First Time MAME Cabinet - Need Help

[drummererb]

So last week I picked up a cabinet for free that will need a little TLC.



I'm not looking for super professional finish and this is solely for my enjoyment and fun so I'm not worried about being "pure" and all that. Most everything is picked out and ready to go, PC is standing by fully loaded. Got a nice large PC monitor set to the side. The wood pieces I need to cut have all been measured.

But I'm at a big problem: The joystick set up.

Allow me to rant a moment here: The internet is horribly outdated and unorganized when it comes to this one little thing. Most "guides" if their Geocities page hasn't expired yet all talk about some weird JAMA board or Serial/SCSI ports and all this junk.  What few videos I could find that went step by step skipped so many steps my head started to spin. I honestly am tempted to grab the X-Arcade Tank Stick but the price is pretty steep and would look out of place on my cabinet.

So if someone could point me in the right direction, that would be awesome. What is it I want? Well, I want something that is going to connect via USB. I want something that will be easy to configure in windows without keyboard remapping or whatever I saw on a few pages. I have no idea where to buy the buttons and sticks and whatever "joystick junk to USB converter card" I'll need. It's just very daunting and most of the information out there is from the late 90s early 2000. Is there ANY updated step by step guide that will explain stuff to me like I am five and have NO knowledge of wiring?

[BobA]

Any of these are very reliable places to buy your parts. There are others too but I consider these the top 4 because of the support they give to BYOAC.

http://www.paradisearcadeshop.com/en/

http://arcadeemulator.net/

http://www.ultimarc.com/

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/

For a step by step to build your cab get the Bible.

Project Arcade V2

[JohnEDollar]

Another excellent reference can be found here:

http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/introduction.html

 

- John

[drummererb]

Another excellent reference can be found here:

http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/introduction.html

 

- John

Awesome, thank you for that link, just what I was looking for. Some of the stuff still goes a bit over my head but I'm sure if I print it out and read through it a few times, as well as doing it when I have the actual things in my hand, it will become so much more clear.

And thank you BobA for the part site links. However I'm going to stay away from that book as the only thing I'm interested in is the actual controller building.

[drummererb]

So after shopping out and pricing things I wanted to do a comparison.

The X-Arcade Tankstick is 199.99
All the same parts (even picking the cheap Happ brands of most things) which is 1x USB Trackball, 2x 4/8 Joystick, 2x Player Start Buttons, 16x Concave Long buttons, IPAC USB = 165.30. This does not include any of the wood, wood working (I most definitely do not own any wood tools so would need to find someone who would do this for me, probably not free), painting, wiring and what not. I'm sure parts and labor would be above 35.00.

So my question is this: Why would I build my own as opposed to just buying the Tankstick? It seems to be cheaper for someone like me who does not own a garage full of tools. I've heard that people can build these things for cheaper, my question is: How?

[Rick]

So my question is this: Why would I build my own as opposed to just buying the Tankstick? It seems to be cheaper for someone like me who does not own a garage full of tools. I've heard that people can build these things for cheaper, my question is: How?

Honestly, I built my control panel with a circular saw, a jigsaw and a drill with the appropriate drill bit.  I definitely recommend this over buying a Tankstick, if at all possible, if you are looking to make your arcade stand out in any way.  That being said, if you don't care what anybody thinks, I believe the stick is more than adequate to accommodate playing games quite well.  I'm sure there are technical differences - and you'll definitely come across the purists on this site, but in the end, it will all come down to what you want your game to look like.

It's all personal preference, really.  You can find EVERYTHING you need to 'build it yourself' on this site alone, and hey, it never hurts to ask.  (Check out the opening of my thread - link in my sig - and you'll find I had no end of questions that I found the answers to here.)

[yotsuya]

So my question is this: Why would I build my own as opposed to just buying the Tankstick? It seems to be cheaper for someone like me who does not own a garage full of tools. I've heard that people can build these things for cheaper, my question is: How?

I was going to do the SAME exact thing about a year ago, but after some research I decided to build my own- it was the best thing I ever could have done. I've learned so much about electronic and this hobby by building my own. I've just about finished my second cab, and I am helping a friend build his own. It's definately worth doing if you want to learn more about arcades and how they work. If you just want to play some games, then the Tankstick is a good option- but knowing what I know now, I wouldn't go that route.

[Baldark]

I bought the tankstick a long time ago because I was afraid of having to build my own control panel.  Once it's all set up and I've been playing it for a while, I decided to take apart the tankstick and build my own because I was not satisfied with the way it looked.  Could have saved me money if I just bought the parts myself.  I didn't have any experience with wood, but I decided to learn and am now currently building a dynamo cabinet.

Just my 2 cents.

[Vulgar Soul]

Aaaah that ole X-Arcade Tankstick. X-Arcade is a huge sponsor of BYOAC, Ya gotta wonder sometimes how they handle half the community never recommending their products lol.

It might seem tempting to go the easy road with one of those sticks.  but I can't remember one person who ever went with it, citing their lack of woodworking skills, and was happy. That all-black CP with the big logo across it is gonna sit out like a sore thumb while you wonder how much better and more authentic your cab would look if you designed it yourself. The X-Arcade sticks work for what they do, but they can make even the most otherwise well designed cab look amateurish.

If you really, REALLY, and I mean REALLY have no deep interest in this hobby, in the look and feel of your machine, and just want to hook something up and play then you can go with the Tankstick. Don't be shocked if you end up hating how it looks on your cab though.

But if you have even the mildest interest in hopefully restoring this to a nice, authentic machine you can be proud to have in your own home - and if you found this forum, I think you do - relax, slow down, take the time to explore this forum and learn some simple shop 101, and build a control panel just the way you want. You won't regret it and it's worth ever minute and penny.  

[portugese pirate]

Id also like to know if a better controller than the tankstick could be built at half the price?.....I cant see how some people on this site stated that they can build a controller for a cabinet for $50......please if this is true someone please do tell with specifics and examples......as for me other than the graphics on the tankstick I dont think it could be beat, especially if you get it for $149.....not saying I wouldnt want to build one at some point in time....but money is a factor for many of us