MK4 on MAT/MAME-- Why it's not going to happen anytime soon.

[Shinnokxz]

I posted a variant of this in another topic, and thought I'd make a topic dedicated towards what I know about it.

We all know that all the MK games so far in MAT have been emulated-- with MK1 on the Premium MK disc and MK2/MK3 on MAT2. But with MK4, there comes a problem. Midway uses an inhouse emulator for their MAT titles that, supposedly, is coded a lot like the popular MAME emulator for PC.

Now this is my educated observation: knowing this, pair it up with the fact that a playable version of MK4 for MAME is years off and you're looking at bleek chances of any form of MK4 hitting MAT. It was finally added to the 'Non-Working' list on MAME and was availible for download a few releases ago, but it's still far from working, as it doesn't even get past the ROM check.

I posted on alt.mame a few years ago and asked about it, and the head of the project is headed by Aaron Giles. The problem with getting MK4 for the arcade emulated is that there is practically no documentation for the Zeus hardware, so as someone on USEnet put it.. "It's like looking into an endless, dark box" They simply don't know what to do with the ROM's code.

So we gotta a few years, people. That is, of course, if they don't emulate MK4 like they did the other MKs in MAT and actually code it to work with the current systems. That's doubtful, however.

 

[Shinnokxz]

Urgh..

I accidentally posted this on the wrong forum. If any moderator wants to move this to the Klassic Kombat discussion area, feel free to do so.

 

[Jion_Wansu]

Because MK4 sux

 

[Special Forces]

Because MK4 sux

................... I think good ol' Shinnokxz didn't want you to reply to his thread, which is a good and infomartive thread btw. Is spam the only thing you can do?

I accidentally posted this on the wrong forum. If any moderator wants to move this to the Klassic Kombat discussion area, feel free to do so.

Done.

 

[Jion_Wansu]

It's true MK4 does suck. That's why no everyone stopped playing MK until MKDA and MKD came out. Also, MK4 almost destroyed the MK franchise. I haven't seen any other MK's in the arcades after MK4...

 

[Shinnokxz]

It's true MK4 does suck. That's why no everyone stopped playing MK until MKDA and MKD came out. Also, MK4 almost destroyed the MK franchise. I haven't seen any other MK's in the arcades after MK4...

You trolled in that other topic as well. What is wrong with you? Just tryng to get your post count up?

The quality of the game is not the issue at hand regardless. I adore MK4, as it was around that time that I found this site. I also found it to be an incredibly atmospheric game, as was MKM:SZ.

 

[Masta-Dante]

Because MK4 sux

No it doesnt! MK4 was just new to the 3d market and Midway just needed a bit more experience to the 3d gameplay.....Look at Deadly Alliance, does that suck? Did Deception suck? NO! Now understand we dont like your spam messages which waste time!

 

[DCR]

I haven't seen any other MK's in the arcades after MK4...

That's because they didn't even do another MK game until Deadly Alliance and by then arcades were DEAD. Geez, we've all been through this "arcade" topic so many fucking times it's unbelievable.

Personally, I liked MK4. Not as much as the previous games, but nonetheless, I felt it was a solid game.

And thanks for that info on MK4 being emulated. That's pretty interesting, I didn't know that.

 

[DreemerNJ]

Because MK4 sux

No it doesnt! MK4 was just new to the 3d market and Midway just needed a bit more experience to the 3d gameplay.....Look at Deadly Alliance, does that suck? Did Deception suck? NO! Now understand we dont like your spam messages which waste time!

I think MKD and MKDA sucked. But thats that whole incomplete gameplay thing.

Back to topic.

It seems so incredibly difficult to emulate any of the newer arcade games, let alone a game powered by some crazy chip that was only used for this one single game. How would they ever figure out how to translate it? And then wouldn't the game also require a pretty hardcore PC since it had the one processor that took care of everything?

Perhaps if there have been strides in emulating Cruisin' Exotica there would be hope since that used the Zeus 2 chip. Maybe they are similar or something.

 

[Shinnokxz]

Actually, the Zeus chip was used for only one other game called Invasion. Pretty sure the Zeus 2 is a whole different ballgame from this matter.

 

[DreemerNJ]

Actually, the Zeus chip was used for only one other game called Invasion. Pretty sure the Zeus 2 is a whole different ballgame from this matter.

I wasn't sure how related they were. Figured they might have similarities, but it doesn't look like Cruisin Exotica has really been emued either anyway.

 

[EWAShock]

It's all a matter of people wanting to spend time on it, and they don't. Why do you think even the newest MAMEs still have the pallet glitching? Cause no one cares about MK enough. If they wanted to put MK4 on MAT3, Midway would most likely assist them with it since they have no frame of reference, or, they will just totally re-port it.

