# MAME’s User Interface

## Introduction

MAME provides a simple user interface for selecting the system and software to run and changing settings while running an emulated system. MAME’s user interface is designed to be usable with a keyboard, game controller, or pointing device, but will require a keyboard for initial configuration.

The default settings for the most important controls to know when running an emulated system, and the settings they correspond to in case you want to change them, are as follows:

Scroll Lock, or Forward Delete on macOS (Toggle UI Controls)

  For emulated systems with keyboard inputs, enable or disable UI controls. (MAME starts with UI controls disabled for systems with keyboard inputs unless the ui_active option is on.)

Tab (Show/Hide Menu)

  Show or hide the menu during emulation.

Escape (UI Back and UI Cancel)

  Return to the system selection menu, or exit if MAME was started with a system specified (from the command line or using an external front-end).

## Navigating menus

By default, MAME menus can be navigated using the keyboard cursor keys. All the UI controls can be changed by going to the General Inputs menu and then selecting User Interface. The default keyboard controls on a US ANSI QWERTY layout keyboard, and the settings they correspond to, are as follows:

Up Arrow (UI Up)

  Highlight the previous menu item, or the last item if the first item is highlighted.

Down Arrow (UI Down)

  Highlight the next menu item, or the first item if the last item is highlighted.

Left Arrow (UI Left)

  For menu items that are adjustable settings, reduce the value or select the previous setting (these menu items show left- and right-facing triangles beside the value).

Right Arrow (UI Left)

  For menu items that are adjustable settings, increase the value or select the next setting (these menu items show left- and right-facing triangles beside the value).

Return/Enter keypad Enter (UI Select)

  Select the highlighted menu item.

Forward Delete, or Fn+Delete on some compact keyboards (UI Clear)

  Clear setting or reset to default value.

Escape (UI Back and UI Cancel)

  Clear the search if searching the menu, otherwise close the menu, returning to the previous menu, or returning to the emulated system in the case of the main menu (there’s usually an item at the bottom of the menu for the same purpose).

Home (UI Home)

  Highlight the first menu item and scroll to the top of the menu.

End (UI End)

  Highlight the last menu item and scroll to the bottom of the menu.

Page Up (UI Page Up)

  Scroll the menu up by one screen.

Page Down (UI Page Down)

  Scroll the menu down by one screen.

[ (UI Previous Group)

  Move to the previous group of items (not used by all menus).

] (UI Next Group)

  Move to the next group of items (not used by all menus).

### Using a game controller

MAME supports navigating menus with a game controller or joystick, but only the most important UI controls have joystick assignments by default:

- Move the first joystick up or down in the Y axis to highlight the previous or next menu item.

- Move the first joystick left or right in the X axis to adjust settings.

- Press the first button on the first joystick to select the highlighted menu item.

- If the first joystick has at least three buttons, press the second button on the first joystick to close the menu, returning to the previous menu, or returning to the emulated system in the case of the main menu (there’s usually an item at the bottom of the menu for the same purpose).

For gamepad-style controllers, the left analog thumb stick and directional pad usually control UI navigation. Depending on the controller, the right analog thumb stick, triggers and additional buttons may automatically be assigned to UI inputs. Check the User Interface input assignments menu to see how controls are assigned.

If you want to be able to use MAME with a game controller without needing a keyboard, you’ll need to assign joystick buttons (or combinations of buttons) to these controls as well:

- Show/Hide Menu to show or hide the menu during emulation

- UI Back to close menus

- UI Cancel to return to the system selection menu or exit MAME

- UI Clear isn’t essential for basic emulation, but it’s used to clear or reset some settings to defaults

- UI Home, UI End, UI Page Up, UI Page Down, UI Previous Group and UI Next Group are not essential, but make navigating some menus easier

If you’re not using an external front-end to launch systems in MAME, you should assign joystick buttons (or combinations of buttons) to these controls to make full use of the system and software selection menus:

- UI Focus Next/UI Focus Previous to navigate between panes

- UI Add/Remove favorite, UI Export List and UI Audit Media if you want access to these features without using a keyboard or pointing device

### Using a mouse or trackball

MAME supports navigating menus using a mouse or trackball that works as a system pointing device:

- Click menu items to highlight them.

