XMAME(6)

NAME
xmame - THE Arcade game machine emulator for UNIX/X

SYNOPSIS
xmame.{x11,svga,xgl,sdl} [options] [rom]

DESCRIPTION
xmame is the (M)ulti (A)rcade (M)achine (E)mulator for Unix. It emulates the hardware of many classic arcade game machines.

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.

OPTIONS

  Digital sound related

-dp plugin, -dsp-plugin plugin
    Select which plugin to use for digital sound.

-ldp, -list-dsp-plugins
    List available sound-dsp plugins.

-[no]ti, -[no]timer
    Toggle timer based audio (normally it will be used automatically when necessary).

  Sound mixer related

-smp plugin, -sound-mixer-plugin plugin
    Select which plugin to use for the sound mixer.

-lmp, -list-mixer-plugins
    List available sound-mixer plugins.

  Video related

-b depth, -bpp depth
    Specify the colordepth the core should render, one of: 0 (auto), 8, 16.

-ah height, -arbheight depth
    Scale video to exactly this height (0 = disable).

-heightscale yaspect, -hs yaspect
    Set Y-Scale aspect ratio.

-ws xaspect, -widthscale xaspect
    Set X-Scale aspect ratio.

-s scale, -scale scale
    Set X-Y Scale to the same aspect ratio. For vector games scale (and also width- and height-scale) may have values like 1.5 and even 0.5. For scaling of regular games this will be rounded to an integer value.

-ef effect, -effect effect
    Video effect:

    0   none (default)

    1   scale2x (smooth scaling effect)

    2   scan2 (light scanlines)

    3   rgbstripe (3x2 rgb vertical stripes)

    4   rgbscan (2x3 rgb horizontal scanlines)

    5   scan3 (3x3 deluxe scanlines)

-[no]adb, -[no]autodouble
    Enable/disable automatic scale doubling for 1:2 pixel aspect ratio games.

-[no]sl, -[no]scanlines
    Enable/disable displaying simulated scanlines.

-[no]art, -[no]artwork
    Use additional game artwork (sets default for specific options below).

-[no]backdrop, -[no]use_backdrops
    Use backdrop artwork.

-[no]overlay, -[no]use_overlays
    Use overlay artwork.

-[no]bezel, -[no]use_bezels
    Use bezel artwork.

-[no]artcrop, -[no]artwork_crop
    Crop artwork to game screen only.

-artres res, -artwork_resolution res
    Artwork resolution (0 for auto)

-fsr skip, -frameskipper skip
    Select which autoframeskip and throttle routines to use. Available choices are:

    0   DOS frameskip code

    1   Enhanced frameskip code by William A. Barath

-[no]th, -[no]throttle
    Enable/disable throttle.

-ftr frames, -frames_to_run frames
    Sets the number of frames to run within the game.

-[no]si, -[no]sleepidle
    Enable/disable sleep during idle.

-[no]afs, -[no]autoframeskip
    Enable/disable autoframeskip.

-mafs maxskip, -maxautoframeskip maxskip
    Set highest allowed frameskip for autoframeskip.

-fs skip, -frameskip skip
    Set frameskip when not using autoframeskip.

-brt brightness, -brightness brightness
    Set the brightness correction (0.5 - 2.0).

-pb pause, -pause_brightness pause
    Additional pause brightness (float).

-gc gamma, -gamma gamma
    Set the gamma correction (0.5 - 2.0).

-[no]nr, -[no]norotate
    Do not apply rotation.

-[no]rr, -[no]ror
    Rotate screen clockwise.

-[no]rl, -[no]rol
    Rotate screen counter-clockwise.

-[no]autoror
    Automatically rotate screen clockwise for vertical games.

-[no]autorol
    Automatically rotate screen counter-clockwise for vertical games.

-[no]fx, -[no]flipx
    Flip screen left-right.

-[no]fy, -[no]flipy
    Flip screen upside-down.

  Vector related

-vres vres, -vectorres vres
    Always scale vectorgames to XresxYres, keeping their aspect ratio. This overrides the scale options.

-B beam, -beam beam
    Set the beam size for vector games (float).

-f flicker, -flicker flicker
    Set the flicker size for vector games (float).

-intensity intensity
    Set intensity in vector games (float).

-[no]aa, -[no]antialias
    Enable/disable antialiasing.

-[no]t, -[no]translucency
    Enable/disable translucency.

  X11 related

-x11 mode, -x11-mode
    Select x11 video mode (if compiled in).

    0   Normal window (hotkey left-alt + insert)

    1   Fullscreen DGA (hotkey left-alt + home)

  X11-window related

-[no]cu, -[no]cursor
    Show/don't show the cursor.

-[no]ms, -[no]mitshm
    Use/don't use the MIT shared memory extension (if available and compiled in).

