MAME/W: Windows Front end for MAME
Written by Jeff Miller (miller@zipcon.net)

THE TIPS (aka MAME/W FAQ)
=========================

MAME/W was programmed in C++ using Visual C++ and MFC.

MAME/W development began in February 1997.

The file DEFAULT.MWR contains all the games that will show in MAME/W.  If 
you don't want a game to be shown, remove it from ROMS.TXT.  If you want to
add a new game to MAME/W, just add it to DEFAULT.MWR.  You can edit 
DEFAULT.MWR with notepad or any other text editor.

You can create a new .MWR file to hold your favorite games.  Look at
DEFAULT.MWR to understand how to create this file.

The file MAMEW.DLL contains all of the screen shots for the supported
games.  This file is optional.  If it doesn't exist, none of the stock
images will be displayed.

You can type the first few letters of a game to jump directly to it.  For
example, typing "gy" will jump to "gyruss".

If you wish to provide your own snapshots (whether or not you have the
MAMEW.DLL file), you can save the snapshot as a .pcx file (use F12 while
playing MAME) and move that .pcx file into a directory called SNAPSHOTS
immediately below the MAME directory.  For example, if you want your own 
picture shown for the game "1942", save a file as 1942.pcx into the 
mame\snapshot directory.

The file UNZIP32.DLL is optional, but if it exists, unzip support will
be enabled.  Just zip up all the ROMS files into a directory called 
ROMS with the name of the ROM.  For example, zip up all the *.bin files 
in the 1942 directory to a zip file called 1942.zip (in the ROMS 
directory).  The next time you run MAME/W and select 1942, it will unzip 
1942 then run the game.  

If you zip up sample files, the zip file should be placed in the SAMPLES
directory directly under the MAME directory.

When settings options, there is a blank field for you to put extra
command line options in.  This is handy if new command line options are 
added to MAME which MAME/W doesn't yet support.

If you hold the shift key when you press "Run", you will see the options
that are being sent to the MAME program.  This is helpful if you are
getting error messages returned from MAME.

[ New tips as of MAME/W 0.29b follow ]

If you run the games & sounds as zip files, you still got to have the 
votrax sound samples unzipped in a separate votrax dir.

If your .MWR file is out of date or corrupted (ie you don't see all 
the rom files listed that you feel should be listed), delete the roms.txt
file, rerun mamew.exe and select "check for new roms".  The .MWR file
will be regenerated!

[ New tips as of MAME/W 0.30 follow ]

Damon Milhem posted this suggestion on the MAME/W Discussion Board in 
response to my request for some type of batch file ability (I posted a 
request for MAME/W to trigger a batch file before starting MAME, thus 
allowing you to configure a SET BLASTER, VESA driver, or even JoyEmu 
before MAME gets going). Damon responded:

"You know, I think you could do this manually. Just create a shortcut file 
for MAME in the MAME directory. Then, enter the name of your batch file on 
the "Batch file" line of the shortcut properties!"

I didn't get what he was saying at first, so here's my translation in case 
you're in the same boat as me:

1. write the batch file you need and place it into your MAME folder 
(BATCH.BAT, for example)
2. using Explorer, go into your MAME folder and right-click on MAME.EXE, 
then select Create Shortcut
3. right-click on the new shortcut for MAME and select Properties 
4. select the Program tab 
5. on the Batch File line, enter the name of your batch file (BATCH.BAT 
in this example)
6. click on Close On Exit and hit OK 

Now, when MAME/W tries to trigger MAME, Windows will actually force your 
batch file to run before MAME is executed - but in the same DOS session. 
That way, you can create all the settings your system needs in order for 
MAME to run optimally.

from TL Westgate