I have seen a lot of these posts on problems with running Metal Slug, especially 4 and 5. During almost 24 hours, I ran them all (Except 4) in one emulator. How?
Metal Slug 1 - X
These 4 Metal Slugs are fairly simple to run. Note that Metal Slug X is not a new part in the MS story line, it is just an enhanced version of Metal Slug 2.
For Metal Slugs 1-X (1, 2, 3, and X), you are able to use the latest version of Nebula, 2.25, which can be found here:Nebula 2.25
Warning:If you plan on playing Metal Slugs 4 and 5, do not download this version, just continue reading!
For these 4 Metal Slugs, you don't need any DAT files. If you are new, ignore DATs for now. Once you have extracted all the files from nebula225.zip and put them into the folder you made, you will need to get the NeoGeo BIOS files.
What are [the] BIOS files and where can I get them?
BIOS stands for Basic Input/Output System. It determines what a computer can do without accessing a disk, so for example, with these BIOS files, your computer won't need to access a NeoGeo console. The BIOS files Nebula needs are:
000-lo.lo - 64 kB size.
neo-geo.rom - 128 kB size.
sfix.sfx - 128 kB size.
I cannot tell you where to get these but you can do a search on Google (Keywords: neogeo bios).
-Once you get these three, do not unpack them out of your ZIP folder.
-If this archive is NOT a ZIP, unpack all the files from it and then zip it up.
-Make sure it is called neogeo.zip. The filesize should total 299 kB.
-Go into your Nebula directory and into the "roms" folder.
-Delete the "delete.me" file, it is useless.
-Put your neogeo.zip archive into the "roms" folder.
-Hurrah, you are now fit to emulate games.
If you have problems in the future with your games:
-Search for the NeoGeo universal BIOS in Google.
-Once you have the file, it should be called uni-bios.rom and should total 128 kB in size.
-Place this in your neogeo.zip and run Nebula.
-Click the Game tab at the top and go down to NeoGeo Options...
-Check "Use Universe-Bios."
Hopefully this should eliminate any problems.
Okay, I've installed all this but I have no Metal Slug games!
This is the tricky part. You will now need to go hunting on Google using the following keywords:
Metal Slug (2, 3 or X) rom -OR- mslug (2, 3, or X) rom.
Each Metal Slug game is composed up of several ROMs or BINs that are categorized neatly. Here are examples of different things you will find:
201-v3.bin
201-s1.bin
201-p1.bin
201-m1.bin
201-c4.bin
What the hell are these? A load of numbers and letters you will say. I will split and define the file names.
The first three digits will be numbers and/or letters and will determine which Metal Slug we're talking about. Here's a list.
Metal Slug 1 - 201
Metal Slug 2 - 241
Metal Slug X - 250
Metal Slug 3 - 256
The second part is a letter and a number. Each letter determines a category while the number determines the file number in that category. Here's a list of categories.
P - Program
S - Test
M - Z80
V - Samples
C - Graphics
So when we put those all together, this is what a category will look like.
201-c1.bin
201-c2.bin
201-c3.bin
201-c4.bin
Note that there may be other files that are not described here. Keep these, because they are as important as everything else.
The Real Romsets
mslug.zip (Metal Slug 1, AKA Metal Slug Super Vehicle-001)
201-p1.bin - 2 MB
201-s1.bin - 128 kB
201-m1.bin - 128 kB
201-v1.bin - 4 MB
201-v2.bin - 4 MB
201-c1.bin - 4 MB
201-c2.bin - 4 MB
201-c3.bin - 4 MB
201-c4.bin - 4 MB
Total Size - 12.8 MB
mslug2.zip (Metal Slug 2, AKA Metal Slug Super Vehicle-001/II)
241-p1.rom - 1 MB
241-p2.rom - 2 MB
241-s1.rom - 128 kB
241-m1.rom - 128 kB
241-v1.rom - 4 MB
241-v2.rom - 4 MB
241-c1.rom - 8 MB
241-c2.rom - 8 MB
241-c3.rom - 8 MB
241-c4.rom - 8 MB
Total Size - 18 MB
mslugx.zip (Metal Slug X)
250-p1.bin - 1 MB
250-p2.bin - 4 MB
250-s1.bin - 128 kB
250-m1.bin - 128 kB
250-v1.bin - 4 MB
250-v2.bin - 4 MB
250-v3.bin - 2 MB
250-c1.bin - 8 MB
250-c2.bin - 8 MB
250-c3.bin - 8 MB
250-c4.bin - 8 MB
250-c5.bin - 8 MB
250-c6.bin - 8 MB
Total Size - 28 MB
mslug3.zip (Metal Slug 3)
256-p1.bin - 4 MB
256-p2.bin - 4 MB
256-sma.bin - 256 kB (This acts as the text Rom)
256-m1.bin - 512 kB
256-v1.bin - 4 MB
256-v2.bin - 4 MB
256-v3.bin - 4 MB
256-v4.bin - 4 MB
256-c1.bin - 8 MB
256-c2.bin - 8 MB
256-c3.bin - 8 MB
256-c4.bin - 8 MB
256-c5.bin - 8 MB
256-c6.bin - 8 MB
256-c7.bin - 8 MB
256-c8.bin - 8 MB
Total Size - 80 MB
I worked my tail off and got all these, how do they work?
