Be sure
to read the FAQ fully, at least once. You might even learn something
;-)
Remember, don't ask me about anything listed here
because there's a 99.99% chance your email
will just be deleted.
G E N U I N E Q U E S T I
O N S S E C T I O N
Q001: What is MAME?
A: Basically, MAME (which stands for
Multiple
Arcade
Machine
Emulator) is a software program that imitates
_exactly_ (otherwise known as 'emulation') the arcade hardware commonly found in arcade machines. The
software/game is supplied as binary images (which are held in EPROMs
on a real arcade board) to MAME which then allows it to run this
software without the need for the
old/uncommon/rare/obsolete/dead/faulty arcade board. As you can imagine,
many of these arcade boards are uncommon or rare and not easily
available. Also, since these arcade boards are electronic and highly
complex, they fail eventually and are extremely difficult to repair
and sometimes impossible to repair due to the age of the board and
components being obsolete. This is where MAME comes into the big
picture. MAME is essentially a project to document the history of arcade games.
However, in documenting these games, it's necessary to see it
running to get a better idea of the games' software design and the
hardware that it ran on. Being able to play the games on your PC is
considered a nice side-effect which is purely coincidental ;-)
Essentially, MAME is preserving these lost games for future use by
allowing you to run them on modern reliable PC's.
The
MAME executable and full source code is available for free from the
Official MAME web site.
Q002: What is Mamedev?
A: Mamedev is a group of highly skilled
developers located in many countries around the world who work
together on the MAME project. Mamedev is comprised of professional
programmers, electronic engineers, technical enthusiasts and support people who each do
their part in a team effort to help improve and extend the
capabilities of MAME.
Q003: What is dumping?
A: The term 'dumping' is a general
description for the process involving removing EPROMs from an arcade
board, reading them into the EPROM programmers' memory, then saving
this information as a file on to a computer. As you may realise,
these files are then used for things like emulation of arcade games.
Q004: I have a question about MAME, [insert question
here].
A: Visit the Official MAME web site or
read some MAME related
FAQs or post your question on one of the emulation related
messageboards.
Q005: Why are you called "The Guru"
A: Actually, I don't know! Erm, well, it
probably has something to do with a friend who called me that when I
repaired his computer in a few minutes. That and the fact that I
have more than 20 years experience with computers
resulting in me being able to fix most computer problems quickly is
probably another reason....
Q006: Why are there bad dumps?
Many EPROMs on arcade boards are in
sockets and it's fairly simple to remove them, read, then save the
binary info that they contain. However, in some cases, it's not
quite so simple with surface mounted ROMs being more common on newer
arcade boards and strange types that are unusual or unknown.
Sometimes we make an *educated* guess when this occurs and mostly we
get it right, but sometimes a misjudgement on the dumpers' behalf
results in a bad or incomplete dump, which must then be re-dumped at
some point in the future (and hopefully the PCB is still available!)
Q007: I'd like to donate funds towards a PCB purchase. What do I do
next?
A: Firstly, make sure you are actually
going to go through with it. I get many people *offer* funds, but
not too many actually send them! If you don't plan to send the
funds, don't email me.
Second, read my donations page for some
additional info. You can donate directly to me if you wish.
Last, think about what you want. You
can buy some boards that are not dumped yet and send them to me. Or
you can send me some cash money so that I can buy them (either
locally or overseas), or you can PayPal some funds to us that will
go to buying boards in Japan. Contact me and let me know your choice
and I'll give you further details at that time. If you just want to
Paypal some funds without questions, visit my
donations page for current PAYPAL info.
You can also donate through MAMEWORLD via the main page. Just click
on the PAYPAL button in the right
column titled "News Sticky". Your donation will allow you to enter
their current competition too where you can win a nice
prize :)
Q008: I want to dump some ROMs from my PCB, but I have no idea how
it's done. What do I need and how do I do it?
A: Take a look at my equipment page (linked on
the main page) and you'll see all the equipment that is required.
You'll need LOTS of money too, this stuff is very expensive. You
also need lots of time and dedication. And to top it off, some
skills with PCB component identification. Maybe some knowledge of
digital electronics wouldn't hurt either.
A better idea is to just send your board to me and I'll dump it for you, or
you could get someone
who is capable and local to you to do it for you.
Q009: I know how to dump ROMs and I have the equipment to do the
job. But I need some help with identifying the type of ROMs or
PROMs. Can you help me?
