Williams mame roms -- how to load?

[tveith]

Not sure if I'm supposed to be asking this here as it is related to roms, but when I load a rom for a Williams game with mame emulator, such as Defender, Joust, etc it always goes to the debug menu and the game won't load. How do you get the game to go beyond the debug menu and actually load?

[BadServo]

I'm not certain i understand what you mean by "debug menu". Generally, the rom should launch, skip past the screens where you get legal info and have to move the joystick and then launch. If it's somehow launching directly into the MAME debug menu, then I'm curious how you pulled that off as I can't figure out how to get into MAME settings within the game.

[tveith]

sorry, let me be more specific. This same issue occurs when playing Williams games outside of the Arcade with Mame. When the game is loaded, it hangs at 'factory settings restored' screen and no button mashing seems to advance beyond it. With Mame, you could press F2 on the keyboard to get past this screen -- and when you bypassed it once, it wouldn't happen again unless Mame was reset. With Neon, no key seems to advance the screen.

[BadServo]

Ah, OK I see your problem. Unfortunately, I don't think there's much to be done at this point. The two ways to get around this would be A) to use the debug button to skip it. or B) Import an nvram file where this has already been done.

As near as I can tell, NRAN only passes Coin, P1 Start, and 4 action buttons to the MAME core. Meaning that the debug button and the ability to move int o MAME menu are disabled. Also, depite myself and many others tryign to figure out how to get NRAN's MAME core to recognize an nvram file saved on another MAME version, we've come up empty. Sorry I can't be of more help, but the devs are actively fixing and enhancing things, so hopefulyl we'll ahve a solution to this soon. NRAN saves states for cartridge-based games, so the functionality should eb easy to replicate.

[BadServo]

Quick update. I checked the Trello bug-tracker for NRAN, and it looks liek adding the ability to use nvram saves (which would fix this) is already in teh list of bugs being worked on.

[tveith]

Thanks for your help. I was hoping that plugging my keyboard into my PC and pressing F2 while in the arcade would bypass the "factory settings restored" screen, but no such luck. I'm guessing the keyboard doesn't pass commands once you are actively using one of the cabinets. I suppose, for now, Williams arcade games will not be allowed into my arcade. :*(((((

[Papa November]

Yeah there is a discussion about this somewhere in the feedback forum. They know there needs to be a way to at least pass F2 through to the emulator. Definitely waiting on this... I want to hear "BEWARE...I LIVE" in my arcade!

[(NBK) DOOMGUY]

Originally posted by tveith:

sorry, let me be more specific. This same issue occurs when playing Williams games outside of the Arcade with Mame. When the game is loaded, it hangs at 'factory settings restored' screen and no button mashing seems to advance beyond it. With Mame, you could press F2 on the keyboard to get past this screen -- and when you bypassed it once, it wouldn't happen again unless Mame was reset. With Neon, no key seems to advance the screen.

I have been telling the devs in the forums and on their facebook page forever about this. Way back before this was ever on steam you could press f2 on the games and they would work but not now... I dont understand why they wont bring that back. Its crucial to for me to set up each games controls this way... I wont be buying it until that gets put in the game (if ever).

[tveith]

Can we hear from a Digital Cherries Developer on this issue? It would be nice to know if it is on their radar for a fix. It kinda sucks that games like Defender, Joust, etc cannot be included in the arcade because of such a simple issue such as passing an F2 key to the cabinet.

[(NBK) DOOMGUY]

Originally posted by tveith:

Can we hear from a Digital Cherries Developer on this issue? It would be nice to know if it is on their radar for a fix. It kinda sucks that games like Defender, Joust, etc cannot be included in the arcade because of such a simple issue such as passing an F2 key to the cabinet.

+1

[Peteo]

same here used to work fine on the DK2 demo, but now no defnder and joust for me. 2 of my favs

[(NBK) DOOMGUY]

Originally posted by Peteo:

same here used to work fine on the DK2 demo, but now no defnder and joust for me. 2 of my favs

I have mentioned this many times and they just dodge it.

[Grebe]

This should be a really simple fix for the devs and a nice way of keeping their customers happy

[DrSarcasmo]

I mentioned this in the Reddit board and in here in the bugs sections, I believe. Still haven't heard anything from the devs about it. Should be a simple fix.

[roorooroo]

Actually this is putting me off buying it..defender is one of my fave games.

[tveith]

I know the devs have been very busy with their latest update (it was a big one) but it's been six days since I posted this issue. It seems others have also posted this on reddit with no response. Really hoping the devs read and respond to this soon and add it to their to do list. It seems really crazy that some of the most "retro" arcade games can't be played because we can pass a simple keystroke to the game. Devs -- are you listening???