First Cabinet

[lotec25]

Well i picked this up yesterday,  And i am looking for ideas.  I am going to turn it into a mame cabinet since the guy gutted it.  But not sure what to do with the cabinet.  And looking for ideas. 

To me it looks like the controls need to be moved and rearranged but that is not on top of the list.  What USB control board should i be looking for?  I would like to add a few more buttons get the coin lights working. I just have a lot of questions. I have been reading over the board for a few days now.  Still got a lot to do.  Just need ideas on what everyone thinks might look good.





And here is the original cabinet

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8614&letter=M

[JeepMonkey]

I recently purchased a Popeye cab that was converted to Mania Challenge.  I am going to restore it to look like either a DK or Mario (depends if I go vertical or horizontal).

You may want to check out
www.ultimarc.com
www.happcontrols.com

Both sell components you may need.

Good Luck.

[RayB]

Somewhere, in another dimension, left socks and back doors are dancing around mockingly.

umm... dont mind me.

So post a side-view pic and we'll tell you what it REALLY used to be.

[lotec25]

Here are a couple side pics, not the best angle but it is stuck in a corner until this weekend. Yea i am thinking of maybe the mario type cabinet.  Wife is letting me do this so she can play packman and a few others she likes.  The one thing it is missing is the player buttons so those are going to have to be replaced. But i am thinking i will move them up top where the sticker is for mania challange and add 2 buttons to each controller, for a total of 8 buttons. 







and here is the monitor i got to day for it

[vidmouse]

Get the book.

[lotec25]

What book?  I am new to this sorry

And is there a front end i can use for windows xp?  to use mame on? i have GameEx is there one that would work better?

[Green Giant]

The only book you will ever need.

http://www.amazon.com/Project-Arcade-Build-Your-Machine/dp/0764556169

As for a frontend, nearly all are designed for XP.  I prefer Mala as it has more features for free.  Some others like AtomicFE.  It really depends on your hardware you will be using, controllers, computer, joysticks, etc.

Read the wiki for more.

[lotec25]

book ordered. thanks for the info.  looking over the front ends

[SithMaster]

thatd make for a sweet vertical theme cab.  Id make a new cp and have two player controls with two buttons for each player.  do you like the 1940's line of shooters?

[lotec25]

yea the cp is going to have to be rebuilt i have tried to use it thinking i was playing a game and there is not way.  Yea i love shooters that is what i usually play.  And mario every onced in a while.  just not sure if i should leave it how it is or try to make a new cp base a little bigger. 

There is a little damage on the bottom of the case so i have to get that fixed first.  And i am looking at this control board

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=199

have the computer all ready need a sound card for it witch i am working on finding. 

[SithMaster]

What kind of sound card isa?  someone in in bst has one in the for free topic.

My favorite shooter has to be 1945kiii.  so many fun games played during personal law in high school.  best part was he didnt care about when me and my friend played on the same keyboard but other students would get yelled at.  good times.

that encoder looks good.  how many inputs have you decided on?  my 2 player shooter has the 2 coin switches, 2 buttons per player, and 2 joys.  I decided to save space by using the players primary fire button as their start as well.  of course i dont mind being right next to the person im playing with (i have a galaxian im working on and it has 22 inches of cp space but it feels like less with the sides extended out to the lip of the cp).  have you tried to pretend to play with a second person?

when you say bigger do you mean stick out and extend to the sides or do you mean cut the sides and then make a wider cp?  id leave it as is but thats me.  try it out with 2 people (and with trying to put a quarter in assuming you are from the states because the door looks like its to one side).

which mario by the way?

[lotec25]

going to use a pci card.  think i found one.

as for the cp i am thinking the controls need to be moved around.  Have not fully decided but i am thinking 2 sticks 8 buttons. and then the 1player 2player buttons.

No have not tried with another person yet, ill do that this weekend along with mock up some of it with cardboard. The biggest problem is just like you stated the sides come all the way to the lip of the cp. Just filles tight. and i am thinking maybe cut the sides down.  just not sure nor do i want to just mess up the cabinet.  I dont think the cp needs to be bigger just maybe the sides moved out of the way.  Also looking at the light for the Marquee not sure if i should just do a florescent light or buy another one of the control boards to do all of the lighting with

And i like the Old mario.  Along with the Japan one. 

[SithMaster]

so the one thats two player that goes on forever?  i like that one too.

Id go with a florescent light from lowes or whatever store you like.  I didnt see a marquee area in your pics so it depends on what parts are still there.  One of my cabs had the parts for the light but i didnt have the power supply for it so i had no idea if it worked or how to get power to it.  I had one of the light fixtures around the house no one was using so i used that but i think they are around $20 for one at most hardware stores.  Also if your going the mame route i think it would be easier to just plug in the fixture to the surge protector you would use.

actually i looked at the pics again and if you wanted to you could cut the sides back to where the monitor glass would be.  check first to make sure it would work out but the part where the glass rests against goes straight down i think so that would still look nice and the tmolding could be salvaged.  all that would be needed is to route out a slot for it in the spots that you cut and trim the molding a bit though you might be able to tell where you cut it unless you remove all the molding and reapply it.

