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Totally New Here and Interested in MAME in Gameroom
BillinIndiana:
Hi, so far all I have are pinball machines and I've been thinking about trying to do a MAME. I really don't have any experience on this but was told this is the place to come for help.. I don't feel too bad about building the cab from plans, I'm pretty handy with woodworking tools and have them all.. table saw, routers, skil saws, finish guns and compressor.. I really don't know what I'm doing as far as all the computer parts of it.. Front ends , files etc.. Hopefully, I can be kind of guided in what to do there..?
Anyways, I guess my first question would be about the monitor.. Should it be LCD tv or and old CRT tv , computer monitor or what?
Thanks for any help, Bill in Indiana
yotsuya:
'Sup, Bill?
My advice- stick with a traditional shaped cab if you're going to build from scratch. Find a design you like and adapt it to your needs. Also, I posted this a few days ago- worth a repost:
One thing I'd like to throw out there, and really, I'd throw it out to all new builders:
Decide exactly what it is you want your cab to be.
I say this because when we all get introduced to this aspect of the hobby, many times we're enamored by all the possibilities. The thought that "I can play every arcade game, every Atari game, every Nintendo game, every SNES game.... ever made on one machine!!!!1!" is exciting, but realistically not practical. My initial plan for my cabinet was like this. I built a control panel with two 8-ways, a 4 way, a trackball, and a spinner, was quite proud of it... then realized a 37 inch control panel was just too big. So I kept the control panel within the width of the cabinet, tossed the 4-way, loaded all those games and console emulators.... and found that even though I could do all those things, I couldn't do all of them well. I toyed with swappable panels, but ultimately, where was I going to put them when I wasn't using them?
So I took out everything but MAME. Better, but still, the CP was crowded, the 4 way games just didn't play right..... so I built a 4 way vertical only cabinet, I removed the trackball and spinner, pared down the game list, and now my original cabinet plays a multitude of games that I enjoy, and it does it quite well. It's not going to be an "OMG, It plays 40,000 different games!!!!!!!" machine, and honestly, that works great. It's a two-player horizontal cabinet that can play 8 way vertical games. Do I miss playing Tron with my spinner, battop joystick, and regular button? A little, but the control scheme was so awkward that it wasn't the optimal way to do it. I know now that if I want to play Tron, I should look into getting a Tron.
Just a bit of advice. There's no right or wrong way to really do it if you are happy with the end result, but you can save a lot of time and money along the way with careful planning.
BillinIndiana:
I guess I might just go with a prebuilt control panel? IDK..? Do they get bad reviews on here? Are Tankstick any good? I'm really just looking to play the classics.. Donkey Kong, Defender, Asteroids and Centipede.. I won't go into a huge list, but I would like as many as I can.. I like the Mario games from Nintendo also, so those would be nice to have..
yotsuya:
Great questions, Bill. My plan was to initially go the Tankstick route as well, but so many guys here suggested and showed how to build my own, so I went ahead and took the plunge. I ordered buttons and joysticks from GroovyGameGear, an I-Pac from Ultimarc, and.... well, I never looked back! The level of customization alone makes it worth while. :cheers:
Oh, and to answer your monitor question, CRT is the most arcade authentic, especially if it's an arcade one. I started with an LCD, my next two cabs were a computer CRT, and everything else since has been actual arcade monitors. I've enjoyed learning about arcade monitors.
BillinIndiana:
--- Quote from: yotsuya on April 24, 2013, 12:28:53 am ---
Oh, and to answer your monitor question, CRT is the most arcade authentic, especially if it's an arcade one. I started with an LCD, my next two cabs were a computer CRT, and everything else since has been actual arcade monitors. I've enjoyed learning about arcade monitors.
--- End quote ---
Which is good for a beginner? Which is easiest to setup?