I have a few ideas but am I crazy? (COMPLETE NEWBIE)

[IronBuddha]

I've been into mame now for a while and I'm really wanting to build a cabinet (not from scratch) but here's my plan:
I bumped into a guy that rents out arcade machines and he's willing to sell me a completely empty cabinet for $25, I have a computer that I don't use anymore except for mame, the computer has a graphics card with a S-video out I use to play on my tv so my plan so far is to put the computer into the cab, get maybe a 27 inch tv with S-video put that into the cab and connect the tv to the computer. Is this a stupid way of going?
Another let back I'm having is controls, I really don't want to use something like X-arcade and throw it in there, building the panel isn't a prob, I'm decent at something like that but also have plenty of help in case needed but I haven't found anything that shows you details of wiring etc. I found stuff on Ebay that "supposedly" teaches you everything you need to know to build a mame cab but are they worth it?
I'm not sure when I'm getting a cab, the guy said he'll check and let me know the next time I see him, I did make sure to ask him (for preservations sake) that the cab isn't anything from a classic game or anything like that and he assured me that it'll more likely just be a completely black big empty box.
Like I've mentioned I'm completely new to building a cab I was hoping to get advise and share my experience as I go along to building it.

[TripppsK]

Your best bet would be to go to arcadecontrols.com. You can get all the information you need there.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

If I have any advice to supply it's this - make sure that the "empty cabinet" that you get isn't something from before 1984 (Pac-Man, Dig-Dug, Centipede, etc.) - and if it IS, make sure it isn't in any type of high-grade/excellent condition, or else any modifications you do to it (outside of full restoration to original working condition) will be considered "very very bad" by the classic arcade enthusiast/collector/restoration/preservation community.

A modern cabinet would likely provide larger monitor space and more control area space for multiplayer games anyway.

In addition to Arcadecontrols.com, www.ultimarc.com (http://www.ultimarc.com) provides pretty comprehensive wiring instructions for it's iPac boards, which seem to be the simplest way to wire custom buttons/joysticks/spinners/trackballs to a CPU based MAME cabinet.

[InsaneDavid]

If I have any advice to supply it's this - make sure that the "empty cabinet" that you get isn't something from before 1984 (Pac-Man, Dig-Dug, Centipede, etc.) - and if it IS, make sure it isn't in any type of high-grade/excellent condition, or else any modifications you do to it (outside of full restoration to original working condition) will be considered "very very bad" by the classic arcade enthusiast/collector/restoration/preservation community.

:deadhorse:

[anagrama]

I found stuff on Ebay that "supposedly" teaches you everything you need to know to build a mame cab but are they worth it?


Rest assured, there's no information you won't be able to find on the net if you look around for it - and it won't have been cobbled together in 5 minutes by someone looking to make a quick buck...

[IronBuddha]

If I have any advice to supply it's this - make sure that the "empty cabinet" that you get isn't something from before 1984 (Pac-Man, Dig-Dug, Centipede, etc.) - and if it IS, make sure it isn't in any type of high-grade/excellent condition, or else any modifications you do to it (outside of full restoration to original working condition) will be considered "very very bad" by the classic arcade enthusiast/collector/restoration/preservation community.

A modern cabinet would likely provide larger monitor space and more control area space for multiplayer games anyway.

In addition to Arcadecontrols.com, www.ultimarc.com (http://www.ultimarc.com) provides pretty comprehensive wiring instructions for it's iPac boards, which seem to be the simplest way to wire custom buttons/joysticks/spinners/trackballs to a CPU based MAME cabinet.

I'm making sure the cabinet isn't anything important. Like I've said the guy told me it'll probably just be a big empty black box.
Thanks for the input, I'm about to check out the sites you guys told me to go to, I'll stay posted on how everything goes.

[Flack]

Your best bet would be to go to arcadecontrols.com. You can get all the information you need there.

There are also plenty of people right here at DP who are willing to help!

As for the IronBuddha, I'm not really sure if there is a question in there or not. So far your plan sounds valid -- go for it. There are lots of people here who have done the same thing and would be glad to help you any step of the way.

[IronBuddha]

As for the IronBuddha, I'm not really sure if there is a question in there or not.


I was wanting to know if using a TV was a good idea or not and also about finding step by step plans on building a control panel.


So far your plan sounds valid -- go for it.

Cool that's what I was wanting to know :)


There are lots of people here who have done the same thing and would be glad to help you any step of the way.

Awesome! I need to bump into that guy again (I should have gotten his phone#) and get the ball rolling once I talk to him. He told me he can help me out with the controls, he'll hook me with buttons and controllers at a great price, he can build the controls for actual arcade cabinets but I'll find out if he knows how to set it up for a computer.

I'll keep posting as I make progress, I'll just need a little time to bump into that guy:-/

[Flack]

I was wanting to know if using a TV was a good idea or not and also about finding step by step plans on building a control panel.

A television is a good choice, in my opinion. It looks much more authentic than a computer monitor, and is a lot simpler/less expensive to do than using a real arcade monitor.

One thing I think you should check into is an I-Pac. Once you see one I think a lot of your control questions will fall into place. One side of the unit has a bunch of contacts that you can wire real arcade buttons and joysticks into. The other side connects to a PC either through USB or a PS2 connection. This will allow you to control MAME games with real arcade controls.

Take a couple of hours and browse some of the MAME cabinets on BYOAC. Many of them documented their building experiences.

http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade_newbie1.php

[IronBuddha]

One thing I think you should check into is an I-Pac. Once you see one I think a lot of your control questions will fall into place. One side of the unit has a bunch of contacts that you can wire real arcade buttons and joysticks into. The other side connects to a PC either through USB or a PS2 connection. This will allow you to control MAME games with real arcade controls.


I saw those and thought the same thing, it didn't look hard at all. Even if the guy isn't familiar with an I-Pac I'll just ask him to build the control panel and just leave the wiring alone and I'll connect them to the I-Pac myself. As soon as I bump into him I'll know exactly where I stand, I need to remember to ask my boss tomorrow if he has that guy's phone# since he rents the arcade machines to my boss.