

XMAME/XMESS DOCUMENTATION

Juan Antonio Martinez [mailto:jantonio@dit.upm.es||jantonio@dit.upm.es]
and Hans de Goede [mailto:hans@highrise.nl||hans@highrise.nl]
and Rene' Herrmann (4 doc/sgml) [mailto:rene.herrmann@berlin.de||rene.herrmann@berlin.de]
and Lawrence Gold (minor editing) [mailto:gold@aros.net||gold@aros.net]

v2.1.1, xx. January 2001

Abstract

xmame/xmess documentation with an installation guide, the
FAQ (frequently asked questions), hints, tips and tricks,
the changes on the code and many more!

Table of Contents

1 Introduction and Links 
    1.1 Keep everything up-to-date!
    1.2 Some Links
    1.3 Pending Jobs - or TODO
2 Compiling, Setting Up and Starting xmame/xmess
    2.1 Requirements     
    2.2 Follow these steps to compile xmame/xmess
    2.3 If you have problems compiling, installing and starting xmame/xmess...     
    2.4 Compile Notes for Specific Operating Systems 
        2.4.1 Linux i386
        2.4.2 Linux PowerPC
        2.4.3 IRIX
        2.4.4 HPUX
        2.4.5 ULTRIX 
        2.4.6 SunOS & Solaris
        2.4.7 Openstep
3 Xmame frequently asked questions
    3.1 What is mame?
    3.2 What is mess?
    3.3 What is xmame/xmess?
    3.4 What are the differences between mame/mess and xmame/xmess?
    3.5 What hardware and operating systems are supported?     
    3.6 My system is supported but xmame/xmess gives me errors and fails. Why?
    3.7 What is the role of the xmamerc/xmessrc file?
    3.8 What is the syntax of the xmamerc/xmessrc file.
    3.9 Where do roms, images, samples, highscores, configfiles, etc go? 
        3.9.1 Roms/Samples
        3.9.2 Read/write Diskette Images
        3.9.3 Rom Cartridges/Read Only Diskette Images
        3.9.4 Artwork
        3.9.5 Xmame configuration
        3.9.6 Game configuration
        3.9.7 Game state
        3.9.8 NVram
        3.9.9 Mem cards
        3.9.10 Screenshots
        3.9.11 Highscores
        3.9.12 hiscore.dat
        3.9.13 cheat.dat
        3.9.14 history.dat
        3.9.15 Input logs
        3.9.16 Xmame/xmess still can't find files/store highscores
    3.10 How do I start xmess/xmame ?
    3.11 What are the command line parameters for xmame/xmess?
    3.12 What keys does xmame/xmess use?
    3.13 Why doesn't a game have sound?
    3.14 My sound seems lagged. / My sound Clicks. / What does -bufsize do?
    3.15 Why doesn't a game work? 
    3.16 What are PROMs? 
    3.17 Why is xmame/xmess slow?
        3.17.1 SPEEDUP # 1 - Inline compiling
        3.17.2 SPEEDUP # 2 - Direct Graphics Access
        3.17.3 SPEEDUP # 3 - NASM
    3.18 I've got a dual processor machine. What can I do to take full advantage of this?
    3.19 Why doesn't my joystick handle diagonal movement correctly on my Intel x86 system?
    3.20 How do I enable XinputExtensions X11 based joystick in Xfree86?
    3.21 How do I read a manual page?
    3.22 Why do I get gz_open symbol not found while compiling? 
    3.23 Why do I get zlib.h not found? 
    3.24 Where can I get the latest version of xmame/xmess?
    3.25 Where can I send fixes, bug reports, suggestions, or money?  :-)
    3.26 What if my question is still not answered?
4 Display subsystem specific comments & notes 
    4.1 FX-Mame a glide driver for xmame
        4.1.1 Requirements
        4.1.2 Compiling and Installing
        4.1.3 Running
        4.1.4 Common Questions (FAQ)
        4.1.5 Present Limitations/Bugs
        4.1.6 Future Work
        4.1.7 License
        4.1.8 Version History
        4.1.9 Author
    4.2 GL-Mame, an OPENGL driver for xmame
        4.2.1 Requirements
        4.2.2 Compiling and Installing
        4.2.3 Running
        4.2.4 Cabinet Models
        4.2.5 Common Questions (FAQ)
        4.2.6 Present Limitations/Bugs
        4.2.7 Future Work
        4.2.8 License
        4.2.9 Version History
        4.2.10 Author
5 contact information and credits
    5.1 Mail 
    5.2 Credits
6 Legal issues and copyrights concerning mame/mess
7 ChangeLogs
    7.1 The mame/mess ChangeLogs
    7.2 The Unix ChangeLog



1 Introduction and Links <Introduction and Links>

1.1 Keep everything up-to-date!

The most recent copy of this guide, the xmame-sources and
many more can be found on the xmame project homepage at [http://x.mame.net/||http://x.mame.net/]

1.2 Some Links

* The official M.A.M.E home is at [http://www.mame.net||http://www.mame.net]

* The very best ROM site on this planet is at [http://www.mame.dk/||http://www.mame.dk/]

* grustibus, the very good frontend (if you gnome) [http://grustibus.sourceforge.net/||http://grustibus.sourceforge.net/]

* gnomame, another great gnome-based frontend [http://gnomame.sourceforge.net/||http://gnomame.sourceforge.net/]

* tkmame, the Tcl/TK frontend that works in Linux/Unix and
  MS Windows [http://tkmame.retrogames.com/||http://tkmame.retrogames.com/] 

* MAME Action Replay Page for those who want to have a  look
  at other monitors at [http://marp.retrogames.com/||http://marp.retrogames.com/]

* and of course don't forget our project homepage at [http://x.mame.net/||http://x.mame.net/]

1.3 Pending Jobs - or TODO

If you think you can help with the todo list or you can make
a  contribution that you feel is interesting, please send
mail to the xmame/xmess coordinator. See [Mail]
for contact information.

* Optimise mouse warping.

* Remove osd_input_init_post, add display ready flag.

* Updating of fps is off (dirty marking problem) with vector
  games.

* Update porting.txt.

* Convert all remaining sound drivers to plugins.

* Rewrite display/input code to be more modular, oo-ish,
  and usable as a separate library.

* Split -[no]scanline option into emulated and real scanline
  options.

* Add an option to specify which resolution to use, add clipping
  and panning if it doesn't fit and use it anyway.

* Use Pentium TSC for uclock where available.

* Network:

  * Fix since the dos team broke it, find out if the dosnet
    team is still alive.

  * Add mouse/joystick support to network play

  * Try converting network support to tcp, currently we have
    no error correction.

  * Make network code more robust, version check, input settings
    check, etc.

* Check x11-joystick. Rumor has it it's broken, but then
  again there's only one bug-report, so it seems no one
  is using it.

* fm soundhack for linux-i386.

* Make which messages are emitted and when configurable (log-type's
  and log-level), make fileio emit messages about which
  files it tries to open, to help debug rom-loading problems,
  and walk through all messages xmame emits giving them
  all a standard format like:

  OSD:        Info:    bla
  X11-window: Warning: bla
  Svgalib:    Error:   bla

* Add scancode 128-255 for non-PC keys like F13 -- F24, more
  keypad keys, etc., update all display targets to use this.

* Also see the text todo file, kept around to quickly enter
  stuff while hacking: [todo||todo].

2 Compiling, Setting Up and Starting xmame/xmess

Note: This section is not a Unix tutorial. You need to know
some basic  Unix commands to compile and install xmame/xmess.

2.1 Requirements     

* GNU make is MANDATORY in ALL Systems, even if you use a
  different  compiler. 

* On all platforms zlib is now needed since the core uses
  it. If you don't have zlib, a stripped version is included
  with xmame. See: [FAQ: Why do I get gz_open symbol not found while compiling?]
  and [FAQ: Why do I get zlib.h not found?]

* You are encouraged to use a GNU development environment:
  gcc, gmake, gnu- ar. Lots of problems are found due to
  the very permissive syntax in gcc, so if you use a strictly
  ANSI C compiler, you'll get lots of warnings, and if the
  version of xmame/xmess is not fully debugged, compilation
  errors.

