need advice on 2 mame cabinet builds

[neo117]

I am currently thinking of building 2 new MAME cabinets to replace an older one that i made 4 or 5 years ago.

I want the new one(s) to have LCD monitors, so i am planning on cutting the total cabinet depth to about 24 inches

I am looking for advice on what the 2 cabinets should be, for example:
do i make 1 vertical and 1 horizontal?
should i make both horizontal, but one with only games that require 1 joystick setup?
I am running advancemame on my current machine, and in 5 years i have not had to do ANYThING to it, so i am considering staying with it, but may move to advancemenu and include things like Neo Geo, dragons lair, maybe some other EMUs as well

also, i am looking for any advice on decent cabinet plans for an LCD monitor based system. my original build utilized an actual cabinet, so this will be my first from scratch cabinet build, and i want to minimize the empty space and make the cabinet as small as possible without sacrificing too much of the authentic arcade feel

any advice that can be offered would be greatly appreciated!!

[bkenobi]

ViewLix!!!

[neo117]

pretty cool. not exactly what i had in mind though.

[EvilNuff]

Check out http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=55789.0
He also has a few others using the same form factor that aren't wood finish.  That's my personal favorite, however.

[BadMouth]

If you aren't sure how you want them to differ, what is your reason for building 2?

I would seperate them by controls:

#1 - Horizontal monitor, fighting CP layout with a trackball in the middle.

#2 - Vertical monitor, classic 1 joystick in the center, a spinner to the left, two buttons to the right (maybe a flightstick to the right if you're into discs of tron)

The best part of having two machines is that you could have the most games playable without ending up with a cluttered control panel.
Not sure which one I would work pinball into.

Just my $0.02

[severdhed]

i'd go one horizontal monitor, with 6button fighting layout, (or possibly a 4player depending on what you want).  if you like bowling/golf games, then a trackball in the center.
and the other with a  vertical monitor, 4way stick on left, 3 buttons in the middle and a trackball on the right. (for centipede and milipede)

[neo117]

Check out http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=55789.0
He also has a few others using the same form factor that aren't wood finish.  That's my personal favorite, however.

all i can say is, ....WOW....
that guy is incredible.
that is exactly the type of build i am looking for as far as depth goes....i will have to check out that thread more in depth

[EvilNuff]

Search for his other projects too, he has at least 2 other cabs in the same form factor as the woody (well one is more rounded) that have artwork and what not.

[neo117]

If you aren't sure how you want them to differ, what is your reason for building 2?

I would seperate them by controls:

#1 - Horizontal monitor, fighting CP layout with a trackball in the middle.

#2 - Vertical monitor, classic 1 joystick in the center, a spinner to the left, two buttons to the right (maybe a flightstick to the right if you're into discs of tron)

The best part of having two machines is that you could have the most games playable without ending up with a cluttered control panel.
Not sure which one I would work pinball into.

Just my $0.02

the reason that i want to build two....is that i don't think i can fit 3 or 4.
The one i have now is getting pretty beat up, and since it was my first attempt, it is pretty cheesy. having said that, it has held up to the last 5 years very well considering that 2 year olds and up have had their time with it.

I think you hit the nail on the head with the cluttered control panel thing too.

i guess it comes down to this, i figured, i wanted to build a new cabinet and make it more compact (lcd monitor). then i thought, maybe i should make two instead of one. after all i think you have two choices when building a MAME cabinet:
1) make lots of sacrifices
2) have a control panel with 325 buttons, 12 joysticks several spinners, two trackballs and a couple of steering wheels with a removable seat. and a pinball launcher.

i decided i didn't really like either of those options. I don't think i really care much about trackballs and spinners, so now i think it comes down to horizontal or vertical. or maybe 4 way joysticks vs. 8 way joysticks. or one with just a single player setup with left hand and right hand buttons for all those games that are 1 simultaneous player...

decisions decisions.

