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[[File:Mess sysinfo.png|thumb|upright=1.29|The MESS MAME system info box for the CPC6128]][[File:Mess gx4000 pang.png|thumb|upright=1.2|MESS MAME also has (still somewhat glitchy) support for the GX4000 and CPC+ series. Note the strange blue bar at the bottom in Here is shown ''[[Pang (cartridge)|Pang]]''for the GX4000.]]'''MESSMAME''' (Multi Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator Super System) is an a multi-platform emulator for vintage arcade games, home computers, gaming consoles, chess computers, and calculators, etc. It is a descendant of MAME 0.162 (released on May 27, 2015) merged the previously separate MAME arcade emulation project and just like MAMEMESS (Multi Emulator Super System) projects into one, so that a single executable now combines the most important goal emulation capabilities of MESS is highly accurate emulation, not speedpre-0. 162 MAME/MESS and MAME are mainly preservation projects that aim to reproduce the behaviour of the real hardware perfectly, so performance may be slightly worse than many dedicated CPC emulators.

Currently, [http://www.progettoemma.net/mess/sysset.php over a thousand ==Emulated systems are supported] by MESS, including the CPC and CPC Plus ranges and the GX4000. This is probably the main reason for using MESS: A single download is enough to emulate more or less every home computer and gaming console that ever existed in the late 1970s and 1980s—provided one can find a ROM set that works (see below). MESS does not have the depth of other emulators, but it sure has enormous breadth. Its flexible input mapping and MAME-compatible pixel shader effects make MESS particularly suited for gaming.==

MESS runs on WindowsCurrently, Mac OS X, Linux, and FreeBSD. If you also use MAME, you may want to get [http://mamedevwww.emulabprogettoemma.itnet/hazemess/latest-ume-mame-mess-binaries UMEsysset.php over a thousand systems are supported] insteadby MAME, which combines MESS including the CPC and CPC Plus ranges and the GX4000. This is probably the main reason for using MAME into a : A single executable with download is enough to emulate more or less every home computer and gaming console that ever existed in the late 1970s and 1980s—provided one can find a shared configuration file, <tt>ume.ini</tt>ROM set that works (see below).

On OS XMAME does not have the depth of other CPC emulators, you can install MESS via [http://brewbut it sure has enormous breadth.sh/ Homebrew]: brew tap homebrew/games brew install messThe binary is called mess, not sdlmess as on LinuxIts flexible input mapping and pixel shader effects make MAME particularly suited for gaming.

==Command line argumentsInstallation==

Command line exampleMAME runs on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and FreeBSD. You can get Windows binaries from [http: sdlmess cpc6128 -skip_gameinfo -window -flop1 /path/tomamedev.org/diskrelease.html mamedev.org].dsk

On OS X, you can install MAME via [http://brew.sh/ Homebrew]: brew install mame On Windows and OS X, the MAME binary is called '''mame''', on Linux '''sdlmame'''. On some Linux distros such as Arch Linux you have to use absolute paths for disk images or ROMs because /usr/bin/sdlmame is a wrapper script that will cd to the directory with the MAME binary. Or you could simply skip the wrapper script and run /usr/share/sdlmame/sdlmame directly: alias mame=/usr/share/sdlmame/sdlmame ==Starting MAME;command line arguments; MAME menu; quitting==[[File:MAME menu CPC.png|thumb|upright|The MAME menu]]First get the [[Media:CPC_ROMs_for_MAME.zip|CPC ROMs for MAME]] and unzip them into the MAME roms folder. Typical command line to start MAME in CPC mode (windowed mode and with a disc inserted in drive A): mame cpc6128 -skip_gameinfo -window -flop1 disk.dsk Supported CPC models are cpc464, cpc464p, cpc664, cpc6128, cpc6128p, gx4000, cpc6128f (French), cpc6128s (Swedish), and the clones kccomp ([[KC Compact]]) and al520ex ([[Aleste 520EX]]; hold Shift during boot to go to Basic). Press ''Scroll Lock'' to toggle partial keyboard emulation mode. Now you can use ''P'' to pause MAME, ''Tab'' to enter the MAME menu, and ''Escape'' to quit MAME. ''Alt-Return'' toggles fullscreen mode. (See also [http://docs.mamedev.org/usingmame/defaultkeys.html default keys].) You can use the "-ab" commandline option to type text into MAME, e.g. mame cpc6128 -flop1 disk.dsk -ab "run\"disc\n"will boot the disc. ===Device options for the CPC from [http://www.progettoemma.net/mess/extra.html sysinfo.dat]===