Is it 8 total or per player?

Actually if you do cut it measure how thick the glass might be and then leave that much left so the glass isnt visible from the side.  Im not sure how nice it would look flush so maybe have it recessed a little too.

[lotec25]

Yep that one that goes forever.

Yea i am thinking florescent and just plug it into the power strip.  Yea the piece is missing that divides the marguee from the rest of the plexi.  What i was thinking and i want to mock it up before i do it.  But i was going to do the screen layed back a little so i can add a speaker panel to the top.  I want to mock it up first before i say for sure.  I would like the speakers up top a lot better but i dont want it to look bad.  Ill take pictures when i mock it up.  kind of like this but it would be inside the cabinet  http://blogs.vertigosoftware.com/photos/jatwood/images/1647/original.aspx

 Yea that is what i am thinking just dont know if i want to cut it or not.  I am not to worried about the trim as i can buy new if i need to.  I just dont want it looking bad. 

I am thinking 4 buttons per player,  plus the 1 player 2 player buttons and the 2 joysticks.

yea i was thinking the same on the glass that is the reason i dont want to do it.  but it would open it up more.  I am going to an arcade this weekend to look at one of these cabinets fully working thinking it might help me.

[xmenxmen]

Definitely cut it.

Go here:  http://www.severdhed.com/arcade.html

Severdhed did a great job turn a cab exactly like your into a full cp mame cab.  Doing it this way or similar opens tons of option and take away lots of limitation this cab has.

little preview:

[lotec25]

dang that is just what i was thinking of doing.  Thanks for the link. that should get me in the right direction.  I even like how his looks.  Nice thanks for the help man

[lotec25]

ok so here are some mock up pics.  this is just an idea and what to do what you guys think?  or should i leave it more stock and do a mario style cabinet?

[severdhed]

i put off cutting my cabinet for a while, hoping i could make it work with the small control panel, but after about 2 months of trying different screen positions and mock control panels, i got brave one day, and cut the sides out, and I couldnt be happier with my decision.  it was relatively easy to do with a jigsaw.  and the t-molding i removed before I cut fit perfectly along the new edge that I made, so all I had to do was cut a new slot.

that picture at the end that is listed as current, actually isnt that current.  i have made  some more changes to the cabinet, but my digital camera decided to die on me.    either way, i say go for it, i'm glad I did.

[bfauska]

Have you thought about maybe a shape more like this?

To me that shape seems more like an original machine than just cutting it flat.  It adds a little more work, but not much, and there seems to be room for it with the monitor placement you are looking at.

[lotec25]

yea i like that.  Thanks for the idea.

[lotec25]

ok how about this? got most of the paint off.  came off preety easy.  Looks like they used some type of contact paper on it.

[lotec25]

Another question,  will these joysticks work with mala and mame?

[SithMaster]

Yes they will work just fine.

Do you need to have the cut off part at an angle or maybe have it go straight down.  Youre going for a box cp right?  Id have it the way it is now but cut the sides to open it up so the players can stand apart a little.  In the example pic the cp isnt flush at the bottom lip not sure if that is important though.  Actually if you cut it in a way so that if you dont like it one way you can trim some more for another.

I loved playing a mario clone on my old 486 when i was a kid.  spent most of the time hitting the pow to win against my sister.

[lotec25]

so like this?  it is not perfect but what i think you are saying.


I like the idea and that is correct i can cut it if i don't like it.  I am holding off cutting until i get the bottom replaced and i have to find a router.

as for the CP not flush with the bottom if you look there is a board inside and that is what i am going to use to do the front to back cut.  actually a little higher just got to find a piece of wood to use for the CP not sure how thick i should make it.  Kind of waiting for the buttons to get here . i want the side cute level with the CP i am thinking.   

here is a pic the piece i am talking about is circled in red

[xmenxmen]

I would actually just cut it the way you like it ignoring the inside wood.  Once you put the control panel plus bezel in, it will be concealed.  If you can accommodates it, go for it.  You can always put some wood block for additional support of the cp if that's your concern.

[SithMaster]

Just realized if you have it straight the monitor would need to be so too.  Not sure if it would look right or have issues being at an angle while the glass isnt.

The cp should be 3/4 thick and if you need some buttons i have some.  they are of the microswitch varity.

[lotec25]

yea i have been thinking about how i am going to mount the plexi to the cabinet. have not figured that out yet.  But i am going to put the monitor at an angle. i like it better that way.

 Also decided on yellow paint for the hole cab on the outside and going to go with these for the cp overlay, marquee and bezel

http://www.mamemarquees.com/arcade-control-panel-from-p-1202.html
http://www.mamemarquees.com/xarcade-marquee-from-p-47.html
http://www.mamemarquees.com/arcade-bezel-p-1201.html

don't think i am going to do the sides.  just leave it in yellow.  I will paint the inside of the cab black of course and going to do yellow t molding.  I have to get the rest of the paint striped and all sanded down this weekend.  This project is going to take me a little while, me and wood work don't go good together.

SithMaster you have a PM about the buttons.