Which emu do you prefer for shmups?

lawnspic · Post by **lawnspic** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 7:07 pm

I used to only use Kawaks for Cps1 and 2 and Neo, but even though i always hated Mame im starting to warm up to. Right now im using Mame32plus 108. For some reason there is a glitch with the rom scan in 111(really slow) in the official and optimized as well as plus. Kawaks still runs Neo better IMO (has cpu overclock) but the blitters suck and i cant get rid of that annoying screen tear even with triple buffering. Mame has good vsync, but runs a litlle slow on some games (mslugx and 2 for starters. Right now im playing Stormblade and Cyvern which play really well. The one thing that pisses me off with some games is controller lag. This was a big issue for me with Fbaxxx for Xbox on the Cave and Raising shmups(Bgaregga and Dodonpachi) Some would say i was was wrong, but you know controller lag when you play.So all in all Mame and Kawaks. Other notable are Fba and Nebula but dont support some of the newer bootleg sets.

Also as a side note i messed around with chankast with my friends AMD 64x2
and was really impressed. My copy of Radirgy played really well(need a fast PC) and seems to benefit alot from AMD processors, dont know about the new Intels> Also Soul Calibur Rocks when configured right. I was very dissapointed with Saturn emu's. TFV ran like shit in SSF though graphics were decent. Go figure for an old system, must be those damn twin hitachi chips that are a pain. But then again mame cant do squat with RS yet.

Damocles · Post by **Damocles** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 8:11 pm

I used to run Nebula and NeoRageX for CPS-2 and Neo-Geo games, respectively. However, I've consolidated most everything into Mame. ...although I still use NeoCD for Ironclad Brikinger. As for Saturn emus...well...I'm betting we'll have a perfect PS2 emulator before we get a perfect Saturn one.

...and lets not start with the whole emulation "perfection" thing...it gets really old.

KBZ · Post by **KBZ** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 8:13 pm

I use raine and xmame under linux.

xmame with svgalib would be better but I could only get xmame.sdl to compile.

raine obviously runs better, but general opinion is that mame is more accurate. I guess this must be true with most games, but I find that esp rade runs much more accurately than in mame where it's much too fast.

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 8:17 pm

Plain command-line MAME 0.99b.

lawnspic · Post by **lawnspic** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 8:27 pm

i never used command line mame(too lazy) i think i will give it a shot. Cant wait till there will be(if ever) emus on the 360.

BIG · Post by **BIG** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:07 pm

The only emus I use nowadays are the ones for PSP...

CPS2PSP,MVS2PSP,gpSP,p0pstation,etc.

B-

tiktak · Post by **tiktak** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:31 pm

Does anybody have a problem with psx/ps2 controler converters? I mean delay that makes every shmup unplayable. I wondered is it computer, soft or converter problem but didn't bother to check it. Since it's topic about different emulators maybe someone have some experience and could help me. thx

jpolz · Post by **jpolz** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 12:50 am

Damocles wrote:I used to run Nebula and NeoRageX for CPS-2 and Neo-Geo games, respectively. However, I've consolidated most everything into Mame. ...although I still use NeoCD for Ironclad Brikinger. As for Saturn emus...well...I'm betting we'll have a perfect PS2 emulator before we get a perfect Saturn one.

...and lets not start with the whole emulation "perfection" thing...it gets really old.

What's wrong with SSF? I have latest version and it runs everything full speed?

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 1:06 am

I've always just used MAME32...I ought to try to figure out a few others eventually.

JBC · Post by **JBC** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 1:22 am

BulletMagnet wrote:I've always just used MAME32...I ought to try to figure out a few others eventually.

Same here... for arcade emulation at least. I don't see the need for anything else unless it just happens to run a specific game better that you care a whole lot about. The ability to record input is a dream come true. I really like all the extra little things you can download for it too, like the cabinets, flyers, and info files. *drool for info files*

I've never really looked into it before but from my understanding there was supposed to be an online co-op utility for some Mame release before. That would be awesome for playing arcade shmups with friends from home, just like back in the day ^.^ Don't take that for fact though, because like i said i've never looked into it. Anyone know anything about that?

lawnspic · Post by **lawnspic** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 1:33 am

jpolz wrote:
Damocles wrote:I used to run Nebula and NeoRageX for CPS-2 and Neo-Geo games, respectively. However, I've consolidated most everything into Mame. ...although I still use NeoCD for Ironclad Brikinger. As for Saturn emus...well...I'm betting we'll have a perfect PS2 emulator before we get a perfect Saturn one.

...and lets not start with the whole emulation "perfection" thing...it gets really old.
What's wrong with SSF? I have latest version and it runs everything full speed?

