BYOAC OLD Wiki - User contributions [en]

PC Monitors

2006-03-25T03:35:43Z

Hartdre:

The simplest, most direct route to setting up display, a PC monitor will provide decent quality and is usually the cheapest. Also it is the easiest to set up. As opposed to a television or authentic arcade monitor, all that is required is to plug it in.

However, as stated before this price comes at a cost. Games tend to look "pixelly" (blocky looking graphics) due to the high resolutions that PC monitors run at. Enabling scan-lines (black lines across the screen) can make the quality better but it still does not compare to the quality that can be achieved on a television or better yet, an arcade monitor.

PC Operating System Comparison

2006-03-25T03:29:40Z

Hartdre: /* Relevant Links */

===Introduction===

'''TODO: Add Linux, DOS and Windows are not the only two operating systems'''

Back in the day, MAME was developed to run from DOS and users had to use a Windows frontend or Mame32 to get it running in Windows. From MAME v0.37b15 onwards, Windows became the MAMEdev's platform of choice. Still, running a MAME build from pure DOS will give you best bang for your buck; allowing you to take that 8 year old PC out of the dumpster and turn it into the heart of your home arcade machine.

These days DOS is a mystery to most people, and a DOS system can take a lot of work to set up correctly; so it's understandable that most people choose to go the Windows route.

From a development perspective, it makes sence that the MAMEdevs left msDOS for a more modern work environment. However, if you're got a PC based home arcade machine, DOS can have many advantages over a Windows based PC.

===Advantages===
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=4
!DOS
!Windows
|-
|Boots to your Front-End faster
|Is a current OS that more people are familiar with
|-
|Is solid as a rock
|Hardware and software makers develop for Windows
|-
|Can display on an Arcade monitor without special hardware.
|-
|Using batch files (.bat) a high degree of customization is available (including menu creation).
|}

===Dis-Advantages===
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=4
!DOS
!Windows
|-
|Nobody seems to understand DOS anymore
|Is difficult to display on arcade monitor without special hardware
|-
|Newer hardware may not work under DOS (such as TV - Out)
|Takes some time to boot to your Front-End
|}

===Relevant Links===
[http://members.cox.net/mame1/index.htm Purple MAME] - a good (but outdated) site on getting DOS Mame running on a cab.

[http://www.mameworld.net/dosmame/ Dos Mame Support] - another good site on getting DOS Mame running on a DOS cab, including getting sound cards working and memory management.

[http://http-server.carleton.ca/~dmcfet/menu.html How to make DOS Menus] - a site showing how you can create menus in DOS (great for boot menus).

PC Operating System Comparison

2006-03-25T03:28:58Z

Hartdre: /* Relevant Links */

===Introduction===

'''TODO: Add Linux, DOS and Windows are not the only two operating systems'''

Back in the day, MAME was developed to run from DOS and users had to use a Windows frontend or Mame32 to get it running in Windows. From MAME v0.37b15 onwards, Windows became the MAMEdev's platform of choice. Still, running a MAME build from pure DOS will give you best bang for your buck; allowing you to take that 8 year old PC out of the dumpster and turn it into the heart of your home arcade machine.

These days DOS is a mystery to most people, and a DOS system can take a lot of work to set up correctly; so it's understandable that most people choose to go the Windows route.

From a development perspective, it makes sence that the MAMEdevs left msDOS for a more modern work environment. However, if you're got a PC based home arcade machine, DOS can have many advantages over a Windows based PC.

===Advantages===
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=4
!DOS
!Windows
|-
|Boots to your Front-End faster
|Is a current OS that more people are familiar with
|-
|Is solid as a rock
|Hardware and software makers develop for Windows
|-
|Can display on an Arcade monitor without special hardware.
|-
|Using batch files (.bat) a high degree of customization is available (including menu creation).
|}

===Dis-Advantages===
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=4
!DOS
!Windows
|-
|Nobody seems to understand DOS anymore
|Is difficult to display on arcade monitor without special hardware
|-
|Newer hardware may not work under DOS (such as TV - Out)
|Takes some time to boot to your Front-End
|}

===Relevant Links===
[http://members.cox.net/mame1/index.htm Purple MAME] - a good (but outdated) site on getting DOS Mame running on a cab.

[http://www.mameworld.net/dosmame/ Dos Mame Support] - another good site on getting DOS Mame running on a DOS cab, including getting sound cards working and memory management.

[http://http-server.carleton.ca/~dmcfet/menu.html] - a site showing how you can create menus in DOS (great for boot menus).

PC Operating System Comparison

2006-03-25T03:27:24Z

Hartdre: /* Advantages */

PC Operating System Comparison

2006-03-25T03:26:11Z

Hartdre: /* Dis-Advantages */

===Introduction===

'''TODO: Add Linux, DOS and Windows are not the only two operating systems'''

Back in the day, MAME was developed to run from DOS and users had to use a Windows frontend or Mame32 to get it running in Windows. From MAME v0.37b15 onwards, Windows became the MAMEdev's platform of choice. Still, running a MAME build from pure DOS will give you best bang for your buck; allowing you to take that 8 year old PC out of the dumpster and turn it into the heart of your home arcade machine.

These days DOS is a mystery to most people, and a DOS system can take a lot of work to set up correctly; so it's understandable that most people choose to go the Windows route.

From a development perspective, it makes sence that the MAMEdevs left msDOS for a more modern work environment. However, if you're got a PC based home arcade machine, DOS can have many advantages over a Windows based PC.

===Advantages===
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=4
!DOS
!Windows
|-
|Boots to your Front-End faster
|Is a current OS that more people are familiar with
|-
|Is solid as a rock
|Hardware and software makers develop for Windows
|-
|Can display on an Arcade monitor without special hardware.
|
|}

===Dis-Advantages===
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=4
!DOS
!Windows
|-
|Nobody seems to understand DOS anymore
|Is difficult to display on arcade monitor without special hardware
|-
|Newer hardware may not work under DOS (such as TV - Out)
|Takes some time to boot to your Front-End
|}

===Relevant Links===
[http://members.cox.net/mame1/index.htm Purple MAME] - a good (but outdated) site on getting DOS Mame running on a cab.

[http://www.mameworld.net/dosmame/ Dos Mame Support] - another good site on getting DOS Mame running on a DOS cab, including getting sound cards working and memory management.