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Table of Contents
Q: What exactly is an emulator?
A: An emulator is a program that mimics another computer or system by duplicating the CPUs that make up the device via software. It tricks a MAC into being a Nintendo, or a PC into being an Atari.
Q: What do I need to run a emulator? (Remember, not all Emulators are created equal.)
A: Hardware Minimum (Intel)
- 386DX 33MHz
- 5 Megabytes of hard drive space
- VGA Card
- 4MB of RAM
- MS DOS/Windows
A: Hardware Minimum (Macintosh)
- 33 MHz 68040
- 6 Megabytes of hard drive space
- 640 x 480 screen, 256 colors
- 8-16 meg of RAM
- System 7
Q: I can't get this thing to work! Should I email the author?
A: Emulators come with Documentation detailing installation and operation. Read them from beginning to end. You can also ask computer-nerd friends or co-workers for help. If you determine that the problems you're having are bug related, then inform the author.
Q: It works, but why does it run so slowly?
A: Emulation is complex software that requires a CPU many times more powerful than what it's emulating. If you have a slow CPU, (MAC - 68040) or (Intel - Pentium120) this is your answer. The newer the system, the slower the emulation.
The following is a list of what kind of system that you would need to achieve smooth game play:
- Atari2600 - (Mac, 68040) ----- (Intel, Pentium 100MHz)
- Colecovision - (Mac, 68040) ----- (Intel, Pentium 100MHz)
- Nintendo - (Mac, PPC) ----- (Intel, Pentium 120MHz)
- SuperNES - (Mac, PPC) ----- (Intel, Pentium 200MHz)
- Genesis - (Mac, PPC) ----- (Intel, Pentium 200MHz)
- MAME - (Mac, PPC) ----- (Intel, Pentium 120MHz)
Q: Where's the sound?
A: Not all emulators have sound. Authors deem this to be the least important aspect of the machine so they leave it until last to implement sound.
Q: How do I Install MAME ROMS?
A:You first have to install the MAME emulator.
After you install MAME, and bring up the program, you will see all the games it supports (currently over 600 games). You put the zipped versions of the ROMs in the c:\mame\roms\ directory (given the fact that you installed MAME in the c:\mame\ directory. MAC users, simply put the ROMs into the ROMs folder.
As of v. 0.31 (the current version of MAME is v. 0.33), MAME does not require that you unzip the ROM's in order to play them.
Now that you installed them, you can restart the MAME emulator, so it will recognize that the ROM's for these games are installed.
You play the game by double clicking the game on the left hand side.
Q: OK, I have the MAME Emulator, and some ROMS, how do I play?
A: Playing Control Instructions - Keyboard Equivalents
- #1 - Starts a one-player game.
- #2 - Starts a two-players game.
- #3 - Inserts a "coin". This gives you credits to play.
- F3 - Reset
- F4 - Shows game graphics. Use cursor keys to change set/color.
- F7 - Joystick calibration.
- F8 - Changes frame skip on the fly (60, 30, 20 or 15).
- F9 - Changes the volume percentage through 100, 75, 50, 25, 0 values.
- F10 - Toggles speed throttling.
- F11 - Toggles speed display.
- F12 - Saves a screen snapshot.
- Ctrl - Usually your main fire button, "Alt" is a secondary choice.
- P - Pause
- Tab - Enters configuration menu. Press TAB or ESC to return to emulation.
- ESC - Exits the emulator.
Q: X Game does not work on X emulator.
A: In the world of emulation, things are not perfect. Mimicking the functionings of an arcade machine or a home console is not easy, as the emulator's designer does not have access to the original information and blueprints used to design the arcade/home console s/he is trying to emulate.
So, from time to time, a game ROM will not work correctly on an emulator. This applies mostly to console emulators. For example, the game Road Rash for Sega Genesis does not work correctly with Genecyst, but it does work perfectly with KGen. If a game ROM does not work with an emulator of a specific home console, try another.
In the case of arcade emulators, if it does not work correctly, it will be documented on the emulator's documentation, or on the page you downloaded the ROM from.
If you know a specific ROM DOES work, but it's not working on the emulator you have installed, you might try downloading the ROM again or reinstalling the emulator. All ROMS and emulators on this website are tested, all of them work and they have no viruses.
Q: The emulator says that I need X software, or Vesa X not found.
A: Sometimes, emulation software might require extra software to be able to work.
For example, if an emulator gives you a message saying "Vesa 2.0 not found", it means your video card is not capable of Vesa 2.0 graphics mode. In that case, download Scitech's Display Doctor from Scitech. It will update your video card so that it can support more resolutions/graphic modes. Or, check your video card manufacturer's website for VESA drivers.
You might also need DirectX, in the case of some emulators made for Windows 95/98 or NT.
If you are running DOS emulators outside of Windows 95/98, you might need a program that provides stack services to certain emulators, like MAME. If you need it, you might get the message "CWSDPMI* missing" or something similar. Download this file, decompress it, and put it on the same directory where the emulator is located.
