A Great MAME ROMS Site

[sleepy]

Ahem, going out on a limb with this one. Traditionally speaking, we don't talk about ROM sites around here, for fear of being sued by the rights owners.

But I think it is safe to talk about A Great MAME ROMS Site now that it has gone LEGIT at the internet archive.org. They even have a street legal online JSMESS Player on the site so you can play many of the oldest games without anything but a browser, though it does require a modern computer to run well.

The MAME ROM version is 0.151. You can download the entire set as a 42.8 GB. Zip, or click the (contents) link to the right of the 42.8 GB. size listing in order to download single game roms by their MAME name.

https://archive.org/details/MAME_0.151_ROMs

Easy old-school downloading and NO SPAM, NO POP-UPS, NO CRAP.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

i saw that last week, but the bandwidth seemed incredibly low on the image loads, and i couldn't get the JMESS player to work in FF. hmm...

also, downloading a 42gig archive without parity file seems a potentially wonderful way to waste oodles of... lots of things.

 

[sleepy]

I did receive some major disappointment. MAMEDEV is tweakin' some of the games again. Ugh!

Pinbo with a chartreuse playfield back color?? Empire City 1931 playing on throttle at double speed?? What is this? The Island of Misfit Toys?
I am glad I still have those games on an older MAME, but I'll have to remember to run it in Windows Compatibility Mode so the older MAME won't freeze or crash.

Yeah, and as for the onsite JSMESS Player, it doesn't work here at all. The load screen disc icon just keeps on spinning.
I went looking for answers and saw that Firefox now considers their minimum system requirements to include a 3 GHz. processor, just to run Firefox, let alone the MESS.
And the author behind the JSMESS player claims that Firefox is the best browser for it. I did get it to run at less than half speed in Google Chrome. IE8 just sits there.

EDIT: No. JSMESS @ < 50% speed in Chrome is still unplayable.

 

[sleepy]

Well Well!
Either the latest Firefox update (today) or some background work fixed it.
The Internet Arcade is now working in Firefox, at least here. Not all games have the sound working though:

https://archive.org/details/internetarcade

 

[LeeVanCleef]

I haven't quite got any of the few games I tried to work right, but I haven't tried real heard yet. While you're visiting the site looking for Mr. Do, why not drop by this page and listen to Jim Jones convincing his followers to kill themselves. Good times! Hard to believe so many people would kill themselves for a "prophet" who talks like Tweety Bird when he "thaw a puddy tat".
https://archive.org/details/Podcasts_696

 

[sleepy]

But Jim Jones was a media stunt. After the kills, he returned to his movie studio
as Chief Honcho.

Hey, take a look at this. Where is his flippin' Adams Apple?

http://cdn.straightfromthea.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Chrissy-Lampkin-Jim-Jones-4.jpg

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

I haven't quite got any of the few games I tried to work right, but I haven't tried real heard yet. While you're visiting the site looking for Mr. Do, why not drop by this page and listen to Jim Jones convincing his followers to kill themselves. Good times! Hard to believe so many people would kill themselves for a "prophet" who talks like Tweety Bird when he "thaw a puddy tat".
https://archive.org/details/Podcasts_696

dunno, bro. i think when you factor out the terrible audio quality, he's clearly an impressive, even hypnotic speaker. comes off as down to earth, caring, concerned and brave... regardless of whatever looney tunes stuff he was spouting. going by his WP article, he was also successful and friendly with high-level politicians to an almost unprecedented degree for someone of his ilk.

i'm sorry about all those poor people, especially the kids, but you can see it was no accident that he was founder and leader of that cult.


in muuuuuuch happier news, the simpsons - futurama crossover was actually funny! and damn funny at that! :D

 

[LeeVanCleef]

I saw a clip of that. I'll have to download it. Probably the first Simpsons episode I've watched in 10 years. A sad thing to say about what was once my favorite show on the tube.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

do it while eating pizza!


but yea, i think the show jumped the great white around season 10. altho every once in a while it seems there's a throwback episode to days of yore. just hard for me to figure out which are the hidden gems.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

i've decided to update MAME for the first time in several centuries.

getting the ROMs updated has been a mother beast so far, so i've finally decided to try out ClrMamePro. but now what... the original site seems to be gone?


anybody know what the current one is now?

 

[elton]

I've not played MAME in many, many years. Shit, I've not played any games [other than the Wii] for many, many years!

So I shall download this and see if I can get Puznic to work .... that was my favourite puzzle game. Some levels are dead easy, others devilishly hard.

As a torrent it will take circa 17 days [WTF!] but as a retiree, time is but an illusion ... 17 days is nowt but a doddle :)

 

[sleepy]

Would that be the General Audience Puznic, or the "Page 3 Girl"edition? I've played it on both MAME and Raine (Taito emulator). I think the "Page 3" version was first available through the Raine emulator. Not sure if MAME unlocked it later. I think they did.

