mame_for_picochess

The MAME engine files for picochess: for each emulated chess computer, the scripts that start MAME with the chessengine plugin, its level list, and its entry in picochess's retro engine menu. The files are for MAME 0.289.

Contents

Path	What it is
retro.ini	The retro engine list picochess shows: one [mame/<system>] section per machine with its names, Elo, number of levels and ponder/brain.
mame/<system>	Start script: runs MAME headless (-video none) with the chessengine plugin. picochess passes its MAME options (speed, sound) as $1.
mame/<system>_art	The same with the MAME window and the machine's artwork, used when the artwork display is switched on in picochess.
mame/<system>.uci	The machine's levels as picochess offers them.
dgt/<system>.uci	The same levels with names short enough for the DGT3000 and DGTPi clocks. Generated from mame/<system>.uci.
tools/make_dgt_uci.py	Generates dgt/ and builds mame_uci_web_en.zip and mame_uci_dgtpi_en.zip.
tools/check_softlist_roms.sh	Lists the engines whose software list ROMs are missing and finds them in wrongly named zips (see Software lists).

<system> is the MAME set name. A few entries run another set or a cartridge through their script, for example vccg runs vcc -bios de and ggm_steinitz runs ggm steinitz.

Installing

picochess expects MAME in /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation (the mess binary, with this chessengine version in plugins/chessengine), and these files in its engine folder (engines/<architecture>/): retro.ini and the mame/ folder. The ROMs are not included.

ROMs

The ROMs go in /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation/roms. They must match the MAME version of your mess binary: MAME renames sets and replaces ROM dumps between versions, so a ROM set made for another version may not load. Check them with:

cd /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation
./mess -verifyroms
./mess -verifysoftlist

Every set should be reported as OK. -verifyroms checks the machines' own ROMs (<system>.zip), -verifysoftlist the software lists described below.

Software lists

Some machines need a cartridge or an external ROM, for example a program module. Their start scripts give it after the system name, and MAME looks it up in a software list: mame/arb_sargon25 runs arb sargon25, which loads the sargon25 module from the arb list. Without the software list archive these engines don't start.

-verifysoftlist only reports the software it finds, not what is missing. To see which engines can't start, run:

bash tools/check_softlist_roms.sh

It prints each engine whose software is missing and the ROM it needs, for example arb_sargon25: needs arb:sargon25. By default it checks the start scripts in /opt/picochess/engines/<arch>/mame against the ROM folder of the MAME in /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation. Give other folders as arguments (check_softlist_roms.sh <script dir> <mame dir>). To check another ROM folder, such as a ROM pack before you install it, set ROMPATH=<roms dir>. MAME also finds software stored as its own zip (roms/sargon25.zip), but ROM packs for older MAME versions may use older names (gms30.zip for gms3). For each missing item the script lists its ROM files with their CRCs and searches all zips in the ROM folder for them by CRC. When a zip holds exactly the item's files under another name, it says which one to copy, for example -> copy gms30.zip as gms3.zip. The search needs python3.

Each software list goes in one archive, named <softwarelist name>.zip. Inside it, each piece of software has a folder named <software name> that holds all of its <rom name> files. The names come from:

./mess -listsoftware <system>

This prints the system's software lists as XML: <softwarelist name="...">, then <software name="..."> for each piece of software, with a <rom name="..."> line for each of its files. Without a system name it prints every list.

The engines here use these archives (MAME 0.289): arb.zip, chessmstdm.zip, conchess.zip, fidel_msc.zip, fidel_sc6.zip, fidel_scc.zip, ggm.zip, intellect02.zip, mephisto_mm1.zip, mephisto_mm2.zip, mephisto_mm4.zip, mephisto_mm5.zip, mephisto_smondial2.zip, novag_ssensor4.zip, saitek_egr.zip, saitek_kso.zip and saitek_schess.zip.

For example, in MAME 0.289 arb.zip holds five folders:

arb.zip
    avelan/
        avelan.bin
    gms3/
        1.bin
        2.bin
        3.bin
    gms4/
        1.bin
        2.bin
        3.bin
    sargon25/
        4000-4800_ea_8332a161-1
        5000-5800_ea_8332a160-1
    sargon35/
        1.bin
        2.bin
        3.bin

The folders keep files with the same name apart (gms3, gms4 and sargon35 each have a 1.bin). ./mess -verifysoftlist arb checks a single list.

Conventions

• retro.ini: name ends with the year MAME gives for the set. small (max 6 characters, lowercase), medium (8), large (11) and web (40) names are unique across the file. elo comes from CB-Emu's Programs.txt. levels is the number of entries in the .uci file. ponder/brain = y only when the machine was measured thinking on the player's time; manuals can be wrong.
• .uci files: sections [Level <n> - <description>] numbered from 1, about ten levels, from easiest to hardest within each group (time per move, game in, tournament). Each has the machine's own level string (level = ...) and PicoTimeControl. Level times were checked on the machine's display.
• DGT .uci files: never edited by hand. After a change in mame/*.uci, run tools/make_dgt_uci.py. Names fit the clock's 11 characters: [Level 6 - 40 moves/2h] becomes [06-40/2h]. The number is always two digits because picochess sorts level names alphabetically in the clock menu.

Machines

Which features each machine supports (position setup, history replay, live info, pondering), its known limits and its change history are listed in chessengine's docs/MACHINES.md.

License

GPL-3.0, the same as picochess. See LICENSE.