mess
The Multiple Emulator Super System
Synopsis
mess
[options] system
add an example, a script, a trick and tips
examples
no example yet ...
... Feel free to add your own example above to help other Linux-lovers !
description
MESS documents
the hardware for a wide variety of (mostly vintage)
computers, video game consoles, and calculators through
software emulation. As a nice side effect, MESS allows
software and games for these hardware platforms to run on
modern PCs.
options
Core
commands
-help, -?
Displays current MESS version
and copyright notice.
-validate,
-valid
Performs internal validation on
every driver in MESS. Run this before submitting changes to
ensure that you haven’t violated any of the core
system rules.
Configuration
commands
-createconfig, -cc
Creates the default
’mess.ini’ file in the current directory. All
the configuration options (not commands) described below can
be permanently changed by editing this configuration
file.
-showconfig,
-sc
Displays the current
configuration settings.
-showusage,
-su
Displays a summary of all the
command line options. For options that are not mentioned
here, the short summary given by -showusage is usually
sufficient.
Frontend
commands
All the ’-list’ commands below write info
to the screen. If you wish to write the info to a textfile
instead, use redirection. For example, mess
-listxml > ~/messlist.xml writes the full list
of supported systems to ’messlist.xml’ in your
home directory.
-listxml, -lx
[system|wildcard]
List comprehensive details for
all of the supported systems. The output is quite long, so
it is usually better to redirect this into a file. The
output is in XML format. By default all systems are listed;
however, you can limit this list by specifying a driver name
or wildcard.
-listfull,
-ll [system|wildcard]
Displays a list of system
driver names and descriptions. By default all systems are
listed; however, you can limit this list by specifying a
driver name or wildcard.
-listsource,
-ls [system|wildcard]
Displays a list of drivers and
the names of the source files their system drivers live in.
Useful for finding which driver a system runs on in order to
fix bugs. By default all systems are listed; however, you
can limit this list by specifying a driver name or
wildcard.
-listclones,
-lc [system|wildcard]
Displays a list of clones. By
default all clones are listed; however, you can limit this
list by specifying a driver name or wildcard.
-listbrothers,
-lb [system|wildcard]
Displays a list of
"brothers" or other drivers from same sourcefile.
By default all systems are listed; however, you can limit
this list by specifying a driver name or wildcard.
-listcrc
Displays a full list of CRCs of
all ROM images referenced by all drivers within MESS
code.
-listroms
system
Displays a list of ROM images
referenced by the specified system.
-listsamples
system
Displays a list of samples
referenced by the specified system.
-verifyroms
[system|wildcard]
Checks for invalid or missing
ROM images. By default all drivers that have valid ZIP files
or directories in the rom path are verified; however, you
can limit this list by specifying a driver name or
wildcard.
-verifysamples
[system|wildcard]
Checks for invalid or missing
samples. By default all drivers that have valid ZIP files or
directories in the samplepath are verified; however, you can
limit this list by specifying a driver name or wildcard.
-romident
Attempts to identify ROM files,
if they are known to MESS, in the specified .zip file or
directory. This command can be used to try and identify ROM
sets taken from unknown boards. On exit, the errorlevel is
returned as one of the following:
0
all files were identified
7
all files were identified except for some
"non-ROM" files
8
some files were identified
9
no files were identified
-listdevices,
-ld
Output the list of devices
referenced by a given system or set of systems.
-listmedia,
-lm
Output the list of available
media for the system.
-listsoftware
Output the list of known
software for the system.
Configuration
options
-[no]readconfig, -[no]rc
Enables or disables the reading
of the config files. When enabled (which is the default),
MESS reads the following config files in order:
mess.ini
the main configuration file
driver.ini
based on the source file name of the system driver
parent.ini
for clones only, may be called recursively
system.ini
note this sometimes resolves to the same of the source
driver
The settings in
the later ini’s override those in the earlier
ini’s. The default is ON (-readconfig).
Search path
options
Be careful to use the path, directory and file options in
mess.ini ONLY. Otherwise, the outcome may be unpredictable
and not consistent across releases.
-rompath, -rp, -biospath, -bp
path
Specifies a list of paths
within which to find ROM or hard disk images. Multiple paths
can be specified by separating them with semicolons. The
default is ’roms’ (that is, a directory
’roms’ in the same directory as the MESS
executable).
