Golden Tee Mame

[Senator]

So it all started last Xmas when I was looking for a new “toy” for the fam.  Wifey and I had always enjoyed playing Birdie King and Golden Tee over the years while in the bars having a few.  Searched eBay for a GT machine and realized, for what I wanted, it was at least $1,800 so I wound up with the $400 Foosball Table.

In the process I came across a tutorial on building arcade machines for $10, it sounded interesting, what the hell…and the rest is history.  Once I found this site and Mame it was a done deal, GT Mame was born.

Sold it to the Wife by just going for a CP first to see how it worked.  She was on board.  Once I built the CP, she loved the GT action so the full machine was a “go”.  Now that its built and HUGE, she’s a bit reluctant but oh well.

Seeing as I used this tutorial that I paid for (I think it may be somewhere on this site for free now) I was reluctant to post a full project thread.  By now I’ve probably gotten more info here, so I want to give back. The project is not all that different than many others here so that was another reason I didn’t post a ton of details. 

Here are pics of the CP I built.  I built just this first and had it hooked up to the TV and computer in the living room.  I’ve seen it in a lot of other posts and I’ll tell you first hand,  if you go this route it WILL delay your project.

I think I saw the general layout on some custom machines being sold on eBay.  I really just wanted the classics and GT but figured if I was going to build it I should include the fighter games so I went with this design.

[Senator]

I used the Happ usb trackball with translucent red, the lower black buttons are the mouse buttons to the trackball and the top black is the Shazaam (shift) key to the GGG KeyWiz Max.  Holding this key turns my P1 buttons to my admins, B1 = enter, B2 = tab, --BINGO! Either that, or I was attempting to say "before" but it was too many letters to type-- = esc, B5 = pause.  I find I don't need any others.  I have a KB inside the CP that can be switched to on the fly with the KeyWiz.

I used the Magstik Plus joys which I guess was a mistake.  A lot of people here don't like them but not knowing any better, I'm having fun with them.  You'll note my dust washers are below the cpo which I thought was a great idea but has been debated in another thread. 

Here are some pics of the inside of the cp.  I used a lite mite LED to light the trackball.  You'll note a clamp that I got from GGG, a piano hinge across the front and a hinge to hold it up when needed.  My wiring isn't as neat as some around here but I did get a few zip ties in there.

[Senator]

Here are some random thoughts about the project:

1) Use a paddle bit, rather than a hole saw, to drill the buttons holes.  Its a lot faster and just as accurate...OK, you have to focus a bit more to keep the paddle bit straight but its a lot faster and just as good.  When doing this, stop once the point comes out the far side and drill from the reverse side to not muck up the exit point.

2) I'm really impressed by all the visio and cad drawings of cp layouts and all but for me, I'm a visual person, I just drew the layout on a piece of mdf,  made a few adjustments, and went with it.  In the end, I would have moved the P2 stuff an inch to the right and kept a little more space between the track and the blacks but that would have also happened if I had a visio.

3) A carbide tip flush trim router bit cuts 1/8" plexi like butta.  I was nervous since I never worked with plexi, but being careful with regular drill bits and using the router worked great.

4) 1/8" plexi lines up perfectly around the lip of a Happ USB TB.

5) I found this great CPO on eBay.  The heavy plastic/vinyl material can hide a lot of imperfections undeneath.  My stuff turned out OK but if my trackball plate or my joy bolts weren't recessed perfectly, no one would ever know.

6) Buying the parts is fun but so is buying the new tools.  I got a couple of router bits, a t-square, combo square, hand sander, hole saw (not really needed), and some electronics tools and such, I'm sure I'm forgetting some stuff.

7) Best tip I saw too late:  Use 5/8" mdf with 1/8" plexi with the 3/4" t-mold.  I used 3/4" mdf and wound up rounding off my plexe with my new 1/8" quarter-round router bit.  Not as nice as plexi under t-mold.  I needed to screw down my plexi which I don't think I would have needed otherwise.  I know there's 7/8" t-mold but I didn't want to bother.

