MAME cheats

[dee2eR]

I was asked on KLOV about using MAMEs cheats so I figured I repost this here in case anyone else is interested.

I have no experience with the cheats in MAME but you can get the cheat menu to appear in the MAME menu by editing /home/pi/mame172/mame.ini and changing cheat from 0 to 1 in the 'CORE MISC OPTIONS' setting. (same is true for 192). The cheat menu only has autofire options unless you add a cheat.7z (keep it in 7z format) to /home/pi/mame172/ (or mame192). I couldn't find a cheat.7z for 192 so tried one from 187 which seemed to work, it was the newest I could find.

For advmame the option is called misc_cheat (change no to yes) (/home/pi/.advance/advmame.rc, advmame-0.94.rc && advmame.nosdl.rc or advmame.sdl.rc - depending on ARpiCADE version). AdvMAME will also need the file cheat.dat placed in the /home/pi/.advance/ folder (or point the rc file elsewhere with the option misc_cheatfile).

If you cannot access the home folder from your desktop (or network or however ou normally do these things) you can put the files on /boot and copy to /home/pi/[emulator] using the Midnight Comander file browser from the service menu or using the normal Linux terminal copy commands. As far as I know the cheatfiles correspond to their specific MAME versions but I could be wrong, or there may be some wiggle room - I don't know for sure what will or won't work (187 seems to work in 192, 106 seems to work for all advmame versions in use).

If having the cheats enabled doesn't effect stability or add any wierdness I will make them available by default on the next release.

[cool_factor]

What about using bezel artwork with those using larger crt's (like 25" or 27") to fill some of that dead space on the sides? Is it even possible?

[dee2eR]

Should be possible for at least some of the emulators included but I don't know how it works offhand. I will check it out.

[MattMorphett]

Hey dee2eR. Any updates on cheats? I've had my machine on for 2 days straight trying to beat L3 on R-Type II, raising overnight and thought the day in between attempts. I'd love to switch it off before the monitor burns in : ) I'm pretty sure there a level select cheat for R-Type II.

[dee2eR]

Just took a look, R-Type 2 doesn't have a level select cheat (at least not in the MAME I tried).

There's invincibility and rapid fire etc though. The cheat menu should be available in the MAME menus, possibly depending on which emulator you have rtype2 in.

[MattMorphett]

Hey dee2eR,
I guess I assumed from your original post that we were waiting for an update or something, but no?
Mame.ini is in the hidden partition that I can't see on from a mac right? Is that what I'd have to change (as well as adding the cheat file)?
I fear this may be beyond me. Any tips?
Thanks.

[dee2eR]

I guess it doesn't hurt anything if I enable the cheat systems by default. As far as I know it doesn't anyway, I assume if you're not actually using any cheats having it on or off is much the same...

If you want to try again before I release a new build and you cannot access the config files to switch it on from your PC you can always do it on the Pi. You could also copy the files onto the boot partition using your PC then move them to the right spots in /home/pi/[emulator folder] using the file browser Midnight Commander which is available from the service menu. You can do a lot in Midnight Commander so be a bit careful...

That remind me I meant to look at configuring the colours in Midnight Commander to make it easier to read the controls... you can't really see the 'f' parts of the keys well with the default colours making it a bit confusing.