Turbo MAME

Documentation

written by Tasos Tzimorotas

Contents

  1. Overview
  2. Version history
  3. Description
  4. Requirements
  5. Installation/Uninstallation
  6. Functionality
  7. Usage
  8. Options
  9. Hints and tricks
  10. Updates
  11. Usage and Distribution License

Overview

Turbo M.A.M.E. is a free Windows application that provides an extremely easy-to-use graphical user interface for the popular Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator (MAME). No need to fill in settings forms or wait for memory-consuming game lists to be generated. Just unpack Turbo MAME inside your mame folder and you're ready to go! Built-in presets are designed for optimal performance, creating a fine tuned extension of your favourite emulator.

Turbo MAME works with the Windows command line versions of MAME and also with mame32.

Version history

0.79 2004 0.74 Platinum Edtion 0.69 0.68 Extreme Edition 0.62 0.61 Pro build 2.1 0.61 Pro build 2 0.61 Pro 0.61 Special Edition 0.61 0.60 Ultimate Edition 0.60 Deluxe Edition 0.60z 0.60i 0.60 1st Public Release

Description

Turbo MAME is a frontend for MAME, designed to run games efficiently and in full speed. Turbo MAME is not a games database, nor a mame32 clone. Turbo MAME includes options in the form of preset functions, so that you don't have to spend any time learning how the emulator works or how the frontend works. If something isn't in the options, it's probably being taken care of by Turbo MAME automatically.

The goal of Turbo MAME is to achieve the highest possible efficiency in game execution. Turbo MAME's functionality is based on the concept of minimizing the user's effort to configure MAME, while automatically performing every possible MAME optimization.

Turbo MAME was developed in Visual C++ and it is compatible with all Windows systems.

Requirements

The only thing you need is the latest Windows command line MAME executable. Get it here.

Since version 0.60 Ultimate Edition, mame32 is fully supported too.

If you haven't used MAME before, just install MAME and Turbo MAME in the same folder and have your game roms anywhere in your system (usually inside the roms subfolder).

Installation/Uninstallation

Unzip the contents of the Turbo MAME zip file (tmame.exe and tmame.htm) inside the mame folder, so that tmame.exe is in the same folder as the mame executable (mame.exe or mamepp.exe or mame32.exe). That's it! When you run Turbo MAME for the first time, you are asked for a shortcut to be created on the desktop. It is recommended that you answer "yes".

To uninstall, press the ? button and then press Uninstall, or from the main menu go to Options, Uninstall. Avoid deleting the files manually.

Rom files can be anywhere on your system, but the rest of the MAME related files (snapshots, samples, etc) must be in their respective folders (snap, samples, etc).

Note - If you want to use mame and mame32 in the same system, it is recommended that you have all MAME versions residing in the same folder. If you have MAME's directory structure in a folder, the only thing that you need is the individual MAME executables. For example, if you have installed mame32 in c:/mame32 and you also want to use the Windows command line MAME, just copy mamepp.exe or mame.exe (or both) to c:/mame32.

Functionality

If you have different MAME executables installed in your mame folder, Turbo MAME automatically selects the fastest one to use. If mame32.exe coexists with mamepp.exe in your mame folder, then a "Use mame32" check box will appear just above the input line. You can check this box if you want to force mame32 execution.

The Turbo MAME options are selected after extensive research. All MAME options are transparent to the Turbo MAME user. A lot of parameters (like triple buffering) are automatically included or excluded from MAME's execution in the background whenever it is needed. The options available in Turbo MAME are the ones that make MAME work in the best and fastest way. In case you need to use any extra MAME parameters, you can always type them next to the game's name, as you would if you were executing MAME from a console window.

Turbo MAME supports automatic recognition for:

No configuration files are created by Turbo MAME, nor does Turbo MAME mess with any of your existing files.

