R.Belmont recently made a post about upcoming changes in MAME 0.136u1. The 0.136u1 update of MAME will be a major update for several reasons, not only will it be the first ever version to be compiled as C++ code (although the vast majority of the project is still written in C) it will also be the first version where the cross-platform SDLMame becomes an official target alongside the standard windows compile.
That’s not the only unification that’s going on at the moment however. As followers of this site may have noticed, I’ve always prefered the MAME style ’software lists’ over the open-ended approach taken by MESS with regards to loading software hence the creation of side-projects such as HazeMD and TinyCDI which serve to document both the hardware AND the software released on a platform. Changes are underway in MESS right not to bring that concept to MESS alongside the existing open-ended loading (for homebrew etc.)
This will bring MESS much closer inline with MAME’s level of documentation and policies, properly documenting what software was available for each system. The MAME / MESS database format provides a more comprehensive way to document cartridges than the existing databases which are available, and will allow proper cart dumps, with proper rom naming to be supported just as easily as in MESS. It will also inherit the parent/clone relationship system from MAME, and have fields for Manufacturer, and Year information, just as can be found in MAME.
Hopefully with changes like this MESS can become the ultimate database for Console informaiton, much as MAME has become for Arcade systems. The current databases are limited, and despite their intentions are unable to properly document some details about the cartdiges (such as the actual ROM labels, # of roms, sizes etc.) so assuming MESS can get some traction in this area it is more than capable of becoming a far better reference than those already out there. This is something I’ve wanted to see for a long time because while the existing console ROM formats are great if you just want to play games in any given emulator they fail to actual document things the way MAME does. As the games become older starts to become more of a priority, and isn’t something you can rely on the various rereleases on modern platforms because those are simply about playing the games, so it’s important for other people to document it. There are other advantages to the MESS / MAME database too, for example, the development team make no claims of ownership over the database, once exported from the executable you’re free (and even encouraged) to use / import the information for use in your own emulator, so that things can be consistently and correctly supported.
This should also lead to it being possible to create sites like The fantastic MAWS from the MESS database, and also easier set-name based bugtracking and regression testing as is used on Mametesters. It’s a large undertaking, but as long as people can get behind the idea, and support it then it could be of great benefit to everybody who cares about the history of Computer / Console software, and the emulation of these systems.
This could well be the start of a unified database system for Computers / Consoles, and the first step in the Console emulation scene growing up to be something that’s more than just about ‘playing the games’. Here’s hoping.