A: Sure. Scan the PCB's (in pieces if necessary) or take some
digital camera pics of the PCB so I can read the chips on the PCB
and send them to me. Then I can tell you exactly what needs to be
dumped. Don't ask without sending me pics because I can't help you.
Unfortunately holding your phone line or internet connection cable
next to your PCB won't help as I haven't yet honed my telepathic
skills, and my crystal ball is broken atm.
Q010: I want to help you out by buying [insert ultra-rare board name
here]. Can you find it for me and dump it if I send you some money
to buy it?
A: No. Rare means mostly "unavailable" or
hellishly expensive. If you look around, you can easily find out if
one is available or not, and if yes, just buy it yourself and send
it to me. If you're interested to buy something more common, you can
ask me and I *may* know where one is for sale. No guarantees
though..... oh, and make sure you have LOTS of money handy *before*
you ask.
Q011: I'd like to donate or loan you some unemulated PCB's for
dumping. What do I do
next?
A: Firstly, make sure you are actually
going to go through with it. I get many people *offer* stuff, but
not too many actually send them! If you don't plan to send the
board(s), don't email me because it REALLY pisses me off when you
decide not to send it. And it **REALLY, REALLY* pisses me off when
further reminders from me are ignored.
Second, contact me and I'll give you some postal details.
Q012: I'm wondering if [insert ultra-rare and undumped board name
here] is going to be dumped (soon / one day / sometime)?
A: Probably not unless you or someone else
sends it to me.
Q013: I want to add [insert unemulated game name here] to MAME, can
you tell me how to do it, or give me some help with adding it to
MAME?
A: No. I have limited experience with coding
MAME drivers. And if you have to ask how it's done, you won't
succeed, since it's fairly obvious you don't have the required
skills (such as hardware de-engineering, and ROM dissasembly
knowledge, and/or coding experience with the type of CPU that the
game uses). So forget it, and just play the games. Alternatively,
look at the souce code of MAME and you'll see a wealth of
information in it, which may help you to decide whether you really
want to code a driver or not.
Q014: I want to link you on my web
site, OK?
A: If
you wish to give a URL link to my site, or credit me with something
(or whatever) that's fine, but DO NOT PUT MY EMAIL ADDRESS ON
YOUR WEB PAGE AS TEXT!!!
I
get enough crap in my inbox as it is, without you adding to it by
linking my email address on your web page. So please, don't do it!
Q015: I'm interested in buying one of your PCBs for sale. What do I
do next?
A: Get some money, lots of it in most cases.
Most of my boards are quite rare and expensive. When you have LOTS
OF MONEY in hand, THEN email me with your questions about price
(i.e. cheapskates should look elsewhere for rare PCBs, though I'm
open to reasonable offers)
Q016: I'm thinking of setting up a site to help collect
money to buy [insert undumped arcade board here] then getting it
dumped either by myself, or a friend. Can you give me your blessing
on my page?
A: No. We have already set up "The
Dumping Project" for that specific purpose. We have all the
required equipment and have taken a considerable amount of time to
ensure everything is done correctly. We have proven ourselves again
and again that we are very capable of handling the dumping tasks in
a professional manner and we don't squander or keep any donated
money (unlike some other collection sites in the past). So don't
bother, just get your donators to directly Paypal some funds to the
email address listed on my donations page and we'll take care of it.
If you wish, you can collect money/donations for us, then send it to
our Paypal address, but please consult either Brian T. or myself before
you do. Alternatively, you are free to do whatever you want, just don't
involve me.
Q017: I really liked your "Unemulated ROMs database". Can you put
your database back online and keep it updated?
A: No. I don't have time for it anymore.
If you want to take over and do it yourself on your web site,
contact me and I'll send you my last version. But don't ask me about
how to use it (it's written entirely in Perl), update it or if game
[insert name here] is dumped, or available, or what type of hardware
it is, because I just don't
have time for that.
Q018: I remember seeing a game in your database that I'm curious
about. Did that game have [insert question about some games'
hardware].
A: No idea. I already told you in Q016, I
don't have time for that.
Q019: What's this database you're talking about?
