mame(6)
NAME
MAME - The Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator
SYNOPSIS
mame [options] gamename
DESCRIPTION
Started in 1997 by Nicola Salmoria, MAME was originally intended as a series of emulators for individual games, which were later combined into a single multi-game emulator. In the following years, MAME grew over and over up to the actual size, with more than 100 contributors to the project.
OPTIONS
Core commands
-help, -?
Displays current MAME version and copyright notice.
-validate, -valid
Performs internal validation on every driver in the system. Run
this before submitting changes to ensure that you haven't
violated any of the core system rules.
Configuration commands
-createconfig, -cc
Creates the default mame.ini file in the current directory. All
the configuration options (not commands) described below can be
permanently changed by editing this configuration file.
-showconfig, -sc
Displays the current configuration settings.
-showusage, -su
Displays a summary of all the command line options. For options
that are not mentioned here, the short summary given by
-showusage is usually sufficient.
Frontend commands
All the list commands below write info to the screen. If you wish to
write the info to a textfile instead, use redirection. For example,
mame -listxml > ~/mamelist.xml writes the full list of supported game
to file mamelist.xml in your home directory.
-listxml, -lx [gamename|wildcard]
List comprehensive details for all of the supported games. The
output is quite long, so it is usually better to redirect this
into a file. The output is in XML format. By default all games
are listed; however, you can limit this list by specifying a
driver name or wildcard after the -listxml command.
-listfull, -ll [gamename|wildcard]
Displays a list of game driver names and descriptions. By
default all games are listed; however, you can limit this list
by specifying a driver name or wildcard after the -listfull
command.
-listsource, -ls [gamename|wildcard]
Displays a list of drivers and the names of the source files
their game drivers live in. Useful for finding which driver a
game runs on in order to fix bugs. By default all games are
listed; however, you can limit this list by specifying a driver
name or wildcard after the -listsource command.
-listclones, -lc [gamename|wildcard]
Displays a list of clones. By default all clones are listed;
however, you can limit this list by specifying a driver name or
wildcard after the -listclones command.
-listbrothers, -lb [gamename|wildcard]
Displays a list of "brothers" or other drivers from same
sourcefile. By default all games are listed; however, you can
limit this list by specifying a driver name or wildcard after
the -listbrothers command.
-listcrc
Displays a full list of CRCs of all ROM images referenced by all
drivers within MAME code.
-listroms, -lr gamename
Displays a list of ROM images referenced by the specified game.
-listsamples gamename
Displays a list of samples referenced by the specified game.
-verifyroms [gamename|wildcard]
Checks for invalid or missing ROM images. By default all drivers
that have valid ZIP files or directories in the rompath are
verified; however, you can limit this list by specifying a
driver name or wildcard after the -verifyroms command.
-verifysamples [gamename|wildcard]
Checks for invalid or missing samples. By default all drivers
that have valid ZIP files or directories in the samplepath are
verified; however, you can limit this list by specifying a
driver name or wildcard after the -verifyroms command.
-romident
Attempts to identify ROM files, if they are known to MAME, in
the specified .zip file or directory. This command can be used
to try and identify ROM sets taken from unknown boards. On exit,
the errorlevel is returned as one of the following:
0 all files were identified
7 all files were identified except for some "non-ROM" files
8 some files were identified
9 no files were identified
-listdevices, -ld
Output the list of devices referenced by a given game or set of
games.
-listslots, -lslot
Output the list of available slots and slot devices for the
system.
-listmedia, -lm
Output the list of available media for the system.
-listsoftware, -lsoft
Output the list of known software for the system.
-verifysoftware, -vsoft [gamename|wildcard]
Checks for invalid or missing ROM images in your software lists.
By default all drivers that have valid ZIP files or directories
in the rompath are verified; however, you can limit this list by
specifying a specific driver name or wildcard.
-getsoftlist, -glist
Retrieve software list by name.
-verifysoftlist, -vlist [softwarelistname]
Checks a specified software list for missing ROM images if files
exist for issued softwarelistname. By default, all drivers that
have valid ZIP files or directories in the rompath are verified;
however, you can limit this list by specifying a specific
softwarelistname (without .XML).
-listmidi, -mlist
Create a list of list available MIDI I/O devices for use with
emulation.
-listnetwork, -nlist
List available network adapters.
Configuration options
-[no]readconfig, -[no]rc
Enables or disables the reading of the config files. When
enabled (which is the default), MAME reads the following config
files in order:
1. mame.ini
the main configuration file
2. name.ini
where name is your executable name, i.e. mame unless you changed
it (e.g. if you renamed mame to mame0137, the parsed file will
be mame0137.ini)
3. debug.ini, if the debugger is enabled
4. vector.ini, for vector games only
5. [driver].ini
based on the source filename of the game driver
6. [parent].ini
for clones only, may be called recursively
7. [gamename].ini
note this sometimes resolves to the same of the source driver
The settings in the later ini's override those in the earlier
ini's. So, for example, if you wanted to disable overlay
effects in the vector games, you can create a vector.ini with
the "effect none" line in it, and it will override whatever
effect value you have in your mame.ini. The default is ON
(-readconfig).
