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Getting Started

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Gitweazle edited this page Oct 8, 2018 · 17 revisions

Before you can start playing all your favorite games you will need to go through a couple of steps. Below is a checklist of things you need to prepare or do in order to get MAMEHub running. The supported platforms are currently Windows, Mac and Linux.

Step 1 - The Prerequisites

  • First of all make sure you forward port 6805 for both TCP and UDP on your router and allow full access to zsync.exe, Updater.exe, CSUME.exe and MAMEHubClient.exe in your personal firewall. (Windows Firewall is automatically configured when installing MAMEhub). The following video explains all you need to know about the HOWs and WHYs of port forwarding: Ports

  • MAMEHub v4 requires Java 1.7 or higher to function properly. Having traces of older versions or running multiple versions of Java can sometimes cause glitches, so unless you know what you are doing, your safest bet is to first uninstall Java completely (for Windows users: Control Panel - Add or Remove Programs then use Search to find and remove folders named Sun or Java in your Documents & Settings folder) and reinstall the latest release from the official site: Java

  • Now you are ready to download and install MAMEHub. Get the latest version HERE. This page also contains a detailed guide on how to proceed. If you need additional help or information, feel free to post in the official forum's Help section. (Do not ask for games or links to games on the forum).

Step 2 - Play Your First Game

  • To run a game you need a couple of things: First the game itself, usually called a ROM and sometimes you also need a file that emulates the system BIOS. Both files must remain ZIP-ed and placed inside a specific folder. Most arcade games do not require a BIOS (except NEOGEO, PGM, NAOMI etc.), neither do the NES, TurboGrafx-16 (PC Engine) or Sega Genesis (Mega Drive). Games that are run from a CD-ROM (PlayStation, Nintendo64, Genesis SegaCD, etc.) or hard drive, such as the arcade version of Killer Instinct, require an additional Compressed Hard Drive(CHD) image file.

  • Arcade ROMs can be placed directly in the default folder (../MAMEHubRepo/Binaries/roms) or you can specify your own folder by selecting the Audit >> Select Folders menu-item. (CAUTION: Do not remove the default ../roms entry!!). On the other hand, console and home computer games have to be placed in a sub-folder inside your main ROM directory. The names of these folders can be found in the 'Filter by Machine' drop-down menu and must be in lower case letters. The correct path for the SNES would be something like ../roms/snes. Finally, each CHD file has to be in its own folder (EG: ../roms/psu/game1, ../roms/psu/game2, etc).

  • After you collected all your favorite games start up MAMEHub. In order to get your game to show up in the list of games you need to audit or verify it. You do this by going into the Audit menu-item and selecting Rescan Folders. This can take several minutes, depending on how many games you have and how fast your computer is. Here you will also see the option to select additional folders for MAMEHub to look for game ROMs. This is useful if you have a lot of games, so you can manually sort them according to genre or system.

  • You are now ready to start or join a game. Joining an already open game is as simple as clicking Click to Join in the top-left section of MAMEHub's window. To start your own game, double click on the game you wish to play. You can sort your list by clicking on the respective column header or by inputting (a part of) the name at Search For Game. If you join a game that you do not have in your collection MAMEHub will attempt to download it from the host. You can view your downloads by clicking on the Download tab next to Games.

  • Once inside the game there are several commands you can use to configure the game or interact with other players. These can be found in the section In-game-commands of this Wiki.

Step 3 - Invite Your Friends

  • The final step is to find some people to play with. You can bring your own friends or make new ones by chatting to others in the lobby. The MAMEHub chat supports Markdown Syntax, which enables you to use formatted text and links.

  • MAMEHub supports Mumble, which is an open-source voice chat application. It is a great way to talk to people, while having your hands free to continue playing. Connect a microphone and select Launch Mumble in the File menu. For more information you can go to the Mumble homepage: Mumble

  • As in most multiplayer games, it is sometimes hard to find people to play with due to different timezones. By clicking on Arrange a Game you can post a message on the forum to inform others which games you'd like to play and at which times you are available to do so.

  • Finally, treat others how you would like to be treated and most of all have fun!

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