# Command Line Settings Mame32 utilises under the GUI

Using the program

-----------------

The usual way to run MAME is by telling it to run a particular game:

mame <gamename> [options]

For example:

mame robby -nosound

...will run Robby Roto without sound. There are many, many options

available. All currently supported options are listed below.

An alternative way to run MAME is to give it a command:

mame <command> [parameters]

For example:

mame -listsource gridlee

...will print the name of the source file where the gridlee driver lives to

the screen. There are just a handful of these commands in MAME. They are

all listed below, just before the options list.

Default Keys

------------

All the keys below are fully configurable in the user interface. This list

shows the standard keyboard configuration.

Tab Toggles the configuration menu

~ Toggles the On Screen Display. Use the up and down arrow keys to

select which parameter to modify (global volume, mixing level,

gamma correction etc.) Use the left and right to arrow keys to

change modify the value. Some parameters adjust with finer or

coarser control if you hold down the CTRL or SHIFT keys while

pressing the left/right arrows. Use the ENTER key to reset a value

to its default.

P Pauses the game

SHIFT+P While paused, advances to next frame

F1 Toggle crosshairs for games that use them

F2 Service Mode

F3 Resets the game

F4 Shows the game palette, decoded GFX, and any tilemaps. Use the

ENTER key to switch between the three modes (palette, graphics,

and tilemaps). Press F4 again to turn off the display. The key

controls in each mode vary slightly:

* Palette/colortable mode:

[ ] - switch between palette and colortable modes

up/down - scroll up/down one line at a time

pgup/pgdn - scroll up/down one page at a time

home/end - move to top/bottom of list

-/+ - increase/decrease the number of colors per row

ENTER - switch to graphics viewer

* Graphics mode:

[ ] - switch between different graphics sets

up/down - scroll up/down one line at a time

pgup/pgdn - scroll up/down one page at a time

home/end - move to top/bottom of list

left/right - change color displayed

R - rotate tiles 90 degrees clockwise

-/+ - increase/decrease the number of tiles per row

ENTER - switch to tilemap viewer

* Tilemap mode:

[ ] - switch between different tilemaps

up/down/left/right - scroll 8 pixels at a time

SHIFT+up/down/left/right - scroll 1 pixel at a time

CTRL+up/down/left/right - scroll 64 pixels at a time

R - rotate tilemap view 90 degrees clockwise

-/+ - increase/decrease the zoom factor

ENTER - switch to palette/colortable mode

Note: Not all games have decoded graphics and/or tilemaps.

F6 Toggle cheat mode (if started with "-cheat")

F7 Load a save state. You will be requested to press a key to

determine which save state you wish to load. Note that the save

state feature is not supported for a large number of drivers. If

support is not enabled for a given driver, you will receive a

warning when attempting to save or load.

SHIFT+F7 Create a save state. Requires an additional keypress to identify

the state, similar to the load option above.

F8 Decrease frame skip on the fly

F9 Increase frame skip on the fly

F10 Toggle speed throttling

F11 Toggles speed display

SHIFT+F11 Toggles profiler display (debug builds only)

F12 Saves a screen snapshot.

INSERT Fast forward. While held, runs the game with throttling disabled

and with the maximum frameskip.

ESC Exits emulator

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. All the configuration options

(not commands) described below can be permanently changed by editing

this configuration file.

-showconfig / -sc

Displays the current configuration settings. If you route this to a

file, you can use it as an INI file. For example, the command:

mame -showconfig >mame.ini

is equivalent to -createconfig.

-showusage / -su

Displays a summary of all the command line options. For options that

are not mentioned here, the short summary given by "mame -showusage" is

usually sufficient.

Frontend commands

-----------------

Note: By default, all the '-list' commands below write info to the screen.

If you wish to write the info to a textfile instead, add this to the end of

your command:

> filename

...where 'filename' is the textfile's path and name (e.g., c:\mame\list.txt).

-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 -listsource command.

-listcrc

Displays a full list of CRCs of all ROM images referenced by all

drivers within MAME.

-listroms <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

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: means all files were identified

1: means all files were identified except for 1 or more "non-ROM"

files

2: means some files were identified

3: means no files were identified

-isknown

Very terse romident. The errorlevel is set the same as for -romident.

