I could really use some advice...

[Jeff AMN]

Sorry to ask this sort of question, but I'm really torn here. I used to be a pretty active member of this board but it's been since about April of last year since I have visited. My MAME project stalled and I got caught up in work, other hobbies, and even some personal medical issues. So, this is where I stand right now as I'm thinking about getting back into things.

-I have a control panel cut out and routed to fit all of my buttons (thanks knievel), a trackball, a spinner, and my joysticks
-I have 2 optical sticks, a spinner, a trackball assembly (no ball), and TONS of buttons
-I have a gutted Blitz cabinet
-I have a working Street Fighter II machine

I was wondering if for a guy like me (married, working 50 hrs/week), if it would be worth moving forward and building my own MAME cab from what I have or if I'm better off hacking my existing SFII machine to run MAME. I've already spent the majority of the money on my project, I just question my overall drive to get it finished.

I would really like to see a fully built MAME cab in my home, but again, I'm worried about all of the time I need to put into the wiring and building of the project. Should I sell off my components and just hack the existing SFII machine, or would I be much happier in the end if I just manned up and finished what I started a year ago?

[leapinlew]

Do you have time to play? Do you have a desire to play?

If the desire and time are there - definetly finish building your mame cabinet. The thing is... it should be as fun building as it is playing. If building it seems like a huge hassle - then forget it. You won't enjoy it and your work may be sub par because of it.

If you don't have the time, but have the desire - just give it some time and maybe eventually you will have the time.

If you don't have either the time to play games, or the desire to build a cabinet - sell them both off.

[Jeff AMN]

I definitely have the desire to play. I've been gaming for years and I've always had a love for the arcade. If I didn't have a soft spot for dedicated cabs, I would have just hacked the SFII cab in the first place. It's the purist in me that made me go search for an old Blitz cab to gut.

I guess time is an issue, but I also kind of fear the price/complexity of dealing with an arcade monitor. The wiring looks fun.

Ok, I'm kind of having a moment of realization here. I think it's more of a confidence issue than anything else. Can I really pull it off? How complicated is it, and better yet, how easy is it to screw up?

[ahofle]

Personally, I'd keep the control panel you have and look for a cabinet to MAME.  For me at least, most of my time was spent with the cabinet carpentry (sawing, measuring, screwing, routing, painting, painting, painting some more LOL), not the wiring.  You didn't mention your monetary situation, but another option would be to purchase a pre-cut cabinet kit such as mameroom's and attach your own control panel.  A friend of mine just got one and had it put together in less than a day.

[leapinlew]

I definitely have the desire to play. I've been gaming for years and I've always had a love for the arcade. If I didn't have a soft spot for dedicated cabs, I would have just hacked the SFII cab in the first place. It's the purist in me that made me go search for an old Blitz cab to gut.

I guess time is an issue, but I also kind of fear the price/complexity of dealing with an arcade monitor. The wiring looks fun.

Ok, I'm kind of having a moment of realization here. I think it's more of a confidence issue than anything else. Can I really pull it off? How complicated is it, and better yet, how easy is it to screw up?

You fear the unknown. Skip the arcade monitor and use a computer monitor.

As for your other questions
Can you pull it off? We will never know unless you try
How complicated is it? Varies from person to person
How easy to screw it up? As easy cutting off your finger with a circular saw

[BLah247]

I'm fully employed with a wife and 3 kids... in graduate school... avid SCUBA diver (although it's winter)... anyhow I have a lot of things that suck up time.  If you want to build your own MAME cabinet it does take up a lot of time but if it really interests you then you'll make the time.

I looked into Premade cabinet, with premade controls and such... I honestly didn't like any of them and they just seemed like you would have a hacked up cabinet....  I'm close to being done with mine and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

[Jeff AMN]

I'm fully employed with a wife and 3 kids... in graduate school... avid SCUBA diver (although it's winter)... anyhow I have a lot of things that suck up time.  If you want to build your own MAME cabinet it does take up a lot of time but if it really interests you then you'll make the time.

