A Mame machine in an antique buffet - USB probs solved (I think!)

[Ond]

Sorry to hear that man  although it was some time ago I've been through that myself.  I got some spare time coming up too and will be working on cab projects as well. 

[drventure]

Thanks Ond.

Yeah, timing kinda sucks, but, what can you do.

Work on a slide show Mala Plugin, that's what!

[thatpurplestuff]

Very sorry to here hear that drventure.  Hopefully it'll end up being a nice short break and you'll find something even better.

As a side note, the Mala plugin sounds very interesting!

[drventure]

Thanks.

Yeah, the plugin is getting there. Now I might have a bit more time for it.

I found a great little open source library of transition effects that I'm folding in now. Little bit more interesting that a simple pop-1image-pop-another image.

I've got WPF operational, but it's a tad.... peculiar. So that part may need to wait till v2.

[Ryglore]

Sorry to hear about the lay off DV. Hope everything turns around. 

[drventure]

Hey Ryglore
Thanks for that. I'm looking. This is just about the worst time of year though. Nobody wants to bother with the hiring process right now (I know, I've been on the other side  )

[Ryglore]

Nobody wants to bother with the hiring process right now

Yup, I dunno if it's the same in TX, but in MI we don't even get the 90 day trial period... they just toss unemployment on everyone no matter how many days they have been working... 3 or 91. Ha, we had one guy work a week, quit, and he got unemployment... 

Anyway, get your unemployed arse to work on that add-on (and cab)! I'm addicted to making Mala layouts! I may be designing SHMUP layout v3.0 now that I have transparency and definables figured out!   

[wilno45]

Hi drventure

Sorry to hear about the job mate, that sucks.

On a brighter note, congratulations on the project so far, looking great. I haven't looked at many other peoples
build logs since I started mine tbh - but I'll keep an eye on this one for sure.  You will fix the the CP in no time at all.

All the best.

wilno45 aka Rob

[drventure]

Thanks Wilno. I'm definitely following that cab or yours too!

Here's a little more progress.

I found a brass grommet ring some time ago to go in the hole for the flight stick. But, it didn't look that great all by itself.

So I got this idea to create a brass "kickplate" of sorts to go around it.

Here's the template I cut from a scale print out from Sketchup. The battery and wire are for testing the LED's in my monitor frame...



I've been slowly nibbling away it with with a hand nibbler I picked up at Harbor Frieght a while back.



It's not a fast way to do it, but the power nibblers are $$$, and I only need to do a little.

But dang, a nibbler is so much better than cutting. It doesn't deform the plate AT ALL.

The copper I used for the Monitor frame (pics are coming) I used a cutter on, and I had to do a LOT of hammering to +mostly+ get the cut marks out.

But, this whole thing is kind of +supposed+ to look hand made, so I guess I achieved my goal.

[drventure]

Here's a bit of an artsy shot of the gas lamp I converted. I don't think I've posted pics of it yet.
The sun was coming in the windows one morning just right, so I snapped this.

I'm quite pleased with the way the lamp turned out. Note that the screen is removed and the cab is powered down so the speakers aren't lit etc. Just sittin' there...

The lamp is on a pivot arm, so it swings back and forth. I couldn't figure a good way to convert the toggle pull chain gas valve to a switch for the light, so I left it as is and the light just comes on when the cab powers up (kind of like the old gas street lamps that used to burn 24hrs a day)

Believe it or not, the cabinet still all folds up. Getting clearances and positions right for all these bits has been quite tricky

[wilno45]

Looking good, this thing looks like it belongs on a certain submarine ..... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046672/

Cheers (great gothic theme going on)

[drventure]

I can't remember if I thought of it, or if someone suggested it, but for a while, I was REALLY trying to figure a way to make a monitor cover that opened like a big brass and copper iris.

Good stuff!

[Ryglore]

Ha, I do love the lamps, nice touch! I still say you need brass shaft and silver balltopped joys though. 

[drventure]

yeah, see back a ways in this thread when we were discussing a bunch of possibilities there.

I actually found a plating and machining guy local, that might be able to do something, but that'll have to way a bit.

