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Hitting a mental and financial wall on the cab.... Advice?
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harveybirdman:
 :soapbox:

I can see that this is getting out of hand....

When I started this I thought, hey I have an extra PC, and my dad has a shop fool of all the tools needed to make the cabinet that I have in mind a reality.

So far I'm only into this project about 60 bucks in control panel components, thank you RandyT!  Bud as I start thinking about every little expense for what I want to accomplish the price-tag for this thing is starting to piss me off... 

Concern 1)  Building materials:  Thinking about birch plywood or MDF for my machine.  I plan to only make it two foot square but that's going to take at least two sheets.  Now I could paint the thing, but I HATE painting, I mean I loathe it seriously.  So I definitely want to go white laminate, which is about 30 bucks a sheet at Lowe's and I'd need three or more sheets of that to laminate inside and out.  Now luckily the old man has a good stock of two by fours and 1 x 6 for battens and such but still we're talking easily 160 to 200 bucks.

Concern 2) The Pentium 4 I have is really starting to cramp my style.  I mean I can live with out Dead or Alive 2, especially since I have epsxe running some of the 3D games that Mame can't due to the craptacularness of my pc.  BUT I draw the line at not letting me play Cotton 2 or Cotton Bomerang.  Maybe their is something else besides the CPU that is going on that's causing some games to run slow like RAM or video card issues but I'm in the middle of a rant here and it's not like I'm asking you to run NFL BLITZ you stupid piece of crap!   You won't even play Sly Spy, Brave Blade, or Gradius 4. Screw you Pentium 4! I could EASILY spend 400 or 500 bucks getting a faster PC together and it would be overkill I'm sure.

Concern 3) I still need a controls interface (which I can't decide on, someone please help), light for marquee, smart power strip, oh and sound system....  Plus right now I'm not even considering a coin door, which i really want.

Concern 4) when I finally get all this stuff in a working cabinet I have to go through the exercise of configuring MALA and shelling windows....

This is all feeling a bit daunting as a feel I've not gotten anything done on the cab this weekend.
 
SavannahLion:
If the financial portion is too much of a burden then (sorry BYOAC, I MUST say this) are you sure this is the right hobby for you?

With that out of the way, if you've answered yes, then you have a classic A, B, C problem where you can pick two of the three. They are:
Cheap
Fast
Good (or well for the grammar police :P )
Therfor.....
If you want it cheap and fast, it's not going to be good.
If you want it cheap and good, it's not going to be done fast.
If you want it done fast and good, it's not going to be cheap.

Since money is an issue, that precludes option #3 and since you want a nice cab (I assume) then #1 is out. That leaves you #2.

Divide your cab into modular components that you can work on. You kind of hint at it in your post but you're focusing on the most expensive rather than the cheapest. So.... Software is super cheap, so work on your MAME configuration and front end. You already have your CP parts so you can spend time hashing out your layouts and experimenting to see which layout you like.

Meanwhile, for the parts that cost the penny, figure out ways to get that cash. Sell blood, work a second or side job, ask for overtime. Reduce your bills. Things like is TV really that important? How about that Starbucks? Taco Bell/McDonalds/Whatever? Girlfriends/boyfriends/gayfriends are iffy. Do you like sex or gaming more? Do you really need that college education? What about those toys you never play with anymore? Do you really need furniture? (Note: For a long time I only had three pieces of furniture. Couch, computer desk and entertainment center. I did have a bed at one time but... long story, never mind. I actually did not need anything else.) Sock that money away until you have enough to buy the parts. And as always.... watch for those deals wherever you can find them. Craigslist. Ebay. Whatever. Don't just look for the deals that go directly towards your cab but look for the ones you can part out and sell. I got funds for my first cab by obtaining a whole slew of cheap and free cabs to which I parted out and sold on eBay. Be careful what parts you pick up though. I have a fiberglass racer seat that I paid for that absolutely no one wants and because the economy took a ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---, it's far easier to find the craptastic "Perfect $1800 MAME cabs" than the cabs from people just quitting the hobby or business.

Three of my biggest projects were put on the back burner because I decided to have kids. Go figure. Now I can't bring them "forward," not because of money per se, but because my wife insists on having "furniture." Why the ---fudgesicle--- do we need a dining room table?! Nobody ever eats at it. :hissy:
drventure:
SavanahLion's advice is spot on.

For me, there's 2 big aspects of Mame and these arcade machines:
1) Being able to play some retro games ( in all honesty though, this isn't a huge thing for me)
2) Building something that can play Mame games

The build (and everything from gathering parts to putting the plan together to execution) is one of the main fun parts for me.

If you've got mame running on a pc, then that parts done, and it's not going anywhere.

Take your time, think through what would be best to tackle next, that you have funds for, etc, work on little bits at a time. and enjoy the process.

If you're getting frustrated with it, where's the fun in that? Heck, I've got a box full of vacuum tubes I fashioned into nixie tubes about 3 years ago. Still haven't actually mounted them in my cabinet (they're for the marquee).

But it'll get there eventually.

ark_ader:
Do what I did.  Take your cab outside, get an axe and chop it up (remove the good stuff first) then get some lighter fluid and have yourself a nice little bonfire.

You will feel better.  I know I did.  ;D
DaveMMR:
My original cabinet took a few years to actually become playable because of the expense in the little things I "insisted" on (Electric Ice buttons, custom artwork, etc.)  Even just the wood was a small investment to someone who didn't have two nickels to rub together.

While not the most expensive hobby one could have (collecting art I'm sure would put a deeper dent in the wallet), it's is still not cheap. This is not just building arcade cabs but any sort of video gaming - be it PS3 or Mame or Atari VCS.

+1 to SavanahLion's advice. Get extra money and put it aside towards a MAME fund. Build little-by-little. Yes you need some money but not as much as you may think ($500 - $1000 can build you a very good cab that's fully functional, especially if you scope out deals on the stuff you need/want.)
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