If I ever did another I would strongly consider regular ply for the cp at least.  Working with the mdf is super dusty and messy.  Prepare yourself, cut outside if possible.  Since a lot of cutting takes place with the cp I would prob use regular ply here and mdf for the rest.

more to come...

[BobA]

Good start for your cab.  If only we all had a dad or friend with all the right tools.  Quit playing with the CP if you can and back to work. Building the CP first has slowed down many a cab.   

[Senator]

I started my project using an old Pentium 333 or something that I pulled out of the attic.  I quickly realized that was not going to cut it so I got an IBM Netvista P4 2.4Ghz w/ 512 m ram and 60gig HD on eBay for $150.  The company was local so no shipping charges.  Added in my tv out video card, removed the floppy just to increase airflow and extended my power switch. 

Here is a pic of my computer, you'll note the black and red wire coming out the back for the power switch, it has the cherry switch on it.  Since I'm not putting in a coindoor (maybe one of Randy's unreal ones), I wanted to eliminate the need to access the front of the computer so I ran the CD ribbon cable and power molex out the back of the case.  This also leaves an extra power molex to use to connect my lite mite trackball light.

The computer works fine but it has this annoying screen that comes on at shutdown; "It is now safe to turn off your computer".  I can't figure out how to get the thing to just turn off.

I'll prob look to add some ram to bring it up to a meg.
 

[spooler]

Which golden tee games are you playing?

[Senator]

There are 3 versions that I have loaded.  GT 97, GT 2000 and GT Classic.  All three play exactly the same but have 3 different courses each for a total of nine courses.  Really enjoying the GT action. 

Can't seem to get Birdie King working too good though.  On one version the bird that flies over the first hole is completely unavoidable kind of putting a damper on things and I can't get the trackball sensitivity correct for putting.

On a related note, what are the best bowling games?  I've tried a few and can't decide/not sure if I'm using the best bowler out there.

[philby85]

Hi Senator,

PM sent in regard to shutdown problem.

cheers

Phil

[rockin_rick]

On a related note, what are the best bowling games?  I've tried a few and can't decide/not sure if I'm using the best bowler out there.

IIRC, World Class Bowling is a good one.

Also try out Shuffleshot and Shuuz.

Rick

[markrvp]

On a related note, what are the best bowling games?  I've tried a few and can't decide/not sure if I'm using the best bowler out there.

IIRC, World Class Bowling is a good one.

Also try out Shuffleshot and Shuuz.

Rick

Yep, those are the trackball games that I play most often (in addition to the classics - Centipede, Missile Command).

[Senator]

I thought I got a great deal on a tv off Craigslist.  27" Mitsu, pretty slim casing, s-video and component inputs for $50.  I bought separate speakers but I prob could have used the ones in the tv.   Only problem is that it doesn't power on after loss of power.  In fact, the toothpick trick doesn't even work, the button needs to be pressed each time.  Even worse, while it does stay on the same channel, the words "Aux S Video" flash on the screen every time you turn it on after loss of power and you need to press the video reset button to get it to stop.

I thought these problems were solvable, certainly, others on this board have faced these issues and come up with a solution.  Maybe a relay or something.  Needless to say, the more research I did, the more depressed I got that I'm going to have to have a 2-button or, god forbid, a 3-button (1 to pc 1 to tv 1 to av reset) solution to power up my cab. 

While researching I see 8 out of 10 solutions are: get the smartstrip, the pc controls and everything else are slaves to the pc, works perfect.  Well, it works perfect if you have a monitor or if your tv powers up properly.  Nonetheless, I got the smartstrip.

So I put my tv under the knife.  Spystyle has the procedure laid out how to extend your tv power button.  Pull the tv motherboard, find the solder points on the back of the power button and solder two extension wires and connect a microswitch.  I figure while I'm in there I might as well extend the av reset button.  One way to get around this stuff is to attach a toggle to the extensions.  This has the same effect as the toothpick method but is more permanent.   I got some strange results in testing the various combinations but I ultimately came upt with a solution to powering the cab.

Of course, the other aspect to investigate is the power options in the BIOS setup screens of your PC.  Mine has this option that says, What to do after power loss when power is restored.  One of the options is; Turn on the pc. 

