How To Use Your X-Arcade™ With MAME™

What Is MAME™ Classic Gaming?

With MAME™ you can use your X-Arcade™ to relive thousands of arcade classics on your PC or Mac in their original arcade form! These games are not remakes, but the original, authentic arcade games you played in the 70's, 80's and 90's. See the history of MAME™ Here

M.A.M.E.™ stands for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. An emulator is simply a software program that makes your computer pretend it is another game system, like an arcade machine. As the name suggests, MAME™ can pretend to be a multitiude of different arcade machines, thousands in fact! Nearly any game you played from the first arcade game to recent hits can be played with this one program. Combine MAME™ with an X-Arcade™ and you now have thousands of arcade machines in one!

So now you've been schooled on what MAME™ is, but still have no idea how to use it? You need MAME™ For Dummies! MAME™ for Dummies was designed to help new users to find the files they need and learn how to use them.

MAME™ ROM Files:

NOTE: Please read legal implications on MAME™ ROM usage from Northwestern University Law School before downloading any ROMs to ensure legal compliance.

ROM files are the arcade games that were sucked out of the real arcade machines. The MAME™ software pretends to be the real arcade machine to run these ROM games on your PC. No ROM files are included with the MAME™ software, nor do we host any of these files. You can find more information on MAME™ ROM files by searching Google™.

Configuring MAME™ For X-Arcade™ Use

NOTE: The default button layout that MAME™ uses for the X-Arcade™ is the exact same one that is used in the X-Arcade™ Test Utility Program. This means that if your controller works in the X-Arcade™ Test Utility Program, then it will work in MAME™. If it does not, then check your settings in MAME™, not the controller.

1. Download the newest version of MAME™, we suggest MAME™ Plus!

2. Install MAME™ (if it is a .zip file unzip it to a folder like C:\MAME).
3. Switch to Mode1: Move the switch on the back of the X-Arcade™ to the position closest to the serial port, then push the button on the back of the X-Arcade™ twice (the light on the X-Arcade™ should go out on the first push, and back on with the second).
4. In MAME™, open Options (at the top), then "Default Game Options", select the "Game Controllers" tab; and set your "Default input layout" to "X-Arcade"™ from the drop-down list. (on this same tab, click the box to "Enable Mouse Support" for trackball use).
5. If you do not see an X-Arcade™ option here, download this file (right-click and save as, IE users will need to rename the .htm to .cfg) and put it in the "ctrlr" folder of MAME). All of your MAME™ games will work with that configuration. (If it does not, test your X-Arcade™.)
6. Trackball: If you have another mouse/touchpad connected to the PC, you may need to make the X-Arcade™ Trackball the default mouse. The easiest way to do this is to disable the other mouse/touchpad in Device Manager (The X-Arcade™ Trackball shows up as "Samsung" mouse), then re-enable it. If you have a USB mouse, you can simply unplug it, reboot, and then plug it back in again. Otherwise you will need to change all of the default mouse buttons and movements to the X-Arcade™ Trackball manually.

MAME™ Operation:

• After you start up a game, use the left pinball flipper button on the left side of the X-Arcade™ to insert coins, and press the white start button(s) to play.

• You can skip the screens which ask you to type "OK" by moving the joystick left then right (left for "O" and right for "K").

• You can exit a game by holding the player 2 start button and pressing the right pinball button simultaneously. (duals and Tankstick only)

• You can change the controls for any game by simply pushing the "Tab" key while a game is already running to access the controls menu. The Input (general) option allows controller settings to be applied to all games. Input (this game) overrides the general input settings and adds custom controller settings for just the game being used.

• If you mess up some controls, delete the "default.cfg" file that is in the "cfg" folder in MAME™.

• If joystick 1 is the only thing not working, turn your NUM LOCK (NLOCK) key ON (on your keyboard).

