Pulling hair, no idea where to start.

[november]

I just started getting into this about 3 weeks ago.

I want to build a cabinet with a 4 player control panel and probably use a nicely sized flat fronted tube TV.

The one thing I cannot for the life of me figure out is what software to use.

I figued a dedicated AMD sempron 2800+ with 1gb of ram would do the trick but this seems to not be the case, but that's another story.

I don't care about the PC, I can build whatever is necessary.  What I care about currently is the type of SOFTWARE I'll be using.

I realy don't know where to start.

There's software (ie MAME) and then there's a front end for that, plus if you want to run other Emulators then you have to have a specific front end for that as well?  I'm so lost, I don't know where to start searching or how to piece all of this together.

I see people talking about Gauntlet Legends which is a newer arcade game, which would be fun to play, too, would that be through MAME, is that already in the rom list?  The newet NFL Blitz games?  I have no trouble with PC or a lot of other techie stuff, but this is a crazy subject/hobby and I'm going mad.  I would appreciate any help.  Also, I haven't asked all the questions I have because I don't know what other questions to ask because I'm so new to this.

-Nic

[headkaze]

You need Mame, a ROM set to match the version of Mame (don't ask for that here), a Front End (see BYOAC Wiki for feature sets) but most popular are GameEx, Mala, AtomicFE, MameWah and 3D Arcade. There is also a new (promising FE) by Cakemeister called Khameleon but it's still in it's early days.

After you have that all setup you can start thinking of other Emulators (which all run through the same FE) and add them one by one testing as you go. Again getting the games for these Emulators is not a subject you should bring up here (it's called ROM begging).

Setting up your PC is a very time consuming process (for me it's never ending) so expect to spend alot of time working on it. I would start building and installing the PC while the cab is being built. Even then it may not be fully set up by the time you finish the woodwork but you should at least have the basic FE running with Mame.

So basically just take it a step at a time (1) Mame (2) Front End (3) Other Emulators, Games & Software.

[polaris]

all that headkaze said.
only thing i can add is i used mame 32 initially, mame 32 has a built in front end, it helped me to learn a bit and then set up mame with the front end of my choice.

i think mame 32 is called mame ui now

[LeedsFan]

The software side of things can be difficult if you're you're not familiar with stuff. I just spent ages last night setting up my U360 joysticks in Mame and then getting the MaLa plugin to work that sets the correct map for each game. I was getting very frustrated but it was n00b errors on my part each time simply through lack of familiarity. The perseverance was definitely worth it though. 

I would suggest using MameUi to get things up and running. It's very user friendly but doesn't have the "polish" of a proper dedicated frontend. At least then you can concentrate on getting the hardware all working correctly. Once you know it's all up and running properly then move on to a dedicated front end with command line Mame. You can always still play on MameUi if you make mistakes or can't get things working right with the frontend.

Personally I used MameWah in the past on my cabinet but I've moved on to MaLa now. Both are excellent frontends but MaLa was easier to get to grips with for n00bs like me and had the all important mapping plugin for the U360s.

[SGT]

I see people talking about Gauntlet Legends which is a newer arcade game, which would be fun to play, too, would that be through MAME, is that already in the rom list?  The newet NFL Blitz games? 

You just happened to name two of the games that need a super fast computer.  See the thread about Gauntlet posted yesterday in this forum.

[november]

Thank you for the info, I'll start the PC stuffs asap.  I really don't know how soon it'll be before I have a cabinet or the control panel.  And as for asking for ROMS and such, that's not happening, yet hehe.  That shouldn't be something I'll have trouble with for the most part.  Thanks again, I'll come back in a bit with some updates and hopefully a "I've figured everything out and it only took me 1 hour"

[gonzo90017]

Well if you're still pulling your hair out. I made a package that includes the frontend Mamewah with all the emulators included. No roms or bios files!

