The RUMPUS ROOM MAME Cocktail

[solfood]

Here's the project I started a few weeks ago:

It's based on the Pac-man Cocktail plans with a few alterations.  I've added a third control panel on the horizontal (LOVE those fighters!)

I scored a 21" monitor off of craigslist for cheap.  It BARELY fits.  I'd like to decase it to have a little more room.  Anyone with any experience doing this PLEASE write me.  I'd rather not kill myself doing it.

I've ordered the 19-20" Happs plastic bezel that I hope fits the 21" computer monitor (20" viewable)

I'm trying to get a used coin door on Ebay.  I'd like it to look somewhat authentic, but I guess I don't really NEED it.  I'll cut the hole when and if I win an auction.  My fiance would LOVE it to not have a coindoor and look more like furniture and less like an arcade machine.  "Woodgrain would be nice...NO COLORED T-MOLDING!!!...Does the screen have to be so BIG???....I'd rather it not be GREEN....It's going to make noise?....Why can't we just play Crystal Castles on the computer?"  She'll get over it.  We just bought our first house and she's still mad that I've started refering to the loft as "The Rumpus Room".

The computer I've built is based around a refurbished Asus A7N8X-Deluxe motherboard ($50 from Newegg...this thing rocks!) with an AMD Athlon 1800+ overclocked to 2.2 Ghz with aircooling (still running at 103 degrees)  Cheapo "powered by ATI" video card ripped out of a dying computer at work.  Cheapo RAM yanked from various boxes I had lying around.  40 GB hardrive from Newegg.  DVD drive from a computer I found in someones trash on the curb.  Pretty good machine for $100.  Right now it won't fit in the cabinet in a case because the monitor is so friggin huge so I've hacked apart a power switch and will just mount the whole thing inside sans case.

Here's some pictures of the progress so far:

[solfood]

the bottom:

[solfood]

4 joysticks total and 20 buttons plus player 1-2 and two coin buttons.  3 system control buttons, volume knob and computer off and on switch.  Everything from Bob Roberts.

I thought I was going to have metal CP tops made until the guy told me he wanted $75 to bend a couple of pieces of metal, so I'm making them out of wood and covering them in Happs vinyl on sale.

I hacked apart some Harmon Kardon computer speakers I stole off of a file server at work. (I don't know why it had speakers or even if they'd ever been turned on) according to Oscar's pictures and will use the amp to drive some Infinity speakers I bought from a kid in the Mall parking lot.  If these belong to someone, I'm VERY sorry.  I'm sure they were stolen and I feel terrible...but they were only $20 and the kid said that weren't hot.  

The controls will run into a usb I-PAC.

I'm ordering some t-molding today.  I'm going to Lowes first to see if they have something made from wood that will dress it up and make it look more like "furniture" so that my fiance will be happy.

more pictures of the progress:

[solfood]

note the exercise bike in the background that my parents refuse to throw away even though I don't think it works and hasn't been ridden since 1981 (my recently retired and bored engineer father is cutting out these pieces):

[solfood]

due to some miscommunication the vent and speaker holes didn't go where I wanted them and are the wrong size....good work dad....but I think they'll work ok.  I've ordered the Midway 6x9 speaker covers to go over the big square hole that the aformentioned ripped off Infinitys will go in and some Happs 4" round speaker covers to go over the smaller holes that will be two computer vent fans.  I think I'll put another fan in the bottom vent hole for more ventilation since the monitor takes up so much space and might get kinda hot in there.

[solfood]

I'll be running MAME32 as a frontend until I can figure out MAMEWAH.  IT looks pretty good running fullscreen on the monitor.  Thanks to a Rom burner, I have a complete set of ROMS.  I'll run DAPHNE so that we can play Dragon's Lair when we have dinner parties.  I'm configuring MESS and a couple of other emulators to run the millions of other games from various computers and consoles from my youth.

This thing will eventually be an MP3 jukebox as well as a fileserver.  It'll have a wireless connection to the home network running mostly Linux.  I'll eventually switch the cocktail over to linux as soon as I can configure a frontend I like.  

I just thought  what a dork I am when I realized that my Directivo, 3 computers,  an Audrey in the kitchen, 1 wandering laptop and now the RUMPUS ROOM MAME will be networked together.  My best friend asked me the other day why I wanted to control Tivos from the kitchen when I could walk to the rooms in 30 seconds.  BECAUSE I CAN.  Any other nerds out there?

[Stingray]

BECAUSE I CAN.

This is a great reaon to do anything. I use it frequently myself.  

Nice job on your cab so far.

-S

[patrickl]

Ha, ha, I really love the commentary that goes with the pictures  

Love the cocktail cab too. They always look so nice and they bring back such fond memories. Maybe one day I can build myself one too.

[rockhopper]

Nice work, i like the shape too.

I'd love to see thow you're making the 21" monitor fit, i've almost finished my cocktail, same design but with a 20" PC monitor. still in its case, and everything only just fits with computer, speakers, coin mechs etc.

keep posting pics, and good luck!

[solfood]

Here's some more pics of the progress.  I think if I had this to do again I would have gone with the 19" monitor.  The 21", even decased, BARELY fits.  I think it'll be sweet though.

has anyone else ever stuck a 21" in a pac-man/galaga cabinet?

[solfood]

i installed the leg levelers.  I'll install the monitor this weekend.  I'm almost finished tweaking the software and hardware. All of the parts have arrived with the exception of the t-moliding from t-molding.com and the glass clips and speaker covers from arcade shop amusements.  I hope to have the whole project finished before March 12th.  We're have a party in our new house and I'd love to be able to show this thing off.

[solfood]

you can't really see the piano hinge on the other side of the cabinet but that got installed too.

I went to a local place to order glass for the top and the guy quoted me a price of $126. I've gotta shop around...my fiance would KILL me if I paid that much for it.  In a related topic, Overstock.com has foosball tables on sale for $79 with $2.95 flat rate shipping so I orderd one for the rumpus room today.  Catherine doesn't know yet...

here's the link for the foosball table:

http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2.cgi?PAGE=PROFRAME&PROD_ID=468618

[pathdoc2]

Project is looking great.  I started a similar cabinet about 2 years ago.  I stopped midway when I realized I couldn't fit this cab through the door of the study.  I ended up making a sitdown upright which turned out nice.  Please check your door clearance.  Just a thought.

[paigeoliver]

http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2.cgi?PAGE=PROFRAME&PROD_ID=647701

Should have bought THAT instead.

[solfood]

it wouldn't fit in the rumpus room.  I guess it could become the rumpus room.

I rented one of those giant bouncy things for a party I had in college.  I was alot of fun.  You had to do a tequila shot before we'd let you inside.