First MAME cabinet - Classics themed, need help with lots of stuff

[levip7]

After a couple weeks of reading everything there is to read, I have about half an idea what im doing here, so please give suggestions.

Hardware:
Dell Optiplex gx620 - 100$ off ebay, although this has no output except vga (hooking up a vga to component did not work at all on my tv)
Dell ATI Radeon HD 3450 (Y103D) video card - 11$ on ebay, not arrived yet, has s-video and dvi output (I am hoping that I can get dvi to component to work, so I wont have to use S-video) I am assuming I can put this thing in and it will work fine
Speakers - haven't researched this yet, something cheap. Open to suggestions
27" sanyo flat screen CRT tv - $50 at the pawn shop, has power return
Control Panel

Uploaded with ImageShack.us- I made it tonight, except for the pac man background I found off google images. I have no idea if the button layout will be too close together. If it is, I will rework it. I have relatives with printing capabilities. Not sure how to mount the design to the wood, I would like to put some lexan over it, but can you cut it just like wood? I have attached the artwork. If you want high resolution .tiff images I can give you them (even without my name on them) I tried to leave space for a rollerball in the future. I left space for 4 menu buttons and 2 for volume control. i plan on wiring the p1 8 way in serial to the 4 way joystick, and also the p1 button 1 in serial to the 4 way button to the right (for galaga shooting). I hope this will work.
Frontend: Maximus Arcade. This was easy to set up and most of my screens and marquees are showing up. No complaints.

Plans:
cabinet plans - Lusid style, except I will make it as compact as possible, although this probably wont be any smaller than the standard plans. Woodworking is not an issue, I have a garage full of tools, but i'll have to go get a craftsman router. Will incorporate a pull out drawer of some kind for guns.
cabinet colors - Ms. Pac man blue, yellow T molding, Ms. Pac man decals on side and kickplate (hopefully). My girlfriend plays this more than anything else, so It will probably be played more than any other game, so I designed the cabinet appropriately.

Next Steps:
Interface: I will be ordering the control panel equipment to wire the panel soon, although Ultimarc is out of Ipacs, so I guess I will have to google another supplier unless anyone has any ideas...
Joysticks: I'm just going to wire the p1 8-way in serial with the 4 way stick, i'm assuming this works? My joystick choice will probably be the Leaf-Pro 4-way from groovygamegear, it seems accurate for the time period and cheap. For 8-ways, I don't know what joysticks to get. Should I just get ultrastick 360s? They look complicated, so i'm thinking i'll just get a couple of mag-stick plus joysticks.
Buttons: classic colors from groovygamegear. Any suggestions for menu buttons? I want to be able to label them with button inserts or something. I also want to have two buttons for volume controls, but I havent looked into that yet, I hope its easy to do.

I want to get a couple aimtrak guns to work so I can play sega model 2 games as well as police trainer, area 51, duck hunt, deer hunting etc. I have some aiming problems with sega model 2 (v0.9 because 1.0 crashes when i put it in full screen every time) currently using the mouse, but I think maybe it is my video card or lcd pc monitor im testing it on? When I click, it shoots about 2 inches lower than the crosshair on HOTD, and gunblade NY has up/down reversed and also accelerates in left and right directions when I move. Virtua cop 2 seems to work ok... If the video card doesn't resolve this, I dont know what to do. I'm working on getting the chd files right now for a51/maxforce. I am assuming that when I get the aimtrak and housing, then get my video card, and I hook it all up to the tv, the things will work ok. Hopefully I wont have to update my mame version.

If I have overlooked anything and done something completely wrong, please catch it so I dont have to find out the hard way. I will be ordering stuff for the control panel soon to work on it, unless someone thinks i've screwed something up and I should just abandon this project. These forums have been a lot of help, maybe someone will learn from my progress over the course of this build.

[ghettodish]

Couple of quick notes....

Lexan can be drilled like wood, plexiglass can't.

Ditch the 4 menu buttons and 2 volume buttons. If using an Ipac you can give a secondary option to all button presses/joystick directions by holding down the P1 button. For example P1+P2= Exit, P1+Left JOY=Enter. My volume is controlled by a joystick.

Trackball needs to be further away from the monitor. You will jamb your fingers. Centered in your panel would be better. Also, a trackball has a footprint from the underside of your panel. It wouldn't physically fit where you have it now.

Have you seen the joysticks that are 2/4/8-way switchable?

[levip7]

I will probably use lexan then, since I will have to drill holes and also cut the angles. If it was up to me, I would ditch the menu buttons, but my girlfriend and parents, brother, kid relatives etc. will be using this thing and I want it to be as easy to figure out as possible, which they will probably need labeled buttons. Who knows, I might take them off anyway...

I didn't label it on the control panel, but that circle next to the 4 way is for a spinner, I was just going to cut a hole for the rollerball out of the center between the 2 8 ways, it just wont have fancy designs around it when I do.

I will probably get switchable joysticks for the 2 8 ways, but I just wanted a dedicated 4 way. I am open to suggestions to which joysticks to buy.

I appreciate your suggestions.

[notroubleclubber]

Your need to wire the joysticks in parallel not series.

[levip7]

After I looked up the difference, the picture in my mind was a parallel circuit, but I was saying series. I can't remember much from college physics...
Thanks for reminding me, I might have messed that up.

[ghettodish]

Check out the Mag-Stik plus from Ultimarc...and the ball-top option. It's 4/8 way switchable by lifting and turning.

Spinners and Trackballs are seen by the computer as a mouse. They come with leads for the left, right, and center buttons. Those buttons can be assigned to anything on your control panel without going to the keyboard interface (ipac, etc)

Are you gonna have a coin door? you can put the Admin buttons behind it to save some real estate on the control panel

[levip7]

I think I will go with the mag-stick plus joysticks along with the True-leaf 4 way after looking.
I will probably not get a coin door, or if I do it will be later on as a cosmetic addition, so I will have to plan on not having it for the admin buttons.
I hadnt looked at the interfaces for the spinner and trackball yet, are you saying that I can directly plug them in separately to usb ports on the computer? I will probably just get an ultimarc spinner now and a trackball in the future after this thing is working on everything else.

[ghettodish]

Yeah, they plug into USB. If you play Discs of Tron you will need a push-pull type spinner like this one:

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=311

Besides spinning it goes up and down, too.

[levip7]

That thing looks nice but expensive. I would like to play discs of tron like it is supposed to be played, but I dont plan on having a 4th joystick with a button, so I will probably just go with the ultimarc spinner. If I change my mind that one looks like the best option.