
Using the program
-----------------

mame [name of the game to run] [options]

For example:

   mame mspacman -nosound

...will run Ms Pac Man without sound


Configuration options
---------------------

-createconfig / -cc

	Creates the default MAME.INI file. All the following configuration
	options 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.

-[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
		- $MY_MAME.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 hardware stretch in the
	vector games, you can create a VECTOR.INI with the "hwstretch 0" line
	in it, and it will override whatever hwstretch value you have in your
	MAME.INI.

-[no]verbose / -[no]v

	Displays some diagnostic information at startup. IMPORTANT: when
	reporting bugs, please run with mame -verbose and include the resulting
	information. It can be very helpful in tracking down problems. The
	default is off (-noverbose)


Windows 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

	You can give a path (list of directories seperated by semicolons) of
	directories to be searched for roms. The default is ROMS (that is, a
	directory "roms" in the current directory).

-samplepath / -sp

	You can give a path (list of directories seperated by semicolons) of
	directories to be searched for samples. The default is SAMPLES (that
	is, a directory "samples" in the current directory).

-inipath

	You can give a path (list of directories seperated by semicolons) of
	directories to be searched for INI-files. The default is .;ini (that
	is, search in the current directory first, and then in the directory
	"ini" in the current directory).

-cfg_directory

	After running a game, MAME stores some user changeable settings into
	cfg_directory/gamename.cfg. Additionally, on the first start of MAME a
	cfg_directory/default.cfg is created. The default is CFG.

-nvram_directory

	The original hardware of some games use non-volative ram chips to save
	their configuration. The contents of these are saved into this
	directory. The default is NVRAM.

-memcard_directory

	The original hardware of some games supports so-called memory cards.
	The contents of these are stored here. The default is MEMCARD.

-input_directory

	Input recordings created by "-record" will be saved here and loaded by
	"-playback". The default is INP.

-hiscore_directory

	If there exists a file HISCORE.DAT in the MAME directory, highscores
	may also be saved for games that do not have the original hardware to
	support this. The quality of this feature depends on the accuracy of
	the externally available file HISCORE.DAT. The default is HI.

-state_directory

	MAME supports state saving for some games. These states will be saved
	here. The default is STATE.

-artwork_directory

	Some games used extra artwork not created by electical circuits. MAME
	supports such artwork in PNG image format, located in this directory.
	The default is ARTWORK.

-snapshot_directory

	Screenshots will go here. The default is SNAP.

-diff_directory

	Directory for hard drive image difference files. The default is DIFF.

-ctrlr_directory

	This directory holds controller-specific input port mapping .ini files.
	The default is CTRLR.

-history_file

	The default is HISTORY.DAT. Modifying the default may not work at the
	moment.

-mameinfo_file

	The default is MAMEINFO.DAT. Modifying the default may not work at the
	moment.

-cheat_file

	The default is CHEAT.DAT. Modifying the default may not work at the
	moment.


Windows video 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 above. The default is ON (-autoframeskip).

-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.

-[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. The default is OFF (-nowaitvsync). This option
	requires -ddraw.

-[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. Unfortunately, due
	to some DirectDraw issues, this doesn't always work out as well as it
	should. This is still being investigated. The default is OFF
	(-notriplebuffer). This option required -ddraw and -nowindow.

-[no]window

	Run MAME in either in a window or full screen. The default is OFF
	(-nowindow).

-[no]ddraw / -[no]dd

	This is really just for testing. It disables the use of DirectDraw,
	which removes a lot of the features of the video system (-triplebuffer,
	-waitvsync, -resolution, -refresh, -switchres, -switchbpp, -resolution,
	-hwstretch all won't work). It will generally run really slowly. If
	anyone has a legitimate use for this option, we'd be curious to know.
	The default is ON (-ddraw).

-[no]hwstretch / -[no]hws

	MAME uses the hardware stretching abilities of modern graphic cards to
	scale the game image to the requested 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 any case, you can disable this stretching altogether and let MAME do
	the scaling in software, which is probably slower, though. The default
	is ON (-hwstretch). Note: Vector games may actually look better with
	"-nohws".

