Ms. Donkey Man -Complete w/ pics!

[JayTea]

The Crappy Missile Command cab conversion is complete!  Let me know what you think!

JT

http://www.licoricepizza.com/msdonkeyman.html

[F|end]

Nice job!

Too bad that this cab was impossible to restore! I think it would be other great example of a classic!

I like those atari joys!

I fact, i like atari stuff a lot but i can't like the most of it's  games!   Ironic isn't it!

 

[rampy]

I dig it man...  The part I like best is the pacman on the CP overlay with the yellow buttons -- nice touch!

But I have to ask... why on gawds green earth would  you use mame32 as your FE?  You wouldn't need the dangling mouse out of the vent if you would use a front end that'll let you navigate via your stick / button movement.  Just my .02 cents.

How about some shots of the screen in action? Are you happy with the composite input quality?  I've got an older TV that doesn't have svideo and sometimes wonder if I could put it to good use =P

Could we also get a closeup of your coin mech hack?
Rampy

[Justin]

The Crappy Missile Command cab conversion is complete!  Let me know what you think!

JT

http://www.licoricepizza.com/msdonkeyman.html

What did you use for the speaker grills?  Where di you buy this?

Great cab!

[JayTea]

Coin mech hack - I'll try to get a few pics today.

mame32 - No Particular Reason - other than that's what is on my other cab (I have a trackball hack on it, so no mouse is hanging).  Any FE suggestions are welcome.

Composite - The Flicker is very noticeable, especially when you go from my 27" S-Video Machine to the 21" composite.  But, if I start and finish on the Ms.DonkeyMan, the flicker is not as notieceable.  S-Video is far superior, but the TV was cheap, and that was the name of the game with this cab. It's going to be a gift, and I'm not loaded.  It will be perfect for a 10 year old, 6 year old, and 4 year old.  Did I mention The Mom and Dad??  

Speaker Grills - Were a part of the original cabinet, I just painted them and mounted a 4" X 4" platform behind them for the computer speakers.  On my other machine I went to the junkyard and got some car speaker grills for a dollar.

The Cab - Bought it at Superauctions in San Jose, CA in March of this year.  $20!

JT

[JayTea]

Coin mech hack - PICKS ARE UP!

http://www.licoricepizza.com/msdonkeyman.html
http://www.licoricepizza.com/fantastic4.html

The latter is prettier, but both are effective, and best of all - cheap!

[IceCold]

That "coin mech hack" is like exactly what I did, although I didn't think it was a hack(I've never seen a complete coin door before, just figured that's how they are   )  Although I used aluminum foil and some hot glue.

[AlanS17]

Anything involving aluminum foil and hot glue MUST be a hack.  

[IceCold]

Anything involving aluminum foil and hot glue MUST be a hack.  

yeah   , I just figured maybe originally gravity would make the coin touch the microswitch.  And I figured the wood just eventually warped and whatever, and now it wasn't aligned right, HeHe  

[spidermonkey]

Hmmm...  21" tv , composite video connection , eyes only a handfull of inches away from the screen.  Will you be including complimentary prescription glasses for the tikes ?   Whew.. I feel a headache coming on just thinking about it.  Actually I've never built a cab using a tv so I have nothing to go by but seriously do you ever experience eye strain with your s-video cab or is it just an old wives tale ?  I'm guessing that a tv probably resembles an actual arcade monitor more so then a pc monitor but wouldn't a tv be a little too taxing on the eyes. Again, I have nothing to go by because both my cabs have 22" diamond tron crt monitors with gray smoked lexan to cut down the pc monitor sharpness. I'd love to have a 27" display in my next cab but for cost reasons it won't sport a pc monitor so I'm thinking D9200 or 27" tv with s-video.  I'd love to here from anybody that has built cabs with both a tv and a pc monitor and their experiences with both displays. I'm afraid that if I listen to the recommendations of a guy who has only built a mame cab with a tv then he will say it looks great because he doesn't know any better since he's never played on a cab with a pc monitor.

[JayTea]

Hmmm...  21" tv , composite video connection , eyes only a handfull of inches away from the screen.  Will you be including complimentary prescription glasses for the tikes ?   Whew.. I feel a headache coming on just thinking about it.  Actually I've never built a cab using a tv so I have nothing to go by but seriously do you ever experience eye strain with your s-video cab or is it just an old wives tale ?

Its a wives tale.

The original monitor was a 19" GO7, so a 21"  TV is not like I threw a 50" Sony Vega in there.  I have an S-Video 27" TV on my other cab and I don't have any problems with headaches or eye soreness.   Really, what's the difference if the TV was big or small, you are still going to be the same distance away from a TV.  If the images were so big that you couldn't track them without turning your head, then you'd probably have a problem. The difference between a 25" CRT arcade monitor and a 27" TV w/S-video from 3.5 - 4 feet away is not that big a deal, especially when the vertical games get cropped by mame to fit the screen.  Horizontal games are awesome, too.  Believe me, you haven't played a game of MK3 unless you've done it on a big screen.

I have a 21 Inch Computer Monitor that does not give an accurate portrayal of the games, in my opinion, of course.  The picture is TOO good.  You can begin to see the sprites and the images of Donkey Kong, Pac man, and others  look very bit-mappish for my tastes, even with the scanlines feature.  I will admit that the composite is not the answer, but now having seen everything but Component TV, I like my S-Video solution.  Of course, nothing is more realistic than an arcade monitor, but TV's are generally cheaper and prior to ultimarc's Arcade VGA, a pain to hook up.

Just my 2 cents.  Of course, everyone's tastes are different.

[F|end]

Have any projects for the future?  

[Spaced Invader]

Hmmm...  21" tv , composite video connection , eyes only a handfull of inches away from the screen.  Will you be including complimentary prescription glasses for the tikes ?   Whew.. I feel a headache coming on just thinking about it.  Actually I've never built a cab using a tv so I have nothing to go by but seriously do you ever experience eye strain with your s-video cab or is it just an old wives tale ?  I'm guessing that a tv probably resembles an actual arcade monitor more so then a pc monitor but wouldn't a tv be a little too taxing on the eyes. Again, I have nothing to go by because both my cabs have 22" diamond tron crt monitors with gray smoked lexan to cut down the pc monitor sharpness. I'd love to have a 27" display in my next cab but for cost reasons it won't sport a pc monitor so I'm thinking D9200 or 27" tv with s-video.  I'd love to here from anybody that has built cabs with both a tv and a pc monitor and their experiences with both displays. I'm afraid that if I listen to the recommendations of a guy who has only built a mame cab with a tv then he will say it looks great because he doesn't know any better since he's never played on a cab with a pc monitor.

I haven't finished my cab yet, but feel qualified to comment of this since I play mame on both my monitor and TV (composite and S-video); and I habitually sit only a few inches away from the screen (mom was wrong, it won't make you go blind).  I have to agree TV is better (even composite). It's not just that the picture is bigger...it just looks better--more like the arcade.

Just my thoughts--opinions vary!  

[JayTea]

Have any projects for the future?  

I am in the process of converting a beat up (from what the current owner tells me) TMNT cab into a MAME cab.  I should pick up the cab next week sometime.  I already have the computer, and the guy I am building it for is purchasing a TV w s/video for it.  Should be done in a few weeks.  Pics will follow.