New MAME Cab Started for a Friend

[johnmartin]

Well, I still have not finished my own cab and I am already starting on another.  I got a piano from a friend at work and in payment I am building him a MAME cab.  I am only providing the cabinet; he is providing all the components.

It is similar to my own cab bu a bit different.  It is amazing what you learn from building your first that makes the second that much easier.  Not a lot of progress yet but getting there. He is bringing by the 27" TV we are going to use in a bit and once I get it decased I can get the mounting arranged and the TV installed.  Plan to get the computer from him today as well and hopefully get it somewhat set up tonight.

I started yesterday after lunch and it looks like this right now.






I'll keep the pictures coming as I progress.

John

[SpeedEng]

wow WTH did you not sleep!

I wish I could do that
 

[jeef]

wow, that came together quick!
Will be interested to see how you mount the TV and marquee

[johnmartin]

Upi'd be surprised how fast you can work when no one is home LOL  I got the 27" TV installed today.  Took a bit of shoehorning to get it to fit in a 24" wide cab but it fit, albeit just barely.  Big SOB I'll tell you. Try installing it without anyones help







I still need to go into the back and mount the board for the TV on the sidewall and make a shelf for the computer components to sit on.

Last bit of work on it for this week. Heading to Ohio on vacation Tuesday.  I'll be giving my buddy a list of things to buy while I am gone and hopefully he will have stuff in by the time I get back.

John

[XeviouS]

Check out the size of that screen - the radiation from that monster is going to leave a silhouette of the player burned onto the opposite wall!!

[Gatsu]

its too bad you had to set the monitor vertical. thats gonna make playing fighters pretty weird.

[johnmartin]

He is more into the vertical games like Pac Man, Galaga, Centipede, etc.  Not really into the fighters that much so it won't matter so much to him.

John

[Gatsu]

most of those though don't need more than maybe 3 buttons max per player....so why go with 6?

[johnmartin]

He may not be into them but that doesn't mean he will never play them.  Just giving him the option.  Better to have it and not use it  than have to retrofit it later.  Just my way of thinking I guess.  Thanks for the replies though.

[cmoses]

I am thinking that building a little wider cabinet to mount the 27" horizontally would have been better.  It would still give you almost a 19" vertical screen when playing them on a horizontal monitor.  I have a 27" horizontal in my cabinet and I think it is the best compromise.

[johnmartin]

I am not so far along that I can not change something.  I went with 24" wide interior face to face to minimize cutting of the connecting panels.  I could still pick up 2 sheets of 1/2" MDF and rip them to make the cabinet about 4" wider. I may actually do that now that so many people think I should.  Now that I am thinking I could get Home Depot to rip them for me and be done with it.  I personally think the 27" is too freaking big.  A 25" would have been better IMHO but you use what you are given.  No cash outlay which is good

[Hornpipe2]

No, leave it vertical!  If he loves the vertical games then that's what he'll play, so design with the best vertical experience as the ultimate goal.

Besides, it looks like if you went horizontal now you'd end up needing a *smaller* TV thus negating the entire exercise.

[johnmartin]

Decided it is staying as is. He likes it that way and he is the client so his word goes.

John

[XeviouS]

Decided it is staying as is. He likes it that way and he is the client so his word goes.

I hope you are also going to supply him with a free pair of welding goggles and some SF 1000 Sun Cream!! 

[Jack Burton]

A 29" monitor isn't unusual for vertical games.  Almost all the candy cabs that come out in Japan use 29" monitors and players sit right in front of them.  People go nuts for these Egret cabs:

http://home.insightbb.com/~ecousticforkris/egret2.htm

I think this cab is super neat.  I would have dedicated it to vert games, but if you only have one cab then I guess you want to play the most games.   I've played SF2 letterboxed on a vertical monitor and it's completely fine.

[johnmartin]

Well, we decided on a theme for the cab.  We are going with a Coca Cola theme.  He has an old Coke machine in his garage that he is converting into a game room of sorts and my wife thought the red/white Coke theme would look cool and I have to agree with her.  His father in law is a VP at the local Pepsi plant so the die was cast so to speak.  Should make for some interesting conversations when he visits LOL

I am looking for some good imagery to combine for artwork so once I get something set I will post it.

John

[Epyx]

That might turn out pretty nice. I would use the circular logo for the side panels and light it up similar to Knievel's Neon Mame etc.

IE http://www.searchviews.com/wp-content/themes/clean-copy-full-3-column-1/images/coca-cola_logo5.jpg

Black molding with red cab.

[Pinball Wizard]

I agree. But if you do the Neon ring, you have to make the circular logo look frosted so that it makes the machine that much cooler than all the others.