-[no]writeconfig, -[no]wc
Write configuration to [driver].ini on exit. Default is OFF
(-nowriteconfig).
Search path options
Be careful to use the path, directory and file options in mame.ini
ONLY. Otherwise, the outcome may be unpredictable and not consistent
across releases.
-rompath, -rp, -biospath, -bp pathname
Specifies a list of paths within which to find ROM or hard disk
images. Multiple paths can be specified by separating them with
semicolons. The default is 'roms' (that is, a directory "roms"
in the same directory as the MAME executable).
-hashpath pathname
Specifies a list of paths within which to search for software
hash files. Multiple paths can be specified by separating them
with semicolons. The default is 'hash' (that is, a directory
'hash' in the same directory as the MAME executable).
-samplepath, -sp pathname
Specifies a list of paths within which to find sample files.
Multiple paths can be specified by separating them with
semicolons. The default is 'samples' (that is, a directory
"samples" in the same directory as the MAME executable).
-artpath, -artwork_directory pathname
Specifies a list of paths within which to find artwork files.
Multiple paths can be specified by separating them with
semicolons. The default is 'artwork' (that is, a directory
"artwork" in the same directory as the MAME executable).
-ctrlrpath, -ctrlr_directory pathname
Specifies a list of paths within which to find
controller-specific configuration files. Multiple paths can be
specified by separating them with semicolons. The default is
'ctrlr' (that is, a directory "ctrlr" in the same directory as
the MAME executable).
-inipath pathname
Specifies a list of paths within which to find .INI files.
Multiple paths can be specified by separating them with
semicolons. The default is '/etc/mame/'.
-fontpath pathname
Specifies a list of paths within which to find .BDF font files.
Multiple paths can be specified by separating them with
semicolons. The default is '.' (that is, search in the same
directory as the MAME executable).
-cheatpath pathname
Specifies a list of paths within which to find cheat files.
Multiple paths can be specified by separating them with
semicolons. The default is 'cheat' (that is, a directory 'cheat'
in the same directory as the MAME executable).
-crosshairpath pathname
Specifies a list of paths within which to find crosshair files.
Multiple paths can be specified by separating them with
semicolons. The default is 'crosshair' (that is, a directory
"crosshair" in the same directory as the MAME executable). If
the Crosshair is set to default in the menu, MAME will look for
gamenamespecified crosshairpath, where # is the player number.
Failing that, MAME will use built-in default crosshairs.
-pluginspath pathname
Specifies a single path within which to find plugins. The
default is 'plugins' (that is, a directory 'plugins' in the same
directory as the MAME executable).
-languagepath pathname
Specifies a single path within which to find language files. The
default is 'language' (that is, a directory 'language' in the
same directory as the MAME executable).
Output Directory Options
-cfg_directory pathname
Specifies a single directory where configuration files are
stored. Configuration files store user configurable settings
that are read at startup and written when MAME exits. The
default is 'cfg' (that is, a directory "cfg" in the same
directory as the MAME executable). If this directory does not
exist, it will be automatically created.
-nvram_directory pathname
Specifies a single directory where NVRAM files are stored. NVRAM
files store the contents of EEPROM and non-volatile RAM (NVRAM)
for games which used this type of hardware. This data is read at
startup and written when MAME exits. The default is 'nvram'
(that is, a directory "nvram" in the same directory as the MAME
executable). If this directory does not exist, it will be
automatically created.
-input_directory pathname
Specifies a single directory where input recording files are
stored. Input recordings are created via the -record option and
played back via the -playback option. The default is 'inp' (that
is, a directory "inp" in the same directory as the MAME
executable). If this directory does not exist, it will be
automatically created.
-state_directory pathname
Specifies a single directory where save state files are stored.
Save state files are read and written either upon user request,
or when using the -autosave option. The default is 'sta' (that
is, a directory "sta" in the same directory as the MAME
executable). If this directory does not exist, it will be
automatically created.
-snapshot_directory pathname
Specifies a single directory where screen snapshots are stored,
when requested by the user. The default is 'snap' (that is, a
directory "snap" in the same directory as the MAME executable).
If this directory does not exist, it will be automatically
created.
-diff_directory pathname
Specifies a single directory where hard drive differencing files
are stored. Hard drive differencing files store any data that is
written back to a hard disk image, in order to preserve the
original image. The differencing files are created at startup
when a game with a hard disk image. The default is 'diff' (that
is, a directory "diff" in the same directory as the MAME
executable). If this directory does not exist, it will be
automatically created.
-comment_directory pathname
Specifies a single directory where debugger comment files are
stored. Debugger comment files are written by the debugger when
comments are added to the disassembly for a game. The default is
'comments' (that is, a directory "comments" in the same
directory as the MAME executable). If this directory does not
exist, it will be automatically created.
