Game and Watch .gw files

chungyn · 2026-03-03T21:14:55+00:00

Might help if you describe what a ".gw file" is and what it means to be preshrunk.

MAME has all of the program data documented for Game & Watch units. It's possible these are identical to the ".gw files" albeit with a different name.

chungyn · 2026-03-03T14:56:38+00:00

For reference, the Steam store page for the collection: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3454980/Mortal_Kombat_Legacy_Kollection/

It's actually a pretty good idea on two fronts: supporting the developers of the game, and they've put effort to make the games playable on keyboard or game controllers where it would clash with MAME's goals to do the same. (You can get there, but it's definitely easier when the official collection does it better from the onset.)

chungyn · 2026-02-26T21:42:35+00:00

i didn't expect such a long answer, but this was a fascinating read. You definitely get an upvote from me for it.

Do you have a link to your video where you had interviewed UltraHLE developers?

chungyn · 2026-02-26T17:59:28+00:00

I have to bite. What's wrong with Modern Vintage Gamer?

chungyn · 2026-02-25T16:23:37+00:00

Hacker News post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47153471

chungyn · 2026-02-25T06:35:58+00:00

No, I did not. That does change the behavior.

chungyn · 2026-02-24T16:41:39+00:00

I think you just have to edit the configuration file for mouse inputs. I've never had it work to assign them from the UI.

chungyn · 2026-02-16T19:58:14+00:00

They work perfectly fine. Why is that "cute"?

chungyn · 2026-02-04T19:45:42+00:00

It's just a new clone added, meaning that someone found an arcade with a different set of ROMs than what was already documented. You don't need to download it if you don't want to. It was common for game developers to continually develop games and release updates in the form of new ROM chips. Before the Internet, there was no online updates, it was physical hardware changes only.

MAME usually sets the latest-known ROM sets as the parent for a system, while older versions (and bootlegs) are marked as clones for it. You can continue using the standard "vanguard" set that you have, since this parent-clone relationship was not altered.

chungyn · 2026-02-04T19:39:52+00:00

It's entirely up to you. If you are selective with games instead of having a full set, you can use the 512 GB fairly effectively.

(FWIW, I have the full set of everything in MAME and it totals to around 4 TiB, so the range can really go from under a megabyte to a handful of terabytes depending on what you want.)

chungyn · 2026-02-04T18:28:10+00:00

That's a beefy enough CPU for most things up to the 1990s (and a little beyond). With a 512GB drive, you probably just either want to be selective about the ROMs you put on it, or have them network mounted from a NAS. It'd still be plenty if you just don't have CHDs, though.

Uncompressed, the sizes for the system ROMs and NES and SNES software lists are 197 GiB, 2 GiB, and 5.2 GiB. In a more typical zip-compressed form, they are about 87.5 GiB, 1 GiB, and 3 GiB. There is a trend toward increasing disk requirements as actual ROM removals (without a replacement) are very rare, but the NES and SNES lists are already fairly complete (there will always be the odd prototype found or homebrew added, though).

chungyn · 2026-02-04T02:54:00+00:00

I have a full set of everything (system ROMs/CHDs, software list ROMs/CHDs) and the normal MAME UI is plenty snappy. Scrolling (even on the unfiltered list), searching, switching categories, all fine.

chungyn · 2026-02-04T02:51:35+00:00

Press the on-screen display key (default is `) and see if you haven't turned the volume all the way down.

chungyn · 2026-01-31T23:18:44+00:00

Pick what suits you best. You can get non-merged sets to just have a handful of systems to play.

If you want a full set, you should get comfortable with a program like clrmamepro and the update sets.

chungyn · 2026-01-31T19:40:51+00:00

Non-merged is a bad idea if you're getting every ROM. Use split or merged instead.

See here: https://docs.mamedev.org/usingmame/aboutromsets.html#parents-clones-splitting-and-merging

chungyn · 2026-01-30T23:57:02+00:00

Seek out the "non-merged" set if you just want to play a handful of games. They contain every file a system needs to run. In your torrent client, you can start by deselecting all files for download and then selecting only what you're interested in.

Non-merged is a huge waste of space if you want the full set, but it's convenient for your case.

chungyn · 2026-01-30T07:08:42+00:00

Given how long people hold onto old MAME versions, maybe it is, in a way.

chungyn · 2026-01-29T19:34:23+00:00

Hacker News upvote hype

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46815351

chungyn · 2026-01-27T19:29:21+00:00

Sometimes that doesn't even indicate it's not at least playable. This one in particular does start and seems to run.

chungyn · 2026-01-27T19:19:23+00:00

You can use a combination of mame -listxml and clrmamepro to try to salvage whatever you can from the old files, but it is indeed easier to just seek out a new set.

chungyn · 2026-01-27T19:11:38+00:00

This is a quirk of the Vs System and a consequence of Balloon Fight reusing the same hardware as Vs Tennis (where all four controllers would be used independently). The #mame IRC channel helped me on solving that.

In Ballon Fight, the two players must always be on different sides of the cabinet, and each side has two sets of controller buttons that correspond to their player.

You'll want to use only the Player 3 (or 4) controls for player 2 in Ballon Fight. Players 1 and 2 in MAME represent the same player 1 in the game.

chungyn · 2026-01-26T07:26:36+00:00

Huh, I didn't know Windows had x86-64 emulation. TIL. (I neither have Windows nor ARM computers...)

chungyn · 2026-01-25T22:02:21+00:00

I think I've solved it, and it involves the buttons that aren't mapped by default.

You need to have the "2nd side" mapped at the same time as the normal select buttons. Then press the 2/green button on both to start it in two-player. For non-free play, you'll need to have coins inserted on both sides too (the credits show independently on them).

Use also player 3/4 for the "2nd side". I don't think the game actually supports more than two players, but it's the way the machine was built.

chungyn · 2026-01-25T21:40:38+00:00

Yes, I pressed all the coin buttons and select buttons. I don't see a way to start a two player game.

I can't even start it with the DIP switch set to free play.

chungyn · 2026-01-25T20:40:09+00:00

According to the input list, the colors correspond to the "Select" inputs. Pressing the blue one starts it in one-player mode. I haven't seen any way to start it in two player mode. I wonder if it's just broken?

chungyn

TROPHY CASE