Also check out these great front-ends with X-Arcade™ supported (no support offered):

Emu Loader

UltraStyle

EasyMame

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Troubleshooting MAME™ Problems

Make Sure To Visit Dedicated Product Support Pages For Detailed X-Arcade™ Problems

X-Arcade Dual/Solo | X-Arcade Tankstick | X-Arcade™ Trackball

The MAME software includes a "Help" menu that can help you (press F1 on your keyboard to access). Alternatively, here are some more very helpful sites that have more in-depth MAME™ instructions, troubleshooting help, and information:

Official MAMEDev Wiki - The home page of the MAME developer wiki, packed with helpful information!

EasyEmu - Guides and tutorials covering nearly all of the most popular emulators.

MAME™ For Dummies - The quickest quick start guide on the net for M.A.M.E.

MAME™UI Forum - Get help with MAME™ here.

Download the X-Arcade™ Test Utility Program:

PC USERS: If you don't seem to getting any response from your setup, we have created the X-Arcade™ Test Utility Program to test the buttons and directions on the X-Arcade™ (microswitches) , proper connection to the PC, as well as verifying that it is ready for MAME™. This program can be run on a PC only, and should still be your first step to solving problems.

To use the test:

• Be sure NUM LOCK is ON on your keyboard for the test.

• Be sure that you are using the "Standard US" keyboard layout in your operating system or some buttons may read differently.

• Move the switch on the back of the X-Arcade™ to Mode1(the position closest to the serial port), the push the button on the back of the X-Arcade™ twice (the light on the X-Arcade™ should turn off from the first push, and back on with the second) to load Mode1.

• You do not need to hit "F1" as indicated in the test utility, simply push the buttons and move the joysticks on the X-Arcade™ once the program is running and the pictured X-Arcade™ should move accordingly.

• Download X-Arcade™ Test Utility Program

TEST RESULTS: If the X-Arcade™ does not respond in the test, click here to verify proper connection. If a single button or direction is sticking or does not work, click here for more help.

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Why can't I use the right side of the X-Arcade™ on some 2-player games in MAME™?

What you need to understand is that these games you are playing in MAME™ are not PC remakes of classics, they are the real arcade games being emulated on your PC. So if the game only had one set of controls that you took turns playing at the arcade, the emulation software cannot change that. Games that had 2-player simultaneous play will let you do so on the X-Arcade™.

You can however simply reprogram the 2nd player side's controls to the exact same buttons as the 1st player side for these games, and then you could use either side for playing. Keep in mind that the person not playing could interfere with the other's turn.
Click Here to see the layout for this.

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How do I change the X-Arcade™ from 8-way to 4-way mode?

If you are playing a game like Pac-Man™ or Donkey Kong™ and find that the joystick gets stuck when changing directions, this is because these original arcade games used 4-way restricted joysticks. You can solve this with the X-Arcade™ by changing it to 4-way mode

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How can I disable the "StickyKeys" shortcut?

The "StickyKeys" shortcut is activated by default by hitting the Shift key 5 times on your keyboard. To disable it, hit the Shift key 5 times to activate the StickyKeys shortcut (if it does not come up, then you do not need to continue). Click the "Settings" button, on the next window that appears click the first "Settings" button again under StickyKeys, and finally uncheck the checkmark next to "Use Shortcut". Click the "Ok" buttons to get out of these windows, and it should no longer bother your gameplay.

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Using On Your PC With Other Versions Of MAME™

While we recommend following the above procedures for using X-Arcade™ and MAME™, please follow these guidelines if you are using with another version of MAME™or using on alternative Operating System.

The MAME default keyboard commands are identical to the X-Arcade™ with the exception of the left joystick. By default, MAME™ should instantly be ready for your X-Arcade™. Your X-Arcade™Left Joystick is configured to use the NUM FUNCTIONS, and MAME™ default uses the arrow keys. Pressing the NUM LOCK ensures X-Arcade™ Left Joystick is assigned to Player 1.

Be sure your NUM LOCK is ON on your keyboard.

Alternatively, you can change the controls for any game or the entire MAME™ setup by simply pushing the "Tab" key while a game is already running to access the controls menu. The Input (general) option allows controller settings to be applied to all games. Input (this game) overrides the general input settings and adds custom controller settings for just the game being used.

If you still have problems, please visit the MAME™ FAQ Page here