Log Message:
mame: update to 0.262.

After two long months, we’re back with MAME 0.262! Of course, it’s
full of exciting work on multiple fronts. In core media support,
MAME now supports FLAC compression for compact cassette images,
and Zstandard compression in zip archives and CHD disk images. For
maximum compatibility, chdman won’t use Zstandard compression by
default, so you’ll need to enable it if you want to use it when
creating or converting disk images. For your convenience, unidasm
now allows you to specify offsets in hexadecimal or octal.

Three LaserDisc games designed by Rick Dyer are now working: the
Japanese version of Time Traveler, the console-to-arcade conversion
Thayer’s Quest, and Don Bluth’s Dragon’s Lair. It’s very exciting
to see multiple LaserDisc captures combined to eliminate all dropouts
from disc degradation and pressing faults for Dragon’s Lair and
Thayer’s Quest.

Following up on work in the previous release, MAME now supports
Sega’s TV Ocha-Ken system, based on the same technology as the
Advanced Pico BEENA. It’s a far simpler system designed for young
children, using barcode cards to trigger mini-games. Also from
Sega, initial support for the AI computer has been added. No, this
isn’t related to the current artificial intelligence craze; it’s
a rather obscure system from 1986 featuring a pen tablet and using
cartridge and compact cassette media.

Two more Casio Phase Distortion synthesisers have been added: the
CZ-230S keyboard and the rare SZ-1 sequencer. The CZ-2230S lacked
sound editing features but added a programmable drum machine (using
PCM samples) and sequencer. Also in synthesiser emulation, MAME’s
Wave Blaster host driver now supports multiple synthesiser modules
from Casio, Samsung, and Yamaha. In other musical news, the original
version of the very obscure Shamisen Brothers rhythm game from
Kato’s has now been fully dumped and emulated.

The microcontroller program for Taito’s KiKi KaiKai was recently
extracted. This contains a substantial amount of game logic, allowing
the simulation code previously used by MAME to be retired and giving
more confidence that the emulation is accurate. Improvements to
our Fujitsu MB8841 emulation have fixed persistent issues in Arabian
from Sun Electronics. HT1130 microcontrollers are now supported,
allowing cheap hand-held “brick games” to be emulated, albeit
without sound for now.

This is a big release for chess computer emulation. There are lots
of newly supported chess computers from the brands you love, like
Hegener + Glaser, Novag, and Saitek, as well as more versions of
systems that were already supported. There were also a couple of
backgammon computers added, from Saitek and Tryom.

There’s inevitably far more than we have time to talk about here,
including an Arabic version of the Mattel Aquarius, an 8" floppy
drive controller for the Apple II family, numerous Aristocrat
Leisure gambling systems promoted to working, some big software
list updates, and lots of code modernised.