BIGDAWG & BOO'Z ARCADE

[FrizzleFried]

Well...I guess this is an announcement.   I finally "completed" my horizontal cabinet.  The build progress can be seen over at mameworld.info,  but since it seems that I have been deemed "UNWANTED" there,  I figured I would post this summary of my first build here.

After reading about Ultimarc's JPAC card,  I decided I was going to convert a JAMMA cabinet to a MAME cabinet.  My initial idea was to purchase a gutted cabinet,  install a PC,  some HAPP controls,  a 21" PC monitor and call it a day.   Well,  it took a couple months of casual looking to locate a prospective cabinet.   I didn't want to spend a dime more than $100 for a cabinet,  and low and behold,  this cabinet was for sale at $100.

What I got for my $100 was a Data East "Bad Dudes/Robocop" style cabinet (the type with the rounded marquee) that had been converted to a Street Fighter II.   With the cabinet came 2 joysticks, 14 buttons, a cardboard bezel,  power supply, isolation transformer, JAMMA harness, coin door with mech, and a functioning Electrohome G07 monitor.  The monitor needed a little help,  but everything else was in real good shape.

This is what the cabinet looked like when I brought it home on September 29th, 2006.





I immediately ordered Ultimarc's JPAC as well as their ArcadeVGA card.  While I was waiting for them to arrive,  I decided to paint the cabinet.  Being that I had nothing else around,  and well,  I was too damn lazy to drive the 10 miles to Home Depot,  I decided to paint the cabinet "Old Ford Blue" which happens to be the same color as my sandrail (hence the reason I had the paint).  I then decided that the cabinet needed SOMETHING on the side,  so with the can of "Ford Blue"...which is different than "Old Ford Blue" (which I found out about when i purchased the wrong color for the sandrail)...and some black spraypaint,  I went to work.  Here is what I ended up with:



I also had to repair a nice chunk that had been taken out of the upper left-hand back portion of the cabinet...I have absolutely NO IDEA how in the hell that hunk got taken out of that spot,  but I managed to patch it up decently enough:





While waiting for the JPAC/AVGA to arrive,  and while the paint was drying,  I was working on my front end.  I decided to go with MAMEWAH.  For those of you who may be having problems with MAMEWAH,  update to version 1.62B12...trust me on this one.  I took a little time and customized a layout.  I actually went through multiple layouts until I found one I really liked.   I won't bore you with all the different versions, and will go straight to the version I went with....

First is my MAME layout.  It displays each games marquee at the bottom left.  It also displays each games title screen for 3 seconds,  then runs an animation of each game as you select them...overall I think the layout works decently enough.  It is at 640x480.  I also added custom "no artwork" and "no marquee" images...custom menus sounds... I added the Arcade 1984 "MAME Intro" animation,  and I run the 4 Arcade Ambiance MP3 files that are out there.   Overall I am pretty damn proud of the frontends overall look,  sound,  and feel:





Here is my DAPHNE layout.  While this screenshot only shows DL, DLII, and SA...I have since added Cliffhanger, and a couple of other "working" Daphne titles.   This layout is also done by me:



By the time the JPAC/AVGA showed up,  I had the front end mostly completed and the cabinet painted up.   I also ordered a "semi-custom" marquee from mamemarquees.com.  By semi-custom,  I mean it is one of those pre-done marquees that you can add some words to.  When I got the marquee I was extremely impressed with the quality and the look,  however,  it was more than apparent from the get go that the marquee just didn't "work" with my paint scheme.  Which gave me the opportunity to use Scott over at mamemarquees.com again...but this time with custom artwork!   Again I was impressed with the quality of the product.

Here is the first marquee that was on the cabinet (which is now on my vertical cabinet):



And here is my new custom marquee:





As usual,  these images do these marquees absolutely no justice while lit...they both look great!

I installed the PC in to the cabinet,  having decided to use a PC case for the PC components.  The PC case is thumb-screwed to the side of the cabinet so it doesn't bounce around during moving etc.   The JPAC card is mounted to the inside wall of the arcade cabinet.   Installation of the JPAC card was as simple as can be.  Being that I am using 6 buttons,  I had to manually wire the other 3 buttons for each joystick,  but the process is so simple that if you can't figure it out,  it is time to sell the cabinet and get away from the power tools.   In any case,  here is what the inside of the cabinet looks like with the PC in it...note that i have cleaned up the wiring substantially since these photos were taken and I still have more organizing to do.





Next, since I wanted to add a trackball to the cabinet,  the current control panel had to go.   I noticed that The Real Ghostbusters arcade used a cabinet similar to mine,  but with a 3-person control panel.  I asked and immediately a guy named Tony agreed to send me his for FREE!   All I had to do was cough up $16 for shipping.  THANKS TONY!  When I got it,  This is what it looked like:





...and here is what I managed to put together...after the purchase of a router (my first!):



As for the monitor...I determined that it was an Electrohome G07...one of the most popular (if not THE most popular) monitor from the early 1980's.  You can see from the minor burn-in that it was a Centipede monitor.  According to the sticker on the frame,  it was manufactured in January 1980.   When I first plugged in the JPAC and tinkered with the settings,  the best I could get was still pretty bad.   The image was pushed way to the right and there was a pretty crappy looking "curl" at the top.  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the screen...

After a little research and discussions with Italie from the MAMEWorld forums I decided to install a CAP KIT to the monitor.  Being this was the first time I had ever soldered at a component level,  and the first time I had ever discharged a monitor,  it was a an adventure to say the least.   The result,  however,  was a monitor that centered (for the most part)...but the curl was still at the top!  After a little more research I discovered that Bob Roberts (The Real one that is!) has a "G07 SYNC MOD" on his website.  After doing this sync mod the CURL IS GONE!!!!   You can see the result in the front-end pictures above!   The damn thing looks ALMOST as good as new.   The burn-in is faint when the monitor is off and can not be seen at all while the monitor is powered!  Nice.

