Can I make a portable MAME folder?

[Ace Whatever]

I'm thinking of arranging an arcade night with my friends where we play the 3-4P beat'em ups and any other games with a 3P+ support. I don't have any problems on the hardware side (I have one USB gamepad, one Joybox Pro 3, another converter and several spare PSX controllers in good condition, plus I ordered a 4 port Joybox Pro 5 from ebay).

The problem of course is setting things up on the software side. I don't want to waste time setting up MAME from scratch on the host house's laptop. So I thought I'd do it in advance. The question is: Would it work if I set up MAME and the roms on my PC then copied the folders to a portable storage device and pasted on the laptop? Would I have to change anything besides directories?

I plan to get the latest MAME32 version and get the roms from the 'hustler. Would other versions of MAME work better for my little project? Is there a better place to get more recent dumps of the roms if they were changed?

I'd appreciate the help.

[ReyVGM]

Yeah, just put everything in one folder and copy that folder on your friend's PC. It should work fine.

Just make sure you don't change MAME UI's (previously MAME 32) default directory paths.

[TheChosen]

Sept 10, 2008 2:23:34 GMT -5 Ace Whatever said:

I plan to get the latest MAME32 version and get the roms from the 'hustler. Would other versions of MAME work better for my little project? Is there a better place to get more recent dumps of the roms if they were changed?

Prepare for dissappointments. Rom Hustler has several dated roms which dont work now. Including the Samurai Showdown.

Same is with the Rom Nation & Rom World. Some work, some dont.

[Ace Whatever]

Don't work at all or freeze at a certain point? So far I have both TMNT games, AvP and the Avengers beat'em up working.

[TheChosen]

Dont work at all. Complains that some files are missing.

[ReyVGM]

They work, they just have to be named correctly.
Try these rom sites for probable up to date roms:
planetemu.net/
www.emuasylum.com/index.php?page=roms&type=list&system=MAME

[Ace Whatever]

Thanks for the help, guys.

Wow, emuasylum is still around? I find it hilarious how alot of the romsites I frequented in my college days are still up and running.