 

[Attila Frost]

Wow!!! I have never read such non-sense in my life in forums (short in this one I know but I've been in many others)...people who hate MK4???? what the hell??? and people "don't care enough about MK for it to be emulated on MAME"???? excuse me??? the greatest fighting game of them all??? this is very weird...and I can't believe people didn't like MK4...that's hilarious, MK4 was amazing, the graphics were waaay ahead of it's time and there was absolutely no 3D fighting game that looked like that untill like late 1999 (MK4 came out in mid '97, or was it early?), I personally didn't have any problems at all with the game still playing like 2D, it was more atmospheric and "back to basics" without any stupid friendships, babalities, animalities and so on, the story was much better (I follow the story with every single detail) and you should think that MK is the only fighting game series that actually has a "real" story...really, and there's people who hate DA and Deception too? really? weren't you happy that a new Mortal Kombat re-made came out for the then latest consoles with amazing graphics and totally new and more realistic gameplay? really, some people make laugh...besides, if it didn't come out for the arcades it was because Midway (primarily Ed boon and Jhon Tobias) decided that the arcades were dying and that home consoles were more popular than ever...one thing with Boon and the team they're always looking for the medium that gives more profits...since the mid to late 90's that's home consoles...so yeah, home consoles it is...

 

[Tim Static]

Way to bring up a 2 1/2 year old thread.

And for the record, MK4 IS in the process of trying to be emulated for released hopefully within the year.

 

[Patrick McCarron]

I was actually going to post a news story on this, but waiting for more progress first. MAME lead programmer Aaron Giles is working on it now. I'm trying to find out if he still needs a board or not, because I'd add MK4 to my collection finally JUST to send him it to get it emulated sooner.

MK4 Emulation Progress from AaronGiles.com

Hopefully once this gets further along, The Grid will work as well. I'd love to get that networked going over MAME. It was such a fun game, and can live again over MAME networked.

 

[EWAShock]

Wow!!! I have never read such non-sense in my life in forums (short in this one I know but I've been in many others)...people who hate MK4???? what the hell??? and people "don't care enough about MK for it to be emulated on MAME"???? excuse me??? the greatest fighting game of them all???

The fact that it's been 2 1/2 years since the thread was started means most of what was said is true. MK4 is still not emued, but it's being started.

this is very weird...and I can't believe people didn't like MK4...that's hilarious, MK4 was amazing, the graphics were waaay ahead of it's time and there was absolutely no 3D fighting game that looked like that untill like late 1999 (MK4 came out in mid '97, or was it early?),

MK4 was an incredibly bad fighting game. It was fun for casual play but that's it. In the fighting game world, casual play does not = longevity.

I personally didn't have any problems at all with the game still playing like 2D, it was more atmospheric and "back to basics" without any stupid friendships, babalities, animalities and so on, the story was much better (I follow the story with every single detail) and you should think that MK is the only fighting game series that actually has a "real" story...really, and there's people who hate DA and Deception too? really?

None of that is important to point out at all since the game ultimately failed. MK4 was designed to look 3Dish, and it had side stepping, but that's the extent of it. MK4 was a gimmick based on a gimmick. Not good.

weren't you happy that a new Mortal Kombat re-made came out for the then latest consoles with amazing graphics and totally new and more realistic gameplay?

Everyone was excited but most were let down by the unfun blandness of the gameplay, and really broken physics. Of all the "3D" MKs, MKDA is held in the highest regard with players but it's still completely unpopular.

really, some people make laugh...besides, if it didn't come out for the arcades it was because Midway (primarily Ed boon and Jhon Tobias) decided that the arcades were dying and that home consoles were more popular than ever

I don't think Tobias had anything to do with that, in fact if he did, he probably would have gotten MKDA at least in the arcade. The real reason is more than likely they didn't want to make new hardware for it, which is indirectly related to arcade lifespan.

...one thing with Boon and the team they're always looking for the medium that gives more profits...since the mid to late 90's that's home consoles...so yeah, home consoles it is...

Not they are looking for it, it's that whatever they put out will sell, no matter how bad it is. Everything they make sells a million copies and then dies.

 

[Patrick McCarron]

The biggest fault in Attila's posting is that Ed and John are making the decisions. But they are not. Actually John wasn't at the company anymore for anything past MK: Special Forces. He, and others in the team, left before MK:SF was even released. He had no involvement with MKDA at all, actually he was working on his own game Tao Feng at the time at his own, now defunct, company.

Midway execs made the choice to move from arcade to home console, where the profits are much greater. Arcades were and still are dead when this decision was made for the company as a whole so they didn't go under. In order to make money on an arcade game development, they had to sell so many $4000 machines. Arcade operators were buying less games back then, so the shift to home consoles were made.

I personally await emulation of the game mostly because it would lead towards emulation of The Grid. I think that game is highly underrated and was a victim of Midway changing it's business focus to home consoles. So with online play in MAME, it could breathe new life into the game. Maybe enough to convince Midway to get it ported to another platform, maybe using the Unreal engine??

 

[Tim Static]

Sadly enough, I've never played The Grid, which means I've never even seen the cabinet because if I saw it, I would have played it.

The Grid would go great on XBL.

Top 5 games XBL needs:

1. NBA JAM
2. Marvel vs Capcom 2
3. KILLER INSTINCT 1, 2 or 3!!!
4. The Grid
5. MK4

 

[Patrick McCarron]

Here is some video of the game play.

 

[Tim Static]

:shock: :shock: :shock: Whoa....I gotta play that....****ing Midway...how perfect would this game be for XBL? damnit..