MAMEWorld Forums - EmuChat - Re: MAME : cannot display roms alphabetically

> I did not know that the mame ui was a backup solution.
> I wonder if this way to select ROM is a new feature of MAME or if there is a way of
> configure this. I upgrade from 139 to 148 to discover this new layout...

For selecting a game to play, yes. It's a minimal fallback to allow some usage for users who are unable to use the command-line interface or who lack a proper front-end. The behavior used to simply show you a "help" text when you failed to send MAME a proper setname, usually resulting in a command window popping up and disappearing just as quickly. This was done to give people SOMETHING to start using MAME. The internal UI is always as it was and can be accessed by pressing (TAB), which allows virtually total configuration of a game and controller/video settings. You can get more information from the DOCS folder of your MAME install.

Many people prefer MAME with an integrated UI, such as MAMEUI, MAMEUIFX (use google to find links). Some others like a detached front-end which you simply choose a certain MAME version to run game on. Front-ends are like opinions - everyone has one

You might want to explore some cabinet friendly front-ends over at BYOAC:
http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Front-Ends