Q: Where ROMS go?
A: Each emulators looks for the ROM files in different locations and ways, but once you understand this in general, you can figure out where to put the ROMS for the emulator you are using.
Before starting, we assume you have already installed the emulator, you have downloaded games for it, that you understand what directory structures are, and that you know how to decompress zip files.
There are at least three different types of locations in which emulators look for the ROMS when it wants to load a game.
Type one: For example, with MAME, you can place all ROM zip files inside the "ROMS" subdirectory created when you install MAME.
Type two: You can drop the zip files in the same directory where the emulator is.
Type three: On some emulators, you HAVE to decompress the ROM zip file into a directory with a specific name.
After putting the ROMS in their correct location, just execute the emulator.
Q: Changing Directories on DOS:
A: The CD command allows you to move from one directory to another within a DOS session.
Throughout the example, we will assume that you already have an MS-DOS screen opened and have decompressed the MAME emulator into the C:\GAMES\MAME.
Let's begin. When you open an MS-DOS screen, DOS will open with the C:\> Prompt in the Windows's desktop directory, usually C:\WINDOWS\Desktop
To change to the C:\GAMES\MAME directory, you would enter the following commands, followed by the ENTER key (it does not matter if you enter the commands in uppercase or lowecase letters):
cd .. - This changes the prompt from the current directory to the root directory.
Example: This will change the C:\> prompt from C:\WINDOWS\Desktop> to the C Drive's root directory, C:\>. Of course, it could be D:\> or any other letter depending on your computer's configuration.
cd directory - This will change your prompt to a new directory.
Example: cd games\mame will change your prompt from C:\> to C:\GAMES\MAME>. You can also do it step by step, like this:
cd games - C:\GAMES>
cd mame - C:\GAMES\MAME>
In case you need to change to another drive, just enter the letter followed by a colon. For example:
d: - This will change you from any drive to the D:\> prompt, in other words, it will change you to the D: drive.
Once you are on the right directory, just execute the emulator.
Q: Changing Directories on Windows:
A: We will assume you are using Windows for this example. Using the GUI on Macs is similar (Windows is just a copycat of them).
Changing directories on Windows to go to the emulator's directory is even easier. In fact, you should already know how to do it. Go to the "My Computer" icon on your Windows desktop, and you'll get the listing of your computer's drives, similar to the picture on the side. Click on the drive where you saved the emulator to, and keep on clicking on the folder icons until you get to the emulator's directory.
Another option is using Windows' File Manager (also known as Explorer). Click on , then "Programs", then "Windows Explorer". From then on, it is just about the same as using "My Computer". The only difference is that this time, directories are arranged in a genealogy tree form, which can be easier for most people.
Q: Compressed? Zip file? What is it?
A: All downloadable files on this site are stored in ZIP format, the most popular compression format on the Internet. Compression allows for a file to become smaller in size, thus reducing the time it takes to download. So, for example, a 500K zip file might contain a 1,000K ROM image inside. A typical compressed ROM image on this website will be about half of its original size.
Now, before using a file which is compressed, you need to decompress it, as most emulators won't be able to read the files inside a ZIPped file (except for MAME). If you're using Windows 3.x/95/98/NT, we suggest you download Winzip, the best ZIP decompressor for those platforms, or download PKZIP for DOS. Mac users should drag-and-drop the .ZIP files onto StuffIt Expander.
For the following instructions, we assume you have a basic understanding of computers, like creating directories, copying/moving files, etc., and that you know how to use the File Manager/My Computer. If not, please consult someone close to you. For these examples, we will be assuming DOS/Windows directory structure (but the tips apply to just about every operating system) and that you are decompressing MAME.
We recommend you create a directory to store all the files you download. For example, C:\DONWNLOAD. Also, create a directory for each emulator you are going to be using, like C:\GAMES\MAME. After installing Winzip, drag the emulator file (the ZIPped one you just downloaded) with a right click and drop it in C:\GAMES\MAME (for this, you must have directory window opened for C:\DOWNLOAD and C:\GAMES\MAME). When you release the mouse button, a menu will appear. Choose the option "extract to...", and by doing that, the file will be decompressed.
If you are using the DOS version of PKUNZIP, download it into an empty directory and execute it. It will decompress itself, and all files will be extracted. We suggest you copy them to a directory on your computer's path, like the COMMAND directory within Windows. After that, you can use it like this: pkunzip filename.zip directory_to_decompress_to -d
If you are using UNIX/LINUX or any other variant, the program used to decompress ZIPped files is UNZIP, and the syntax is just about the same as that for PKZUNZIP.
Q: I'm Still Confused!
A: Don't Panic! The Internet is chock full of great Emulation resources. Start by going to Yahoo and searching for "Emulation ROMS". You'll find hundreds of web sites that deal with nothing but Emulation.
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