Raine worked better for slower systems. Not sure about whatever current version is available. ???

 

[sleepy]

Actually, I've had issues with MAME and XP SP3. The latest versions won't run well, and older versions crash when the desktop screen resolution is 1366 x 768. If I were going to play it, I might try it running a Linux Live disc and burn it to a new disc with the Linux MAME distro. I wonder if that would work? Maybe MAME for Windows depends on multi-core CPUs and faster bus speeds or DX10+. I could figure out something if MAME would allow switching between DX and OpenGL, or if too large, offered a MAME OpenGL for Windows.

 

[elton]

Would that be the General Audience Puznic, or the "Page 3 Girl"edition? I've played it on both MAME and Raine (Taito emulator). I think the "Page 3" version was first available through the Raine emulator. Not sure if MAME unlocked it later. I think they did.

Raine worked better for slower systems. Not sure about whatever current version is available. ???

On the Amiga, the game was just a straightforward puzzle game.

When I then discovered Mame, I was surprised to see it there and even more when all the risqué Japanese ladies were uncovered as the game proceeded. :D

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Maybe MAME for Windows depends on multi-core CPUs and faster bus speeds or DX10+. I could figure out something if MAME would allow switching between DX and OpenGL, or if too large, offered a MAME OpenGL for Windows.

dunno if this helps, but i notice this latest version has video options for: openGL, GDI, direct3D, and BGFX.

the general reason for games running slowly on new MAME versions is because the dev team is obsessed with emulating every last hardware detail. this means a lot of games run more slowly than they used to. i've been able to offset that by turning sound output all the way down to 11K quality and increasing video frame-skipping all the way up for certain games, like time crisis. there are probably more tricks i haven't figured out tho... like using a modified MAME version or completely different emulator.

overall, considering how long it's been, i was expecting many more classics and diamonds in the rough to have been emulated across the years. for example, "marble madness II" was something i was really hoping to see (it still hasn't been dumped yet).

technically the list of games is up to 33K, but the huge majority of those are just clones, rubbish, and millions of variations of the same thing... like fighting games, mahjong, match-3, shmups, simple video poker, crappy platformers, lightgun shooters and loads of other games that never became popular for a reason. not to mention, that "33K" number has been artificially inflated by exhaustive pinmame and fruit machine sets, plus other mechanical-based games that are never going to actually be playable in MAME.

that said, so far there are a small number of pleasant new discoveries for me, such as donkey kong II (fan-made game, not jr. or DK III), teeter torture, and namco classics (incl. new variations of dig dug, pacman and rally X). i'd also like to get those bar-top touchscreen systems working, since they include a deep set of smaller games. thing is-- it seems i need the CHD / CD images to get those running, and those can get BIG.


@elton,
i remember puzznic. nice game. :)

i've since found a few other quality puzzle games on MAME, if you want some recommendations to add to your collection.

 

[sleepy]

33k? I wonder how a TB USB hard drive would do for playability? Those can now be had for under $100. But would it sink the games like a rock?

 

[elton]

Well my 17 day download has now moved to 4 days .... there are hopes yet :)

Any recommendations gratefully received.

Suppose this means I'll have to dig out my joystick again :D

 

[sleepy]

I always have to have a copy of "Final Fight". And "Outrun" (with Magical Sound Shower for the radio). I once had a copy of "Area 51" up and running. But it drags when played with a mouse...
A lot of people think it sucks, but I like the Old Chicago-feel of "Empire City:1931", except they've fucked up the speed. Plays waaay too fast on the last MAME I tried, several versions ago. So I play an older version with reduced desktop resolution...no crash.

"Shuffleshot" is cool if you can find a serviceable controller for it. The control pad won't do the trick. I think it used a trackball or something similar. "Super Puzzle Fighter" is fun. Many of the Capcom games are. "Strider" (MacGyver rip). "Rolling Thunder".

I used to be crazy for "Karnov". And "Ninja Gaiden". And "Blood Brothers", "Shinobi" and "Shadow Dancer" (Shinobi 2). Else, I can still enjoy "Gaplus" (Galaga 3), "Rastan", and a quick "Pinbo" or "Pinball Action". And "Phantasm" is humorous. Love the game, though I never saw it before finding it in MAME. Just like "Money Puzzle Exchanger".

 

[sleepy]

And for really old fun, I reach for "Sea Wolf", "Depth Charge", "Canyon Bomber", "The Amazing Maze", and "Circus" (the see-saw game). In the second video game era, there was "Gyruss", "Alpine Ski", "Q-Bert", "Jungle King" (aka "Jungle Hunt" due to copyright issues regarding the "Tarzan" rights), "Qix", "Tempest", "Time Pilot", and "Pole Position II". "Defender" and "Robotron" ain't bad, though I played Williams' "Bubbles". I really enjoy Sega's "Bank Panic". And Stern's "Berzerk". And around the time of "Dragon's Lair" there was "Elevator Action".