What are your system specs, i was running TFV through Daemon tools and it was stuttering alot. Any ideas?

jpolz · Post by **jpolz** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 5:51 am

lawnspic wrote:
jpolz wrote:
Damocles wrote:I used to run Nebula and NeoRageX for CPS-2 and Neo-Geo games, respectively. However, I've consolidated most everything into Mame. ...although I still use NeoCD for Ironclad Brikinger. As for Saturn emus...well...I'm betting we'll have a perfect PS2 emulator before we get a perfect Saturn one.

...and lets not start with the whole emulation "perfection" thing...it gets really old.
What's wrong with SSF? I have latest version and it runs everything full speed?
What are your system specs, i was running TFV through Daemon tools and it was stuttering alot. Any ideas?

Pentium 4 @ 3.4Ghz (Prescott Core)
ABIT AG8 MoBo
1GB PC3200 DDR
ATI Radeon X600

I don't use virtual drives though, that might be the difference.

lawnspic · Post by **lawnspic** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 6:00 am

i got RS working good in SSF i used my disc, i just got the new one they released earlier in the week

My specs(laptop)
2.8 P4 HT
512 DDR 4200
Mobility Radeon 9700

Bloodreign · Post by **Bloodreign** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 6:05 am

MAME 32 for many shmups, Kawaks for Neo Geo and CPS 2 shmups, my system is too slow for Saturn emulators (and lacks SSE, so no SSF), though playing Harmful Park, Raiden DX, Gradius Gaiden, and R-Type Delta on the PSX emus is a breeze, no slowdown from the PC (minor for Delta though, but not a problem).

FatCobra · Post by **FatCobra** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 6:24 am

I prefer RAINE if the games are supported by it. (Most of the Raizing games, which are my favorite shmups, run on it)

Otherwise, it's MAME32. My laptop is a bit behind the times, so I can't use the more recent verisons of MAME32.

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 9:25 am

MAME32 (from MAME32qa), just got a new rig so I will see if I can't run Solar Warrior (I should be able to do Gradius IV full speed!)

For Genesis, I used Gens 2.11 for a long time, but got sick of the long load time and wacky procedure necessary for CD-ROM. Then I switched to Fusion 3.51 (aka Kega Fusion, or Fusion32 - they really should stick to a standard name), which does pretty much everything Gens did (except it doesn't have pause via Esc, like Gens did, which proved to be a very minor irritation today). I got sick of having my computer's fan spin up while playing Flying Shark, though, so I tried switching back to Gens.

Then I figured out that Fusion works best when you have both high priority and waiting when inactive checked. So I'm back to that.

For NES/Famicom, the best is FCE Ultra, although you need to find a custom version that has support for pirate mappers if you want to play some of those obscure Chinese pirates ;)

SNES, back to ZSNES. It was the first SNES emulator I used (first emulator was Genecyst, for Zero Wing), played a bit of that crappy Tenchi Muyo RPG for some reason. Can't believe they actually updated it, which was cool. The grab-and-increment-frame option is cool as heck, and more emulators should include it. Not sure I like the Shift + Fkey savestate method better than the Gens/Fusion style, though.

For GBA games (which I haven't played much in a few months), VisualBoyAdvance still seems to be the best.

I also use a number of sound emulators/plugins for listening to tunes - the plugin for Genesis tunes has been getting a lot of use and I also use BridgeM1.

destructor · Post by **destructor** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 12:25 pm

MAME (commandline or GUI) only.

RippleScythe · Post by **RippleScythe** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 3:37 am

Final Burn Alpha Plus for Capcom, Eighting/Raizing and Toaplan FTW

But I'm stuck with MAME for Konami etc.

elvis · Post by **elvis** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 3:55 am

Linux + AdvanceMAME + SVGALib + Real arcade monitor.

There is no other way.

gameoverDude · Post by **gameoverDude** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 5:06 am

I use WolfMAME104 for CPS-2 and Neo-Geo stuff, due to all the changes made to some recent MAME versions (4 GB CHD files for CPS-2 games? Forget that) and also IIRC the Neo Bios was recently changed as well. I'll set the resolution to 1024x768 with prescale 4 and the aperture4x6 effect.

WolfMAME 104 I stick with for anything else unless I need a newer MAME version. For PS games, I'll use ePSXe.

Current system specs:

3.2 GHz P4 Hyper Threading, 2.5 GB RAM, 256 GB GeForce FX 5700 LE

hikarutilmitt · Post by **hikarutilmitt** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 7:02 pm

xmame on my HDTV through DVI
ZSNES the same way
Gens for Linux
FCE Ultra for Linux

Various stuff for the PSP

rolins · Post by **rolins** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 8:32 pm

I'm using Raine too. My computer can't handle mame anymore, so Raine was best alternative. It run faster and supports Cave, Raizing, and Toaplan games I want to play.