-cleanstretch [option] / -cs [option]

	Stretch the image to integer ratios only. This may leave a black border
	around the image in fullscreen mode. The options are:

		none	    disable. This will cause artifacts when using
			    scanlines.
		auto	    let the blitter decide. The d3d module will select
			    the best option.
		full	    always stretch to integer ratios both horizontally
			    and vertically.
		horizontal  always stretch to integer ratios horizontally.
		vertical    always stretch to integer ratios vertically.

	The default is AUTO (-cleanstretch auto). This option requires -ddraw
	or -direct3d.

-resolution wxh[xd] / -r wxh[xd]

	Specifies an exact resolution to run in. In full screen mode, MAME will
	try to use the specific resolution you request. The width (w) and
	height (h) are required; the color depth (d) 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 color depth. Similarly, -resolution 0x0x32 will force 32-bit
	color depth, but allows MAME to choose the resolution. The string
	"auto" is also supported, and is equivalent to 0x0x0. In window mode,
	this resolution is used as a maximum size for the window. The default
	is auto (-resolution auto). This option requires -ddraw for full screen
	resolution switching.

-refresh

	Specifies a particular refresh rate to set your monitor to. If the
	refresh rate is not found, or if this parameter is 0, the default
	DirectDraw refresh rate is used. The default is -refresh 0. This option
	requires -ddraw and -nowindow.

-[no]scanlines / -[no]sl

	Enables the classic MAME "scanlines" effect. The default is OFF
	(-noscanlines). This option requires -nohwstretch.

-[no]switchres

	Enables resolution switching. This option is required for the
	-resolution option to switch resolutions in full screen mode. On many
	modern video cards with hardware stretching support, there is little
	performance penalty at higher resolutions, so it is nice to be able to
	get rid of the monitor resync time when you run in full screen mode.
	This is also useful on LCD displays with a fixed resolution. The
	default is ON (-switchres). This option requires -ddraw.

-[no]switchbpp

	Enables color depth switching. This option is required for the
	-resolution option to switch color depths in full screen mode. This
	option is useful if you normally run at 16, 24, or 32 bit color depth
	on your desktop, and want to keep that color depth when you run MAME.
	The default is ON (-switchbpp). This option requires -ddraw.

-[no]maximize / -[no]max

	Controls initial window size in windowed mode. If it is set on, the
	window will initially stretch to the maximum supported size when you
	start MAME. If it is turned off, the window will start out at the
	smallest supported size. The default is ON (-maximize). This option
	requires -window.

-[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).

-[no]matchrefresh

	Enables refresh rate matching. When enabled, MAME will try to find the
	closest refresh rate match that is greater than the game's refresh
	rate. For example, if the game runs at 57fps, and you have 60, 70, 75Hz
	refresh rates, MAME will choose 60Hz. If the game runs at 61fps, then
	it will choose 70Hz. This is intended mainly for those who have tweaked
	their video card's settings to provide carefully matched refresh rate
	options. The default is OFF (-nomatchrefresh). This option requires
	-ddraw and -nowindow.

-[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. Again, this is intended
	mainly for those who have tweaked their video card's settings to
	provide carefully matched refresh rate options. The default is OFF
	(-nosyncrefresh). This option requires -ddraw.

-[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. The default is
	ON (-throttle).

-full_screen_brightness / -fsb

	Some video cards adjust the brightness/gamma when they switch into full
	screen mode. To counteract this, you can specify the
	-full_screen_brightness value, which is a number between 0.1 and 2. 0.1
	means 1/10th as bright as the default, and 2 means twice as bright.
	Note that the hardware support for this option is not present on all
	video cards. If you set a non-zero value, you may get a warning if MAME
	was unable to set the brightness on your card. The default is 0, which
	means that MAME will not attempt to adjust the brightness on your video
	card at all. This option requires -ddraw and -nowindow.

-frames_to_run / -ftr

	This option can be used for benchmarking. 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.