Later games might include "Tetris" and "Smash T.V.". There are also the girly games such as "Pippi and Bibbi", "Pocket Gal" (pool), and "Gal's Panic" (a Qix clone with nudes as the payoff). But be aware that later sequels to the "Gal's Panic" series included Gay images. Not my taste.

I really like "Neo Turf Masters" (golf).

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

@sleepy,
i have a thing for those earlier games, circa '77 - '81 or so. the idea that you can create a really enjoyable game using nothing but rudimentary graphics and excellent design has always fascinated me. some of my faves, a bit lesser-known:

rip cord
cutie Q
galaxy wars
lunar rescue
tailgunner
warlords
frenzy
qwak
roc'n rope
hat trick
fire trap (and crazy climber I and II)
uo poko

btw, i'd definitely like to get area 51 rolling. do you remember how big the necessary CHD / disc was?

i like those shuffleboard games a lot. if you don't have a trackball, a mouse should make a pretty reasonable substitute.


@elton,
for now, check these out. they are really lovely:

tant-r
ichidant-r
logic pro

i'm going through a big audit / update right now, but i'd like to check out some of you folks' recommendations soon.

 

[sleepy]

I can't remember at all for sure. I think Area 51 was 1 GB. or so.

I never got the hang of it, but "Wizards of Wor" is fun to watch. And there's "Missile Command" and "Tron". And "Discs of Tron". "Circus Charlie" is fun, but difficult.
"Mappy" is easier and has good music. Love the sound design. For comic book action, there is "Dynamite Duke" with some unique pov.
My younger Brother loved "Major Havoc".

 

[sleepy]

Every now and then I open the FCEUX emulator for NES games and play me some Castlevania or Simon's Quest or Rad Racer, Pirates!, or Nightshade (a funky role player from Beam Software Australia). Or either the SNES or ZNES emulator and play Castlevania IV (Great Music!) or Chrono Trigger (Great Music Again). Or Shadowrun (Great Music Again, but be Damned Sure to Work Up Your Health and Mage levels before attempting to take on "The King" in The Junkyard!!!!!! He is otherwise Invinsible!!!!!!). Emulators often have a liberal Save State feature. So save often.

And on a blue moon, I'll open Gens (for Genesis games) and play their different version of Shadowrun, the Shinobi series, or Streets of Rage. A note about the Shadowruns. Both versions were among the first games that had something which creeped me out. These were before "Resident Evil" but about the same time as "Doom PC". In Shadowrun, you are a Shadowrunner or a gun-for-hire, and it gets slightly creepy when entering the graveyard and stopping the zombies. Also by Beam Software Australia (SNES version only).

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

ah... i'll have to finish with this MAME project before moving on to those other emulators. right now i'm looking through about 8000 screenshots to find new games to try out. so far i have about 100+ new ones to try, which is going to be a lot of work just in terms of the downloading.

after that, i'm going to try using clrmamepro to fix all the broken ROM sets.

Video Options: auto, openGL, GDI, direct3D, and BGFX

namco classics was running laggily even with full frame skipping, so i tried switching to the bolded choice. happily, it saved the day, and i actually had to turn on throttling so that it wouldn't play too fast.

unfortunately openGL didn't help solvalou (the 3D sequel to xevious) run any faster, but at least now i know there are more options to increase speed. also, i have no idea how MAME decides which video mode to run when you set it to "auto." almost everything seems to be setup differently compared to the version i used to run.


@elton,
speaking of that, if you can't get those puzzle games running on the new MAME, i have them all working on .065 and can certainly share if needed. let me know...

EDIT: i just remembered there's another whole class of games pretty similar to puzznic. the games are based on sokoban and range from the classic 'push the crates around to drop them in their holes' to complex versions with lots of switches and devices and things.

 

[elton]

Well MAME has finished downloading ... but finding the time to do anything with it will be difficult. Anyway, I now have it and will look at it as and when.

Thanks for the offer nic, I may well call you on it when I start with sorting out MAME.

At the moment, lots of work on the house and garden. Indoor bowls season coming to an end and outdoor about to start.

US vacation zooming up .... May will be here before we know it .... dear me, retirement is tough :D

 

[LeeVanCleef]

Good luck, elton... you'll need it! I recently downloaded VPX... which, for some reason, sounds like a herpes medication to me, so I'll stick with VP10... and so far I've managed to use it to lock up my computer. Even after using the handy-dandy installer Steve linked me to. Either it's too smart or I'm too dumb. Probably a little of both.