So...after all is said and done...the cabinet is complete and this is what it looks like:





The cabinet is running on an AMD A64 3200+ running at 2.5ghz with 1GB of RAM & a wimpy little WD 80GB hard drive.  The graphics card is an ArcadeVGA and I am using the on board NIC and sound which is pushing 2 3-watt PC speakers that are mounted under the marquee in the cab.

Now to finish the vertical cabinet...where's that CAP KIT?!

EDIT: Geez that post read strange originally...until I realized that I left a single switch out that screwed up multiple pictures and where they are supposed to go...sorry.

[spacies]

Wicked man.

Nice work, love the FEs layout.

 

[FrizzleFried]

Spacies....

Thanks!  Here are some more photos of my two cabinets together (for the first time tonight).   They sure are a cute couple...or not.









And here is how the two custom front end layouts look...I just wish that Minwah would update Mamewah so I could filter out the horizontal games for the vertical cabinet...





The horizontal cabinet is running an Athlon 64 3200+, 1GB RAM, 80GB hard drive, ArcadeVGA graphics card, JPAC, 2 competition joysticks + 6 buttons each, P1 & P2 buttons, P1 Credit & P2 Credit buttons & an exit button, a Happ 3" trackball with P1 buttons 1 & 2 to the right and mouse buttons 1 & 2 to the left.  The monitor is an Electrohome G07 19" with light Centipede burn-in.

The vertical cabinet is running an AMD XP2100, 512MB RAM, 120GB hard drive, ArcadeVGA graphics card, JPAC, 2 super joysticks +3 buttons each, P1 & P2 buttons, P1 credit & P2 credit buttons, an exit button & a Turbo Twist 2 spinner.

I plan on getting another Turbo Twist 2 for the horizontal cabinet.  I would love to get 2 actually to play head to head Offroad,  but at $70 a pop...who knows.

What to build now?   I am thinking either a bartop,  jukebox,  or i'd love to do a cocktail cabinet.

[arcadefever]

2 great cab   

how's  the turbo twist by the way ?

good work you got the perfect set up ...

[Neilyboy]

awesome setup man. i think you should go for a cocktail cab!! haha i cant wait to finish my upright so i can save up some $$ for a cocktail cab.

nice front ends by the way

Neil

[FrizzleFried]

Arcade Fever...I wrote a review of the spinner in the main announcement thread for the spinner on the main forum.  I think it's on page 3.   I can repost if you can't find it.

...and I am actually leaning toward either a bartop or jukebox unless I can come across a gutted cocktail cabinet...in Idaho...for cheap.

HAHA...sure.

[javeryh]

I noticed in your front end game list that Street Fighter III is listed. How are you running that?

[FrizzleFried]

JaveryH,

That is my MASTER LIST...(well...the master minus clones I believe) which includes all roms from the full set.  While SFIII isn't emulated yet,  the ROM is in my ROM folder for when it is.   I rarely use the MAIN or CLONES games list,  but it happened to be on one of those lists when I took the photo.

[arcadefever]

Arcade Fever...I wrote a review of the spinner in the main announcement thread for the spinner on the main forum.  I think it's on page 3.   I can repost if you can't find it.

 thank you 

[Firefighter_Joe]

Nice Jon!!! I need to come over and play them!!

Joe

[Harakiri]

The thing that amazes me the most is the price of those used cabinets.

Here in my country it's like 250 bucks or no deal.

I gotta immigrate to america... 


Nice job BTW, looks awesome!

[FrizzleFried]

Thank you.   I am considering picking up a set of guns...not sure which...and I am also doing my best to resist the temptation to add a spinner to the horizontal cabinet.

See...with the vertical cabinet after I broke it down by screen orientation and then by DIAL and PADDLE,  there are only around 70 vertical spinner games ...with the majority of them (thus far...i've only tested around 25) of them sucking pretty bad or just a clone of another game.   So thats a little over a buck a game...but see...that is OK..because even if there was only ONE game that used that spinner...TEMPEST...it is more than worth the price of admission.   It is like I paid for tempest and all the rest are a bonus.

So that brings me to the horizontal cabinet.   What horizontal game is a "TEMPEST" of horizontal oriented games...a MUST HAVE horizontal spinner game...?   I can think of none.  The closest being MAYBE the Ivan Stewart Offroad games.   That said,  the other half of me says "Yah...there is no MUST HAVE horizontal spinner game...just a whole crapload of GOOD games that can use the spinner...mostly RACING games that can use the spinner as a steering wheel"...and that argument is a valid one...

...so...i sit here...knowing with certainty that it's not a matter of IF I will install a spinner in my cabinet....but WHEN...toiling with the thought of the whole thing because I am one of those "If yer gunna do it...DO IT" kind of guys.

ARGH!

[FrizzleFried]

...not to mention...WHERE IN THE >BLANK< WOULD I PUT IT?

I don't want it ANYWHERE near my trackball...Golden Tee + spinner in close range = hand that hurt like a mo-fo.

Here's a pic for reference:



I was thinking perhaps 2.5" to 3" below the bottom center button of the 2nd player.

[FrizzleFried]

Joe:

You are more than welcome anytime.  We should set something up just after the holidays...

[theCoder]

If you are running Windows on your horizontal cab and are into Arkanoid (break-out) style games, the game "Ricochet" is an awesome excuse to have a spinner on a cab.  The graphics are great and the music if pretty good as well.

Looks like you have room for a spinner at the back left-center (up and to the right of the left set of buttons) or center right (below right set of buttons).  Go for it !