Pondering Next Project

[JZSlenker]

Now that Mega Cade is finished I have certainly caught the bug.  I think that I can talk my wife into another arcade project provided I space the costs out a little.  So now I'm in the planning stages of a cocktail machine.  I'm thinking Ms Pacman with a MAME system to handle a bunch of vertical cocktail games.  I have a couple of questions about the games.  I did some web searches and can't seem to find a list anywhere of actual cocktail games.  I mean I know the classics DK Pacman Galaga and the like but I'm curious how many MAME games are actually designed to flip back and forth for cocktail play.  Does anyone have a list?

 Second, does anyone have a slick (and easy) way to make a non cocktail game like asteroids flip automatically to the other side for player two?

 I used Atomic for my FE in my first cabinet so I'd like to stay with that.  Any other words of wisdom on building a cocktail cabinet will be appreciated.  I'm going to build one from scratch as I love woodworking and want to be able to put my own twist on it.  I'm planning on a 19 or 20" CRT as I can't see how the viewing angles of a LCD would be tolerable.  I'd like to try to only use two buttons and true four way sticks but I may have to cram a 3rd button in for asteroids.

[Epyx]

Second, does anyone have a slick (and easy) way to make a non cocktail game like asteroids flip automatically to the other side for player two?

MameUI allows you to set games to cocktail mode on the settings screen.  It will automatically orientate player 1/2.

MAME supports cocktail mode in many games. To see if it is available for a game:
Press Tab to access the main menu.
Select Dip Switches.
Select Cabinet Type, and use the left/right arrows to select between Upright and Cocktail (and any other styles).
Before playing, it is a good idea to reset the game (you can reset by default with the F3 key) or exit/restart the game. Note that not all games with a cocktail mode DIP switch actually have the necessary cocktail mode support in MAME; normally, you should see a warning at startup when running such a game.

[JZSlenker]

Well I knew about the dip switch settings but those are game dependent.  Games that were originally cocktail capable.  I want to be able to do it with games not designed for cocktail.  Are you saying MAMEui will spin non cocktail games?

[Epyx]

No, I misunderstood you...Many of the games you don't remember seeing as cocktails do in fact have a cocktail mode in MAME.  Any some have the mode but don't work. Here is a good thread:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=62097.0

[Kangum]

I used the vmove bat file that was posted many moons ago. it pulls all of the vertical games out of your mame directory and puts it into its own directory on your c drive.

the download is here. just look for the vmove file its about halfway down.

http://www.thepinnyparlour.com/download.html

this moves pretty much all the major classics like frogger, pacman, dig dug, donkey kong, burgertime, centipede ect. its about 880 mb into its own directory. is fast and does the job. even though its old it works good for getting the major stuff.

Im working on a cocktail as well. Im using http://www.arcadedepot.com/HTML/kits.html as a base. Im using a lcd screen instead with it to lighten up the cabinet some.

what style cocktail you going for?

[ady]

3 buttons will fit on a cocktail CP quite comfortably so if you go for this it shouldn't be a cram job.

[JZSlenker]

I'm thinking it will look (mostly) like a stock Ms Pacman using the original shape and Ms Pacman graphics.  The control panels will probably be Ms Pacman colors just re-worked for three buttons.  My wife was less than thrilled when I brought another arcade project up.  I'll have to get creative with this.  She hates that our upright has 8 way sticks so that will probably be my angle for a sign off on the project.