way to know is by looking at the file labeled?
I kept seeing tutorials with all these terms but no one actually ever explained what they are, this video was a huge help 🙏
Glad it was useful.
I am a first time watcher but this is the most useful video I have seen to explain Mame. I have no idea what you do for a living but with the patience you display and your mild manner you would be an excellent teacher. You come across as someone that has a passion to educate the community. You also come across like you care for the community. Well done.
Thanks and welcome
I wish I had this years ago. Thank you for the interesting and informative video.
Glad it was helpful!
We need more videos like this. Sometimes no matter how intelligent you are, reading how the emulator and ROMS work is complicated to understand. This is a good video that someone is explaining things to make it easy for you to understand.
Thanks. Good to hear you found it useful!
I came to play my childhood games but ended up leaving with a PhD in software engineering...bad ass!!
Always good to learn what's going on!
Congrats, professor. :)
🤣
Man's a Legend
this guy's presentation is pretty good. if he's not a teacher of some sort, he should be.
Good overview of what can be a very intimidating topic. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
@@BytesNBits Nice video and i have the roms on my Android phone with Mame4droid 0.139u1.
By the time I found this I already got most of what I want, but now I feel like I can complete my collection!
Great. Have fun with the games.
This was very helpful and interesting. Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you for making this amazing technical explanation. Now I know whay some of my roms won't work on some MAME versions.
Glad to help
Thank you very much. I played MAME since I was a kid
No problem. Keep on gaming!
Broh, Thanks for the Primer 😃👍
No problem 👍
Fantastic explanation thank you very much!
Glad it was helpful!
Just built a bartop and have had so much trouble with this. About to watch. Lets see what you got good sir! lol Happy holidays all
Well i was able to understand the trouble im having. I was working while listen and had a crying baby for 5 minutes. I cant wait to watch again and play full attention to understand the issue and how to resolve. Thank uo so much. Your well spoken, knowledgeable and the vieo was of great quality. SUBBED
Great to hear it helped you work it out. Thanks for your kind comments. Have fun with your bartop!
@@cookiesusa3143did you ever finish your bartop
I discovered mame and it's roms way back in 2002. It was a learning process to be sure. Once I figured it out, it became routine. 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
@@BytesNBits your welcome
wow. incredible video thank you sir
Glad you liked it!
excellent explanation
Glad it helped
Very informative thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you, please keep up the good work
Thanks, will do!
Good to see you be back :)
I fricking love your intro music
Thanks. Shame it's only a short intro piece.
Someone with a commonsense explanation. Thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
That was awesome. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I have a Raspberry Pi Zero running Retropie, it runs most MAME and Neo Geo roms pretty well. There are occasionally some MAME ones that don’t work though.
Thanks for the heads up. I haven't yet tried it on my Pi Zero setup.
I found the round set that I need but it won't let me download because there's too many files
Now I understand what parent and clones are...thanks
Great. Can you please explain it to me? :)
I hope you mention how 1.xx roms will only work with that version of mame. Maybe I am just dumb but I couldn't get it running until i matched my romset version with mame version, 1.41 in my case. Nice you did.
Hi. Mixing versions can be hit and miss. Generally you'll get some games working across versions but as you've found it's best to get as close a match as possible.
You are a friend. Thank you.
No problem. Glad you enjoyed it.
I looked for romsets and could only find some that were about 68gb. So my question is what should I look for to get the most common, or popular, games running? I don't really need thousands of slot machines lol just the good games from the late 70s- mid90's will do. Thank you for your time sir 👍
Hi. The latest versions of Mame have the biggest downloads for the full rom sets. If you go back a few versions the download size comes down quite a bit. Mame 2003 (0.78) is a common set for Raspberry Pi systems and that comes in at around 30GB for the full rom set.
Other than that you can try downloading individual games but you do need to make sure you get the parent roms.
I hope this helps.
That's why I like Antstream arcade, they don't have all the arcade games yet (if they will at all) but everything just works without Mame emulation it seems. I don't know if they don't use Mame, but you never see and logos from emulators.
Hi. I hadn't come across that one! I suspect this is a Javascript emulator - may well be based on Mame. You can do a lot these days by using the browser as a sort of operating system to run code through.
I know there's a lot of negativity in the comments but just know you're a legend. I'm trying to turn my old pc into an Arcade emulator as a gift for my dad so that he can relive his childhood but its proving to be one of the most complicated things I've ever done. Regardless, your videos are a big help, I'll get there eventually!
Thanks for your comments. Good luck getting it all up and running!
Thank you!
You're welcome!
So, I'm still unsure what I need to download and where from to get all the classics from the arcade?
