Uh! Guys! Haze has already come out with MAME 0.91u1. This quick release is to patch a Memory System bug Aaron introduced which breaks a number of games. There are also a lot of compiler warning fixes and other goodies! Check the whatsnew.txt for further details.
Prepare yourself for a shock. Ten CHD's have been added in 91u1. Yes, that's right, ten CHD's. They are the following:
- Cart Fury: cartfury.chd
- Gauntlet Dark Legacy: gauntdl.chd
- Gauntlet Legends (version 1.5): gauntleg.chd
- Gauntlet Legends (version 1.2) gauntl12.chd
- NBA Showtime / NFL Blitz 2000: nbanfl.chd
- NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC: nbashowt.chd
- Road Burners: roadburn.chd
- San Francisco Rush 2049: sfru2049.chd
- Tenth Degree: tenthdeg.chd
- War: The Final Assault: warfa.chd
If you squirrelled away the 8 CHD sooners going around then you've got 3 of them covered:
- NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC: Rename nbaonnbc.chd to nbashowt.chd and place it in the nbashowt folder.
- San Francisco Rush 2049: Rename rush2049.chd to sfru2049.chd and place it in the sfru2049 folder.
- Tenth Degree: Rename 10thdegr.chd to tenthdeg.chd and place it in the tenthdeg folder.
There's a remote possibility that someone might be able to produce a patch for the gauntdl.chd sooner to turn it into the one expected by 91u1 but don't hold your breath.
It may take a while for all the information to surface on the remaining 7 CHD's. I'll keep everyone posted.
I've updated all but the CHD Info's: Baddumps, Nodumps, BIOS's. The Baddump + Nodump total is 166 + 211 = 377, no change to baddumps and nodumps up by 2 from MAME 0.91. See Tim's Emulation Page.
The MAME juggernaut has released MAME 0.91. This update, subtitled "Sega and Arcadia updates" also contain several cleanups, fixes and even a debugger enhancement as the Sega updates keep rolling in. Check the whatsnew.txt for further details.
I've updated the Infos: CHD, Baddumps, Nodumps, BIOS's. The Baddump + Nodump total is 166 + 209 = 375, baddumps up by 1 and no change to nodumps from MAME 0.90u4. See Tim's Emulation Page.
It's been a great start to 2005 for the emulation community. Sega emulation is progressing nicely at long last. Now, 3 of the MAME Super Dev's have even found time to set up blogs. This is awesome news.
Aaron Giles started the ball rolling at the start of January and has already added more content to his site this month than the combined total of all previous months :-) Aaron is currently working furiously on Sega Updates and sending Haze 3 code updates per day! Aaron is a huge contributer to MAME, visit his site to see an impressive list of contributions to MAME. As well as 100's of submitted drivers, Aaron has done several, major rewrites in MAME. He is not afraid to tackle the big items and to make sweeping reforms that affect all drivers. Here are some of the major subsystems he has written:
- Windows conversion of MAME (from DOS)
- Memory system
- Input/config system (e.g. conversion of CFG's to XML)
- Hard disk CHD format
- Windows Debugger
- Artwork system
Following Aaron's lead both Nicola Salmoria and Haze have set up blogs in quick succession.
Nicola opened his blog on 22nd January, 2005. Shortly after on 28th January he moved the blog to another host. Nicola is the creator and founder of the MAME project. He released MAME 0.1 on February 5th, 1997. Nicola was out in the academic wilderness for a while as he completed his post graduate studies, but now he's back with a vengeance. Nicola has been revisiting classic old drivers and ensuring they are being emulated correctly. He is quick to identify hacks and fix them and to ensure the emulation is as correct as it can be. In recent U releases he has improved the emulation of Super Qix, Bubble Bobble, Operation Thunderbolt Rastan and Kid Niki. Nicola is also working with Charles MacDonald on FD1089 decryption. He has currently hit a brick wall with investigation into the Kram encryption algorithm.
David Haywood (Haze) opened his blog on 26th January, 2005. After Nicola stopped packaging MAME releases Haze took on that mantle. Managing the source code submissions in a project the size of MAME is a daunting task. Haze has to merge all submitted code into the main source tree. Changed code has to be examined and kludges,hacks and inappropriate changes removed. Haze is largely respected by all but the warez and script kiddies in his stand against the emulation of new and recent game drivers in MAME. As if a monthly MAME release isn't enough Haze even makes the effort to package interim source code releases known as the U releases and make them publically available. Despite all this, Haze even finds time to add new drivers to MAME. His most recent contribution was a tag team with Charles MacDonald to emulate protection in Golden Axe ROTD.