* Xmame compilation breaks when using egcs-1.1.x or gcc-2.95,
  use -fno-strict-aliasing to fix it. gcc-2.95.1 does work
  with -fstrict-aliasing, and gives a nice speed increase.

* Xmame compilation also breaks when using Red Hat 7's latest
  (as of 16 January 2001) update for gcc. If you experience
  problems, please either downgrade your compiler to the
  one included on the Red Hat 7 CD-ROM, or try replacing
  "gcc" in the Makefile with "kgcc",
  which will invoke egcs-1.1.2. (But please see above about
  the -fstrict-aliasing flag.)

2.2 Follow these steps to compile xmame/xmess

1. See [Compile Notes for Specific Operating Systems]
  for platform specific compiling information.

2. See [Display subsystem specific comments and notes]
  for special display methods information.

3. Download the xmame/xmess source files archive.

4. Move the xmame/xmess source files archive to a suitable
  work directory. When you extract the archive, sub directories
  will be created under the  work directory.

5. Rename the source files archive so its extension is .gz,
  so that gzip doesn't complain. For example, change xmame-0.34b1.1.tgz
  to xmame-0.34b1.1.tar.gz

6. Use gzip -d to uncompress the archive. For example, type:

  gzip -d xmame-0.34b1.1.tar.gz

7. Extract the files with tar. For example, type:

  tar xvf xmame-0.34b1.1.tar

8. After extracting the archive, change to the subdirectory
  created by  the extraction process. For example, after
  extracting the xmame-0.34b1.1.tar archive, a directory
  named xmame-0.34b1.1 is created. Change to it. This directory
  is the top of the source tree.

9. Copy makefile.unix to Makefile, the distributed Makefile
  is used for development and is not a good starting point!

10. Edit the Makefile and change the settings according to
  your system. The default makefile.unix is preconfigured
  to run under X11/Linux. Be careful editing this file.

  * If you intend to compile in X11 joystick support, type
    the following to see the available Xdevice list:

    make xlistdev; ./xlistdev

  * Choose the desired device and re-edit Makefile, setting
    the option X11_JOYNAME to the correct device.

11. Compile xmame/xmess by typing:

  make

12. If the compile fails, report the problem to the author.

13. *** YOU MAY NEED TO BE root TO PERFORM THIS STEP *** To
  install xmame/xmess, type:

  make install

14. If you want you can now build xmame/xmess for another target/display
  method, otherwise skip to the next step.

  (a) If you want to also build for another target repeat repeat
    the "make" and "make
    install" steps adding "TARGET=<target>"
    to the make command for example:

    make TARGET=mess
    make install

  (b) If you want to also build for another display method
    repeat the "make"
    and "make install" steps
    adding "DISPLAY_METHOD=<method>"
    to the make command for example:

    make DISPLAY_METHOD=svgalib
    make install

  (c) You can also combine the 2 above for example:

    make TARGET=mess DISPLAY_METHOD=svgalib
    make install

15. In your home directory, create a subdirectory called .xmame.

16. From the top of the source tree, copy the file doc/xmamerc.dist
  to the ${HOME}/.xmame/ directory. (For xmess do this for
  xmessrc)

17. If desired, copy xmamerc.dist to the global xmamerc location
  as "xmamerc" (for xmess, copy xmamerc.dist to xmessrc).
  The global xmamerc location is defined in the Makefile.

18. Edit ${HOME}/.xmame/xmamerc to match your preferences.
  (For xmess, edit ${HOME}/.xmess/xmessrc)

19. Be sure that the DISPLAY and PATH environment variables
  are  set correctly.

20. Make sure your ROM images are installed.

21. Start the X-Window System. (Unless you compiled for a different
  display method in which case you skip this step.)

22. Start xmame/xmess. For example:

  /usr/games/xmame.x11 dkong

2.3 If you have problems compiling, installing and starting
  xmame/xmess...     

* Read  [Xmame frequently asked questions]

* Read (the recent parts of) [ChangeLogs].
  They might contain some hints about recent changes which
  aren't fully documented yet.

* Check [Compile Notes for Specific Operating Systems]
  for operating system-specific notes. You may need to do
  something special for your operating system.

* Check [Display subsystem specific comments and notes]
  for display subsystem-specific notes. You may need to
  do something special for your display system.

* If you get an error about gz_open and a bunch of other
  functions not found during linking, read: [FAQ: Why do I get gz_open symbol not found while compiling?]
  and [FAQ: Why do I get zlib.h not found?].

* Be sure that the rompath in your xmamerc/xmessrc is correct;
  see [FAQ: Where do roms, images, samples, highscores, configfiles, etc go?].

* Check xmamerc/xmessrc: Is it configured correctly?

* Are you getting messages that you are missing files? Maybe
  you are missing PROMs; see [FAQ: Why doesn't a game work?]
  and [FAQ: What are PROMs?]

* Is the program in your PATH?

* The svgalib/xf86_dga build of xmame/xmess requires setuid
  root. Are your permissions correct?

* Try asking the friendly folks at the newsgroup alt.game.mame
  to see if anyone else has experienced the same problem
  as you.

* Try mailing to the xmame mailinglist, see [Mail]
  for more information.

If all else fails, send email to the current maintainer of
the xmame/xmess project. See [Mail]
for contact information.

2.4 Compile Notes for Specific Operating Systems <Compile Notes for Specific Operating Systems>

2.4.1 Linux i386

Linux i386 is the platform I (Hans) use, so xmame should
compile without any hassles on Linux i386. (Note: The same
is true for Lawrence Gold.)

Some bugs have been found and worked around when using gcc27x,
please use egcs if available. If more gcc bugs popup, egcs
will be  made mandatory, but I hope that won't be necessary.

It has been reported that some SoundBlaster AWE32 and VIA-82cxxx
(onboard) cards do not  correctly manage get_freespace().
If so, you'll get some audio_ioctl() calls failed messages
in console, and if everything goes right a message that
xmame/xmess is falling back to timer based audio. If  this
doesn't happen and sound isn't right, try forcing timer-based
 audio by starting xmame/xmess with -timer.

SB64/128PCI cards (Ensoniq 137x-based cards) also do not
correctly manage get_freespace(). Unfortunately, this doesn't
result in failed ioctl's; instead, they just ignore the
calls. Xmame tries to autodetect this and to fall back to
timer-based audio. If this doesn't happen and sound isn't
right, try forcing timer based audio by starting xmame/xmess
with -timer.

Some have reported success using ALSA with OSS emulation
(see [http://www.alsa-project.org/||http://www.alsa-project.org/]).
If you experience the above problems, this would certainly
be worth a try.

Also, I've tested sound using the PC-Speaker driver module.
It works!! But it needs -timer. Again, it should do this
 automagically, but you know what to do if it doesn't.

Distribution-Specific Comments:

* S.u.S.E. Linux: Besides the gcc compiler and libc libraries,
  which are both from the "d" series, other packages  need
  to be installed or the build will fail. If compiling for
  svgalib, the svgalib package from series "d" installed.
  If compiling for the X-Window System, you must have xdevel
  package from series "x" installed. These packages can
  be installed using the "yast" utility included in the
  S.u.S.E. distribution.

* Red Hat Linux is the operating system used by the author.
  xmame/xmess  should build correctly under Red Hat Linux.
  :-)

2.4.2 Linux PowerPC

Linux PowerPC should work from now on. Here's an email from
Andreas Varga [mailto:sid@skater.htu.tuwien.ac.at||sid@skater.htu.tuwien.ac.at],
the Linux/PowerPC maintainer, describing the necessary steps:

Required changes to compile xmame 0.34b3.1 on Linux/PowerPC
with SVGALIB

Makefile:

* enable CFLAGS for linux/ppc 

* enable DISPLAY_METHOD = svgalib 

* enable ARCH = linux 

* remove -lvgagl from LIBS.svgalib in src/unix/unix.mak (only
  -lvga is required)

Required changes to compile xmame 0.34b3.1 on Linux/PowerPC
with X11 

Makefile: 

* enable CFLAGS for linux/ppc 

* enable DISPLAY_METHOD = x11 

* enable ARCH = linux 

Another thing... sound is not working, because sound drivers
support is currently under development in Linux/PPC kernels...there
is an old driver that is a hacked Soundblaster driver, and
newer 2.1.1xx kernels have a sound drivers based on Amiga
DMA sound drivers... Once this issues are settled there
should be a full OSS-compatible driver... sound should work
then...

