Son of Neon MAME *LEDWiz Mod Pics Added

[stoli]

Well, here it is. A shameful ripoff of Knievel's Neon MAME. I made a few mods, but for the most part it lacks originality. Here are a few pics and I will post many others that I have on my website (http://home.comcast.net/~stoli16).

Many thanks to Knievel who was very generous with his time and patiently answered all my stupid questions.

Also thanks to MameMarquees.com who I highly recommend as a source for artwork printing. Scott at MM spent a lot of time with my custom graphics and they came out excellent. If you compare his prices to your local printshop, you will realize that they can't be beat.

Finally, thanks to all those who spend so much of their time answering questions and developing software. I've been on other forums where you can read the hesitation in a noobs post in fear of a curt, condescending response from the "experts" with little to no patience. Fortunately that doesn't seem to be the case here at BYOAC.

Some differences from Knievel's Neon:

 Audio: I incorporated a sub-woofer amp and driver into the cabinet base. Also have a separate amp to drive the overhead speakers and put a volume knob on the front just above the CP. Suffice it to say, the audio kicks. 

 Glass: I went back and forth on the glass and bezel and in the end decided to build the cabinet sans glass. It doesn't look as good or perhaps as authentic but I think it plays better as there is no glare from the glass and the monitor is a little closer to the user.

 CP: Long story. Will explain in detail on my site but in the end I went with the CP graphic on top of the Lucite instead of under like Knievel's.

 I showed amazing restraint and went with different graphics.





Additional Pics: http://home.comcast.net/~stoli16/mame

[Crafty]

Awesome effort.

Wiring of the CP looks very neat...

Artwork all ties together beautifully

[ChicagoDave]

Looks great!

[BlinKY1337]

 As far as im concerned Knievel (and a few others)  set the standard so no shame in trying to live up to that, good job on the artwork and wiring all nice and clean.

[dweebs0r]

They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.

I say, it looks pretty darn good.

Enjoy!

-D

[wana10]

well son of a gun...i knew that name looked familiar
i modded and built one of your stoli ddr pads...so with a million people at ddrfreak converting the idea of your pad i personally see no problem with you doing the same...if on a much more grand and impressive scale
the cab looks very impressive and im very jealous of your skills...back to the saws i guess

[kickngas]

Stoli,
  Nice job...can't beleive you ripped Kneivel like that! 
   I agree, he is super helpful...sure went out of his way to answer my questions as well.  I can imagine he gets lots of people with lots of questions.  Hats off to him for being so patient.
  Your cabinet looks great.  I have the GPWiz as well, and probably will switch it out for a keyboard encoder at some point so I can explore more options with FE's.  What FE are you using?

[TheRed]

I am the most impressed with this part, although the rest is really nice itself. Clean job man! Nice!

[stoli]

well son of a gun...i knew that name looked familiar
i modded and built one of your stoli ddr pads...so with a million people at ddrfreak converting the idea of your pad i personally see no problem with you doing the same...if on a much more grand and impressive scale
the cab looks very impressive and im very jealous of your skills...back to the saws i guess

Thanks for the kind words. Knievel and I stumbled upon each others projects at about the same time. He was building a ddr pad so he had a few questions and that interaction led me to his Neon MAME site, where I instantly realized that I must build one of these things for my gameroom. It's a big hit so far.

-Stoli

[stoli]

...
  Your cabinet looks great.  I have the GPWiz as well, and probably will switch it out for a keyboard encoder at some point so I can explore more options with FE's.  What FE are you using?

I am currently using Mamewah which is fully compatible with the GPWiz. Eventually I think I might switch over to MaLa for the LED control features. The current version of MaLa does not recognize the GPWiz, but the next version will according to SWINDUS.  I am in the process of installing an LEDWiz on my CP and will mod it with an IO-Warrior USB controller to make it compatible with MaLa. I intentionally wired the LEDs on my CP so I could pop in the LEDWiz at a later date. Currently, all the LEDs are hardwired ON but I am anxious to incorporate the "Attract Mode" and game configuration interface that MaLa offers.

Seems like the biggest obstacle with the GPWiz is not as much the FE software as it is the other stuff like CPViewer and Johnny5...

-Stoli

[kickngas]

WOW!  I have been away from these boards for a while...obviously I have not kept up with the new FE's and LED controllers available.  I am going to have to do some reading!!  MaLa, Johnny 5, IO-Warrior, CP Viewer....these are all foreighn terms to me!!
  Will you keep me in touch with your progress and how about some quick links to get me in the mix??
Thanks,
 Steve

OH, BTW...did you get a chance to check out my Kneivel clone??

[stoli]

Nice job. I like the Luminglas on the side. I was leaning toward one of those for mine but decided against it. Maybe a retro fit some day.

You need to go over to the "Software" section of the forum and you will find a wealth of info and links to the stuff I am referring to.