State/playback options
-state slot
Immediately after starting the specified game, will cause the
save state in the specified slot to be loaded.
-[no]autosave
When enabled, automatically creates a save state file when
exiting MAME and automatically attempts to reload it when later
starting MAME with the same game. This only works for games that
have explicitly enabled save state support in their driver. The
default is OFF (-noautosave).
-playback, -pb filename
Specifies a file from which to play back a series of game
inputs. This feature does not work reliably for all games, but
can be used to watch a previously recorded game session from
start to finish. In order to make things consistent, you should
only record and playback with all configuration (.cfg), NVRAM
(.nv), and memory card files deleted. The default is NULL (no
playback).
-[no]exit_after_playback
If play back is enabled (see -playback option) the program exits
when end of file is reached. Otherwise the machine will continue
to run. Default is OFF (-noexit_after_playback).
-record, -rec filename
Specifies a file to record all input from a game session. This
can be used to record a game session for later playback. This
feature does not work reliably for all games, but can be used to
watch a previously recorded game session from start to finish.
In order to make things consistent, you should only record and
playback with all configuration (.cfg), NVRAM (.nv), and memory
card files deleted. The default is NULL (no recording).
-[no]record_timecode
Specify whether to create a timecode file. It contains a line
with elapsed times on each press of timecode shortcut key
(default is F12). This option works only when recording mode is
enabled (-record option). The file is saved on inp folder.
Default is OFF (-norecord_timecode).
-mngwrite filename
Writes each video frame to the given filename in MNG format,
producing an animation of the game session. Note that -mngwrite
only writes video frames; it does not save any audio data. Use
-wavwrite for that, and reassemble the audio/video using offline
tools. The default is NULL (no recording).
-aviwrite filename
Stream video and sound data to the given filename in AVI format,
producing an animation of the game session complete with sound.
The default is NULL (no recording).
-wavwrite filename
Writes the final mixer output to the given filename in WAV
format, producing an audio recording of the game session.
The default is NULL (no recording).
-snapname string
Describes how MAME should name files for snapshots. string
provides a template that is used to generate a filename. Three
simple substitutions are provided: the / character represents
the path separator on any target platform (even Windows); the
literal %g represents the driver name of the current game; and
the literal %i represents an incrementing index. If %i is
omitted, then each snapshot taken will overwrite the previous
one; otherwise, MAME will find the next empty value for %i and
use that for a filename. The default is %g/%i, which creates a
separate folder for each game, and names the snapshots under it
starting with 0000 and increasing from there. Example: if you
use mame robby -snapname foo/%g%i snapshots will be saved as
snaps/foo/robby0000.png, snaps/foo/robby0001.png and so on.
-snapsize widthxheight
Hard-codes the size for snapshots and movie recording. By
default, MAME will create snapshots at the game's current
resolution in raw pixels, and will create movies at the game's
starting resolution in raw pixels. If you specify this option,
then MAME will create both snapshots and movies at the size
specified, and will bilinear filter the result. Note that this
size does not automatically rotate if the game is vertically
oriented. The default is 'auto'.
-snapview internal|auto|viewname
Specifies the view to use when rendering snapshots and movies.
By default, both use a special 'internal' view, which renders a
separate snapshot per screen or renders movies only of the first
screen. By specifying this option, you can override this default
behavior and select a single view that will apply to all
snapshots and movies. Note that viewname does not need to be a
perfect match; rather, it will select the first view whose name
matches all the characters specified by viewname. For example,
-snapview native will match the "Native (15:14)" view even
though it is not a perfect match. viewname can also be 'auto',
which selects the first view with all screens present. The
default value is 'internal'.
-[no]snapbilinear
Specify whether snapshot/movie should have bilinear filtering
applied. Default is ON (-snapbilinear).
-statename string
Describes how MAME should store save state files, relative to
the state_directory path. string provides a template that is
used to generate a relative path. Two simple substitutions are
provided: the / character represents the path separator on any
target platform (even Windows); the literal %g represents the
driver name of the current game. The default is '%g', which
creates a separate folder for each game. Example: if you use
mame robby -statename foo/%g save states will be stored inside
sta/foo/robby/.
-[no]burnin
Tracks brightness of the screen during play and at the end of
emulation generates a PNG that can be used to simulate burn-in
effects on other games. The resulting PNG is created such that
the least used-areas of the screen are fully white (since
burned-in areas are darker, all other areas of the screen must
be lightened a touch). The intention is that this PNG can be
loaded via an artwork file with a low alpha (e.g, 0.1-0.2 seems
to work well) and blended over the entire screen. The PNG files
are saved in the snap directory under the
gamename urnin-<screen.name>.png. The default is OFF
(-noburnin).
Performance options
-[no]autoframeskip, -[no]afs
Automatically determines the frameskip level while you're
playing the game, adjusting it constantly in a frantic attempt
to keep the game running at full speed. Turning this on
overrides the value you have set for -frameskip below. The
default is OFF (-noautoframeskip).
