Groovymame

TechnoFreek

Hey guys,

I've been tricking around with Groovymame for the past week or so and find the results impressive so I thought I'd share my experience here. For those who don't know groovymame is regular mame.exe modified by a guy called Calamity aimed primarily at CRT monitors.

In my own words (and I'm by no means an expert so stand to be corrected), groovymame attempts to find the closest resolution and refresh rate for your monitor that best matches the original game hardware. This is managed by Switcheres which is bundled with groovymame.

It also has improved video and audio sync over regular MAME along with reduced input lag. Hi score and no nag is enabled by default.

And lastly it allows you to specify your monitor type (if predefined) or else define your own custom crt ranges.

In terms of hardware it is best if you get a 3xxx or 4xxx Radeon card and install Calamity's own drivers which again gives more control over monitor settings.

I'm using and ArcadeVGA which works well for the most part but is restricted by its own Catalyst drivers.

Groovymame also has its own mame.ini so it is very important to generate a new one of these if you go the groovy route.

I have Hyperspin and all other non-MAME emulators running at 31khz. Groovymame/Switchres takes over all MAME games and switches the resolution to 15khz.

Check the Game Information for MK3 below. Compare the hardware Video info to the emulated  Switchres info:



Here are a few vids demonstrating groovymame. Apologies in advance for the cruddy smartphone videos. Kids were in bed too so had to keep the audio down.

First up a video of Street Fighter 2 running at 15khz. Notice the 31khz clarity on Hyperspin. After selecting SF2, the screen goes black and flashes green for a moment as it switches to 15khz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XWZKNrYsAA

 
Groovymame also handles rotation well here. My monitor is horizontal but I told groovymame it was vertical. Batrider at 15khz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poawoKjHfck

And finally, to demonstrate the judder free, smooth scrolling and no screen tearing features of groovymame. The scrolling competition ladder in Mortal Kombat 2 is very juddery in regular MAME but is silky smooth in groovy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZxifqjvefg

Any questions or if there any gurus on here who offer more advice it would be most welcome.

CiDeRmAn

You're more than welcome to come to my house and set that up on my cab!

TechnoFreek

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

You're more than welcome to come to my house and set that up on my cab!

Send me your hard drive!

So are you inputting via jamma or vga?

TechnoFreek

urbanledge wrote: »

So are you inputting via jamma or vga?

Vga direct to the monitor. If I remember correctly I couldn't get an image at 15khz if I went through jamma.

Presume there was a technical reason for that but ultimarc do recommend connecting direct to monitor.

o1s1n

That's a really great idea. So you can enjoy all the high res menus you want and then switch to 15k to enjoy the game as it's meant to be.

Only thing though, I wonder does switching between resolutions like that (you'd be doing it really regularly if you were flipping between games) pose any additional wear to an arcade monitor?

Steve X2

I suppose you have to fiddle with the V and H size every time the res goes from 31khz to 15khz?

o1s1n

The monitor in the video switches between grand without adjustment. I guess it depends on what monitor you have in your cab.

Does yours normally need adjusting when going between 15k and 31k games?

TechnoFreek

Steve SI wrote: »

I suppose you have to fiddle with the V and H size every time the res goes from 31khz to 15khz?

Yeah. Exactly that. The h size is generally ok but the v size always needs a tweak. Pincushion too.

Same as swapping out pcbs I guess.

I have the old mame. ini and exe if I want to stick at 31khz and have the games always fit the screen.

Groovymame is all about accurate image emulation.

The Last Bandit

Why not run the whole desktop at 15Hz ? That's how I had it setup for my TV.

TechnoFreek

The Last Bandit wrote: »

Why not run the whole desktop at 15Hz ? That's how I had it setup for my TV.

Other emulators run at higher resolutions so don't want to compromise those.
Hyperspin looks naff at 15khz too.

KeRbDoG

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

You're more than welcome to come to my house and set that up on my cab!

TechnoFreek wrote: »

Send me your hard drive!

Lets make this happen