Newbie Cabinet Builder - Questions

[contemptx]

Hi All,

After being bored the other day I was randomly searching ebay for gadgets etc..

I was looking at the mame / jamma cabinets and decided i would search around for how to setup a pc and how to convert the cabinets into mame cabs.

hence which bought me here, I was looking at a few of the frontends but GameEx seems the most updated and advanced frontend so I quickly donated to the project and played around until I got it working perfectly on my office pc, now i only currently have MAME running but will be expanding to test the other emulators such as Zinc in the next week but I wanted to ask a few questions before I went ahead and jumped into the deep end and purchased a cabinet.

0. First of all, Im a complete newbie to cabinet building... is it hard or can the average joe reading and following guides build one?

1. Which Cabinet

1a. Should I buy an empy cabinet? or

1b. Should I buy a Jamma Cabinet e.g. Killer Instinct..

1c. or other solution?

The reason I ask this is because I have seen cabinets for sale ones that are empty and ones that are jamma cabinets and when reading regarding converting the cabinets i read about using a J-Pac etc.. to connect a jamma cab to a PC?

2. Supplies / Suppliers - UK

2a. Does anyone know some good suppliers for the things i will need to complete the project, that deliver to or are located in the UK? I have been looking on ebay where I have found some intresting bits & pieces but had a little search on google and didnt find much.

2b. The same for cabinet kits? etc..

3. Which Monitor?

3a. Arcade Monitor? or

3b. PC Monitor + ArcadeVGA?

4. Which Controller? + How Many Buttons?

I have been looking around at other cabinets and noticed that some use standard controls and others use the X-Arcade base

I have also noticed that many have different buttons e.g. 3/4/6 etc.. for each player so what would you recommend

4a. Happ Controls

4b. X-Arcade Controller

4c. 3/4/6/other buttons

I think for now thats all my questions, I will add some later if I think of any.

Thanks for your time and look forward to your responses.

[Brian Hoffman]

Hi All,

After being bored the other day I was randomly searching ebay for gadgets etc..

I was looking at the mame / jamma cabinets and decided i would search around for how to setup a pc and how to convert the cabinets into mame cabs.

hence which bought me here, I was looking at a few of the frontends but GameEx seems the most updated and advanced frontend so I quickly donated to the project and played around until I got it working perfectly on my office pc, now i only currently have MAME running but will be expanding to test the other emulators such as Zinc in the next week but I wanted to ask a few questions before I went ahead and jumped into the deep end and purchased a cabinet.

0. First of all, Im a complete newbie to cabinet building... is it hard or can the average joe reading and following guides build one?

1. Which Cabinet

1a. Should I buy an empy cabinet? or

1b. Should I buy a Jamma Cabinet e.g. Killer Instinct..

1c. or other solution?

The reason I ask this is because I have seen cabinets for sale ones that are empty and ones that are jamma cabinets and when reading regarding converting the cabinets i read about using a J-Pac etc.. to connect a jamma cab to a PC?

2. Supplies / Suppliers - UK

2a. Does anyone know some good suppliers for the things i will need to complete the project, that deliver to or are located in the UK? I have been looking on ebay where I have found some intresting bits & pieces but had a little search on google and didnt find much.

2b. The same for cabinet kits? etc..

3. Which Monitor?

3a. Arcade Monitor? or

3b. PC Monitor + ArcadeVGA?

4. Which Controller? + How Many Buttons?

I have been looking around at other cabinets and noticed that some use standard controls and others use the X-Arcade base

I have also noticed that many have different buttons e.g. 3/4/6 etc.. for each player so what would you recommend

4a. Happ Controls

4b. X-Arcade Controller

4c. 3/4/6/other buttons

I think for now thats all my questions, I will add some later if I think of any.

Thanks for your time and look forward to your responses.

Well Being your first one you can get an empty cab. Or build one (what I did)

most info is online... like what size hole saw and router bit info. I used 3/4 in wood.

I also used a TV and used the video out from my geforce card to run the TV.. Mame games look great and its alot eaiser than dealing with arcadeVGA and arcade monitors tweaking the refresh stuff.

If the cpanel is intact you can opt to use a jpac with will hook up to the existing cpanel... Since I built mine I went with an IPAC where you connect the leads you use and define the button . As its essentially a keyboard.

I have 8 buttons... This will handel most games. streetfighter has 6 and is very popular.

And yes I used happ competition joysticks.