-samplepath,
-sp path
Specifies a list of paths
within which to find sample files. Multiple paths can be
specified by separating them with semicolons. The default is
’samples’ (that is, a directory
’samples’ in the same directory as the MESS
executable).
-artpath,
-artwork_directory path
Specifies a list of paths
within which to find artwork files. Multiple paths can be
specified by separating them with semicolons. The default is
’artwork’ (that is, a directory
’artwork’ in the same directory as the MESS
executable).
-ctrlrpath,
-ctrlr_directory path
Specifies a list of paths
within which to find controller-specific configuration
files. Multiple paths can be specified by separating them
with semicolons. The default is ’ctrlr’ (that
is, a directory ’ctrlr’ in the same directory as
the MESS executable).
-inipath
path
Specifies a list of paths
within which to find .ini files. Multiple paths can be
specified by separating them with semicolons. The default is
’/etc/mess’.
-fontpath
path
Specifies a list of paths
within which to find .bdf font files. Multiple paths can be
specified by separating them with semicolons. The default is
’.’ (that is, search in the same directory as
the MESS executable).
-cheatpath
path
Specifies a list of paths
within which to find cheat files. Multiple paths can be
specified by separating them with semicolons. The default is
’cheat’ (that is, a directory
’cheat’ in the same directory as the MESS
executable).
-crosshairpath
path
Specifies a list of paths
within which to find crosshair files. Multiple paths can be
specified by separating them with semicolons. The default is
’crosshair’ (that is, a directory
’crosshair’ in the same directory as the MESS
executable). If the Crosshair is set to default in the menu,
MESS will look for system/cross#.png and then cross#.png in
the specified path, where # is the player number. Failing
that, MESS will use built-in default crosshairs.
-hashpath
path
Specifies a list of paths
within which to search for software hash files. Multiple
paths can be specified by separating them with semicolons.
The default is ’hash’ (that is, a directory
’hash’ in the same directory as the MESS
executable).
Output
Directory Options
-cfg_directory path
Specifies a single directory
where configuration files are stored. Configuration files
store user configurable settings that are read at startup
and written when MESS exits. The default is
’cfg’ (that is, a directory ’cfg’ in
the same directory as the MESS executable). If this
directory does not exist, it will be automatically
created.
-nvram_directory
path
Specifies a single directory
where NVRAM files are stored. NVRAM files store the contents
of EEPROM and non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) for systems
which used this type of hardware. This data is read at
startup and written when MESS exits. The default is
’nvram’ (that is, a directory
’nvram’ in the same directory as the MESS
executable). If this directory does not exist, it will be
automatically created.
-memcard_directory
path
Specifies a single directory
where memory card files are stored. Memory card files store
the contents of removable memory cards for systems which
used this type of hardware. This data is read and written
under control of the user via the ’Memory Card’
menu in the user interface. The default is
’memcard’ (that is, a directory
’memcard’ in the same directory as the MESS
executable). If this directory does not exist, it will be
automatically created.
-input_directory
path
Specifies a single directory
where input recording files are stored. Input recordings are
created via the -record option and played back via the
-playback option. The default is ’inp’
(that is, a directory ’inp’ in the same
directory as the MESS executable). If this directory does
not exist, it will be automatically created.
-state_directory
path
Specifies a single directory
where save state files are stored. Save state files are read
and written either upon user request, or when using the
-autosave option. The default is ’sta’
(that is, a directory ’sta’ in the same
directory as the MESS executable). If this directory does
not exist, it will be automatically created.
-snapshot_directory
path
Specifies a single directory
where screen snapshots are stored, when requested by the
user. The default is ’snap’ (that is, a
directory ’snap’ in the same directory as the
MESS executable). If this directory does not exist, it will
be automatically created.
-diff_directory
path
Specifies a single directory
where hard drive differencing files are stored. Hard drive
differencing files store any data that is written back to a
hard disk image, in order to preserve the original image.
The differencing files are created at startup when a system
with a hard disk image. The default is ’diff’
(that is, a directory ’diff’ in the same
directory as the MESS executable). If this directory does
not exist, it will be automatically created.
-comment_directory
path
Specifies a single directory
where debugger comment files are stored. Debugger comment
files are written by the debugger when comments are added to
the disassembly for a system. The default is
’comments’ (that is, a directory
’comments’ in the same directory as the MESS
executable). If this directory does not exist, it will be
automatically created.