-frameskip, -fs value
Specifies the frameskip value (autoframeskip must be disabled).
This is the number of frames out of every 12 to drop when
running. For example, if you say -frameskip 2, then MAME will
display 10 out of every 12 frames. By skipping those frames, you
may be able to get full speed in a game that requires more
horsepower than your computer has. The default value is 0, which
skips no frames.
-seconds_to_run, -str value
This option can be used for benchmarking and automated testing.
It tells MAME to stop execution after a fixed number of seconds.
By combining this with a fixed set of other command line
options, you can set up a consistent environment for
benchmarking MAME performance. In addition, upon exit, the -str
option will write a screenshot called final.png to the game's
snapshot directory.
-[no]throttle
Configures the default thottling setting. When throttling is on,
MAME attempts to keep the game running at the game's intended
speed. When throttling is off, MAME runs the game as fast as it
can. Note that the fastest speed is more often than not limited
by your graphics card, especially for older games. The default
is ON (-throttle).
-[no]sleep
Allows MAME to give time back to the system when running with
-throttle. This allows other programs to have some CPU time,
assuming that the game isn't taxing 100% of your CPU resources.
This option can potentially cause hiccups in performance if
other demanding programs are running. The default is ON
(-sleep).
-speed value
Controls the speed of gameplay, relative to realtime; smaller
numbers are slower. Default is 1.00.
-[no]refreshspeed, -[no]rs
Automatically adjusts the -speed parameter to keep the effective
refresh rate below that of the lowest screen refresh rate.
Default is OFF (-norefreshspeed).
-numprocessors, -np value
Set number of processors; this overrides the number the system
reports.
-bench value
Benchmark for the given number of emulated seconds; implies
-video none -sound none -nothrottle.
-[no]sdlvideofps
Show SDL video performance. Default is OFF (-nosdlvideofps).
Rotation options
-[no]rotate
Rotate the game to match its normal state (horizontal/vertical).
This ensures that both vertically and horizontally oriented
games show up correctly without the need to rotate your monitor.
If you want to keep the game displaying 'raw' on the screen the
way it would have in the arcade, turn this option OFF. The
default is ON (-rotate).
-[no]ror | -[no]rol
Rotate the game screen to the right (clockwise) or left
(counter- clockwise) relative to either its normal state (if
-rotate is specified) or its native state (if -norotate is
specified). Default for both is OFF (-noror -norol).
-[no]autoror | -[no]autorol
These options are designed for use with pivoting screens that
only pivot in a single direction. If your screen only pivots
clockwise, use -autorol to ensure that the game will fill the
screen either horizontally or vertically in one of the
directions you can handle. If your screen only pivots
counter-clockwise, use -autoror. Default for both is OFF
(-noautoror -noautorol).
-[no]flipx -[no]flipy
Flip (mirror) the game screen either horizontally (-flipx) or
vertically (-flipy). The flips are applied after the -rotate and
-ror/-rol options are applied. Default for both is OFF
(-noflipx -noflipy).
Artwork options
-[no]artwork_crop, -[no]artcrop
Enable cropping of artwork to the game screen area only. This
option can also be controlled via the Video Options menu in the
user interface. The default is OFF (-noartwork_crop).
-[no]use_backdrops, -[no]backdrop
Enables/disables the display of backdrops. The default is ON
(-use_backdrops).
-[no]use_overlays, -[no]overlay
Enables/disables the display of overlays. The default is ON
(-use_overlays).
-[no]use_bezels, -[no]bezel
Enables/disables the display of bezels. The default is ON
(-use_bezels).
-[no]use_cpanels, -[no]cpanel
Enables/disables the display of cpanels. The default is ON
(-use_bezels).
-[no]use_marquees, -[no]marquee
Enables/disables the display of marquees. The default is ON
(-use_bezels).
Screen options
-brightness value
Controls the default brightness, or black level, of the game
screens. This option does not affect the artwork or other parts
of the display. Using the MAME UI, you can individually set the
brightness for each game screen; this option controls the
initial value for all visible game screens. The standard value
is 1.0. Selecting lower values (down to 0.1) will produce a
darkened display, while selecting higher values (up to 2.0) will
give a brighter display. The default is 1.0.
-contrast value
Controls the contrast, or white level, of the game screens. This
option does not affect the artwork or other parts of the
display. Using the MAME UI, you can individually set the
contrast for each game screen; this option controls the initial
value for all visible game screens. The standard value is 1.0.
Selecting lower values (down to 0.1) will produce a dimmer
display, while selecting higher values (up to 2.0) will give a
more saturated display. The default is 1.0.
-gamma value
Controls the gamma, which produces a potentially nonlinear black
to white ramp, for the game screens. This option does not affect
the artwork or other parts of the display. Using the MAME UI,
you can individually set the gamma for each game screen; this
option controls the initial value for all visible game screens.
