Get Alien Arena for MAME legally from the official source
Use MAMEdev's Alien Arena title page as the source, read the complete Duncan Brown notice, and acknowledge the non-commercial condition there before downloading for an allowed personal use. Keep the complete kit and notice together. Do not mirror, bundle, proxy, hotlink, or offer an in-app direct download: MAMEdev's catalog limits distribution to its own site.
Do this in order
- 01
Open the official MAMEdev Alien Arena page and confirm it still identifies Duncan Brown, the 1985 game, and free non-commercial use.
- 02
Read the complete linked author notice and the MAMEdev catalog restriction before deciding whether your personal use fits the published terms.
- 03
Acknowledge the condition and initiate any download on MAMEdev itself; do not use a mirror, direct-file hotlink, proxy, or repackaged bundle.
- 04
Keep the entire kit and notice together, record the official page URL and review date, and calculate a local checksum for backup identity.
- 05
Use the exact MAME build's audit for short name alienar and treat alienaru as a separate Stargate-sound variant with a different dependency boundary.
- 06
Retain the file only for the permitted non-commercial purpose, do not charge for play or redistribute through a site or app, and recheck the source if the page or notice changes.
Decision and diagnostic table
| Proposed use | Published evidence | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Personal non-commercial use from MAMEdev | Title page and author notice allow a bounded home/collector use | Follow the source-page acknowledgement and full notice |
| ArcadeShelf or another public mirror | MAMEdev limits approved distribution to its own site | Not permitted without separate owner permission |
| Paid app, cabinet, route, or charged play | Author notice withholds automatic commercial and route use | Not cleared by the published grant |
| Historical article with official-source link | Factual coverage and normal source link do not copy the ROM | Allowed when restrictions and authorship stay clear |
Free is a permission scope, not public domain
Duncan Brown identifies Alien Arena as his copyrighted work and permits a narrow form of non-commercial home enjoyment and collector transfer with the complete notice. The work is not labeled public domain.
MAMEdev adds a channel boundary: its approved ROM catalog is for distribution from MAMEdev only. A free download there does not authorize another site or app to become a distributor.
Keep the official acknowledgement in the path
The official title page requires the user to acknowledge non-commercial use before downloading. A direct-file link, server-side fetch, native one-tap action, or cached copy would bypass that rights notice and source-site decision.
A normal link to the title page preserves the current text, the author's notice, and the user's own action. If either official page disappears or materially changes, stop relying on the previous review until it is repeated.
Compatibility does not expand permission
MAME's driver identifies alienar and a separate alienaru variant. That technical fact helps select the correct audit but does not license ROM data, Stargate sound code, cabinet art, screenshots, or music.
Keep the rights record, source URL, local checksum, MAME version, and audit result as separate evidence. A good audit proves only that the target build recognizes the bytes.
Alien Arena is copyrighted, not public domain. The reviewed permission is bounded to non-commercial use and MAMEdev's site-only distribution channel; obtain separate written permission for mirroring, bundling, commercial use, charged play, or product delivery.