shardian's MAME cabinet

[shardian]

Hi all,

I figured I would go ahead and start my cabinet thread. Here are some highlights so far
-Read Project Arcade cover to cover
-Started purchasing parts to remake the Project Arcade cabinet
-Finish purchasing all parts for control panel, and coin door

After buying all of this, I was filled with the initial dread of long weekends building that monster cabinet. I know that lots of people have built theirs from scratch and that it is doable, but I had to come to the realization that I do not have the time to do it. I work 50 hours a week, and my wife is 5 months pregnant and starting to get minor complications. I feared i would never build my dream machine.

Well, I was introduced to a few fine lad's up the road from me that are in the WV pinball group. Their website is www.wvpinball.com . One of the fellows, which you all know as WADE on here, was kind enough to take a hit and sell me an old Taito cabinet he was saving for a rainy day project. I picked up the cabinet last night and can now finish my MAME machine fairly quickly.

There was only one problem with this cabinet  - it is WAY too small for all the controls I have bought. . I refuse to build an abomination, so I will be forced to ditch everything but a basic 2 player panel. I will try this weekend to make a clever CP design to include my trackball, but I don't think it will happen. As to my other controls, I have not decided whether to list them in the sell forum, or hold on to them for a "future" project (oh yes, you all know it will happen )

Anyways, my camera is MIA right now, but I will update my post with pictures over the weekend.

As always, I would appreciate any and all advice, support, or criticism any of you may have.

Thanks for reading!
shardian

[leapinlew]

I am building 2 cabinets. I already have 1 done. 1 is for 4 way games and the other is for 8 way fighters and a trackball. So... I know where your coming from when you say you don't want to build an abomination. It wouldn't be too terribly difficult to make a swappable control panel. Put the trackball, 4 way and spinner on 1 panel, and dual 8 ways and 6 buttons each per player.

I have a nintendo cabinet that I pissed and moaned about trying to figure out how to get all the controls into it. Eventually, I decided to make it a dedicated 4 way cabinet. Has dual 4 ways and 3 buttons per player. I now have a Xenophobe cabinet that is getting converted to the fighter.

Good luck with your rig - can't wait to see some pics.

[Wade]

Hey!  I guess you got the cabinet back without any major incidents!

I am definitely not against reducing your number of controls, but if you don't, here is a suggestion that I think would work pretty well on that cabinet.

You can make a separate style control panel (like what is on a Simpsons/Konami/Xmen style 25" cabinet)... just make it a control "box" and let it stick out a few inches wider than the cabinet.  You could cut out the CP area on the sides of your cabinet, or not (it would be possible to extend the CP without modifying the original cabinet, I have seen it done a few different ways).  I seem to remember a "ubercade" on here which was done that way.

Anyway, you could still keep a lot of controls, if you wanted.

If you decide to go with a metal CP, you might be able to twist my arm about the Jungle King panel, but I should at least get a good scan of it first, because I know there are people looking for that artwork.  It'd be a shame to scrape it off to make a MAME CP out of it, though.  I think you could make the same kind of panel out of wood pretty easily, with just a couple pieces of good plywood or MDF.  It'd be a lot easier than making a whole CP "box", for sure!

TTYL!
Wade

[shardian]

I have been thinking all night and this morning about the best way to do the CP(this hobby is killing my work output  ). I will measure the box out tonight and see what i can do in AutoCAD.
My plan of attack right now is to have the CP wrap around to the sides of the machine. I did the standard "pretend I'm playing with my invisible partner" routine last night to get a feel of where I want the controls to be. There is just not enough room for 2 people to stand right in front of the machine.I don't want to hack up the cabinet if I don't have to. I am leaning toward angling the edge of the CP to line up flush with the curve of the side of the cabinet. It will be hard, but might end up looking really good (or not).
Another issue i may have to contend with is the fact that the monitor is recessed in the cabinet. If you get too far to the side of the machine, the sides of the cabinet will get in the way of your viewing area. I will worry about that later though.

Thanks for the input guys!

[shardian]

Hey I went and found that Ubercade you mentioned Wade. His project has perked my mood quite a bit. It doesn't look bad at all with what he did. He also included his visio template for the control panel... too bad I don't have the visio software.

