Building a MAME arcade...

[82-T/A]

So, it's my first go-around. Don't want to take a light picture of it yet until it's done... but just a teaser with it in my garage. I'm using a Zaxxon cab... HUGE, weighs a ton.

 

 

[Papa]

Suspense!!

[82-T/A]

Yes... I'm really having a good time with this, I mean I REALLY am...

 

I've got the monitor mounted in there, an "auto-on" DELL 19" non-wide flat screen monitor, but not a square either... forget the aspect ratio. I built a very solid base for it that it's mounted in, and I used the VESA mounting bracket. I can easily remove it by turning it sideways, removing two screws, and it lifts up. Perfect viewing angle.

 

I got my 'Game Elf' system, a JAMMA harness, my power supply, and a separate two-channel POLK amp with a set of speakers. I even have a separate subwoofer from a Philips home theater system that I had. That's going in the base.

 

I'm using a Sega cabinet, and I have to say... anyone who's thinking of doing a JAMMA and needs / wants a cabinet... I recommend the Sega one... I love the viewing angle, and there's tons of compartments, storage, etc.

 

I'll post pictures tomorrow afternoon.

[82-T/A]

I am really, REALLY enjoying this... it's very consoling for my mid-life crisis at age 37.

 

 

Side note... I discovered that the ATX power supply can be wired for being permenantly on. I bought a slim-line one. I was nervous because most of the newer computers I have, it is a "momentary" switch that turns on the power. Not the case here, so I'm pretty pleased. I am actually using a Galaga switch on the top of the case to switch the power on the power supply. Then, I will have it all plugged into a SMART STRIP. Also, I can't say enough about the Sega cabinet (Zaxxon, Frogger, etc.) This is an amazing cabinet, lots of space... little areas to hide stuff.

 

 

Also... I'm using the GAME ELF system... absolutely amazing. I don't even know why I bothered thinking of doing a MAME when I can just use the GAME ELF. It's unbelievably easier... well documented, just amazing. It also uses an SD card.

 

Quick question... anyone know if I can add / remove my own games on the SD card?

 

It's silly because, I do pen testing as a hobby, have been a computer programmer for 15+ years, and I'm too scared to pull the SD card and read it for fear that it'll mess up the system... hahah...

 

Anyone used the game elf? I turned it on briefly to make sure everything was working... VERY impressed.

[82-T/A]

Got it all working with a PS3 controller. I don’t have the “Control Panel” put together yet, going to take my time with that.

I also don’t have my speakers yet (using temporary speakers), need a few buttons and switches first, and need to put the monitor surround and the plexiglass in front of it first... but here’s a shot with it working...

Note: The PS3 controller can serve as the 3rd and 4th player, since the control panel will only have attachments for the 1st and 2nd player.

 

 

 

[number six]

Anyone used the game elf? I turned it on briefly to make sure everything was working... VERY impressed.

 

Used one on location. The emulation is very spotty on a lot of it's game, especially the music. Typical for the cheap bootleg-emulator boards from china. Seems to play the Neo Geo and CPS2 fighting games OK (not perfect mind you but OK). Everything else is hit or miss.

 

It's cheap and easy but there are a lot of drawbacks. Almost any PC setup will get you better results.. (ie I'd plonk in a Pentium 3 based mame before I'd do a game elf at home)

 

At least you can turn the games on/off individually so the ones that are completely unplayable you can simply disable.

[Keatah]

Anyone used the game elf? I turned it on briefly to make sure everything was working... VERY impressed.

 

A friend used one in a similar project but went with mame, citing things such as versatility, upgrade ability, consistent performance, configuration options.. I might tend to agree with those points.

 

But these little boards are popular if you're looking for an easy project with minimal fuss and can work within their limitations.

[number six]

 

A friend used one in a similar project but went with mame, citing things such as versatility, upgrade ability, consistent performance, configuration options.. I might tend to agree with those points.

 

But these little boards are popular if you're looking for an easy project with minimal fuss and can work within their limitations.

 

Yeah. when talking to people who want a 'multigame' setup there are usually two schools of thought.

 

Some folks want the most 'authentic' experience possible. Obviously emulation is never as good as the real thing but at the same time you can't have 15,000 games in your garage so a multi-setup is a good comprimise for this. If you want decent emulation and authenticty then you really need something like a full-on MAME. There are a few ways to do this these days versus having an old PC rigged in, an original XBOX with Coin-ops will slot in nicely and I've heard people getting good results out of MAME running on a Raspberry Pi or similar devices.

 

Other folks just want the game to be playable in any fashion. They don't care if the sound is off or if the game behavior is inaccurate due to the emulation. This is really the market for the multi-boards. There are a ton of them available out of china. They upshot is of course ease of installation and use. Spend a few hundred on a Jamma cabinet and throw your game elf in it and you are up and running instantly. You can't downplay that. That's why I put one in the game I have mine at.. it was originally at a bar and now its at my work. A mame wouldn't work because those just don't work well in public environments and the people playing the machine don't really care if the timing is slightly off or the sound is in a funky octave versus the original.

