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Arcade (MAME 2000)

Background

Based on a snapshot of the MAME codebase circa 2000, 'MAME 2000' is compatible with the MAME 0.37b5 ROM set, which was used in the popular iMAME4All port. While this port is the fastest of the libretro cores, it also has the worst accuracy and compatibility, so it should only be used when speed is the utmost concern. If a device can run any of the later snapshots or FBNeo (or even FBA2012), those will all be better choices for most users.

The MAME 2000 core has been authored by

  • MAMEdev

The MAME 2000 core is licensed under

  • MAME

A summary of the licenses behind RetroArch and its cores can be found here.

Extensions

Content that can be loaded by the MAME 2000 core have the following file extensions:

  • .zip
  • .ZIP

RetroArch database(s) that are associated with the MAME 2000 core:

Romsets

Romsets must match MAME 0.37b5. The XML DAT describing them is kept in the core's repository: MAME 0.37b5 XML.dat.

Features

Frontend-level settings or features that the MAME 2000 core respects.

Feature Supported
Saves ✕
States ✔
Rewind ✕
Core Options ✔
Memory Monitoring (achievements) ✕
RetroArch Cheats ✕
Controls ✔
Disk Control ✕

Directories

The MAME 2000 core's library name is 'MAME 2000'

Core options

The MAME 2000 core has the following option(s) that can be tweaked from the core options menu. The default setting is bolded.

  • Frameskip [mame2000-frameskip] (disabled|auto|threshold)

    Skip rendering frames to keep the audio output in sync when the host cannot run the game at full speed. 'auto' uses the frontend's audio-buffer hint; 'threshold' skips when the audio buffer drops below the percentage configured below.

  • Frameskip Threshold (%) [mame2000-frameskip_threshold] (30|40|50|60)

    When Frameskip is set to 'threshold', skip a frame whenever the audio output buffer falls below this percentage of full. Lower values skip more aggressively.

  • Frameskip Interval [mame2000-frameskip_interval] (1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9)

    Maximum number of consecutive frames that may be skipped. Lower values keep visual updates smoother at the cost of more audio drops when the host is overloaded.

  • Skip Disclaimer [mame2000-skip_disclaimer] (enabled|disabled)

    Hide MAME's legal disclaimer screen at game startup.

  • Show Game Information [mame2000-show_gameinfo] (disabled|enabled)

    Show MAME's driver-status and game-information screens at startup before the game begins running.

  • Sample rate hint (Restart) [mame2000-sample_rate] (Auto|Manual|8000|11025|22050|32000|44100|48000|96000)

    Output audio sample rate, in Hz. 22050 is the legacy MAME 0.78 default; higher rates increase audio fidelity at the cost of additional CPU. "Auto" asks the frontend for its target rate and rounds to the nearest standard rate, falling back to 48000 if the frontend does not report one. "Manual" currently behaves like "Auto". Changing this value requires a core restart.

  • Stereo (Restart) [mame2000-stereo] (enabled|disabled)

    Output stereo audio. Disable for slightly lower CPU on games that don't use stereo mixing. Changing this value requires a core restart.

  • QSound Output Filter [mame2000-qsound_output_filter] (disabled|enabled)

    Run the QSound voice mix through a 95-tap windowed-sinc low-pass FIR (8 kHz cutoff) and per-channel output delay line before sending it to the host. Smooths the upper-band aliasing the 8-bit ROM samples produce on transients and applies the algorithm's slight L/R offset for a wider stereo image. Costs roughly 15-20% extra CPU during active QSound audio. This option is hidden in the menu for games that don't use the QSound sound chip.