My first build - and a couple questions

[saloonstudios]

So I've finally decided to embark upon building an arcade cabinet.

I've begun designing one in sketchup and I've attached a few pics. Ideally I'd want to take advantage of the space that this thing will fill in my office, so I want to squeeze as much personal flair into it as possible. First off would be skipping the coin doors and putting in some lit display shelves for old carts or random nerd stuff. I'm also thinking of putting a side door on the cab and having a mini fridge inside for beer refreshments while playing. The player 3/4 panels would detachable so they aren't an eyesore when other people aren't over. I'm still trying to figure out how to attach those panels in an easy way, but I'll know more as I check out Lowe's for brackets and things-

Now questions;

Any glaring issues with what I'm proposing?

I searched for some way to cap the amount of credits used when playing a game, and the only ideas that I found were; the honor system, a keyed switch, software that limits the credit button presses until a reset is enabled-

Does anyone know where I can see an example of a keyed switch?

And does anyone know where I can find software that limits button presses in this manner?

I think that's all for now, but I'm sure I'll have more questions later.

[saloonstudios]

Okay, tough crowd. Here's another set of questions:

This is my proposed purchase list for my CP, there's an image also so you get an idea of where it'd go. My main question is about the IL Translucent buttons, and whether or not you guys think it'd be a problem for me to buy some LED's from www.superbrightleds.com and manually install them. I'd be powering the LEDs off the PacDrive- Are those buttons okay or are they crap? Also, is it okay to wire more than one LED on one output of the PacDrive? I wouldn't go crazy, but say power 2 LEDs on two of the outputs for 18 total?

Sanwa JLF-TM-8T-SK - x2
E-Stik - x2
IL Translucent Buttons - x18 (some extras for admin uses, mounted in some undetermined location)
P1/2/3/4 Buttons
I-Pac4
PacDrive
Happ Classic Buttons for P3/4 and extras as needed

[dawolv]

Hi Saloon and welcome aboard!

I am also new here, but as far your sketch goes what sort of fasteners will you be using to hold it all together?
Adding a Fridge you will need to consider the extra weight and heat that it will give off.
Why do you want to cap the amount of Credits? Kids?

[saloonstudios]

Overall construction will be internally braced with 2x4s and all butt-joints joined with PL Premium and drywall screws. Basic-
I think I may pass on the fridge idea. I might go with lit display shelves on both sides as well as the front, just to take advantage of all that space. I plan on circulating air pretty well inside the cab so I'm not worried about any heat buildup, with or without the fridge.
Capping the credits was just an idea I had while playing X-Men with a friend awhile back. That game isn't fun when you know there's an endless supply of credits, so I wanted to set global caps for my friends and I to use as reference for setting realistic high scores.

[bpark42]

Capping the credits was just an idea I had while playing X-Men with a friend awhile back. That game isn't fun when you know there's an endless supply of credits, so I wanted to set global caps for my friends and I to use as reference for setting realistic high scores.

I tend not to play games like xmen, tmnt, etc. for exactly this reason.  

Seeing your question here earlier today got me thinking about this again and I decided to take a crack at a solution.  Basically I wrote a program that will monitor the system for the execution of mame (for now, just mame.exe specifically).  

Additionally, the program quietly hooks into the system and monitors all keystrokes.  When mame.exe is detected the program sets an internal counter allowing only a certain number of credits (i.e. presses of the mame credit keys).  Right now it just uses a default set from a temporary interface, but it would be easy enough to allow an xml file or something to be used to define game-specific limits.  I'll attach a screenshot of the program in action.  

(to explain the screenshot...)

I ran the program, moved it to my second monitor and hit the "Monitor for mame.exe" button.  After that I just went off and did my thing in mame.  When I added a credit in mame a message immediately popped up in the window on the other monitor letting me know a credit had been used and indicating how many I had remaining.  Once I hit zero the credit keys are disabled (well, only the default player 1 credit key right now).

In the real world there would probably be no need for the interactive app.  It would just run in the background.  Every time you start mame it will reset the credit counter.

Anyhow, I wrote this partly for my own use and partly just to see if I could.  If you are interested in using it just let me know.  I will need to polish it at least a little since it is a total hack right now, so no promises on timeline.

Oh, and this is for Windows only.  Right now I have only tested it on Win7 64 bit, but I believe it should work on win2k and up.

[The Hubba Bubba Kid]

I'm new as well, and I'm still in the planning stage.  But I have to agree, pass on the fridge.  sounds more like a beer commercial prop.  Beside, opening and closing the fridge door waste too much electricity, Go for a kegerator with a tap sticking out the side.

[saloonstudios]

 If you are interested in using it just let me know.  I will need to polish it at least a little since it is a total hack right now, so no promises on timeline.

I am definitely interested. Keep me updated!

[BobA]

To limit the number of plays set your coin door for tokens and only give out a set number of tokens.

[mgb]

I know there are bigger decisions to made here, like what kinda beer to keep in fridgicade but might I suggest the Sanwa-JLWs over the JLFs. try 'em both but I feel the JLW has a more heavy duty feel to it.

[saloonstudios]

Yeah I was looking at the JLF's before I found out about lizardlick.com. I've decided on the JLWs for sure-

As far as tokens go, my problem with those is that say you have 20 tokens, then you're limited to 20 credits over all games no matter what. If you leave the coin door unlocked to retreive them, then what's the point of having tokens in the first place?

Capping the credits would be just to limit the number of credits for one game during one session. 4 players pop in a max of 5 credits, then when it's game over everyone can put in 5 more credits, but not until game over or a game change. That's what I'm looking for-