Here are the Frequently Asked Questions

What is MAME?

MAME is the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. See the official site for more info.

Where do I get MAME?

See the official site for more info.

Where do I get ROMs?

I don't distribute ROMs, so please don't ask. Google is your friend.

What is a front end?

A front end is software that provides an interactive interface with other software. In this case, the front end is a graphical selection tool that allows you to choose games and launch the MAME software with that game selected.

How does your front end work?

The front end is a Flash projector file. This is an executable (.exe) that runs full-screen under Windows. It captures key presses (which under MAME are used as joystick inputs) to allow you to select a game. When a game is "selected" the projector file calls Windows batch (.bat) files, each of which contains the appropriate instructions to launch MAME with the correct ROM loaded. For more details, see the front end pages.

What are the system requirements for the Flash MAME FE?

This is a little complicated, but here goes: The FE requires Windows to run, as it is a compiled "Flash projector" executable file. Any hardware that can run MAME should be able to handle the front end, although it resides in memory even when MAME is running, so it may slow low-end systems down some.

Can I get the source?

Yes. The source (the Flash file this is based on) for the original FE is here—it requires Flash MX 2004 or above.

The dynamic version is included in this zip file, with more information here.

Can you add feature X?

Maybe. It depends if feature X is something that I'm personally interested in, or that I see has real usefulness. Feel free to ask. You are also free to download the Flash file and add whatever feature you want...