I highly recommend visiting all 3 MAME Dev blogs to get the inside story on what they are doing, WIP updates and what their thoughts are - not just on emulation. Enjoy!
Haze has released MAME 0.90u4. There's also some news about what didn't make it into u4. Haze warns that he forgot a few things and that Pengo is broken - they will have to wait until u5. The u4 release contains a swag of Sega updates from Aaron Giles, FD1089 updates from Nicola Salmoria and Charles MacDonald, ST-V update from Angelo Salese, and Pacman updates from Dave Widel and smf. There's a lot more so read the whatsnew.txt for further details.
With MAME 0.90u4 there's a change to the Arcadia System BIOS (ar_bios.zip). There are still 25 BIOS's in MAME.
I've updated the Infos: CHD, Baddumps, Nodumps, BIOS's. The Baddump + Nodump total is 165 + 209 = 374, baddumps up by 1 and nodumps down by 5 from MAME 0.90u3. See Tim's Emulation Page.
Haze has released MAME 0.90u3. The main features are Sega updates from Aaron Giles and sound updates from Derrick Renaud. These and several other notable changes can be found in the whatsnew.txt.
With MAME 0.90u3 there's a change to the NeoGeo BIOS (neogeo.zip), Japan S1 being added. There are still 25 BIOS's in MAME.
I've updated the Infos: CHD, Baddumps, Nodumps, BIOS's. The Baddump + Nodump total is 164 + 214 = 378, baddumps down by 4 and nodumps up by 6 from MAME 0.90u2. See Tim's Emulation Page.
Haze has released MAME 0.90u2. ST-V updates amongst a swag of other improvements, the whatsnew.txt describes it all.
I've updated the Infos: CHD, Baddumps, Nodumps, BIOS's. The Baddump + Nodump total is 168 + 208 = 376, no change to baddumps and no change to nodumps from MAME 0.90u1. See Tim's Emulation Page.
Haze has released MAME 0.90u1. He's back from holiday and has kicked off the 90 cycle of updates. Plenty of Sega news, see the whatsnew.txt.
I've updated the Infos: CHD, Baddumps, Nodumps, BIOS's. The Baddump + Nodump total is 168 + 208 = 376, baddumps up by 5 and no change to nodumps from MAME 0.90. See Tim's Emulation Page.
MAME waits for no man. With Haze enjoying his holidays, it looks like the other MAME Dev's have put together MAME 0.90. More changes, improvements and features than you can poke a stick at. My favourite is an unexpected Bubble Bobble driver update by Nicola Salmoria! Sweet! Read the whatsnew.txt for all the news.
With MAME 0.90 there's a new BIOS in MAME. It is the Crystal System BIOS (crysbios.zip). There are now 25 BIOS's in MAME.
I've updated the Infos: CHD, Baddumps, Nodumps, BIOS's. The Baddump + Nodump total is 163 + 208 = 371, baddumps up by 2 and nodumps up by 4 from MAME 0.89u6. See Tim's Emulation Page.
It's happened before and no doubt it will happen again. It appears that The Guru has some unresolved issues over what he's coined the Progear Fiasco.
The Guru has done much good work over the years for the MAME project. He produces high quality, reliable rom dumps from arcade PCB's. Many PCB's bought for dumping have been sent off to The Guru as the dumper of choice. The only drawback is that it takes some time because The Guru live in OZ and many PCB's are bought overseas.
Unfortunately (IMO) The Guru is prone to overreacting and can allow the actions of others on the scene to really bend him out of shape. He responds in ways that most people can't quite understand and see as being excessive. One can only hope that he isn't fundamentally and permanently shat off and can cool down, get the situation in perspective and get on with what he does so well.
Aaron Giles has given his site a facelift. He has an amusing take on The Guru's actions. The Guru has responded that while he isn't dumping roms this year, he isn't quitting the scene. Let's see what happens.
It appears that my hunches are way off, I need lessons in the use of the crystal ball :-) My hunch that MAME 0.90 would by out by the end of 2004 did not come to fruition. Haze has been on holiday (I hope he's enjoying it), so the next MAME installment won't be for a while yet.