Main > Project Announcements
Tekken3 -> Mame an idiots project
Smeghead:
DAY SIX
INstalled and wired up the I-Pac2 today
Wasnt too much of a big deal, just time consuming
I discovered all my joysticks and buttons work, but some WILL have to be replaced and soon
I wanted fairly neat wires, but had to leave them all fairly slack to allow the controller board to lift up
I also used the existing ground wires as they seemed ok, so I just had to do the red positive wires
Then although my real PC for this project isnt ready, I had to try the controller out so I hooked
up my laptop and gave it a good testing with all my fave games
Cost of Ipac + 18 gauge wire : $50
Total cost so far: $185
Smeghead:
DAY SEVEN
Today I spent alot of time troubleshooting problems with the I-PAC
Somehow the shift key (normally player 1 start) got put on P1A whatever that is
The www.arcadecontrols.com forum solved the problem for me, seems several other people have had the same issue
Inexperience with the config program was basically the issue. Set it wrong somehow and didnt know how to set it back right
I was tired of looking at that marquee space with no marquee in it
Im going to print two out at Walmart for the real marquee, but in the meantime I cut up an 'Incredibles' balloon and stuck it in there
Looks crap but better than nothing at all
Also had a good idea about the coin slots lights.
I took a USB mouse, cut the mouse off and attached the black (ground) and red (+5v) wires to the connections on the coin slot lights
Whaddayaknow it works - USB powered coin slot lights
Yeah I know I need some more mechanisms, but slot 1 works and is hooked up to the I-PAC to accept coins
The PC im using for this project is in now too. I got a PCI-E ATI x300 video card that has no fan on the heatseat for $9.99 free shipping off Ebay
Works great with TinyXP as the O/S
I really really love TinyXP, lightening fast OS, boots in 15 seconds and uses very few system resources
The pc is a Dell Optiplex 755, 2GIG RAM, 80G HDD, PCI-E ATI X300 video card (with S-video connector), TinyXP for the OS
The most time spent on all this today was on the front end.
Im using Atomic ( http://atomicfe.com )
I tried many, each time being frustrated with how hard they were to configure. Atomic was very easy and looked great
I've since found out how very well it is documented and supported too. Cant beat that. Thanks Havoc!
I was easily able to set up a menu system with hierarchy for all my games, Mame, Daphne, even some DOS games like Lightcycles!
BTW if anyone wants this LightCycles game you can get it here: http://www.alterna-uo.net/mame/lightcycles.zip
It plays SO WELL on an arcade machine!
Still some work to do to get it just right but so far im loving it
Cost of mouse: already had one lying around
Cost of Video card: $10
Cost so far: $195
Smeghead:
DAY EIGHT
Today is power day, and hopefully the last time I will need to pull the cab away from the wall
I installed a button on the front of the cab, which activates the power button on the PC inside the cab
I had to mount the pc on top of a box and secure it all to make it all line up but works fine
Now I know this is kind of botchy, but this small form factor case's power button was NOT hackable at all
There was nowhere to splice in, solder into, nothing, so thats how I did it. Not ideal, but it works perfectly
Inside the case is a 'SmartStrip' a must have for all Mame Cabinet makers!
The pc is plugged into the master socket, then all other things plugged into the green sockets do whatever the master socket is doing
So when the outside button is pushed, the pc turns on.
The other sockets sense this and turn on themselves, the speakers, tv, marquee light etc
Then when the pc is turned off, everything else turns off too! Brilliant.
These things are everywhere on the internet and Home Depot for $35 and up, but this one was $19.99 free shipping from Amazon!
And heres how im keeping the tv power on. Another reason I love this tv, holding the power button in
with a screw means it turns on when power is supplied, unlike some tvs.
A little 'adjusting'
Now the door goes on fine :)
Cost of smartswitch: $20
Cost of button: $3
Cost so far: $218
Smeghead:
DAY NINE
Progress has slowed as we are all enjoying playing the games so much!
I've been refining the front end (Atomic) adding a favorites menu and stuff
Also added a Pokemon emulator with Pokemon Gold rom for my daughter, she loves it!
Replaced the plastic sheet in front of the monitor.
The one that came with had cigarette burns, scratches and other grime that wasnt coming off
The same thickness stuff from Home Depot was $50! So I went thinner which works just as good
Also driled the new holes for the buttons that are arriving soon
I want a "3 and 3" layout as you see below, mainly because one of my favorite games is Bank Panic which demands it!
Also removed the punch/kick stickers. Will be adding a plastic box around buttons when the new ones are in
Cost of plexiglass + cutting tool: $25
Cost so far: $243
Smeghead:
DAY TEN
Got the new buttons in today, now I have a 3 x 3 layout which is nice, especially for games like Bank Panic (which I love)
Here you can see the chopped up keyboard and mouse I have inside
Also got my marquees in!
$20 printed at Walmart, look great backlit dont they!
Cost of buttons: $15
Cost of marquees printed at Walmart online, regular photo paper: $16
Cost so far: $274