Willing to pay for consult to help w/ programming MAME

[hvc]

****First off, if this is against the forum rules, then please disregard and delete the post/request.***

Ok, as you all can see, I'm completely new to this forum, so thanks in advance for being understanding.

Like many here, I have a dream of setting up some type of MAME arcade for our game room, specifically for my kids to enjoy.  Problem is, I am absolutely CLUELESS about computers.  Seriously, beside basic internet search, ebay, word processing, and facebook, I virtually know nothing about computer programming or running certain systems, much less MAME.  Been trying to watch videos on youtube, but about 5 minutes in, I'm completely loss. 

So...here's the deal.  I have an extra $50 sitting in my paypal account that I will send to someone who is patient enough to walk through the process with me.  I know it's not much, but hoping there's a really helpful person out there who doesn't mind donating some time to a desperate and ignorant gamer.  I don't need help with creating the cabinet or the physical part, just the computer aspect.

My Goal: looking at the videos online, my desire would be something that looks and works as good as those who run the gameex.com program.  Would love to have arcade games (classics all the way to newer ones- Killer Instict, Street Fighter, etc.) as well as some nintendo and other consoles if possible.  Also, something that would just start as soon as the computer is turned on as opposed to using the Windows/keyboard to load first.

The Good News:
I already have a working X-arcade tank stick, Dell computer, monitor (22 inch tv), and keyboard that I bought off Craigslist.  The previous owner also had a few programs installed and a few MAME games already work.

The Bad News:
Like I sad, I'm going to need some help, as I know so little about setting up a program like this.  Again, I'm not lazy or not willing to learn, but I was having problems just opening files once downloaded...

If it helps at all, my Dell has windows xp, 2.0 ghz, 1.0 gb, and is Pentium 4.0. 

If this is something you will be interested in, I have a cool $50 (and maybe even a bit more) for the right person.  You must be patient and willing to explain even the most basic aspects.  We can communicate either via phone, text, or possibly skype.  Not sure how long the whole process may take and am willing to work out the schedule to completed this (hopefully it doesn't take more than a few days?) I work M-F 8-530, so anytime after that may work.

contact me directly at my email: huyenvcam@gmail.com  If I have multiple persons who are willing to help, I'll try to pick the person who seems the most genuine about working this out. 

Thanks in advance for any help offered.

[Malenko]

I dont think its against the rules, but why dont you save yourself $50 and just read the forums? The entire point of these forums is pretty much to do what youre putting up a $50 stake to do.  Start a project thread and ask for help, its what most of us are here for.

[Brian74]

Google, YouTube and this forum are your friend. I was clueless when I first started back in 2010. Now I have two fullsize and one racing cab under my belt. GameEx is a pretty simple fe. I thought it looked to plain. So I went with Hyperspin. There are threads on here that tell you how to shell XP to load right into your fe. All you can do is try. You will make mistakes, God knows I did. But I started threads, searched a bunch of threads and asked a ton of  questions. Just jump in feet first. If you feel like you are drowning, ask for help.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

[SNAAKE]

if you can read then you can "program" mame too lol

get "mame32" and put the roms in roms folder. start the program, launch games, play
and you can ready the readme.txt file to further instruction about setting up the controls.

[gonzojoey]

Where are you located? You might be able to find someone here who is local and willing to stop by and help you out. But like the others said, once you give it a try, it's really not that hard. Heck, if you lived close to me, I'd probably just give you a pc with Mame all set and just ready for your roms...