-[no]xv, -[no]xvext
    Use/don't use Xv extension for hardware scaling (if available and compiled in).

-[no]fullscreen
    Start in fullscreen mode.

-[no]yuv
    Force YUV mode (for video cards with broken RGB hwscales).

-[no]yv12
    Force YV12 mode (for video cards with broken RGB hwscales).

-[no]xs, -[no]xsync
    Use/don't use XSync instead of XFlush as screen refresh method.

-[no]p, -[no]privatecmap
    Enable/disable use of private color map.

-[no]x, -[no]xil
    Enable/disable use of XIL for scaling (if available and compiled in).

-[no]mtx, -[no]mtxil
    Enable/disable multi threading of XIL.

-[no]root, -[no]run-in-root-window
    Enable/disable running in root window.

-rid window, -root_window_id window
    Create the xmame-window in an alternate root-window, mostly useful for frontends.

-geometry location, -geo location
    Specify the location of the window (string).

  Video mode selection related

-[no]ka, -[no]keepaspect
    Try / don't try to keep the aspect ratio of a game when selecting the best videomode.

-dar ratio, -displayaspectratio ratio
    Set the display aspect ratio of your monitor (float). This is used for -keepaspect. The default is 1.33 (4/3). Use 0.75 (3/4) for a portrait monitor.

-dm disable, -disablemode disable
    Don't use mode XRESxYRESxDEPTH. This can be used to disable specific video modes which don't work on your system. The xDEPTH part of the string is optional. This option may be used more then once

  X11-input related

-[no]gm, -[no]grabmouse
    Enable/disable mouse grabbing (also alt + pagedown).

-[no]gkb, -[no]grabkeyboard
    Enable/disable keyboard grabbing (also alt + pageup).

-[no]wk, -[no]winkeys
    Enable/disable mapping of Windows keys under X.

-mk keymap, -mapkey keymap
    Set a specific key mapping, see xmamerc.dist.

  Sound related

-[no]snd, -[no]sound
    Enable/disable sound (if available).

-[no]sam, -[no]samples
    Use/don't use samples (if available).

-fsnd, -fakesound
    Generate sound even when sound is disabled. This is needed for some games which won't run without sound.

-sf freq, -samplefreq freq
    Set the playback sample-frequency/rate.

-bs buffer, -bufsize buffer
    Number of frames of sound to buffer (float).

-v volume, -volume volume
    Specify audio attenuation in dB (-32 (soft) - 0 (loud)).

-ad device, -audiodevice device
    Use an alternative audiodevice.

-md mixer, -mixerdevice mixer
    Use an alternative mixerdevice.

  Input related

-jt joy, -joytype joy
    Select type of joystick support to use:

    0   No joystick

    1   i386 style joystick driver (if compiled in)

    2   Fm Town Pad support (if compiled in)

    3   X11 input extension joystick (if compiled in)

    4   new i386 linux 1.x.x joystick driver(if compiled in)

    5   NetBSD USB joystick driver (if compiled in)

    6   PS2-Linux native pad (if compiled in)

    7   SDL joystick driver

-[no]as, -[no]analogstick
    Use joystick as analog for analog controls.

-jdev device, -joydevname device
    Joystick device prefix (defaults to /dev/js).

-[no]m, -[no]mouse
    Enable/disable mouse (if supported).

-[no]ugcicoin
    Enable/disable UGCI(tm) Coin/Play support.

-[no]pspad, -[no]usbpspad
    Enable/disable USB PS Game Pad joystick support.

-[no]rapidf, -[no]rapidfire
    Enable/disable rapid-fire support for joysticks.

-ctrlr controller
    Preconfigure for specified controller, e.g., HotRod, HotRodSE, SlikStik, XArcade.

  File I/O related

-rp rompath, -rompath rompath
    Search path for ROM files.

-sp samplepath, -samplepath samplepath
    Search path for sample files.

-inipath inipath
    Search path for ini files.

-cfg_directory cfgpath
    Directory to save configurations.

-nvram_directory nvrampath
    Directory to save nvram contents.

-memcard_directory memcardpath
    Directory to save memory card contents.

-input_directory inputpath
    Directory to save input device logs.

-hiscore_directory hipath
    Directory to save hiscores.

-state_directory statepath
    Directory to save states.

-artwork_directory artpath
    Directory for artwork (overlays etc.)

-snapshot_directory screenshotpath
    Directory for screenshots (PNG format).

-diff_directory diffpath
    Directory for hard drive image difference files.

-ctrlr_directory controllerpath
    Directory to save controller definitions.

-cheat_file cheatfile
    Cheat filename.

