*****************************************************************************

         MAMEnu v4.00 - (DOS) Front end for M.A.M.E. (v0.28 or later)

                   Copyright (C) 1997 by Maurizio Zanello

                    E-mail: i0100115@ingstud.univ.ts.it
     MaurySoft Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Way/3440

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                 M.A.M.E. - Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator

           Copyright (C) 1997 by Nicola Salmoria and the MAME team

                     The Official M.A.M.E. Project Page:
                     http://www.media.dsi.unimi.it/mame/

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VERY IMPORTANT:
---------------

MAMEnu does not longer support M.A.M.E. versions before v0.25!!!
This is because now MAMEnu uses M.A.M.E. "-listfull" option to get the full
list of supported games (instead of classical file-searching method).
If you still want to play with an older version of M.A.M.E. you have to use
the old MAMEnu v3.11.

If you have upgraded from 3.2x and use "Packed settings" then PLEASE make
sure you read the "CHANGES.TXT" file.


IMPORTANT:
----------

DO NOT ASK ME FOR ROM IMAGES!
DO NOT DISTRIBUTE MAMEnu WITH M.A.M.E. OR ROMS!

Owning a set of ROM images for an arcade game that you do not own is a
violation of copyright laws.


FREEWARE DISCLAIMER:
--------------------

This product is freeware.  You may use it for your own game playing needs
and that is it!  I won't take any responsibility (directly or indirectly)
to any damage (temporary or permanent) that this program or any associated
programs may do.  Also, you can freely distribute this program and its
associated files as long as you respect the following restrictions:

  * That files "MAMENU.EXE", "MAMENU.ICO", "MAMENU.TXT" and "CHANGES.TXT" are
    included in the same archive in an unmodified form;
  * It must NEVER be packaged in with M.A.M.E. or ROM images;
  * That no charge is made for copying or distribution of this program and
    its associated files (beyond reasonable access fees);
  * It may not be included in any commercial product or CD-ROM compilations
    without the author's express permission.


FILES IN THIS ARCHIVE:
----------------------

The following files should be contained in this archive:

  * MAMENU.EXE    MAMEnu, the main program (Another fine MaurySoft product);
  * MAMENU.DEF    The definition file (INI-style) for MAMEnu, updated for
                  M.A.M.E. v0.28;
  * MAMENU.USR    The user settings file (INI-style) for MAMEnu, updated with
                  optimal settings for use with M.A.M.E. v0.28;
  * MAMENU.ICO    Windows icon for MAMEnu (in multiple-icon format);
  * MAMENU.TXT    This document file;
  * CHANGES.TXT   This file contains the WHAT'S NEW section.

If any of these files is missing, please get the latest, full version at my
Homepage (at http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Way/3440).
If you can't find it, then e-mail me and I'll send you a copy by e-mail or
I'll tell you where to find it.


FEATURES:
---------

  * DOS-native program (but works also perfectly under Windows and OS/2);
  * GUI-based (with a fast, nice graphic interface & mouse support) and
    EXTREMELY user-friendly;
  * Help and Topic Search for every game supported by M.A.M.E. (only with
    original M.A.M.E. "README.TXT");
  * Support for long descriptions (max. 35 characters) for every game;
  * All descriptions and user settings are saved to disk (using INI-style
    files "MAMENU.DEF" and "MAMENU.USR");
  * M.A.M.E. error messages are displayed with an elegant dialog box;
  * Fully extendible (max. 400 games for now);
  * Support for additional user-defined M.A.M.E. options;
  * Support for (.RAR, .ZIP and/or .ARJ) compressed ROMs and sound samples
    (with "(UN)RAR.EXE", "PKUNZIP.EXE" and/or "ARJ.EXE");
  * Support for packed settings for compressed games;
  * Only the games ACTUALLY present are listed on the menu (if you get only
    one game, you won't see the whole list, but only that game);
  * Support for games with specific settings;
  * Original, clone and "bugged" games may be displayed with three different
    colours (white, light gray & dark gray);
  * Support for Win95-like navigation system;
  * Support for global or individual resetting of high scores and/or game
    configurations;
  * Support for auto-detect of description and samples file for new games;
  * Support for auto-detect of VESA v2.0 (in "Autodetect" mode MAMEnu will
    run games with "-vesa2l" option ONLY when UNIVBE is installed);
  * Last but not least: Freeware/E-mailware.