The standard value is 1.0, which gives a linear ramp from black
to white. Selecting lower values (down to 0.1) will increase the
nonlinearity toward black, while selecting higher values (up to
3.0) will push the nonlinearity toward white. The default is
1.0.
-pause_brightness value
This controls the brightness level when MAME is paused. The
default value is 0.65.
-effect [none|filename[.png]]
Name of a PNG file to use for visual effects, or 'none'. Default
is 'none'.
Vector rendering options
-beam_width_min value
-beam_width_max value
Sets the minimum and maximum width of the vectors. This is a
scaling factor against the standard vector width, which is
interpolated between minimum and maximum according to the beam's
intensity. A value of 1.0 will keep the default vector line
width. Smaller values will reduce the width, and larger values
will increase the width. The default is 1.0.
-beam_intensity_weight value
Applies an exponential weight to the minimum and maximum beam
width. For positive values the interpolated scaling factor will
affect lines with higher intensity more than lines with lower
intensity. The default is 0.0.
-flicker value
Simulates a vector "flicker" effect, similar to a vector monitor
that needs adjustment. This option requires a float argument in
the range of 0.00-100.00 (0=none, 100=maximum). The default is
0.
Video options
-video [soft|opengl|none]
Specifies which video subsystem to use for drawing:
soft uses software rendering, which is slower but more
compatible.
opengl uses OpenGL and your graphics accelerator to speed up
many aspects of drawing MAME including compositing artwork,
overlays, and bezels, as well as stretching the image to fit
your screen. output on some cards.
none does no drawing and is intended for CPU benchmarking.
Default is 'soft'.
-numscreens [1-4]
Number of screens to create; usually, you want just one. Default
is '1'.
-[no]window, -[no]w
Run MAME in either full screen or a window. This is a
fully-featured window mode where the window resizes as necessary
to track what the game does. And you can resize it yourself
with your OS's standard window controls. The default is OFF
(-nowindow).
-[no]maximize, -[no]max
Controls initial window size in windowed mode. If it is set on,
the window will initially be set to the maximum supported size
when you start MAME. If it is turned off, the window will start
out at the smallest supported size. This option only has an
effect when the -window option is used. The default is ON
(-maximize).
-[no]keepaspect, -[no]ka
Forces the correct aspect ratio. This means when you're resizing
the window in windowed mode the actual game image will resize in
discrete steps to maintain the proper shape of the game
graphics. If you turn this off you can resize the window to
anything you like and get funny squishing and stretching. The
same applies for full-screen. Default is ON (-keepaspect).
-[no]unevenstretch, -[no]ues
Allow non-integer stretch factors. Video purists should stay
far, far away from this option, while everyone else will be
happy to know that it lets you fill the screen properly in
full-screen mode. Default is ON (-unevenstretch).
-[no]unevenstretchx, -[no]uesx
Act as -[no]unevenstretch on horizontal basis only.
-[no]intoverscan, -[no]ios
Allow overscan on integer scaled targets.
-intscalex, -sx
Set horizontal integer scale factor.
-intscaley, -sy
Set vertical integer scale factor.
-[no]centerh
Center horizontally within the view area. Default is ON
(-centerh).
-[no]centerv
Center vertically within the view area. Default is ON
(-centerv).
-[no]waitvsync, -[no]vs
Enable waiting for the start of VBLANK before flipping screens;
reduces tearing effects. Default is OFF (-nowaitvsync).
-[no]syncrefresh, -[no]srf
Enable using the start of VBLANK for throttling instead of the
game time. Default is OFF (-nosyncrefresh).
Software video rendering subsystem options
NOTE: All the options in this group are available only with softare
video rendering subsystem, i.e -video soft.
-prescale [value]
Scale screen rendering by this amount in software. Default is 1.
-scalemode, -sm [none|async|yv12|yuy2|yv12x2|yuy2x2]
Hardware scaling mode.
none use software rendering.
async async overlay.
yv12 yv12 overlay.
yuy2 yuy2 overlay.
yv12x2 yv12 overlay using x2 prescaling.
yuy2x2 yuy2 overlay using x2 prescaling.
Default is NONE.
OpenGL video rendering subsystem options
NOTE: All the options in this group are available only with OpenGL
video rendering subsystem, i.e -video opengl.
-[no]filter, -[no]glfilter, -[no]flt
Enable bilinear filtering on screen output. Default is ON
(-filter).
-prescale [value]
Scale screen rendering by this amount in software. Default is 1.
-[no]gl_forcepow2texture
Force power of two textures. Default is OFF
(-nogl_forcepow2texture).
-[no]gl_notexturerect
Don't use OpenGL GL_ARB_texture_rectangle. Turn off if
corruption occurs in OpenGL mode, at cost of some performance
loss. Default is ON (-gl_notexturerect).
-[no]gl_vbo
Enable OpenGL VBO, if available, for a performance increase.
Turn off if corruption occurs. Default is ON (-gl_vbo).
-[no]gl_pbo
Enable OpenGL PBO, if available, for a performance increase.