-effect

	Apply various blitting effects to emulate the look of Arcade monitors.
	Using these modes comes at the cost of reduced emulation speed, which
	is inherent to these modes. The current implementation is already as
	fast as possible, using self-modifying assembly code. For some of
	these, MMX is required. Possible values:

		none	    no effect (this is the default)
		sharp	    no effect, but gives a sharper image
		scan25	    25% scanlines
		scan50	    50% scanlines
		scan75	    75% scanlines
		scan75v     75% scanlines (vertical)
		rgb3	    a certain "monitor mask"
		rgb4	    another one
		rgb4v	    another one (vertical)
		rgb6	    another one
		rgb16	    another one
		rgbtiny     another one. Choose the one you like best.

-screen_aspect

	Give a screen aspect ration in the form X:Y where X is the horizontal
	and Y the vertical part. Examples are 4:3 for most resolution settings
	on computer monitors, 5:4 for the 1280x1024 resolution or 3:4 for
	turnable LCD's in the turned position. The default is 4:3.


Windows video options (Direct3D)
--------------------------------

-[no]direct3d / -[no]d3d

	Use Direct3D to display the image. This does not render 3D games using
	3D hardware, it just uses 3D hardware to display the image, and apply
	effects to it. -triplebuffer, -waitvsync, -resolution, -refresh,
	-switchres, -switchbpp, -resolution all work with this option. This
	option overrides -ddraw and implies -hwstretch. The default is OFF
	(-nodirect3d).

-[no]d3dtexmanage

	Let Direct3D handle conversion of the image to a texture (required to
	display it with Direct3D). This is more compatible, but can be
	(significantly) slower on some hardware. The default is ON
	(-d3dtexmanage). Using -nod3dtexmanage can eliminate a loss of
	performance that may occur with some graphics cards when using
	-direct3d. This option requires -direct3d.

-zoom [z] / -z [z]

	Try to get a resolution that enlarges the emulated game z times. The
	default is -zoom 2. MAME determines the resolution automatically. This
	option only works with -direct3d.

-d3dfilter [f] / -flt [f]

	Select the type of filtering to apply to the image when stretching. 0
	is point filtering, 1 is bi-linear filtering, 2 is bi-cubic filtering
	(flat kernel), 3 is bi-cubic filtering gaussian kernel), 4 is
	anisotropic filtering. Note that very few graphics cards support
	bi-cubic filtering, and that older graphics cards may not support
	anisotropic filtering. The default is bi-linear filtering (-d3dfilter
	1). This option requires -direct3d.

-d3dscan [i]

	Select the scanline effect intensity in percentages. 0 is black lines
	between scanlines, 100 is disable scanline effect. The default is
	DISABLE (-d3dscan 100). This option requires -direct3d.

-d3dfeedback [i]

	Select the feedback effect intensity in percentages. 0 is disable,
	higher values feed back the previous frame to the current one at the
	specified intensity. The default is DISABLE (-d3dfeedback 0). This
	option requires -direct3d.

-d3dprescale [option]

	Pre-scale up the image with point filtering before fitting the image to
	the screen. This gives an only slightly fuzzy image even at high
	display resolutions. The options are:

		none	    disable.
		auto	    adaptively apply a moderate pre-scale effect,
			    depending on other efects used.
		full	    adaptively apply an agressive pre-scale effect.
		n	    (where 2 <= n <= 4) pre-scale the image n times.

	The default is AUTO (-d3dprescale auto). This option requires
	-direct3d.

-d3deffect [preset]

	Select an effect preset. Valid presets are:

		none		no effect (this is the default)
		sharp		no effect, but gives a sharper image
		scan25		25% scanlines
		scan50		50% scanlines
		scan75		75% scanlines
		scan75v 	75% scanlines (vertical)
		rgbmicro	a certain "monitor mask"
		rgbtiny 	another one
		rgb3		another one
		rgb4		another one
		rgb4v		another one (vertical)
		rgb6		another one
		rgb16		another one
		rgbminmask	another one
		dotmedmask	another one
		rgbmedmask	another one
		dotmedbright	another one (extra bright)
		rgbmaxbright	another one (extra bright)
		aperturegrille	another one. Choose the one you like best.
		auto		adaptively selects a special preset based on
				zoom level.