[Wade]

I looked it up again, and he didn't do it exactly the way I remembered, but it gives you an idea of the possibilities.  It might have been Zakk who did a few CP graft jobs that I'm remembering, but I'm also sure Zakk has done some that looked absolutely uncomfortable and far too big for the cabinet.  Gotta find a happy medium I guess...

The one I was remembering had the CP surface that extends outward past the side of the cabinet, a bit deeper than the one pictured on ubercade.  However, his looks pretty seamless, and I think that the monitor would be pretty visible for two players, as well.

TTYL,
Wade

[Stobe]

Another possibility for you is having interchangable panels.  It's not as hard as it seems, and it allows you to have all the controls you'd want.

I'm a day or two shy of updating my project post with pictures of my first panel.

The biggest problem I forsee is after you complete your first panel, and make it usable, that might really slow down the production of the other panels.

Let me know if you have any questions about how I'm doing it.  I hope to get some pics up by this weekend.

-Stobe

[shardian]

Stobe,
thanks for the suggestion on switchable CP's. I have also thought about that. the main thing I don't like about it is the fact that you have to store those other panels somewhere. I think I can most likely fit everything I need on one control panel now if I am thorough.

[Stobe]

Re: storage.

Ya, I'm probably going to make a "shelving unit" for them.  Just a simple box wide enough to hold the CPs, with braces to hold the different CPs.  (Or maybe I'll just throw them on top of the cab, lol.  The lazy approach!)

-Stobe

[shardian]

Imagined discussion with wife:

Wife: "well that was nice of you to build me a book shelf since you've taken up half the room with that arcade thing."

Me: "Oh that. No, that is a shelf to store other control panels for the arcade cabinet"

Wife: "...well you better go ahead and build you a bed to go in here with that shelf then..."(Insert evil scowl here)

 

[Stobe]

I've imagined the same conversation.  I'm just in denial.

-Stobe

[rampy]

There's a free visio viewer on MS's site  (I think)... or a 60 day trial to the full version.

Glad http://ubercade.randomdrivel.com  was of some use to you!

rampy

[shardian]

I have the trial ready to download. I cannot get the viewer to actually show the drawing to scale. The grid squares stay the same size no matter the zoom, and when I preview the drawing to plot, the drawing will not be to scale, or proper proportion for that matter.

[shardian]

Ok, I took some photos of my cabinet and controls tonight.

Here is the ridiculous amount of controls I bought. I got really good deals on everything used. I figured I would buy in bulk, keep what I want, and resell what I didn't want. So if you see anything you want, just let me know. Maybe it will save me a trip to ebay.


Ok next is a series of the cabinet in current condition:
As a note, if anyone wants the innards (PS, and other junk to this taito cabinet, please let me know. You can have it - just pay shipping. I'll list it in the free section later.

And lastly, my 21" computer monitor. Notice that I have it perched on a trashed old dishwasher. Sweet furniture huh?

[shardian]

Hmm.. anyone want to tell me how to thumbnail my pictures so when you click on them they go to full size? I have seen other posts done this way, and I would rather not junk up the thread.

[NinjaEpisode]

Hmm.. anyone want to tell me how to thumbnail my pictures so when you click on them they go to full size? I have seen other posts done this way, and I would rather not junk up the thread.

You should be able to just attach them, under Additional Options.  I'm pretty sure Saint has the thumbnailing turned on automatically.

[rampy]

boy does that look familiar!

[shardian]

Well, I am slowly getting back into this project. I have had some family things to take care of for the last few months, and it has actually helped me take a step back and think about this project some more. I have tossed a ton of ideas around in my head for how I am doing the CP. Originally, I was going to make a franken panel, but I know a TON more now than I did at the beginning. Here is a progress update:
- acquired the original metal CP, and monitor frame for the cabinet.
- got cheap 2-1/4 wico trackball to possibly use in here.
- restored rollers/bearings/ball in trackball (not a bad unit for $3  )
- made a few CP layouts for your viewing pleasure that I have attached. I have one more with three buttons in a staggered straight line that also fits.

Stuff to do:
- modify monitor frame to fit around partially decased monitor
- finalize CP layout
- purchase an encoder

As to a theme, I am going cheap for now: black paint, colored t-molding, basic marquee. Maybe later I will add sideart, but I just can't spare the fundage, as I have just spent $2000 on stuff to remodel the master bathroom (in progress).