MAME - General Guide

MAME is a multi-purpose emulation framework.

MAME’s purpose is to preserve decades of software history. As electronic technology continues to rush forward, MAME prevents this important "vintage" software from being lost and forgotten.

MAME Links

Resource	Link
MAME - Documentation	Link
MAME - Forum	Link
MAME - Webpage	Link
MAME - Wiki	Link

Where to put the games?

Games that you want to run with MAME should be put under the retrodeck/roms/mame/ (recommended) or retrodeck/roms/arcade/ directory.

What file formats are supported?

File Format	Description
.zip	Compressed archive file
.chd	Compressed Hunks of Data

Does MAME require BIOS or Firmware?

Yes, it depends on the game.

You can do a detailed search over at:

Arcadeitalia - Mame List

Where to put the PSX BIOS?

Directly into the folder

retrodeck/bios/

For some ROMs it needs to be in the same folder as the roms

retrodeck/roms/mame/

It all depends on the game.

MAME Folders

MAME comes with several folders for various assets and files.

Type	Directory	Comment
Cheat	`retrodeck/cheats/mame`
CFG	`~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/config/mame/cfg`	`default.cfg`
INI	`~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/config/mame/ini`	`ui.ini` and `mame.ini`
INP	`~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/config/mame/inp`
Plugin-Data	`retrodeck/mods/mame/plugin-data`
Plugins	`retrodeck/mods/mame/plugins`
ROMs	`retrodeck/roms/mame/` / `retrodeck/roms/arcade/`
Saves Diff	`retrodeck/saves/mame-sa/diff/`
Saves Hiscore	`retrodeck/saves/mame-sa/hiscore/`
Saves NVRAM	`retrodeck/saves/mame-sa/nvram/`
States	`retrodeck/states/mame-sa/`

Storage Folders

Where different types of assets and metadata are stored

Type	Directory	Comment
Artwork	`retrodeck/storage/mame/artwork`
Artwork-Preview	`retrodeck/storage/mame/artwork-preview`
Bosses	`retrodeck/storage/mame/bosses`
Cabinets	`retrodeck/storage/mame/cabinets`
Comments	`retrodeck/storage/mame/comments`
Covers	`retrodeck/storage/mame/covers`
Cpanel	`retrodeck/storage/mame/cpanel`
Crosshair	`retrodeck/storage/mame/crosshair`
DATS	`retrodeck/storage/mame/dats`
Ends	`retrodeck/storage/mame/ends`
Hash	`retrodeck/storage/mame/hash`
Flyers	`retrodeck/storage/mame/flyers`
Fonts	`retrodeck/storage/mame/fonts`
Folders	`retrodeck/storage/mame/mame/folders`
Game Over	`retrodeck/storage/mame/gameover`
How-to	`retrodeck/storage/mame/howto`
Language	`retrodeck/storage/mame/language`
Logo	`retrodeck/storage/mame/logo`
Marquees	`retrodeck/storage/mame/marquees`
PCB	`retrodeck/storage/mame/pcb`
Samples	`retrodeck/storage/mame/samples`
Scores	`retrodeck/storage/mame/scores`
Select	`retrodeck/storage/mame/select`
Share	`retrodeck/storage/mame/share`
Software	`retrodeck/storage/mame/software`
Titles	`retrodeck/storage/mame/titles`
UI	`retrodeck/storage/mame/ui`
Versus	`retrodeck/storage/mame/versus`

Maintaining ROM Sets

As MAME updates, so do the ROM Sets. It's important to use the same ROM Set as the current version shipped with RetroDECK.

Read more on: MAME - Maintaning ROM Sets

Enable Cheats

RetroDECK already includes the cheat file from Pugsy's Cheats in the cheat folder.

To enable cheats:

Open MAME via the Configurator or while in a MAME game.
In the MAME interface, go to General Settings → Miscellaneous Options → Cheats and toggle it to On.
Go back, click Save Settings, and exit MAME.

When you launch a game, open the Quick Menu and go to the Cheat Menu to toggle cheats for that game.

Applying effects such as Shaders and Scanlines

First read up on BGFX effects on BGFX MAMEdev

Go to ~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/config/mame/ini
Open the mame.ini with your text editor of choice.
Find OSD VIDEO OPTIONS and edit the value: video from opengl to bgfx.
Find GFX POST-PROCESSING OPTIONS and edit the value: bgfx_screen_chains from nothing to <yourchoice> from the BGFX link. Example value from MAME: bgfx_screen_chains: crt-geom,pillarbox_left_horizontal,pillarbox_right_horizontal.