	The default is none (-d3deffect none). This option requires -direct3d.

-d3dcustom [custom preset]

	Supply a custom preset. The format is <-d3dcustom
	1,0,0x0100,0xC0,0,0,0,0x22,-1,8x8_mame_rgbtiny.rgb>. The meaning
	of the mumbers is:

		1	    RGB effects mode: 0 is off, 1 is multiply mode, 2
			    is add and multiply mode.
		2,3,4,5     pattern preprocessing; use mask, white level, black
			    level, desaturation, respectively.
		6	    image attenuation
		7	    feedback (0 is don't use)
		8	    prescale. bit 4: prescale horizontally, bit 0:
			    prescale vertically.
		9	    maximum scanline intensity.
		10	    pattern filename, including path.

	The filename must start with XxY, where X and Y are the dimensions of
	the pattern in pixels. Each pixel is represented by 4 bytes, red,
	green, blue, and mask, respectively. mask is an on/off value, where 0
	is off. This option requires -direct3d.

-d3dexpert [settings]

	Undocumented settings intended mostly for developers. This option
	requires -direct3d.


Windows sound options
---------------------

-audio_latency

	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.


Windows misc options
--------------------

-[no]sleep

	Since MAME is running in a multitasking environment, it should be nice
	to its fellow processes. Therefore, if MAME does not need all
	processing power to emulate a game, it gives back already granted
	processor time to the operating system. This may not work in every
	case, so it can be disabled and MAME turned once again into a CPU hog.
	The default is ON (-sleep).

-[no]high_priority

	Increases the thread priority so MAME runs better. The default is OFF
	(-nohigh_priority).

-[no]rdtsc

	Prefer RDTSC over QueryPerformanceCounter for timing. The default is
	OFF (-nordtsc). -rdtsc sometimes causes problems on laptops, and
	-nordtsc may cause problems on desktop computers. If MAME does not
	operate smoothly (and you are sure you have enough CPU power for
	the emulation), try toggling this.


Input device options
--------------------

-[no]mouse

	Controls whether or not MAME looks for a mouse controller to use. 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 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]steadykey / -[no]steady

	Some games require two or more buttons to be pressed at exactly the
	same time to make special moves. Due to limitations in the PC keyboard
	hardware, it can be difficult or even impossible to accomplish that
	using the standard keyboard handling. This option selects a different
	handling that makes it easier to register simultaneous button presses,
	but has the disadvantage of making controls less responsive. The
	default is OFF (-nosteadykey)

-[no]keyboard_leds / -[no]leds

	Since MAME uses an input device (keyboard) for output, this sort of
	belongs here. Using this option enabes/disables simulation of the game
	LEDs by the keyboard LEDs. This works fine, but can lead to problems
	after exiting MAME (i.e. CAPS LOCK remains ON), so you can disable it
	here. The default is ON (-keyboard_leds).

-ctrlr <controller>

	Enables support for special controllers. Configuration files are
	provided for:

		hotrod	    HotRod
		hotrodse    HotRod SE
		slikstik    SlikStik
		xarcade     X-Arcade

	There is extra documentation available about this in the file
	ctrlr.txt.

-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. The default is 0.3.
	Note: the current handling is not precise, as it does also implicitely
	set the size of the arc which is interpreted as diagonal movement. This
	is a known problem but it requires some major rework of the input
	handling code to fix it.


MAME core video options
-----------------------

-[no]norotate
-[no]autorol
-[no]autoror
-[no]rol
-[no]ror
-[no]flipx
-[no]flipy

	These are the standard MAME rotation options. They are all OFF by
	default.

-debug_resolution wxh / -dr wxh

	Specifies the resolution of the debugger bitmap in the debug build.
	This controls how big the debugger window will be, and therefore, how
	many rows/columns it will display. The default value is 0x0, which sets
	the automatic 640x480 default debugger size. Note that the debugger is
	only available when running in a window.

-gamma

	This controls the global gamma correction in the game. It is the same
	gamma that is applied when you bring up the on-screen-display within
	MAME. The default is 1.0.

