Help me decide which cabinet to use

[BradC]

Hello everyone, been lurking here for a little bit and I thought now is the time to post. This is a great forum, full of tons of useful info.

This past weekend I picked up my first arcade cabinet, with a view to making a MAME cabinet. Actually I picked up two cabinets, which is why I need help deciding which one to use. The other one is going to my brother, who is also going to make a MAME cabinet, but I get first pick.

The first cabinet was a Magic Sword (as I can tell by the control panel overlay) but I don't know what it originally was. It looks however like the previous owner started drilling extra holes into the cabinet at random. But they already installed a pull-out keyboard drawer.


The second cabinet had the control panel completely removed and they started to install a custom one on hinges so that you can open up to get inside the cabinet. Other than that it's completely blank so the layout is totally customizeable.


I have uploaded some more pics of the two cabinets here if you want to see them (and if you can identify what the Magic Sword used to be):
http://www.bradnkristy.com/cabinet/


So my dilemma is which one do I want to keep? I must state that I have NO hand-craft skills, and no power tools either although I can always have my father help me out with those for drilling button holes and such. I am not looking to make something as fancy as all the MAME cabs in the projects forum. Those things are mostly gorgeous and I have neither the skills nor the patience to make mine look like those. I don't care about authenticity either. I will be buying and installing the joysticks and buttons myself (I'm handy enough with wiring and such) and I just want to get a decent two player setup (probably 6 buttons each.)


That was a long first post, but hopefully I can get some suggestions and/or info. Thanks in advance.

[vidmouse]

It would help to know a little more about what you're planning on putting in it.  What kind of monitor do you plan on using?  The size of that might dictate what you use, although these two cabs are pretty similar in size (however if you have a large screen size then the Magic Sword cab's bezel might get in your way).  It does look like the wood grain one goes back deeper though... so if you use a standard TV you might have better luck there...

[ElfShotTheFood]

I would probably take the woodgrain one.  an old Zaxxon cab maybe.

[More Cowbell]

I like the lok of the second one too. The first one has a giant random hole under the control panel that could be tough to fill. Also, the coin door is practically on the floor.

[ArtMAME]

First one used to be a Stargate cabinet:

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=9780

Second one is a Centuri cabinet which could have housed a Phoenix, Pleadies, Time Pilot, etc.:

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=P&game_id=9004
http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10119

I would say keep the second one because it is less hacked up.  All you would have to do is drill holes for the buttons and joysticks, install monitor, make a basic bezel and marquee, a little paint or overlay on the control panel and you are ready to go.

Plus, if you are going to play two-player fighter games, the Centuri cabinet will provide more elbow room than the Stargate (Magic Sword) cabinet. 

The Stargate cabinet would require a good amount of patching up, especially the CP.  I hope your bro has some woodworking skills... 

[BradC]

Thanks for the info everyone.

Both cabinets have a flat surface where the monitor will sit, so I won't even need to have any extra mounting points or hardware. I haven't decided what to put in there for a monitor. I would like to put a nice LCD in eventually, but for now I probably will look for a cheap, old PC tube monitor as I'm a little limited on budget; actually I'm just limited on what my wife sees me spending on this project. Both cabinets are 24" wide on the inside. The Centuri looks bigger (and it is probably 20+ lbs. heavier), but it is the same width inside. I have a spare TV but it measures about 26" across and so it's too big. I could try removing it from the casing but then it might be harder to mount inside.

I think I will go with the Centuri and let my brother deal with the other CP. He is about as skilled as I am when it comes to the woodworking, but he has a roommate. Perhaps the roommate has some skills.

I can't wait to get started, I'll be sure to chronicle my progress here in the projects forum, although it sounds like there won't be too terribly much to do.

[ArtMAME]

Welcome to the Wonderful World of BYOAC.   

That looks like a great starter project.  Enjoy it.

Good luck...

[Justin Z]

I would like to put a nice LCD in eventually, but for now I probably will look for a cheap, old PC tube monitor as I'm a little limited on budget. . . .  I have a spare TV but it measures about 26" across and so it's too big. I could try removing it from the casing but then it might be harder to mount inside.

Hey it looks like a great starter project for sure.  You might see if you can find a cheap 25" TV on Craigslist.  If you find one whose speakers are on the bottom instead of the size, you may be able to squeeze it into a 24" space.  I found a 27" TV that fit into a 27" space just by looking around until I found one whose specifications I could look up on the 'net.  They'll often have WxHxD measurements on Amazon or other places that sell the TVs.  I got it for $80 and it has component inputs, so it is ideal for a cab.

Best of luck!

[divemaster127]

The Toshiba 27A33 is perfects its a 27" tv that fits into most 24 inch spaces, & has bottom fire speakers...
dm

[BradC]

I checked Toshiba's website and that monitor is 25.5" wide by their specs. Too big for either cab.


I have been puzzling on which joysticks to use. I like the 8/4 way sticks where you can switch between 8-way and 4-way from the top because it's easier and they're not much more expensive that the ones where you flip the actuator. But I don't know how the Magnetic ones like the Mag-Stik Plus feel, versus the others like the Ultimarc T-Sitk Plus.

I know that feel is subjective, but I don't want to buy one and then not like the way it handles. How do the magnetic ones compare to the non-magnetic ones in terms of playability and familiarity? I probably spent more time playing Street Fighter II than any other game, so that era of controller is what I really remember. But if a different type offers better playability I would be OK with trying it out. I guess I just want to get some opinions.

[Kaytrim]

Personally I would use a Happ Competition for your SFII gaming pleasure.  I have the old T-Sticks and switched to the Competitions because it was hard to do the special moves using the T-Sticks.  The Happ stick is set up properly for 8-way games.  The T-Sticks are hard to hit the true cardinal directions while in 8-way mode, they work excellent in 4-way mode though. 

Think about using a swappable control panel system.  There are a few out there.  Look for Doc's Modular MAME.  He has an excellent website documenting how he did his modular panel system.

TTFN
Kaytrim

[BradC]

I'll look into the Happ Competitions, but do they make them in 8/4 or do they only come in one or the other?

There is no way I have the kind of skills necessary to make a modular setup.

[ArtMAME]

The Happs do come in 8 and 4 way but you have to use a different actuator which means taking apart the stick and changing it out which can be a royal pain.

You could do two 8-way Happs for your fighter games and put a 4-way in the middle like this panel that I made:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=54556.msg534988#msg534988

This panel is laid out to play Asteroids/Robotron/Defender/Pacman/etc... mostly the classic games.  You could lay out your panel to combine fighter style with 4-way games and other games that you would like to play. 

[BradC]

That's a good idea to include a 4-way in the middle there. Does it just get wired up to the same place as the first Player's 8-way joysitck? I'll be using an I-PAC2 in the cabinet.

[ArtMAME]

I am using an IPAC also, and I just wired the sticks separately to different inputs.  I am pretty sure you could wire them  both to the same inputs on the IPAC. 

[BradC]

Thanks for all the help ArtMAME (and the rest). I almost feel like I'm on information overload between all the info here and on the Wiki and the fact that my lofty ambitions for this cab will probably settle into something less glamorous but more within my reach of doing.

I have already started designing a CP layout in Illustrator and I will probably be creatig my own CP overlay, marquee and Side Panel stickers; not full sides, but smaller ones at the top like in the Phoenix cab pics. I'm pretty handy with Illustrator so now I just need to come up with a theme.

[Kaytrim]

You have PM

TTFN
Kaytrim