Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

Link to this comparison view

Both sides previous revision Previous revision
Next revision
Previous revision
Last revision Both sides next revision
mess:usage [2012/06/20 23:04]
lord_nightmare fix minor formatting screwup
mess:usage [2013/08/10 04:06]
stiletto
Line 1: Line 1:
 +====== 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 |