-hiscore_file hifile

-history_file historyfile

-mameinfo_file mameinfofile

-rec keyfile, -record keyfile
    Set a file to record keypresses into.

-pb playfile, -playback playfile
    Set a file to playback keypresses from.

-out stdout, -stdout-file stdout
    Set a file to redirect stdout to

-err stderr, -stderr-file stderr
    Set a file to redirect stderr to.

-L logfile, -log logfile
    Set a file to log debug info to.

  MAME related

-def defaultgame, -defaultgame defaultgame
    Set the default game started when no game is given on the commandline, only useful for the config files.

-lang language, -language language
    Select the language for the menus and OSD.

-[no]fc, -[no]fuzzycmp
    Enable/disable use of fuzzy gamename matching when there is no exact match.

-[no]c, -[no]cheat
    Enable/disable cheat subsystem.

-[no]skip_disclaimer
    Skip displaying the disclaimer screen.

-[no]skip_gameinfo
    Skip displaying the game info screen.

-[no]crconly
    Use only CRC for all integrity checks.

-bios bios
    Change system bios (int).

  Frontend related

-l, -list
    List supported games matching gamename, or all, gamename may contain * and ? wildcards.

-lf, -listfull
    Like -list, with full description.

-lg, -listgames
    Like -list, with manufacturer and year.

-ld, -listdetails
    Like -list, with detailed info.

-lgl, -listgamelist
    Like -list, with specialy formatted extra info for generating gamelist.mame.

-lsf, -listsourcefile
    Like -list, with driver sourcefile.

-lcol, -listcolors
    Like -list, with the number of colors used.

-lrs, -listromsize
    Like -list, with the year and size of the ROMs used.

-lps, -listpalettesize
    Like -list, with the year and palette size of the roms used.

-lr, -listroms
    Like -list, but lists used ROMs.

-lcrc, -listcrc
    Like -list, but lists used ROMs with CRC-32s.

-lsha1, -listsha1
    Like -list, but lists used ROMs with SHA-1s.

-lmd5, -listmd5
    Like -list, but lists used ROMs with MD5s.

-ls, -listsamples
    Like -list, but lists used audio samples.

-lsd, -listsamdir
    Like -list, but lists dir where samples are taken from.

-vr, -verifyroms
    Verify ROMs for games matching gamename, or all, gamename may contain * and ? wildcards.

-vrs, -verifyromsets
    Like -verifyromsP, but less verbose.

-vs, -verifysamples
    Like -verifyroms but verify audio samples instead.

-vss, -verifysamplesets
    Like -verifysamplesP, but less verbose

-[no]cl, -[no]clones
    Show / don't show bootlegs/clones in the above list commands.

-lcl, -listclones
    Like -list, but lists the clones of the specified game.

-li, -listinfo
    List all available info on drivers.

-lc, -listcpu
    List CPU usage statics per year.

  Internal verification list commands (only for developers)

-ldc, -listdupcrc
    Like -list, but lists ROMs with identical CRC.

-lwo, -listwrongorientation
    Like -list, but lists any games which use the orientation flags wrongly.

-lwm, -listwrongmerge
    Like -list, but lists any games which use the clone_of field wrongly.

-lwf, -listwrongfps
    Like -list, but lists any games which use the FPS field wrongly.

-srtn, -sortname
    Sort ROMs by name.

-srtd, -sortdriver
    Sort ROMs by driver name.

  ROM identification related

-id, -ident
    Identify unknown ROM dump, or unknown ROM dumps in dir/zip.

-ik, -isknown
    Check if romdump or romdumps in dir/zip are known.

  General options

-[no]lcf, -[no]loadconfig
    Enable/disable loading of config files.

-sc, -showconfig
    Display running parameters in rc style.

-mh, -manhelp
    Print commandline help in man format, useful for manpage creation.

-V, -version
    Display version.

-?, -help
    Show help.

EXAMPLES

LEGAL NOTICE
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. Download any ROM images at your own risk and responsibility.

PLEASE BE AWARE OF THE POSSIBLE LEGAL RAMIFICATIONS OF DOWNLOADING ROM IMAGES, BEFORE YOU ACTUALLY DO SO! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, AND WE TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS -- YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN!

Also, the xmame authors ask that you DO NOT distribute any ROM images with either source code or binaries of the xmame emulator.

FILES
Config Files are parsed in the following order:

/usr/local/share/xmame/xmamerc
    Global configuration config file

${HOME}/.xmame/xmamerc
    User configuration config file

/usr/local/share/xmame/xmame-x11rc
    Global per display method config file

${HOME}/.xmame/xmame-x11rc
    User per display method config file

/usr/local/share/xmame/rc/<game>rc
    Global per game config file

${HOME}/.xmame/rc/<game>rc
    User per game config file

SEE ALSO

BUGS