I am leaning towards the horizontal / vertical one right now, but i still am not 100% convinced.

severdhed
why have only 1 joystick on cab #2? are most of the vertical games 1 joystick? I never really looked into which orientation had more of the "1 simultaneous player" setup

[severdhed]

  i had a 2 player panel with a 6 button fighter layout, two u360s and a trackball, on a horizontal monitor. this was set up to run everything, with minimal controls.

i have since set up a showcase cabinet as a 4 player machine, players 1 and 2 have u360s and 6 buttons, players 3 and 4 have JLWs in 8way mode, and 4 buttons each, this is with a 27" horizontal monitor.  i am going to setup my other cabinet with a vertical monitor, a single 4way, 3 buttons and a trackball, and have it configured only for vertical classics.  (pacman, donkey kong, frogger, dig dug, centipede, millipede, etc).  about 30 games in all.  those are the games that I play the most, however the kids that come to play, and my kids generally enjoy the games which are playable on the other cabinet.  there are lots of vertial games that use 8way sticks, but i can play them on the 4player cabinet. 

it really depends on what you want.  i love the classic 4way games, so i naturally want a cabinet set up to play them with the best possible controls

[EvilNuff]

... after all i think you have two choices when building a MAME cabinet:
1) make lots of sacrifices
2) have a control panel with 325 buttons, 12 joysticks several spinners, two trackballs and a couple of steering wheels with a removable seat. and a pinball launcher.
...

3) Build some variant of modular panels
4) Build swappable panels

I'm working out the kinks in a modular panel idea atm.

[neo117]

... after all i think you have two choices when building a MAME cabinet:
1) make lots of sacrifices
2) have a control panel with 325 buttons, 12 joysticks several spinners, two trackballs and a couple of steering wheels with a removable seat. and a pinball launcher.
...

3) Build some variant of modular panels
4) Build swappable panels

I'm working out the kinks in a modular panel idea atm.

true, true

i do however like the "set it and forget it" way of doing things. I like that i haven't had to adjust, repair, maintain, or really DO anything to my current cabinet in 5 years. I also like that it is simple and easy enough that kids of all ages just sit right down and start playing.
swapable and modular panels start adding a complexity and fragility to the system that i really dont think is worth it.

I guess i really need to take the time to go through all of the roms (6K at last count?) and eliminate the ones that i don't want, and then go through the rest and decide if there are any common denominators to them. I guess i was hoping there was some other maniac like me out there that had already done all that :-)

I'll still take advice though, because i think my process of elimination plan will take me a lot longer than the build itself.

[EvilNuff]

Again, let me refer you to kneivel's cabs...  His cp can support the vast majority of games.  Missing would be top fire, rotary, flight stick as the primary things.  His cp also looks quite clean.  If you went with u360s you could drop the 4 way stick too and have it be even cleaner.

Personally I cannot live without my rotary games so I am in the proof of concept stages with a clean / easy way to support those as well.

[neo117]

ok, maybe someone can point me to an offline version of the MAWS database? or some way i can look at all the roms i have and freely sort them by screen orientation, or simultaneous players, or type of joystick, etc
man this seems to get harder at every turn :-P

[EvilNuff]

Google ROMLISTER that might help you out.

[neo117]

just saw that in my searching....working on it now (fingers crossed)
thanks!!


ok, it looks like for vertical games, 3 buttons is definitely the magic number as severdhed suggested! however there are very few trackball games. the bulk of those are the horizontal configuration.

[neo117]

now i am starting to consider adding a light gun or two to the horizontal cabinet, i have read some OLDER info on light guns that work with LCD monitors.
anyone have any experience with those guns? and advice?

for the moment, my builds seem to be heading towards the following:
cab 1: vertical orientation, 2 players, with stick and 3 buttons each

cab 2: horizontal with 2 sticks and 6 buttons each

considering adding light guns to horizontal cab.

also considering a 3rd cabinet for trackball / spinner games. probably getting ahead of myself....lets see how cabinet #1 comes out!