Mamewah Pack 1.62.zip
This pack contains the following systems

32x
Gameboy Advance
gameboycolor
gamegear
Genesis
lynx (you need a bios image called lynxboot.img)
mame (you need to include your own version)
mastersystem
n64
Nebula
neogeopocket
nes
Raine
Winkawaks (to exit it's necessary to press ENTER to pause the game, then Alt+F4 to exit)
zinc
Zsnesd

Installation

1. Unzip the zip file in your C:\ Drive in other words C:\juegos

2. Go inside Mamewah's folder (C:\juegos\Mamewah) and launch Setup.bat it
   takes a few seconds to install. When it's done press OK

3. Put your roms in the "roms" folder for every emulator you would like to use. Do
   the same for the snaps and videos (for Nebula,Winkawaks,Raine, and Zinc use Mame's folders)

4. Launch every emulator and adjust the controls to your liking. For Zsnes once your done
   open zsnesw.cfg and change this line GUIDisable = 0 to GUIDisable = 1 other wise you'll go
   back to Zsnes's menu instead of to the frontend when trying to exit.

5. This package doesn't include a mame version since everyone uses a differnt on
   just unzip your version inside C:\juegos\mame\

6. If you want background music during the gam selection screen put your mp3's
   inside C:\juegos\musica

GENERATING GAME LISTS

 Launch Mamewah located in inside C:\juegos\Mamewah
 Press Keyboard key "2". Choose "Select Platform" and press 1
 You'll be presented with a list of emulators, choose one then press 1
 then press "2"> Game List Options> Generate list.

DEFAULT KEYS
 "1" Launches a game when selected and also serve as select when in the menu
 "2" Brings up the Menu
 "3" Previous Emulator
 "4" Next Emulator
 "ESC" Exits the game and also exits Mamewah when in Mamewah

All of these keys can be change. You have to modify "Mamewah.cfg" located
in C:\juegos\Mamewah\config instructions are located in the "docs" folder in
a file called "controles"

You can also change the keys to exit the emulators, since i'm using
Closemul. Read "Closemul - Readme"

If you don't want or need a particular emulator just delete it from 2 folders
C:\juegos\Mamewah\config and C:\juegos\

For those of you who have pc's that won't run NeoGeo, Capcom or any other
mame games full speed. I have included some "alternative" emulators:Nebula, Winkawaks, and Raine
For Capcom and Neogeo I recommend Nebula.If there's a Mame game that runs
slowly give Raine a try. List of Raine supported games: http://www.rainemu.com/games/

Additional Emulator Packs:
Mame32 v.0112 for MamewahPack 1.62.zip
Future Pinball.zip
To install additional packs just unzip them insided your C:\ drive

[november]

Ah that's really great .  Thanks for the instructions as well.  I clicked the link above for the pack but it's saying, "• File not found. Please check your download URL and try again."

[gonzo90017]

Sorry about that. The link has been fixed. I accidentally included an mp3 (copyright) doh!

[DeLuSioNal29]

Well if you're still pulling your hair out. I made a package that includes the frontend Mamewah with all the emulators included. No roms or bios files!

No roms or bios files... but what about a VIRUS!?!?!   

I downloaded the zip file, scanned and my AVG Antivirus caught the following VIRUS:
"OBFUSTAT.OGM"     which was attached to the WinKawaks.exe file!

I have included a screen cap of the AVG Antivirus scan result.  My antivirus healed the file, but I'm not taking any chances...  Delete.

I'm glad that I downloaded and tested it on my 2nd machine which has the antivirus installed!  My arcade has no protection whatsoever!

~ DeLuSioNaL

[gonzo90017]

Sorry to tell you this dude. But your Antivirus sucks. I'm using Avast 4.7 with all the latest updates. TrendMicro with the latest virus definitions. Comodo BoClean Anti-Malware which is updated  daily and I haven't gotten any virus alerts.

EDIT: I've posted more info on this thread. http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=75003.0

[november]

OKay so my computer blew up.

Should I mess with software/front-end stuffs before I even touch control panels/buttons/joysticks?

I was reading about the U360's which are nice and the 49-way.  I'll inquire in another forum about those.

[Lilwolf]

I wouldn't get the software finished until afterwards... or at least in stages.

1st, keep a keyboard / mouse sitting next to your cab plugged in for the first week or so while your getting everything working.

2nd.  Get MAME running in the command line.  ("mame -cc" to create a mame.ini file.  modify the ini file to get everything setup.  "mame <gamename>" to run game.  Lots of help around on this).