- Double-click menu items to select them.

- Click the left- or right-pointing triangle to adjust settings.

- For menus or text boxes with too many items or lines to fit on the screen, press on the upward- or downward-pointing triangle at the top or bottom to scroll up or down.

- Use vertical scrolling gestures to scroll menus or text boxes with too many items or lines to fit on the screen.

- Click toolbar items to select them, or hover over them to see a description.

If you have enough additional mouse buttons, you may want to assign button combinations to the Show/Hide Menu, Pause, UI Back and/or UI Cancel inputs to make it possible to use MAME without a keyboard.

### Using a touch screen

MAME has basic support for navigating menus using a touch screen:

- Tap menu items to highlight them.

- Double-tap menu items to select them.

- Swipe left or right (horizontally) on the highlighted menu item to adjust the setting if applicable.

- Swipe up or down (vertically) to scroll menus or text boxes with too many items to fit on the screen.

- For menus or text boxes with too many items or lines to fit on the screen, press on the upward- or downward-pointing triangle at the top or bottom to scroll up or down.

Note that for SDL-based MAME, the enable_touch option must be switched on to use touch screen support.

## Configuring inputs

MAME needs a flexible input system to support the control schemes of the vast array of systems it emulates. In MAME, inputs that only have two distinct states, on and off or active and inactive, are called digital inputs, and all other inputs are called analog inputs, even if this is not strictly true (for example multi-position switches are called analog inputs in MAME).

To assign MAME’s user interface controls or the default inputs for all systems, select Input Settings from the main menu during emulation and then select Input Assignments (general) from the Input Settings menu, or select General Settings from the system selection menu and then select Input Assignments from the General Settings menu. From there, select a category.

To assign inputs for the currently running system, select Input Settings from the main menu during emulation and then select Input Assignments (this system) from the Input Settings menu. Inputs are grouped by device and sorted by type. You can move between devices with the next group and previous group keys/buttons (opening/closing brackets [ and ] on the keyboard by default).

The input assignment menus show the name of the emulated input or user interface control on the left, and the controls (or combination of controls) assigned to it on the right.

To adjust the sensitivity, auto-centre speed and inversion settings, or to see how emulated analog controls react to your inputs, select Input Settings from the main menu during emulation, and then select Analog Input Adjustments from the Input Settings Menu (this item only appears on the Input Settings menu for systems with analog controls).

### Digital input settings

Each emulated digital input has a single assignment setting. For flexibility, MAME can combine controls (keys, buttons and joystick axes) using logical and, not and or operations. This is best illustrated with some examples:

Kbd 1

  In this simple case, pressing the 1 key on the keyboard activates the emulated input or user interface control.

Kbd Down or Joy 1 Down

  Pressing the down arrow on the keyboard or moving the first joystick down activates the emulated input or user interface control.

Kbd P not Kbd Shift not Kbd Right Shift

  Pressing the P key on the keyboard while not pressing either Shift key activates the emulated input or user interface control. MAME does not show the implicit and operations.

Kbd P Kbd Shift or Kbd P Kbd Right Shift

  Pressing the P key while also pressing either of the Shift keys activates the emulated input or user interface control. Once again, the implicit and operations are not shown.

(In technical terms, MAME uses Boolean sum of products logic to combine inputs.)

When a digital input setting is highlighted, the prompt below the menu shows whether selecting it will replace the current assignment or append an or operation to it. Press UI Left/Right before selecting the setting to switch between replacing the assignment or appending an or operation to it. Press UI Clear (Delete or Forward Delete by default) to clear the highlighted setting, or restore the default assignment if it is currently cleared.