State/playback
options
-state slot
Immediately after starting the
specified system, will cause the save state in the specified
slot to be loaded.
-[no]autosave
When enabled, automatically
creates a save state file when exiting MESS and
automatically attempts to reload it when later starting MESS
with the same system. This only works for systems that have
explicitly enabled save state support in their driver. The
default is OFF (-noautosave).
-playback,
-pb file
Specifies a file from which to
play back a series of system inputs. This feature does not
work reliably for all systems, but can be used to watch a
previously recorded system session from start to finish. In
order to make things consistent, you should only record and
playback with all configuration (.cfg), NVRAM (.nv), and
memory card files deleted. The default is NULL (no
playback).
-record,
-rec file
Specifies a file to record all
input from a system session. This can be used to record a
system session for later playback. This feature does not
work reliably for all systems, but can be used to watch a
previously recorded system session from start to finish. In
order to make things consistent, you should only record and
playback with all configuration (.cfg), NVRAM (.nv), and
memory card files deleted. The default is NULL (no
recording).
-snapname
name
Describes how MESS should name
files for snapshots. name is a string that provides a
template that is used to generate a file name. Three simple
substitutions are provided:
/
represents the path separator on any target platform
(even Windows)
%g
represents the driver name of the current system
%i
represents an incrementing index. If omitted, then each
snapshot taken will overwrite the previous one; otherwise,
MESS will find the next empty value for %i and use that for
a file name.
The default is
’%g/%i’, which creates a separate folder for
each system, and names the snapshots under it starting with
0000 and increasing from there.
-snapsize
widthxheight
Hard-codes the size for
snapshots and movie recording. By default, MESS will create
snapshots at the system’s current resolution in raw
pixels, and will create movies at the system’s
starting resolution in raw pixels. If you specify this
option, then MESS will create both snapshots and movies at
the size specified, and will bilinear filter the result.
Note that this size does not automatically rotate if the
system is vertically oriented. The default is
’auto’.
-snapview
internal|auto|view
Specifies the view to use when
rendering snapshots and movies.
internal
renders a separate snapshot per screen or renders movies
only of the first screen using the special
’internal’ view.
auto
selects the first view with all screens present
view
select the first view whose name matches all the
characters. For example, mame -snapview native
will match the "Native (15:14)" view even though
it is not a perfect match.
The default
value is ’internal’.
-mngwrite
file
Writes each video frame to the
given file in MNG format, producing an animation of the
system session. Note that -mngwrite only writes video
frames; it does not save any audio data. Use -wavwrite
for that, and reassemble the audio/video using offline
tools. The default is NULL (no recording).
-aviwrite
file
Stream video and sound data to
the given file in AVI format, producing an animation of the
system session complete with sound. The default is NULL (no
recording).
-wavwrite
file
Writes the final mixer output
to the given file in WAV format, producing an audio
recording of the system session. The default is NULL (no
recording).
-[no]burnin
Tracks brightness of the screen
during play and at the end of emulation generates a PNG that
can be used to simulate burn-in effects on other
systems. The resulting PNG is created such that the
least-used areas of the screen are fully white (since
burned-in areas are darker, all other areas of the
screen must be lightened a touch). The intention is that
this PNG can be loaded via an artwork file with a low alpha
(e.g, 0.1-0.2 seems to work well) and blended over the
entire screen. The PNG files are saved in the snap directory
under the system/burnin-<screen.name>.png. The
default is OFF (-noburnin).
Performance
options
-[no]autoframeskip, -[no]afs
Automatically determines the
frameskip level while you’re playing the system,
adjusting it constantly in a frantic attempt to keep the
system running at full speed. Turning this on overrides the
value you have set for -frameskip below. The default
is OFF (-noautoframeskip).
-frameskip,
-fs value
Specifies the frameskip value
(autoframeskip must be disabled). This is the number of
frames out of every 12 to drop when running. For example, if
you say -frameskip 2, then MESS will display 10 out of
every 12 frames. By skipping those frames, you may be able
to get full speed in a system that requires more horsepower
than your computer has. The default value is 0, which skips
no frames.
-seconds_to_run,
-str value
This option can be used for
benchmarking and automated testing. It tells MESS to stop
execution after a fixed number of seconds. By combining this
with a fixed set of other command line options, you can set
up a consistent environment for benchmarking MESS
performance. In addition, upon exit, the -str option
will write a screenshot called final.png to the
system’s snapshot directory.
