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TWIN GALAXIES
05-04-2020 at 01:02 AM

Dear Community,

Twin Galaxies is considering making an addition to the general rules surrounding MAME submissions.

For those that are interested, we ask that you please review the below wording and help us come to the best verbiage so that confusion is kept to a minimum!

The proposed rule addition is as follows -

MAME submissions not using Wolf MAME will be allowed if video of the complete performance is provided along with INP.

The video of the score performance must visibly show hands and controls throughout gameplay. It must also show start up of game launch.

Providing the MAME version # used and etc. all still apply just like a normal WolfMAME submission.

The rest of the MAME submission rules found here would still apply:

https://www.twingalaxies.com/wiki_index.php?title=Policy:Official-MAME-Platform-Submission-Rules-and-Guidelines

So the new MAME rules section top would read like this:

OFFICIAL MAME SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

MAME stands for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. When used in conjunction with an arcade game's data files (ROMs, CHDs, samples, etc.), MAME attempts to reproduce that game as faithfully as possible on a more modern general-purpose system. MAME can currently emulate many thousands of classic arcade video games from the very earliest CPU-based systems to much more modern 3D platforms.

For submissions using the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulation platform, Twin Galaxies only accepts submissions from versions of MAME that provide the ability to record "INP" files.

INP files are essentially a recording of all the input data that the MAME program receives from you during a play session, and this recording allows for your gameplay to be identically played back by others with MAME for examination in real time.

There are many versions of MAME that are available. Historically, Twin Galaxies has encouraged the use of a version called WolfMAME since it specifically contains limitations on some general MAME options that may be unfairly used by a player against the rules. Submissions using WolfMAME will tend to be more initially trusted - However, submitters are free to use whatever MAME version they would like as long as that submitters enter in the 3 digit version number of the version of MAME / WolfMAME that was used for the score performance.

MAME submissions not using Wolf MAME are only allowed if video of the complete performance is provided along with INP.

The video of the score performance must visibly show hands and controls throughout gameplay. It must also show start up of game launch.

--rest of MAME guidelines follow below with no further changes--

Please review this wording and suggest any changes or clarifications that you feel may help communicate the rules as best as possible!

User comments (42)

Unregistered's Avatar

Just some info that might be useful.

You can use a different version of wolfmame to playback an inp file. I sometimes use 214 to playback as far back as 183 and sometimes it works the other way also. It also sometimes doesn't work and some of my thoughts on that are that they made changes to some part of the game, added or modified some part of the driver to fix or make things better and it breaks the game for other versions so it doesn't always work.


It would be nice if people would submit there file in a naming format listed below.

In the future could you please name your inp and zip file in the following manner.
xxx_yyy_score_zzz

elf_bosco_588800_w183.inp inp
elf_bosco_588800_w183 zip file
so name the inp the same as the zip

xxx your initials
yyy rom name
zzz version of wolfmame
_ separator

This is the method MARP uses and most of us are accustomed too.


@Jace Hall you could write a script that will analyze 2 versions of mame automatically. specifically 183 and 214.

Encourage players to submit using that version of mame. Then have it so that if they use either of those versions that it will do the analysis automatically and save tons of time and make things much easier. Those that choose to stay in the 80' and 90's with old versions of mame will just have to wait for someone to come along and do an analysis .


For some modern games and a few older ones that use internal settings, please encourage use of going into that menu and showing what the internal settings are. This will make it much easier and quicker for their submission to go through. It's a pain to go into those settings and take some screen shots to show what they were.


Maybe even put on the submission page these new updated rules as reminders and such, you know like those pesky things windows does to say "hey look at me, look at what I can do for you". So when people choose the mame version it flashes "hey use this version for automatic analysis or quicker adjudication" and have a box that says don't show this again.



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I agree with John on naming convention to have the wolfmame version part of the filename.

Another thing TG could do as part of the automation is to post fix /add the wolfmame version to the filename submitted if not given.


So where the :

xxx your initials
yyy rom name
zzz version of wolfmame
_ separator


fff = filename to be analyzed is = xxx + yyy + "version of wolfmame chosen on the submission page drop down"


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