3rd.  Get controls working.  Test it with your hand launched mame.

4th.  install the frontend and get it working.

5th.  update the gui the way you like,... little touches...

working well for a week or so without changes.  Then change the frontend to power down the system.  launch on startup, ect.  Hide the rest of the computer.

[ScooterMAC]

Just wanted to give a special thanks to gonzo90017. Your pack saved my days of setup. 

[gonzo90017]

Hey no problem. 
If you're looking to add more emulators just let me know and i'll pass you the links.
I was trying to keep the download small so I just made other emus available as seperate addons.

[ScooterMAC]

Gonzo, I'm have some trouble getting the snaps/ videos to show up in the sega platforms any sugestions? here's a copy of my ini's. If you could help with the setup of Daphnie, Dreamcast, and PS2 Emu, that would be T*T's.
Feel free to PM me. Thanks again, your the man.
One more thing, Fusion wouldn't load so I moved it from the pre_app to the emu_commandline and it worked like a champ. Might want to look at that pimp.
edit--Also have trouble removing games from list function. No go.--edit
### genesis.ini (mamewah v1.62) ###

emulator_title                            Sega Genesis

### List Generation Settings ###
rom_path                                  h:\juegos\Genesis\roms
rom_extension                             zip
dat_file                                  auto:[emuexepath]\[emuexename].dat
nms_file                                  auto:[emuexepath]\[emuexename].nms
catver_ini_file                           auto:[emuexepath]\catver.ini
list_generation_method                    auto:rom_folder

### Execution Settings ###
pre_emulator_app_commandlines             hemulator_commandline
emulator_commandline                      h:\juegos\Genesis\fusion.exe "[rompath]\[name].[romext]" -gen -fullscreen{nodosbox}{nosafelaunch}
post_emulator_app_commandlines           
general_app_commandlines                 

### Artwork Settings ###
artwork_image_paths                       h:\juegos\Genesis\snaps
movie_preview_path                        h:\juegos\Genesis\videos
movie_artwork_no                          1
enable_fuzzy_search                       0
history_dat_file                          auto
history_dat_artwork_no                    2

### Screen-Saver Settings ###
enable_music_in_screensaver               1
select_random_game                        0
saver_type                                gamelist_slideshow
movie_path                               
movie_fullscreen                          1
quit_delay                                0
saver_commandline                         

### Additional Settings ###
music_path                               
lcd_display_file_path                     
description_display                       [description]{scroll}

### Settings used by MAMEWAH ###
current_list                              0
 

[gonzo90017]

Dreamcast Addon for Mamewah Instalable 1.62.zip (3.8 MB)

You've must have modified the ini when you modified it. Here's what it originally looked like:

Code: [Select]

### genesis.ini (mamewah v1.62) ###

emulator_title                            Sega Genesis

### List Generation Settings ###
rom_path                                  C:\juegos\Genesis\roms
rom_extension                             zip
dat_file                                  auto:[emuexepath]\[emuexename].dat
nms_file                                  auto:[emuexepath]\[emuexename].nms
catver_ini_file                           auto:[emuexepath]\catver.ini
list_generation_method                    auto:rom_folder

### Execution Settings ###
pre_emulator_app_commandlines             
emulator_commandline                      C:\juegos\Genesis\fusion.exe "[rompath]\[name].[romext]" -gen -fullscreen{nodosbox}{nosafelaunch}
post_emulator_app_commandlines           
general_app_commandlines                 

### Artwork Settings ###
artwork_image_paths                       C:\juegos\Genesis\snaps
movie_preview_path                        C:\juegos\Genesis\videos
movie_artwork_no                          1
enable_fuzzy_search                       0
history_dat_file                          auto
history_dat_artwork_no                    2

### Screen-Saver Settings ###
enable_music_in_screensaver               1
select_random_game                        0
saver_type                                gamelist_slideshow
movie_path                               
movie_fullscreen                          1
quit_delay                                0
saver_commandline                         

### Additional Settings ###
music_path                               
lcd_display_file_path                     
description_display                       [description]{scroll}

### Settings used by MAMEWAH ###
current_list                              0
As you can see "hemulator_commandline" shouldn't be there.

Also make sure your roms and snaps have the same name.