-brightness / -bright

	This controls the global brightness correction in the game. It is the
	same brightness that is applied when you bring up the on-screen-display
	within MAME. The default is 1.0.

-pause_brightness

	This controls the brightness level when MAME is paused. The default
	value is 0.65.


MAME core vector options
------------------------

-[no]antialias / -[no]aa

	Antialiasing for vector games. The default is ON (-antialias).

-[no]translucency / -[no]tl

	Enables or disables vector translucency. Colors of crossing vector
	beams will be merged. The default is ON (-translucency).

-beam

	Sets the width in pixels of the vectors. This option expects a float in
	the range of 1.00 through 16.00 as argument. The default is 1 (1 pixel
	wide).

-flicker

	Makes the vectors flicker. This option requires a float argument in the
	range of 0.00 - 100.00 (0=none, 100=maximum). The default is 0.

-intensity

	Sets the intensity correction for the beam. Higher values give a
	brighter beam. This option expects a float in the range of 0.5 through
	3.0 as argument.  The default is 1.5.


MAME core sound options
-----------------------

-[no]sound

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

-[no]samples

	Use samples if available. The default is ON (-samples).

-volume / -vol

	Sets the startup volume. It can later be changed with the On Screen
	Display (see Keys section). The volume is an attenuation in dB: e.g.,
	"-volume -12" will start with -12dB attenuation. The default is 0.

-samplerate / -sr

	Sets the audio sample rate. Smaller values (e.g. 11025) cause lower
	audio quality but faster emulation speed. Higher values (e.g. 44100)
	cause higher audio quality but slower emulation speed. The default is
	44100.

-[no]resamplefilter

	If the samplerate of the original hardware does not match the
	samplerate actually used by an integer factor, apply a filter. This is
	more faithful to the original sound, however, the sound may not be as
	crisp. The default is ON (-resamplefilter).


MAME core misc options
----------------------

-[no]artwork / -[no]art

	Enable or disable usage of additional artwork (backdrops, overlays,
	etc.). The default is ON (-artwork).

-[no]use_backdrops / -[no]backdrop

	Enables/disables the display of backdrops. The default is ON
	(-use_backdrops).

-[no]use_overlays / -[no]overlay

	Enables/disables the display of overlays. The default is ON
	(-use_overlays).

-[no]use_bezels / -[no]bezel

	Enables/disables the display of bezels. The default is ON
	(-use_bezels).

-[no]artwork_crop / -[no]artcrop

	This will crop the artwork to the game screen area only. The default is
	OFF (-noartwork_crop).

-artworkresolution / -artres

	Scale the game by this factor to accommodate for higher resolution
	artwork. The default is 0 (auto).

-bios

	Expects a BIOS name as the parameter. -listinfo/xml will list the
	possible BIOS names for a game/system.

-[no]skip_disclaimer

	Forces MAME to skip displaying the disclaimer screen. The default is
	OFF (-noskip_disclaimer).

-[no]skip_gameinfo

	Forces MAME to skip displaying the game info screen. The default is OFF
	(-noskip_gameinfo).

-[no]cheat / -[no]c

	Cheats, like the speedup in Pac Man or the level-skip in many other
	games, are disabled by default. Use this switch to turn them on. The
	default is OFF (-nocheat).

-[no]debug

	Activates the integrated debugger.  During emulation, press the tilde
	key (~) to activate the debugger. This is available only if the program
	is compiled with MAME_DEBUG defined. The default is OFF (-nodebug).

-playback / -pb

	Expects a filename as parameter. Play back all game inputs from from
	file INP/filename.inp. The gamename is contained in this file,
	therefore a gamename needs not be given on the commandline.

-record / -rec

	Expects a filename as parameter. All game inputs are written to the
	file INP/filename.inp.

-[no]log

	Creates a log of illegal memory accesses in ERROR.LOG. The default is
	OFF (-nolog).

-maxlogsize

	Expects a number as parameter. If the size of error.log (in kilobytes)
	hits that number, MAME will exit. By default, this is set fairly low
	(10 MB). This is in effect only if you are actually generating the
	error.log file.


