Newbie With Some Questions!

[bcard74]

Hey all.  I am in the early stages of planning an upright Mame system and just wanted to throw out a few questions.  I am interested in playing basically just older games like Track and Field and Pole Position and the like.  What would you guys recommend as a minimum PC system to be running mainly older stuff like that?  I doubt I will ever load a game from 1990 or later, so I am not too concerned about spending a ton of cash on a newer system.

Forgive my horrible terminology, but here is a quick rundown of what I think I may be going after, and perhaps someone can let me know if I am on the right track.

I will probably go with a 17 or 19 inch computer monitor that is a few years old depending on the cabinet I get of course.  Is this an ok idea?

I like the sounds of the keyboard interface, as I want to put in 2 joysticks, probably 3 buttons a side, and a trackball as well as the possibility of a removable wheel.  Good idea or bad?

Again, sorry for the bad terminology, but I just discovered this last night and am totally into getting started.  Thanks in advance for your insight.

Brent

[Davestar]

It sounds like your looking for a current cabinet, to place a computer monitor in.  What you'll need to be concerned about is length of the monitor, and also overheating may be an issue in an enclosed cabinet.
As for computer, I've seen people claiming anywhere from a 200 mhz Pentium up to a very modern computer.  I used to run a 400 mhz K62, and it was a bit slow on Double dragon, a pre 1990 game, so YMMV.
As for keyboard encoders, they are really the way to go.  IPAC's http://www.ultimarc.com tend to be the favorite for the cost, reliability and great support you get from them.  Note though that you'll need a separate interface for your trackball (optipac etc.) .

Steering wheel parts can be found two places, Oscar Controls (http://www.oscarcontrols.com) and happ controls.   Of course some of the USB clip ons may work as well.

[bcard74]

Thanks Dave.  So I assume then the following.  A Pentium II running at 233 would be the absolute minimum I would want to run, and a PIII at 500 Mhz would be around the bottom of the preferred speeds?

The keyboard interface will hook all the buttons and joysticks through the keyboard port  (IPac).  The Trackball and Spinner go through the mouse port via the Optipac, and I should be able to run a wheel through the joystick port??

Could you clarify a little on the length of the monitor issue?  Are you referring to the front to back dimensions that could get a little tight with a 19 inch monitor in there?

Thanks a ton,

Brent

[txcanoeman]

I second the IPAC.  I had a control panel exactly like the one you are describing and used the optipac to interface my trackball and spinners, then used the IPAC to interface 2 joysticks with 3 buttons each and 6 additional buttons (Quit, Pause, Player 1 Start, Player 2 Start, Player 1 coin, Player 2 coin).  But with the IPAC you can chose a setup that wouldn

[bcard74]

Great info, thanks a lot.

[Davestar]

Thanks Dave.  So I assume then the following.  A Pentium II running at 233 would be the absolute minimum I would want to run, and a PIII at 500 Mhz would be around the bottom of the preferred speeds?

Yes, that sounds about right.

The keyboard interface will hook all the buttons and joysticks through the keyboard port  (IPac).  The Trackball and Spinner go through the mouse port via the Optipac, and I should be able to run a wheel through the joystick port??

For some reason I thought the optipac hooks up both the Trackball and the spinner through a serial port, allowing the use of a ps2 mouse.  Also, there is a good thread about Wheels in this forum.

Could you clarify a little on the length of the monitor issue?  Are you referring to the front to back dimensions that could get a little tight with a 19 inch monitor in there?

Thanks a ton,

Brent

Correct.  From the screen to where the plug usually goes in is too big with the case on.  I actually bought a 19" monitor for my old robotron cab, and it was way too long to fit.

[slug54]

I run an Intel p3 850 and I don't know of any games that I can't run full speed. That may be due to the fact that I mainly only run games from the early to mid 80's. I do run Art of War  and some of the Marvel Super Heroes fighting games occaisionally and have never had any speed issues.
                                Slug54