Usage

After installation you can immediately select a game from the roms subfolder by using the arrow buttons, located underneath the input line. Alternatively you can either type in the name of a game or use the Browse button to locate it manually. If you choose a game from a different folder, the navigation buttons will use this path. Running Turbo MAME is similar to having an MS-DOS prompt running in the mame folder. MAME sees all of its default paths without the need of defining them. So if you type: 
    mspacman
and press enter, Turbo MAME will look for the mspacman.zip file in the mame/roms folder, if mame is the folder in which you have installed MAME. When selecting a game using the Browse button, Turbo MAME remembers the path it was in, next time you run it. Other user-interface features are:
Quick navigation system
The quick navigation system consists of the left and right arrow buttons under the input line and it partially substitutes the use of the Browse button. By using these buttons you can seamlessly browse through the rom files of the folder from which you have previously selected a game. Shortcut keys are Page Up and Page Down.

Expanding/contracting panel
You can expand or contract the Turbo MAME window by pressing the More button. Please note that the selections you made in the removable part of Turbo MAME, are always valid regardless of the Turbo MAME window's state.

Menu bar
It includes some extra options, most important ones the Graphics Renderering and Lo-Fi options.

Drag and Drop
You can drag a compressed rom image and drop it on the input box. Very useful if you have just downloaded a game, let's say on the Desktop and you want to test it quickly, without having to move it to a roms folder first.

Bypass
If the Bypass button is pressed, Turbo MAME ignores all of its options that you might have selected. Still, you can use MAME's parameters if you type them next to the game's rom name. Also in Bypass mode, any .ini files existing in your MAME folder will be in use.

Delete snapshot
This button provides a quick and easy way to replace snapshots, as it deletes the current snapshot. Here's a little tip for those of you who take the time to read this document: Since MAME 0.62 the black and white snapshot bug, found mostly in Neo Geo games is fixed. Unless you are following the MAME WIP reports, you probably wouldn't know that, so there you have it. Use this button and replace all the bad shots.

Keyboard shortcuts
  • Page Up/Page Down: Previous/Next game
  • F2 or Enter: Start game
  • F4: Full Screen
  • F8: Advanced Options
  • F1: Help
  • Ctrl-C: Abort the loading of a game

Options

The options are quite straightforward. The ones you might not know are "Steadykey" and "Stretch video".

Since version 0.68 Extreme Edition, a Lo-Fi sound option has been added (in the menu bar, Sound Options) that is actually quite effective. After tweeking various parameters, I ended up with a set of sound options that when applied can boost the overall performance up to 10% and sometimes even more (depending on the system). Exclusively in Turbo MAME. As always muting sound can bring a significant speedup.

Also since version 0.60, triple buffering is automatically enabled by Turbo MAME.

The Effects options are quite fast, but processor intensive nevertheless, so they should be avoided if performance is what you are aiming for. When Direct3D is selected for rendering, Turbo MAME automatically selects the d3d equivalent effects.

Since version 0.79, DirectX texture management is unchecked by default. In case you experience video problems while in D3d, please enable this option.

The Resolution option uses extra processor power too, especially at higher values. Display cards only have a few TV-Out resolution modes available, so some games are not displayed correctly. Setting Turbo MAME's resolution to a value supported by your card's TV-Out, usually solves the problem. This might also apply to screens with limited display capabilities. But generally you should leave Resolution to "Auto".

Finally, the Cheat option helps you win in games, by using such tricks as the famous Ctrl key speedup in pacman.

In version 0.61 lightgun support and artwork support were added. Using artwork slows down emulation performance, especially if you enable artwork's High resolution.

Hints and tricks

The best place to learn about MAME itself, is the MAME faq at the official MAME website. But for the impatient ones, here's a list of interesting tips:

Updates

You can check for updates at,
http://turbomame.mameworld.net/
Please don't expect a Turbo MAME release for every official MAME release. The reason is that a lot of MAME releases are just game additions that don't affect Turbo MAME at all.

Usage and Distribution License

Selling or modifying Turbo MAME is not allowed. You can only distribute Turbo MAME in its original archive and you are not allowed to change the contents of this archive.

This document written by Tasos Tzimorotas.

Turbo MAME Copyright © 2002-04, Tasos Tzimorotas.
All rights reserved.