I can't speak about Joystick support...

The original Linux/PPC target changes in the Makefile were
done by me, but there are some other changes required to
get it to compile... Starting from October I will have some
more time to work on this, and I'll keep you updated...

Cheers, Andreas

2.4.3 IRIX

Use the generic unix arch for those machines that have no
 sound support installed (xmame/xmess uses the dmedia package
or the newer AL package on IRIX systems).

Silicon Graphics provides several native compilers. xmame/xmess
has  been compiled and tested with the normal cc. There
were some problems with this when using -n32 for new style
32bit code. It does work when using -o32 for oldstyle 32
bit code. It should now also work with -n32 which is much
faster.

The use of DCC is not recommended (anymore) since it's a
C++  compiler and thus won't even compile xmame/xmess out
of the box due to uncasted mallocs. Changing all these mallocs
would be crazy, esp. since they are not only in the osd
part, but also in the core which is not under our control.
Besides that, mame is normal C, so please compile it with
a normal C compiler.

Some problems have been reported using the GNU linker. It's
recommended that you use the native one.

2.4.4 HPUX

Use the generic unix arch. In HP-UX, gcc and gnu-make are
MANDATORY.

2.4.5 ULTRIX 

Use the generic unix arch.

Notes received from Danny [mailto:dboxhoor@iso.vilspa.esa.es||dboxhoor@iso.vilspa.esa.es]

VERY IMPORTANT!!!

The xmame/xmess CPU emulators access memory through pointers
which are sometimes cast to illegal addresses - as far as
the MIPS CPU is concerned. The Ultrix operating system is
aware of that and fixes this "unaligned data access".

Depending on your system setup, lots of warnings are generated
for certain games. Fortunately these messages can be disabled
by  executing the command "uac p 0" in the same shell where
xmame/xmess  will be running.

UPDATE: The new -DALIGN_INTS switch in the makefile fixes
these unaligned accesses in the source which is probably
a lot faster than hot fixing them in the kernel segfault
handler.

Use gnu make.

Compile with the `c89' compiler. Though `gcc' has no problems
 with compiling and optimizing xmame/xmess, the resulting
`c89'  executable is faster on an empty machine (read: xmame
can use all  cpu & memory without competing with other high
priority  processes), so you can set `frameskip' to 1.

When compiling with `c89 -O2' don't forget to also use `-Olimit
 1000'. If 1000 is not enough, the compiler will tell you
to  increase it.

2.4.6 SunOS & Solaris

There are 2 relevant architecture options available in the
makefile: 

    ARCH = generic : use this for old SunOs running on Sparcs,
                     but a Sparc running Solaris will usually
                     handle this option too.
    ARCH = solaris : this is the one you should use for Sparcs
                     running Solaris.        

Currently sound is not supported under sunos. The solaris
arch does support audio.

If you are using Sun's OpenWindows implementation of X11,
then make sure that the X11INC and X11LIB variables in the
X11 Options section of the makefile are set properly. (There
are already entries for the standard OpenWin directory there
that you can uncomment.)

Of course, if you are compiling for X11 then you need to
set these variables properly, no matter what implementation
of X11 you are using!  :)

If you are using Sun's SunPro cc compiler, then the following
optimisation flags have been reported to be good:

    OPTFLAGS    = -fast -xO4 -native

Finally, there has been a case of the xmame compilation processes
breaking over the "ar" program. Most Solaris installations
will include a set of utilities that conform to the XPG4
standard, usually in the "/usr/xpg4/bin" directory. The
XPG4 version of "ar" should be avoided like the plague.
Ensure that the "/usr/ccs/bin" appears in your path before
the "/usr/xpg4/bin" directory and everything should go smoothly.

PLEASE NOTE : There is currently not much support for SunOS/Solaris.
If you have any trouble, try to fix it yourself. If you
succeed, send a message to the mailing list detailing what
you did. If you don't succeed, send a message anyway and
someone _may_ be able to help you. Either way, this is the
only way that problems with xmame on SunOS/Solaris will
get fixed.

2.4.7 Openstep

You must use the OpenStep gnumake, not make. You must also
use the NeXT/Apple cc rather than gcc. Also use only the
optimisation options as recommended for OpenStep in the
makefile, others will cause the resulting executable to
crash. The OpenStep assembler on i386 architectures is incompatible
with the mame assembler CPU cores and thus you must use
the C versions (Use i386-noasm instead of i386 when compiling
for i386).

The supplied complier is based on gcc 2.7.2.1 which will
not compile src/profiler.c without crashing. To get around
this you must turn off + optimisation when this crash occurs,
re-make to compile this file only, then stop the make, re-enable
optimisation, and continue.

On an OpenStep keyboard the functions keys do not all operate
as expected. Using the command key in conjuction with a
number key generates the equivalent function key within
xmame, with 0, - and = + representing F10, F11 and F12 resepectively.
Also note that the ALT + keys cannot be mapped. As most
games tend to use this as the default fire button it is
exteremly useful to remap this globally the first time you
run xmame.

3 Xmame frequently asked questions<Xmame frequently asked questions>

3.1 What is mame?

Mame is an arcade machine emulator. Started in 1997 by Nicola
 Salmoria, mame started out as a series of emulators for
 individual games. This series of emulators was combined
into a  simgle multi-game emulator. This is the current
form of mame; no longer a one-man show, there are over 100
contributors to the project.

Mame was created by Nicola Salmoria.

Also see [readme.mame||the official mame readme file (readme.mame)]

3.2 What is mess?

Mess is just like mame---a virtual machine emulator, only
it doesn't emulate arcade machines but rather computers
and consoles.

Also see [readme.mess||the official mess readme file (readme.mess)]

3.3 What is xmame/xmess?

Xmame/xmess are the Unix/X11 ports of the mame and mess projects.
It makes mame/mess available on *ix machines using the X11R6
X-Window System (and SVGAlib/ggi/XF86-DGA/OpenGL/SDL too).

Mame was orginally ported by Allard Van Der Bas, Dick the
Ridder, Juan Antonio Martinez, and Hans de Goede.

Xmame/xmess is currently maintained by Lawrence Gold.

3.4 What are the differences between mame/mess and xmame/xmess?

None significant.

Xmame/xmess is based on the mame/mess source code. Due to
technical reasons beyond the scope of this document, the
mame/mess source may not compile under Unix. That's why
the xmame/xmess project exists. Each time mame/mess is updated,
the code is tested  (and patched if needed) under Unix.
This way xmame/xmess releases are always the same as their
mame counterparts.

There are no plans for the independent development of xmame/xmess.

3.5 What hardware and operating systems are supported?     

Xmame runs on both little-endian and big-endian CPUs, using
aligned integer access if needed and is compatible with
64 bit CPUs. The current list of supported CPUs in the makefile
is:

* i386 + gnu-asm

* i386 no asm

* alpha

* ia64 (merced)

* m68k

* generic risc (PowerPC, Sparc, HPPA, IBM)

* generic risc, lsb-first (RISC (Ultrix machines))

* mips (generic risc + SGI compiler bug workarounds)

Adding support for another cpu (if necessary) should be trivial.

The following Unix platforms are specifically supported:

* Linux

* FreeBSD

* NetBSD

* Solaris (SunOS)

* OpenStep (noasm only on i386)

* IRIX with sound using the dmedia package or the new al
  package (sound currently broken)

* AIX (sound currently broken)

* generic unix, no sound

The generic unix entry should work for any reasonable standard
Unix variant, but lacks sound since there is no single Unix
sound standard.

On all platforms, zlib is now needed since the core uses
it. Ff you don't have zlib, use the included one by uncommenting
the appropriate line in Makefile.