-[no]throttle
Configures the default
thottling setting. When throttling is on, MESS attempts to
keep the system running at the system’s intended
speed. When throttling is off, MESS runs the system as fast
as it can. Note that the fastest speed is more often than
not limited by your graphics card, especially for older
systems. The default is ON (-throttle).
-[no]sleep
Allows MESS to give time back
to the system when running with -throttle. This allows
other programs to have some CPU time, assuming that the
system isn’t taxing 100% of your CPU resources. This
option can potentially cause hiccups in performance if other
demanding programs are running. The default is ON
(-sleep).
-speed
Controls the speed of gameplay, relative to realtime;
smaller numbers are slower. Default is 1.00.
-refreshspeed,
-rs
Automatically adjusts the
-speed parameter to keep the effective refresh rate
below that of the lowest screen refresh rate.
-multithreading,
-mt
Enable multithreading; this
enables rendering and blitting on a separate thread. The
default is OFF.
-numprocessors,
-np
Set number of processors; this
overrides the number the system reports.
-sdlvideofps
Show SDL video performance.
Rotation
options
-[no]rotate
Rotate the system to match its
normal state (horizontal/vertical). This ensures that both
vertically and horizontally oriented systems show up
correctly without the need to rotate your monitor. If you
want to keep the system displaying ’raw’ on the
screen the way the actual machine would have, turn this
option off. The default is ON (-rotate).
-[no]ror
-[no]rol
Rotate the system screen to the
right (clockwise) or left (counter-clockwise) relative
to either its normal state (if -rotate is specified)
or its native state (if -norotate is specified). The
default for both of these options is OFF (-noror
-norol).
-[no]autoror
-[no]autorol
These options are designed for
use with pivoting screens that only pivot in a single
direction. If your screen only pivots clockwise, use
-autorol to ensure that the system will fill the
screen either horizontally or vertically in one of the
directions you can handle. If your screen only pivots
counter-clockwise, use -autoror.
-[no]flipx
-[no]flipy
Flip (mirror) the system screen
either horizontally (-flipx) or vertically
(-flipy). The flips are applied after the
-rotate and -ror/-rol options are applied.
The default for both of these options is OFF (-noflipx
-noflipy).
Artwork
options
-[no]artwork_crop, -[no]artcrop
Enable cropping of artwork to
the system screen area only. This option can also be
controlled via the Video Options menu in the user interface.
The default is OFF (-noartwork_crop).
-[no]use_backdrops,
-[no]backdrop
Enables/disables the display of
backdrops. The default is ON (-use_backdrops).
-[no]use_overlays,
-[no]overlay
Enables/disables the display of
overlays. The default is ON (-use_overlays).
-[no]use_bezels,
-[no]bezel
Enables/disables the display of
bezels. The default is ON (-use_bezels).
Screen
options
-brightness value
Controls the default
brightness, or black level, of the system screens. This
option does not affect the artwork or other parts of the
display. Using the MESS UI, you can individually set the
brightness for each system screen; this option controls the
initial value for all visible system screens. The standard
value is 1.0. Selecting lower values (down to 0.1) will
produce a darkened display, while selecting higher values
(up to 2.0) will give a brighter display. The default is
1.0.
-contrast
value
Controls the contrast, or white
level, of the system screens. This option does not affect
the artwork or other parts of the display. Using the MESS
UI, you can individually set the contrast for each system
screen; this option controls the initial value for all
visible system screens. The standard value is 1.0. Selecting
lower values (down to 0.1) will produce a dimmer display,
while selecting higher values (up to 2.0) will give a more
saturated display. The default is 1.0.
-gamma
value
Controls the gamma, which
produces a potentially nonlinear black to white ramp, for
the system screens. This option does not affect the artwork
or other parts of the display. Using the MESS UI, you can
individually set the gamma for each system screen; this
option controls the initial value for all visible system
screens. The standard value is 1.0, which gives a linear
ramp from black to white. Selecting lower values (down to
0.1) will increase the nonlinearity toward black, while
selecting higher values (up to 3.0) will push the
nonlinearity toward white. The default is 1.0.
-pause_brightness
value
This controls the brightness
level when MESS is paused. The default value is 0.65.
Vector
rendering options
-[no]antialias, -[no]aa
Enables antialiased line
rendering for vector systems. The default is ON
(-antialias).
