If you're new to MPU3/4 and getting all in a tizzy about how to get it working properly then it's probably just as well that you're reading this rather excellent Beginners' Guide. Oh yes.

Please note that much of what's covered here can also be found in the readme file, but this guide is intended to go into a little more detail about exactly what you need to do to get things up and running.

OK, I'm ready, less rambling and more explaining!

So then, there I was filling the car up with petrol, and by the way, have you seen the price of petrol recently? £45 for a full tank, I mean, really, it's not as if a car's a luxury anymore is it? Anyway, as I was saying, I was filling the car up with petrol and you'll never guess who I saw......

No, really, shut up and explain how to get MPU3/4 working. That wasn't even funny.

UPDATE - 28th Feb 2002 - This Beginners' Guide is now a little out of date (it was originally written on August 22nd 2001), but it still provides all the information you really need to know to get MPU3/4 up and running. V8.73 of MPU3/4 has been released since this guide was written, so use that instead of the V6.0 mentioned in this document. If you have problems with V8.73, use V6.5, if you're still having problems, use V6.0 (at the time of writing Luxor is the only game that won't run properly on anything other than V6.0, ironic that I chose that for the Beginners' Guide example....).

OK, the easiest way to do this is probably to explain how to get a single game running, you can then apply the same basic formula to getting any other game running in MPU3/4.

In this example we're going to get Luxor working. You'll need the following files:

1) The MPU3/4 emulator (for this exercise we'll say version 8.75).
2) The game's ROM file (supplied as a zip file, this will contain some or all of .bin, .chr and .hex files).
3) The game's RES file (supplied as a zip file, this will contain some or all of .gam, .res and .ram files).

(Note, files supplied from my site always adhere to the following naming conventions. ROM files are called gamenamerom.zip, RES files are called gamenamelayout.zip. Of course, other site owners may come up with different names for the files. This is called fruitural diversity).

OK then, you've got your 3 zip files, now you need to know what to do with them:

(Note that you can use whatever directory structure you want to, and make it as scruffy or as tidy as you want, this is just my suggestion).

1) Create a folder called "MPU34".
2) Unzip the MPU3/4 emulator file into the MPU34 folder.
3) Create a subfolder in the MPU34 folder called "Luxor".
4) Cut and paste the Luxor ROM and RES zip files to the Luxor folder.
5) Unzip the ROM and RES zip files into the Luxor folder (keep the zip files).

You should now find that in your MPU34 folder you have a file called "FRUIT6_0.exe" and a file called "readme.txt". You can read the readme file at this point if you feel like it, it's ever so good. In your Luxor folder you should have the following files:

(RES) Lux.res, luxor.gam, luxor.ram
(ROM) Luxor.chr, luxor.hex, luxorsnd1.hex, luxorsnd2.hex

Assuming that everything's present and correct you are now ready to emulate your ass off. Load the MPU3/4 emulator by double-clicking on the "FRUIT6_0.exe" file (clever bunnies will probably want to create a shortcut and place it on their desktop, or somewhere equally easily accessible, at this point).

The emulator only takes a couple of seconds to load, you should be presented with a rather dull looking grey window called "MPU3/4". Go to File>Load and you'll be presented with an "Open" dialogue box. MPU3/4 now needs you to point it to the "luxor.gam" file. The default browse context is wherever the MPU3/4 executable resides, so you'll have to navigate down a level to your Luxor folder, the "luxor.gam" file will be displayed, double click on it to load it in.

After a few seconds the once dull grey window should be taken over by the Luxor machine's layout, the machine will go through its self test, once that's finished, you're good to go.

You can use the mouse to "press" all the buttons and "put money in", but there are keyboard shortcuts for some functions:

Space   = Start
1,2,3      = Hold/Nudge relevant reel
Tilde      = Collect/Cancel
0 (zero) = Put a pound in (not on Luxor though)
F10       = 3 reel view
F11       = 5 reel view

And that's really about it. If you want to play another machine (and you probably will), just create a subfolder in your MPU34 folder called <<gamename>>, download the applicable ROM and RES files, unzip them into the <<gamename>> folder and load the <<gamename>>.gam file in MPU3/4.

If you want to learn more about the various options and configuration menus, I would direct your attention to the more comprehensive readme file. It's very boring, but is packed to the gills with useful information, a bit like car stereo manuals.

What about the DX Mods?

DX Mods are an enhanced version of the "standard" RES files. They use artwork from the original machines to create a much more authentic feel. A standard RES and DX Mod RES files can live happily in the same folder. Simply unzip the contents of the DX Mod file into a folder (the ROM files must be unzipped into the same folder), and then load in the <<gamename>>DX.gam file. Just think of DX Mods as an alternative to the usual RES files, if you follow the instructions above, replacing the RES zip file with the DX Mod RES zip file, you'll be just fine.

The components of a DX Mod RES zip file have different names to that of a standard RES zip file, so you can unzip both into same folder, and then load in the relevant GAM file in MPU3/4. Remember that whether you're using a standard RES file, or a DX Mod RES file, you will always need the game ROM files to be present in order for the game to run.

It doesn't work, you lying fuck, I've done exactly what you said, why doesn't it work?

OK then, there are a few basic things to check.

First, MPU3/4 is quite resource hungry, and will throw a wobbly if you have lots of other applications open. Try rebooting your PC and making MPU3/4 the first thing that you run.

Second, you'll need a recent version of DirectX installed and working on your system, as MPU3/4 uses Direct Draw. Try installing the latest version of DirectX, and maybe the latest revision of your graphics card's drivers.

Third, there is the odd issue with a game or two (relating to non-existent files referenced in the .gam file and such). Don't get all upset if a particular game won't work, try another one. If you're really keen why not post a question on the MPU Forums? (That's my way of asking you not to bombard me with e-mails about it).

Fourth, there are a few games that need V6.5 of MPU3/4 to run, they are indicated on the ROMs, RES & Reviews page with (V6.5+) after their name. For all other games you'll be better off using V6.0. The emulator is only a single executable file, so it's really no hassle to have both on your system, maybe with a convenient shortcut to each.

Fifth, oh I dunno, go and hit the crack pipe, you'll soon have something else to worry about.

22nd August 2001