====== Usage ======
**Output of -showusage command**

On this page you can find a list of options available for MESS at command line, as listed by using the -showusage option. To each option, there corresponds an entry in the configuration file mess.ini. Please refer to the mess.ini wiki page for a more detailed description of the options and their effect.

^CORE CONFIGURATION OPTIONS^^
|-readconfig |enable loading of configuration files|
^CORE SEARCH PATH OPTIONS^^
|-rompath |path to ROMsets and hard disk images|
|-hashpath |path to hash files|
|-samplepath |path to samplesets|
|-artpath |path to artwork files|
|-ctrlrpath |path to controller definitions|
|-inipath |path to ini files|
|-fontpath |path to font files|
|-cheatpath |path to cheat files|
|-crsshairpath |path to crosshair files|
^CORE OUTPUT DIRECTORY OPTIONS^^
|-cfg_directory |directory to save configurations|
|-nvram_directory |directory to save nvram contents|
|-memcard_directory |directory to save memory card contents|
|-input_directory |directory to save input device logs|
|-state_directory |directory to save states|
|-snapshot_directory |directory to save screenshots|
|-diff_directory |directory to save hard drive image difference files|
|-comment_directory |directory to save debugger comments|
^CORE STATE/PLAYBACK OPTIONS^^
|-state |saved state to load|
|-autosave |enable automatic restore at startup, and automatic save at exit time|
|-playback |playback an input file|
|-record |record an input file|
|-mngwrite |optional filename to write a MNG movie of the current session|
|-aviwrite |optional filename to write an AVI movie of the current session|
|-wavwrite |optional filename to write a WAV file of the current session|
|-snapname |override of the default snapshot/movie naming; %g == gamename, %i == index|
|-snapsize |specify snapshot/movie resolution (<width>x<height>) or 'auto' to use minimal size|
|-snapview |specify snapshot/movie view or 'internal' to use internal pixel-aspect views|
^CORE PERFORMANCE OPTIONS^^
|-autoframeskip |enable automatic frameskip selection|
|-frameskip |set frameskip to fixed value, 0-12 (autoframeskip must be disabled)|
|-seconds_to_run |number of emulated seconds to run before automatically exiting|
|-throttle |enable throttling to keep game running in sync with real time|
|-sleep |enable sleeping, which gives time back to other applications when idle|
|-speed |controls the speed of gameplay, relative to realtime; smaller numbers are slower|
|-refreshspeed |automatically adjusts the speed of gameplay to keep the refresh rate lower than the screen|
^CORE ROTATION OPTIONS^^
|-rotate |rotate the game screen according to the game's orientation needs it|
|-ror |rotate screen clockwise 90 degrees|
|-rol |rotate screen counterclockwise 90 degrees|
|-autoror |automatically rotate screen clockwise 90 degrees if vertical|
|-autorol |automatically rotate screen counterclockwise 90 degrees if vertical|
|-flipx |flip screen left-right|
|-flipy |flip screen upside-down|
^CORE ARTWORK OPTIONS^^
|-artwork_crop |crop artwork to game screen size|
|-use_backdrops |enable backdrops if artwork is enabled and available|
|-use_overlays |enable overlays if artwork is enabled and available|
|-use_bezels |enable bezels if artwork is enabled and available|
^CORE SCREEN OPTIONS^^
|-brightness |default game screen brightness correction|
|-contrast |default game screen contrast correction|
|-gamma |default game screen gamma correction|
|-pause_brightness |amount to scale the screen brightness when paused|
^CORE VECTOR OPTIONS^^
|-antialias |use antialiasing when drawing vectors|
|-beam |set vector beam width|
|-flicker |set vector flicker effect|
^CORE SOUND OPTIONS^^
|-sound |enable sound output|
|-samplerate |set sound output sample rate|
|-samples |enable the use of external samples if available|
|-volume |sound volume in decibels (-32 min, 0 max)|
^CORE INPUT OPTIONS^^
|-coin_lockout |enable coin lockouts to actually lock out coins|
|-ctrlr |preconfigure for specified controller|
|-mouse |enable mouse input|
|-joystick |enable joystick input|
|-lightgun |enable lightgun input|
|-multikeyboard |enable separate input from each keyboard device (if present)|
|-multimouse |enable separate input from each mouse device (if present)|
