Guides:MAME - Linked Mode

Linked Mode Arcade Machine

Linking Virtua Racing, this machine uses serial based comms

MAME supports the following cli options for serial based comms

-comm_localhost
-comm_localport
-comm_remotehost
-comm_remoteport

To successfully link two+ Virtua Racing instances you will need two separate nvmram directories because you will need to set the machines as master/slave devices as applicable

• The first machine (Car 1) will be the Master in all cases
• Each additional machine (Car) will

* be in slave mode
* need a port open to listen on
* be on the same network with an ip address

Setup (2 machines)

• Create two nvram directories to store the machine configs
• Get the IP address of the each machine
• Assign each machine a port with their IP address, just do this on piece of paper for now

One the first machine (car 1 / master) start mame

mame vr -nvram_directory <path to nvram> -localhost <machine1 ip> -comm_localport <machine1 port> -remotehost <machine2 ip> -remoteport <machine2 port>

On the second machine (car 2 / slave) start mame

mame vr -nvram_directory <path to nvram> -localhost <machine2 ip> -comm_localport <machine2 port> -remotehost <machine1 ip> -remoteport <machine1 port>

When the games start for the first time set their mode

• Press F2 to enter test mode, navigate
• Navigate to GAME SYSTEM
• LINK ID -> Master (machine 1) or Slave (machine 2+)
• Back out of the menu and when prompted save your settings
• Exit test mode

The two machines should find each other and the game will start

Reference

• List of tested titles