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:

- mame.ini

- <mymame>.ini (i.e. if MAME was renamed mame060.exe, MAME

parses mame060.ini here)

- mamed.ini (if this is a debug build, i.e. mamed.exe)

- vector.ini (for vector games only)

- <driver>.ini (based on the source filename of the driver)

- <parent>.ini (for clones only, may be called recursively)

- <gamename>.ini

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]skip_gameinfo

Forces MAME to skip displaying the game info screen. The default is OFF

(-noskip_gameinfo).

Path and directory options

--------------------------

IMPORTANT: Please use the path, directory and file options ONLY in mame.ini.

Otherwise, the outcome may be unpredictable and not consistent across

releases.

-rompath / -rp

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).

-samplepath / -sp

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).

-inipath

Specifies a list of paths within which to find .INI files. Multiple

paths can be specified by separating them with semicolons. The default

is '.;ini' (that is, search in the current directory first, and then

in the directory "ini" in the same directory as the MAME executable).

-cfg_directory

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

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.

-memcard_directory

Specifies a single directory where memory card files are stored. Memory

card files store the contents of removable memory cards for games which

used this type of hardware. This data is read and written under control

of the user via the "Memory Card" menu in the user interface. The

default is 'memcard' (that is, a directory "memcard" in the same

directory as the MAME executable). If this directory does not exist,

it will be automatically created.

-input_directory

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.

-hiscore_directory

Specifies a single directory where high score files are stored. High

score files are managed by the soon-to-be-obsolete high score system,

which is activated when it finds a hiscore.dat file. The high score data

is read at startup and written when MAME exits. The default is 'hi'

(that is, a directory "hi" in the same directory as the MAME

executable). If this directory does not exist, it will be automatically

created.

-state_directory

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.

-artpath / -artwork_directory

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).

-snapshot_directory

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

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.

-ctrlrpath / -ctrlr_directory

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).

-comment_directory

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.

-cheat_file

Specifies the name of the cheat database file. The default is

'cheat.dat'.

Misc options

------------

-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

Enables the reading of the cheat database, if present, and the Cheat

menu in the user interface. The default is OFF (-nocheat).

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).

-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).

-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).

-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).

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]oslog

Outputs the error.log data to the Windows 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).

-[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]debug

Activates the integrated debugger. This is available only if the program

is compiled with MAME_DEBUG defined. 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).

Perormance 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

Specifies the frameskip value. 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 -frameskip 0,

which skips no frames.

-frames_to_run / -ftr

This option can be used for benchmarking and automated testing. It tells

MAME to stop execution after a fixed number of frames. 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 -ftr option will write a screenshot called

_<gamename>.png to the 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).

-[no]rdtsc

Specifies that MAME should use RDTSC for timing. RDTSC is very fast but

unfortunately rather inaccurate on many modern CPUs that dynamically

change clock speeds to conserve power. By default, MAME uses the

Windows function QueryPerformanceCounter for timing. The default is

OFF (-nordtsc).

-priority <priority>

Sets the thread priority for the MAME threads. By default the priority

is left alone to guarantee proper cooperation with other applications.

The valid range is -15 to 1, with 1 being the highest priority. The

default is 0 (NORMAL priority).

-[no]multithreading / -[no]mt

Enables multithreading within MAME. At the moment, this causes the window

and all DirectDraw/Direct3D code to execute on a second thread, which

can improve performance on hyperthreaded and multicore systems. Consider

this switch experimental for the moment. The default is OFF

(-nomultithreading).

Video options

-------------

-video <gdi|ddraw|d3d|none>

Specifies which video subsystem to use for drawing. By specifying 'gdi'

here, you tell MAME to render video using standard Windows graphics

drawing calls. This is the slowest but most compatible option.

Specifying 'ddraw' instructs MAME to use DirectDraw for rendering. This

causes MAME to render everything at a lower resolution and then upscale

the results at the end. This produces high performance, especially on

older or low-power video cards, but has a noticeably lower output

quality. Specifying 'd3d' tells MAME to use Direct3D for rendering. This

produces the highest quality output and enables all rendering options.

It is recommended if you have a recent (2002+) video card. The final

option 'none' displays no windows and does no drawing. This is primarily

present for doing CPU benchmarks without the overhead of the video

system. The default is d3d.