A good place to get your stuff is www.groovygamegear.com

You have a blast with this project

[bkenobi]

I've thought about building a cab from scratch, but there are certain advantages in getting an empty one that made me go that route twice (at different times). First off, if you are lucky (like I have been so far), you can pick one up in decent condition for the cost of fuel. If you are not quite as lucky, you might have to buy one. I personally would look at the different shapes of cabs and decide what you like and what you don't. My first one is based on a dedicated Area 51 cabinet. The side art was in pretty damn good shape which is why I used it. I was originally going to strip it for its parts and trash the cab, but kept it once I saw the artwork. The second cab was an Atari cab that was used for Paperboy and Championship Sprint. I was looking to build a racing cab and this is exactly the cab I would have built, so getting one in great physical shape was a find. It had a panel missing on the lower rear, a smashed rear corner, and a badly peeling set of artwork. However, after some TLC and paint, it looks GREAT!

If you have the space, tools, and time to build your own, you are only limited by your creativity and patience. There are a bunch of sites that have cab plans, so if you want to build one, you should probably look around. I know there's even a site that has measured drawings for dedicated cabinets from way back (Pacman, Tempest, etc). If I were going to build one, I would probably base mine on the Neo Geo MVS cab shape. There's actually some plans for similar style cabs you can buy or find online, so it would be a pretty easy build.

I second GGG's stuff. I've bought from RandyT a couple times and would go back again if I build another project and need more supplies!

[Tempest]

Hi All,

After being bored the other day I was randomly searching ebay for gadgets etc..

I was looking at the mame / jamma cabinets and decided i would search around for how to setup a pc and how to convert the cabinets into mame cabs.

hence which bought me here, I was looking at a few of the frontends but GameEx seems the most updated and advanced frontend so I quickly donated to the project and played around until I got it working perfectly on my office pc, now i only currently have MAME running but will be expanding to test the other emulators such as Zinc in the next week but I wanted to ask a few questions before I went ahead and jumped into the deep end and purchased a cabinet.

Take the red pill, and i show you how deep the rabbit hole goes...

Trust me, it's endless.....

0. First of all, Im a complete newbie to cabinet building... is it hard or can the average joe reading and following guides build one?

1. Which Cabinet

1a. Should I buy an empy cabinet? or

1b. Should I buy a Jamma Cabinet e.g. Killer Instinct..

1c. or other solution?

The reason I ask this is because I have seen cabinets for sale ones that are empty and ones that are jamma cabinets and when reading regarding converting the cabinets i read about using a J-Pac etc.. to connect a jamma cab to a PC?

I'm a carpenter, so I have a tendency to build my own, but in reality there's not a good reason to when you can buy an empty cab for $50 (I've actually seen them for free) and if you can get one with a working monitor cheap enough, why not? Keep an eye on Craigslist in your area...There are member's here doing the Jamma thing, so you can get help if you need it. Should you decide to build your own, check out this thread: http://www.gameex.info/forums/index.php?sh...c=3210&st=0

I posted this in another thread:

I think whether or not to buy pre-built is a math problem.

((price of Pre-built panel)-(price of components)/(Spare time)-(time required))* experience / (amount of enjoyment of doing it yourself)

The higher number is, the more likely it is that you should do it yourself, while negative numbers indicate that you probably should not, and an answer of "infinity" would show that you definately should buy a pre-built one.

I made that equation up...it seems right, let me know if it works for you.

Back to you....

2. Supplies / Suppliers - UK

2a. Does anyone know some good suppliers for the things i will need to complete the project, that deliver to or are located in the UK? I have been looking on ebay where I have found some intresting bits & pieces but had a little search on google and didnt find much.

2b. The same for cabinet kits? etc..

I don't know about pre-built cabinets, buy Andy at www.ultimarc.com sells controls and other arcade related stuff on your side of the ocean. I've had good luck and service with him. Also as Brian said Groovy game gear.

3. Which Monitor?

3a. Arcade Monitor? or

3b. PC Monitor + ArcadeVGA?

I would say that if you can buy a cabinet with an arcade monitor in it cheap enough, then fine, but they do have their limitations. Some people swear that it's the only way to go for the "true arcade experience". I'm quite happy with my computer monitor (it's a 21" CRT, and I paid $49 for it off lease. Nobody wants CRT monitors anymore...or again, if you can find a TV cheap enough, that'll work too.

