vexorg
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2017 4:39 pm

High scores not saving

Is there a trick to getting the high scores to save, it used to work in older versions, now the newer one I use (v0.186) doesn't seem to save
mhoes
Posts: 186
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2016 12:26 pm

Re: High scores not saving

To clarify things a bit, do you mean :

1.) That a specific game that used to save the highscores in an older MAME version, no longer saves the highscore in version 0.186 for that exact same game ?

If so, I would personally consider that a bug and/or regression for that game. (Also, could you name the specific game if this is the case ?)


2.) You tried a few games in an older MAME version that did save the highscore, and now in the newer MAME version you tried other games (but not the same ones) that do not save the highscore ?

Support for highscore saving is game-specific: Whether a game supports high score saving or not depends on whether the original hardware supports it after power down (and internally saves it somewhere in non-volatile ram/storage). Because every time you 'start/stop' a game in MAME, you are really powering up/down the entire machine. So if the original hardware did not save it somewhere, that information is lost at power down (when you stop the game).
vexorg
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2017 4:39 pm

Re: High scores not saving

It appears none of the new version high scores save.

The older versions had a folder called "hi" for the high scores, I cant see where the new one would save them. Where are they stored now?
mhoes
Posts: 186
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2016 12:26 pm

Re: High scores not saving

vexorg wrote: Thu Dec 14, 2017 12:07 amIt appears none of the new version high scores save.
Could you name at least one specific game (and preferably a few), that is supposed to save the high score according to you - and preferably additionally did so as far as you can remember in an older MAME version - but does not save the highscore now ? That way people can check wether those games are at all capable of saving the highscore and something is going wrong here, or wether you just happened to pick games that simply cannot save their highscore.
vexorg wrote: Thu Dec 14, 2017 12:07 amThe older versions had a folder called "hi" for the high scores, I cant see where the new one would save them. Where are they stored now?
I don't have a 'hi' folder, and I don't really know, but I fully assume that the highscore is part of the nvram of any given machine, which is stored in the 'nvram' folder. Perhaps someone else can answer that question better than me.

I don't really care much for highscore saving myself, but for at least 'Blazing Star (1998, Yumekobo)' the highscores are saved for me with MAME version 0.189. You could try that specific game and see if it works, as it is supposed to work for that game, so if it does not work for you something is wrong.

Also, could you try to reproduce the issue with the latest MAME version, because if this is an issue with version 0.186, it might be fixed in 0.192 ?
vexorg
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2017 4:39 pm

Re: High scores not saving

Ok, tested a few as "all games" wasn't specific enough: Amidar, Berzerk, Bosconian, Carnival, Choplifter, Commando, Defender, Galaga, Galaxian, Jackal, Joust, Moon Cresta, Mr Do, Moon Patrol, Pacman, Popeye, Rolling Thunder, Salamandar, Scramble, Tempest, Tron, Up n Down. Basically none of the games I try save the high score.

I hate changing mame versions, because often roms that did work suddenly done, like xavious now doesn't work, and it's worked for the last 10 years or more on the older versions.

A previous version I had was mame32 0.83, dated 2004, so not that recent. But that saved the entire game on exit, high scores, credits, the lot. The new one saves nothing. As all the games I tend to play are pre-1990 I shouldn't really matter.
mhoes
Posts: 186
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2016 12:26 pm

Re: High scores not saving

Thank you for taking the time to be more specific.

I honestly do not know if these games/machines supported highscore saving on the original hardware (and therefore in MAME), and I see no quick way of finding out, so perhaps someone else can answer that. (The only thing I can say, is that most of these are relatively old, and it wouldn't surprise me if the original hardware didn't support it.) However, I did a quick check, and it appears that most of the games/machines in that list do support 'save states' (with the exception of 'Jackal'), which will get you what you are looking for. Essentially, 'save states' save the *entire* state of the machine, including but not limited to the highscore, and can be restored the next time you start the game (power up the machine) to that exact same saved machine state. You can enable automatic save/restore through the MAME interface (it's located under 'Configure Options' -> Advanced Options' -> 'Automatic Save / Restore') or by editing your mame.ini. Please be aware that 'save states' support is game/machine specific: some support it and some do not, so it's not a perfect solution.

I can understand why one might be reluctant to upgrade their MAME version. But perhaps you can also understand that a lot of changes are made in each release/version, and a possible bug found in a version of even roughly half a year ago may very well not exist anymore and be fixed in the latest version, so to verify if this is the case (and not waste resources on something that may already be fixed) the MAME developers strongly suggest you try the latest release to see if you can reproduce the issue with that version.

I haven't used MAME32 (instead of the official MAME release) in ages, so I honestly do not know, but perhaps it enabled 'save states' by default (or you configured it that way and have since forgotten) ?
vexorg
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2017 4:39 pm

Re: High scores not saving

Mame32, or mameui now, is just mame with a windows gui interface to select the games. Same core version running with a different front end.
mhoes
Posts: 186
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2016 12:26 pm

Re: High scores not saving

vexorg wrote: Mon Dec 18, 2017 11:47 pm Mame32, or mameui now, is just mame with a windows gui interface to select the games. Same core version running with a different front end.
Yes, *clearly*, that was the most important part of my last post. I whish you the best of luck in all your future endeavors to reach the holy grail of saving your high scores.
vexorg
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2017 4:39 pm

Re: High scores not saving

While you seem to not know, you also seem to keep replying. It was a simple question of why does it not do it now when it did before (regardless of how mame is packaged). If you don't know then stop posting as the forum is inundated with knowledgeable people...
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Tafoid
Posts: 351
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Re: High scores not saving

Not sure what your issues with high scores would be.
Things to check:

- Previous versions of MAME used a hiscore.dat file which is incompatible with current MAME. Each release of MAME now contains a proper hiscore.dat file meaning your old on will not work.

- As far as MAMEUI, I'm unsure how to activate hiscores. Using MAMEDEV.org's official binaries, this is easy. Simply double-click the binary and selcct the option near the menu at the bottom that says "Plugins". You are then given a selection of possible plugins to use (or that have been installed). You can change "High Scores" to "ON" and exit out of MAME. This should save the fact that you want to use hiscore.dat for high score saving.

- If things are still not saving, they may not be coded in the hiscore.dat to save, or it may be a function of the nvram (battery backup) of the original machine.

You also mention that your old version saved your state when possible. This is still possible using "autosave" functionality, but it can be incompatible from version to version. You can reach this menu from "Configure Machine", "Advanced Options" and choosing "On" for Automatic save/restore. Of course, if you are using MAMEUI, there may be other menus for it. Everything I've outlined requires the official binaires and MAMEUI isn't directly supported here.

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