The following display methods are supported. X11 is the only
one which works on all platforms, except for OpenStep which
only works with Openstep bitmaps:

* X11 (X-Window System)

* svgalib

* GGI (Generic Graphics Interface)

* OpenGL using X11 for input

* glide using X11 for input (3DFX)

* glide using svgalib for input (3DFX)

* OpenStep bitmaps

* SDL (Simple Direct Medialayer)

The following is a list of arch/os/display combinations,
with maintainers, for arch/os/display combinations which
are actively supported. Please mail the maintainer of the
arch/os/display combination for compilation and other arch/os/display
specific problems. Mail Lawrence [mailto:gold@aros.net||gold@aros.net]
for generic (e.g., X11) problems.

* i386/linux/x11 (+DGA)	 -> Lawrence [mailto:gold@aros.net||<gold@aros.net>]

* i386/linux/svgalib	 -> Lawrence [mailto:gold@aros.net||<gold@aros.net>]

* i386/linux/xgl	 -> Lawrence [mailto:gold@aros.net||<gold@aros.net>]

* i386/linux/xfx	 -> Lawrence [mailto:gold@aros.net||<gold@aros.net>]

* i386/linux/svgafx	 -> Lawrence [mailto:gold@aros.net||<gold@aros.net>]

* i386/linux/ggi	 -> Christian [mailto:cpg@aladdin.de||<cpg@aladdin.de>]

* alpha/linux/x11	 -> Christian [mailto:cpg@aladdin.de||<cpg@aladdin.de>]

* alpha/digital unix/x11 *	 -> Leandro [mailto:ldardini@usl4.toscana.it||<ldardini@usl4.toscana.it>]

* powerpc/linux/x11	 -> Andreas [mailto:sid@skater.htu.tuwien.ac.at||<sid@skater.htu.tuwien.ac.at>]

* powerpc/linux/svgalib	 -> Andreas [mailto:sid@skater.htu.tuwien.ac.at||<sid@skater.htu.tuwien.ac.at>]

* i386/freebsd/x11	 -> Jacob A. Hart [mailto:c9710216@studentmail.newcastle.edu.au||<c9710216@studentmail.newcastle.edu.au>]

* i386/netbsd/x11	 -> Dave [mailto:dave@dtsp.co.nz||<dave@dtsp.co.nz>]

* alpha/netbsd/x11	 -> Christian [mailto:cpg@aladdin.de||<cpg@aladdin.de>]

* Sparc/Solaris/x11	 -> Mathis [mailto:rosenhau@mailserv.sm.go.dlr.de||<rosenhau@mailserv.sm.go.dlr.de>]

* i386/Unixware7/x11 *	 -> Richard [mailto:xmame@frogface.ddns.org||<xmame@frogface.ddns.org>]

* i386/openstep	 -> Pete French [mailto:pete@toybox.twisted.org.uk||<pete@toybox.twisted.org.uk>]

* Sparc/SunOs	 -> Saga [mailto:jolletx@cybercable.fr||<jolletx@cybercable.fr>]

* mips/irix/x11	 -> Dingus Family [mailto:ddingus@uswest.net||<ddingus@uswest.net>]

* These are supported using the generic unix entry of the
makefile, and thus lack sound.

We are always looking for people willing to test and answer
questions about xmame on a new arch/os/display. This takes
very little work and could help other people tremendously.
If you're interested, mail Lawrence [mailto:gold@aros.net||gold@aros.net].

3.6 My system is supported but xmame/xmess gives me errors
  and fails. Why?

Xmame/xmess should run on 8bpp Pseudo Color displays and
on 16, 24 and 32bpp True Color displays. If your X-Server
does not support any  of these display types, xmame/xmess
will not run.

You can verify your X-Server support by starting your X-Server
 and running the xdpyinfo program. See the xdpyinfo manual
page  for more information.

3.7 What is the role of the xmamerc/xmessrc file?

A normal xmame/xmess invocation looks like:

    xmame pacman -sound -nojoy -frameskip 2 -heightscale
3 \   
        -widthscale 2

Most of the time, you will want to use the same configuration
for  each game. xmame/xmess will read this file for default
values for the  parameters that you can set. This way the
only parameters you  need to express on the command line
are the ones you want to  override.

Another reason for xmamerc/xmessrc is keyboard remapping.
Some Unix  keyboards are very different than their PC counterparts.
To  compensate for the changes, xmame/xmess allows you to
remap keys that  are not available on Unix keyboards to
keys that are available.

3.8 What is the syntax of the xmamerc/xmessrc file.

The syntax is quite simple:

   "keyword value"

See [xmamerc.dist||xmamerc.dist] for most keywords. Allmost
all commandline options can be used as keywords (without
the -), use value 0 or 1 for commandline options which have
a negating (-no[option]) counterpart. As usual lines begining
with "#" are comments.

You can also generate a configfile with all the current settings
to use as a template by typing:

   xmame -showconfig > ~/.xmame/xmamerc

3.9 Where do roms, images, samples, highscores, configfiles,
  etc go? <FAQ: Where do roms, images, samples, highscores, configfiles, etc go?>

3.9.1 Roms/Samples

Xmame/xmess uses a ":" seperated rompath to find out which
dirs to search for roms/samples.

The default rompath is XMAMEROOT as defined in Makefile during
compile.

This is overwritten by any rompath in xmamerc/xmessrc, which
can be overwritten again with the -rompath commandline option.

Xmame/xmess searches every dir in this path for roms/samples
in the following way:

    <dir>/gamename.zip             (containing filename.ext)
    <dir>/gamename/filename.ext
    <dir>/gamename/filename.ext.gz (containing filename.ext)
    <dir>/gamename/filename.zip    (containing filename.ext)

So let's say that we are searching for rom0001.1, which is
part of pacman. Then xmame/xmess would search every dir
in your rompath for

    <dir>/pacman.zip               (containing rom0001.1)
    <dir>/pacman/rom0001.1
    <dir>/pacman/rom0001.1.gz      (containing rom0001.1)
    <dir>/pacman/rom0001.zip       (containing rom0001.1)

Note: If your neogeo games can't find neogeo.rom, put it
in a dir called neogeo somewhere in your rompath, or put
it in neogeo.zip somewhere in your rompath.

3.9.2 Read/write Diskette Images

This section only applies to xmess emulations which support
read/write diskette images and thus try to open the image
read/write.

Xmess first searches for read/write images with the name
specified on the commandline:

    <path>/image.ext

where path is the path specified with the image on the commandline.
This way, absolute and relative filenames can be used directly
on the commandline for an image which is not in the rompath.

Then xmess searches every dir in the rompath for roms/samples
in the following way:

    <dir>/image.ext

Note that (g)zipped images are not supported for r/w images.

3.9.3 Rom Cartridges/Read Only Diskette Images

Xmess begins by searching for cartdriges/disks from the current
dir in the following way:

    <path>/image.ext
    <path>/image.ext.gz            (containing image.ext)
    <path>/image.zip               (containing image.ext)

where path is the path specified with the image on the commandline.
This way, absolute and relative filenames can be used directly
on the commandline for an image which is not in the rompath.

Then xmess searches every dir in the rompath for carts/images
in the following way:

    <dir>/image.ext
    <dir>/image.ext.gz             (containing image.ext)
    <dir>/image.zip                (containing image.ext)

Finally, xmess searches the rompath as desribed above using
the systemtype for gamename.

So let's say we want to play mario.nes on the nes emulation
of xmess. We would then type: "xmess nes mario.nes". Xmess
then begins by searching the current dir for

    mario.nes
    mario.nes.gz                   (containing mario.nes)
    mario.zip                      (containing mario.nes)

After that, xmess searches each dir in your rompath for

    <dir>/mario.nes
    <dir>/mario.nes.gz             (containing mario.nes)
    <dir>/mario.zip                (containing mario.nes)

And finally, xmess searches each dir in your rompath for

    <dir>/nes.zip                  (containing mario.nes)
    <dir>/nes/mario.nes
    <dir>/nes/mario.nes.gz         (containing mario.nes)
    <dir>/nes/mario.zip            (containing mario.nes)

Since xmess first searches for cartridges/disks from the
current dir you can also specify cartridges/disks not in
your rompath. For example:

    "xmess nes ../mario.nes"

Xmess then searches for

    ../mario.nes
    ../mario.nes.gz                (containing mario.nes)
    ../mario.zip                   (containing mario.nes)

and will also search the rompath as described above with
../mario.nes as the image name but this is not that useful.