4. Which Controller? + How Many Buttons?

I have been looking around at other cabinets and noticed that some use standard controls and others use the X-Arcade base

I have also noticed that many have different buttons e.g. 3/4/6 etc.. for each player so what would you recommend

4a. Happ Controls

4b. X-Arcade Controller

4c. 3/4/6/other buttons

I think Headkaze, and Bkenobi both use a button layout like this, and I intend to use it as well: (EDIT: sorry about the bad picture)

The logic is that the six buttons on the right are for fighting games, while if you use only the four buttons on the bottom, it resembles a Neo-Geo layout. The joystick would be on the far left. regarding joysticks, I started this thread yesterday: http://www.gameex.info/forums/index.php?sh...pic=5561&hl=

I don't know if you've heard of them or not, but Ultimarc has the Ultimate 360 joystick, which is programmable, and can be 2-way verticle, 2-way horizontal, 4-way, 4-way diagonal (Q*bert), 8-way, and analog. You can also customize any map. Oqqalz has written a plugin that will download the correct map for any mame game automatically in Gameex.

Also worth checking out is Headkaze's LCD/LED plugin. you can read about it here:

http://www.gameex.info/forums/index.php?sh...amp;gopid=29820

You may also be interested in Headkaze's CPWizard:

http://www.gameex.info/forums/index.php?showtopic=4655

which allows you to create a picture of your control panel, and then when you run a game, it will display the appropriate labels next to the controls that the game uses.

I think for now thats all my questions, I will add some later if I think of any.

Thanks for your time and look forward to your responses.

Your Welcome! Feel free to ask questions, and like I said the rabbit hole can be deep!

PS. Why so much contempt?

[bkenobi]

I did a little searching and this is the site I was talking about with measured plans for actual classic cabs:

http://www.jakobud.com/

[contemptx]

Thanks for the reply's, gives me some reading to do

I have the just of it, think i will get the jamma cab I have been looking at and start with that.

Does anyone know any where can I find a list of essentials / needed items & recommended items. e.g.

Controls

J-Pac / I-Pac

etc...

and where I can find the instructions / diagrams etc... on how to do all the wireing?

Thanks

[bkenobi]

The best resource on the net to find out about the hardware side is BYOAC (Build Your Own Arcade Controls) and their forums. They cover EVERYTHING that you could ever want to know about just what you want to do. This forum is mostly dedicated to the GameEx front end, but we do talk about other stuff that's related from time to time. Those guys talk about the hardware and how to interface with it extensively!

[emphatic]

If you have a working JAMMA cabinet get at J-Pac @ www.ultimarc.com and hook it up to your computer. Probably you won't even need to buy an ArcadeVGA, just install the free app Soft15khz: http://community.arcadeinfo.de/showthread.php?t=9367

I use this exact same setup with my Taito EGRET II cabinet and a laptop running 640x480.

Here's a nice cabinet in the UK: http://www.arcadecabinets.co.uk/index.php?...2&Itemid=32

Emph

[bkenobi]

That cab rocks! Kinda spendy, but since it's got a 29" new monitor and all the controls already, it's not a bad option.

[Hunk_4TH]

That cab does look pretty cool! Kind of like a Neo Geo/Naomi cabinet. I'd go with an empty cabinet that's what I ended up doing in the end

[contemptx]

emphatic,

I have looked at that case actually and was looking at the cost of doing it with the pre-built cabinet or with a shall and there os not to much difference actually but I think i feel like getting my hands dirty and turning an old cabinet around.

I have just purchased a beast PC that will power this puppy!

QUAD Q9300 - 10Ghz

RAM: 8GB

HDD: 1TB

GFX: 8600GT 1GB HDMI OUT

[emphatic]

The thing with getting a real JAMMA cabinet is that when you get tired of having too many games and the endless installing/config work that a MAME cabinet "offers" you can just plug in a JAMMA pcb and enjoy the real thing. But hey, maybe that's just me. Many cabinet enthusiasts actually enjoy the building/configurating more than actually playing games. I did that for a while, but you really never get satisfied, that's my experience.

Emph

[chriss]

if you want it cheap and easy you can do it like this:

i bought an x-arcade controller. (100$ refurb)

then i took my old computer (worth 50$)

and an old 22 " crt monitor that my friend gave me fro free since he updated to LCD

then i built my cabinet out of mdf (not the best material but it serves the purpose...) (50$). it looks like a real arcade machine but it doesn't stand up by itself. The lower part is a small fridge to cool your beer underneath your arcade

and i bought gameex... thats all! the total amouint i spend on everything with screews and new fans was 250$ maybe

i'm really satisfied with the solution, my eyes don't get tired since i run all the games with 100 Hz and mame plus with super 2xsai let's the old games look awesome even on a CRT

the good thing about the x-arcade is you have a lot of buttons to configure and you don't have to spend hours trying to get J-Pac to work.

I could post some pictures if you are interested...