-beam
width
Sets the width of the vectors.
This is a scaling factor against the standard vector width.
A value of 1.0 will keep the default vector line width.
Smaller values will reduce the width, and larger values will
increase the width. The default is 1.0.
-flicker
value
Simulates a vector
"flicker" effect, similar to a vector monitor that
needs adjustment. This option requires a float argument in
the range of 0.00-100.00 (0=none, 100=maximum). The
default is 0.
Video
options
-video
soft|opengl|opengl16|none
Specifies which video subsystem
to use for drawing:
soft
uses software rendering, which is slower but more
compatible.
opengl
uses OpenGL and your graphics accelerator to speed up
many aspects of drawing MESS including compositing artwork,
overlays, and bezels, as well as stretching the image to fit
your screen.
opengl16
uses alternate OpenGL code, which should provide faster
output on some cards.
none
does no drawing and is intended for CPU
benchmarking.
Default is
’soft’.
-[no]window,
-[no]w
Run MESS in either full screen
or a window. This is a fully-featured window mode
where the window resizes as necessary to track what the
system does. And you can resize it yourself with your
OS’s standard window controls. The default is OFF
(-nowindow).
-[no]maximize,
-[no]max
Controls initial window size in
windowed mode. If it is set on, the window will initially be
set to the maximum supported size when you start MESS. If it
is turned off, the window will start out at the smallest
supported size. This option only has an effect when the
-window option is used. The default is ON
(-maximize).
-keepaspect,
-ka
Forces the correct aspect
ratio. This means when you’re resizing the window in
windowed mode the actual system image will resize in
discrete steps to maintain the proper shape of the system
graphics. If you turn this off you can resize the window to
anything you like and get funny squishing and stretching.
The same applies for full-screen. Default is ON
(-keepaspect).
-unevenstretch,
-ues
Allow non-integer stretch
factors. Video purists should stay far, far away from this
option, while everyone else will be happy to know that it
lets you fill the screen properly in full-screen mode.
Default is ON (-unevenstretch).
-effect
none|file
Name of a PNG file to use for
visual effects, or ’none’. Default is
’none’.
-centerh
Center horizontally within the
view area. Default is ON (-centerh).
-centerv
Center vertically within the
view area. Default is ON (-centerv).
-waitvsync
Enable waiting for the start of
VBLANK before flipping screens; reduces tearing effects.
Software
video rendering subsystem options
All the options in this group are available only with
softare video rendering subsystem (-video soft).
-prescale value
Scale screen rendering by this
amount in software. Default is 1.
-scalemode, -sm
none|async|yv12|yuy2|yv12x2|yuy2x2
Hardware scaling mode.
none
use software rendering
async
async overlay
yv12
yv12 overlay
yuy2
yuy2 overlay
yv12x2
yv12 overlay using x2 prescaling
yuy2x2
yuy2 overlay using x2 prescaling
Default is
’none’.
OpenGL video
rendering subsystem options
All the options in this group are available only with OpenGL
video rendering subsystem (-video opengl or
-video opengl16).
-filter, -glfilter, -flt
Enable bilinear filtering on
screen output. Default is ON (-filter).
-gl_forcepow2texture
Force power of two textures.
Default is NO.
-gl_notexturerect
Don’t use OpenGL
GL_ARB_texture_rectangle. Default is ON: turn off (set this
to 0) if corruption occurs in OpenGL mode, at cost of some
performance loss.
-gl_vbo
Enable OpenGL VBO, if
available, for a performance increase. Default is ON: turn
off (set this to 0) if corruption occurs.
-gl_pbo
Enable OpenGL PBO, if
available, for a performance increase. Default is ON: turn
off (set this to 0) if corruption occurs.
-gl_glsl
Enable OpenGL GLSL, if
available, for a performance increase.
-gl_glsl_filter
value
Enable OpenGL GLSL filtering
instead of FF filtering. Allowed values are
Default is
1.
-glsl_shader_mame#
Preferred custom OpenGL GLSL
shader set mame bitmap, with # ranging from 0 to 9.
-glsl_shader_screen#
Preferred custom OpenGL GLSL
shader screen bitmap, with # ranging from 0 to 9.
-gl_glsl_vid_attr
Enable OpenGL GLSL handling of
brightness and contrast. Better RGB system performance for
free. Default is ON.