REQUIREMENTS:
-------------

  * Any computer that has the ability to run M.A.M.E. (but if you just want
    to have a look at the program, you could run it on a 12MHz IBM PC-AT with
    512kb of base-RAM, a VGA card and DOS 4.00 ...aaargh!!!);
  * To have "MAME.EXE", the original "README.TXT" and games subdirectories
    containing ROMs needed;
  * To support compressed ROMs: to have "(UN)RAR.EXE", "PKUNZIP.EXE" and/or
    "ARJ.EXE" in the PATH and the archive files of ROM images located in a
    directory specified in the environment menu (default is "ROMS");
  * To support compressed samples: to have the corresponding ROMs compressed
    and the archive files of samples located in a directory specified in the
    environment menu (default is "SAMPLES");
  * To support packed settings: to have the corresponding ROMs compressed and
    the settings files located in a directory specified in the environment
    menu (default is "SETTINGS").


INSTALLATION:
-------------

To install simply unzip "MAMENU40.ZIP" into your M.A.M.E. directory.
MAMEnu assumes every directory in the current directory (except "OBJ", "SRC",
"ROMS", "SAMPLES" and "SETTINGS"), and every .RAR, .ZIP and .ARJ in the ROMs
directory, is a game that can run and is set up to run via "MAME.EXE".
When you are sure you are all set up, from a DOS prompt, type "MAMENU".

IMPORTANT: DO NOT MODIFY OR RENAME THE ORIGINAL M.A.M.E. "README.TXT"!!!
           MAMEnu uses this file for the Help and the Topic Search.


RUNNING PROGRAM:
----------------

A valid command line is:

  > MAMENU [options] [M.A.M.E. options]

...where options can be:

  * /?      Display a brief help and info-version;
  * /50     Use 50 lines text mode;
  * /ECHO   Echo the M.A.M.E. command line and allow batch creation;
  * /NOVGA  Disable VGA graphic characters.

...and M.A.M.E. options can be any additional emulator option.


HOW TO USE:
-----------

It's easy: select which game you wish to play with keyboard or mouse.
You can use the cursor keys to select the game from the game list then press
[Enter] to play.  Or, you can use the mouse to choose which game then click
on the "Play!" button (double-click has the same effect).  You can also use
[PgUp] or [PgDn] to move more quickly.
If you want to move directly to the game you'd like to play, you can choice
between systems:

  * Press the first letter of game's name and you will jump to the first
    entry in the list which begins with that letter.  Keep pressing the
    letter and the selection bar will loop through all of the entries
    beginning with that letter;
  * Type quickly the first few letters of game's name and you will jump to
    (e.g. type "GALAX" to play with "Galaxian", or type "MRL" to play with
    "Mr. Lo!").

To change current games group press left and right cursor keys or click on
the title bar.

In the other windows, you can use the [Tab] key or the cursor keys to move
the focus to the other controls, or you can click on them using the mouse.

If you're familiar with professional GUI programs you will quickly notice
what this program has to offer.


ADDING AND DELETING GAMES/ROMS:
-------------------------------

Remember that MAMEnu displays only the games ACTUALLY present, so:

  * To add a new game, siply create the corresponding directory or archive
    file (containing ROMs needed) and then run MAMEnu: if MAMEnu detects new
    games (Plug&Play?!? Naaaah!!!), it will ask you to describe them.  Select
    "Cancel" to accept all of the new entries with default values;
  * To delete a game, simply remove the corresponding directory or archive
    file.


