MAME - Winter-time project.

[[d2f]Iggy*SJB]

Ok....here it comes.

 

During the spring/summer/fall, I have lots of out-door projects. Lots of gardening, and that kind of thing. I also work long hours in the spring and fall. I've decided on my project for this coming winter.

 

I'm going to build a MAME cabinet. My problem(especially right now, with Rose's deteriorating condition) is that I have no clue where to start. Well, not much of a clue, anyway. I'm not really worried about constructing the cabinet...while I'm not good with power tools, I think I can manage that.

 

The main thing, is exactly how do you set MAME up, attach/assign controls/controllers, and what are the best system requirements for the computer? I've got several older systems around here(Windows 98 and ME for the basic OS). Where can I get the parts that I don't have, and is there a way to get them cheaply? Can a computer monitor(I have many, of many different resolution levels) be used? Is it difficult to change the axis of the display?

 

I have the Paddle Battle cabinet, but I really don't want to do anything to it(I've got another idea for it, but it doesn't require modifying the cabinet, just placing some easily removable parts that don't actually alter the cab), and the cabinet would have to modified to fit a larger controller panel. I'd prefer to just build one from scratch.

 

Since I'll probably be alone and stuck in the house when I'm not at work....I'd like to plan this out now, so that I'll have something to do with myself.

 

I know I won't have a lot of money to play with....so if anyone knows how I can modify any parts I have(particularly joysticks(DB-9 connectors) and the monitor) to work with this, I'd really appreciate the info.

 

Thanks a lot for any and all help/suggestions!

[Osbo]

Actually, sounds pretty easy and straight foward. I'm getting an encoder, joystick, buttons and the wiring kit from ultimarc... 100 bucks

I found the plans for the midway cabinet that I want on the net. You can use a computer monitor, and run arcadeos with DOS, no need for windows, but you need a soundcard like a Soundblaster 16 or similar that with work with DOS. MAME loves RAM and a good video card (I'm using an old TNT2 with 32 megs and works just nice)

 

It all pretty much depends of what you want. I saw tons of cabinets with 20 joysticks and 300 buttons to play every single rom. I like vertical shooters and ms pacman, so mine is going to be to play those games.

 

Read a lot, there's a lot of info in the net. I'm ansy to get this project going, I been messing with MAME since 97, and a cab is a long dream of mine.

[desiv]

I agree with Osbo...

 

Go to ultimarc.com...

 

When I was starting my conversion, I had all kinds of parts laid out. I had taken apart a keyboard for the chip and had mapped out the connections, I was looking into the video. It was all feasible, if a little daunting (Thinking about keyboard ghosting, etc..). But not bad.

 

Then I heard about the j-pac.

(My conversion was a Jamma cab)

 

If he would have had the ArcadeVGA then, I would have bought that. :-)

 

If you're building from scratch, the i-pac is possibly what you're looking for. It's still fun, just easier fun.

 

desiv

[[d2f]Iggy*SJB]

I've never used MAME. I did check out that parts site, and there is some really neat stuff there. I'll keep that in mind for when I start buying parts.

[yuppicide]

Here's what it looks like I am going to get:

 

http://www.mameroom.com/UAIIEkit_info2.asp

 

It's under $500 with the adapter to use the X-Arcade controller.

 

Might also check this guy out for my front end, as it works with multiple emulators:

 

http://www.maximusarcade.com/index.htm

 

I'll probably get this arcade vga card as well:

 

http://www.ultimarc.com/avgainf.html

 

It does 15hz which old arcade monitors do and vga does 30hz. This way I'll be able to use a real arcade monitor. I hear if you use above 25" screen I think it is you don't have to rotate the monitor.. like some games use horizontal and some verticle.

[spongebue]

To interface the buttons with the computer, I like this method:

 

Figure out how many buttons you will need. In most circumstances, this will be the number of buttons you want per player times the number of players, + 1 for the coin slot, 2 for start buttons, and 1 for an escape button. If you have 6 buttons per person (I can't imagine having any more than that on any machine) then you will need an 8-button pad. In general, you can just use the d-pad for the joystick as long as it's digital (not some analog stick). I used these, and they worked fine: linky

 

Keep an eye out for this to be on sale, it was $10 each when I got it. Of course, I needed 2 of them, one for each player, but it worked fine (even having 2 of the same model)

 

Now, for the fun part. Soldering. There is one common point called ground. If I remember correctly, this gamepad has them all on the same common point (a similar one had a few per section) This ground will go from one pin to another on each button (one pin per button) up to the ground point on the controller. After that, run each individual point on the controller (the point that isn't shared by everything else) to the remaining pin on each button. Be sure to be consistent and have a decent system when connecting them, so you can keep track of it. Don't just connect random wires, you'll confuse yourself.

 

Once you are done interfacing the buttons to the computer, use a program called JoyToKey. This converts joystick signals to keyboard signals used by all programs. Make up a good configuration with this program, MAME, your frontend (the program that lets you choose your game) and any other programs you may have.

 

Hope this helps a bit

 

Oh yeah, make sure the weather is suitable for painting in the winter, if you live somewhere where it is really cold in the winter.

Edited July 23, 2006 by spongebue

[Lost Monkey]

Lots of good info here:

 

http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade.htm