3.9.4 Artwork

Xmame/xmess searches every dir in the rompath for artwork
in the following way:

    <dir>/artwork.png
    <dir>/artwork.png.gz           (containing artwork.png)
    <dir>/artwork.zip              (containing artwork.png)

Then xmame/xmess searches the rompath as in roms/samples.

So let's say we want to play foo which uses bar.png. Xmame/xmess
then begins searching each dir in your rompath for

    <dir>/bar.png
    <dir>/bar.png.gz               (containing bar.png)
    <dir>/bar.zip                  (containing bar.png)

And then xmame/xmess searches each dir in your rompath for

    <dir>/foo.zip                  (containing bar.png)
    <dir>/foo/bar.png
    <dir>/foo/bar.png.gz           (containing bar.png)
    <dir>/foo/bar.zip              (containing bar.png)

3.9.5 Xmame configuration

Xmame looks for the following configuration files and parses
each one found. Files parsed later can overwrite options
in previously parsed files:

    XMAMEROOT/xmamerc
    XMAMEROOT/xmame-DISPLAY_METHODrc
    ${HOME}/.xmame/xmamerc
    ${HOME}/.xmame/xmame-DISPLAY_METHODrc
    ${HOME}/.xmame/rc/<gamename>rc

XMAMEROOT is defined during compile time, see Makefile.

DISPLAY_METHOD is the DISPLAY_METHOD for which xmame was
compiled, this can be one of: x11, svgalib, ggi, xgl, xfx,
svgafx, openstep, SDL.

For xmess of course replace xmame by xmess. ;)

3.9.6 Game configuration

Game configuration files are kept on a per-user base in:

    ${HOME}/.xmame/cfg/<game>.cfg resp
    ${HOME}/.xmess/cfg/<game>.cfg

3.9.7 Game state

Game state files are kept on a per-user base in:

    ${HOME}/.xmame/sta/<game>.sta resp
    ${HOME}/.xmess/sta/<game>.sta

3.9.8 NVram

NVram files are kept on a per-user base in:

    ${HOME}/.xmame/nvram/<game>.nv resp
    ${HOME}/.xmess/nvram/<game>.nv

3.9.9 Mem cards

Mem cards files are kept on a per-user base in:

    ${HOME}/.xmame/mem/<filename>.mem resp
    ${HOME}/.xmess/mem/<filename>.mem

Where <filename> is given by the game-driver. 

3.9.10 Screenshots

Screenshots, which can be made by pressing F12, are saved
as png files in the directory from where xmame is started
(cwd).

This can be overidden by the screenshotdir entry in xmamerc/xmessrc,
which can again be overidden by the -screenshotdir cmdline-option.

They are saved as:

    <screenshotdir>/<game>xxxx.png
    Where xxxx is a number.

3.9.11 Highscores

Highscores are stored in XMAMEROOT as defined in Makefile
when building. This can be overidden by the spooldir entry
in xmamerc/xmessrc, which can again be overidden by the
-spooldir cmdline-option.

So only give a 

    drwxrwsr-x root games <spooldir>

permission and setgid xmame/xmess to "games" to get it to
work. Note this doesn't work with suid root versions (svgalib
& XF86-DGA), suggestions welcome.

For now use ${HOME}/.xmame or $ {HOME}/.xmess as the spooldir
in xmamerc/xmessrc for  suid root versions.

Note: For highscores to work, xmame must also be able to
find hiscore.dat.

3.9.12 hiscore.dat

If you want to use highscores mame needs to load hiscore.dat
to get highscore info.

The default is XMAMEROOT/hiscore.dat . XMAMEROOT is set during
compile-time; see the Makefile. This can be overridden by
the hiscorefile entry in xmamerc if present, which can again
be overridden by the cmdline-option -hiscorefile.

hiscore.dat is available from the mame homepage: [http://www.mame.net||http://www.mame.net]

3.9.13 cheat.dat

If you want to use cheats mame needs to load cheat.dat to
get cheat info.

The default is XMAMEROOT/cheat.dat . XMAMEROOT is set during
compile-time; see the Makefile. This can be overridden by
the cheatfile entry in xmamerc if present, which can again
be overridden by the cmdline-option -cheatfile.

cheat.dat is available from the mame homepage: [http://www.mame.net||http://www.mame.net]

3.9.14 history.dat

If you want to display some nice background info on games,
mame needs to load history.dat.

The default is XMAMEROOT/history.dat . XMAMEROOT is set during
compile-time, see the Makefile. This can be overridden by
the historyfile entry in xmamerc if present, which can again
be overridden by the cmdline-option -historyfile.

history.dat is available from the mame homepage: [http://www.mame.net||http://www.mame.net]

3.9.15 Input logs

Input logs are saved/read under the name specified after
the -record / -playback option; this name is relative to
the current path.

3.9.16 Xmame/xmess still can't find files/store highscores

Type "xmame/xmess -showconfig | more" and check that the
rompath and spooldir shown are correct and readable/writable.
Otherwise recheck xmamerc/xmessrc. Remember that xmess also
searches the current dir.

3.10 How do I start xmess/xmame ?

To start xmame, type

    xmame [options] <gamename> [more options]

For xmess, type

    xmess [options] <systemname> [more options] \
    <disk/romimage(s)> [more options]

All options are optional. ;)

Xmame/xmess supports most dos command line options (see readme.mame
/ readme.mess) as well as a few of its own: Type xmame -help
|  more for a complete list.

With xmess, some systems don't require a disk/romimage, but
most do.

3.11 What are the command line parameters for xmame/xmess?

To see a list of available parameters, type:

    /usr/games/xmame -help | more

Xmame/xmess supports most of the command line parameters
as the DOS  version as well a some of its own.

See the file readme.mame / readme.mess for more information
about the command line parameters.

3.12 What keys does xmame/xmess use?

Xmame/xmess uses the same key-bindings as the DOS version
of mame: The following keys work in all emulators:

    `  or ~      Enter On screen display to change volume,
brightness etc.
    Tab          Enter configuration menu. Press Tab or Esc
to get back to
                 the emulation.
    P            Pause
    F3           Reset
    F4           Show the game graphics. Use cursor keys
to change set/color,
                 F4 or Esc to return to the emulation.
    F8           Reduce frame skip
    F9           Increase frameskip
    F10          Toggle speed throttling
    F10 + shift  Toggle idle sleeping
    F11          Toggle speed display
    F11 + shift  Toggle profiler display
    F12          Save a screen snapshot
    ESC          Exit emulator

Xmame has 2 different auto frameskipping algorithms. These
can be selected with the -frameskipper option and with key
combos:

    Key combo:             Gives you the:
    left-ctrl + insert     standard dos frameskipper
    left-ctrl + home       William Barath's frameskipper

Xmame's display scaling can be controlled on the fly with
the following key combos:

    Key combo:             Result:
    left-shift + insert    Increase widthscale
    left-shift + delete    Decrease widthscale
    left-shift + home      Increase heightscale
    left-shift + end       Decrease heightscale
    left-shift + pageup    Increase scale
    left-shift + pagedown  Decrease scale

Under X11, xmame can switch to and from different modes during
runtime: 

    Key combo:             Warps you to:
    left-alt + insert      Normal window
    left-alt + home        DGA fullscreen mode

Under SDL, xmame can switch to and from different modes during
runtime:

    Key combo:             Result:

    left-alt + enter       Toggles between windowed and

                           fullscreen modes.

Under X11 in a window, you can also grab the mouse. To be
able to play with the mouse, press left-alt + page-down
to grab the mouse, and press it again to release it.

3.13 Why doesn't a game have sound?

* First check that sound is working in other applications.

* Check that sound is supported for the game that has no
  sound; not all games have sound.

* For xmame, take a look at gamelist.mame: Is the sound for
  the game emulated?

* For xmess take a look at readme.mess: Is the sound for
  the system emulated?

* Check the operating system support chart in the earlier
  part of  this file: Does xmame/xmess support sound on
  your system?

3.14 My sound seems lagged. / My sound Clicks. / What does -bufsize
  do?

With the -bufsize commandline option or the bufsize configfile
keyword, you can specify the number of frames of audio to
buffer. The default is 2 frames.

