my project has begun .....

[randall ace]

*** NOTE THE DATE ABOVE - UPDATE BELOW !! ***



hello everyone , first post here , new to this hobby. my name is randall , 40/m , former police officer , and now employed in the higher learning field ( english was never my strong point in school , and im terrible with spelling, sentence structure, and grammer, i know )  ....im sure i will be asking lots of questions over the time i am here , and looking for answers to some questions, as i have little to no computer experience, and am going for a mame cabinet ....the local guy i got the cabinet from is a member here ( beretta i think he said his board name was)....anyways , where it began was....i was recently at a buddy's house and he had an arcade game in his basement, and it sparked the long time dream ive had to own an arcad game, so i decided to build my own mame arcade cabinet ....i searched craigslist here in ohio, and purchased an empty and well, well used and totally stripped out and empty arcade cabinet from a board member here , ( he said it was a bezerk cabinet- looks like one to me) and have begun the work  ( and there is alot to do )....and since threads like this are useless without pics......

this is how i got it ....


after a few hours work , at this point i was getting all the measurements taken , kind of blueprinting it ,  and planning out whats was gonna go where and how to approach several key items.. the bottom of the cabinet was kinda rough , so i made simple repairs and added some base molding ( should look better once painted im sure)...


- then i found a local arcade re-builder, and made several, several purchases for it ,and then today i spent all day  ( 12 straight hours) working on it ......


the little piece of green t-molding on the left side is the color t-molding i have decided to go with , i purchased 25 feet of it , when i bought my side art , i picked up the flat black paint as well today , along with the adhesive to install my side art once painting is done , for now im still fixing and repairing , and test fitting everything , but this is how it looks right now ....


* what thickness of plexi do most of you all use over your monitors ? the local lowes dosent have much of a selection....also how do most of you with mame set-ups turn off and on your monitors once they are en-cased in plexi?? i have basic skills ,and as able to mount he monitor with little problems ( thanks to grandpa for teaching me basic carpentry)   but cant seem to figure out how im gonna power it on and off...



- a shot of the back of the monitor to show how its mounted.....will this be enuff ventilation ? i plan on having 2 fans blowing in and 2 sucking hot air out , and a back pannel with ventilation holes...

[Silas (son of Silas)]

Welcome to the forum randall ace, that looks like an interesting project, should keep you busy for a while   I can't quite see the top of the monitor in your last photo. What's directly above it? Is there an air gap for the heat to rise to the space behind the marquee light or are you venting out of the back/above the monitor?

[randall ace]

here is a pic of that area .....do i need a space above where it mounts? .... i framed it in with 1x2 pieces to hold monitor securely in place ....

[randall ace]

purchased this

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110551418155&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

-to run the buttons and joysticks to , then will connect that to the computer.... any tips on this proceedure ?

[Flip The Switch]

Looks good, love the Marquee! how do you find the top row and bottom row being so far apart, if it came like that id be rebuilding the CP.

is that a Radio i see!

cool.

[randall ace]

yea ..... i needed tunes while working on the cabinet, yup thats a radio ..... LOL ......the buttons came in that configuration and i dont mind it that much , but may change it later.... got my marquee from http://stores.ebay.com/OLDE-SCHOOL-ARCADES , he is a great guy , local to me , and offers nice products at a reasonable prices....

[randall ace]

update ...... been a while but work has begun again ... and some plans have changed ... but here are some pics of the progress...

-woodwork has been completed, wiring has been updated , cabinet has been repainted , t-molding added , new control pannel purchased, ect.....

[DaOld Man]

Good work so far!
Welcome to the hungriest hobby you will ever have LOL

Most people wire a pushbutton to the mother board to turn on the computer.
You can wire a relay to turn on everything else (monitor, lights, etc), but the easiest method is to use a smart strip.
Computer plugs into the main outlet on the smart strip, everything else plugs into the switched outlets.
when the smart strip detects the computer drawing current, it turns on the switched outlets.
When the computer turns off, smart strip senses it and turns off the switched outlets.
I picked up a smart strip really cheap a while back at walmart.

[randall ace]

thanks i will look into the smart strip thing ......

- the green on the speaker grill does not match the t-molding  green ,( too dark )  so i am looking for a paint that more closely matches it

did more work ...so ....more pics ...LOL

[dandare]

That's looking fantastic!  You have done a lovely job there sir.

Artwork and t-molding look great, is that the Galaxian bright green?

Hope you are enjoying putting this baby together.  DaOld Man is right, this is indeed a hungry hungry hobby!

Keep up the good work, cant wait to see it up and running!

[VanillaGorilla]

That looks like it used to be a Berzerk! I wish I had one of those....

[randall ace]

Yes it is a former berzerk cabinet.... and the molding is the galaxians bright green, you are correct sir . ....since the coin door is basicly just gonna be there for looks , because all the mechanisms are gone , im trying to figure out a way to light up the coin slots to give the appearance of function ......

[VanillaGorilla]

Are the bayonet holders still there from the lights that should be behind the coin inserts? If so, you can just get some 5v led replacements from paradisearcadeshop.com. I put some into my cab, work great. If the bulb sockets are gone, you could easily get a couple from radioshack, and wire em in to a 5v lead from your PC power supply. therealbobroberts.net will have all the lighting stuff you would need also...

