MAME
| MAME
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| Basic data
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| developer | Nicola Salmoria and the MAME team |
| Publishing year | February 5, 1997 |
| Current version |
0.223 ( August 6, 2020 ) |
| operating system | platform independent |
| programming language | C ++ , C |
| category | Arcade - Emulator |
| License | BSD license , GPLv 2 |
| MAMEDev.org | |
MAME ( M ultiple A rcade M achine E mulator ) is an open source project with the aim of the electronic hardware of video slot machines on a computer with software to replicate and to make as the related games and running again.
history
Nicola Salmoria began in late 1996, thus, different hardware - emulators to write, which in early 1997 to a program were summarized. The first version MAME 0.1 was published on February 5, 1997. In the meantime, the MAME team has grown to over 100 people worldwide.
In version 0.146, support for 7z data compression for ROMs was added after the well-known zip format .
In version 0.147 of September 17, 2012, MAME supports a total of 26336 ROMs , of which 8726 are stand-alone games (the other games are offshoots or versions in other languages). Only machines that are based on a programmed microprocessor are supported; the TTL machines of the early 1970s (such as pong and breakout ) are not emulated. Due to the persistence of some arcade fans , slot machines that had long been lost, such as B. Poly-Play , Asteroids and Galaga brought back to life. But also the possibility of not forgetting this unique period of slot machine games delights many fans of this emulator .
Approx. 80% of all machines have been emulated so far, the other 20% are still in progress or too new to be emulated at all, or they also fall under MAME's 3-year clause, which is supposed to protect new arcade developments. The problem with games that have not yet been emulated is usually the encrypted ROMs, as well as complicated controls or machines with special functions such as. B. Dual screens, where the upper one was often reserved for guidance only, e.g. B. the NES PlayChoice 10 or Sega Mega Drive slot machines (solved in newer versions by a simple switch option in the tab menu).
Functions
Like almost all emulators , MAME works by imitating (emulating) the entire hardware of a machine using software and thus "fooling" the game into its familiar environment. Most older games run smoothly up to 1988 on a PC with a clock frequency of 500 MHz . Newer games such as B. Tekken or Ridge Racer will not run even with the latest CPUs. The problem lies in the many processors on every arcade board, every single chip has to be emulated by the computer CPU; the work is deliberately not taken over by the 3D chip of the graphics card, since most of the original machines also did not have a 3D chip.
To create the right atmosphere, it is possible to use joypads or other peripheral games with the program.
accuracy
Some chips (e.g. Atari POKEY ) are usually emulated "too exactly", so there are various setting options. The graphics can also be deliberately degraded using screen masks (software) in order to obtain an original retro look.
Another problem is the display of the exact original speed, especially in games with scrolling, such as side scrollers .
When using the preset values of the source text for refresh rate , as well as number of lines, blanking interval duration (horizontal and vertical), clock frequency of the graphics processor, etc. E., Some games stutter on modern monitors if the original hardware uses a different frequency, and often also uses "crooked" values. Therefore, a compromise often has to be found, either by adjusting the Mame (screen) settings, such as virtual overclocking of processors, "waiting functions" or even skipping frames, or changing the source text, which is also used by alternative and related emulators such as FB Alpha or commercial implementations is being made. The jerking is then reduced, but this changes the game speed noticeably, e.g. B. 60 instead of 50 Hz.
Furthermore, especially when there are several processors, the sound and music must also be fluid and image synchronous. The very early games in particular, often equipped with special chips, encryption or some analog circuits, are difficult to emulate. The source code is updated frequently.
Industry
A small industry has developed around MAME in recent years, which offers special machine housings, original arcade joysticks and adapted interface hardware for coupling PC and machine.
Availability
MAME is not limited to Windows systems. Due to its open source, there are ports to almost every imaginable operating system . There are also versions for consoles such as the Dreamcast or Xbox . Since the actual emulator does not have its own graphical user interface , there are numerous so-called front ends or versions (MameUI) that simplify operation and facilitate the overview of the game collection. There are even ports to Linux ( Knoppix ) that start directly from a CD and can thus turn any PC into a temporary arcade machine.
For the emulation of old game consoles and computer systems see also MESS , which is based on MAME. MESS has been an integral part of MAME since May 27, 2015 (version 0.162).
License and legal
Hardware emulation is generally considered legal. The games, however, are mostly proprietary (see also abandonware ), which is why MAME does not come with any ROMs.
On March 4, 2016, the project announced that "[...] 90% of the files" are under the BSD license and the project as a whole is available under the GPLv 2 license.
Some spin-offs from MAME offer multiplayer sessions over LAN or the Internet. However, completely unfree communication protocols have been implemented here, which means a violation of the MAME License, as the publication of the entire source code is mandatory.
ROMs and Legality
Some of the ROMs can be purchased, so some manufacturers offer corresponding memory images themselves. On the used market you can also find the original circuit boards in places , which can be read out. Furthermore, collections of ROMs on data carriers such as CDs or DVDs are offered on the Internet, but these are often not (sufficiently) licensed and thus violate the copyright of the manufacturer, just like the numerous ROM pages on the Internet, which are also found here as the guardian of abandonware , without which the data or ROMs of the early arcade games will be lost at some point.
So far there have only been three - rather insignificant - games that have been released by the respective developers for private use and offered for download on the MAME website. At the beginning of 2008, eleven other, partly well-known games from the publisher Exidy were added.
Selection of supported games
See also
- Visual PinMAME - derived program for emulating pinball ROMs
literature
- Hansjürg Wüthrich: Emulators - How computer systems and game consoles become immortal , Scriptorium-Verlag 2007. ISBN 978-3-938199-08-4
Web links
- MAMEDev - official website of the MAME project
- Mame OS X - official website for the macOS version of the MAME project
- SDLMame - the official site for Linux and other operating systems
- Zophars Domain - Various MAME emulators
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release 0.223 . August 6, 2020 (accessed August 13, 2020).
- ↑ docs.mamedev.org . (accessed on December 16, 2016).
- ^ The mame Open Source Project on Open Hub: Languages Page . In: Open Hub . (accessed on July 18, 2018).
- ↑ docs.mamedev.org . In: Open Hub . (accessed on December 16, 2016).
- ↑ a b MAME is now Free and Open Source Software , March 4, 2016 (English)
- ↑ MAME Legal Information (English)
- ↑ mamedev.org - official website of the MAME development team (English)
- ↑ 7-Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah , mamedev.emulab.it
- ↑ Whats new in Release 0.146 , mamedev.org