Building a MAME Pc - help please!!

[RedSquirrel]

I am soon to be building a Mame PC, but need some answers please!!

1) Should I go with a PC Monitor or TV (using tv-out from a graphics card). Cost is obviously a factory as I want something like 20 inches..

2) If I use a TV out card, will it display only in windows or will it also work from DOS ( because I will have Mame run in dos).

3) I should have it run from DOS right? I want to turn the unit on, and have it boot pretty quickly. I tried ArcadeOS and it seemed good. I dont want to wait a few minutes to get into windows, especially since I wont have a mouse/keyboard.

4) How to you get around the "Ok" start up screens when using Mame? Again, if I dont have a keyboard this will be kinda hard.

5) I might use a X-Gaming Arcade panel instead of making my own. I have heard many good things about them. I pressume they work in DOS as it mimics keyboard presses?

6) Any sites with exact measurements of the unit? Perhaps to fit a 20/21 inch screen?

Cant think of anything more just yet, so thanks in advance!!!!!

[Hoagie_one]

1--i like monitors, i just got this huge 21 inch mitsubishi.  its not too crisp as it is old so it has the arcade feel, and i got it dirt cheap.

2--dunno

3--i like windows becaus eit is user friendly, i may look into dos applications though

4--you can just tap left adn right ont he joystick for the "OK"  does the same thing


5--dunno, im building my own

6--I just used trial and error

[AlanS17]

I am soon to be building a Mame PC, but need some answers please!!

1) Should I go with a PC Monitor or TV (using tv-out from a graphics card). Cost is obviously a factory as I want something like 20 inches..

2) If I use a TV out card, will it display only in windows or will it also work from DOS ( because I will have Mame run in dos).

3) I should have it run from DOS right? I want to turn the unit on, and have it boot pretty quickly. I tried ArcadeOS and it seemed good. I dont want to wait a few minutes to get into windows, especially since I wont have a mouse/keyboard.

4) How to you get around the "Ok" start up screens when using Mame? Again, if I dont have a keyboard this will be kinda hard.

5) I might use a X-Gaming Arcade panel instead of making my own. I have heard many good things about them. I pressume they work in DOS as it mimics keyboard presses?

6) Any sites with exact measurements of the unit? Perhaps to fit a 20/21 inch screen?

Cant think of anything more just yet, so thanks in advance!!!!!

1) If you are builinding a cabinet from scratch I suppose a TV isn't a bad idea. However, I converted an old cabinet and would never use anything other than a front-mount (arcade style) VGA monitor.

2) A TV Out card should work in DOS, but are you sure you want to use DOS?

3) Again, back to DOS. Well DOS would load the fastest, but the best front-ends are all for Windows. If you like ArcadeOS I suppose that's fine. You don't need a keyboard/mouse after it's finished. (But we don't like to use the "f" word around here.)

4) This is the easiest question. Press "left" and then "right" on your controls to answer the "OK". I think on the newest versions of MAME you can even turn those screens off.

5) I'm not sure if X-Arcade uses PS2 or USB connections, but if it uses USB then it might not work in DOS if your motherboard doesn't allow it.

6) The only question I have no idea how to answer... Good luck.

[RedSquirrel]

Okay, say I did use it in Windows - could it all be operated with the joysticks? I want it to be as simple to use (and arcade like) as possible.

[AlanS17]

The majority of people on this site that have cabinets use Windows. Just auto-load your favorite front-end at startup (put a shortcut to your program in the "Startup" menu). Then it's all joysticks and buttons from there. Pretty simple, right?

[RedSquirrel]

The majority of people on this site that have cabinets use Windows. Just auto-load your favorite front-end at startup (put a shortcut to your program in the "Startup" menu). Then it's all joysticks and buttons from there. Pretty simple, right?

Yeah I was thinking that as well. Im 100% going with windows now, instead of DOS.

Is there any programs like MAME32 frontend, that allows to load SNES, Megadrive/Genesis etc though (as in shared with MAME)?

[jakejake28]

mamewah. i love it. just downloaded it on one o my pc's. i found it both easy to set up and very functional. it's not much for skinning, but i'm not one to care for aethetics. or try gamelauncher, i run it on me other, an it is great. it is equal to mamewah, pound for pound, but slightly harder to config. (easy nonetheless)  

[Tiger-Heli]

Q1 - Personal opinion, but see http://www.oscarcontrols.com/monitors.shtml (and also the Xiaou2 link from that page).  I prefer monitors, 19-inches are reasonable, 21's are fairly pricey.  27-33 inch TV's are pretty reasonable.  Generally PC monitors give much crisper images, but some people feel TV's give more authentic pictures.

Q2 - already answered and moot, since you are going with windows.