I had also read in another post somebody wondering about using the tv as the controling appliance in the smartstrip and this is what works for me.  Turning on the tv restores power to the pc which then powers up along with the light and speakers. 

When I first read about this I thought it wouldn't work because the pc would get fubar by getting loss of power but that is not the case.  The shut down is a normal pc shutdown, once the trackball goes out indicating the pc is off, I hit the power button, that turns off the tv, light and speakers as well.  More importantly, it disrupts power to the pc and engages the BIOS option when power is retored.

I guess I was thinking that the option applied to situations when the pc was on and power is lost but its for anytime the pc is unplugged, even after its turned off.  This is accomplished by the smartstrip turning off the outlets.

As an added bonus, since power is never "lost" to the tv, the aux s-video doesn't flash when I turn on the tv, it just goes away after a few seconds.  So I got a one button power solution, yes I need to wait til the pc powers down and then hit the power button to turn off the cab but I just got to hit one button to power up and considering what I was facing I'm happy with this arrangement.

Sorry about the longwinded description but I know this problem is pretty common and there aren't a lot of answers out there.  I guess its all in the BIOS options that your pc has.  I would love one of those 'hit a key combination on the cp and everything powers up' but my BIOS don't do that.

Here's a pic of my tv, "Under the knife" you'll note the red and black extension wires coming out the back.

[Senator]

So here's the cab I came up with.  I looked all over for specs and finally just used the Jakobud pages.  This is somewhere between a Simpsons (also a TMNT I believe) and a MK cab.  I wanted the laid down position (45 deg) of Simp but I was afraid of mounting and clearance.  True MK (60 deg I think) looked to upright for GT.  I was shooting for an oldschool, circa 99, GT cab, but couldn't find real measurements.  This is my attempt at the cab you see when you pull up GT 97 or 99 in Mame32.

You can see that my base is a sandwich of 2 2x6s running front to back, then mdf then 2 2x4s running the width.  I installed my casters at this point.  Srewed in the side to the base along with the top 2x6, then the other side and I was off and running.

CP height was a real concern and not sure if I got it right (TB=36") but close enough.  The cab is large but had to fit my tv, not as slim as I thought.  I narrowed the width by 1/2" to 26 1/2" to match tv, dangerous I know, but now I can rout out 1 x 4 piece of pine to lock in tv nicely.  The 2x4 framing you see is matched to hold my tv exactly.  The uprights butted up against my upper 2x6 to form a solid frame.

You can see I left the lower half just primed, 2 coats.  I used the Rustoleum project paint, 2 coats primer, 3 coats black satin finish.  I haven't decided on artwork yet.

[Senator]

So I brought the cab in from the garage and installed the tv, cp, speaker panel and marquee.  I'm real happy with the way it turned out.



I think the design that I was going for, a GT 97 or 2K type design, was accomplished, for better or worse...yes, I need some side art and a coin door, I'm thinking an unreal one, but damn this thing is fun to play



GT is great but World Class Bowling is the shizzle...Shuffleshot kicks --I'm attempting to get by the auto-censor and should be beaten after I re-read the rules-- as well.  The kids are diggin NBA Jam and Tetris of all things.

[mccoy178]

Everything looks great!  The wife and I love Tetris Grand Master.  You may have to play it with zinc though.

[dmworking247]

I love it, well done.

EVERY time I go to the US I find a Golden Tee to play with my work colleagues, it is an excellent social (drinking) game.

Unfortunately my budget and control panel was too small for a proper arcade trackball and my PC is too slow for Golden Tee in MAME... maybe next time.

[Senator]

Thanks McCoy I think I know how the repository works.

A couple more details, a look under the hood, I have the KeyWiz with a connection by ps2, and the TB by usb to the cpu.  You'll see the nite mite black-and-red wires going directly into a computer molex, I just folded the 22 gauge wires over and pushed them into the connector. 

In all that I did, I realized that I am building a home machine, to be used only in my basement family room, so I was not concerned about "making it commercial."  For instance, I just sat my computer in the base, its not nailed down or anything.  I'm leaving the back, and a portion of the top open.  Better for air flow and who's gonna see it?  I know some around here want pure arcade but I made concessions to make my life easier. 
I didn't end up using the extended cpu power button (coiled black and red in base) but I left it installed just in case.
I'm leaving a space between the back of the cp and the cab so I can use the cp clamp. 