This value should be ok for everyone, but if you still have
problems, read on.

If the buffersize is to small, this causes the buffer to
get empty between frames which in turn causes clicks/pauses
in the sound. If this is the case, increasing the -bufsize
value to, for example, 2.5 should help.

If, however, you make the buffersize too large, then so much
audio becomes buffered, that the sound could become lagged.
E.g., you would hear the coin drop sound 0.5 seconds after
pressing the insert coin key. In this case, lower the bufsize
to, for example, 1.5.

Please let me know if you need to change this setting, since
I'm planning on removing it in a future release.

3.15 Why doesn't a game work? <FAQ: Why doesn't a game work?>

* Do you have the right roms or did you get checksum failures?

* Xmame version 0.34 and higher require PROM files that were
  not included in ROM images released before version 0.34.
  See the question on PROMs  below for more information.

* For xmame, check the file gamelist.mame to see if the game
  is playable. Just because a game is included doesn't mean
  it is working yet.

* For xmess, take a look at readme.mess. Maybe the system
  isn't emulated all that well yet.

* Some games require sound support. If you don't have sound
   support under your Unix installation or sound isn't supported
  by xmame/xmess for you, try the -fakesound command line
  parameter.

3.16 What are PROMs? <FAQ: What are PROMs?>

PROMs contain game-specific information that used to be built
in  to mame in versions prior to 0.34. This information
has been  extracted and is now included with new versions
of ROM files for  games that require this information.

If you want to use your current ROM files, you can obtain
just the PROM images in one large file at:

[http://mame.retrogames.com/||http://mame.retrogames.com/]

3.17 Why is xmame/xmess slow?

Xmame/xmess is a compiled C program that is emulating hardware.
 Software emulation of hardware always incurs a speed penalty.
Here  are some things you can do:

* Try using the -frameskip command line parameter.

* Try pressing F8 while running xmame/xmess to alter the
  frame rate.

* Try disabling the throttle with the -nothrottle command
  line  parameter or by pressing F10 while running xmame/xmess.

* While running xmame/xmess, press F11 to check the speed
  of xmame/xmess.  If you never get a display of 100%, you
  need a faster computer.

You can also try recompiling xmame/xmess with more optimal
settings. The following suggestions may not work or may
not be appropriate on some machines and in some installations.
 However, in cases where they do work, there can be a noticeable
increase in overall performance of xmame/xmess.

These "enhancements" simply require editing the Makefile
that is distributed with xmame, and then recompiling the
source.  If you are compiling the source for the second
time you will need to do:

    make clean
    make
    make install

after editing the Makefile to set your new settings.

3.17.1 SPEEDUP # 1 - Inline compiling

Try enabling inline compiling by commenting and uncommenting
the following lines:

    # IL    = '-DINLINE=static inline'
    IL     = -DINLINE=static

3.17.2 SPEEDUP # 2 - Direct Graphics Access

For a big boost, try enabling DGA by uncommenting the following
line:

    DGA = 1

Then start xmame as root, and press left-alt + home to switch
to dga mode; that should be a lot faster, and doesn't need/use
xsync. ;) 

To get back to a window without exiting, press left-alt +
insert.

The benefit of DGA is that it is Direct Graphics Access and
therefore writes directly to the framebuffer (think DirectX
versus GDI under MS Windows). So it should be a tad faster,
unless you've got a really really well accelerated X-server,
which could be just as fast. Try pressing F11 to see the
actual framerate, although it might be hardly noticable
(visually, at least), it should give you some speed increase.

Besides that, it automatically switches to the right mode
and removes any window manager stuff, but that can be done
without DGA too. (I might add such a feature later, since
it allows easy fullscreen without running as root.)

Adding a 320x240 mode will most definitely get you a very
nice fullscreen display at scale = 1. ;)

Don't forget that you still need to set up the Modes line
of the   "Display" subsection of the "Screen" section in
your X11 config file if you want the games to fill the screen
in DGA mode. Xmame will pick the best mode it can find,
so if you have a line like

    Modes  "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" "320x240" "256x224"

then any game which fits into a 320x240 screen can be displayed
in that resolution, and so on. Don't forget your X11 config
file might have a number of different "Screen" sections
in it, and you will need to add Modes to the one that is
actually active with your Xserver is running. And of course
it's not always that easy, since you also need to tell X
which monitor settings are required for these resolution
modes. This is done through Modeline entries in the "Monitor"
section of your X config file.

You can check out the /contrib/tools/modelines file for a
set of crazy modes made especially for xmame in DGA mode.
They should work on any reasonable multisync monitor, but
don't use them on an old fixed-frequency monitor. (And if
you can't resist trying, I won't pay for a new one!)

3.17.3 SPEEDUP # 3 - NASM

You can also try installing nasm and compiling the asm core,
that helps a bit too.

3.18 I've got a dual processor machine. What can I do to take
  full advantage of this?

Not much. Xmame is a single-threaded port of a single-threaded
DOS app. Some degree of speedup will hopefully be found
on an SMP machine since xmame is more likely to get to hog
its one CPU for longer. But of course the same applies to
any CPU-intensive program. And all the things one would
normally do to any application to give it more CPU time
(higher priority, kill or renice unecessary process, etc.)
will work with xmame.

Now you may at this point be thinking, "Surely
you could have one thread doing emulation and another thead
doing graphics to get a speedup."
Yes, but there are some serious issues to consider. The
first is synchronisation between the threads, which needs
to be pretty tight. If not done smoothly. the overhead will
blow most of the benefit away. Also, it needs to be implemented
with a portable threads interface ... which basically means
POSIX threads. In a nutshell, it's a lot of effort for probably
not much gain. But of course if you are feeling particulary
energetic and in the mood to code, then patches can always
be submitted to the xmame devel mailing list ... :)

3.19 Why doesn't my joystick handle diagonal movement correctly
  on my Intel x86 system?

Xmame/xmess uses autocalibrating, but you could try to use
specific programs to calibrate it (jscal that comes with
joystick  module works fine....).

3.20 How do I enable XinputExtensions X11 based joystick in
  Xfree86?

You need to edit XF86Config to enable the XInput section.
See the  manual page for XF86Config.

3.21 How do I read a manual page?

Easy. If you want to read the manual page for XF86Config,
type: man XF86Config

3.22 Why do I get gz_open symbol not found while compiling? <FAQ: Why do I get gz_open symbol not found while compiling?>

Xmame/xmess versions newer than 0.35 use zlib for some compression
routines. Unfortunately, a lot of Linux distributions have
an old version of zlib installed as /usr/X11R6/lib/libz.a,
and the new version installed as /usr/lib/libz.a. If this
is the case, it's harmless to remove /usr/X11R6/lib/libz.a.
If you're not sure whether this is the case, just move /usr/X11R6/lib/libz.a
to another location.

Removing or just moving /usr/X11R6/lib/libz.a should fix
this problem.

Also see: [FAQ: Why do I get zlib.h not found?]

3.23 Why do I get zlib.h not found? <FAQ: Why do I get zlib.h not found?>

Xmame/xmess versions newer than 0.35 use zlib for some compression
routines.

Zlib is standard on most Unix versions. For those who don't
ship with zlib or ship with a version that is too old, xmame/xmess
now comes with a stripped-down version of zlib. Uncomment
the appropriate line in the Makefile to use this.

3.24 Where can I get the latest version of xmame/xmess?

The xmame/xmess Home Page always has the most up-to-date
version. The address is

[http://x.mame.net/||http://x.mame.net/]

3.25 Where can I send fixes, bug reports, suggestions, or money?
   :-)

See [Mail] of this document.

3.26 What if my question is still not answered?

Please check the offical mame and mess readme files to see
if that answers your question:

* [readme.mame||The official mame readme file (readme.mame)]

* [readme.mess||The official mess readme file (readme.mess)]

If that doesn't help, then ask your question on the mailing
list or send it to the xmame/xmess maintainer, see  [Mail]
for contact information.

4 Display subsystem specific comments & notes <Display subsystem specific comments and notes>

4.1 FX-Mame a glide driver for xmame

The latest version of this driver can be obtained at [http://glmame.linuxgames.com||http://glmame.linuxgames.com].

