D&D: Shadows Cabinet

[jub3i]

Originally my plans were to build a 4 player MAME cabinet.  I found a Dungeons and Dragons: Shadows over Mystara working cabinet with 25" working monitor for $200.  I've been thinking about buying it, and making it into a MAME cab instead of building one from scratch.  I would gett an iPAC4 and replace the joysticks and if I need be, some buttons.  The CP is already 4 players so I wouldn't have to build a new CP.  I can just add 2 more buttons to the middle players, and add a trackball.  Looking at a pic of the CP, it seems there is enough room to do this.  Does anyone know for sure if there is enough room to add some buttons and a trackball?

Getting this cab would save me some money and a lot of work, but the main reason is for the 25" monitor.  Let's say I bought an ArcadeVGA card, what would I need to hook it up to the monitor?  Can I just cut a VGA cable and hook it up, or do I need a j-pac?  I'm not very knowledgeable on arcade monitors.  I've seen stuff about needing to go from 1V to 5V to get a good picture.  Does the AracdeVGA card do this already?

Any help is appreciated, and also I'm looking for any other input as well.  If you think it would be easier to just build it from scratch, or anything I would need that I wouldn't need if I was building it from scratch.  Any advice that would help in my decision to buy this cab is appreciated.  Thanks guys!!

[Sephroth57]

is that machine working fully? man i really want a dedicated D&D machine i tried to get one at the last auction but it went too high for me (300) which was kind of a ripoff


you will need an arcade VGA/Jpac combo to hook up the monitor and the controls with no hassle. i highly reccomend both products. with arcade VGA its as plug and play as you can get you dont need to adjust anything.

and about whether or not you should MAME that machine. personally i think it is best to find a fully gutted shell, just the cabinet no monitor/PCB, could have controls but doesnt matter. and just rebuild or build a whole new control panel, and then put in a PC monitor with a PC. there is a wide array of options, TVs, arcade monitors, all have their pros and cons but that is what i did personally and it works great and has a very clear picture.

[jub3i]

is that machine working fully?

From what the guy says, yeah it's a fully working machine.

[mattv]

D&D shadows is probably the best beat-em-up ever made

If I had one I'd just  beat-em-off over it all day

[Hoagie_one]

D&D shadows is probably the best beat-em-up ever made

If I had one I'd just  beat off over it all day

Um....ewwwww