HOW TO USE COMPRESSED ROM IMAGES:
---------------------------------

If you want, MAMEnu can automatically uncompress your game ROMs when you play
and remove them when you are finished (without losing .HI and .CFG files:
MAMEnu stores them into settings directory).

  * Make sure that "UNRAR.EXE" (or "RAR.EXE"), "PKUNZIP.EXE" and/or "ARJ.EXE"
    are available in the PATH;
  * Create a directory for compressed ROM images (by default MAMEnu assumes
    "ROMS" within your M.A.M.E. directory);
  * Put compressed ROMs into here;
  * Run MAMEnu, open the environment menu and define ROMs directory.

IMPORTANT: Each game must have a separate archive file containing all of the
           required ROM images for that game, and the archive file must have
           the same filename as the game's directory (e.g. "Burger Time" has
           a directory called "BTIME", so the .ZIP file would be called
           "BTIME.ZIP").  Remember that you don't have to create the game's
           directory: only the archive file.  Also, remember to put the
           archive file into the ROMs directory!


GAMES LOADING PRIORITY:
-----------------------

The priority during loading of games is:

  * uncompressed directory games;
  * .RAR archive files;
  * .ZIP archive files;
  * .ARJ archive files.


HOW TO USE COMPRESSED SOUND SAMPLES:
------------------------------------

There are some games (like "INVADERS" and variants) that use the same sound
samples.  If you use compressed ROMs for these games, you can avoid to store
the same samples in lots of archive files (and then save your disk space)
using a separate archive file.  Also, in this way you don't need to re-pack
them every time a new version of samples comes out.

  * Create a directory for compressed samples (by default MAMEnu assumes
    "SAMPLES" within your M.A.M.E. directory);
  * Put compressed samples into here;
  * Run MAMEnu, define samples directory into the environment menu, then
    describe all of the games that will use those samples (using the [F2]
    key) and set "Compressed samples" with the name (without the extension)
    of the archive file of samples (wildchars "?" and "*" are allowed).

EXAMPLE: Put "INVADERS.ZIP", etc... in "ROMS";
         Put "INVSAMP.ZIP", etc... in "SAMPLES";
         Set "Compressed samples" (of "Space Invaders" and clones) with
         "INVSAMP" (or "INV*").


HOW TO USE PACKED SETTINGS:
---------------------------

If you use compressed games, you can avoid to lose a lot of disk space (due
to the slack space used by all .HI & .CFG tiny files) using packed settings.
In this way MAMEnu can automatically store all settings files in one file:
"SETTINGS.PAK".

  * Run MAMEnu, open the environment menu, set "Packed settings" box and wait
    "a moment": existing settings will be packed (or unpacked if you unset
    the option).


GENERIC AND SPECIFIC SETTINGS:
------------------------------

By default, each game uses generic settings: in this way you don't have to
set them for every game.  However, some games require particular settings
(like a different graphic mode or frameskip) that could bother the other
games.  In this case you can use specific settings feature.

To define the kind of settings in a game, simply describe it (using the [F2]
key) and set the "Settings" value.  When a game is set up to use it's own
settings for the first time, MAMEnu will assume values from the current
generic settings.

To open the settings menu use the [F6] key.


THE .DEF & .USR FILES:
----------------------

The main purpose of "MAMENU.DEF" and "MAMENU.USR" files is to store the games
definitions and settings for MAMEnu and all of the games supported by M.A.M.E.
These are plain text files and can be edited with DOS EDIT (or with Windows
Notepad).  However, I'd suggest you not to modify these file unless you know
what you're doing, and to do all of the changes you need within MAMEnu.
If you delete the files, you'll lose all of the games descriptions and
settings.


SUPPORT FOR OLDER VERSIONS:
---------------------------

I will no longer provide support for MAMEnu versions before v4.00.
If you have an old version, please get the latest one at my Homepage.


WHAT'S NEW:
-----------

Read "CHANGES.TXT" file for a detailed list of the new features.