A new pre-release of Raine v0.50 is out btw.

agony · Post by **agony** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 9:46 am

since xmame for linux is dead
I am now using SDLmame, works really great and it seems to me it`s a lot faster than the bloody old xmame

from the sdlmame FAQ

XMAME is not currently under development. SDLMAME may replace it entirely, or XMAME may come back as an extended version of SDLMAME. Either way, the existing XMAME codebase is likely dead (SDLMAME is based entirely from Aaron Giles’ original Win32 code and contains no XMAME code).

elvis · Post by **elvis** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 12:10 pm

Anyone here use MESS? I'm keen to give AdvanceMESS a whirl. Currently a lot of the emulators out there for various consoles don't allow the creation of arbitrary (or accurate) modelines for RGB monitors.

MESS seems a little immature on the game compatibility front however. Are there any other console emulators out there that support low-res accurate frequency output ala AdvanceMAME?

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 12:11 pm

elvis wrote:Anyone here use MESS?

Yes. There are some slight problems with the NES emulator (if you start it without a cartridge, or don't load a cartridge in the EXACT RIGHT WAY, it will crash back to the GUI on you), but it works pretty well. I use it for making background rips (F12 screenshots are the best thing this side of ZSNES).

antron · Post by **antron** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 7:16 pm

elvis wrote:Linux + AdvanceMAME + SVGALib + Real arcade monitor.

There is no other way.

That's what I want, but I don't want to spend the time to set it up.
I wish someone would make a simple install disc for this.

Can you give me more information?:
Distro?
Video card? (I have ArcadeVGA)
Frontend?
Do you keep a VGA monitor connected too?

I went with:
Windows 2000 Server + Mame32 + MameWah because it was so easy. I found a tool to set up all the resolutions. When someone comes over and selects a game I have never even played before, I know it will probably run correctly.

xexex · Post by **xexex** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 7:58 am

not sure if I should start another thread for this, but since a number of you mentioned using the latest SSF, I thought I'd ask here if anyone could help me out. I had no problem using older versions of SSF up to 007 beta R9, but then after that, starting with the 008 versions, I couldn't run the emulator. I could start it and select my bios from the options screen, but then when I try to exit the emulator it wouldn't exit and locked up my system (pressing control-alt-delete would bring up the task manager, but I couldn't click on anything even though I could move the mouse cursor, pressing windows-L and then choosing to reset the computer was my only option).
Then with 008 alpha R3 it worked again, but then with the new alpha R4 the same thing happens (locking up the system). Does anyone have any idea what is happening? My system is a pentium 4 3.2 HT with a geforce 7800 GS agp card running the latest drivers (and windows xp sp2).

KBZ · Post by **KBZ** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 8:19 am

i would also like to know more about elvis's setup. tell us the specs of the pc too!

i do recall that there was an advancemame on a disc thing you could use. But it is afterall...ADVANCEmame. I had to find the out the hardway

antron · Post by **antron** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 2:22 pm

Kingbuzzo wrote:
i do recall that there was an advancemame on a disc thing you could use.

yeah, but I think it was for vga setups

fraggle's install cd does setup for low res, but installs dos, dmame and arcadeos

Frogacuda · Post by **Frogacuda** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 4:54 pm

Damocles wrote:I used to run Nebula and NeoRageX for CPS-2 and Neo-Geo games, respectively. However, I've consolidated most everything into Mame. ...although I still use NeoCD for Ironclad Brikinger. As for Saturn emus...well...I'm betting we'll have a perfect PS2 emulator before we get a perfect Saturn one.

...and lets not start with the whole emulation "perfection" thing...it gets really old.

SSF is perfect for a lot of games, at this point. Probably about 80% of games run pretty much glitch free. I guess that's not perfect, but it's pretty damned good. At this point it's better than most PSX emulators (though not as good as a properly configured ePSXe).

So I use SSF for Saturn and MAME for arcade stuff. Screw Kawaks and Nebula and all them. My system can handle those games in MAME. I use Nebula Model 2 to play Zero Gunner and Pilot Kids.

For other systems:
NES: FCEUltra is way ahead at this point. Best mapper support, and solid features and video modes
SMS/GG: Meka, one of the few emus with 100% compatibility. Use this for Coleco and SG-1000, too.
SNES: New ZSNES 1.50 is great
Vectrex: MESS
X68000: Win68k, XM6
Amiga: WinUAE
PSX: ePSXe with PeOPS soft GPU (accurate graphics, plz) and Eternal SPU
TG-16: Magic Engine is still the only one worth a shit
MSX: BlueMSX

There's still not a good emulator (and by good I mean one with real accurate emulation) for N64, sadly. DS emulation sucks. the newly released DEmul is pretty good for DC stuff, but I still use the real thing for that.