4.1.1 Requirements

To run FXmame, you must have:

* A 3Dfx card

* Glide 2x

* The xmame distribution

4.1.2 Compiling and Installing

FXmame comes in two flavours---xfx and svgafx. The xfx version
is designed to run under X11. It uses an X window for input.
The svgafx version runs from the console, and uses svgalib
for input. Both use the 3Dfx hardware for rendering.

To install FXmame, follow the general instructions for installing
xmame. To specify the glide driver, do the following to
the Makefile:

* Select either "xfx" or "svgafx" as your display method

* Configure the glide variables to correspond to your glide
  setup

The FXmame executables are called "xmame.xfx" and "xmame.svgafx"

4.1.3 Running

FXmame runs with the same parameters and uses the same keyboard
commands that xmame.x11 does.

A few extra keyboard commands have been added in the glide
driver:

* RIGHTCTRL-A -- toggle antialiasing in vector games 

* RIGHTCTRL-B -- toggle bilinear filtering

The glide driver also adds several command-line options:

    -fxgama <value> 3Dfx gamma correction value

Note that in order to display the game options or the fps
display in vector games, I have to overlay the game bitmap
over the vector display. This is because I circumvent the
bitmap entirely in vector games. Drawing the bitmap is a
big cpu hog, so you'll notice that the game slows down when
you turn on the fps display (I know, not ideal when you
want to find out the frame rate...).

4.1.4 Common Questions (FAQ)

Q: When I run FXmame, it just dumps core.

A: Make sure you are running FXmame as root. Root priviliges
are required to access the 3Dfx hardware

Q: When I run xmame.xfx, it just hangs at the initial game
screen.

A: Are you running KDE? For some reason, I can't get keyboard
input under KDE. If you have this problem, switch window
managers or use xmame.svgafx instead.

4.1.5 Present Limitations/Bugs

* Antialiasing isn't working quite as well as it should

* Input problems under KDE

4.1.6 Future Work

* Optimize the drawing code to update only the changed portions
  of the game bitmap.

4.1.7 License

The FXmame code is Copyright 1998 by Mike Oliphant. It may
be used and distributed under the terms of the MAME license.

4.1.8 Version History

v0.5 -- December 11th, 1998 ---------------------------

* implemented long copies in screen update

* added dirty handling. this greatly increases the speed
  of games that support the dirty update strategy (although
  most of them are older games that already ran at full
  speed on modern hardware)

* merged source with xmame b8.1

v0.4 -- October 30th, 1998 --------------------------

* improved alpha handling in vector games - now bitmapped
  overlays do not dim the screen o added svgalib support
  (xmame.svgafx) o fixed a tiling bug that gave artifacts
  on texture tile boundaries

v0.3 -- October 29th, 1998 --------------------------

* got rid of extra lines in vector games o added bitmap overlay
  in vector games to show options/fps o added antialiasing
  in vector games

v0.2 -- October 28th, 1998 --------------------------

* added screenshots o added 3Dfx gamma adjustment o added
  direct acceleration of vector games (still buggy)

v0.1 -- October 27th, 1998 --------------------------

* first public release

4.1.9 Author

Mike Oliphant [mailto:oliphant@ling.ed.ac.uk||(oliphant@ling.ed.ac.uk)] [http://glmame.linuxgames.com||http://glmame.linuxgames.com]

4.2 GL-Mame, an OPENGL driver for xmame

The latest version of this driver can be obtained at: [http://glmame.linuxgames.com||http://glmame.linuxgames.com]

4.2.1 Requirements

To run GLmame you must have:

* An OpenGL implementation

* libjpeg

* hardware 3D acceleration (if you want any kind of framerate)

* the xmame distribution

4.2.2 Compiling and Installing

Follow the general instructions for installing xmame. To
specify the OpenGL driver, do the following in the Makefile:

* Select "xgl" as your display method

* Configure the OpenGL variables to correspond to your OpenGL
  implementation

* Configure the CABDIR variable

The GLmame executable is called "xmame.xgl"

4.2.3 Running

xmame.xgl runs with the same parameters and uses the same
keyboard commands that xmame.x11 does.

The program starts up in cabinet mode. While this is pretty,
and cool, you'll probably want to actually play in fullscreen
mode.

A few extra keyboard commands have been added in the OpenGL
driver:

* RIGHTCTRL-B -- toggle bilinear filtering

* RIGHTCTRL-C -- toggle cabinet/fullscreen display

* RIGHTCTRL-T -- toggle phosphor trails --use at your own
  risk! -- it works best if double buffering is disabled
  (see below)

The OpenGL driver also adds several command-line options:

    -[no]dblbuffer          Disable/enable double buffering

    -cabview                Start in cabinet view mode

    -nocabview              Start in fullscreen view mode

    -cabinet <cabname>      Use the cabinet model <cabname>

    -fxgama <value>         3Dfx gamma correction value

Two cabinet models are provided. The default, "glmame", is
designed to look like a standard arcade cabinet. The other,
"trans", is a box with a transparent games screen that you
can see through.

Note that in order to display the game options or the fps
display in vector games, I have to overlay the game bitmap
over the vector display. This is because I circumvent the
bitmap entirely in vector games. Drawing the bitmap is a
big cpu hog, so you'll notice that the game slows down when
you turn on the fps display (I know, not ideal when you
want to find out the frame rate...) This overlaying seems
to have some glitches in cabinet mode. I don't know what
causes them.

*** IMPORTANT! ***

If you have trouble with GLmame, or it is slow, read the
"Common Questions" section. Most of the questions people
email me are answered here.

4.2.4 Cabinet Models

Cabinet model information is stored in the "cab" subdirectory
of the directory you specified with the ROMPATH variable
in the Makefile. Path information specified in xmamerc or
with the 'rompath' shell environment variable is currently
not used. Each cabinet model has it's own subdirectory.
GLmame will first try to load either the user-specified
cabinet model (using the -cabinet command-line option),
or a model corresponding to the current game name. Failing
that, it will use the generic "glmame" model.

A cabinet model directory must contain a geometry file <modelname>.cab,
and any .jpg files used for textures on the model. The format
of the .cab file will be familiar if you have ever programmed
using OpenGL -- it looks much like an OpenGL display list.
The format is as follows:

    cabv1.0

This header must be the first 7 characters of the file.

    #<text>

Comment lines begin with '#'

    begin <type>

Begins a geometry object, where type is one of (polygon,
quads, quad_strip, screen). Each "begin" must be paired
with an "end" statement. A "polygon" is specified using
one vertex per, well... vertex. "quads" are four-sided polygons,
each specified by four vertices in order around the polygon.
A "quad_strip" is a series of four-sided polygons, each
of which shares an edge with the polygons before and after
it in the strip. A "screen" is a quad that defines the actual
area in 3D space where the game will be displayed. only
one of these should be defined. For more info, look at any
description of OpenGL geometry.

    end

Ends the geometry object begun with "begin".

    color4 <r> <g> <b>

Changes the current color to the corresponding rgb value
(specified as floating point numbers between 0 and 1).

    color4 <r> <g> <b> <a>

Changes the current color to the corresponding rgba value
(specified as floating point numbers between 0 and 1).

    shading <type>

Sets the shading type. available types are "smooth" (which
blends colors from one vertex to the next) or "flat" (which
doesn't).

    vertex <x> <y> <z>

Specifies a vertex for the current geometry object as a point
in 3-space.

    numtex <num>

Specifies the number of different textures to be loaded.
This declaration must precede any "loadtex" call.

    loadtex <num> <width> <height> <filename>

Loads texture number <num> from .jpg file <filename>. The
.jpg file *must* be <width> by <height> pixels, and both
<width> and <height> must be powers of two (and must conform
to the hardware requirements of any 3D card you want the
cabinet to work with -- 256x256 for 3Dfx).

    texcoord <xcoord> <ycoord>

Sets the texture coordinate of the next vertex. This specifies
where in 2D texture space the vertex lies.

    enable texture

Enables texture mapping (using the currently-selected texture).

    disable texture

Turns off texture mapping.

    settex <num>

Select texture <num> for doing texturing. The texture must
previously have been loaded using "loadtex".

    camerapan <num>

Starts the camera pan definition that will be followed by
<num> camera transistions. After the last transision definition,
the pan sequence must be ended with an "end" statement.

    goto <lx> <ly> <lz> <px> <py> <pz> <nx> <ny> <nz>

Relocates and reorients the camera. The arguments are the
same as are used by the OpenGL command "gluLookAt()". The
camera is positioned at point <lx,ly,lz>, pointing along
vector <px,py,pz>, with "up" normal (the direction that
is "up" for the camera) <nx,ny,nz>.

    moveto <lx> <ly> <lz> <px> <py> <pz> <nx> <ny> <nz> <frames>

Moves the camera to a new location (specified as in "goto").
The transition occurs over <frames> frames.