A: It was a searchable dynamic database
written entirely in Perl listing all known arcade games with some
brief information of hardware, and/or screenshots etc. But I don't
have time for that anymore so I removed it. It was roughly based on
a DBASE3 database written by Jan Axhell called "The Coin-Ops", but I
updated it to give more info, and added many newer games. You can
get that original listing from his official site
here, along with MANY
other game lists. I mirrored the file locally
here. If you search any popular search-engine for "DBASE viewer"
or "DBASE converter" you can find plenty of free programs that can
be used to view/convert the DBASE file. Alternatively, you can open
it with MS Excel or even MS Word!
Q020: I'm wondering about the status of [insert unemulated game
here]?
A: If you are curious about the status of an
unemulated game, try checking
Bobby
Tribble's page of unemulated arcade games
or My Dumping Project
Page.
If it's not listed there, try asking on one of the popular emulation
messageboards.
Q021: I tried to contact you at your emuunlim.com email address, but
I got [insert fatal error or no response here].
A: That address died when I changed ISP's.
I have no idea why. Check
here
for some updated info on that.
Q022: I live in the same state as you, maybe even near you. Can we
meet, I'd like to talk to you about arcade games and stuff :-)
A: No.
Q023: I've been looking for you on the mamegen board and IRC and a
few other places, but I keep missing you. Can you tell me when
you'll be there?
A: Due to the vast number of winging
assholes and back-stabbing MOFO's who visit those places, I don't go there anymore. You can
PM me via my
Dumping Project Forum if you wish.
Q024: What will happen if you leave or get kicked from your throne?
A: If I leave on good terms, I will likely
hand over everything to someone who wishes to take over, although
it's not likely I will leave. If I'm thrown out by some winging, backstabbing
a-holes who think I'm just glorifying everything and end up booted out
on my ass, everything will immediately fall into a black hole and
will be lost forever. And I mean everything, including everything not
dumped, all items on loan, anything pending including donations and everything stored here in boxes.
Operations will cease immediately and I'll resume my life as usual,
which excludes doing any dumping. It would be a very brave or stupid
person who would commence such an action against me. However, please
let me know the location if his lynching so I can watch his demise.
To summarize, I am doing all of this for free as a service to the emulation community. Please think
about that very carefully before you decide to piss me off!
Q025: I'm doing some homebrew coding on [insert
hardware name/ type here] and I was wondering if you could spare
some time to talk about some hardware specific things in regards to
how it bootstraps and executes code, as well as the protection
mechanisms employed?
A: No. I dump ROMs and document hardware,
I have no idea about coding/protection routines/bootstrapping etc.
Q026:
I have here some bad EPROMs
on [insert game here] PCB. I sent the PCB to a repair centre,
but they didn't repair it. I've personally checked it myself and it
just has some bad EPROMs (42pins DIP). Do you providing EPROM
burning service? Or do you have for sale a [insert game here]
PCB?
A: I have many PCBs for sale. If you see it
listed on my web page, I have it, or at least 'had' it. I can supply
any EPROM you need pre-programmed with any code for any game, for a
small fee/donation. Exactly which one do you need?
Q027:
If I donate to you, does that money go to Mamedev?
A: No. Well maybe indirectly. Donated money has nothing to do with MAME. We collect it and use it to
buy various PCBs and arcade games and I dump them. They might eventually end up in MAME, but there's no guarantee.
I have absolutely no control over what Mamedev does and The Dumping Project is not part of Mamedev. I do what I can,
when I can and I often make some suggestions and put things 'out-there', but I can't create miracles from thin air.
I do thank you for your support though. Remember, if it's not 'out-there' it will never be emulated, and very few
things are free.....
Q028:
I'm getting sick of all of these bitch fights I'm seeing on the forums. Can't you
just get on with it?
A: I would really like to do just that. But there are some assholes that feel they need to
take control of the situation and just won't leave sleeping dogs alone. I would like to point out that
people who are not part of The Dumping Project (and especially those who are not or have never been active financial
contributors) should BUTT OUT OF MY F***ING BUSINESS. Financial contributors and genuinely concerned citizens can
discuss any issues with me if they wish. It's a very difficult task without having to cope with additional crap
from random assholes who think they can tell me what to do. I'm talking about people who can't keep their mouth
shut and are simply bad-mouthing me to make matters worse. Much worse. I will take GREAT PLEASURE in adding a week
dumping delay for every bad word spoken about me in the future if this kind of back-stabbing B.S. doesn't stop. Be
very careful what you say, a simple 12 word sentence could have dramatic consequences amounting to a 12 week delay.