When you select a digital input setting, MAME will wait for you to enter an input or a combination of inputs for a logical and operation:

- Press a key or button or move an analog control once to add it to the and operation.

- Press a key or button or move an analog control twice to add a not item to the and operation. Pressing the same key or button or moving the same analog control additional times toggles the not on and off.

- Press UI Cancel (Escape by default) to leave the setting unchanged.

- The new setting is shown below the menu. Wait one second after activating an input to accept the new setting.

Here’s how to produce some example settings:

Kbd 1

  Press the 1 key on the keyboard once, then wait one second to accept the setting.

Kbd F12 Kbd Shift Keyboard Alt

  Press the F12 key on the keyboard once, press the left Shift key once, press the left Alt key once, then wait one second to accept the setting.

Kbd P not Kbd Shift not Kbd Right Shift

  Press the P key on the keyboard once, press the left Shift key twice, press the right Shift key twice, then wait one second to accept the setting.

### Analog input settings

Each emulated analog input has three assignment settings:

- Use the axis setting to assign an analog axis to control the emulated analog input. The axis setting uses the name of the input with the suffix “Analog”. For example the axis setting for the steering wheel in Ridge Racer is called Steering Wheel Analog.

- Use the increment setting assign a control (or combination of controls) to increase the value of the emulated analog input. The increment setting uses the name of the input with the suffix “Analog Inc”. For example the increment setting for the steering wheel in Ridge Racer is called Steering Wheel Analog Inc. This is a digital input setting – if an analog axis is assigned to it, MAME will not increase the emulated input value at a proportional speed.

- Use the decrement setting assign a control (or combination of controls) to decrease the value of the emulated analog input. The decrement setting uses the name of the input with the suffix “Analog Dec”. For example the decrement setting for the steering wheel in Ridge Racer is called Steering Wheel Analog Dec. This is a digital input setting – if an analog axis is assigned to it, MAME will not decrease the emulated input value at a proportional speed.

The increment and decrement settings are most useful for controlling an emulated analog input using digital controls (for example keyboard keys, joystick buttons, or a directional pad). They are configured in the same way as emulated digital inputs (see above). It’s important that you don’t assign the same control to the axis setting as well as the increment and/or decrement settings for the same emulated input at the same time. For example if you assign Ridge Racer’s Steering Wheel Analog setting to the X axis of the left analog stick on your controller, you should not assign either the Steering Wheel Analog Inc or Steering Wheel Analog Dec setting to the X axis of the same analog stick.

You can assign one or more analog axes to the axis setting for an emulated analog input. When multiple axes are assigned to an axis setting, they will be added together, but absolute position controls will override relative position controls. For example suppose for Arkanoid you assign the Dial Analog axis setting to Mouse X or Joy 1 LSX or Joy 1 RSX on a mouse and Xbox-style controller. You will be able to control the paddle with the mouse or either analog stick, but the mouse will only take effect if both analog sticks are in the neutral position (centred) on the X axis. If either analog stick is not centred on the X axis, the mouse will have no effect, because a mouse is a relative position control while joysticks are absolute position controls.

For absolute position controls like joysticks and pedals, MAME allows you to assign either the full range of an axis or the range on one side of the neutral position (a half axis) to an axis setting. Assigning a half axis is usually used for pedals or other absolute inputs where the neutral position is at one end of the input range. For example suppose for Ridge Racer you assign the Brake Pedal Analog setting to the portion of a vertical joystick axis below the neutral position. If the joystick is at or above the neutral position vertically, the brake pedal will be released; if the joystick is below the neutral position vertically, the brake pedal will be applied proportionally. Half axes are displayed as the name of the axis followed by a plus or minus sign (+ or -). Plus refers to the portion of the axis below or to the right of the neutral position; minus refers to the portion of the axis above or to the left of the neutral position. For pedal or analog trigger controls, the active range is treated as being above the neutral position (the half axis indicated by a minus sign).