Have a look at czcams.com/video/KkLosR5Zx3E/video.html. Installing a full Rom set will give you ALL the arcade games including the classics. It's the easiest way to get a working setup.
Once you download the reference set, do you then add it to the mame-libretro folder? I am running retropie
Yes. If the download was a single zip make sure you unzip it to get to the individual game zip files. Then copy over to the correct folder.
Awesome!
Thanks!
It's ok to blink man, your eyes must be on fire
Thanks for the video!
Thanks. And thanks for your concern. I built an autocue for the to camera bits and still trying to get the hang of controlling it while reading while trying not to sound too robotic, etc. I guess the concentration is showing. I'll get there :)
@@BytesNBits The info is great! Very much appreciated. Just thought it was kinda funny when I noticed
I am running Batocera on an i5 PC through a USB thumbdrive. How can I (for example) download the correct MAME emulator (does it not already exist on the Batocera OS?), and let's say for now, I just want to download Galaga, not 1000's of MAME games. Do you have a video that helps with getting started with just one game? Thanks for your time.
Hi. You're right. I probably need to do a video on arcade setup. Yes, there are Mame cores in Batocera. Ideally you'd match the core with your game ROM version. You can use single game ROMs by copying them over to the correct game folder. A lot of games will work with a number of Mame versions, especially the older ones so just give it a try. If a game complains that it's missing some rom files you'll need to find the parent game and install that as well. Again a lot will work with just the single game rom. Good luck!
thank you sir,.
No problem.
I have the whole mame games setup. Over 1200 games but I can't figure out how to get them to run. They keep crash dump the games. IDK does someone knows how to fix it.
Hi. I made a video on how to install and run them in Launchbox on a PC if that helps - czcams.com/video/KSKvQceg2Gc/video.html.
Or in Retropie - czcams.com/video/888BKOFtFu0/video.html
I hope these help.
Which version should I download for Retropie 4.8 on Pi3? mame 2003 or mame 2003 plus?
If you have a look here - retropie.org.uk/docs/MAME/. You need the version that matches the emulator you're going to use. I use Mame 2003 with the 0.78 ROM set which works well and is only about 30GB for the full set of ROMs.
Thank you very much for your answer, yes, I saw what retropie recommends in the documentation, what I wonder is why it recommends using the "mame 2003" version instead of the "mame 2003 plus", since the mame 2003 plus was designed precisely so that it works better on portable devices and on not very powerful hardware, such as the raspberry pi. Then shouldn't the plus+ version be better for the pi?
I take this opportunity to congratulate and thank you for your videos and website, they are very helpful, and of excellent quality and explanation.
I take your point. The plus version does look like a better bet being a newer version as well.
would it be better to download mame and get it working before adding launchbox or would launchbox need something different?
Launchbox has a great Mame installation system. Get hold of a rom set first, then install Launchbox, then run the Mame installer inside Launchbox. Have a look at czcams.com/video/KkLosR5Zx3E/video.htmlsi=K7TBy58pa3XYJw_2
A quick question. When you mention using a 'reference set'. Are you saying that a Merged Rom set is easier to use for beginners? Just a little confused there with the terminology. Thanks
Sorry. A reference set is really just a complete set of all the ROMs you need. Sometimes you get update sets that just contain the ROMs that have been updated, so these won't let you install the games fully without a full (reference) set.
Merged and split really refers to how the ROM files have been organised inside the download. Both will work equally well. Merged tend to be easier to find and are smaller downloads.
Does a reference set just come with Bios files? Or does it also come with games and CHD files?
Generally a reference set will contain at least the games and bios ROMs. Quite a few miss out the CHD files as they can be very large.
Thank you.
You're welcome!
Isn't there anything smaller to get started? These merged sets are very large. I was looking for something smaller because I don't have a large hard drive.
A lot of people have been asking this. Yes there is a way. I'll make a video on it. Spoiler...download a full non merged romset. You can use each game file individually.
This is a great video but absolutely cannot get a working rom set on mame. This is one of those projects you really need someone who knows what their doing to help you out with.
Hi. The ROM sets are out there. Just make sure your ROM set matched your Mame version. Usually get hold of a ROM set and then install the matching Mame.
When extracting a Mame file can it also be a subfolder for more files?.....is this normal? What would be the next step? Thank you great video
Yes. Some of the files will have many parts to the code files. Mame will basically look through the folders and work out whats there. Just make sure you don't change any of the actual file names.
even if you only use retroarch for mame game you still need it to see why it crashes it shows what you are missing out of the box
Hi. Thanks for the tip.
Am i correct in saying non-merged roms have everything that a particular game may need to run... inside the 1 zip file?. This making it easier to delete the game files that you would not use without disturbing the working ability of the other games. !?!
