Home Page Forums Archives MacMAME MacMAME 0.36a questions

Here's a list of questions related to my " Time Capsule Chewable " set-up on a 266Mhz G3 running OS 9 and MacMAME version 0.36a

1. Very few of my high scores are being saved (the only game that I can think of right now that does is Galaga). I believe I have the correct hiscore.dat file (created 3/26/00, modified 4/3/00). What gives?

2. I've used crlmame on my MacBook Pro to "downgrade" some of my ROMS. However, I'm still having problems with Donkey Kong, Junior Pac-Man and Super Pac-Man. Any thoughts?

3. I'm not getting any audio on Astro-Blaster. Is this typical for 0.36? (I hope not, because that's one of the best thing about that game in my opinion.)

4. Is possible to get the "fast Ms. Pac-Man hack" to work on 0.36?

5. Is there a "vertical" version of Tetris out there? From what I've found, there is a "home-brew" version that's supposed to work with MAME called "Vantris". I downloaded the ROM, but it was not recognized (no real surprise as it may post-date this version of MacMAME).

6. I have an older version of USB Overdrive installed to speed-up the action on the trackball. However, unlike the later versions, there is no way to turn off the "mouse acceleration" which is quite noticeable and distracting when playing Centipede and similar ilk. Is there another way to turn this off?

7. Is there any way to bypass the ROM warning when starting up MacMAME?

8. Is there a way to bypass the start up screens on each game? Is this really necessary or just for show? (Granted it is pretty cool, but sometimes I just want to jump right in and play.)

I realize most people are using later versons of MacMAME, but any help from you "legacy" folks (DaveD?) would be much appreciated!

"Legacy folks?" Is that politcally correct for "old fart?" :p

I am running .36a on my OS8.6 G3/266 and I'll help with what I can although I have to admit I'm a little ignorant of the tech stuff. Like most Mac stuff, usually it "just works."

1) I'll check the date on my file and compare. You do know however that some games (Pac-Man, etc.) never saved scores in the arcades so MacMAME won't save 'em either?

2) Dunno

3) Astro Blaster uses sound samples. Do you have them? I don't know if these have changed at all since .36a but you can download them.

4) Lemme check on this. I thought this was a clone of Ms. Pac-Man so you may already have it?

5) Dunno

6) I'm not using USB overdrive. Instead I found an extension on Apple's site. Something about 3rd party USB driver update? I don't recall the exact name but it was named in a similar thread I had about a month ago if you search for it. I've never had any speed issues with the trackball or spinners I've used.

7-8 ) It should only give you the warning the first time you play. Subsequent playings will only get you the info screen. Just press any key to bypass those screens. Any screen that says "press OK" can be bypassed by moving the joystick left and right. I don't think there's a way to bypass the screens entirely though since MAME is informational/preservation software first and game software second.

"Apple USB Adapter Card Support extension" as suggested by MAMEBase in this thread.

I'll be jiggered. Learn somethin' new everyday. I checked into the hiscores and realized I didn't even have a "hiscore.dat" file. Which would explain why those scores were never being saved. I now have it (same as yours) and some games are being saved. Galaga is saved, Frogger is saved, Ms. Pac-Man isn't. So I guess I'm in the same boat as you. Although since I never even realized this cool feature was possible, I guess my boat is half afloat while yours is half sunk. :rolleyes:

As for the Ms. Pac speedup, I guess I don't have it. I was thinking of a clone titled Ms. Pac Attack.

Hmmm...three replies and something tells me I was of no help at all. But I learned something. Thanks!

I certainly appreciate your efforts DaveD As for as my use of the term "legacy"... I was really just referring to those of us who still use OS 9... which could mean "old fart" in "tech years"

1. Well, I'm glad your finally putting to use the "hiscore.dat" document. I think it was a great idea that unfotunately is no longer supported in "MAME land".

3. I'll see if I can locate the sound sample for Astro Blaster. I may already have it... hmmm...

4. My guess is that "fast Ms. Pac-Man" isn't supported in this early version... too bad.

6. I'll try the "Apple USB Adapter Card Support extension" as suggested. In the meantime, I played with MacMAME's "input sprocket" settings and got some fair results. However, the settings didn't want to "stick"... they kept reverting back to the defauts.

8. Maybe an AppleScript could automate the "ROM Warning" acknowledgment in the beginning? Never used AppleScript, but I'll look into that.

Some new guestions:
9. Have you noticed how buggy "Space Invaders II" is (at least I noticed this while playing it in 2 player mode last night)? Especially when your down to the last "alien" that moves super fast. Sometimes it will "break-up" while zooming across the screen and the game will end and go back to the "attract mode".

10. Is it possible to assign another game button to the mouse button? By default, the mouse button is game button #1 which is fine. Bringing "Space Invaders" back into the equation, I want to have player two's controls mirror player one's (the games control's seem to act like a "cocktail" even when it's in "upright" mode). Anyway, I was able to mirror the joysticks but not the buttons. I eventually opted to map player two's "fire" button to player one's "select" button (lame) since it only seemed to recognize "keyboard" commands and not mouse clicks.

11. An observation: I've been using the latest version of MacMAME to browse through my collection of ROMs in order to select some "forgotton" 2 and 4-way games for this project. To my dismay, I've noticed that using the info and history information to make this task a little easier was of no help at all. More often than not "2 and 4-way" games were mislabeled as "8-way" games. Even games that don't have a joystick at all (and just use left and right buttons)!!!! Needless so say I was surprised that this information has not become more acurate by now. Oh well, it gave me an excuse to "test" many of the games that I'd never played before. As a result, I was able to find a few "gems" like "Monster Bash" and "Razzamatazz". Only I wish the latter had "sound"

I had a possible brain nugget... I think USB Ovedrive allowed disabling acceleration only when you assign application specific settings with it... worth a shot to add MacMAME to its list...