Most likely what GreenCard says. It's one of the reasons I stopped using it as they were constantly changing the requirements for the rom set between versions.
Best to settle on a version of MAME, and then 'get' the ROMS for that version. In my case, I use MAMEDOX on the Xbox, which is based on an old version (0.84), so I obtained roms for that version.
I have not bothered with any newer versions at all, as 0.84 includes all the classics I want to play already.
Also, after placing the roms in the appropriate directory, and setting up the directory paths correctly, you have to "scan for ROMS" ( or something like that) before they will show on the list. Just thought I'd mention...
MAME basics are that the rom needs to remain unzipped and with the correct name (ddragon.rar for Double Dragon for example) and needs to be put in the ROM folder that you should have when MAME installed.
I found it much easier to download a MAME that had a proper front end built in (MAME32 was the one I used for years) Once you open that, it will give you a list of every game. Find the audit all roms option and click that. Your game should then be in the available folder to play.
Another important tip, and this confused me when I first started, is that some games need the "parent" ROM for them to work. If you look up Street Fighter II for example, you'll see dozens of ROMS available. You'll usually need the one with the largest file size for any of them to play. Also, you'll need the neogeo.rar/zip file for any of the Neo Geo games to run. I found it best just to grab a BIOS pack as get them all in one go.
Carrying on from what Bob said Pacman is a good example of this. Pacman (Midway version) is the child set (I think), whilst the parent set is called Pucman (The Japanese version).
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And what error message or something like that you get while you try to run it?
I have not bothered with any newer versions at all, as 0.84 includes all the classics I want to play already.
Seems a silly question, but you'd be surprised how many people forget to do this :D
I found it much easier to download a MAME that had a proper front end built in (MAME32 was the one I used for years) Once you open that, it will give you a list of every game. Find the audit all roms option and click that. Your game should then be in the available folder to play.
Another important tip, and this confused me when I first started, is that some games need the "parent" ROM for them to work. If you look up Street Fighter II for example, you'll see dozens of ROMS available. You'll usually need the one with the largest file size for any of them to play. Also, you'll need the neogeo.rar/zip file for any of the Neo Geo games to run. I found it best just to grab a BIOS pack as get them all in one go.