Hi. Yes. Should be fine.
is there one file to dowlaod to have all files together i try two days but is very dificult
Hi. There are complete downloads out there. Unfortunately I can't provide links to these. Use Google to search for Mame xxx complete rom set, where xxx is the version number.
How can i use roms rev2. I want to play pokemon alpha Saphir but i can ent zip the date can somebody help.
Hi. What console are you trying to get them running on? I'm not sure what you mean about the date.
I Think this is useful to Play Mame games on Handheld like Anbernic RG35xx or R35S handheld, i will explore the site you gave us.
Thanks
Hope you get them working.
after many years can i finally play hydro thunder, Capcom VS Snk 1 &2 ???
Great. have fun!
I have problem. There is a game Hyper Duel from Techno Soft. And there are two rom sets of it: hyprduel "Japan set 1"(parent one) and hyprduel2 "Japan set 2"(clone one). I did a lot of searches but couldn't find any specific description of each. I mean when it comes to something like Bubble Bobble I can see a lot of clarifications like: this is original japanese version, this is some bootleg, that ones are redux hack, Lost Cave mod, USA version ect. Then I simply rename merged zip archive into the name of version wich I'm okay with. But when it comes to Hyper Duel I can't decide should I choose - set 1 or set 2. I spent whole day in searches but nowhere I can find diffrecences list or something. Can someone help me to clarify these?
Sorry, I don't know the game. Do they both work?
@@BytesNBits Yes they do(in MAME 0.260 I get message that cocktail mode is not supported for both though, but I guess it doesn't matter). Even MAME itself says nothing about differences. When it comes to emulation I get as much information as I can about glitches, censorship, regional and revisional differences to stick with definitive version. And it's such a headache when there are a few dumps and zero information to determine which one should I pick. :)
@@balalaika8394 It's hard to say what the differences would be. When you run them are they both the same game? If so I suspect hyprduel is the original release. The hyprduel2 may well be some bug fixes to the original release, i.e. code version 2 rather than the second game in the series.
@@BytesNBits yeah that's what I think too. I suppose there is no such wiki or database wich cover these differences. but nevertheless, thank you a lot for responding
This is good info .. sadly I'm a strong visual learner, I'm tryna keep up. But I need to know how it visually works. There's a video like this?
Hi. Sorry it's a bit wordy. I do plan to do a video showing how to get single games running which will cover a lot of this material as well. I'll make sure that uses more diagrams.
Yup me too.Its a great video but my brain only heras blaaahhh blaaaah romset romset.
@@gizagoogames2595 Hi. It is a bit complicated but once you get your head around the dependencies it starts to make sense.
Thank you, Irish Jeff Goldblum!
No problem
I have downloaded MAME roms
all files have 2k, 3k, 4k, 3h, 4h, 5h.......files
I cant play all the games
how can you play the game, can you illustrate?
Hi. I made a tutorial on how to set up Mame using the new easy install feature. czcams.com/video/KkLosR5Zx3E/video.html
Some individual mame ROMs ivedownloaded and they work fine others Re missing files cuz I probably need the whole set.
It's all a bit hit and miss with individual games. Not all the non merged sets are completely correct.
Where can i find full non merged set? I just want to have 100-150 favorite arcade games on my sd card.
Sorry but you'll need to have a search around on the web. The Internet Archive is a good place to try to find information.
@@BytesNBits i did find mame 2003 reference non merged set , is that what I need?
@@Stormmover That should work fine but make sure you use a matching Mame version for best compatibility.
@@BytesNBits thank you
How did you start the download from the specific site I've tried at the same site and it says file too large
Try to find a set that offers a torrent download link. You'll need to install a torrent client. I use qbittorrent. Be careful you've got your internet security and malware protection in place and only download the client from the official source - I always feel this is a dodgy area😀. This still give a much faster download speed.
Great video! Btw, is this guy CG? I couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t blink a single time in 15 minutes, which I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a human do. Random thoughts…
Hi. Why is everyone so concerned about my blink rate? Just getting used to using an auto queue, trying to keep the text scrolling at the right speed, talking etc. all at the same time. I guess there's no more mental power to run the blink code :) I need an upgrade!
@@BytesNBits I'm just messing with you, man. In today's world of deep fakes and photorealistic CGI, which I was once a creator of (sorta), it's not uncommon to consider one's being duped by a video. Since I've never seen a person not blink throughout a 15-minute video, the thought crossed my mind. I didn't mean to offend. :)
@@scottritshie105 No offence taken...taken...taken. Sorry glitch in the matrix!
I have downloaded full rom set
they are all zip files
what do I need to next in order to make the arcade run?