I'm watching.... if those random assholes don't stop, more time _will_ accumulate onto the existing delay.
If you can't keep your snide comments to yourself for the good of your inner peace, at least think about the rest of
the MAME community and the damage YOU will be causing. Also refer to Q24 above. Now go play frogger.... REMEMBER TO
LOOK AND THINK BEFORE YOU LEAP.
Random Asshole Quotes: [none... yet]
The current dumping delay is [ 0 ] weeks. Dumping will re-commence __ / __ / __
D U M B - A S S Q U E S T I O N
S S E C T I O N
Q001: I downloaded DBZ2/ Dragon Ball Z 2 [or insert any
other WIP game here], I wanna play it [because
no doubt you're a gamez kiddie], but how?
A: It's just a crappy fighting game. How many
goddamned fighting games do you need? There's a pile in MAME
already, just play one of those, I'm sure one of them is better. If
you must play it, just use Mame, once it's released with
that game included. Currently as of version 0.61, it's not included
and is "work in progress".
Wait, and you will be rewarded. Update: It's now included in Mame
0.62. p.s. *@*.br and *@*.kr are now blacklisted.
Q002: I don't like you, I'm going to spam you with some crap and/or a virus.
A: Don't bother, your spam will be
detected and auto-deleted directly from the mail server by my spam
filter. Your IP and email address will then be blacklisted for future lookup reference
at several spam-monitoring sites such as those listed
here.
Q003: You are a [insert multiple 4-letter expletives here], I'm going to give you a piece of my mind.
A: Feel free, I'll be happy to add your
stupid email to my Lamer Email Page, so
everyone can laugh at you.
Q004: I have this great offer for you. [insert make-a-million-deal here]
A: I couldn't give a rats arse about
credit card deals, special "make money" offers, profit deals, free
porn, free web
sites, free god-damned printer cartridges! or free ANY-DAMN-THING. To the spammers I say... Why don't you
idiots get a real job instead of spamming everyone and wasting
bandwidth. You're not going to make any money by pissing people off.
In fact you are too dumb to do anything useful. Just don't bother,
your IP and email address will be blacklisted for future lookup
reference at several spam-monitoring sites such as those listed
here. OK, I changed my mind, please send your crap so your IP
and email address can be blacklisted. Thanks.
Q005: I just emailed you, but it bounced back to me with an unknown
user message.
A: Poor old you, your IP and email address got
blacklisted by my spam filter, sorry about that. Goodbye. (or try to
email me again from a different IP address if your email was
legitimate)
Q006: You need some Viagra, or a penis enlargement, or some pics of
naked women, or a credit card to consolidate and pay off your debts or [insert
some other useless snake-oil crap here]
A: No. Also see Q004. Oh BTW, you just got
yourself blacklisted
here too. Hasta-la-vista, baby.
Q007: Send me ROMs.
A: Did you hear that click? It's the sound
of your email being auto-deleted.....
Q008:
I am interested in buying the [insert PCB name here]
PCB on your site but it is listed as D,E,S which I believe means
it's sold?
A: NO! I just put D,E,S there because I
was bored one day and it makes my page look pretty with all the blue
text!
IN OTHER WORDS, YES, IT'S SOLD!!
B O R D E R L I N E D U M B A S
S / G E N U I N E Q U E S T I
O N S S E C T I O N
Q001: I once played this arcade game back when I was 10, it had a
little man that went sideways, and you picked up some things, and
some other crap. Can you tell me the name of it?
A: I have no idea bud, there are messageboards
around on the net for that type of question.
Q002: There's no email link on your comments page.
A: DUH! I *do* know that.
It's not there on purpose so that dickheads and moronic imbeciles
(really people, get a life will you) who scour the internet with a spidering program to capture text email addresses and send
futile advertising spams, won't latch onto my address. So if you
want to contact me, use the links on the contact page and send me a
private message via my
Dumping Project Forum. I'm very busy
though, so make sure your message is emulation related, or I'll just
delete it ;-)
Q003: I don't like your popups and banners. Can you kill
that crap off your site?
A: Sadly, NO. This site and web space is
provided to me free of charge. For that privelage it's necessary to
allow the server owners to run ads or other fund raising events to
help cover costs. Popups and banners are just part of it. So either use
popup/banner blocking software or put up with it ;-)
Q: [Your questions here....] |
|