|-steadykey |enable steadykey support|
|-offscreen_reload |convert lightgun button 2 into offscreen reload|
|-joystick_map |explicit joystick map, or auto to auto-select|
|-joystick_deadzone |center deadzone range for joystick where change is ignored (0.0 center, 1.0 end)|
|-joystick_saturation |end of axis saturation range for joystick where change is ignored (0.0 center, 1.0 end)|
^CORE INPUT AUTOMATIC ENABLE OPTIONS^^
|-paddle_device |enable (none/keyboard/mouse/lightgun/joystick) if a paddle control is present|
|-adstick_device |enable (none/keyboard/mouse/lightgun/joystick) if an analog joystick control is present|
|-pedal_device |enable (none/keyboard/mouse/lightgun/joystick) if a pedal control is present|
|-dial_device |enable (none/keyboard/mouse/lightgun/joystick) if a dial control is present|
|-trackball_device |enable (none/keyboard/mouse/lightgun/joystick) if a trackball control is present|
|-lightgun_device |enable (none/keyboard/mouse/lightgun/joystick) if a lightgun control is present|
|-positional_device |enable (none/keyboard/mouse/lightgun/joystick) if a positional control is present|
|-mouse_device |enable (none/keyboard/mouse/lightgun/joystick) if a mouse control is present|
^CORE DEBUGGING OPTIONS^^
|-log |generate an error.log file|
|-verbose |display additional diagnostic information|
|-update_in_pause |keep calling video updates while in pause|
|-debug |enable/disable debugger|
|-debugscript |script for debugger|
^CORE MISC OPTIONS^^
|-bios |select the system BIOS to use|
|-cheat |enable cheat subsystem|
|-skip_gameinfo |skip displaying the information screen at startup|
^DEBUGGING OPTIONS^^
|-oslog |output error.log data to the system debugger|
^PERFORMANCE OPTIONS^^
|-multithreading |enable multithreading; this enables rendering and blitting on a separate thread|
|-sdlvideofps |show sdl video performance|
^VIDEO OPTIONS^^
|-video |video output method: soft or opengl|
|-numscreens |number of screens to create; SDLMAME only supports 1 at this time|
|-window |enable window mode; otherwise, full screen mode is assumed|
|-maximize |default to maximized windows; otherwise, windows will be minimized|
|-keepaspect |constrain to the proper aspect ratio|
|-unevenstretch |allow non-integer stretch factors|
|-effect |name of a PNG file to use for visual effects, or 'none'|
|-centerh |center horizontally within the view area|
|-centerv |center vertically within the view area|
|-waitvsync |enable waiting for the start of VBLANK before flipping screens; reduces tearing effects|
|-scalemode |Scale mode: none, async, yv12, yuy2, yv12x2, yuy2x2 (-video soft only)|
^OpenGL-SPECIFIC OPTIONS^^
|-filter |enable bilinear filtering on screen output|
|-prescale |scale screen rendering by this amount in software|
|-gl_forcepow2texture |force power of two textures (default no)|
|-gl_notexturerect |don't use OpenGL GL_ARB_texture_rectangle (default on)|
|-gl_vbo |enable OpenGL VBO, if available (default on)|
|-gl_pbo |enable OpenGL PBO, if available (default on)|
|-gl_glsl |enable OpenGL GLSL, if available (default off)|
|-gl_glsl_filter |enable OpenGL GLSL filtering instead of FF filtering 0-plain, 1-bilinear (default)|
|-glsl_shader_mame0 |custom OpenGL GLSL shader set mame bitmap 0|
|-glsl_shader_mame1 |custom OpenGL GLSL shader set mame bitmap 1|
|-glsl_shader_mame2 |custom OpenGL GLSL shader set mame bitmap 2|
|-glsl_shader_mame3 |custom OpenGL GLSL shader set mame bitmap 3|
|-glsl_shader_mame4 |custom OpenGL GLSL shader set mame bitmap 4|
|-glsl_shader_mame5 |custom OpenGL GLSL shader set mame bitmap 5|
|-glsl_shader_mame6 |custom OpenGL GLSL shader set mame bitmap 6|
|-glsl_shader_mame7 |custom OpenGL GLSL shader set mame bitmap 7|
|-glsl_shader_mame8 |custom OpenGL GLSL shader set mame bitmap 8|
|-glsl_shader_mame9 |custom OpenGL GLSL shader set mame bitmap 9|
|-glsl_shader_screen0 |custom OpenGL GLSL shader screen bitmap 0|
|-glsl_shader_screen1 |custom OpenGL GLSL shader screen bitmap 1|
|-glsl_shader_screen2 |custom OpenGL GLSL shader screen bitmap 2|
|-glsl_shader_screen3 |custom OpenGL GLSL shader screen bitmap 3|
|-glsl_shader_screen4 |custom OpenGL GLSL shader screen bitmap 4|
|-glsl_shader_screen5 |custom OpenGL GLSL shader screen bitmap 5|