Hi. If you've got a set of game zip files you're ready to go. If the zip file contains lots of individual game zip files you'll need to get those out of the archive. Once you've done that have a look at this video. czcams.com/video/KkLosR5Zx3E/video.html
@@BytesNBits Thank you! I finally made it
I have downloaded all files and I dont know what to do.
In fact, only one (a big file with a lot of zip files) is needed
@@wilsonng7554 Hi. If you have a look at czcams.com/video/KkLosR5Zx3E/video.html it will walk you through using Launchbox to get everything all set up. This is the easiest way as it will install and setup Mame and import all your games automatically. make sure you've unzipped the big file so you have a collection of individual game zip files.
One thing I find very odd is the roms not being titled properly. When there's thousands of roms and you see some abbreviated title it makes it that much harder to find the ones you want in a sea of thousands haha.. still hoping one day a frontend of some sort will list all the boxes accurately if the rom titles are gonna stay this way
The file naming is important for Mame to work correctly. I think the abbreviated names are a hang over from the old 8.3 filename restrictions on PCs. Most of the front ends will work it out for you.
@@BytesNBits I run it on PS3 so options are different
I've always found arcade/mame confusing and even frustrating. The easiest way I've found was using fightcade and a script that automatically downloads the proper rom sets for final burn neo. I then use retroarch/emulationstation to play the game. Might sound a little complex but it works!
If it works it's a good solution!
Is there a working version of Pac Man Royale in existence?
I've not heard of that one. Have a look on Google to see if it's around.
What’s the game your playing in your video bro ?
Hi. The intro game is Metal Slug. I can't remember which version, but they are all great games.
What is the name of the first game you’re playing?
Hi. That's Metal Slug. The Super Vehicle version I think - there are a few games in the series. Great shoot-em-up!
Como puedo jugar a dolphkng blue... No me corre en el mame 2003
Some games need later versions of Mame to work. Perhaps it's fixed in the latest release.
this guy doesn't blink
So mame is basically only for arcade software emulation? 🤔
I think Mame can be used for a number of emulations but in general people use specific emulators for other consoles.
Piece by piece this puzzle will be solved...🤯🤣🤣
太好了
谢谢你 (Thank you in case Google translate got it wrong!)
Man. He went deep
Hope you found it useful
@@BytesNBits We kind of want to keep mame a secret, but yes, very good video
Yeah when I download a MAMA rom .. normally get a huge list ... like come on couldn't be easy like the 8bit & 16bit roms ..🙃
Hi. You can download individual games but you need to be careful you've got all the individual ROMs for that machine. Mostly it works very easily. But sometimes not :)
Has anyone downloaded a "reference set"? just seeing if its worth the time........
Reference or full ROM sets are great to make sure you have everything you need. You can then pull out the games you want.
"Mame roms Explained"
Me 7 minutes in: EVEN MORE CONFUSED
Hi. It is a bit of a mind bender. I've made a second video that tackles it from a different angle. Try that one. czcams.com/video/wtnvlapx4J4/video.html
raspberry pi runs fine on mame .78 (2003)...it's been 18 years now..that's an old rom set..it should be defaulted to mame2010 or (mame .139) or higher..but it's not.
Hi. I guess the Mame2003 set matches the processing power of the Raspberry Pi quite well. Most of the games will work well even on a Pi3. You can switch the Mame version in Retroarch if you want to use a newer set.
@@BytesNBits How do you do that in Batocera?
@@Stella-ri5ex hi. I've not used Batocera much. I think it uses RetroArch as well so there should be an option to jump into that app. From there you'll need to download the Mame core you want to use. I'm sure there will be a tutorial online to help out. Good luck 😀
You don't need a full set of roms...you can cherry pick games but you need to make sure you have all the right files to run the game.
Yes. It can get a bit complicated unless you have a really good romset with all the files in the right place.
i just want to play metal slug
Hi. You can download single game roms - search on Google. Try loading them. If they don't work you need to find out what the parent rom is and install that as well.
I am starting to believe he's a robot. If you notice, he never blinks his eye. 😐
Sorry. My eyelid servos developed a fault during this video. All fixed now.
5 days,wow
Good to see you again.
@@BytesNBits :)
Man, this guy looks like he's scared!
Thanks??
My advice! Get a local friend who owns MAME to trade roms. Faster to copy a SD card than downloading. I got a friend with so many games I can ask him for anything and copy it. I don't download. I will rip MAME roms from his Pandora Box. 😂
Hi. Whatever way of getting the game files works for you is great.
Lizard person. He doesn't blink once for the entire video
😂
I didn't realize you're supposed to blink while reading. You got see thru eyelids, pal?
@@punchieouchieguy you can't blink while reading? Found another lizard person!
this is AI
Not sure what you mean?