[randall ace]

bayonet holders are gone ....sadly

ive been experimenting  a little today .....since i dont have enuff computer knowledge to do the mame thing myself ( yet )  i think i am going to use a gamecube , running the namco museum 1 disc inside the cabinet untill i can save enuff cash to get someone to fully mame it for me .... i plan on running an xarcade control pannel , to the gamecube , then out to the lcd monitor , but i am unsure how to hook the gamecube up to the lcd dell monitor .... im told this would work

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-COMP2VGA-Console-Monitor-Converter/dp/B00006B8EI

- but im unsure how the sound would run as the monitor has no built in speakers?

[upprc04]

I would really consider trying to get MAME working.  You could find a old used computer for the price/maybe a little bit more of the console adapter.  It will be a good learning experience.  Does the XArcade easily hook up to a gamecube?  I haven't looked in to that, but doubt it will be plug and play, but I could be wrong.

[randall ace]

the xarcade plugs right in to the gamecube , im playing pac man on it right now ....LOL

i have an old dell dimension tower , but i cant seem to get the mame program to work on it ....i just dont know enuff about computers, but im gonna take some classes to learn soon ...... till then this route can get the cabinet up and play-able , ya know ?

[randall ace]

using this exact controler..... its like an xarcade, but not that brand, and it has the gamecube adapter right on it ..

[Donkbaca]

If you want to play old classic games, that dell tower probably has just the right amount of juice in it.  Mame is really easy to use, if you have any questiosn getting it to run, the answer is probably somewhere on this board, or you can just ask it.  It's really not that hard if you have a bit of patience.

[randall ace]

im only interested in vintage arcade games, nothing newer than like 1987...LOL


honestly , i would need a click by click guide to do the mame thing , like a mame for idiots kinda thing , cause i barely know how to post on this board and do photos, email, ect......

[randall ace]

anyone willing to help us with the step by step mame thing ?... we are willing to give it a try... i picked  up an adapter for the above joystick so i can plug it into a usb on the computer , so it can work with the computer now ....

[DirtyDachshunds]

You can get MAME here: http://mamedev.org/

ROMs can be easy to come by, but I can't direct you here.  Place the roms in you rom directory in MAME.  Then to run a game its as easy as going to DOS prompt, navigating to your mame folder where the executable is then typing
>mame.exe rom_name.zip
Press TAB in game to setup your controls etc.

For a more automated approach to running games you will need a front end.  I use Hyperspin, but this may be overkill for you.  I would recommend an older front end for you such as Mala, however I've never used it, so I can't help you there.

Also, google and youtube can be vital resources.  Good luck!

[Donkbaca]

Step one - get mame
step 2 get roms - don't ask where, we can't tell you per the rules, but I bet yoru friend google knows....
step 3 - put roms in rom folder, try to run a rom from mame, post more questions when you are stuck...

[Xiondz]

- the green on the speaker grill does not match the t-molding  green ,( too dark )  so i am looking for a paint that more closely matches it

personally I would not change grill color to match t-molding it match to marque  letters color and look nice

[drventure]

Nice job. I'd say just spray the grille black and be done with it. That green tmold really pops!

[randall ace]

roms =  games ??

what is dos prompt ? executable ?

- feelin kinda stupid here for not knowing this stuff.... 8(

[randall ace]

thanks for  all the super  nice comments guys , i do really appreciate it .......  

[upprc04]

Roms are essentially the games. 

Go to Start->Run and type in "cmd" without the quotes.  That is a command prompt.  You would have to run mame.  So, if you have Mame installed in C:\MAME and a rom/game called pacman, then you would run:

C:\Mame\mame.exe pacman.zip

Make sure to leave the roms zipped (.zip file format) when you get them and place them in the C:\Mame\roms folder.

[BobA]

If you are using a fairly new version of mame then you can just double click on mame.exe in the folder that it is installed.  This will give you a minimal front end where you can type in the name of the rom that you want to run.

[eds1275]

anyone willing to help us with the step by step mame thing ?... we are willing to give it a try... i picked  up an adapter for the above joystick so i can plug it into a usb on the computer , so it can work with the computer now ....

If you live on Vancouver Island I'll set it up for you - or even in the lower mainland area/greater vancouver area. But that's a long shot. Since you are having trouble with the standard mame version, can I recommend Mame GUI? It mame with an easy but unnattractive GUI [graphic user interface], basically it has a built in menu system. Acquire your games, making sure you get ones with the same version number as your version of mame. Put them in the folder called Roms, then in the program select "audit all games".

[britinva]

I found this REALLY useful

http://www.gameex.info/forums/index.php?showtopic=8226

As has been stated ensure your MAME & ROMs are for same version - if not you can rebuild them using ClrMamePro and this guide http://www.cphsolutions.f2s.com/guides/cmprotutorial.htm

Good Luck.

[randall ace]

http://www.youtube.com/user/randallace#p/a/u/1/bfYe0Q7FrFA   

all the parts are now in , so i assembled and tested them -  the install is not final , it will all look much better when the bezels , ect are in , but its working !

[Burn4Evr]

There is a ton of resources out there. Mame is the "end goal" for most people, but it can be overwhelming.
MameUI might be a bit helpful since its a bit easier to get into.

Something to consider is Saints book.... best $$ I've spent in a long time.

Also if you have any questions in setting up software, even if you need a step by step walkthru via email or instant messenger (aim, yahoo, google) send me a PM and we can see what we can setup.