I looked into Premade cabinet, with premade controls and such... I honestly didn't like any of them and they just seemed like you would have a hacked up cabinet....  I'm close to being done with mine and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

I guess that makes sense. I just checked out your site and your cabinet is looking fantastic!

[BLah247]

Thanks.  I was sick most the weekend and didn't get a chance to finish up the wiring.  I'll probably knock that out next Sunday....  I did however do what most people do and wired up one side to 'test' it and ended up playing some games.

The only part of my Cabinet that I knew I wouldn't be able to create with a set of handtools was the control panel.  Hence why I used one of Knievels... and since I was emulating his design it only made sense to do that.

[madgammer]

This is a great post.  I'm almost in the same position and I just decided to go with an already made cabinet and do the wood finishing myself and just have somoene design a CP for me.  I also work 50-60 hours a week and the weekends I save to travel and do other things and hobbies and of course play games.  For me it wasn't about the time it was about not having space / tools / to build anything from scratch.  Wiring shouldn't be a problem so hopefully it will be a 1 afternoon project once I get a CP going!

Anyone in So cal want to take on a basic MK 3 CP? 

[AMDman13]

Well I have 4 children/wife/job with limited funds. I was able to build my own "dream cab" in about a years time. Don't fear the unknown and don't be in a hurry. I just kept telling myself it will get done sometime. If your going to do it I would take my time on it and save your money so you can go all out. That is what I did! I figured I'm only going to want to do this once, so I better not have any regrets. I went with a two player slightly modified Lusid's using a 27" Betson Multisync and a AVGA card.
I also used a knievel CPT! Well worth the $ for his skills
Now that it is all done I can tell you it's way worth the hassle and wait. I for one don't understand the joy of building. The hobby for me is playing the thing (especially with friends) and nothing beats the wow factor when people find out you built it.

[Crowquill]

I assume you mean it's a dedicated NFL Blitz cabinet. Is it the 2 or 4-player version? Either way you've already got a cabinet that many people are trying to build from scratch. How stripped is it?

If you're going to go to the effort of wiring up all the controls and setting up a PC, why take the time to do it to the SFII cab when you can do it to the Blitz cab. Probably the biggest difference between them is that you'll need to add some type of TV/Monitor. If you're not looking to put a lot into it, you should be able to pick up a used 25" TV for $50 or so and be able to assemble a working MAME cab. You'll probably have to put a bit more into it if you want complete artwork and things like that, but even though it may take some time to get this together, you'll still have SFII to play. Then in the end you'll have 2 working game cabinets. You didn't say what cab the SFII is in either, but most were in Dynamo cabinets that would have much less room for controls.

One other factor to think about is that if the SFII cab runs SFII fine, it'll run any JAMMA game fine. Game PCB's off of eBay can be pretty affordable.

[Jeff AMN]

Well, I've made my decision...

I pulled out my stack of components and stared at them for a good half hour as I contemplated the task that was before me. In the end I just can't do any harm to the Street Fighter cabinet, so I'm going to rip everything out that was left in the Blitz cabinet and just pretend that I finished building it myself.

I don't have any computer ready to go, so that's probably my next step...or should I wire my control panel together first? I'd think that it would probably be best to have the computer setup so that I can test things out as I'm putting it together, but like I mentioned earlier, I'm not exactly sure how to proceed yet.

[javeryh]

I think leapinlew is right.  The build should be just as much fun as playing the finished cabinet.  There's always ways to find time to do things you love doing - I've got a wife, a kid and another on the way and I have a VERY demanding job and rigorous work week - it doesn't leave much free time but I've managed to build 1.5 cabs in just under 3 years time.  It's slow (an hour here and there on the weekends) but I really enjoy it so to me it's worth it - it doesn't sound that way for you though...