-numscreens <count>

Tells MAME how many output windows to create. For most games, a single

output window is all you need, but some games originally used multiple

screens. Each screen (up to 4) has its own independent settings for

physical monitor, aspect ratio, resolution, and view, which can be

set using the options below. The default is 1.

-[no]window

Run MAME in either a window or full screen. 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

Enables aspect ratio enforcement. When this option is on, the game's

proper aspect ratio (generally 4:3 or 3:4) is enforced, so you get the

game looking like it should. When running in a window with this option

on, you can only resize the window to the proper aspect ratio, unless

you are holding down the CONTROL key. By turning the option off, the

aspect ratio is allowed to float. In full screen mode, this means that

all games will stretch to the full screen size (even vertical games).

In window mode, it means that you can freely resize the window without

any constraints. The default is ON (-keepaspect).

-prescale <amount>

Controls the size of the screen images when they are passed off to the

graphics system for scaling. At the minimum setting of 1, the screen

is rendered at its original resolution before being scaled. At higher

settings, the screen is expanded by a factor of <amount> before being

scaled. With -video ddraw or -video d3d, this produces a less blurry

image at the expense of some speed. In -video ddraw mode, this also

increases the effective resolution of non-screen elements such as

artwork and fonts. The default is 1.

-effect <filename>

Specifies a single PNG file that is used as an overlay over any game

screens in the video display. This PNG file is assumed to live in the

root of one of the artpath directories. The pattern in the PNG file is

repeated both horizontally and vertically to cover the entire game

screen areas (but not any external artwork), and is rendered at

the target resolution of the game image. For -video gdi and -video d3d

modes, this means that one pixel in the PNG will map to one pixel on

your output display. For -video ddraw, this means that one pixel in the

PNG will map to one pixel in the prescaled game screen. If you wish to

use an effect that requires mapping n PNG pixels to each game screen

pixel with -video ddraw, you need to specify a -prescale factor of n as

well. The RGB values of each pixel in the PNG are multiplied against the

RGB values of the target screen. The default is 'none', meaning no

effect.

-pause_brightness

This controls the brightness level when MAME is paused. The default

value is 0.65.

-[no]waitvsync

Waits for the refresh period on your computer's monitor to finish

before starting to draw video to your screen. If this option is off,

MAME will just draw to the screen at any old time, even in the middle

of a refresh cycle. This can cause "tearing" artifacts, where the top

portion of the screen is out of sync with the bottom portion. Tearing

is not noticeable on all games, and some people hate it more than

others. However, if you turn this option on, you will waste more of

your CPU cycles waiting for the proper time to draw, so you will see a

performance hit. You should only need to turn this on in windowed mode.

In full screen mode, it is only needed if -triplebuffer does not

remove the tearing, in which case you should use -notriplebuffer

-waitvsync. Note that this option does not work with -video gdi mode.

The default is OFF (-nowaitvsync).

-[no]syncrefresh

Enables speed throttling only to the refresh of your monitor. This

means that the game's actual refresh rate is ignored; however, the

sound code still attempts to keep up with the game's original refresh

rate, so you may encounter sound problems. This option is intended

mainly for those who have tweaked their video card's settings to

provide carefully matched refresh rate options. Note that this option

does not work with -video gdi mode.The default is OFF (-nosyncrefresh).

Video 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). The default for both of

these options is OFF (-noror -norol).

-[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. The default for both of these options

is OFF (-noflipx -noflipy).

-[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.

DirectDraw-specific options

---------------------------

-[no]hwstretch / -[no]hws

When enabled, MAME uses the hardware stretching abilities of your

video card to scale the game image and associated artwork to the

target resolution. Depending on the quality of your graphic card and

its drivers, this may be a fractional, antialiased scaling (nice) or

an integer, blocky scaling (not so nice), in which case you might want

to disable this option. In addition, if you have configured specific

arcade-like video modes for MAME and don't want MAME to perform any

non-integral scaling of the image, you should also disable this option.

The default is ON (-hwstretch).

Direct3D-specific options

-------------------------

-d3dversion <version>

MAME supports both Direct3D 9 and Direct3D 8 for maximum compatibility.

By default, it will automatically detect which one it can use and use

that version exclusively. You can override MAME's selection with this

option. It is primarily intended as a means for the MAME developers to

test compatibility with older hardware; for the most part, there is no

reason to alter this setting. The default is 9.