Q3 - again moot since you are going with windows

Q4 - http://www.fraggersxtreme.com/arcadepanels/faq.htm#How do I get rid of the blasted "Click Ok to continue?" screens

Q5 - DOS part is irrelevant now.  Staying out of this one.  A good keyboard encoder (KeyWiz, I-PAC, MK series) has much more programmability than the X-arcade and probably better quality too.  OTOH, the X-arcade is less work.  Biggest advantage is the X-arcade works with console systems, if that's a concern (OK, I guess I didn't stay out of it.)

Q6 - Dunno, I'm sure there are sites, how generic they are and how close they'll match YOUR hardware ().  If I were building a large screen cab, I like the showcase style like OSCAR mentioned here: http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=3994;start=0

Sorry if I sound like an OSCAR fanboy, but he has a lot of cool stuff.

[Wade]

1)  You could use a TV-out and TV, a VGA monitor, or a real arcade monitor.  All are reasonably priced in the 20" range.

2)  Some TV out cards won't work correctly in DOS.  I have an ATI 3D Xpression+ and it never would do graphic applications properly in DOS.

3)  I would strongly recommend using DOS, for many reasons.  The big ones are Mame usually performs better in DOS and DOS boots faster and doesn't need shutdown.  The big things to consider in your decision are 1) is performance a consideration for you or will your PC be 2000mhz 512 RAM and 2) will all the emulators you want to use run in DOS?  GameLauncher is a great frontend that is available for DOS as well as Windows.  A lot of other emulators (besides mame) are also available for DOS but there are some that aren't.

There are other threads about DOS vs. Windows which you can do a Search for on this site, many of them are because people using Windows get sound skipping/pausing in Windows.

4) As others said, just toggle the joystick back and forth.

5) I don't know about the Xarcade sticks.

6) You can search around this site for some plans, or browse the Examples section.  There are 2 or 3 designs available out there.

Wade

[RedSquirrel]

omg, i just saw http://www.xgaming.com/htm/cabinet.shtml  and the xarcade unit (not the cab) look well small. Or is it just that the cab is massive?

I wanted to buy it, as I really dont fancy messing around with wires/buttons etc.

[Tiger-Heli]

omg, i just saw http://www.xgaming.com/htm/cabinet.shtml  and the xarcade unit (not the cab) look well small. Or is it just that the cab is massive?

I wanted to buy it, as I really dont fancy messing around with wires/buttons etc.

X-ARCADE Authentic Arcade Size: 24.25 inches wide, 11.25 inches deep x 7 inches tall. Weight is 10lbs .
X-Arcade Cabinet Size/Dimensions
Height ? 72?
Width ? 29?
Depth ? 40? at deepest, back panel is rounded, side wood profile is 30? Deep
Weight ? 165 without controller, TV, or game system

From - http://www.xgaming.com/htm/cabinet_faq.shtml

Were you talking about the X-arcade controller ($150) or the cabinet ($1,000), or keeping your options open ;-)

The controller is not that bad, the cabinet seems a bit overpriced, but is a simple ready-made solution.

IMHO, the wiring and buttons are pretty simple.  It's the woodworking that scares me.

[RedSquirrel]

omg, i just saw http://www.xgaming.com/htm/cabinet.shtml  and the xarcade unit (not the cab) look well small. Or is it just that the cab is massive?

I wanted to buy it, as I really dont fancy messing around with wires/buttons etc.

X-ARCADE Authentic Arcade Size: 24.25 inches wide, 11.25 inches deep x 7 inches tall. Weight is 10lbs .
X-Arcade Cabinet Size/Dimensions
Height ? 72?
Width ? 29?
Depth ? 40? at deepest, back panel is rounded, side wood profile is 30? Deep
Weight ? 165 without controller, TV, or game system

From - http://www.xgaming.com/htm/cabinet_faq.shtml

Were you talking about the X-arcade controller ($150) or the cabinet ($1,000), or keeping your options open ;-)

The controller is not that bad, the cabinet seems a bit overpriced, but is a simple ready-made solution.

IMHO, the wiring and buttons are pretty simple.  It's the woodworking that scares me.

Thanks, I was indeed talking about the controller. There is no chance in hell i would pay $1000 for "that".

I just want to make the cab, put the computer together and have the controller to plug in and well.. basically play without fiddling about wires. I know in the future I could also do a proper controller but that can wait.

[Lilwolf]

For monitors...

Go with

1) true arcade monitor / ArcadeVGA video card.  Best Solution for looks / ease!

2) SVid TV and a GOOD tv-out (ATI's are all good... high end vivo geforces are usually... crap shoot with nvidia cards)

3) b-grade vga monitors  (industrial monitors)

4) svga monitor.  Notice all the work the mame is trying to do to make SVGA monitors look like arcade monitors?  This is because SVGA monitors at high resolutions don't look nearly as good.  Original arcades usually ran at around 320x200... and running them on a 1600x1200 monitor just looks blocky


My monitor suggestions.....

btw, check out oscars site to see the difference between the same games running on different monitor solutions.