Could I be the first...?

[thatguy_247]

First off thanks to everyone involved with this site.  A buddy of mine and I decided a few weeks ago to dive into our first MAME project head long.  With zero knowledge and a case of beer we hit the net in search of answers.   After night one we were left with a decent hang-over and no idea where to start.  Finally one of us got the great idea to google 'build your own arcade' and BAM! arcadecontrols.com to the rescue.  With a new source of information and countless examples to study we began the planning phase (we are both in the Army so its only natural to attack this with a plan).  Now two weeks later we are finally starting to make this beast a reality.  For now we are concentrating on getting the dedicated computer for the cabinet built and tested.  Here are the parts in hand or in transit:
Motherboard                                    $38  newegg.com
Celeron 2.66gh                                 $48  newegg.com
400W Powersupply                            $28  newegg.com
PCI express graphics card              (pulled from old Dell)
512mb DDR Ram                                $20  ebay (new)
80gb 7200rpm HD                              $25  ebay (new)
21inch NEC Monitor                            $20  ebay (used)

We were able to scrounge up a decent sound card, speakers, keyboard and mouse from our collection of junk parts.  We've already tested and will be running MAME32 and GameEX for our frontend.  For our cabinet we will be using a similar design to the neon mame / domino and incorporating a Harley Davidson theme.  Buttons and T Molding will most likely be orange with a solid black cabinet.  Whether or not to use lighted buttons (like the neon mame) is still up in the air.  Controls will be 2 joysticks (Super 8 ways from Happ)  with 6 buttons apeice, and 2 pinball buttons all wired to an IPAC2.  A 3 inch trackball from happ will run directly to the PC via USB.  Our current budget is set at $450 (cabinet will be manufactured at no cost using scrap) and so far we are looking good.  From what ive seen this could be the first Harley Davidson themed MAME system... dont burst my bubble if you already know of one.  Seeing as we have no experience, if anyone has any suggestions or advice feel free to let us know!  Thanks again everyone for the excellent resource and check back for pictures and updates as we begin construction.

Oh before i forget a few questions:
1) when installing a trackball is the mounting plate a must?  seems to me a properly designed CP with a good plexiglass overlay wouldnt need a plate.  am i wrong?
2) am i doing it right by running all controls to an IPAC2 and the USB happ trackball straight to the PC or is there an advantage to using a normal trackball and an OPTI PAC?
3) anyone have any experience with lighted microswitch buttons?  is the look similar to the lighted leaf buttons?

Thanks for your time and feedback,
Dan

[theCoder]

Welcome.

 I think $450 is optimistic, you will have to be very careful to meet that budget.

1)  The trackball plate is the most common way I've seen it done.  The industry experts came up with it, who are we to question their wisdom?  With a Plexiglas cover, it works great if you router out a pocket to get the plate flush with the surface.

2)  You can buy trackballs with USB ports, so I see no need to add additional hardware.  I'm sure someone else may have a different opinion.

3)  I've only had experience lighting the Blue Ice microswitch buttons.  I did, however, use the new microswitch compliant leaf switches in them.  Ponyboy and others have them available.  Do a little research, lots of people have written on this topic.

You've got a lot of ways to go with the Harley theme.

Good luck

[Timoe]

I will chime in with my usuall comment:  Take lots of pictures.



buy your parts from ponyboy or Divemaster here on these forums.  It will save you loads of money.

[thatguy_247]

thanks for the feedback so far.  as for the buttons ive sent a message to ponyboy, thanks for the headsup!  so far we have budgeted everything we can forsee and we are looking at just under our goal of $450.  im sure after we start adding to the pure awesomness of the cabinet with marquees and such we might break $450 but we still should be close.  as for pictures, at this point the only pictures we could provide would be us drinkin while testing ROMs... but you asked for it so ill get some up shortly...

Dan

[leapinlew]

Things that cost money that I didn't plan on:

Tools
brackets and screws
wiring (wires, wire nuts, quick connects, and lighting for the bezel)
Artwork (this can be a doozy)
Plexiglass (costs more than I thought)

The controls and computer are your major expenses and after that it's nickel and dime city.

As for the trackball, I mounted mine without a plate. You can see it on my showcase cabinet build.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=55021.0

Good luck and have fun. Keep track of your expenses and let us know when you go sailing past the $450 mark. The Coder was correct when he said the $450 mark is optimistic, but it's good to have a goal. If not, these things can easily get out of hand!

[thatguy_247]

<br><br>

ok you wanted pictures of our progress.... from top to bottom: 1) start to a good night of testing roms  2) ryan tryin out ghouls`n ghosts 3) me doin what i do best

as for the challenge that it cant be done for under $450... we say 'challenge accepted!!!'

not only will we complete this system for under $450... we will create a system worthy of praise. 

DAN: hey ryan do you smell that??
RYAN: smell what?
DAN: the hall of fame BABY!!!!

DISCLAIMER: the cabinet will in no way affect the overall price (dont ask).  as first time builders\designers we will still surpass the average only because we are drunks and soldiers... its what we do.

HOOOOAHHHHH!!!!!

