This section deals with installing the MESS application. It includes where you can get MESS from, where to put it and what to expect when you extract it.
Download the latest Windows version of MESS from the homepage here.
Unzip the file into a directory of your choice. MESS is distributed in a ZIP file format so depending on what version of Windows you have you may need a tool like Winzip.
When you have uncompressed the ZIP file you should see some folders and a few other files. Here is an example of what MESS version 0.105 (mess0105b.zip) looks like once it is uncompressed. The latest version should be similar.
Below is a brief explanation each folder.
artwork | Background artwork files for certain systems. |
cfg | Configuration files for different systems. |
cheat | Used for cheats for different games. |
ctrlr | Used for custom controller configurations files. |
hash | Contains files that MESS uses to identify software images. |
ini | Where MESS saves its initialization files used for different systems. |
memcard | Memory card files for selected games. |
nvram | NVram files used to store system settings on certain games. |
roms | The folder where you put MESS's ROM/BIOS images. |
snap | Screenshots made at emulation time |
software | This is where you store your games and software. |
tools | Contains some programs used to manipulate disk images. |
Below is a brief explanation each file.
chdman.exe | DESCRIPTION |
imgtool.exe | DESCRIPTION |
mess.chm | DESCRIPTION |
mess.exe | DESCRIPTION |
messui.exe | DESCRIPTION |
messlib.dll | DESCRIPTION |
sysinfo.dat | DESCRIPTION |
wimgtool.exe | DESCRIPTION |