Off-Road Cabinet Into Mame Driving Arcade

[HeloDriver64d]

Hi Everyone,

I have an Off-Road cabinet that largely works, with the exception of the monitor.  I have two options:

(1) Restore and get new monitor--and simply have it for that game, or

(2) Somehow MAME it and have games like Super Sprint, spin-off games and other games that work well with a 360 degree wheel (which would be absolutely amazing and my preferred option).

My question is if this can easily be done and what I would need to connect the wheels/pedals so that I can make this work with a Pi or PC (which one would be better for this sole purpose)?

Any help you guys/gals can provide would be tremendously appreciated! 

Thanks!

[Mike A]

Don't freakin MAME it. Just fix the monitor.

I know how this is going to go down and I am probably just wasting my breath.

If you put a Pi in it...  My head might explode.

[jeremymtc]

I would definitely keep it stock. According to KLOV Redline Racer might be a pin-compatible board that you could run in that cabinet. It appears to be very similar to Super Sprint.

I'm sure that you could figure out non-permanent adaptations for running other boards in it with a little study.

[BadMouth]

Hi Everyone,

I have an Off-Road cabinet that largely works, with the exception of the monitor.  I have two options:

(1) Restore and get new monitor--and simply have it for that game, or

(2) Somehow MAME it and have games like Super Sprint, spin-off games and other games that work well with a 360 degree wheel (which would be absolutely amazing and my preferred option).

My question is if this can easily be done and what I would need to connect the wheels/pedals so that I can make this work with a Pi or PC (which one would be better for this sole purpose)?

Any help you guys/gals can provide would be tremendously appreciated! 

Thanks!

n3wt0n ended up using an arduino.  That's probably the cheapest option for an interface.  I'm sure he'll share the code with you.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,151077.msg1578719.html#msg1578719
(see reply #22 by PL1 for all the other options)

Unless you are familiar with working with Linux/Pi, I would stick with a windows PC.
IMO the Pi is ok if you want to download a retroPie image, load roms, and use it as is.
For a custom setup like this where you only want specific games, would probably want to customize your front-end, and might need to run other programs to tweak the controls...a windows PC is just easier.

[barrymossel]

I don't even bother...

[leapinlew]

If you mame it, there are probably 3-4 games that will work well on it. There are probably another 4-5 that will be kinda weird, but ok (like puzz loop or cameltry).

Offroad is one of the rare driving games that works well in mame. No shifter and microswitch pedals.

Do whatcha want. There seems to be a million of these around.

[keilmillerjr]

Fix the monitor. Don’t ruin it.

[leapinlew]

I vote for mame the hell out of it.

This cabinet wouldn't be ruined if it caught on fire. Anything he does to it will be an improvement.

[n3wt0n]

Keep as much as possible intact. Get the monitor fixed. When you get bored of just off road set the original boards aside in a safe place and put a computer in it and play other games on it.
You don't need to be destructive to the original cabinet or equipment to pull that off - you can make it work with all the original wiring and wheels and pedals - even coin mechs.
Any monitor you put in there that isn't 4:3 is going to ruin the way the cab looks.

[paigeoliver]

Off Road with a dead monitor will still sell for $400-$600 and you can probably get the buyer to toss in a junker cabinet that you can mame.

Also, Mame doesn't solve the problem of an Off-Road with a dead monitor, you still need a 25" 4:3 monitor to fill the monitor bay.

[jennifer]

Off Road with a dead monitor will still sell for $400-$600 and you can probably get the buyer to toss in a junker cabinet that you can mame.

Also, Mame doesn't solve the problem of an Off-Road with a dead monitor, you still need a 25" 4:3 monitor to fill the monitor bay.

     * Jennifer lights a Lucky and contemplates*  I find it interesting P/Oliver did not just come out and say "fix the monitor".... That is because most likely it could be fixed, but not a given, It is most likely heavily burnt,faded, and  needs some chassis work. But the not so common of the tube being shorted out, is a dangerous condition where the tube can/will hold some seriously unholy voltages and not only once but multiple times, and it hurts, hurts bad, and very well could be considered lethal levels ...Be sure you understand what your dealing with before you address this problem.

[paigeoliver]

I didn't say fix the monitor because I don't think the poster really wants to do that. He wants a Mame cabinet. If he wanted to fix his monitor he would have joined an arcade group and asked about fixing his monitor, instead he joined a Mame cabinet group. That says a lot.

Monitor can be made right for sure, that is just a matter of money.

I didn't feel any need to mention monitor repair safety both because it is stupidly overblown* in the BYOAC side of the community and because he would get that knowledge anywhere he looked to learn about repairing his own anyway.

*BYOAC/Mame people are constantly giving bad, bad advise about monitor safety. Advising people to discharge monitors in dozens of situations where it is not only unnecessary, but actually creates a risk where one previously didn't exist before. Also, out of many hundreds of monitors dealt with, I have never been shocked discharging, installing, or uninstalling a monitor. It has always been doing adjustments to a running monitor, or G07 filter caps that still held a charge because of a blown fuse. Had the anode come off a Vector monitor once while I had my hand back there with the monitor on, I did not die, but I was unhappy for a little bit!

[jennifer]

    Whatever your reason behind it, I was merely trying to give you The long overdue credit you most likely deserve given experience, And a "not jump to conclusions" post  articulate in nature.... However, I know better than to listen to your charmed history of safety as fact. There is one out there with your name on it, And it WILL be more than just a bad day....Good luck with that.

[yotsuya]

It would be cheaper to fix the monitor than MAME that buy all the parts to make it a MAME.

[paigeoliver]

    Whatever your reason behind it, I was merely trying to give you The long overdue credit you most likely deserve given experience, And a "not jump to conclusions" post  articulate in nature.... However, I know better than to listen to your charmed history of safety as fact. There is one out there with your name on it, And it WILL be more than just a bad day....Good luck with that.

Hee, hee. Jennifer, I took the one with my name on it already, Vectorbeam monitor in a Space Wars, anode cap popped off during adjustments, went through me to the tube for several seconds until I managed to fall down. The other one with my name on it was at work and not arcade related. 277 Volts AC because of a wiring problem that had to have come down to complete negligence by someone earlier, still salty about that, worst part is that I couldn't even fix the problem after the fact, as I would have had to rip the walls up in 8 hotel rooms to do it.
 

I just think we as a group way overblow safety during teardown and way underplay safety during adjustments.  And no one ever even mentions the most important thing, which is making sure both sides of anode cap clips actually make it into the tube so the sucker doesn't pop off.

[yotsuya]

Get a room, you two