Newbie building 1st cabinet.

[spittinfly]

I am going to build a cabinet for my wife for Christmas.  Yes I am just starting in now and I need some suggestions.  I am going for just a simple 2 joystick, 6 button @, 2 credit buttons and a few admin buttons.  I am trying to get by cheap and was going to try using the Keywiz Eco 2 emulator.  I've read a couple of posts from RandyT and it seems like it will do the trick.  I also read that I will only have digital control on the sticks.  Do I really need analog control?  I am using the Pink Joystick and button set from DreamArcade because of $ and it's her favorite color.  Do those sticks have diagonal control, the description is a little vague for me. 

I know this is a little wordy but I appreciate any help I can get from the experts. 

Thanks,
Mike

[Jabba]

Wow, cool wife you got there. Pink Joysticks eh? You're a clever man

[IG-88]

Welcome, welcome! Post some pics of your project if you can. We all like to see new cabs!

hmm, pink joysticks.....I'd have to make mine out of frickin' wicker to get it in my house

[spittinfly]

Thanks for the advice and interest.  I'll keep posting and checking in to get some more info.  I'll try to remember to take pics too.  Always remember to late   Yeah, I figured I could trick her into thinking it's for her with the pink buttons .

[mahuti]

The Key-wiz ENCODER works just fine. Word of advice, though. Spring for the "no-solder" version for $3 more. Well worth the extra bucks. Soldering's fun and all, but it takes extra effort to track down problems if your encoder is hard wired to your controls.

[spittinfly]

Hey, I am also going to use a Kensington orbital mouse.  It has a regular mouse connector (P/S 2?).  Will this interfere with the Keywiz or is it going to work with the MAME games, like centipede or I don't know if Golden Tee is available in MAME.

[markrvp]

Hey, I am also going to use a Kensington orbital mouse.

[brophog]

So that's how you do it..........for the wife.

[headkaze]

I wonder is she will buy him a new kitchen 

[AlexC]

I'm buying an Xbox 360 for my wife 

[RayB]

So that's how you do it..........for the wife.

When they know they get to take it a the divorce, they're way more accepting of certain things.

[ahofle]

I also read that I will only have digital control on the sticks.  Do I really need analog control?  I am using the Pink Joystick and button set from DreamArcade because of $ and it's her favorite color.  Do those sticks have diagonal control, the description is a little vague for me. 

If the joysticks are 8 way then you'll have diagonal control (4 ways do not, better for games like pacman, donkey kong, etc).  There aren't too many games that need an analog or 49 way stick (paperboy, food fight, roadrunner, spy hunter come to mind).  I have an old, small, gameport, PC joystick with suction cups on the bottom that I found at Goodwill for those games.

[missioncontrol]

welcome to the boards you will find a wealth of knowledge in here.

my advice is to stay away from EE forum once you get sucked into there you will never get your cabinet finished.   

[Jess--]

seconded on the advice about the EE forum, you lose large portions of your life once you get sucked in there.

(and your online time mysteriously climbs)

[spittinfly]

Hey, thanks for all your interest in the cab.  I'll try to take pics as I go.  If there are any other suggestions please keep them coming.

[spittinfly]

Another ?  If my line on MAME falls through, how do I get it and where can I get games from?

[AC.]

FOR YOUR WIFE? After I read that, I didnt read anymore.

[AC.]

But seriously, good luck with it, you will find much help here, what games does she like? 

Centipede, Puzzle Bobble, Majhong . . .

[spittinfly]

I know she loves donkey kong and pac man.  She would also probably love me forever if it had golden tee.  Eventually I would probably want the Tekken and Soul Caliber games but for starters the older ones would be best.

[Harry Potter]

Good start with the classics.

The newer games don't run too well anyway (in MAME at least).

And final warning, EE is baaad. (except during election time)

[missioncontrol]

EE is kinda like a forbiden fruit

 

[cw]

Welcome, welcome! Post some pics of your project if you can. We all like to see new cabs!

hmm, pink joysticks.....I'd have to make mine out of frickin' wicker to get it in my house

 


wicker sticks....     

[Crazy Cooter]

Another ?  If my line on MAME falls through, how do I get it

http://www.mame.net/

where can I get games from?

http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade_message_rules.html
5. Nothing illegal! Do I even need to explain this one? Need a ROM to repair an arcade board you own? Fine to talk about. Need a ROM to complete your MAME collection? Don't bother to post here. If someone posts such a request, please don't answer it -- no direct answers, no hints, no private messages.

[AC.]

I know she loves donkey kong and pac man.  She would also probably love me forever if it had golden tee.  Eventually I would probably want the Tekken and Soul Caliber games but for starters the older ones would be best.

Just make sure you have a trackball, you can get PC golden tee versions and they are pretty good.

[spittinfly]

Sorry Cooter, like you said in rule #4  everybody was a newbie once and I am definitly that.  Just trying to figure this all out.  No harm no foul.

[USSEnterprise]

I know she loves donkey kong and pac man.  She would also probably love me forever if it had golden tee.  Eventually I would probably want the Tekken and Soul Caliber games but for starters the older ones would be best.

To really get a good experience out of Golden Tee, you need a trackball. A mouse doesn't cut it.

[Flint_Cheeseman]

Hey dunno how if at all my post will help but im doing it anyway. I am working on my first cab myself. As for the cabinet itself, depending on what kind of cabinet you want to make, the internet is abundant with various free patterns gleaning them is the tricky part.

I had the fortune of getting a dual head cabinet from a guy who repairs them for free so i didn't have to do much cutting. as for cost of equipment, I just decided to use a regular old computer and an emulator. The interface for buttons and sticks was just a three dollar keyboard. I'll post a link to my page with some explanation and pictures though im having trouble with my router so some times the port 80 forward doesnt seem to work. http://flint.homelinux.net/neopc

Im currently drawing up plans for a cocktail table that will probably use the extra sticks from my cabinet. By the way it was a four player nintendo cab without the board or monitors. Basically what i got was a beat up old shell with sticks, some buttons and a few dusty quarters inside. It's a work in progress but as it stands i can play most neo geo and NES games on it. Due to low capacity hard drive I have installed a wireless card so the computer can pull roms from another network resource. Take a look if you're interested.

[spittinfly]

I do have a trackball mouse so as I understand it, that will work.

[spittinfly]

As a side question... does anybody on this site make controllers for their PS or XBOX.  I saw a thing on MTV last night about "Professional" gamers.  So I kinda got a bug about making one after this is done.

[sliddick]

I ran across this guys site a while back. I was always impressed with the quality of his controller.

http://www.leafstation.com/console2.html

(this will link into a frame on his site. www.leafstation.com will take you to his homepage)

Another builder whose work I respect is Knievel. He's built some really sweet cabinets, and also sells control panels. I don't know if he specifically makes them for consoles, but Ultimarc sells an add-on to their I-Pac which will in turn make controls work for either XBox or Playstation. For a couple of extra bucks, you can have the best of both worlds. Here's a link to Knievel's site.

http://www.freewebs.com/knievel/

[AC.]

'Course you don't need a trackball for the game, Golden Pee . . .