For example, in a Split set pacman.zip (a clone), will not work without puckman.zip (its parent).įor this guide, you will want to use a full non-merged romset. In some cases the parent is not the most popular or best working version of the game, however. Split: Some romsets that are considered clones, translations, or bootlegs also require a “parent” romset to run.The only exceptions are games which use BIOS ROMs, which are formatted as ‘Split’ and must be kept in the same folder as the game romset which uses it. Non-merged ROM: All romsets can be used standalone because each zip contains all the files needed to run that game, including any files from ‘parent romsets’.Full Non-merged: All romsets can be used standalone because each zip contains all the files needed to run that game, including any ROMs from ‘parent’ ROM sets and BIOS sets.In addition to having a version number, arcade ROMs can be formatted four ways: CHD files should be copied to subfolders within the folder where the MAME ROM zips have been installed. CHD: Some MAME games require data from an internal hard drive, CD-ROM, laserdisk, or other media in order to be emulated - those forms of media are packaged as CHD files.The path where these samples should be copied varies from emulator to emulator. Sample: Some games require an additional zip file with recorded sounds or music in order for audio to work correctly.For example, MAME 0.37b5 ROMs are required by the MAME 2000 emulator, but will not work correctly with the MAME 2010 emulator, which requires MAME 0.139 ROMs. ROM version or romset version: Each version of an arcade emulator must be used with ROMs that have the same exact version number.

That is why some resources refer to an individual arcade game as a ROM (like people use to describe a zipped game cartridge ROM) while other resources refer to an individual game as a ROM set or romset. ROM, ROM set, and romset: Arcade games are packaged as zip files, most of which are composed of more than one individual ‘ROM’ file.

These definitions are taken from RetroArch’s “ Getting Started with Arcade Emulation” guide. The world of arcade games can be confusing, so let’s set some definitions now.

Most everything you’ll want to know is covered in the video above, but here is a written guide.

Mame 139u1 .zip