Other MAME frontend options
----------------------------

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).

-help / -?

	Displays current MAME version and copyright notice

-[no]clones

	Used together with the list commands, enables/disables listing of
	alternate ("cloned") versions of the same game. The default is ON.

-list / -ls

	Displays a list of currently supported games.

-listfull / -ll

	Displays a list of game directory names + descriptions.

-listgames

	List the supported games, year, manufacturer.

-listdetails

	Displays a detailed list of drivers and the hardware they use.

-listsourcefile

	Displays the source file (in the drivers directory) containing the
	driver for the specified game. Useful for finding which driver a game
	runs on in order to fix bugs.

-listinfo / -li

	List comprehensive details for all of the supported games. The output
	is quite long, so better redirect this into a file. The output is in
	MAME's own format, see listinfo.txt for details.

-listxml / -lx

	List comprehensive details for all of the supported games. The output
	is quite long, so better redirect this into a file. The output is in
	XML format.

-listclones / -lc

	Lists clones of the specified game. When no game is specified, this
	generates a list of all MAME-supported clones.

-listsamdir

	List directory names for samples. Some clones can share their samples
	with their parents (no pun intended).

-listcrc

	List CRC32 checksums of rom files

-listdupcrc

	Find romfiles with same CRC32 (for developers).

-listroms

	Displays ROMs required by the specified game.

-listsamples

	Displays samples required by the specified game.

-verifyroms

	Checks specified game(s) for missing and invalid ROMs.	Adding "*"
	checks all available games.

-verifysets

	Checks specified game(s) and reports its status. Adding "*" checks all
	available games. Terse output.

-vset

	Checks specified game(s) and reports its status. Adding "*" checks all
	available games. Slightly more verbose output.

-verifysamples

	Check selected game for missing samples. Adding "*" checks all
	available samples.

-vsam

	Check selected game for missing samples. Adding "*" checks all
	available samples.

-romident

	Attempts to identify ROM files, if they are known to MAME, in the
	specified .zip file. Can be used to try and identify ROM sets taken
	from unknown boards.

-isknown

	Very terse romident.

-crconly

	Uses only CRC-32 for all integrity checks. Disables the use of SHA-1
	checks when loading the ROMs.

-gamelist

	Used internally to create gamelist.txt

-sortname
-sortdriver

	Used internally for creating gamelist.txt

-listcpu
-listcpuclass
-listgamespersourcefile
-listnosound
-listnvram
-listpalettesize / -lps
-listromdistribution
-listromnumber
-listromsize / -lrs
-listsound

	Lists various statistical data.

-listwrongmerge / -lwm
-wrongfps
-wrongorientation

	Attempts to catch careless developers.


Keys
----

Tab	     Toggles the configuration menu

Tilde	     Toggles the On Screen Display. Use the up and down arrow keys to
	     select the parameter (global volume, mixing level, gamma
	     correction etc.), left and right to arrow keys to modify it.

P	     Pauses the game

Shift+P      While paused, advances to next frame

F1	     toggle raster effects in some games

F2	     Service Mode

F3	     Resets the game

F4	     Shows the game palette, decoded GFX, and any tilemaps
	     Cursor left/right changes between palette, GFX and tilemaps
	     Cursor up/down cycle through valid palettes
	     Page up/down scroll through the palette and GFX
	     Page up/down, D, G scroll the tilemap display
	     Ctrl & Shift are modifiers to change movement speed.
	     F4 or Esc returns to the emulation.
	     Note: Not all games have decoded graphics and/or tilemaps.

F5	     Toggle debugger (only in debug build)

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 for developing drivers and not intended for
	     users. It is incomplete and works only on a number of drivers. Use
	     at own risk.

Shift+F7     Create a 'Save State'. Requires an additional keypress to identify
	     the state.

F8	     Decrease frame skip on the fly

F9	     Increase frame skip on the fly

F10	     Toggles speed throttling

F11	     Toggles speed display

Shift+F11    Toggles profiler display (debug builds only)

F12	     Saves a screen snapshot. The default target directory is SNAP.

ESC	     Exits emulator