-Stoli

[stoli]

Finally had some time to install my LedWiz Mod. Here are a few pics.

Final CP:

http://home.comcast.net/~stoli16/mame/cp/images/finalcp.jpg

LEDWiz modded with an IOWarrior:

http://home.comcast.net/~stoli16/mame/cp/images/ledmod.jpg

[Timoe]

How long did it take from when you ordered your warrior chip until you received it?

Did they notify you in any way when they shipped it.

It looks nice.  I like how you connected the resistors directly to the Ledwiz output.

[stoli]

How long did it take from when you ordered your warrior chip until you received it?

Glad you asked. When I first ordered the chip, I did not receive any notification at all. I waited about a week and then called the distributor back (Carole Holcomb). She made it sound like it was lost in the mail but I was inclined to think that it was never sent out. The whole transaction was kind of hokey in my opinion (no way to order on line - had to phone in a credit card). However, the day after I called Carole back, I got a USPS tracking number emailed to me and the chip arrived a few days after. It is quite possible that it was a USPS screw up, but like I said, I have my suspicions. At any rate, it was shipped right out when I called back and if it was a USPS screw up, then cudos to Carole for the "no questions asked" replacement service.

-Stoli

[bvicarious]

That is a fine looking cab Stoli. May I ask where you got those latches that hold the control panel together? What is their proper name?

[Havok]

I am currently using Mamewah which is fully compatible with the GPWiz. Eventually I think I might switch over to MaLa for the LED control features.

Keep your eye on AtomicFE as well - Youki is updating the software to initially support the LEDWiz fully within the front end, and is looking to add LCD support in the future...

[stoli]

That is a fine looking cab Stoli. May I ask where you got those latches that hold the control panel together? What is their proper name?

I got the hinges at Home Depot. Used them on the access door as well as the CP. I can't recall the SKU or the exact name (there are no numbers on the hinges themselves) but I found the mounting directions and they have the number ZHX11SJ in the bottom corner which seems to ring a bell. They are made by Liberty Hardware and cost less than $5 per pair. Hope that helps. If I find myself at HD in the near future, I will get the details and let you know. 

Just did a quick search on-line. I am not positive, but I think this is them:

http://www.libertyhardware.com/item/?ID=HC11SJC-NP-C5&FIN=NP

-Stoli

[loadman]

..Very Nice 

I think I might switch over to MaLa for the LED control features. The current version of MaLa does not recognize the GPWiz, but the next version will according to SWINDUS.

How long ago was that?
The current version (with update) uses the windows game controller selector in windows controll panel to set-up Joysticks. So if windows can see it, so should MaLa

[stoli]

Mala v1.0 RC7 had problems with the GPWiz in XP. About a week and a half ago, RC7a was released which I think has fixed the problem. I have been travelling a lot and pretty busy so I haven't had time to check it out yet. Hopefully I can get to it in the next few days.

-Stoli

[Knievel]

GREAT job Stoli. Nice to see you've taken it a step further with the sound system, CP hinges and now the LEDwiz goodies.

I wanted to mention that I only give out basic dimensions of my cabinet, there are no plans. So when you see a cabinet that resembles mine that person has practically designed it themselves, I take no credit for that.

Now if I could only get my DDR pads done.

[stoli]

Thanks Knievel. High praise from the master! I didn't expect to finish first. A basement flooding episode in May set me back a ways. Hope to recarpet and get the gameroom back to normal in a few weeks.

I just finished installing the new version of Mala and can confirm that the GPWiz and IOWarrior modded LEDWiz work great! You are limited to only 10 of the 28 buttons on the GP but for the emulator interface that should be plenty. I forsaw that happening and made sure I assigned the buttons that I wanted to control MaLa to the first 10.    Hint, hint for someone planning on using a GPWiz with MaLa.

Now to start programming the LED "Attract Mode". That should only take me 3 or 4 weeks! 

[loadman]

Now to start programming the LED "Attract Mode". That should only take me 3 or 4 weeks! 

Not really 

That is one of the Great things about the MaLa LED setup. 'SEQUENCES'

You can start with the built in 'Random Sequence' , ....... Then as your time allows you can add own sequences into the mix.

[stoli]

I wasn't dogging the interface. I agree it is very slick. I was referring to my anal nature. Trust me, it will take me a while until I get it right. Next time you are at an arcade that has a Funhouse pinball machine, check out the attract mode it has. That's what I need to improve on.

[loadman]

I wasn't dogging the interface. I agree it is very slick. I was referring to my anal nature. Trust me, it will take me a while until I get it right. Next time you are at an arcade that has a Funhouse pinball machine, check out the attract mode it has. That's what I need to improve on.

Holly Cr*p Batman.  Here was I thinking that my chasing sequences were pretty cool.

I can't wait to see it  .... One Day

[Santoro]

Sweet.  Very sweet.