-resolution,
-r
Select the resolution to use in
full-screen mode; -switchres must be enabled for
this to work.
Full screen
options
-[no]switchres
Affects full screen mode only.
Chooses if MESS can try to change the screen resolution
(color depth is normally left alone) when in
full-screen mode. If it’s off, you always get
your desktop resolution in full-screen mode (which can
be useful for LCDs).
-useallheads
Split full screen image across
monitors.
Sound
options
-[no]sound
Enable or disable sound
altogether. The default is ON (-sound).
-samplerate,
-sr value
Sets the audio sample rate.
Smaller values (e.g. 11025) cause lower audio quality but
faster emulation speed. Higher values (e.g. 48000) cause
higher audio quality but slower emulation speed. The default
is 48000.
-[no]samples
Use samples if available. The
default is ON (-samples).
-volume,
-vol value
Sets the startup volume. It can
later be changed with the user interface (see Keys section).
The volume is an attenuation in dB: for example,
’-volume -12’ will start with
-12dB attenuation. The default is 0.
-audio_latency
value
This controls the amount of
latency built into the audio streaming. The latency
parameter controls the lower threshold. The default is 3;
increase to reduce glitches, decrease for
responsiveness.
Input
options
-[no]coin_lockout, -[no]coinlock
Enables simulation of the
"coin lockout" feature that is implemented on a
number of arcade game PCBs. It was up to the operator
whether or not the coin lockout outputs were actually
connected to the coin mechanisms. If this feature is
enabled, then attempts to enter a coin while the lockout is
active will fail and will display a popup message in the
user interface. If this feature is disabled, the coin
lockout signal will be ignored. The default is ON
(-coin_lockout).
-ctrlr
controller
Enables support for special
controllers. Configuration files are loaded from the
ctrlrpath. They are in the same format as the .cfg files
that are saved, but only control configuration data is read
from the file. The default is NULL (no controller file).
-[no]mouse
Controls whether or not MESS
looks for a mouse controller to use. Note that in many
cases, lightguns are treated as mice by the operating
system, so you may need to enable this to enable lightgun
support. When this is enabled, you will not be able to use
your mouse while running MESS. If you want to get control of
your computer back, you will need to either pause MESS or
quit. The default is OFF (-nomouse).
-[no]joystick,
-[no]joy
Controls whether or not MESS
looks for joystick/gamepad controllers. The default is ON
(-joystick).
-[no]lightgun,
-[no]gun
Controls whether or not MESS
makes use of lightgun controllers. Note that most lightguns
map to the mouse, so using -lightgun and -mouse
together may produce strange results. The default is OFF
(-nolightgun).
-[no]multikeyboard,
-[no]multikey
Determines whether MESS
differentiates between multiple keyboards. Some systems may
report more than one keyboard; by default, the data from all
of these keyboards is combined so that it looks like a
single keyboard. Turning this option on will enable MESS to
report keypresses on different keyboards independently. The
default is OFF (-nomultikeyboard).
-[no]multimouse
Determines whether MESS
differentiates between multiple mice. Some systems may
report more than one mouse device; by default, the data from
all of these mice is combined so that it looks like a single
mouse. Turning this option on will enable MESS to report
mouse movement and button presses on different mice
independently. The default is OFF (-nomultimouse).
-[no]steadykey,
-[no]steady
Some systems require two or
more buttons to be pressed at exactly the same time to make
special moves. Due to limitations in the PC keyboard
hardware, it can be difficult or even impossible to
accomplish that using the standard keyboard handling. This
option selects a different handling that makes it easier to
register simultaneous button presses, but has the
disadvantage of making controls less responsive. The default
is OFF (-nosteadykey).
-[no]offscreen_reload,
-[no]reload
Controls whether or not MESS
treats a second button input from a lightgun as a reload
signal. In this case, MESS will report the gun’s
position as (0,MAX) with the trigger held, which is
equivalent to an offscreen reload. This is only needed for
systems that required you to shoot offscreen to reload, and
then only if your gun does not support off screen reloads.
The default is OFF (-nooffscreen_reload).
-joystick_map,
-joymap map
Controls how joystick values
map to digital joystick controls. See
/usr/share/doc/mame-common/config.txt for full details
on joymap format.
-joystick_deadzone,
-joy_deadzone, -jdz value
If you play with an analog
joystick, the center can drift a little. joystick_deadzone
tells how far along an axis you must move before the axis
starts to change. This option expects a float in the range
of 0.0 to 1.0. Where 0 is the center of the joystick and 1
is the outer limit. The default is 0.3.