[drventure]

Well, christmas has delayed things a bit, finally got to roll out the new element of my Cab. My daughter is in wonder of those Dance Dance Revolution games every time we go out somewhere that has them, so I picked up a couple of inexpensive foam pads (2 came in the box for 10$), plus a EMS USB Playstation 2 to USB adapter (if your going this way, USE THAT ADAPTER. Don't even bother with anything else<sigh> I did unfortunately....)

Anyway. Christmas, she opened everything up. was a little dismayed at the one box that contained just the adapter  . "Um, dad, I think Santa got the wrong name on this gift...." We got a good laugh out of that.

But she looked like the Home Alone kid when she opened the big box and saw they were dance pads.

Hooked em and played DDRA in Mame. After tweaking the frame skip, it was playable, but there appeared to be a delay in the inputs. Probably 50ms or less, but definitely noticable. I was kinda bummed.

But i'd been hanging out on the StepMania forums to get info on USB adapters for dance pads, so I downloaded stepMania, along with some tracks, a zip of a bunch of characters, etc.

WOW! This program is fantastic! Very well put together. No glitches at all that I've seen so far and the response using both pads simultaneously is spot on.

Plus it's easy to configure Mala to fire it up, and she already knows how to navigate in Mala, so double win.

There's likely better DDR games out there, but for free, StepMania is pretty dang good.

And I'm actually getting a decent workout over Christmas, too!

I suspect a build of some hard pads is in my near future 

[wilno45]

Bought my nephew a spud gun and a potato for christmas, guess which one we gave him first. 

[drventure]

That's great!

[saurian333]

Just read another thread here about a little gizmo I'd never heard of before

the ARFX light effects module

http://www.arfx.nl/index.php?main_page=index

Whoa! Since my monitor is hanging out in front of the backing board of my cab (yeah, it's kinda weird that way), something like this could totally work for me!

This and those AimTrak modules and it'll be one hell of a christmas!

Hey Doc, I only just saw your post on this.  Just wanted to mention that I personally have an amBX system (lights only, not the built-in speakers, fans, other goofy stuff), and I think it's pretty sick.  Obviously the ARFX would work better in your case, since they're LEDs on a bar and take up less space.  The amBX is pretty bulky, although your cabinet might allow you to place everything down inside the box and still get a pretty cool effect.

Also, I see that ARFX has somewhat better Linux support and a lot of other software-related advantages.  That appeals to me as well, although I primarily like the amBX for gaming, which (unfortunately) restricts me to Windows anyway.

The advantage of the amBX?  It's WAY cheaper than ARFX.  On eBay or what have you, for just the lights, you're looking at probably around $60-100, last time I checked.  I got mine on woot.com during the last woot-off, for $25 shipped.  Looks like the ARFX starts at 100 Euros. 

Anyway, just food for thought, if you were serious about that.  If you can find an amBX as cheap as I got mine, it might be worth playing with.  I certainly don't regret mine.

[drventure]

Holy ^&*%!

That's perfect, and CHEAP! 5 minutes of searching turned up a site selling them for 35$+10 shipping, so I suspect I can find them even cheaper like you mentioned.

http://www.sizzletwist.com/philips-ambx-starter.html

Thanks for that pointer! I hadn't run across this but it would work just fine I suspect. It's basically the same thing, only using traditional LED's rather than the strips so they're bulkier. I my case, I'd probably have to decase them (or desolder the LED's and hook them to wires to run them where I need them). But still, that's easy to do. It'd also provide a few other possibilities, like potentially hooking up the led console lights I built to that device rather than the LEDwiz. And at 20-40$, I wouldn't cry over decasing them 

Great stuff!

[drventure]

Well, yesterday at our New Years Day party, the cab finally got a (small) workout. No one there was +truly+ into old school classic arcade stuff like people here, but we had a great round of "I used to play this game.... Can't remember what it was called, you run around...shooting....blah blah".... Followed, by several guesses, then some game's name comes up... "Track And Field?".... "Yeah that's here", and we fire it up, then repeat the process.

My cabs definitely not quite "hardened" but it handled pretty well for having 4 guys pounding on it during a game of TMNT, and 2 guys playing track and field FAR better than I ever will 

Everyone loved the theme. I didn't actually collapse it, as the front doors are off and I've got several elements undergoing "finish out" right now. And worse, I don't have any of the lighting actually operational, so that whole element is dead right now (though that amBX module will certainly help in that regard!).

