If you were building NOW, what would be on your shopping list

[mrbrit]

Hello, just joined. I am thinking about building my first machine and have no experience with electronics whatsoever. I have replaced things on my PC such as the fan and a bit of RAM so hopefully I will be able to manage a build. I would like to have a small machine like a bar top machine that can plave pacman, space invaders etc as well as some Playstation games and Xbox games if this is possible. As a start, I have an old laptop running Vista but the screen doesnt work but the computer does if plugged into a monitor. I also have a spare 17" Dell PC monitor.

My question is - if you were going to build the ideal bar top machine today, what buttons and other parts would you look to buy and what should they cost?

I would like to get the ideal shopping list from you guys so i can understand how much this may cost me. Many thanks in advance

[mrbrit]

Is there already a list of the basic parts required to build a small machine anywhere on the site? I have looked but cannot find a list on how to get started. 

[ids]

The answer is a very personal one. For example, there are many joystick options, and they each have their own feel, throw, etc.  And depending on the games, you have to consider if the joystick is to be 4-way, 8-way, etc.  Buttons have different feel, can bit lit or not, etc.  There is no single general purpose parts list, no definitive number of sticks or buttons you need, etc.  Consider the games you want to play, number of simultaneous players, and then check the vendors list on the wiki.  I know this is not the answer you are looking for, but it is the only answer possible.

[mrbrit]

As a basic list, can you help with something like this then...

A cabinet
a monitor
set of buttons and joystick
a computer
an i-pac
wires
glass


is there anything else required for the bare bones of a machine 

[sdweim85]

I just listed all my parts, then got an error trying to post.  so I'll just simplify this time.

This was my arcade.  Simple 2 player fighting cabinet

http://s1129.beta.photobucket.com/user/sdweim85/media/Arcade/IMG_1033.jpg.html

I basically just got a empty case
put a PC in it
mounted speakers under the grill
marquee and control panel art from gameongrafix
convex happ buttons and happ competition sticks from groovygamergear
ipac 2 from Ultimarc
bought a ton of 6 awg gauge wire black and colored. for ground and button wiring.

sanded the whole thing down, painted it black

Made a plexi bezel using black paint and painters tape
covered the monitor and bezel area with glass
plexi over the control panel

I tend to think of it as a giant PC case with a USB controller. Since thats all it was

[mrbrit]

Thanks for that. It doesn't seem too much of an outlay but I suppose it depends on the quality of the parts I buy. Just one basic question if I might...

Do all of the buttons and joysticks all come together into one connection that attaches to the PC by a usb connection?

if this is the case I may try installing something like Hyperspin on a PC first to see if I can get that part running first, then I could look to buy all of the parts. I have seen quite a few cabinets lately on EBay that aren't actually finished so I get the impression that some people haven't managed to complete the programming side of things at the end so I would rather try that part first I think.

Thanks in advance

[ChrisK]

Do all of the buttons and joysticks all come together into one connection that attaches to the PC by a usb connection?

That's the Ultimarc sdweim85 mentioned:

http://www.ultimarc.com/ipac1.html

You buy buttons/sticks, wire those to the Ultimarc, and connect that to your computer.  The Ultimarc looks like a USB keyboard to your computer, which you then program your emulator to recognize.

[sdweim85]

if this is the case I may try installing something like Hyperspin on a PC first to see if I can get that part running first, then I could look to buy all of the parts. I have seen quite a few cabinets lately on EBay that aren't actually finished so I get the impression that some people haven't managed to complete the programming side of things at the end so I would rather try that part first I think.

Thanks in advance
[/quote]

that's what I did first.  Just bought a plastic container from Wal-mart, cut some holes into it.  Wired up a mock controller with that and connected it to a PC, which was connected to a TV sitting on a chair.

Once all that was working properly it was just a matter of getting it to look nice in a cabinet.