-[no]filter / -[no]d3dfilter / -[no]flt

Enable bilinear filtering on the game screen graphics. When disabled,

point filtering is applied, which is crisper but leads to scaling

artifacts. If you don't like the filtered look, you are probably better

off increasing the -prescale value rather than turning off filtering

altogether. The default is ON (-filter).

Per-window options

------------------

-screen <display>

-screen0 <display>

-screen1 <display>

-screen2 <display>

-screen3 <display>

Specifies which physical monitor on your system you wish to have each

window use by default. In order to use multiple windows, you must have

increased the value of the -numscreens option. The name of each display

in your system can be determined by running MAME with the -verbose

option. The display names are typically in the format of: \\.\DISPLAYn,

where 'n' is a number from 1 to the number of connected monitors.

The default value for these options is 'auto', which means that the

first window is placed on the first display, the second window on the

second display, etc.

The -screen0, -screen1, -screen2, -screen3 parameters apply to the

specific window. The -screen parameter applies to all windows. The

window-specific options override values from the all window option.

-aspect <width:height> / -screen_aspect <num:den>

-aspect0 <width:height>

-aspect1 <width:height>

-aspect2 <width:height>

-aspect3 <width:height>

Specifies the physical aspect ratio of the physical monitor for each

window. In order to use multiple windows, you must have increased the

value of the -numscreens option. The physical aspect ratio can be

determined by measuring the width and height of the visible screen

image and specifying them separated by a colon. The default value for

these options is 'auto', which means that MAME assumes the aspect ratio

is proportional to the number of pixels in the desktop video mode for

each monitor.

The -aspect0, -aspect1, -aspect2, -aspect3 parameters apply to the

specific window. The -aspect parameter applies to all windows. The

window-specific options override values from the all window option.

-resolution <widthxheight[@refresh]> / -r <widthxheight[@refresh]>

-resolution0 <widthxheight[@refresh]> / -r0 <widthxheight[@refresh]>

-resolution1 <widthxheight[@refresh]> / -r1 <widthxheight[@refresh]>

-resolution2 <widthxheight[@refresh]> / -r2 <widthxheight[@refresh]>

-resolution3 <widthxheight[@refresh]> / -r3 <widthxheight[@refresh]>

Specifies an exact resolution to run in. In full screen mode, MAME will

try to use the specific resolution you request. The width and

height are required; the refresh rate is optional. If omitted or

set to 0, MAME will determine the mode auomatically. For example,

-resolution 640x480 will force 640x480 resolution, but MAME is free to

choose the refresh rate. Similarly, -resolution 0x0@60 will force a

60Hz refresh rate, but allows MAME to choose the resolution. The string

"auto" is also supported, and is equivalent to 0x0@0. In window mode,

this resolution is used as a maximum size for the window. This option

requires the -switchres option as well in order to actually enable

resolution switching with -video ddraw or -video d3d. The default

value for these options is 'auto'.

The -resolution0, -resolution1, -resolution2, -resolution3 parameters

apply to the specific window. The -resolution parameter applies to all

windows. The window-specific options override values from the all

window option.

-view <viewname>

-view0 <viewname>

-view1 <viewname>

-view2 <viewname>

-view3 <viewname>

Specifies the initial view setting for each window. The <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, -view native will match the "Native (15:14)" view even though

it is not a perfect match. The value 'auto' is also supported, and

requests that MAME perform a default selection. The default value for

these options is 'auto'.

The -view0, -view1, -view2, -view3 parameters apply to the

specific window. The -view parameter applies to all windows. The

window-specific options override values from the all window option.

Full screen options

-------------------

-[no]triplebuffer / -[no]tb

Enables or disables "triple buffering". Normally, MAME just draws

directly to the screen, without any fancy buffering. But with this

option enabled, MAME creates three buffers to draw to, and cycles

between them in order. It attempts to keep things flowing such that one

buffer is currently displayed, the second buffer is waiting to be

displayed, and the third buffer is being drawn to. -triplebuffer will

override -waitvsync, if the buffer is sucessfully created. This option

does not work with -video gdi. The default is OFF (-notriplebuffer).