All commands must be on separate lines. Use the (somewhat)
commented glmame cabinet as an example to work from.

4.2.5 Common Questions (FAQ)

Q: I am only getting a few frames-per-second. This sucks!
What gives?

A1: You're probably running Mesa in software mode. You should
read the "README.3Dfx" file in the Mesa distro. Specifically,
you need to "setenv MESA_GLX_FX fullscreen"

A2: You don't have a 3D graphics card. Go buy one!

Q: When I run xmame.xgl, it just dumps core. That's not as
much fun as 3D Pacman, now is it?

A1: If you are using a 3Dfx card, make sure you are running
xmame.xgl as root. Root priviledges are required to access
the 3Dfx hardware

A2: If you're using Mesa and haven't upgraded to v3.0, do
so.

Q: When I run xmame.xgl, it just hangs at the initial game
screen

A: Are you running KDE? For some reason, I can't get keyboard
input under KDE. If you have this problem, switch window
managers

4.2.6 Present Limitations/Bugs

* No clipping of vector games (most noticeable in cabinet
  mode) o No preservation of game aspect ratio in cabinet
  mode o The phosphor trail stuff is *very* experimental
  at this point :-)

* There's some weirdness when overlaying the configuration
  screen or fps display in cabinet mode for vector games

4.2.7 Future Work

* Fixing existing bugs

* Optimize the drawing code to update only the changed portions
  of the game bitmap.

4.2.8 License

The GLmame code is Copyright 1998 by Mike Oliphant. It may
be used and distributed under the terms of the MAME license.

4.2.9 Version History

v0.6 -- December 14th, 1998 ---------------------------

* added support for systems that do not support paletted
  textures (SGI and solaris OpenGL implementations, for
  example)

* merged source with xmame b8.1

v0.5 -- October 30th, 1998 --------------------------

* fixed a bug with texturing being left on in bad places

* added 3Dfx gamma adjustment

v0.4 -- October 21st, 1998 --------------------------

* updated to work with xmame v0.34b5.2

v0.3 -- October 12th, 1998 --------------------------

* fixed verticle screen centering in fullscreen mode

* moved cabinet and camera panning information into a user-editable
  configuration file

* added 'trans' cabinet model o added double buffer, view
  type, and cabinet selection command-line options

v0.2 -- October 6th, 1998 -------------------------

* adding missing 'cab' directory

v0.1 -- October 5th, 1998 -------------------------

* first public release

4.2.10 Author

Mike Oliphant [mailto:oliphant@ling.ed.ac.uk||(oliphant@ling.ed.ac.uk)] [http://glmame.linuxgames.com||http://glmame.linuxgames.com]

5 contact information and credits

5.1 Mail <Mail>

There is an official xmame/xmess mailing list. All operations
related to this list are performed via email to [mailto:xmame-request@acm.csres.utexas.edu||xmame-request@acm.csres.utexas.edu]
with a proper keyword in the body.

Currently recognized commands are:

    subscribe      - subscribe to the list

    unsubscribe    - unsubscribe from the list

X-Mame Mail List ideario

* The X-Mame mailing list is intended to be a technical forum
  for XMame  developers, that is,

  * To exchange ideas about getting a better X-Mame 

  * To share patches and notify bugs 

  * Study new design strategies

  * To expose problems and learn know-how

* The X-Mame mailing list is not a forum about playing games
  (but everyone in xmame-list plays...), so please:

  * Don't use the list to ask about ROMs

  * Don't ask about non-UNIX ports of Mame, just about MAME
    and X-Mame

  * Don't ask about implementing a game. Just search the
    docs and contribute yourself (you'll enjoy twice: programming
    and playing...)

  * Dont show your last high score in xxx game (we are interested
    in programming, and then playing, in this order)

* Copyright notice: NEVER, I repeat NEVER send ROM images
  to the  list. (but you can tell us where to retrieve them...
  ;-) )

* At this moment, the X-Mame List is unmoderated, that is:
  every one subscribed will received everything sent to
  the list. Expecting no need to change this policy...

If you want to send a personal mail to the xmame/xmess coordinator,
send to the address below. Everyone that contributes to
xmame/xmess should subscribe to the xmame/xmess mail list.

* Mailing list: [mailto:xmame-request@acm.csres.utexas.edu||xmame-request@acm.csres.utexas.edu]

* Xmame/xmess coordinator: [mailto:gold@aros.net||gold@aros.net]

That's all. Enjoy X-Mame!

5.2 Credits

Lots and lots and lots of thanks to everyone for their great
help on the xmame project. I would like to thank the following
people and of course anyone I've forgotten.

Thank you all,

Hans

(Addendum: I'd like to send a big thanks to Hans for his
fantastic work as longtime xmame/xmess maintainer, and also
to those on the mailing list who have been most helpful
during my transition to official maintainer. --Lawrence
Gold)

1. Fathers of the mame-creature (main version)

  * Nicola Salmoria

  * Allard van der Bas

  * Mirko (Mix) Buffoni (General Mantainer)

2. Fathers of mess

  * Brad Oliver 

  * Richard Bannister

  * Ben Bruscella (current coordinator) 

3. Original UNIX/X11 port

  * Allard van der Bas

  * Dick the Ridder

  * Juan Antonio Martinez

4. Semi-retired Unix maintainer extraordinaire

  * Hans de Goede

5. Alpha specific issues

  * Christian Groessler

6. Sun specific issues

  * Keith Hargrove

  * Mathis Rosenhau

7. Irix specific issues

  * Tristram Scott

8. GGI maintainance

  * Gabriele Boccone (original port)

  * Christian Groessler (current maintainer)

9. OpenGL code & maintainance

  * Mike Oliphant

10. Network code

  * Eric Totel

11. Perl scripts for automation of some porting issues

  * Bill Adams

12. Xmame RPMs

  * Jeremy Hansen

13. Mailing list maintainer

  * Chris McCraw

14. Bits and pieces

  * Christian Groessler

  * Torsten Paul

  * Jack Patton

  * David Black

15. AIX Sound code

  * Chris Sharpp

16. IRIX Sound code

  * [mailto:entropy@zippy.bernstein.com||entropy@zippy.bernstein.com] 

17. German readme

  * Robert Hamberger

18. Documentation (SGML, HTML, MAN)

  * Rene Herrmann

6 Legal issues and copyrights concerning mame/mess

* Please read the MAME/MESS readme-files first!

* Xmame/xmess should be distributed under terms of the license
  in [readme.mame||readme.mame]

* And if you are interested in mess, take a look in [readme.mess||readme.mess]

* The main issue involves ROM images. ROM images are protected
  under the copyrights of their authors, and CANNOT be distributed
  in the same package as xmame/xmess. Download any ROM images
  at your own risk and responsibility.

* XInputExtensions-based Joystick support. Source code is
  entirely pure  hack work. No sample code, no info at all
  was found (only library  reference manual) and is copyrighted
  by me (Juan Antonio Martinez). Use it under terms of GNU
  General Public License.

7 ChangeLogs<ChangeLogs>

7.1 The mame/mess ChangeLogs

These are the changelogs of the offical mame and mess release,
the core of xmame / xmess.

* [changes.mame||The mame changelog (changes.mame)]

* [changes.mess||The mess changelog (changes.mame)]

7.2 The Unix ChangeLog

And now here is the HISTORY of the xmame project (of course
that's why you are here :;-)) ... René

* [changes.unix||The Unix port changelog (changes.unix)]
