Arcade Database for MiSTer

The ArcadeDatabase_MiSTer repo contains files and lists about the different arcade core MRAs that are available for MiSTer.

How to contribute

To make it easier for users to contribute, we now have automation.

If you want to add or update entries in the database, follow these simple steps:

1. Edit ArcadeDatabase.csv in the repository root (the delimiter is a comma; you can import it into Excel if you prefer).

2. Open a pull request with your edited ArcadeDatabase.csv.

3. Do not edit anything in the mad/ folder, or mad_db.json. Those are generated automatically from the CSV by the automation script when your pull request is merged — touching them by hand will conflict with the regeneration.

4. Once the pull request is merged, the automation script processes the CSV and updates the database accordingly.

Naming convention

Since it is important to know exactly what version of the game you play, I've decided to go for the following naming convention:

Game Name (Country, Version) [bl/hb].

Country should follow the Alpha-2 country code.

[bl] means Bootleg

[hb] means Homebrew

Preferred version

As you might've noticed, there are different versions/clones of the same game. Sometimes the preferred version is documented, and sometimes it is not. Basic rule of thumb is the following (from MAME doc):

- Prefer latest release version

- Prefer English language

- Prefer most widespread release

- Prefer most complete version

- Prefer versions that are uncensored, and have story/cutscenes intact

- Prefer versions that keep the original gameplay balance

- Prefer releases from original developers/publishers rather than licensees

- Prefer releases without region-specific notices or warnings

rotation and flip

These two fields are the source of most confusion, so the rules are spelled out here. They are independent of each other.

rotation — the original arcade cabinet orientation, taken from MAME / adb.arcadeitalia.net (the "ruotato di N°" value on a game's detail page):

  0°   = horizontal

  90°  = vertical (cw)

  270° = vertical (ccw)

This is the original hardware orientation. It is not how the MiSTer core happens to boot or display the game — do not set rotation from what you see on your screen, use MAME. Clones inherit their parent's rotation.

flip — yes only if the core provides a persistent 180° screen flip that the player can reach and that stays applied (a core OSD "rotate/flip" option, an OSD dipswitch-page toggle, or an in-game service-menu setting stored in NVRAM). It is no otherwise. Note:

• flip is not MAME's flip metadata.

• A flip option that merely exists is not enough — a toggle that does nothing, or a cocktail-cabinet mirror that doesn't correct the orientation, is no.

• Verify flip on real hardware.

The MRA's own <rotation> and <flip> tags are hints and are sometimes wrong. When they disagree with the above, MAME wins for rotation and hardware wins for flip.