Man, this is a great hobby, I'm so happy I found this...

[WCBoudreaux]

That is one sweet looking cab u have there! I love those cabs with the big monitors! 

One thing I'll never understand... Why people build those HUGE cabs, then put tiny monitors in them... But, of course, this doesn't apply to you!

Again, Great Job! 

[Senator]

yeah, I was concerned about overall size but there's nothing like the view of standing in front of this baby, way fun...thanks for the comments.

Here's a few more pics.  I'm concerned about the tv placement,  it was a bit low and too far forward in the original design so I had to make some mods.  I added an extra piece of mdf under to raise it 3/4" and I removed the back of the tv casing so it would sit further back.  In fact I used the dremel to remove some tabs from the front casing so it would sit further back.  I'm waiting on some 1/4" smoked tempered glass for the front and I want proper clearance, not that I know what that is, but I'm just going by look and feel.  Man, this is a fun hobby.  Did I mention that already. 
 

[mccoy178]

When posting the pics from another thread, you need to use the pic icon, which is right beside the url icon.  You have the right idea, just clicking the wrong box above the message area.

[bfauska]

Nothing against Mccoy's graphic, but here it is with the button circled.  I thought it may be tough to see which button that arrow was pointing to.

[Senator]

Actually, only this pic shoes the tv before I moved it.  I didn't like how close to the front of cab the glass would need to be to clear the tv.  I got another inch of clearance so I can mount the glass 3/8" clear of the tv and still have a 1/2" reveal in front of the glass.




Here are the side rails for my tv.  Again, the cab width was made to allow for these.  I have a 1/2" clearance on either side of tv so I could rout out a 1/4" of these 3/4" pieces to fully secure the tv and provide support for the glass.  The metal piece is a track for the glass that I'll mount along the front of my tv shelf.  The glass is actually long enough that I'll pull the speaker panel out and cut it to the exact depth so that when I  reinstall it will hold the glass in along the top.  No other supports along the sides.  The glass actually fits real snug so I'm not to worried about it going anywhere.

[Senator]

Here's a pic of the back of my decased tv.  The left black and red wire is my extended power button that actually controls the whole cab, its the master in my SmartStrip.  The right black and red that's coiled is my extended AV Reset switch that's needed to get rid of that annoying "S_Video" flashing on the screen if power is lost.  This only happens if the cab is unplugged.  You can see the extra piece of mdf that I just laid on top of my installed tv shelf to raise it up, I guess I throw a couple of screws in there.



Here's my marquee, the typical sandwich of two 1/4" sheets of plexi.  I needed to paint about a 1/4" border because the marguee that I got off eBay was just slightly smaller than my plexi.  You can see the two screws holding in either side of the speaker panel.  I drilled the countersink holes before painting and I'm using black sheetrock screws and they're not nearly as noticable as in this pic, I may just leave them like that for furture mods.



The retainers are L-brackets made for installing drop ceilings.  When wandering in Home Depot, its helpful to know to look at the drop ceiling stuff for good L-brackets.  The little blue button is my volume control.  Since the pot is not long enough I countersunk the button, I think its a 1/4" button in a 1/2" hole, nice and discreet.  Nobody notices it until I start using it.



This is a pic looking into the top of my cab, you can see my hacked computer speaker amp and the back of my volume control.  You'll also notice how the upright 2x4 tv supports wedged against the 2x6 used for the upper cab support.

[dmworking247]

I won a Golden Tee '97 Jamma PCB and original trackball today for US$42 on ebay... I was wondering where you got the artwork for your control panel? (I'm going to make a GT cab a little later in the year for my little ebay win)

Sorry if you already mentioned and I missed it....

[Senator]

I got the overlay on ebay.  I guess just lucky that the guy was selling em when I was looking to buy.  Keep an eye out because he had a batch of 50 or 75 that he was posting from time to time.  I also got some side artwork from gatorcade.com.  Good luck.