But it was definitely a good time (as was Halo on the projection screen!).

[saurian333]

Yeah, I don't think the light modules would be too difficult to take apart if you really wanted to.  I can look at mine more closely if you want to know about the construction; there may be some screws or something on bottom.  I guess I was thinking you could just stick the modules down in the bottom of your cab, unless you really did want them behind the monitor.  The software is fairly configurable.  I haven't tested it with MAME yet (I think it only grabs from Direct3D or OpenGL output, FYI), but it should work OK.  It basically grabs colors from different areas of the screen and lights the right combination of LEDs for that color.  I've used it on a couple of movies as well as Red Alert 3 and Far Cry 2, and it works quite nicely.

The nice thing (that I haven't actually played with) is that you can create your own profiles for it, setting brightness levels and such.  I'm not sure exactly to what extent you can configure things, but it may be enough that you don't have to take them apart.  The wallwasher unit has 3 separate light modules in it, and the L/R ones each have one.  Again, if you really want them to actually be behind your monitor, you might have some disassembly ahead of you.  Personally, I think it would be kind of cool to have the ambient light emanating from below!

I'll test with MameUI one of these days and see what I can get going.  Glad to be able to suggest something useful to you.   I think the lighting effects to go with games is a great idea; it's unfortunate that it hasn't caught on terribly well and doesn't have the greatest support as a result (the main issue is with drivers under Win7 64-bit).

Also glad to hear your cab got some play time!  TMNT is definitely among the great 4-player games, one of my personal favorites.  Even 2-player on the NES version was fun.

[drventure]

Hey Saurian

Definitely, that's a heck of a buy compared to the ARFX.

About the software, from what I saw online, there's some sort of software driver that, if the current running app doesn't output ambx commands, can "interpret" the average color of the screen and drive the ambx modules that way? Is that right? Does it work pretty good or have you played with it?

Since this is a mame cab, I'm pretty sure there won't be anything runnning on it that'll actually generate ambx commands, so i'd have to use something that can "detect" the average color on screen and drive the lights accordingly.

Yeah, what I'm envisioning is the wallwasher lights behind the screen, with the other 2 modules down below, lighting things up from below.

Heck, if I decase it, I'm thinking I +might+ be able to wire in additional LEDs to the lines that are driving the existing ones. That'd be very cool!

[saurian333]

About the software, from what I saw online, there's some sort of software driver that, if the current running app doesn't output ambx commands, can "interpret" the average color of the screen and drive the ambx modules that way? Is that right? Does it work pretty good or have you played with it?

Since this is a mame cab, I'm pretty sure there won't be anything runnning on it that'll actually generate ambx commands, so i'd have to use something that can "detect" the average color on screen and drive the lights accordingly.

Yeah, that's essentially how it works.  I haven't yet tried any games that aren't on this list, though (I've only had it for a month or so, and don't get a whole bunch of free time for gaming lately).  Like I said, I think it only works for Direct3D or OpenGL; MAME can handle that, right?  I know the Linux version (SDLMame, e.g.) will do OpenGL, but haven't played with the Windows one in a long time.  Anyway, if the amBX software doesn't pick up the app and let you configure it, there is a fan-developed app called Aurora Synesthesia that works with anything displayed on the screen, so you should be safe.  I have played with that program only a little, but it was picking up even the colors of web pages in Firefox and such.  I've found that the official software provides a somewhat better experience in most cases, but AS has lots of cool options (including reaction to sound; it's pretty awesome with both sound and video reactions enabled).

Yeah, what I'm envisioning is the wallwasher lights behind the screen, with the other 2 modules down below, lighting things up from below.

Heck, if I decase it, I'm thinking I +might+ be able to wire in additional LEDs to the lines that are driving the existing ones. That'd be very cool!

That would be interesting; not sure how simple it would be, though.  Each of the 5 modules has what I assume to be a "cluster" of LEDs that allows you to get the full range of 16 million colors.  I'd imagine you'd have to wire your new LEDs in parallel (and matching colors) with the existing ones.  I think you'd pretty much just accomplish expanding the area of a particular module, which normally reacts to something in a certain position on the screen.  For example, in a flight combat game of some kind, you might have a blue sky on most of your screen, causing all the modules to light up blue.  If a plane explodes on the left side of the screen, only the leftmost module and maybe the left wallwasher would light orange/red/whatever.  If you expanded on that with more LEDs, you'd just have a larger area of orange.

