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mame project IS school project

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LordDamo:
Yeah, got to love the year 10 school project. I did a sterio cabinet for mine - and hand made a bass guitar for year 12, carved the neck and all.
Im building an upright at the moment from Lusid's plans. Tricky bit about his plans is that they are in imperial and you can only buy wood here in metric measurements.  8' X 4' is not quite the same as 2400mm X 1200mm.

I went to Bunnings warehouse for my wood, cost $41.50 for a sheet of 16mm MDF, you need 3 of them. Ply is just wayyyyyyyy to expensive, some types were $80 a sheet; and no, its not gold plated. Cool thing about Bunningswas that they offer free trailer hire. $50 deposit for 3 hours hire, and you get it back when you bring the trailer back.

The brackets that Lusid uses in his cab will also cost you an arm and a leg. Here in Wagga Wagga, I couldnt find them anywhere in more than a 4 pack for putting up shelfs. I found one hardware store that had them in a whole box, but wanted 55 cents each for them  >:( I got 20 to use for the control panel.

Using this design, you will have a LOT of scrap left over. Only make the second control panel if you need it. I used that section to make a keyboard drawer. Using the left over wood, I cut it into 1inch wide strips, screwed  and glued it together using 30mm screws, and screwed through it from two sides at right angles to each other and used this to hold the various panels together.

I got second hand PC bits off ebay. PIII with 64mb RAM and mobo for $15 and a 30gb HDD for $25. The rest of the butons and stuff (plus an IPAC) will cost you around $180 (including postage) from ultimarc http://www.ultimarc.com/  for a two player with 6 buttons per player and some admin buttons.

Im using my Dads old TV, as he was going to get rid of it as the power button is stuffed. I replaced it for $1.00. If you want to use a TV, you'll need a video card with a TV out. To keep cost down, you should use a Monitor, go to Cashies (Cash Convertors), they usually have cheap ones.

As for the legal issue, talk to your year advisor about it. But to play it safe, i'd go with the free roms that you can download from the MAME website. Robbie Roto and the like.

Hope all this helps you out.

NoOne=NBA=:
I would second the suggestion of a small bartop machine.
Built right, you will keep your costs WAY down, keep the skill necessary to a minimum, and keep the weight of the finished project more manageable.

Some suggestions I would make here are:

1) Build the cabinet to fit a 15" monitor.
If you can find someone who has an old one from an upgrade, you can probably get it for free.

2) Keep the control panel small.
One joystick, and a few buttons will let you use a gamepad, or keyboard, hack--which will eliminate the cost of an encoder.

3) Try to find a leftover desktop model computer.
If you use the desktop model, with the monitor on top of it, you can eliminate alot of the "woodworking" necessary to support things like the monitor.
Basically, you'd be building a shell around the computer/monitor, with a CP out front.
You don't need a top-of-the-line computer to run most of the older games, and you may be able to find someone willing to donate a used desktop to you.

If you build small to start, you can always upgrade later, and reuse the parts.

RayB:
Is this what kids do in school now instead of learning to spell and avoid run-on sentences?
 ;D

ryantheleach:
by school porject i mean a major project like a peice of all subjects type of thing that lasts for 4 weeks and is shown to the public a very big deal for the school

i will use the machine im on now (family wont mind will they  :P) and i will either rent a tv for the night or use this monitor like you said

i think ill do a keyboard hack sinc eits cheaper and later on ill move to the good stuff

id at least like it to be 2 player

also ill chek out that tharcade or whatever its called

zaphod:
Ryan, you do understand there is such a thing as punctuation, right?  Those are the little dots the others are using.  ;)

I second (or third) the bartop idea.  Most of the functionality, much less cost.  And far easier to transport about.

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