need mame advice

[redfivexw]

hi everyone,
i need some help, i have been poking through all the old posts, hoping to find an answer to my questions, but i cannot really figure out what  i need.  I have an old neo geo arcade cab that was gutted out except for the controllers.  i put a 19" computer monitor inside the cab, and have ordered a tokin keyboard converter to hook up my buttons and joystick.  I see all these really cool frontends with screenshots and buttons, etc.  But i am not really all that good with computers outside of windows.  Is there an easy way to set this stuff up, or is there a program where most of that work is done for you.  I dont like the way that mame32 looks, i need a program that will work completely with arcade controls.  Also, with a keyboard encoder, how do i get two separate controllers for player 1 and 2.  thanks for the help

[SirPeale]

Start reading posts.  Take a look at some of the examples.  No, it's not easy.  And it *will* take you a while to get it working properly.

[chemame]

Three years ago, I stumbled on Russ Prince's website: http://www.russprince.com/cabinet/

It was a HUGE jumpstart. I downloaded his cabinet layout, cut the pieces, and had my cabinet assembled in one weekend.

THAT BEING SAID, I'm now on my second cabinet design (it's now what I call a "modified Russ Prince"), and my sixth control panel design. You'll go through all manner of trial-and-error (I think everyone does this), and after a bit you'll find what works for you and what doesn't.

I don't know if everyone bucks the iPac/Keywiz solution at first. It looks like Russ did. I did. He hacked a gamepad, I hacked a keyboard. In any event, my advice to you is drop the $40 on either an iPac or a Keywiz now, save yourself many many hours of frustration. I use a Keywiz, and I couldn't be happier.

Really don't know what else to suggest. You already have a cab, so you're ahead of where I was when I started. Best of luck.

Hopefully, you'll get to spend more time playing games than playing with the cab itself. I can't remember the last time I played a game on the beast... but I tinker with the cabinet at least once a week.  :-)

Chemame