I'm sorry to be yet another complete newbie with stupid questions, after all the new interest in TGM I assume you all must be pretty tired of it... I really want to start TGM1 since KevinDDR mentioned on his stream that it's the best to start off with (since GM can apparantly be accomplished by anyone who puts in a year of two of frequent practice). The problem is, I can't get it to run, because I'm a moron. I understand I should be using Shmupmame (downloaded from TetrisConcept), and I have the ROM and the CPZN1 and 2 BIOs in the same ROM video as the zipped TGM1 ROM. For some reason which is probably really obvious, but completely above me, it just won't work. It says the TGM1 files are incomplete (regardless of where I download the rom, zipped or unzipped. Likewise, when I try the normal, bog-standard Mame from Mame-Dev's website directly I get the exact same problem.
There is one thing other thing I can think of -- it's possible the expected naming or contents of the ROM zip have changed in a more recent version. ShmupmameTGM was built against MAME .137, whereas .157 is the latest version. They do occasionally change how things are expected to be structured in the ZIP -- sometimes because there is a better dump, or new files for previously undumped chips, or... sometimes just because they didn't like the naming standard used before, I don't know. You could possibly rename things to match the current layout/naming standard if it differs -- I think there are tools for migrating files from/to particular versions of MAME? Though, I haven't used any. -- but it might just be easier to just find a copy of the ROM for an older version of MAME. EDIT: I do think the file names have changed since then. That's what I would try.
I didn't even know the folder structure might be different between MAME builds or that different ROMs were compatible with builds. I haven't got a clue about any of this sort of thing. If anyone has a working TGM ShumpMame folder and wouldn't mind PMing me a download link for it, I'd be really grateful. I've spent so long trying to get this to work that I think it's completely above me (I'm probably doing something really simple wrong, but still...).
Thanks for the info. Muf PMed me with some help on the exact folders and I've now got it running. I'm now having an issue getting my USB arcade stick working. It's a Hori EX2, just a simple USB PC/360 stick. I've remapped the stick and buttons, but I'm obviously getting something simple wrong. I can map start and the coin insert just fine, but when I map the stick to up, down, left, and right, and button 0 - 5 accordingly, it doesn't do anything in game. Instead it still controls up, left, right with ASD and flipping pieces with IOP, despite this not being set in the control menu anymore. I'm making another really stupid mistake here, so apologies again, but it's all over my head. I have a friend who's also stumped on this one, using the same stick himself with TGM.
Don't know what this issue is exactly, but a few pointers I've learned with regards to joysticks and MAME: 1) Arcade sticks don't register as joystick up/down/left/right by default. They are analogue axes, and an arcade stick is fundamentally a digital input system, and so usually map as POV Hat up/down/left/right instead. If, from within the menu, you're selecting an input and then pushing up on your joystick to map it, then I don't know why that wouldn't work. If you're selecting what inputs it should be from the long-ass list of all possible inputs that MAME can take, then that would probably be where you're going wrong. 2) MAME allows you to configure inputs on a game-by-game basis, and inputs for *all games*. I'm not entirely sure how this works where there are conflicts, but it could be that if you've already set up custom configs for TGM and are then trying to assign all games to use your joystick, it's keeping the custom TGM config. 3) If you have inputs set to a joystick and run MAME when it's not connected, it can/will wipe any inputs set to that joystick. I really doubt this is the issue, but worth bearing in mind. As an additional thing, 360 gamepads use an entirely different set of drivers to the default Windows one for gamepad controllers - unless you refuse to install them. Again, doubt it's the problem, but can definitely cause issues if a game is looking for a default windows gamepad and not a 360 one (or vice-versa).
A-ha! Yep, this was the problem. I didn't know there was a menu when you boot up a game that let you define the inputs for that specific game. I did that, and it works perfectly now. Thanks! Can't believe I was so stupid to miss this... For reference, to anyone who sees this on Google or something and has the same problem as I do: Boot up the game and hit Tab, set the controls in "Input (This Game)". Simple. Thanks for your help everyone, especially since it was such a stupid question
I'm having the same problem as KingEurope. It would be awesome if someone could point me to a zip of their TGM mame folder. Thanks.
