HELP - QUICKSTART

FAQ :: Quickstart :: Troubleshooting :: User's Guide

Q U I C K S T A R T

[What's the quickest way to get started with MacMAME?]

The current version of MacMAME requires a Power Macintosh running Mac OS 9.0.4 or higher. (For specific operating system and memory requirements, see the "Common Questions" section in the FAQ.) Any speed of computer will do, but G3 and G4 systems offer the best performance.

If you got this 'Frequently Asked Questions' file with a copy of MacMAME you already downloaded, then skip ahead to step 3.

1. First, download a copy of the MAME program. Go to the Invader downloads and choose the most up-to-date version according to your OS.

2. If the file you download doesn't unstuff automatically into a 'MacMAME' folder after it downloads, use Stuffit Expander to do this. (You probably already have a copy of Stuffit Expander somewhere on your computer, but if you don't, you can download it here.)

3. Next, download the Robby Roto game file. You can find it as 'robby.zip' at the bottom of
http://www.mame.net/downmisc.html. Don't expand this zip file (there's no need to unzip it), but if your computer expands it into a folder anyway, that's okay as long as you name the folder 'robby'.

4. Put the 'robby.zip' file or the 'robby' folder into the 'Roms' folder inside your 'MacMAME' folder.

5. Double-click on the 'MacMAME' icon in your 'MacMAME' folder to run it. Click 'OK' to the warning, and then you should see a window listing 'Robby Roto' in the top left corner. Click on it, then click 'Play' in the bottom right corner.

6. Type 'OK' when it asks you whether you are legally entitled to play this game (because you are!), then press any key to pass the summary screen. Your screen should turn blue, and a little guy should start drawing the word 'ROTO'. This is exactly what someone would have seen in an arcade in 1981!

To play the game, press '5' to insert a coin, '1' to start a one-player game, then use the arrow keys to move and the Control key at the bottom left of your keyboard to temporarily stun your enemies (once per level). Rescue the frowny faces and bring them out of the maze, but beware of the spiders!

When you're done playing, press the Esc key at the top left of your keyboard to get the menu bar back, and from there you can select 'Open' to return to the MacMAME window or 'Quit' to leave the program entirely.

If the game's window is too small, go to the 'Video' tab of the MacMAME window and set the first pulldown menu to 'Triple Size' (or to 'Triple Size with Scanlines' if you want to give it the horizontal black lines that a real arcade monitor has).

[Great! Now where can I download Pac-Man and Space Invaders and Asteroids and ...?]

You'll have to find those on your own. Use a search engine such as http://www.google.com/ or http://www.altavista.com/, and try searching for the text 'MAME ROM' along with the names of some of the games you want to find, and it shouldn't be very hard to locate them. Also have a look at the ROM Sites section of macmame.net.

The reason we can't point you directly to a place to download these games is that their legal status is still in question. The copyrights on the games last for 75 years from their date of creation, and if the people who currently hold those copyrights ever want to take legal action against people who have copies of the game programs, they might be able to find a lawyer willing to take the case. That's why MacMAME is careful to make clear that it allows you to play the old arcade game programs, but it does not provide any of the game programs on its own.

Some people believe that it's okay to have a copy of a game program if you own the original arcade game hardware itself, or if you own a copy of the game on one of the arcade collections which have been released for the Playstation and other game systems. Other people believe it's okay to play a copy of a game program for twenty-four hours after you download it. None of these opinions are likely to have much legal standing.

Robby Roto is the only game so far which has been declared free by its programmer (who holds the copyright on it) for use by MAME gamers; if you want to download and play any other game with MacMAME, you're obligated to own the actual arcade hardware.

[What do I do with the ROM files I download?]

Leave them as "zip" files; don't uncompress them or rename them. Quit MacMAME, then put the zip files into the "Roms" folder, which is in the same folder as the MacMAME application. When you run MacMAME again, it should see the new games you downloaded.

[What are the controls?]

Here is a list of the most commonly used keys. For a complete list of keys which MacMAME uses, or to change any key settings, start a game then press Tab and select 'Input (general)' or 'Input (this game).'

5, 6, 7, 8

Insert coin (players 1, 2, 3, 4)

1, 2, 3, 4

Start (players 1, 2, 3, 4)

Arrow keys

Move


Control (left of keyboard)


Button 1

Option (left of keyboard)

Button 2

Spacebar

Button 3

Esc

Pause

Command-O

Return to the MacMAME window to select a different game to play

Command-Q

Quit MacMAME

F2

Put the game into "service mode" (press F2 again to return to game mode)

F3

Reset the game

Tab

Access MacMAME's configuration menu, where you can adjust key settings and dipswitches

` (backquote)

Adjust volume, gamma, and other sliders (use up/down arrows to move to other sliders)

[Where can I download sound samples, screenshots, flyers, marquees, and other files for use with MacMAME?]

Visit the Invader Artwork Downloads page - we have everything from Marquees to Flyers, Control Panels to Cabinets.

When you download supplementary files, put them into the appropriate folders ("Flyers", "Cabinets" and so forth) under the MacMAME folder so that MacMAME will find them. Remember that each supplementary file must be named correctly: a zip file with sounds for Donkey Kong must be named "dkong.zip" and not "donkeykong.zip", for example. Refer to "mamelist.txt" in the "Documentation" folder to find the 'driver name' which should be used for the file.


(this help section by Brian Kendig, edited from the original
documentation by Brad Oliver and Nathan Strum, with much help from them
and from Andrew Blum, John H, Chris Newton, and Will Perez)

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