mame cpc6128 -flop1 disk.zip/disk0.dsk ===Python script to start MAME in CPC mode===On Linux, you can also set your file manager (e.g. Nautilus or Konqueror) to open .dsk files with the following Python script:<pre>#!/usr/bin/env python # Call as# "cpc" : emulated keyboard# "cpcn" : natural import os, os.path, zipfilefrom sys import argv if 'cpcn' in argv[0]: nat = '-natural'else: nat = '' s = "/usr/share/sdlmame/sdlmame cpc6128 -skip_gameinfo -window %s -keymap -keymap_file /usr/share/sdlmame/keymaps/km_de_LINUX.map" % nat def checkzip(t): "Check if file is a ZIP file; use the first file in the archive" if t[-4:].lower() == '.zip': a = zipfile.ZipFile(t).namelist() t = os.path.join(t, a[0]) return t if len(argv) > 1: for x in range(1, len(argv)): s += ' -flop%u "%s"' % (x, checkzip(argv[x]))os.system(s)</pre>This script should open a MAME window with the disc inserted in drive A. (Note that this also selects the German keymap.) You can also use this to open ZIP files containing disc images, e.g. "cpc mydisc.zip" will try to insert the first file in the ZIP archive. ==GUI front-ends==[[File:Mameui.png|thumb|MAMEUI64 on Windows]] Several GUI front-ends for MAME/MESS exist for Windows, Linux, and OS X: *[http://www.mameui.info/ MAMEUI64] (Windows)*[http://qmc2.arcadehits.net/ QMC2] (Windows, OS X, Linux)

MESS MAME supports two keyboard modes:

To use a German keyboard in emulated keyboard mode, start MESS MAME e.g. with (key map path on Linux): sdlmess mame cpc6128 -keymap -keymap_file /usr/share/sdlmesssdlmame/keymaps/km-dekm_de_LINUX.txtmap

You can also put these settings in your mame.ini like this: keymap 1 keymap_file /usr/share/sdlmame/keymaps/km_de_LINUX.map In emulated mode, keys can also be remapped in the emulator menu. First press ''Scroll Lock'' to enable the MESS MAME control keys, then ''Tab'' to open the menu, and finally select ''Input (this system)''. ''Return, Esc'' clears an assigned key.

==ROMsCPC artwork==[[File:MAME with CPC artwork.png|thumb|MAME window with monitor type set to green and optional CPC artwork]]You can add optional bezel artwork to MAME to simulate a CPC monitor:*[[Media:Cpc6128 mame artwork.zip|MAME artwork]] (CPC6128/GT65 bezel)

Just as in MAME, some MESS ROMs have parent ROMs that also need Rename this file to be installed. E.g., <tt>cpc6128.zip<and put it in MAME's artwork folder (~/tt> also requires <tt>cpc464.zip<mame/tt> to runartwork/ on Linux). (See the links section for CPC ROM files.)

==ROMs often only work with a specific version of MESS. This does not seem to affect CPC ROMs, but other systems sometimes give an error message when ROM filenames or checksums do not match what MESS expected.and extension hardware==

;Loading external [[Media:CPC_ROMs_for_MAME.zip|CPC ROMsfor MAME]]. Just unzip the file and move the ZIPs inside into the MAME ROM folder. ===General notes about MAME and ROMs=== Some MAME ROMs have parent ROMs that also need to be installed. E.g., <tt>cpc6128.zip</tt> also requires <tt>cpc464.zip</tt> to run. (See the links section for CPC ROM files for MAME.) ROMs often only work with a specific version of MAME. This does not seem to affect CPC ROMs, but other systems sometimes give an error message when ROM filenames or checksums do not match what MAME expected. ===Slot options (extension hardware)===[[File:MESS with Dobbertin Smart Watch.png|thumb|upright=1.4||MAME with the Dobbertin Smart Watch ROM loaded (-exp smartwatch)]][[File:Brunword mame.png|thumb|upright=1.4||BrunWord MK4 (ROM) main menu in MAME 0.162 (-exp brunword4)]]

sdlmess mame cpc6128 -lslot

One of them is ROM Box, which can be used to load extension ROMs such These are (as [[MAXAM]]of MAME 0.168):

