Which Mame to use in a Cocktail Table

[NickS]

Hello.

I looking for some advice on running Mame in a cocktail table cabinet that I am building.

I was thinking that it would be better to use mame in Dos rather than in Windows as it would be easier to shutdown. I also hear that mame in dos is faster. I was hoping to be able to wire enrthing up so that one switch would power everything up and shutdown. I know windows can be corrupted by just switching off the power. Is this possible ?. Does anyone have an opinion which would be best ?.

I was hoping to be able to use a menu system where I would use the controls to select the games. I am planning to use an ipac interface for the controls. I understand that there are frontend programs that can be used to provide a menu and allow you to configure mame like in mame32. Does anyone have an opinion or recommendation as to which frontend would be best to use for my needs ?.

Your opinions and advice will be greatly appreciated.

[Minwah]

I guess it depends how good the PC spec is that you want to use.  An old (slow) PC will probably work better in DOS but I found my newish PC worked SLOWER in DOS.

Most Windows frontends can shut down the PC safely thru software (without pressing a switch) btw.

I guess if you choose DOS then look at GameLauncher or ArcadeOS, for Windows try 3dArcade, Lazarus, again GameLauncher or my very own MAMEWAH.  These can all be controlled by arcade controls.

I've probably missed one or two, check out the Software section to the left.

Good luck

[SirPoonga]

There's a couple of more factors.

Are you going to use a PC monitor.  Does it have a suspend mode?
If you use windows you can shutdown windows and that will shut the machine off too.  Many monitors will detect tha and go into suspend mode.

As for frontends, do you want to display it vertically.  There are not many FEs that support that.

[NickS]

I guess it depends how good the PC spec is that you want to use.  An old (slow) PC will probably work better in DOS but I found my newish PC worked SLOWER in DOS.

Thanks for your reply.

I was thinking of using a pentium or pentium 2 pc. It seems a waste to use a higher spec pc. Although I would consider a higher spec if the improvement in quality justifies it. If I use dos could it be switched on and off without corrupting the programs ?. I will have a look at your frontend recommendations.

[NickS]

There's a couple of more factors.

Are you going to use a PC monitor.  Does it have a suspend mode?
If you use windows you can shutdown windows and that will shut the machine off too.  Many monitors will detect tha and go into suspend mode.

Thanks for your reply.

I have bought a WG U3000 VGA monitor that I was thinking of using. I understood that it opeates in a similar way to a pc monitor. Would dos shutdown or suspend the monitor in the same way that windows does ?. It has been a long time since I have used a dos based computer so I am not sure. I have not discounted using a pc monitor if it would be better for my specific requirements but safely mounting it upside is a concern, along with adequate air circulation and overheating. Do you have any opinions ?.

As for frontends, do you want to display it vertically.  There are not many FEs that support that.

Yes, I guess I would ideally want it display vertically. Can you recommend any frontends that can do this ?.

[)p(]

Yes, I guess I would ideally want it display vertically. Can you recommend any frontends that can do this ?.

advance menu is good, cocktail frontend is alos good although it has not been updated lately works good and also mine, 3darcade, can do on the fly rotation...

peter

[Minwah]

I guess it depends how good the PC spec is that you want to use.  An old (slow) PC will probably work better in DOS but I found my newish PC worked SLOWER in DOS.

Thanks for your reply.

I was thinking of using a pentium or pentium 2 pc. It seems a waste to use a higher spec pc. Although I would consider a higher spec if the improvement in quality justifies it. If I use dos could it be switched on and off without corrupting the programs ?. I will have a look at your frontend recommendations.

I think with a Pentium 2 I would use DOS.  Actually, I used to use a P2 333Mhz with Win98 (booting in DOS) with ArcadeOS.  This worked very well for the less demanding games.  A lot of newer games won't work very well tho - not a major problem if you just want to play the classics.

You can just turn the machine off in DOS without doing any damage AFAIK.

[NickS]

I think with a Pentium 2 I would use DOS.  Actually, I used to use a P2 333Mhz with Win98 (booting in DOS) with ArcadeOS.  This worked very well for the less demanding games.  A lot of newer games won't work very well tho - not a major problem if you just want to play the classics.

You can just turn the machine off in DOS without doing any damage AFAIK.

Thanks for your reply.

Do you know if the monitor will switch off or go into suspend mode in Dos in the same way that it does in Windows ?.

[SirPoonga]

I think the wells gardner you are getting is one when you plug it in???  I could be wrong, but if it is like the EYGO 19" ones then it is always on as long as it has power.

[Howard_Casto]

If you have any spare cash at all put it into a better pc.  If all you want to play is pacman and games older than that, a pentium 2 will cut it... otherwise forget it.  Remember the pc is the heart of your arcade cab.. you build it up good first and then worry about the other stuff.  I can tell you ahead of time that you can't use windoze with such puny specs and all of the windows fe's are going to run sluggish at best on such a machine.  

[Minwah]

I don't know whether that monitor would 'suspend' or not.  I woudn't worry about that tho, you'll just have to have a power switch if neccessary to turn off the monitor.

[NickS]

If you have any spare cash at all put it into a better pc.  If all you want to play is pacman and games older than that, a pentium 2 will cut it... otherwise forget it.  Remember the pc is the heart of your arcade cab.. you build it up good first and then worry about the other stuff.  I can tell you ahead of time that you can't use windoze with such puny specs and all of the windows fe's are going to run sluggish at best on such a machine.  

Thanks for your reply.

The type of games I want to be able to play are vertical screen games such as Pac Man, Space Invaders, Galaga, Gorf, Galaxian, Scramble, Donkey Kong, Dig Dug, Time Pilot, Mr Do, Bomb Jack, Mappy. Mainly the classic games from the early to mid eighties. What sort spec system do you think would be best for these games ?. I am prepared to buy a more powerful system if it is required. I was thinking of using Mame in Dos rather than Windows as I understood it was faster for these type of games and I want to be able to switch the cabinet on and off using one switch (which might cause problems in Windows).

[NickS]

I don't know whether that monitor would 'suspend' or not.  I woudn't worry about that tho, you'll just have to have a power switch if neccessary to turn off the monitor.

Thanks for your reply.

I am hoping to be to fix the cab up so I can use one switch to turn everything on and off. I am hoping that after switching on you will go straight in to a Frontend controled menu to choose the game you wish to play. I don't know if it would be also possible to set it up so that it goes straight into a default game.

[Minwah]

You could plug your monitor/pc etc into a power bar (4-way?).  Then have a switch for this on your cabinet somewhere.  I'm pretty sure that when you cut the power to the PC, the next time you switch on, the PC will power straight up.  Give it a try first - just pull the plug on the PC and then plug back in - if it comes back on then it'll work fine

You can add a line to your autoexec.bat in order to go straight into a fontend...

And I think most frontends default to the last game selected.  I *think* ArcadeOS has an option to set which game to be selected by default.  Or maybe you could just pick whether to default to the 1st game, or the last selected.