Planning out my cocktail cabinet conversion to MAME

[chadtower]

I'm just beginning the planning for the conversion of a cocktail cabinet I picked up this week. I'm definitely going with an ArcadeVGA and Ipac (both available at ultimarc.com). I am not decided yet as to whether an Optipac is either desirable or feasable on a cocktail sized control panel.

This is where I'm asking for opinions. Given that this is a cocktail cab (a control panel on either side of the table), what control layout would you want to have for MAME? At this point I'm thinking one stick and 5-6 buttons. I'm not sure I can fit a lot more than that without clutter.

Another question, for those who've done this before, is how do you handle the need for different types of sticks? I've experienced firsthand what it's like to try and play pacman with an 8way stick and it's not fun... but then again, there are probably a lot more 8way games than 4way games.

[bensenvill]

rather than starting a new thread for a simple question, I just wanted to tag in on this.

what can I expect to pay to setup a mame cabnet. I'm very handy with tools and I have the spare computer equipement.

just curious, thanks,
TJ

[chadtower]

It depends on what type of cabinet you want. Usually the big expense, at least at first, is the monitor. Tell me what type of cabinet you want and what size monitor, whether or not you want to do it up artistically, and I can give you a better idea.

[Anonymous]

I bought my cabinet (an upright Marvel Vs. Capcom) for 300, then sold the CPS2 board for 175, so that came out to 125, and I got a complete cabinet with 25" monitor. That's probably the best way to do it. But if you check with your local Arcade Distributer (listed under Amusement in the phone book), Sometimes they will have older cabinets that they will give away or sell cheap. The monitors themselves you can purchase separately through Wells-Gardner, and they range from 300-900 depending on the size and model. check out Happ (http://www.happcontrols.com/). They've got everything from joysticks and buttons to monitors for sale, which will give you an idea of what you're going to spend.

The only thing you absolutely need to buy is either a Jpac, or a Jpac and an ArcadeVGA card. Lots of people prefer both a Jpac and an ArcadeVGA card because the ArcadeVGA will let you use WinXP on an Arcade Monitor. And I can attest to the difficulty of doing it without one (I'm using a standard ATI Radeon, the alternative). The Jpac will amplify the signal from your PC video card to the Arcade Monitor, and also has inputs for player 1 and player 2 to be wired; The Jpac is the ideal solution if you have a JAMMA harness in your cabinet. If not, then you'll want an Ipac. All these items are found at Ultimarc, and range in price from 50 to 85 dollars.

Depending on how much restoration you are doing, the cost will go up from there. I did a minimal amount of restoration on my cabinet (replacing a couple of buttons and the cam locks on the coin door, and a defective coin mech), and the total including a Jpac and the cabinet ran me around 225. You can check out the full story at my MAME Cabinet Journal in the emulation forum:

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21847

In regards to your question, CT, Right now I'm just using a standard 8-way. So far it has played four way games like Donkey Kong and Pac Man just fine. I remember trying it on a D-Pad, and especially on DK it sucked (Mario would stop climbing up ladders and stuff like that), but with the 8-way joystick, That doesn't seem to be as much of a problem. I can play those games just fine, but it's still not a perfect solution.

[chadtower]

Anotherfluke, I have seen problems with 8ways in a 4way game. I have an arcade controller using Hagstrom's KE72 controller. Using that, if you try and use an 8way to play pacman, you can barely clear a couple of levels. Playing Donkey Kong is nearly impossible because as you said, he stops moving when you get a diagonal signal in there. I don't know how well the jpac will take care of this...

BUT maybe there is a better solution than two sticks.

http://www.groovygamegear.com/page14.html

Take a look at that one, someone just pointed me to. This one, if of good quality, could be the solution.

[Anonymous]

If you get one of those, let me know how it works. Personally I prefer having the Bat Stick on 8-way games and the Ball Stick on 4 way games, but when space is a concern, that could be the second coming right there. Let me know how that goes. Also, My Happ controller lets me play DK and Pac Man well enough, but I was thinking maybe it had something to do with the version of MAME. Perhaps they 'fixed' that problem?

[bensenvill]

anotherfluke
HUGE, thanks guys, thats everything I wanted to know and much much more. I really dont want to hijack chadtower's thread because it sounds like you have a great project going.

(not looking for feedback but I was looking into the idea of converting a cocktail table to replace my computer desk/have some mame functionality. I got a real nice 21' monitor I would like to strip and build in, and hopefully find a way to discretely build in a retractible tray for my mouse and keyboard, maybe a modified one off an old laptop for size. Just shooting ideas around at this point)

[chadtower]

anotherfluke
HUGE, thanks guys, thats everything I wanted to know and much much more. I really dont want to hijack chadtower's thread because it sounds like you have a great project going.

Don't worry about hijacking. Your ideas are close enough to the topic that you could inadvertantly trigger an interstellar war (erm, I mean spur a comment that I incorporate into my own project).

[Flack]

what can I expect to pay to setup a mame cabnet. I'm very handy with tools and I have the spare computer equipement.

I got an old Donkey Kong Jr. cabinet that had been converted to Bloxeed for free. The problem was a bad monitor. I bought a 21" computer monitor at an auction for $80. I bought a 2ghz machine (read: overkill) motherboard, chip, fan and onboard video and sound for $100. I already had a hard drive, and the software is free. I also bought an iPac for around $40. That puts me around $220 so far, and when I'm done I'm going to sell the JAMMA harness and Bloxeed mobo/marquee on eBay and regain some of my cost. I'm using the 8 way joysticks that were in the cabinet and am going to just use the 3 buttons per player right now. In a month or so I'll probably add a few more buttons, but really most of what I want to play uses 3 buttons or less.

I'll be one of the people with a MAME diary soon, but unfortunately I took the easy way out in almost every avenue so there's not much to tell on mine.

[bensenvill]

anotherfluke
HUGE, thanks guys, thats everything I wanted to know and much much more. I really dont want to hijack chadtower's thread because it sounds like you have a great project going.

Don't worry about hijacking. Your ideas are close enough to the topic that you could inadvertantly trigger an interstellar war (erm, I mean spur a comment that I incorporate into my own project).

I wanted to tread cautiosly on this one. I've been posting too much "after bar time" where some of my words have been misinterpreted.

So if I can get people to throw in approximate prices for parts they mention, I'll be happy as a cat (Just trying to guage what I can afford to make it more than a computer inside a cocktail table).

thanks
Tj

[chadtower]

Well, my project has just been shelved completely and for the forseeable future. See this thread:

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23463

So, have fun guys, I'll be watching with extreme envy and blue mameballs while looking at the cocktail cab in my basement.