Jamma Controls

[lloydcom]

Hi,

I bought a Jamma cab off an arcade distributor without the monitor or coin mechs, but the rest of the cab was in very good condition.

After much consideration, I wanted to change the control layout.  Add a spinner, trackball, and some side buttons for PINMAME.  The original setup was two joysticks and four buttons each player.

I have two problems with changing the layout.  One being the enclosure is metal (I call it a bucket), and the facia is thick removable plastic.

Do I take the contol bucket to a metalworker's shop and have him remake the bucket with holes for the Joysticks and stuff?  Or is there a cheaper way?

Also the plastic facia needs replacing.  What do you suggest on that option?

I've seen many sites that have wooden constructs for their contol housing.  Is it wise just to build another control panel off the existing control bucket?

Also I need help with the installation of the display.  Is it a good idea to have a shelf built inside the cab, or just use the wooden frame to hold the weight like it did originally.

I was thinking of a way to mount a steering wheel via USB and some light guns.  Any thoughts on this?

Thanks

[eightbit]

Thats a lot of questions. Heres a couple of questions for you. How big is this cab? Are you going to have enough room to fit everything you want?

Are you planning to keep the Jamma interface intact? Jamma is limited to 2 joysticks and 4 buttons for each player.

Can you post a picture of the cab? Or at least what was the origanel game? If your not sure what game does it look like? Most games are listed at http://www.klov.com. The "Killer list of Video games". If we could see it we could help with more specific suggestions.

If you can replace the metal panel with a wood one its much easier to work with. As far as the plastic, if its just a flat peice it can be easily replaced. If its bent or formed its going to be more challenging.

As for mounting your display a lot of it depends on what your putting in there. The easiest is an arcade monitor that would bolt into the existing hardware. If your going with a tv or a monitor it depends on size and shape.

The steering wheel depends a lot on what your planning. Are you thinking an arcade hack or a PC steering wheel? Both have advantages and disadvantages.

[lloydcom]

Hi,

Thank you for responding so quickly.  I looked on KLOV and located the exact cab.  There was some hidden game art on the monitor surround.  I was surprised to think that my cab was an Ikari Warrior machine.  Minus the rotary joysticks  

This is what it used to look like:



Now it has no side art...well completely black except the surround.  Has the Marquee and monitor plexi, and it lights up fine.  The left side joystick was broken.

So I ask you, is there enough room for the spinner, and trackball (minus the left side joystick)?  I really hope so..

I was looking at Happ with regard to foot pedals.  Are they a good choice?  I could affix a bracket on the fron of the cab to mount the wheel.

With regard to the display.  I have the original PSU and cables, and can easily get a refurbished  17" Wells Gardener (living in Las Vegas has it's advantages) and coin mechs.

I also want to fit 4 Laserdisc Players inside, including my DC, PSX2, Xbox and Saturn.

Guess I should get a bigger cab eh?

Please advise.

Thank you

[eightbit]

Your definately ambitious. You might be able to cram a 2 1/4" trackball or a spinner or 6 buttons for 2 players but I think your going to have to decide whats important to you. If you give up one of the sticks you can probably get a trackball and a spinner in there with a stick and 6 buttons.  You must not be a fan of the fighter games though.

A trackball that close to a vertical monitor is kind of a pain for games like golf, horseshoes, bowling or games that require you to put a spin into it. It works good for games with more finesse like marble madness or centipede. (not to say that golf doesn't require finesse so keep your flames to yourself guys)

Another option would be swappable control panels. I've got a bigger cab and still chose to go the swappable panel route instead of trying to cram everything in. I do have 6 buttons on each joystick and a 3" trackball but it is a 25" cab. I'm working on my swap in ikari warrior panel now.

Interfacing all those consoles to a control panel is going to be interesting. I don't have any console hacking experience.

[lloydcom]

Hi,

Thanks again for your reply.

Yep Fighting games are not my specialty, but the track ball issue is solved.  I just bought a whole case of PC trackballs for $20 off Ebay.  These are PS/2 or serial and should do the job nicely.  I don't know what I'm going to do with 9 of them....

I just moved the PSU into a better position to house the PC and the Laserdisc players.  I've put an order in for some cone buttons. (for Space Ace) and I'm going to get a J-PAC and Opti-PAC.

Looks like I'm opting for the arcade monitor, but I just noticed a few wires in the cab that are loose, and don't look like they connect anywhere.

Can I modify the Jamma connector harness to give out stereo sound, rather than mono?  Or should I replace the sound system with an amp?

The consoles are all ready to be wired in.  I'm going with the six button approach since the cab is a Jamma+.

Still don't know if I should trash the control bucket and replace it with a wood alternative.  How hard is it?

I'm getting a free coin door to replace the one that is missing.  I'd like to put some light guns on it, whats your view on lightguns?

The coin door will give access to the consoles and the PC, I don't know about routing console controller cables to an external connector for those games that just don't work with an arcade stick.

I'm worried about heat, especially with the laserdisc player (only room for 1) , the PC, monitor etc.  Since these cabs are "air flow" designed, would it be a good idea to install a fan in the top?

It would be nice to get that rotary joystick back in the cab, but I guess there is no support for them in MAME.  Would the Opti-PC work with them?

Is there a way to make a riser T card for the Jamma connector, so I can plug in fingerboards for the consoles, or do I just buy an I-PAC and piggy back it to the J-PAC.

Sorry for the many questions.  My mind just goes a mile a second today with possibilities...:-)  Too much coffee today!


Thanks for any help you can give.

[eightbit]

WOW

I'll try to answer a couple of these. I know very little about jamma, and arcade monitors.

The rotary joysticks will work in mame but they require an additional interface to convert the rotary input to the Ipac. Then to get actual arcade play you need to change the drivers for those games that use it.

Your going to regret going with a PC trackball but it will get you started and you can always upgrade later.

Someone posted recently that they got 2 of the newer style act-labs USB light guns to work simultanously. The act-labs gun is the only one officially supported by mame and only 1 at a time is officially supported. They won't work with tv's or arcade monitors.

I don't know if your consoles light guns will work with an arcade monitor but I doubt it since they are designed for tv's.

A exhaust fan on top for heat would be a good idea and the top is the place to put it.

I've heard of guys using wireless controllers for consoles to avoid the cable mess your going to get for games that don't work with the arcade controller. How are you going to hook the consoles to the arcade monitor? Seems like Snakes posted how that could be done.

Hopefully someone else can jump in with your Jamma questions.