When keys or buttons are assigned to an axis setting, they conditionally enable analog controls assigned to the setting. This can be used in conjunction with an absolute position control to create a “sticky” control.

Here are some examples of some possible axis setting assignments, assuming an Xbox-style controller and a mouse are used:

Joy 1 RSY

  Use vertical movement of the right analog stick to control the emulated input.

Mouse X or Joy 1 LT or Joy 1 RT Reverse

  Use horizontal mouse movement, or the left and right triggers to control the emulated input. The right trigger is reversed so it acts in the opposite direction to the left trigger.

Joy 1 LB Joy 1 LSX

  Use horizontal movement of the left analog stick to control the emulated input, but only while holding the left shoulder button. If the left shoulder button is released while the left analog stick is not centred horizontally, the emulated input will hold its value until the left shoulder button is pressed again (a “sticky” control).

not Joy 1 RB Joy 1 RSX or Joy 1 RB Joy 1 RSX Reverse

  Use horizontal movement of the right analog stick to control the emulated input, but invert the control if the right shoulder button is held.

When you select an axis setting, MAME will wait for you to enter an input:

- Move an analog control to assign it to the axis setting.

- Press a key or button (or a combination of keys or buttons) before moving an analog control to conditionally enable the analog control.

- When appending to a setting, if the last assigned control is an absolute position control, move the same control again to cycle between the full range of the axis, the portion of the axis on either side of the neutral position, and the full range of the axis reversed.

- When appending to a setting, if the last assigned control is a relative position control, move the same control again to toggle reversing the direction of the control on or off.

- When appending to a setting, move an analog control other than the last assigned control or press a key or button to add an or operation.

- Pressing UI Cancel (Escape by default) leaves the setting unchanged.

- The new setting is shown below the menu. Wait one second after moving an analog control to accept the new setting.

To adjust sensitivity, auto-centring speed and inversion settings for emulated analog inputs, or to see how they respond to controls with your settings, select Input Settings from the main menu during emulation, and then select Analog Input Adjustments from the Input Settings Menu. Settings for emulated analog inputs are grouped by device and sorted by type. You can move between devices with the next group and previous group keys/buttons (opening/closing brackets [ and ] on the keyboard by default). The state of the emulated analog inputs is shown below the menu, and reacts in real time. Press the On Screen Display key or button (the backtick/tilde key by default on a US ANSI QWERTY keyboard) to hide the menu to make it easier to test without changing settings. Press the same key or button to show the menu again.

Each emulated input has four settings on the Analog Controls menu:

- The increment/decrement speed setting controls how fast the input value increases or decreases in response to the controls assigned to the increment/decrement settings.

- The auto-centering speed setting controls how fast the input value returns to the neutral state when the controls assigned to the increment/decrement settings are released. Setting it to zero (0) will result in the value not automatically returning to the neutral position.

- The reverse setting allows the direction of the emulated input’s response to controls to be inverted. This applies to controls assigned to the axis setting and the increment/decrement settings.

- The sensitivity setting adjusts the input value’s response to the control assigned to the axis setting.

Use the UI left/right keys or buttons to adjust the highlighted setting. Selecting a setting or pressing the UI clear key/button (Forward Delete by default) restores its default value.

The units for the increment/decrement speed, auto-centering speed and sensitivity settings are tied to the driver/device implementation. The increment/decrement speed and auto-centering speed settings are also tied to the frame rate of the first emulated screen in the system. The response to controls assigned to the increment/decrement settings will change if the system changes the frame rate of this screen.

## The system and software selection menus

If you start MAME without specifying a system on the command line, the system selection menu will be shown (assuming the ui option is set to cabinet). The system selection menu is also shown if you select Select New System from the main menu during emulation. Selecting a system that uses software lists shows the similar software selection menu.

The system and software selection menus have the following parts:

- The heading area at the top, showing the emulator name and version, the number of systems or software items in the menu, and the current search text. The software selection menu also shows the name of the selected system.

