INSTALLATION
Note: Text in a green fixed space font refers to a command to be entered at the commandline. Basic knowledge of simple commandline functions is assumed.
Download the latest version of WolfMAME and extract the contents to any folder of your choice. The current version as of writing this is 0.189. Using MAME is perfectly fine, but we strongly encourage you to use WolfMAME, and WolfMAME is a requirement for any first place score. Setup for standard MAME is very much the same, so this page should still be of some help.
Now, you'll need to find the WolfMAME executable. Open a command prompt and change to the folder you extracted the files you downloaded to (eg: cd \wolfmame\w0189). You'll be looking for the file “mame64.exe”.
If you have extracted the files to a new folder, then you will have to initialise the settings, using the -createconfig (-cc for short) switch (eg: mame64 -cc).
Now, you need to customise the settings to your liking. Open mame.ini in any text editor (Notepad will do fine), and make any changes you need. Alternatively, you can change settings in MAME's built-in frontend, by pressing TAB from the game list, and selecting which options to change. Remember to select "Save Configuration" to save the changes. A short description of each switch can be seen by using the -showusage switch. (eg: mame64 -showusage) It is a good idea to disable cheats, although recordings will only be disqualified if cheats are actually used. Normal use of cheats are very likely to screw up playback anyway. Also note that autofire should be disabled. Any recording found to be using autofire of any kind will be immediately disqualified.
Hopefully, if all has gone well, you should be able to run MAME from the commandline with mame64 <shortgamename>. Like mame64 bublbobl to run Bubble Bobble. If you're running MAME in a window (-window switch or 'window 1' in mame.ini) you should get a window running the emulated game like this (fuzziness can be disabled with -nofilter if you don't like it):
RECORDING INP FILES
To help make
it easier, batch files for recording and playback are included with
WolfMAME.
You
can run it by using record <shortgamename> <inp filename>
[extra MAME options] – eg: record
puckman puckman-allclear -nowindow
An alternative to the above is to use the -cfg_directory, -nvram_directory and -hi_directory switches to set these folders to NUL. But note that MAME won't run a harddisk-based game if -diff_directory is set to NUL. Of course, you can set these in mame.ini as well, if you so wish.
Important things to note about making recordings for MARP:
NVRAM is not allowed, unless there is no other way to run the game. Moving NVRAM files is done in the available batch files.
It is recommended that you use default game settings, but it perfectly fine to use harder settings than the default, or Twin Galaxies Tournament Settings. Removing the relevant game's .cfg file from the CFG folder will ensure that DIP switch settings are at their defaults. However, these files don't generally affect playbackability, as DIP switches are setup in MAME as input ports, and are thusly saved in the INP file anyway. Do remember that you CAN NOT submit a recording played at easier settings than default.
No autofire. Ever. No exceptions. We can tell if you use it.
PLAYING BACK INP FILES
Very
similar to recording, really. Just use the playback.bat batch file.
The parameters are the same as for record.bat.
You
can run it by using playback <shortgamename> <inp filename>
[extra MAME options] – eg: playback
puckman puckman-allclear -nowindow
Do try to use the same version to playback as that which it was recorded with. INP files are only input logs, not movies. There is no way an INP recorded with MAME 0.70 will playback on MAME 0.189.
Make sure any settings mentioned in the upload description are used when you playback the recording. They may or may not have an impact on playbackability.
GENERAL TROUBLESHOOTING
In some MAME versions, it is possible to simply double-click the record.bat or playback.bat files then select a game to play from the built-in frontend. This is not the intended nor recommended way to do this, as it will give no opportunity to set the filename for the INP file. If you do choose to do this though, an INP file named ".inp" will be created. You should rename the INP file before submitting it. Unix-like OSes (such as Linux or OS X) treat files starting with "." as a hidden file.