Turn off if corruption occurs. Default is ON (-gl_pbo).
-[no]gl_glsl
Enable OpenGL GLSL, if available, for a performance increase.
Default is OFF (-nogl_glsl).
-gl_glsl_filter value
Enable OpenGL GLSL filtering instead of FF filtering 0=plain,
1=bilinear. Default is 1: bilinear.
-glsl_shader_mame[0-9]
Preferred custom OpenGL GLSL shader set mame bitmap (from 0 to
9).
-glsl_shader_screen[0-9]
Preferred custom OpenGL GLSL shader screen bitmap (from 0 to 9).
-screen
Explicit name for all screens; 'auto' here will try to make a
best guess.
-aspect, -screen_aspect
Aspect ratio for all screens; 'auto' here will try to make a
best guess.
-resolution, -r
Preferred resolution for all screens; format is
widthxheight[@refreshrate] or 'auto'.
-view Preferred view for all screens
-screen[0-3]
Explicit name of the first|second|third|fourth screen; 'auto'
here will try to make a best guess.
-aspect[0-3]
Aspect ratio of the first|second|third|fourth screen; 'auto'
here will try to make a best guess.
-resolution[0-3], -r[0-3]
Preferred resolution for the first|second|third|fourth screen;
format is widthxheight[@refreshrate] or 'auto'.
-view[0-3]
Preferred view for the first|second|third|fourth screen.
BGFX post-processing options
NOTE: All the options in this group are available only when BGFX video
post-processing is enabled, i.e -video bgfx. For full info on BGFX
please visit official MAME documentation page:
http://docs.mamedev.org/advanced/bgfx.html
-bgfx_path pathname
This is where your BGFX shader files are stored. The default is
'bgfx' (that is, a directory "bgfx" in the same directory as the
MAME executable).
-bgfx_backend auto|opengl
Selects a rendering backend for BGFX to use. The default is
'auto', which will let MAME choose the best selection for you.
-bgfx_debug
Enables BGFX debugging features. Most users will not need to use
this.
-bgfx_screen_chains default|unfiltered|hlsl[,...]
This dictates how to handle BGFX rendering on a per-display
basis. For each display specify one of the possible choices:
default default bilinear filterered output
unfiltered nearest neighbor unfiltered output
hlsl HLSL display simulation through shaders
Separate directives for each window with a comma (,) and for
each physical screen with a colon (:). For example, for an
emulated game with 3 displays emulated on 3 windows on your
monitor, -bgfx_screen_chains default,unfiltered,default
specifies to apply default filter on what is been rendered on
the first and third window and leave the content of the second
window unfiltered.
-bgfx_shadow_mask filename
This specifies the shadow mask effect PNG file. Default is
'slot-mask.png'.
-bgfx_avi_name filename
This specifies a filename for BGFX output logging.
Full screen options
-[no]switchres
Affects full screen mode only. Chooses if MAME can try to change
the screen resolution (color depth is normally left alone) when
in full-screen mode. If it's off, you always get your desktop
resolution in full-screen mode (which can be useful for LCDs).
Default is OFF (-noswitchres).
-[no]useallheads
Split full screen image across monitors. Default is OFF
(-nouseallheads).
Sound options
-[no]sound
Enable or disable sound altogether. The default is ON (-sound).
-samplerate, -srf value
Sets the audio sample rate. Smaller values (e.g. 11025) cause
lower audio quality but faster emulation speed. Higher values
(e.g. 48000) cause higher audio quality but slower emulation
speed. The default is 48000.
-[no]samples
Use samples if available. The default is ON (-samples).
-volume, -vol value
Sets the startup volume. It can later be changed with the user
interface (see Keys section). The volume is an attenuation in
dB: e.g., "-volume -12" will start with -12dB attenuation. The
default is 0.
-audio_latency value
This controls the amount of latency built into the audio
streaming. The latency parameter controls the lower threshold.
The default is 1 (meaning lower=1/5 and upper=2/5). Set it to 2
(-audio_latency 2) to keep the sound buffer between 2/5 and 3/5
full. If you crank it up to 4, you can definitely notice the
lag.
Input options
-[no]coin_lockout, -[no]coinlock
Enables simulation of the "coin lockout" feature that is
implmeneted on a number of game PCBs. It was up to the operator
whether or not the coin lockout outputs were actually connected
to the coin mechanisms. If this feature is enabled, then
attempts to enter a coin while the lockout is active will fail
and will display a popup message in the user interface. If this
feature is disabled, the coin lockout signal will be ignored.
The default is ON (-coin_lockout).
-ctrlr controller
Enables support for special controllers. Configuration files are
loaded from the ctrlrpath. They are in the same format as the
.cfg files that are saved, but only control configuration data
is read from the file. The default is NULL (no controller file).
-[no]mouse
Controls whether or not MAME looks for a mouse controller to
use. Note that in many cases, lightguns are treated as mice by
the operating system, so you may need to enable this to enable
lightgun support. When this is enabled, you will not be able to
use your mouse while playing a game. If you want to get control
of your computer back, you will need to either pause the game or
quit. The default is OFF (-nomouse).