Now, I don't know exactly how it works, but I've seen setups with expansion modules that have up to 4 of the little towers (which would be just one additional pair).  Then the amBX software could be configured for the two new locations and take them into account.  But I'm really thinking the lights included in the basic set are plenty for your cabinet.

Obviously what you do is totally your decision, and I'm certainly not opposed to experimenting.   I just wouldn't want you to go soldering away putting new LEDs in and then deciding it was a waste of time.  But if you did try it and got a really cool effect out of it, that would be...well, really cool!

In any case, I'm excited that you're looking into it.  Your buffet cabinet is one of very few designs out there that would lend well to something like this, and I think it will be a sweet addition.

[saurian333]

OK Doc, just tried out amBX with MameUI.  Friggin' SWEET!  MameUI specifically gives the option for Direct3D, which is how the amBX software detects it, and it works great!  Not perfect for vertically oriented games, I'm afraid; the satellites don't pick things up that far from the edge of the screen, but the wallwashers still work.

Pretty cool; I'm glad you turned me on to this idea!  I might work amBX into my next cabinet now!  (SO many ideas for my next build already...argh!!)

[drventure]

That sounds very cool! Thanks for checking it out. Definitely on my short list of bits to buy now!

Yeah, I'll likely stay away from adding led's esp if you can add two more modules directly. Probably not worth the trouble or risk.

As long as I can just add wire to the LEDs in the wall washer to relocate them behind my monitor, that should be good enough, sounds like.

[saurian333]

As long as I can just add wire to the LEDs in the wall washer to relocate them behind my monitor, that should be good enough, sounds like.

Yeah, that seems like the only downside in your case.  Your cab isn't like a vertical where there's a ton of space behind the monitor!  But as you said, if it's that cheap, there's not much harm in taking it apart to see!  I looked underneath my pieces last night, and there's sort of a rubberized bottom, the type of thing that would peel off and probably has screws underneath.

By the way, something else that occurred to me:  it would be pretty awesome if you could wire that unit up to an Electric Ice trackball kit!  Can you see your trackball changing colors as you play?!
EDIT:  Although, that might not fit your cab's theme too well, now that I think about it for two seconds...

[polaris]

i may be being lazy and not seeing them but are there any recent pics of this in its current decor state 'im sure youve added lots since weve seen overall pics, if im wrong just say and ill search the thread for them.
i always think of this cab wghen out shopping, i seem to see things and think theyd be cool on it, like the continuing search for an uber trackball globe

[drventure]

not seeing them but are there any recent pics of this in its current decor state

Hehe. Yeah, guilty as charged. Actually, I've gotten a few things setup over the xmas break, but it's been tough to concentrate on doing much with the cab when
1) you're daughters off for xmas break too
2) you lost your job right before xmas and are kind of preoccupied with finding something else quickly 

But, be that as it may, Here's a few shots of what I've been working on

First, a screwup, I driled 2 holes for mounting the knife switch, and then realized, too late, I'd positioned it too close to the monitor so the monitor wouldn't be able to turn (DOH!)

Fortunately, the switch is mounted on a nice stained a sealed plaque, so the extra set of holes is covered


Next, the monitor frame being soldered. I used a plumbers solder I picked up at lowes. The stuff is a structural solder, so, it's not welding, but it's dang close. And there won't be a ton of stress on the monitor frame, so it's good enough.



Another pic, Here I'm soldering the brass corner brackets.



And here,I'm laying out the pieces for the monitor "Control pod"



And finally, here's the control pod, soldered in place, with the control pins sticking out. The mother of pearl buttons haven't been fastened at this point. You can't see it, but there's actually LEDs down in those holes, so that all the buttons light up when the cab is on (but no, they don't flash and aren't controlled by the LEDWiz, I figured that was getting a little too crazy  )

[drventure]

And a few more pics

First some old school Copper and Brass monitor porn

In this pic you can see the extra "steam exhaust vents". There's not actual steam coming out of them.... Yet.
And I'll probably take the frame off and add a few more brass embellishments, plus some more copper piping and maybe a drip oiler or two. But that can wait for now.







