100% newbie need lots of help!!!

[karish7]

Aight, I'm such a newbie that I just got MAME last night. I think that what you guys do here is awesome and I wanna do it as well (talking about arcade cabs for mame), I think it would compliment my basement very much. I wanna do a very simple beginners cabinent, heres what I already have that I think is relavent:

-Old PC's, mainly 200 mhz to 400 mhz
-PS2/XBOX/Gamecube Arcade Stick
-PS2 to PC converter (for the stick)

*Thats pretty much it, my basic idea is to keep it simple, have a cab with a comp (mouse, keyboard, exc.), 15-17 inch moniter, and the PS2 arcade stick to START with. I will eventually make it more sophisticated.

**So if you guys could point me to a guide for making something like the one Ive invisioned (or close to it), that would help me ALOT! Also, if theres nething else you think I should know/do/get thad be awesome as well. I wanna get started soon so answer ASAP.

(PS. I got interested in this because of the article in the November EGM)

[DaveMMR]

Welcome -- if you read that EGM post you'll know that I still refer myself as a newbie.  But I'll see what I can do.

First thing is read the Step by Step (Newbie Guide).  It details a lot of things you should consider when undertaking this project.  

Secondly, perhaps spend a good amount of time going through the Examples.  Some are good, some are great, but most of them are informative enough to give you an idea of how other's accomplished their goal.

Third, perhaps try to get an idea of what you want to do.  Plan, plan, plan, plan.  Draw blueprints, rought sketches, drawings, whatever.  

You may also want to check out this message thread:
http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=5361 as it answers quite a lot of questions you may have after planning.

Good luck.

[grafixmonkey]

If you can figure out how to find one, your project might go a lot easier if you could get your hands on an old arcade machine cabinet.  Usually they are emptied of any parts, sometimes have a few things attached, but if you find one you can start by getting an ArcadeVGA adapter from www.ultimarc.com and attaching it to an arcade screen in the cab.

Or if you just want to try getting Mame running using your playstation controller as input, look for converter boxes that you can plug it into and then plug the box into the PC.

If you do find an old cabinet, you can also put a shelf inside and put a normal TV or PC monitor on the shelf.

Keep in mind this can get pretty expensive if you really get going on it, and you will most likely need woodworking and soldering skills along the way.

Also, read through the FAQ that's kept at the top of this message board, and read through the rest of the site accessible from the links on the left.  Most of what you need to know is in there.  Another good place is the "Project Announcements" section of the forum, linked on the top of the page.  That's where people post the projects they are starting or completing, and a good place to find links to peoples' web pages, which often have a full compliment of start-to-finish pictures showing the entire process, and often list step-by-step what they did to build their cab.

[jerryjanis]

First, I recommend taking it one step at a time.  Mame has a lot to offer, but there are a lot of features and variations that involve a lot of exploration to discover and appreciate.  Mame is really fun to play on your PC in it it's simplest form: Mame32 using a gamepad, without a cabinet.  Or better yet, using your PS2 Arcade Stick & converter.  If you are thinking about building a cabinet with a 15 inch PC monitor and a PS2 arcade stick, I don't imagine it would play much differently than it would on your desktop.

I used to rearrange my desktop to put my monitor near eye-level, and put my big beefy controller on the desktop so I could stand up and play, to get the arcade feel.  That was an Ok temporary solution until I started getting the arcade cabinet to work.

If you're going through all the trouble to make an arcade cabinet, it's really worth taking a look at some of the great options that are available FIRST so that you don't build the cabinet once, and then decide that you've got to throw it all away to make the one you REALLY always wanted.

Here are some good starting places:

Start at the main page here and peruse all the stuff on the left pane - controls, monitors, software, examples, (etc.):

http://www.arcadecontrols.com

Err, uhhh, yeah - what DaveMMR said: check out that message thread he mentioned.

[grafixmonkey]

on second thought, the best place to start might be the software after all...  like jerryjanis said, mame can be lots of fun without a cab, and you can even buy premade controls from places like SlikStik.

Look into front-ends for Mame.  You might be inspired for a cab design if you find the perfect front end.  Also decide which games are the most fun for you - the games that use a 4-way stick like the classics, or the games that use an 8-way stick like the fighters.  It's kind of tricky to build both kind of joystick onto your panel (and usually doesn't look all that great) so pick one or the other.  (4-way might be great if you have slower machines available.  They're good for classics.)

[hooded_paladin]

hey, you're the first person from there!
(c'mon, that deserves some congratulations)
A really good way to start would be a playstation arcade stick (there're plenty of them) and a playstation converter.  My favorite is the EMS USB2 available at www.level-six.com.  It supports two players and even works for DDR.

Play some MAME on the computer with that.  If you like it, you should look into building an arcade cabinet and control panel (or a standalone control panel) with more authentic controls.

Plus, when you decide to do that, if you don't mind soldering you can use that arcade stick and converter to interface (connect to the computer) your new controls.

[Magnet_Eye]

Start by using the links on the left. READ READ READ! Look at peoples examples, there's a lot of them!

Also, see this thread: http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=5361

A THOUGHT: Someone should change the name of that thread to something like "Newbie Guide/FAQ" or something to that effect. I think people don't realize what it is by the current subject name.

[karish7]

Alright, I have figured out the best way to describe what I wanna do:

-HIDE an old pc behind an home made cabinet (dont wanna take nething apart)

-Set up to arcade stix (pre boaught) and tape/glue/exc them down onto the platfor Ill make

-Have a monitor where it should be

-Easy to access back for configs

*So all I wanna do is have a comp with MAME so it looks like its more than just that, I hope you guys understand, I have it in my head but its hard to describe

[DaveMMR]

Sounds like a plan...

Though I wouldn't use tape or glue for bolting down that joystick.  Tape won't hold.  Glue may be too permanent.

Don't worry about having to describe it, as long as you know what you want.  When it's done - share it in the examples page.


****Ooooh -- my 100th post! (not including old User ID)*****  

[karish7]

Yeah but I still need to know how to build the proper case for what I wanna do, Im sure theres someone else whos done this

[DaveMMR]

A lot of the examples have plans, building instructions, yada yada yada.  A lot of people (me included) are using Lucid's plans (enter Lucid in the example search - I'm kind of lazy at this point).

Detailed instructions on how to build what you want is a bit beyond the scope of the message board.