[NightGod]

I spent more than $450 just on my controls alone...those trackballs and spinners don't come cheap $$$

I suppose it's possible to do $450, but DAMN you're gonna be cutting alot of corners.

I still can't get used to those digital print BDUs...

[NickG]

1) You can mount a trackball with a plate underneath it, or recess a top plate into your cp under your cp art.  At one time Happ was selling a underneath type mounting plate for their trackballs, not sure if they still stock them.

[dudebozo]

you know what, i can see these guys coming in at or around their budget.  it didn't sound like they would be purchasing anything too too crazy.  maybe i missed it, but the t-molding is a must.  that will definitely give your mame cabinet that arcade feel. 

just curious...what would the budget be if you included all the beer consumed during this project?

[Taborious]

BUDGET... Hell what's the budget for the beer? I can see that costing more than the cab by the time it's done. Plus recycling that amount of cans might pay for half that cab, just my 2 cents   

[nullb0y]

i do alot of my cabs on a tiny budget but they dont have alot of flash

[thatguy_247]

we are going to try to side step the t-molding and go with edge banded MDF.  if done right we should get a clean solid metal edge in place of the plastic.  as for the budget for beer we should actually see a savings during this project.  if you think about it, instead of going to the bars on $9 beer night we are at home drinking $13 cases... its science, who are we to argue   

dan

[Timoe]

Why no T-molding?  Do you not have a router? 

Or you dont want to buy t-molding?


Also the budget thing, in theory, sounds all nice and what not but be realistic. 
If you and your buddy find that you enjoy the build process, you wont be
stopping there.  You'll build again, buy new controls and try a new control
panel.  What I'm sayin' is, don't count the money.  Just enjoy making the stuff.

[thatguy_247]

i can already tell how addicting this can be and we havent even 'broke ground.'  we actually started this project with the expectation that we would build at least 2 cabinets (one for me and one for ryan).  as for t-molding, im looking into some other options just to see whats out there.  with some edge banding equipment that might be available we could do a nice metal edge as opposed to the plastic.  now after looking over some possible harley designs im starting to think tmolding might fit better only because of the color choices. on monday we start the computer assembly, testing and programming.  as of today (thank god) we have a working mamewah front end and a solid collection of tested roms.  we'll keep ya posted and thanks for the feedback

dan

[theCoder]

i can already tell how addicting this can be...

Ah, Egor, we've snagged another victim.  <<insert evil laughter sound track>>

as for t-molding...now after looking over some possible harley designs im starting to think tmolding might fit better only because of the color choices...

Some vendors have chrome looking t-molding.  That might work with your theme.

[thatguy_247]

small update... we hit our first hurdle.  the hard drive we got from a local ebay seller is fried    .  looks like the board is somehow damaged so we will have to hold off on setting up the dedicated computer.  in the meantime we are getting closer to a final design on the cabinet and front end.  wish us luck!

dan

[thatguy_247]

its been awhile since i updated, and not that anyoen cares but here goes: after 3 fried hard drives we gave up on the seller.  we have since installed a 20gig instead to cut costs.  our dedicated computer is not running with GameEx as a frontend about about 300 tested roms.  all of the CP parts were ordered tonight along with enough orange LEDs to light the buttons.  the final design for the cabinet is almost complete.  looks like we will be going with a side port hole like the neon mame but we will be adding a clear lexan window to smooth out the look.  for now thats about it, should have pictures of the construction soon.  thanks to all the people who have been sending in advice, its been helping alot!

dan and ryan

[leapinlew]

You still tracking costs? 

[theCoder]

... we will be going with a side port hole like the neon mame but we will be adding a clear lexan window to smooth out the look.

Your local glass shop should have remnants of lexan for cheap.  I once needed a 15" square piece.  It would cost $14.00 to have them cut it.  Instead I got a 16"x32" scrap piece for around $8.

[thatguy_247]

we are still tracking costs, here is the current figure with some estimates for items not yet recieved/ordered:  the computer ended up costing $125 for motherboard, powersupply and CPU, $20 for RAM and $10 hard drive.  we salvaged a video card, cd-rom, case and some internal cables from a busted computer.  so total on the dedicated computer was about $155.  i just placed an order with divemaster for all 2 happ super 8 way joysticks, 1 usb trackball, 16 translucent buttons, an IPAC2 and player 1/2 buttons for a total of $183.  that puts us at  $338 giving us $112 to play with and still be under our initial goal of $450.  we have the cabinet and hardware lined up for free and should be cutting parts and assembling within 2 weeks.  oh i almost forgot, i picked up 100 5mm orange LEDs to light the port hole and buttons for $10 so we actually only have about $100 to go.  the only major expense left is the monitor/tv.  we still havent decided on t-molding yet so that could be an expense and the cost of printing artwork (found a decent local printer, waiting on quote).  if anyone knows where to get subwoofer neon rings in orange that would help alot ( like the ones used for NEON MAME).  as soon as all the parts start coming in ill start updating with photos and we should be working on a website soon after.  thanks for all the help and interest, will keep ya posted

dan

[leapinlew]

Awesome...

Can anyone tell me why this thread is so wide? Is it because he has 3 images on the same line? If so - could you put the images on their on line so we don't have to scroll right and left to read this thread?