HOW DO I GET STARTED?

[punisher1]

I already downloaded the emulator MAME 0.114 and i extracted the files to a new file i made and well there's 5 folders artwork, docs, roms, samples, ctrlr. There is also 5 window looking icons which are jedutil, chdman, ledutil, mame, romcmp. I clicked all the window icons none opened exept the one that said mame it tells me: "Please consult the documentation for more information."
Then it asks: "Would you like to open the documentation now?"
I did and read all of the things in there but i still can't get it to start. If anyone can help I'll really apritiated.

[Psycho_Symantic]

you downloaded the command line version.
download mame32

[Trident]

you downloaded the command line version.
download mame32

i've heard that mame32 is incompatible with certain roms so how do i get version 0.114 to work?

[FatTrucker]

Mame32 is based on the same source and is compatible with the same roms as commandline mame.

The issue with rom compatability is that as Mame is updated and improved, many roms need updating to continue to work. Discussion of romsites themselves is prohibited by the forum rules so you will need to use your search engine of choice to find somewhere hosting up to date sets.

As well as the necessary game roms. Several arcade systems (like NeoGeo for example) also require a bios file to work. So you need to find the game rom and any bios rom all of which need to remain zipped and be placed into the roms folder inside your Mame folder.

Once you have acquired the correct roms and put them in the rom folder. Open Mame32, select 'file' from the toolbar at the top and click 'Audit all'. The games you have the correct roms for will now work.
Note you need to audit, each time you add new roms.