 

I'd love to see a chinese plug-in solution that gave you the former results with the ease of operation but I haven't seen one that can do that yet. But if you don't really care that much how it plays and wanna go cheap then buying a SF2 cabinet and throwing an Elf in works but for the same price you can do an original xbox now that ultimarc has all the adapters so I'd strongly consider that as well.

[82-T/A]

 

Used one on location. The emulation is very spotty on a lot of it's game, especially the music. Typical for the cheap bootleg-emulator boards from china. Seems to play the Neo Geo and CPS2 fighting games OK (not perfect mind you but OK). Everything else is hit or miss.

 

It's cheap and easy but there are a lot of drawbacks. Almost any PC setup will get you better results.. (ie I'd plonk in a Pentium 3 based mame before I'd do a game elf at home)

 

At least you can turn the games on/off individually so the ones that are completely unplayable you can simply disable.

 

 

Most of the older games played quite well. I noticed a COUPLE of games acted a little weird. I had something before called "Go Arcade" and this is WAAAAY better... talk about spotty, the sound was horrendous on the Go Arcade, so this seems perfect in comparison.

 

 

 

 

A friend used one in a similar project but went with mame, citing things such as versatility, upgrade ability, consistent performance, configuration options.. I might tend to agree with those points.

 

But these little boards are popular if you're looking for an easy project with minimal fuss and can work within their limitations.

 

It's enough at least to get me off the ground. It's like trying to restore a car, but then not having a nice engine to put in it, so it seems uneventful.

 

I'm not using the JAMMA+ harness at all at this point, but that will be the next step since I need to build a control panel now. So... when I get that done, The Game Elf is really just a plug-and play device... and I may end up using one of my thin clients to run MAME.

 

[82-T/A]

My speakers came in today. Only thing left for me to get before I can button up the marquee is the switch I need to install in the top.

 

Anyway, the speakers I ordered are a pair of 80watt RMS (40watt nominal) Pyle mid-range speakers. They're only 4"... but sound surprisingly good and deep. Because the Zaxxon cabinet that I have does not have stereo, I had to fit the speakers into the 6x9 slot. I made a flat stock of pressed particle board and installed the speakers within there, screwed them down and used the cover to help "affix" them. They do not vibrate, and sound REALLY good.

 

 

 

 

 

This was an unintended result... but I have to say... kind of cool looking. The light is VERY subtle...

 

 

 

 

And this is what is powering them, a Pyle two-channel amp with 40 watts per channel. A little underpowered, but I can still turn the volume up to 90% without any distortion... and since I'll probably never have it above 20%... that'll never be an issue.

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe overboard, but I also have a self-powered subwoofer hidden in the base. I have not yet hooked up it, trying to figure out what the best way to do that would be, and to NOT turn the system into Mono. Also... side note. For those who have the 6x9 opening, Vintage Autosound makes dual-channel stereo speakers that fit into the single 6x9 slot with directional tweeters. I've purchased those before when I used to restore classic cars. They fit in that single spot in the dash.

Edited May 5, 2015 by 82-T/A

[82-T/A]

Finally got my buttons in from SparkFun.com, and hooked it up as the primary switch that controls all... used a left-over spare switch plate from my Galaga cabinet that I trashed. Now that I don't have to switch it from the inside... I can put the Marquee back together.

 

 

 

 

This is in the corner of my family room. While the room is rather huge (600+ square feet), it's maybe a little bit too much... I dunno, not sure how I feel about three arcade games. But... you don't really notice it when you first walk in since it's all the way in the corner. But I'm liking it. Next I'm going to work on the monitor surround and then the control panel (using a PS3 controller right now)

[82-T/A]

Did some cutting, and had to build a frame. Also bought some pressboard and cut out the center as a surround to the monitor. Painted it black, and then put the tinted Plexi-glass over it... came out pretty decent.

 

I hate waiting, but I have a bunch of stuff on order... new coin doors to fit into the cabinet door (not yet installed). Also stripped the control panel, but haven't cut any holes or installed any buttons. I'm going to have to figure out how I'm going to cut these holes in the sheet metal. I'll need to make a template first... you can only cut metal once, and this doesn't look like stuff I can easily weld. I don't know what it's made of, but it's not normal steel (the CP).

 

[82-T/A]

Haven't done too much with the system lately... I've spent most of my time renovating the vanity and master bathroom in the house, but just figured I'd take a quick picture of my daughter playing it...

 

[Syzygy1]

Does it play Polybius?

[82-T/A]

Does it play Polybius?

 

 

I can neither confirm, nor deny, that such a capability exists on this system.

 

I do have an update thought! I took a break from working on the house and sanded down the entire control panel. It was originally a Frogger control panel. Although my cabinet is a Zaxxon, the cabinets are basically the same, so the Frogger control panel fits perfectly. The Frogger one has no buttons, except for a single 1-1/8" hole in the center which is for the joystick. The other two holes on the lower portion is for player 1 and player 2 buttons. So... this was PERFECT for what I needed. I didn't have to repair any holes.

 

I downloaded a template online for a 6-button w/ joystick layout, and marked the center of each of the holes. I bought a hole-saw and went ahead and drilled out all the holes for the buttons and joysticks. The holes came out perfectly spaced, and I'm super happy the way it looks.