*for "-centronics"{|class="wikitable"|-|pl80 |COMX PL-80|-|ex800 |Epson EX-800|-|lx800 |Epson LX-800|-|lx810l |Epson LX-810L|-|ap2000 |Epson ActionPrinter 2000|-|printer |Centronics Printer|-|digiblst |[[Digiblaster]] (DIY)|} *for "-exp"{|class="wikitable"|-|ssa1 |[[Amstrad SSA-1 Speech Synthesizer]]|-|dkspeech |[[Dk'tronics Speech Synthesizer]]|-|rom |ROM Box|-|multiface2 |[[Multiface II]]|-|pds |[[PDS development system|Programmers Development System (CPC Target)]]|-|rs232 |Pace RS232C interface|-|amsrs232 |[[Original Amstrad RS232 interface|Amstrad RS232C interface]]|-|sf2 |[[SYMBiFACE II]]|-|amdrum |[[Amdrum]]|-|playcity |[[PlayCity]]|-|smartwatch |[[Dobbertin Smart Watch]]|-|brunword4|[[BrunWord]] Elite MK4|-|hd20|[[Dobbertin Harddisc]]|-|doubler|[[Draysoft Doubler]]|-|transtape|HM [[Transtape]]|} ===Loading external ROMs=== The ROM Box expansion can be used to load external ROMs such as [[MAXAM]]:  sdlmess mame cpc6128 -exp rom -rom1 /path/to/MAXAM.ROM

==GUI front-ends=[[Dobbertin Harddisc]]===

Various GUI front-ends for MESS exist for Windows, Linux, and OS X—see this list: From the [http://www.messcpcwiki.orgeu/forum/emulators/got-bored-again/msg102272/mess:howto#frontendsmsg102272 forum post]:

[[FileTo use, add -exp hd20 to the commandline, which will also allow you to add -hard <filename>.Code:Messmenu  mame cpc6128 -exp hd20 -hard1 disk.png|thumb|none|650px|MessMenu on OS X with chd Only MAME CHDs are supported, you can create a CPC ROM selectedblank hard disk image using chdman. Currently Geometry is 615/4/17.Code:  chdman createhd -o disk.chd -c none -chs 615, seven different CPC models are supported4, including some regional variants 17 (French and Swedish-c none means no compression, but this is required for MAME to write directly to the CHD image. If you use compression, then data writes will be written to a separate file) You can use X-DDOS 2.00 or 2.10 by using -exp hd20,bios=xddos200 or -exp hd20,bios=xddos210. v2.10 is the default. See http://mahlemiut.marpirc.net/cpc_hd20.avi, a quick demo loading a game from HD.]]

[[File:Cpc shader mess.png|thumb|upright=1.5|GLSL shader example]][[File:Cpc hlsl shader mess MAME BGFX Linux detail.png|thumb|HLSL "1980s" BGFX output with default shader (detail)settings]]Like MAME, MESS can use shaders to simulate typical CRT graphics artifacts such as scanlines, colors bleeding into each other, jitter, and display curvature. This involves editing mess ===BGFX=== The easiest way to do this (works on Windows, OS X, and Linux) since MAME 0.172 is to enable [https://github.com/bkaradzic/bgfx BGFX] video output: Put this in your mame.ini :  video bgfx bgfx_screen_chains hlsl (or umeYou may also have to set bgfx_path to the bgfx directory if MAME cannot find the shaders.ini ) Check with F11 if you use UMEstill get 100% performance. If not, adjust frame skip with F8/F9. Also, if you press the tilde (~) and then cursor up/down, you can adjust the shader settings (they are also under Slider Controls in the MAME menu).These are not saved at the moment though.[http://docs.mamedev.org/advanced/bgfx.html] If you edit bgfx/chains/hlsl.json in a text editor, you can change the default values. E.g., to reduce the Moiré pattern, search for "Shadow Mask Amount" and change it to:  "default": 0.20 ===HLSL and GLSL===[[File:Cpc hlsl shader mess detail.png|thumb|HLSL "1980s" shader (Windows); MAME config used is on image description page]]

Mess.ini works the same as mame.ini, so MAME tutorials can be used as a starting point. Some example Older methods for CRT simulation are manual HLSL and GLSL configurations, here are some examples:

*MESS MAME may fail to read DSK images with certain kinds of copy protection. Speedlock seems to work fine though.*MESS MAME cannot write to disc images in DSK format; only MFI (MESS floppy image) and MFM (HxCFloppyEmulator floppy image) are supported for writing.*Some demo tricks may be broken in MESSMAME, e.g. overscan pictures are horizontally misaligned (i.e., shifted to the right).

==JSMESS, a Compiling to JavaScript port==

There is an experimental port Since MAME 0.168 (released in November 2015), MAME can compile to JavaScript, see the using Emscripten's emmake command.[http://mamedev.org/releases/whatsnew_0168.txt] [[JSMESS]] article is therefore no longer necessary to compile e.g. the MAME/MESS CPC emulator for detailsweb browsers.

*[http://www.messmamedev.org/ Official site]

*[[Media:CPC_ROMs_for_MESSCPC_ROMs_for_MAME.zip|CPC ROMs for MESSMAME]] *[https://linux-user.gr/t/one-retro-cumputers-emulator-to-rule-them-all/1302 one-retro-cumputers-emulator-to-rule-them-all-(just unzip and move the ZIPs inside into the MESS ROM folderin-greek-language)]