-joystick_saturation,
-joy_saturation, -jsat value
If you play with an analog
joystick, the ends can drift a little, and may not match in
the +/- directions. joystick_saturation tells how far
along an axis movement change will be accepted before it
reaches the maximum range. This option expects a float in
the range of 0.0 to 1.0, where 0 is the center of the
joystick and 1 is the outer limit. The default is 0.85.
-natural,
-nat
Specifies whether to use a
natural keyboard or not.
-uimodekey
Specifies the key used to
toggle between full and partial UI mode.
-keymap
Enable keymap for
non-QWERTY keyboards. Used in conjunction with
-keymap_file.
-keymap_file
file
Specifies the full path to the
keymap file to be used. A few keymap files are available in
/usr/share/games/mame-common/keymaps.
-joy_idx1
joystick
-joy_idx2 joystick
-joy_idx3 joystick
-joy_idx4 joystick
-joy_idx5 joystick
-joy_idx6 joystick
-joy_idx7 joystick
-joy_idx8 joystick
With these options you can
assign a joystick to a specific index in MESS. Even if the
kernel will list the joysticks in a different order on the
next boot, MESS will still see the joystick as e.g.
’Joystick 2’. Use mess -v to see
which joysticks are recognized. Default is AUTO.
-sixaxis
Use special handling for PS3
Sixaxis controllers.
-videodriver,
-vd x11|directfb|auto
SDL video driver to use; auto
selects SDL default.
-audiodriver,
-ad alsa|arts|auto
SDL audio driver to use; auto
selects SDL default.
-gl_lib
alsa|arts|auto
Alternative libGL.so to use;
auto selects SDL default.
Input
automatic enable options
-paddle_device, -paddle
none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick
-adstick_device, -adstick
none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick
-pedal_device, -pedal
none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick
-dial_device, -dial
none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick
-trackball_device, -trackball
none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick
-lightgun_device
none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick
-positional_device
none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick
-mouse_device
none|keyboard|mouse|lightgun|joystick
Each of these options controls
auto-enabling the mouse, or joystick depending on the
presence of a particular class of analog control for a
particular system. For example, if you specify the option
-paddle mouse, then any system that has a paddle
control will automatically enable mouse controls just as if
you had explicitly specified -mouse. Note that these
controls override the values of -[no]mouse,
-[no]joystick, etc.
Debugging
options
-[no]log
Creates a file called error.log
which contains all of the internal log messages generated by
the MESS core and system drivers. The default is OFF
(-nolog).
-[no]verbose,
-[no]v
Displays internal diagnostic
information. This information is very useful for debugging
problems with your configuration. Please use the
-verbose option and include the resulting information
when reporting bugs. The default is OFF
(-noverbose).
-update_in_pause
Enables updating the screen
bitmap while the system is paused. This is useful for
debuggin in some scenarios (and gets in the way in
others).
-[no]debug,
-[no]d
Activates the integrated
debugger. By default, the debugger is entered by pressing
the tilde (~) key during emulation. It is also entered
immediately at startup. The default is OFF
(-nodebug).
-debugscript
file
Specifies a file that contains
a list of debugger commands to execute immediately upon
startup. The default is NULL (no commands).
-debug_internal,
-di
Use the internal debugger for
debugging.
-[no]oslog
Outputs the error.log data to
the system debugger. This can be used at the same time as
-log to output the log data to both targets as well.
Default is OFF (-nooslog).
UI options
-uifont
Specify a font to use.
-newui,
-nu
Use the new MESS UI.
Misc options
-bios default|bios
Specifies the specific BIOS to
use with the current system, for systems that make use of a
BIOS. The -listxml output will list all of the
possible BIOS names for a system. The default is
’default’.
-[no]cheat,
-[no]c
Enables the reading of the
cheat database, if present, and the Cheat menu in the user
interface. The default is OFF (-nocheat).
-[no]skip_gameinfo
Forces MESS to skip displaying
the system info screen. The default is OFF
(-noskip_gameinfo).
-ramsize,
-ram
Size of RAM (if supported by
driver).
-writeconfig,
-wc
Writes configuration to
driver.ini on exit.
files
/etc/mess/mess.ini
Main configuration file