-[no]switchres

Enables resolution switching. This option is required for the

-resolution* options to switch resolutions in full screen mode. On

modern video cards, there is little reason to switch resolutions unless

you are trying to achieve the "exact" pixel resolutions of the original

games, which requires significant tweaking. This option is also useful

on LCD displays, since they run with a fixed resolution and switching

resolutions on them is just silly. This option does not work with

-video gdi. The default is OFF (-noswitchres).

-full_screen_brightness / -fsb <value>

Controls the brightness, or black level, of the entire display. 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. Note that not all video cards have hardware to

support this option. This option does not work with -video gdi. The

default is 1.0.

-full_screen_contrast / -fsc <value>

Controls the contrast, or white level, of the entire display. 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. Note that not all video cards have

hardware to support this option. This option does not work with

-video gdi. The default is 1.0.

-full_screen_gamma / -fsg <value>

Controls the gamma, which produces a potentially nonlinear black to

white ramp, for the entire display. 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. Note

that not all video cards have hardware to support this option. This

option does not work with -video gdi. The default is 1.0.

Game 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.

Vector rendering options

------------------------

-[no]antialias / -[no]aa

Enables antialiased line rendering for vector games. The default is ON

(-antialias).

-beam <width>

Sets the width of the vectors. This is a scaling factor against the

standard vector width. 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.

-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.

Artwork options

---------------

-[no]artwork_crop / -[no]artcrop

Enable cropping of artwork to the game screen area only. This works

best with -video gdi or -video d3d, and means that vertically oriented

games running full screen can display their artwork to the left and

right sides of the screen. This does not work with -video ddraw because

of the way the game screens are rendered and scaled after the fact. 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).

Sound options

-------------

-[no]sound

Enable or disable sound altogether. The default is ON (-sound).

-samplerate / -sr <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. By

default MAME tries to keep the DirectSound audio buffer between 1/5 and

2/5 full. On some systems, this is pushing it too close to the edge,

and you get poor sound sometimes. 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 device options

--------------------

-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 in Windows

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.

When this is enabled, MAME will ask DirectInput about which controllers

are connected. The default is OFF (-nojoystick).

-[no]lightgun / -[no]gun

Controls whether or not MAME treats mouse inputs as lightgun inputs.

Note that most lightguns map to the mouse, so using -lightgun and

-mouse together may produce strange results. The default is OFF

(-nolightgun).

-[no]dual_lightgun / -[no]dual

Controls whether or not MAME attempts to track two lightguns connected

at the same time. This option requires -lightgun. This option is a hack

for supporting older dual lightgun setups. If you have multiple

lightguns connected, you will probably just need to enable -mouse and

configure each lightgun independently. The default is OFF

(-nodual_lightgun).

-[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).

-[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)

-a2d_deadzone / -a2d

If you play with an analog joystick, but the game requires digital

input, MAME needs to convert the signals. Here you can give the ratio

of movement along an axis that accounts for a digital signal. This

option expects a float in the range of 0.0 to 1.0. Note that the

current handling is not accurate enough to handle diagonal movement

properly. The default is 0.3.

-digital <all|none|j<N>[a<M>[a<K>...]][,j<X>[a<Y>...]][,...]>

Controls which joystick axes are considered digital. If MAME knows that

a given joystick axis is digital, it can make much better decisions about

how to treat that axis. If you are using a digital gamepad with MAME,

you will want to use this option. There are a number of ways to do this:

-digital all means that all axes of all connected joysticks will be

treated as digital.

-digital none means that all axes of all connected joysticks will be

treated as analog (this is the default behavior).

-digital j2 will treat all axes of joystick #2 as digital; axes on all

other joysticks will be treated as analog.

-digital j1a0a1 will treat axis 0 and 1 on joystick #1 as digital; all

other axes will be treated as analog.

-digital j1a0a1,j2a5 will treat axis 0 and 1 on joystick #1 as digital,

as well as axis 5 on joystick #2; all other axes will be treated

as analog.

Make use of the information provided by -verbose to determine which

joysticks and axes you should be configuring this way. The default is

'none'.

Automatic device selection options

----------------------------------

-paddle_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun> / -paddle

-adstick_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun> / -adstick

-pedal_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun> / -pedal

-dial_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun> / -dial

-trackball_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun> / -trackball

-lightgun_device <keyboard|mouse|joystick|lightgun>

Each of these options controls autoenabling the mouse, joystick, or

lightgun 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.