-[no]joystick, -[no]joy
Controls whether or not MAME looks for joystick/gamepad
controllers. The default is ON (-joystick).
-[no]lightgun, -[no]gun
Controls whether or not MAME makes use of lightgun controllers.
Note that most lightguns map to the mouse, so using -lightgun
and -mouse together may produce strange results. The default is
OFF (-nolightgun).
-[no]multikeyboard, -[no]multikey
Determines whether MAME differentiates between multiple
keyboards. Some systems may report more than one keyboard; by
default, the data from all of these keyboards is combined so
that it looks like a single keyboard. Turning this option on
will enable MAME to report keypresses on different keyboards
independently. The default is OFF (-nomultikeyboard).
-[no]multimouse
Determines whether MAME differentiates between multiple mice.
Some systems may report more than one mouse device; by default,
the data from all of these mice is combined so that it looks
like a single mouse. Turning this option on will enable MAME to
report mouse movement and button presses on different mice
independently. The default is OFF (-nomultimouse).
-[no]steadykey, -[no]steady
Some games require two or more buttons to be pressed at exactly
the same time to make special moves. Due to limitations in the
PC keyboard hardware, it can be difficult or even impossible to
accomplish that using the standard keyboard handling. This
option selects a different handling that makes it easier to
register simultaneous button presses, but has the disadvantage
of making controls less responsive. The default is OFF
(-nosteadykey).
-[no]ui_active
Enable MAME user interface on top of emulated keyboard (if
present). Default is OFF (-noui_active).
-[no]offscreen_reload, -[no]reload
Controls whether or not MAME treats a second button input from a
lightgun as a reload signal. In this case, MAME will report the
gun's position as (0,MAX) with the trigger held, which is
equivalent to an offscreen reload. This is only needed for games
that required you to shoot offscreen to reload, and then only if
your gun does not support off screen reloads. The default is OFF
(-nooffscreen_reload).
-joystick_map, -joymap map
Controls how joystick values map to digital joystick controls.
See /usr/share/doc/mame/config.txt for full details on map
format.
-joystick_deadzone, -joy_deadzone, -jdz value
If you play with an analog joystick, the center can drift a
little. joystick_deadzone tells how far along an axis you must
move before the axis starts to change. This option expects a
float in the range of 0.0 to 1.0. Where 0 is the center of the
joystick and 1 is the outer limit. The default is 0.3.
-joystick_saturation, -joy_saturation, -jsat value
If you play with an analog joystick, the ends can drift a
little, and may not match in the +/- directions.
joystick_saturation tells how far along an axis movement change
will be accepted before it reaches the maximum range. This
option expects a float in the range of 0.0 to 1.0, where 0 is
the center of the joystick and 1 is the outer limit. The
default is 0.85.
-[no]natural, -[no]nat
Allows user to specify whether or not to use a natural keyboard.
This allows you to start your game or system in a 'native' mode,
depending on your region, allowing compatibility for
non-"QWERTY" style keyboards. The default is OFF (-nonatural).
-[no]joystick_contradictory, -[no]joy_contradictory
Enable contradictory direction digital joystick input at the
same time. Default is OFF (-nojoystick_contradictory).
-coin_impulse time
Set coin impulse time. A negative value for time disables the
impulse; set time to 0 to obey driver or give a positive value
to set impulse time.
-uimodekey, -umk value
Specifies the key used to toggle between full and partial UI
mode.
-uifontprovider auto|sdl|none
Provider for ui font.
-output console|network|none
Provider for output.
-keyboardprovider auto|sdl|none
Provider for keyboard input.
-mouseprovider auto|sdl|none
Provider for mouse input.
-lightgunprovider auto|none
Provider for lightgun input.
-joystickprovider auto|sdl|none
Provider for joystick input.
-[no]keymap
Enable keymap for non-QWERTY keyboards. Used in conjunction with
-keymap_file. Default is OFF (-nokeymap).
-keymap_file keymap_file
Specifies the full path to the keymap file to be used. A few
keymap files are available in /usr/share/games/mess/keymaps.
-joy_idx[0-8] joystick
With these options you can assign a joystick to a specific index
in MAME. Even if the kernel will list the joysticks in a
different order on the next boot, MAME will still see the
joystick as e.g. "Joystick 2". Use mame -v to see which
joysticks are recognized. Default is 'auto'.
-[no]sixaxis
Use special handling for PS3 Sixaxis controllers. Default is
OFF (-nosixaxis).
-mouse_index[1-8]
Map mouse to specific index in MAME.
-keyb_idx[0-8] keyboard
With these options you can assign a keyboard to a specific index
in MAME.
-videodriver, -vd auto|x11|directfb
SDL video driver to use; 'auto' selects SDL default.
-renderdriver, -rd auto|software|opengl|directfb
SDL render driver to use; 'auto' selects SDL default.
