Re: Marvel Super Heroes won't save High Score

In news:orqvf2h4frs5b3r64j2j1tll7b7ppk8pbf@xxxxxxx,
Andrea Rimicci <nobody@xxxxxx> typed:

I play MAME 0.36final <snip>, it plays a *hell* of a lot
faster than the latest MAME <snip>

I wonder why in the hell latest mame will be more slow on same hw
emulation sourcecode. Arent new emulations supposed to be distinct
code?

Maybe allocating more resources at startup will trigger hw limits on
old machines, I guess?

I have my suspicions, but not having the .36f source to compare with current
source, I couldn't say for sure.

I'd like to think that the emulation has become more accurate, hence
requiring more CPU time but there hasn't been any updates to the older
hardware emulated. And MAME gets slower and slower with every release. My
1.7ghz desktop machine no longer plays Asteroids as fast as it did just two
years ago. It seems that the accuracy (if that is the reason, as opposed to
simply shoddy code) has overtaken the need for smooth, fluid code.

Of course, as much has been admitted by the MAME devs - they are after all,
just writing a documentation system in the form of playable games instead of
a shitload of PDFs. I can understand why this was done, as in order for the
emulator to survive it's got to have a stated purpose that's *not* to allow
people to play games illegally. We all know, however, that everyone who uses
MAME uses it to play pirated ROMs.

MAME could be speeded up if it came as modules, one per system, with a
wrapper that put them all into one interface. As it stands, every new
CPU/DSP/Graphics processor added will slow things down further. Add to that
the fact that MAME is written in C (or was last time I looked, but I can't
see that changing without losing portability) and you have further problems
with sub-optimal code, instead of hand-tuned assembly.

I suppose the dismal outlook is that MAME will get more accurate (but that
won't be visible from a playing POV) and will get slower and slower as
development continues.

Of course, this is all my own opinion and may be absolutely wrong :-)

D.


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Ms Pac-Man help!
    ... There is nothing wrong with Mame. ... with the crappy emulation and sound way more harmful to the hobby than ... because they can't remember how the real pcb's played or never did play ... the games originally. ...
    (rec.games.video.arcade.collecting)
  • Re: Midway 12 in 1 arcade machine from Target. Need Wizard of Wor advice please.
    ... The Main Event is an example of a game that is ... software but its emulation is never 100% correct. ... Then play Mame right afterwards. ...
    (rec.games.video.arcade.collecting)
  • Re: Death to nerds? An open response to MAMEDev
    ... >up a game from my past and play it. ... the MAME team has provided emulation to run ...
    (alt.games.mame)
  • Re: Audacity and Gentoo
    ... it even has "shifted" keys to allow you to control mame. ... It is the one with over 5,000 arcade games emulated though. ... are a side-effect of the hardware emulation. ...
    (uk.comp.os.linux)
  • Re: Unemployed Dreamcast looking for work: Can Dreamcast Mame play these ROMS?
    ... The only decent emulation on the DC is mostly for 8 bit systems. ... I'd wait until you *actually get a DC game* to try out. ... I hear Neo Geo and MAME emulation on it is bad-ass. ... This may run alright...but you'd probably have a better experience using one of the sub-par Genesis emulators and that rom. ...
    (rec.games.video.sega)