Setting the NeoGeo BIOS in MAME

NeoGeo Games by default run in arcade (MVS) mode, but some features like training mode, stage select and in-game pause are only available in console (AES) mode. The mode depends on what BIOS the game is run with. Switching in FBA is as easy as picking from the Set dipswitches menu, provided you have the desired BIOS ROMs.

FBA-switches

To pick a BIOS in MAME, it must be specified on the command line with -bios followed by the name. To see the list of recognized versions, run the game with the -listxml (or -lx) command. You can pipe the output to filter out the unrelated lines like this:

mame garoup -lx|find "biosset name="

It should yield something like:

You can see that euro MVS is default and there are no options for AES. Apparently it's excluded on purpose because it's non-arcade and falls under the purview of MESS. But the console functionality is still in the games and you can access it in MAME via the unibios. Example launch command:

mame garoup -bios uni-bios_2_3

The unibios supports both modes and arcade is default. To switch to console mode, hold A,B and C during startup like it says here and there'll be a prompt for it. You can also set some general options here.

Garoup-unibios-setup1 Garoup-unibios-setup2

To use the in-game pause, press the Select button in FBA or the Next Game button in MAME. In both emus the coin inputs also pause, except for the games listed here.

The unibios has some other features that can be activated during play: RAM poke, some basic cheat codes, and access to the developer debug switches. Bring up the unibios menu with Start + Coin.

Garoup-unibios-debugmenu Garoup-unibios-debugcheats Garoup-unibios-debugdips

Turning on switches 1-7 and 1-8 are what show the built-in hitboxes in the Garou, but only in the prototype ROM. There's a partial list of functions for some games available here.

Garoup-hitboxes

The unibios switches are not the same as the actual physical switches under MAME's Dip Switches menu.

Garoup-mame-switches

The menu that comes up when you press the Enter BIOS key (MAME) or Test key (FBA) is also something different. This menu is for arcade operators and isn't available with an AES BIOS.

Garoup-operator-menu1 Garoup-operator-menu2

Thanks to jedpossum for some info on this.

3 Comments

Well the reason I've tried that dipswitch for garoup is to see how close the garou engine is to real bout. Its safe to say its the same engine without the evade (probably still coded in too). So if you find the hitboxes on one game it'll work on those four games maybe even the older ones(like Fatal Fury 3).

As for Samurai Shodown been messing around with the second one. First time a switch will crash the system completely on me 2-7 looks to be a object test like in kof switch 1-1 then it crashes. As for switch 2-8 on the guide nothing is working on it for samurai shodown 2.

Posted by: jedpossum | 03/21/2011 at 02:12 PM

Good call on the fatal fury switches.

Posted by: dammit | 03/23/2011 at 01:33 AM

You can specify the bios in the .ini file like this, to use it every time without typing it in:

#
# CORE MISC OPTIONS
#
bios uni-bios_2_3

Posted by: dammit | 10/05/2011 at 10:39 AM

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secrets

03/19/2011