|-glsl_shader_screen6 |custom OpenGL GLSL shader screen bitmap 6|
|-glsl_shader_screen7 |custom OpenGL GLSL shader screen bitmap 7|
|-glsl_shader_screen8 |custom OpenGL GLSL shader screen bitmap 8|
|-glsl_shader_screen9 |custom OpenGL GLSL shader screen bitmap 9|
|-gl_glsl_vid_attr |enable OpenGL GLSL handling of brightness and contrast. Better RGB game performance for free. (default)|
^PER-WINDOW VIDEO OPTIONS^^
|-screen |explicit name of the first screen; 'auto' here will try to make a best guess|
|-aspect |aspect ratio for all screens; 'auto' here will try to make a best guess|
|-resolution |preferred resolution for all screens; format is <width>x<height>[@<refreshrate>] or 'auto'|
|-view |preferred view for all screens|
|-screen0 |explicit name of the first screen; 'auto' here will try to make a best guess|
|-aspect0 |aspect ratio of the first screen; 'auto' here will try to make a best guess|
|-resolution0 |preferred resolution of the first screen; format is <width>x<height>[@<refreshrate>] or 'auto'|
|-view0 |preferred view for the first screen|
|-screen1 |explicit name of the second screen; 'auto' here will try to make a best guess|
|-aspect1 |aspect ratio of the second screen; 'auto' here will try to make a best guess|
|-resolution1 |preferred resolution of the second screen; format is <width>x<height>[@<refreshrate>] or 'auto'|
|-view1 |preferred view for the second screen|
|-screen2 |explicit name of the third screen; 'auto' here will try to make a best guess|
|-aspect2 |aspect ratio of the third screen; 'auto' here will try to make a best guess|
|-resolution2 |preferred resolution of the third screen; format is <width>x<height>[@<refreshrate>] or 'auto'|
|-view2 |preferred view for the third screen|
|-screen3 |explicit name of the fourth screen; 'auto' here will try to make a best guess|
|-aspect3 |aspect ratio of the fourth screen; 'auto' here will try to make a best guess|
|-resolution3 |preferred resolution of the fourth screen; format is <width>x<height>[@<refreshrate>] or 'auto'|
|-view3 |preferred view for the fourth screen|
^FULL SCREEN OPTIONS^^
|-switchres |enable resolution switching|
^SOUND OPTIONS^^
|-audio_latency |set audio latency (increase to reduce glitches, decrease for responsiveness)|
^SDL KEYBOARD MAPPING^^
|-keymap |enable keymap|
|-keymap_file |keymap filename|
|-uimodekey |Key to toggle MESS keyboard mode|
^SDL JOYSTICK MAPPING^^
|-joy_idx1 |name of joystick mapped to joystick #1|
|-joy_idx2 |name of joystick mapped to joystick #2|
|-joy_idx3 |name of joystick mapped to joystick #3|
|-joy_idx4 |name of joystick mapped to joystick #4|
|-joy_idx5 |name of joystick mapped to joystick #5|
|-joy_idx6 |name of joystick mapped to joystick #6|
|-joy_idx7 |name of joystick mapped to joystick #7|
|-joy_idx8 |name of joystick mapped to joystick #8|
|-sixaxis |Use special handling for PS3 Sixaxis controllers|
^SDL LOWLEVEL DRIVER OPTIONS^^
|-videodriver |sdl video driver to use ('x11', 'directfb', … or 'auto' for SDL default|
|-audiodriver |sdl audio driver to use ('alsa', 'arts', … or 'auto' for SDL default|
|-gl_lib |alternative libGL.so to use; 'auto' for system default|
^MESS SPECIFIC OPTIONS^^
|-ramsize |size of RAM (if supported by driver)|
|-writeconfig |writes configuration to (driver).ini on exit|
|-skip_warnings |skip displaying the warnings screen|
|-natural |specifies whether to use a natural keyboard or not|
^SDL MESS SPECIFIC OPTIONS^^
^CORE COMMANDS^^
|-help |show help message|
|-validate |perform driver validation on all game drivers|
^CONFIGURATION COMMANDS^^
|-createconfig |create the default configuration file|
|-showconfig |display running parameters|
|-showusage |show this help|
^FRONTEND COMMANDS^^
|-listxml |all available info on driver in XML format|
|-listfull |short name, full name|
|-listsource |driver sourcefile|
|-listclones |show clones|
|-listbrothers |show “brothers”, or other drivers from same sourcefile|
|-listcrc |CRC-32s|
|-listroms |list required roms for a driver|
|-listsamples |list optional samples for a driver|
|-verifyroms |report romsets that have problems|
|-verifysamples |report samplesets that have problems|
|-romident |compare files with known MAME roms|
|-listdevices |list available devices |