Jump to content
LaunchBox Community Forums

Mame Tutorial for n00bs


Lordmonkus

Recommended Posts

Are the folders for the games in the non merged set named like the game or does it have the weird naming like I’ve seen in the split set? For now I just wanted to get MAME up and running outside of LB first. I thought that split would let me pick and choose when I got things working, but the naming of the zipped folders confused me.

For games that need a CHD file if I want to pick and choose the chd file what would I look for on that site?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The names of the zip files are what they are, they are named by the Mame dev team and they have to be named that way.

Picking and choosing what you want from a split set can get very time consuming because of how the files are "split" up, hence the name. Non Merged is a much larger initial download but every zip file is one self contained working game which includes any bios or parent rom required for the rom. With a split set you will not only pull out a rom file, you will have to pull out any bios required and any other parent rom if you want to have a specific regional "clone" file.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah it's double the size because it has a lot of duplicate files within each of the games zip files such as bios and parent roms for each regional clones. Where the split set breaks everything up and that is why the bios and parents are required to play the regional clone versions of games.

If you are going to have a full set and import it into LB we recommend using either the split or merged sets. Only get the non merged set if you want to create your own small custom set like I do or you just don't care about drive space and a large download.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Again though, if you are doing that make sure that if you are using a split rom set as the base that each game as any required bios and possible parent if you are picking a specific region clone. The region clones only contain the "different" roms and not the entire game which is what the parent file has.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Tatts4Life said:

I'll remember to grab the correct download. In fact I may just say screw split and go with non merged.

I actually have both on my system, split and non-merged. I keep the non-merged so that if i setup another Launchbox on a smaller system or a Pi i can just pick the specific games i want with no issues.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh lord I thought a 4tb drive would be more than enough for all my gaming wants and needs. MAME and the awesome launchbox tutorials on YouTube are gonna fill this drive up fast. My current computer is about the size of an old vcr and can only hold one hard drive. I either need a larger drive or a new case so I can add more drives. I built this computer with the intent of modding oblivion, Skyrim, and the fallout games. I haven't even done that yet.

Edited by Tatts4Life
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Tatts4Life said:

Ok I swear last question for today. I watched the video on how to add a split set to LB is it the same steps with the non merged set?

It depends what tutorial you watched, we have a new MAME importer for fullsets and that is what you should use, it will work with any romset type.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/4/2018 at 4:12 PM, neil9000 said:

I actually have both on my system, split and non-merged. I keep the non-merged so that if i setup another Launchbox on a smaller system or a Pi i can just pick the specific games i want with no issues.

I do the same.

Keep a full split set and I have a text file with the names of the roms I want.

Each new version of MAME, in the set information panel, import my text file and it will only select the roms I want. Save that dat file and use it to rebuild my non-merged set.

So when I needed a set for PI for example, load dat for MAME version 0.78, read my text file, save new dat file. Rebuild my MAME 0.78 set with just the roms I need in non-merged format.

So far so good, and haven't needed any roll-back sets or they were in ClrMamePro backup folder. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...