 

The hole in the middle is also still spaced perfectly... the only thing I need to do is enlarge it to 2.5"s for a trackball that I bought. Pretty excited... it'll have two-player controls (6 buttons each) with a trackball in the middle.

 

I just need to smooth out the holes (razor-sharp), and paint it, and then I can install all the buttons.

[Opry99er]

Going to try to find a spot for a 360* spin knob, ala Arkanoid/Tempest?

 

[82-T/A]

Going to try to find a spot for a 360* spin knob, ala Arkanoid/Tempest?

 

 

 

You know, that's not a bad idea... that might even be more useful than a trackball... how do they wire up? Do they just hook up to the left/right controls?

[+Darrin9999]

Yes,put a spinner knob on! Great for Tempest and also you can use it for driving games, but you have to get the hang of it for driving. Here is a pic of my layout if you need ideas.

[Opry99er]

^^That is hardcore right there...

[Opry99er]

I sure would love to build myself a MAME cab one day...

 

Can you set it up to boot to a specific game, never seeing the MAME UI?

 

Would sort of kill the experience for me seeing a big menu system...

 

Maybe I am just overthinking it, but if it doesn't FEEL original, I cannot imagine I would enjoy it as much. I love playing NES games on an emulator, but it is not as "real" as playing on the real gear---simply because of the UI and drop down menus.

[omegadot]

I sure would love to build myself a MAME cab one day...

 

Can you set it up to boot to a specific game, never seeing the MAME UI?

 

Would sort of kill the experience for me seeing a big menu system...

 

I'd think you could essentially do that with any setup by just having a 'mame <romname>' set to run on boot after the Frontend starts. I may in fact do that with my setup now that I think about it. I use Wah!cade in Ubuntu and I kick it off with a script, I think.I'll just add another entry for the flavor the day. This may finally be the one feature I want to hack in, though.

[Syzygy1]

 

 

I can neither confirm, nor deny, that such a capability exists on this system.

 

I do have an update thought! I took a break from working on the house and sanded down the entire control panel. It was originally a Frogger control panel. Although my cabinet is a Zaxxon, the cabinets are basically the same, so the Frogger control panel fits perfectly. The Frogger one has no buttons, except for a single 1-1/8" hole in the center which is for the joystick. The other two holes on the lower portion is for player 1 and player 2 buttons. So... this was PERFECT for what I needed. I didn't have to repair any holes.

 

I downloaded a template online for a 6-button w/ joystick layout, and marked the center of each of the holes. I bought a hole-saw and went ahead and drilled out all the holes for the buttons and joysticks. The holes came out perfectly spaced, and I'm super happy the way it looks.

 

The hole in the middle is also still spaced perfectly... the only thing I need to do is enlarge it to 2.5"s for a trackball that I bought. Pretty excited... it'll have two-player controls (6 buttons each) with a trackball in the middle.

 

I just need to smooth out the holes (razor-sharp), and paint it, and then I can install all the buttons.

So why does it say Polybius on the front?

[82-T/A]

I sure would love to build myself a MAME cab one day...

 

Can you set it up to boot to a specific game, never seeing the MAME UI?

 

Would sort of kill the experience for me seeing a big menu system...

 

Maybe I am just overthinking it, but if it doesn't FEEL original, I cannot imagine I would enjoy it as much. I love playing NES games on an emulator, but it is not as "real" as playing on the real gear---simply because of the UI and drop down menus.

 

 

Well, with MAME you certainly can... you'd just need to hide everything else... but you would still have the boot-up sequence for Windows... even with the last DOS version, you would still see the BIOS and such.

 

I have a Game Elf in there, but there's also the 60-in-1 which I have yet to hook up. Most of them can be configured to go to a single game, with what appears to be a normal arcade boot-up sequence. I prefer the menu though, simply because I already have two other arcade cabinets that are original... and I just want something that has all of the general games. MOST of the games on the Game Elf feel very original. When my daughter plays the Dungeons & Dragons games... the sound quality and picture quality are all spectacular.

 

 

 

So why does it say Polybius on the front?

 

Oh.. I dunno, I thought it looked cooler than some common game. I pulled it off an old arcade cabinet from a shop that was going out of business. The guy had apparently moved from Oregon in the mid 80s, and this was just one of the crappy games that he hadn't put out on the floor since 1981. I don't know what happened to the rest of the system.

 

[Syzygy1]

Oh.. I dunno, I thought it looked cooler than some common game. I pulled it off an old arcade cabinet from a shop that was going out of business. The guy had apparently moved from Oregon in the mid 80s, and this was just one of the crappy games that he hadn't put out on the floor since 1981. I don't know what happened to the rest of the system.

 

 

suspense!

[82-T/A]

 

suspense!

 

 

Haha.. yeah. I had the marquee custom made. I figured if I was going to do a generic cab, I wanted it to be something that no one had really heard of... but that was still kind of cool. I thought about maybe doing something corny like "Todd's Super Arcade"... but it just seemed too self-aggrandizing. I ultimately decided on a mild Polybius theme.