Here's a shot of the finished monitor control pod with the LEDs going (though they aren't bright here because I'm just using a 1.5 volt battery to test 'em with. Also, they aren't quite lined up right here, I had to do some tweaking on the buttons once everything was in place.



Chopping up the foam I pulled from that Back massager,



That I then inserted behind the frame between it and the monitor to keep everything nice and tight. You can just see the foam sticking out.




I left all the vents mostly unobstructed, so I hope I don't end up overheating my monitor. I think it should be ok though.

[polaris]

sorry to hear about the work thing, hope it sorts out soon for you, cant offer any advice with the daughter, they always win.
that screen looks awesome, thanks for the picture update

[drventure]

Hey, no worries. We had a great break, she's back at kindergarten now. I've got a couple lines on possible positions, so it's good.

I should have some pics of the mounted frame and switch up soon.

Still gotta get my brackets and pinball plunger back from the plating shop. Then those will be going in also.

[saurian333]

2) you lost your job right before xmas and are kind of preoccupied with finding something else quickly 

I'm sorry as hell to hear that, man.  But good to hear you might have something lined up already.  Good luck on the job search; I know it's not easy.

Your cab is shaping up to be not only among the coolest arcade cabs I've seen, but one of the best steampunk projects I've seen!  I love the brass work.  Can't wait to see that monitor mounted and lit up.  Everything looks extremely cool!

One more point on the backlighting (amBX) for the monitor -- I'd suggest mounting the lights to the back of the monitor itself, since you plan to rotate the screen.  amBX won't take into account the fact that your monitor is rotated (unless the OS does the rotating instead of MAME), so you'd be getting lighting effects on the sides that are mimicking what are really the top and bottom of the screen.  If the lights rotate with the monitor, at least they'll stay with the right area of the screen.

I know you're not nearly that far yet; just another thought that came to me when I was reminded your screen is going to rotate.

[RayB]

LOL, I saw this set and thought you made a matching Pool Table!

[drventure]

LOL, I saw this set and thought you made a matching Pool Table!

Now THAT would be cool!

[drventure]

Ok. Guess I have saurian333 to thank for this one.

I was just poking around the ambx site. Turns out they have an SDK. Plus, you can get those ambx start kits for 30$ at kmart and sears (check it out through google shopping).

PLUS, the SDK has an ambx hardware simulator, so you don't even need the hardware to write code for the thing!

Short version of the story. While I don't have even the 30$ to throw at something like this right now, I can still hack around at the SDK and see what happens. Maybe a Mala plugin?

According to the docs, the SDK is C++ only, but I've never let that stop me before 

I think those screen-color-coordinated glowing trackballs are in my near future (BWAH HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!)

[drventure]

And in case you don't know what ambx is,

www.ambx.com



Basically, it's a lighting controller that casts a colored glow via a wall light and several speaker shaped lights, but it can also control additional devices (like fans to simulate a breeze, additional lights, a vibration feedback pad and it sounds like other devices in the near future).

Its like the ARFX package I mention several pages back but a TON cheaper!

[saurian333]

Oh yeah, didn't even think to mention the SDK!  I didn't know about the hardware simulator; that's pretty cool.

I wouldn't hold my breath for "other devices in the near future," though.  Phillips was distributing the thing but dropped it at some point, and now the amBX company is trying to go it alone.  They reportedly struck some sort of contract with Sony, which includes provisions for PS3 related devices and I believe something specifically related to the Bravia line.  Hopefully that's going somewhere, and they'll have the funding and support to continue.  But based on what I've seen in the community, things haven't looked the "brightest" lately (pardon the pun).  Maybe they're focusing on the Sony stuff right now, which is resulting in a bit less support for the discontinued Phillips stuff.

LOL @ the pool table comment; that is what it looks like!  And it would be cool!

[drventure]

Yeah, I'm not holding out a lot of hope for it. Wasn't there a USB device some time ago that let games generate "smells" to "immerse you into the gaming world" or somesuch? 

Just what I want, my computer stinking things up on me!

But the light effects look great.

[Ryglore]

Been out of the loop the last month. To say this looks amazing is quite the understatement, very very nice work DV! 

[Nacimroc]

Wow! This is proper craftsmanship! Nice work!