-audiodriver, -ad auto|alsa|arts
SDL audio driver to use; 'auto' selects SDL default.
-gl_lib auto|alsa|arts
Alternative libGL.so to use; 'auto' selects SDL default.
Input automatic enable options
-paddle_device, -paddle [none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick]
-adstick_device, -adstick [none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick]
-pedal_device, -pedal [none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick]
-dial_device, -dial [none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick]
-trackball_device, -trackball [none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick]
-lightgun_device [none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick]
-positional_device [none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick]
-mouse_device [none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick]
Each of these options controls autoenabling the mouse, or
joystick depending on the presence of a particular class of
analog control for a particular game. For example, if you
specify the option -paddle mouse, then any game that has a
paddle control will automatically enable mouse controls just as
if you had explicitly specified -mouse. Note that these
controls override the values of -[no]mouse, -[no]joystick, etc.
Debugging options
-[no]log
Creates a file called error.log which contains all of the
internal log messages generated by the MAME core and game
drivers. The default is OFF (-nolog).
-[no]verbose, -[no]v
Displays internal diagnostic information. This information is
very useful for debugging problems with your configuration.
IMPORTANT: when reporting bugs, please run with mame -verbose
and include the resulting information. The default is OFF
(-noverbose).
-[no]update_in_pause
Enables updating the screen bitmap while the game is paused.
This is useful for debuggin in some scenarios (and gets in the
way in others). Default is OFF (-noupdate_in_pause).
-[no]debug, -[no]d
Activates the integrated debugger. By default, the debugger is
entered by pressing the tilde (~) key during emulation. It is
also entered immediately at startup. The default is OFF
(-nodebug).
-debugscript filename
Specifies a file that contains a list of debugger commands to
execute immediately upon startup. The default is NULL (no
commands).
-debugger debugger_name
Name of the debugger to use. Default is AUTO.
-debugger_font, -dfont font_name
Specifies the font to use for debugging. Default is AUTO.
-debugger_font_size, -dfontsize size
Specifies the font size to use for debugging.
-[no]oslog
Outputs the error.log data to the system debugger. This can be
used at the same time as -log to output the log data to both
targets as well. Default is OFF (-nooslog).
Communication options
-comm_localhost
Local address to bind to.
-comm_localport
Local port to bind to.
-comm_remotehost
Remote address to connect to.
-comm_remoteport
Remote port to connect to.
Misc options
-[no]drc
Enable DRC cpu core if available. Default is ON (-drc).
-[no]drc_use_c
Force DRC use C backend. Default is OFF (-nodrc_use_c).
-[no]drc_log_uml
Write DRC UML disassembly log. Default is OFF (-nodrc_log_uml).
-[no]drc_log_native
Write DRC native disassembly log. Default is OFF
(-no_drc_log_native).
-bios biosname
Specifies the specific BIOS to use with the current game, for
game systems that make use of a BIOS. The -listxml output will
list all of the possible BIOS names for a game. The default is
'default'.
-[no]cheat, -[no]c
Activates the cheat menu with autofire options and other tricks
from the cheat database, if present. The default is OFF
(-nocheat).
-[no]skip_gameinfo
Forces MAME to skip displaying the game info screen. The default
is OFF (-noskip_gameinfo).
-uifont fontname
Specifies the name of a BDF font file to use for the UI font. If
this font cannot be found or cannot be loaded, the system will
fall back to its built-in UI font. On some platforms fontname
can be a system font name instead of a BDF font file. The
default is 'default' (use the OSD-determined default font).
-ui simple|cabinet
Type of UI.
-ramsize, -ram value
Size of RAM (if supported by driver).
-[no]confirm_quit
Display confirm quit screen on exit. Default is ON
(-confirm_quit).
-[no]ui_mouse
Display UI mouse cursor. Default is OFF (-noui_mouse).
-autoboot_command, -ab command
Command string to execute after machine boot (in quotes ""). To
issue a quote to the emulation, use """ in the string. Using \n
will issue a create a new line, issuing what was typed prior as
a command. Example: -autoboot_command "load """$""",8,1\n".
-autoboot_delay [value]
Timer delay (in seconds) to trigger command execution on
autoboot. Default is 2.
-autoboot_script, -script [filename.lua]
File containing scripting to execute after machine boot.
-[no]console
Enable emulator LUA console. Default is OFF (-noconsole).
-[no]plugins
Enable LUA plugin support. Default is ON (-plugins).
-plugin value
List of plugins to enable.
-noplugin value
List of plugins to disable.
-language, -lang value
Display language. Default is 'English'.
-watchdog value
Specifies a number of seconds after which MAME should
automatically exit if it detects that the emulation has locked
up.
SEE ALSO
chdman(1), jedutil(1), ldresample(1), ldverify(1), romcmp(1)
LEGAL NOTICE
Please visit the MAME website for some important legal information: http://mamedev.org/legal.html
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