- The toolbar immediately below the heading area. The exact toolbar buttons shown depend on the menu. Hover the mouse pointer over a button to see a description. Click a button to select it.

  Toolbar buttons are add/remove highlighted system/software from favourites (star), export displayed list to file (diskette), audit media (magnifying glass), show info viewer (“i” emblazoned on blue circle), return to previous menu (bent arrow on blue), and exit (cross on red).

- The list of systems or software in the centre. For the system selection menu, there are configuration options below the list of systems. Clones are shown with a different text colour (grey by default). You can right-click a system name as a shortcut to show the System Settings menu for the system.

  Systems or software items are sorted by full name or description, keeping clones immediately below their parents. This may appear confusing if your filter settings cause a parent system or software item to be hidden while one or more of its clones are visible.

- The info panel at the bottom, showing summary information about the highlighted system or software. The background colour changes depending on the emulation status: green for working, amber for imperfectly emulated features or known issues, or red for more serious issues.

  A yellow star is show at the top left of the info panel if the highlighted system or software is in your favourites list.

- The collapsible list of filter options on the left. Click a filter to apply it to the list of systems/software. Some filters show a menu with additional options (e.g. specifying the manufacturer for the Manufacturer filter, or specifying a file and group for the Category filter).

  Click Unfiltered to display all items. Click Custom Filter to combine multiple filters. Click the strip between the list of filters and the list of systems/software to show or hide the list of filters. Be aware that filters still apply when the list of filters is hidden.

- The collapsible info viewer on the right. This has two tabs for showing images and information. Click a tab to switch tabs; click the left- or right-facing triangles next to the image/info title to switch between images or information sources.

  Emulation information is automatically shown for systems, and information from the software list is shown for software items. Additional information from external files can be shown using the Data plugin.

You can type to search the displayed list of systems or software. Systems are searched by full name, manufacturer and full name, and short name. If you are using localised system names, phonetic names will also be searched if present. Software items are searched by description, alternate titles (`alt_title` info elements in the software lists), and short name. UI Cancel (Escape by default) will clear the search if currently searching.

### Navigation controls

In addition to the usual menu navigation controls, the system and software selection menus have additional configurable controls for navigating the multi-pane layout, and providing alternatives to toolbar buttons if you don’t want to use a pointing device. The default additional controls (with a US ANSI QWERTY keyboard), and the settings they correspond to, are:

Tab (UI Focus Next)

  Move focus to the next area. The order is system/software list, configuration options (if visible), filter list (if visible), info/image tabs (if visible), info/image source (if visible).

Shift+Tab (UI Focus Previous)

  Move focus to the previous area.

Alt+D (UI External DAT View)

  Show the full-size info viewer.

Alt+F (UI Add/Remove favorite)

  Add or remove the highlighted system or software item from the favourites list.

F1 (UI Audit Media)

  Audit ROMs and/or disk images for systems. The results are saved for use with the Available and Unavailable filters.

When focus is on the filter list, you can use the menu navigation controls (up, down, home and end) to highlight a filter, and UI Select (Return/Enter by default) apply it.

When focus is on any area besides the info/image tabs, you can change the image or info source with left/right. When focus is on the info/image tabs, left/right switch between tabs. When focus is on the image/info tabs or source, you can scroll the info using up, down, page up, page down, home and end.

You can move focus to an area by clicking on it with the middle mouse button.

## The simple system selection menu

If you start MAME without specifying a system on the command line (or choose Select New System from the main menu during emulation) with the ui option set to simple, the simple system selection menu will be shown. The simple system selection menu shows fifteen randomly selected systems that have ROM sets present in your configured ROM folder(s). You can type to search for a system. Clearing the search causes fifteen systems to be randomly selected again.

The info panel below the menu shows summary information about the highlighted system. The background colour changes depending on the emulation status: green for working, amber for imperfectly emulated features or known issues, or red for more serious issues.