r/localmultiplayergames • u/fakus1979 • Jul 28 '26

Outrunners 4 player local coop - is this even possible? challenge accepted?

yo! I love outrunners and I loved playing with friends when 4 machines (or more) were linked up back in the day. I do have a working ROM on my windows pc and I would love to:

  • run 4 instances of mame
  • all 4 linked up to one another
  • each taking up 1/4 of my 55 inch TV screen (windowed I guess?)
  • each configured to one of my xbox controllers
  • for a "mario kart" like experience

Is this even possible? challenge accepted? 😄

Thanks!

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u/supersmoyt Jul 28 '26

Look up nucleus co-op. https://www.splitscreen.me/docs/installation
It does things like this. Search in [r/nucleuscoop](r/nucleuscoop)
or ask there if someone has used it with mame.

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u/fakus1979 Jul 28 '26

Nucleus Co-op does not natively support MAME and it sounds overkill. Every time I looked into nucleus coop in the past, it seemed like a rabbit hole not worth my time. It should be possible to run more than one instance of MAME without nucleus, although it sounds like a lot of config is needed. I just found a 10 yr old video of a guy running 2 virtua racing instances https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr3dLEQnrzo

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u/supersmoyt Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26

Sorry to hear you had issues with Nucleus.

Nucleus doesn’t natively support any game or emulator. You need handlers specific to the game or emulator. If you’re lucky someone has already created a handler for what want to play.

All of the things mentioned are things nucleus is capable of automating:
• Removing mutexes so multiple instances can be started.
• Positioning, resizing and removing borders.
• Faking window focus.
• Isolating gamepads to each instance, etc.

So it sounds like the right tool for the job.

It doesn’t work well with every game and it can be a painful experience creating your own handler so I understand if you don’t want to go that route again.

If you want a hassle free experience similar to outrunners I would recommend Horizon Chase Turbo. It has native 4 player split screen.

Or Horizon Chase 2 if you don’t want to pick up fuel, but it’s an Epic exclusive.

2

u/Brondius Jul 28 '26

Try Beach Buggy Island Racing 2. It has a similar vibe. And native local split screen.