Do not unpack the files out of the ZIP, keep them in. Make sure the ZIPs are called mslug.zip, mslug2.zip, mslug3.zip and mslugx.zip. After checking all the ROMs and BINs in the ZIPs, place the ZIP archives into your "roms" folder.
There is a few small things left to do. The first time you run Nebula, an options window will pop up. Just press "Ok", everything is fine. Before running your game, at the top, there is a bunch of options you will want to change. Here's the list.
Sound > NeoGeo > Sampling Rate > 48000
Sound > NeoGeo > Interpolation > 4 Points
Game > NeoGeo Options... > Region > (The language you want. If you want English, just choose USA.)
Game > NeoGeo Options... > Mode > Arcade
Misc > Language > english
Now you should be off and playing your favorite Run N' Gun! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask in this topic. If you want to own the entire series before playing, or if you've beaten all the Metal Slugs describe up until here, then continue on!
Metal Slug 4 and 5
Great, so now you have learned how basic ROMs on the NeoGeo works! The following will be very complicated so make sure you remember everything above before going on. I learned this stuff in the duration of a few hours but I was very confused at points. Remember to ask if you have any questions!
There's so many topics about help with 4 and 5! How do I emulate them properly?
First of all, you will need an older version of Nebula. One that doesn't lock certain games. Why does Nebula lock some games? Because it identifies the romset as bad. As I cannot find 2.23, the most popular version for playing all the locked games, here is 2.21c. Nebula 2.21c
Metal Slug 4
Please accept my apologies but I am not able to emulate Metal Slug 4 on Nebula as it gets locked on my current version. If anyone can help me with finding or send me 2.23, it would be greatly appreciated. While I cannot play it, this part of the guide remains closed. :sleep:
Metal Slug 5
This Metal Slug is the hardest to emulate. Throughout the time you read this, you will learn a bit of programming involving CRC32s and DAT files. Here is a list of the Metal Slug 5 roms. In the RAR file, at the end of each file, you will see an 8-digit code under the CRC32 tab. Make sure your CRC32s match with the ones provided for each file.
mslug5.zip (Metal Slug 5)
268-p1.rom - 6 MB - 02247965
268-s1.rom - 128 kB - 64952683
268-m1.rom - 128 kB - 6FA01C9A
268-v1.rom - 4 MB - C3540E0D
268-v2.rom - 4 MB - 77BD2F4
268-v3.rom - 4 MB - 39B14567
268-v4.rom - 4 MB - 969FF3B2
268-c1.rom - 8 MB - 969C0D62
268-c2.rom - 8 MB - C69AE867
268-c3.rom - 8 MB - D7BEAEAF
268-c4.rom - 8 MB - E1B1131B
268-c5.rom - 8 MB - 2FA1A5AD
268-c6.rom - 8 MB - 6DE89589
268-c7.rom - 8 MB - 97BD0C0A
268-c8.rom - 8 MB - C0D5BC20
Total Size - 30 MB
Once you have the ZIP file with all these, place it into your roms folder. Then run Nebula and search for Metal Slug 5. You'll be suprised to find that it's not there! How do you make it appear? Make a DAT file of course.
You told me to make a DAT file but how do I do that?
Patience, grasshopper. I am getting there. You will need to download the Rom Data Maker, which I have uploaded here: RomData Maker.
This is what you must do next:
-Unpack RomData.exe and run it.
-Follow the instructions on the screen.
-You will now have a DAT file. Run it with Notepad and a load of information
will appear. Replace this information with the following.
Place this new DAT file called mslug5 into the "romdata" folder. The game will then appear, and if you are running Nebula 2.21c, it will not be locked! I hope you have a great time playing these master pieces that I consider the father of sprite games, due to them being so advanced in sprites and yet so ancient. If you have any questions or comments, let me know in this topic!Quote:
System: NEO
RomName: mslug5
Game: Metal Slug 5
[Program]
268_p1.rom,0,600000,02247965,0
[Text]
268_s1.rom,0,20000,64952683,0
[Z80]
268_m1.rom,0,20000,6FA01C9A,0
[Samples]
268_v1.rom,0,400000,C3540E0D,0
268_v2.rom,400000,400000,77BD2F4,0
268_v3.rom,800000,400000,39B14567,0
268_v4.rom,C00000,400000,969FF3B2,0
[Graphics]
268_c1.rom,0,800000,969C0D62,0
268_c2.rom,1,800000,C69AE867,0
268_c3.rom,1000000,800000,D7BEAEAF,0
268_c4.rom,1000001,800000,E1B1131B,0
268_c5.rom,2000000,800000,2FA1A5AD,0
268_c6.rom,2000001,800000,6DE89589,0
268_c7.rom,3000000,800000,97BD0C0A,0
268_c8.rom,3000001,800000,C0D5BC20,0
[System]
CartridgeID: 268
GfxCrypt: 0
GfxKey: 0
ButLayout: 9
Fix: 0
-Zerpentos
