Frequently Asked Questions

April 26, 2008

So what's this all about?

The MAME Testing Project was created in 1999 as a means to assist the MAME team in keeping track of any broken drivers in each new release. Previously the main way that the MAME team found out about which games were 'broken' in new releases was by messages on the various boards, which was very "hit and miss". With this project, experienced MAME users test games thoroughly each time a new version is released. This will ensure the team get prompt and accurate bug reports from people who know how the games should play. Such informative reports will reduce the amount of time wasted investigating invalid bug reports from inexperienced users and will prevent any issues in "unpopular" games from going unnoticed. For us non-programmers, this is a great way to contribute to MAME. Today the project is known simply as "MAME Testers".

I use (insert unofficial build here). Should I report bugs in it?

The primary builds that MAME Testers tests on are the official Windows 32 and 64-bit versions of MAME in principle. Generally any issues in these core versions affect other ports as well. However, we would like to avoid reporting port-specific issues as "core" problems. These should be directed to the maintainers of the specific port. For issues specific to MAMEUI, please check the Official MameUI Site.
And for MAME Plus!, as it has a lot of arbitrary extensions and hacks, we won't accept any reports tested in that unofficial build essentially.

Where's the old and nostalgic BugID?

No more old-style BugID (set name + version + color). Each report is given a unique number, although the database has a field for bugs from the old database to keep the old BugID. You can look up bugs by it only for old ones.

Why isn't my report for the sound volume accepted?

A report like "The volume of the bass sound is obviously louder than the main melody. I'm sure, played it yesterday." is not enough informative, because it doesn't provide any clue for the actual fix for the driver. In this case, you should post a sound recording of the real PCB or a technical information to determine the correct volume proportion along with your report.

What the hell are "possible" bugs?

Some issues cannot be concluded to be bugs for some reasons. For example in the Neo Geo system, many original graphic "bugs" have been confirmed, so a report like this needs a verification against the real PCB.

How do I know the driver name of the game?

One of the easiest ways is to look up in MAWS database. If you are familiar with a command prompt, use the "-listsource" option.

How do I add my avatar?

Mantis makes use of the avatar service provied by Gravatar. You need to register there the same e-mail address as your account to show your avatar.


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