ACKNOLEDGEMENTS:
----------------

Thanks to the following people:

  * Nicola Salmoria (MC6489@mclink.it) and the MAME team for the best Arcade
    Emulator available (at http://www.media.dsi.unimi.it/mame/);
  * Mirko Buffoni (mix@lim.dsi.unimi.it) for including my suggestions and
    modifications into the M.A.M.E. Project (e.g. "-listxxxx" options);
  * Dave Spicer for the second best Arcade Emulator available;
  * Allard van der Bas (avdbas@wi.leidenuniv.nl) for the Arcade Emulation
    Programming Repository (at http://valhalla.ph.tn.tudelft.nl/emul8);
  * Thomas Hammel for his awesome Arcadomania
    (at http://www.datacomm.ch/~camelot/arcade.html);
  * Chris & Pete for The PC Arcade
    (at http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/dodge/);
  * John den Hartog for his mystic Atmospherical Heights
    (at http://www.xs4all.nl/~delite/);
  * Dave W. for his fabulous Dave's Video Game Classics
    (at http://www.gamepen.com/gamewire/classic/classic.html);
  * Everyone else who has contributed to the M.A.M.E. Project and to ALL OF
    THE OTHER EMULATIONS, frontends and associated utilities (in particular
    to Scott Stone, Paolo Nicoletti, Matt De Gabrielle and... Blood!, "whose
    ideas may have 'inspired' me");
  * Everyone who has tried MAMEnu and sent me compliments, suggestions and
    bug reports: thanx dudes (in particular to Sal Bugliarisi, Ian Alexander,
    Ulrich Doewich, Bruno Altobelli, Paolo "Torakiki" Corsini, Luca Zuliani,
    Robert Holmes, Stefano Alloro, Thomas Beuler, Stuart Simpson, Frederic
    Vecoven, Gareth Hall, Dennis Weidner, Thomas Mand, Martin Schaefer, Mike
    Blair, John Stewart, Bernd Wiebelt, John Holmes, Christian Oliver, Rod
    Collen, Eric Linenberg, "CyberTaco", Bill Orr, Andrea Fregoli, Bruce
    Bennett, Nicola Di Battista, Justin Scott, Patrick Maloney, Alessandro
    Tribbia, Marc Naninck, Sean Poyser, Cord Coslor, Stu Smith, Alberto Jose,
    Todd Aiken, Aitor Pelaez, "BestMail", Brad Thomas, Marco Remondini,
    Gabriele Carioli, Doug Gibson, David Robert Elton, James Hohenthaner,
    Andrea Mazzolani, Diego Simunovich ...huff! :P ...and anyone else that
    I've forgotten);
  * Juanjo Gil (juanjog@usa.net) for his brilliant suggestions about
    compressed sound samples;
  * Micro Dragon (micro@psyber.com) for the new (very nice!) MAMEnu icon;
  * Robert "XBoy" Cultrara, Gabriele "Jib" Dambrosi, Mirko "MiX" Buffoni,
    Massimo "Raid" Disnan, Alex "Harpo" Pericolo and "Sandman": my official
    beta-testers;
  * Vladan Bato for checking this document (Vladan!!!?! Where are you?!?).


MAMEnu PROJECT:
---------------

MAMEnu was written entirely by me in my spare time, using the good old Turbo
Pascal v7.0 (with a little of help from TP v6.0's WIN.OBJ) on my P100.


SUGGESTIONS, COMMENTS, COMPLIMENTS, REQUESTS, BUG REPORTS, INSULTS:
-------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm very busy at the moment and I don't know if I can answer to everyone...
however if you have any of the above, please send them to me.

IMPORTANT: To send any bug reports, please include "MAMENU:" at the start of
           the subject line.  Thanks.


THE AUTHOR:
-----------

I'm a (hopeless?!?) student at the university of Trieste, in Italy.
This program was written for my own use first, and then I thought it could
help someone else...  So here it is!
If you happen to use this program, remember to send a little e-mail to me.

Thanks for using MAMEnu.  Bye!
                                                               Maury
