I've been doing a good amount of reading into building a mame cabinet and am at the point where I am starting to collect all the pieces for the project. I had read that most people either use a hacked up keyboard or a keyboard encoder such as the ipac. I really want to build a 4 player cabinet (nba jam and x-men! ) but also do it on a budget. The hacked keyboard sounds like a real PiTA especially with the issues that can arise with so many buttons being pressed at once, but an encoder that can handle 4 players runs about $80 after shipping. Basically I was wondering if hacking 4 inexpensive USB gamepads would work, and if not what other options I would have. Also, if anyone has built a mame cabinet on here I would love to see some pics and am open to any suggetions or input you may have.

Thanks!

4/8/2007 2:44:34 AM

http://www.snotmonkey.com/articles/build-your-own-usb-control-panel/

I did the keyboard hack first and it SUCKED, this is what I ended up with and it worked like a champ.

4/8/2007 3:48:16 AM

im looking for a mame cabnit from here or from somewhere else.

4/8/2007 4:45:32 AM

thanks for the input noen, thats almost exactly what i was thinking of doing minus the project box which is a great idea.

4/8/2007 9:28:44 PM

Hacked up keyboard isn't worth the time. I used the ipac and it worked great, so I would recommend that, especially if you want a bunch of players. Plus finding the right keyboard to do it on now is pretty tough, got to dig up an older style one.

4/9/2007 11:24:20 AM

this is the coolest idea i've seen in a while, i'm so making one

4/9/2007 1:24:08 PM

http://www.pauljensen.org/MAMEd/index.html

my MAME cabinet pics with ipac control panel underneath

[Edited on April 9, 2007 at 9:16 PM. Reason : .]

4/9/2007 9:14:30 PM

nice bous! I just ordered ordered 2 joysticks and a bunch of buttons to get this project started. wish me luck

4/10/2007 2:17:35 AM

http://www.snotmonkey.com/articles/pac-man-arcade-cabinet-restoration/
http://www.snotmonkey.com/gallery/projects/arcade/

There's mine too

4/10/2007 9:26:28 AM

ive seen it if anyone wants to touch me. this does seem like a fun project though.

4/10/2007 1:52:11 PM

^^that is damn nice

4/10/2007 7:06:06 PM

Noen's is definately nice if he still has the same one I looked at a while back...

I have 2 cabinets now and plan on building another one from scratch instead of using old cabinets... it's gonna be a cadillac

[Edited on April 10, 2007 at 8:31 PM. Reason : ]

4/10/2007 8:31:17 PM

i think noen sold his for $texas

4/10/2007 8:38:45 PM

how hard would you rank it for someone without a ton of electrical type stuff knowledge. im pretty handy so im not worried about piecing shit together or building the cabnit (plus i was csc so standard comp building shouldnt be hard)

4/10/2007 9:05:11 PM

only takes time it's not hard

4/10/2007 9:55:42 PM

figured it was mainly just a computer in a box with a jerry-rigged keyboard, but wasnt sure. might take it up this summer.

4/10/2007 9:59:52 PM

well i got my first controller hacked up and it was a royal PiTA due to the fact that the solder points on the various buttons were tiny. I'm glad i only bought one of those pads otherwise id be ready to shoot myself.

4/11/2007 3:02:57 AM

does anyone have a link to a good, easy to set up (or already set up) front end, or whatever the program is called that gives the rom list a nice UI.

4/12/2007 2:43:42 AM

good luck with that. I spent a solid week configuring my frontend to where I liked it. I know bous spent a lot of time on his too.

I can't even remember what I used now, but there are several really good ones out there.

4/12/2007 10:10:39 AM

How much profit did you get on the MAME box, noen?

4/12/2007 12:56:16 PM

none. I sold it for just above my material cost. I also spent a ridiculous amount of time on the details. Got rid of it because I was moving, and I did it for the experience, I don't really place video games.

4/12/2007 12:59:35 PM

Built about 3 years ago.

4/12/2007 3:36:53 PM

finished cutting the control panel today

4/17/2007 6:01:17 PM

I'd recommend adding a 4 way joystick for pacman and such games... gets annoying using the 8 way joysticks with those games...

Or you could build a separate control panel you could mount/unmount easily (with a spinner, trackball, 2x 4 way setups, etc.)

4/17/2007 8:23:32 PM

i think i will eventually go the 2 control panel route, but for now i really just want a cab that can play nba jam, x-men, and games from that era. either way its been a lot of fun so far, i can't wait to finish though

4/17/2007 8:52:44 PM

the 2 cabinets i've built have been 2 player. i'm going to build one towards the end of the summer with a large tv that will allow for hdtv output from the pc and 4 players with multiple control panels.

your cp looks nice.

4/17/2007 9:09:18 PM

simpsons + xmen = no need for other games. maybe a street fighter or tekken to round it out.

4/17/2007 9:59:40 PM

when i finally get around to making one i'm going to do a rotating control panel



also http://arcade.tomvanhorn.com/

4/17/2007 10:08:31 PM

i dont think ill need a flight yoke for much

4/17/2007 10:15:39 PM

Quote :

"simpsons + xmen = no need for other games. maybe a street fighter or tekken to round it out"

my thoughts exactly.

as far as cutting out the side panels what do yall recommend? I was thinking about stacking 2 sheets of MDF on top of each other and clamping them together so they were exactly the same? or is that a bad idea?

4/18/2007 4:16:04 AM

cut one pannel. use it as a template to route out the other pannel with a flush trim router bit.

4/18/2007 8:17:04 AM

^yep

or wait for the video game auction in Winston Salem and go pick up a cabinet for 50 bucks

4/18/2007 9:20:53 AM

Quote :

"cut one pannel. use it as a template to route out the other pannel with a flush trim router bit."

anyone have a router with a flush trim router bit/slot cutting bit i could borrow/rent?

first side done


[Edited on April 18, 2007 at 1:49 PM. Reason : ]

4/18/2007 1:44:55 PM

if you dont have a hand router, just trace a line on the next piece and sand it flush where you are a little off

4/18/2007 2:03:48 PM

lookin good so far

you may want a footkick niche on it though

4/18/2007 2:52:09 PM

Quote :

"lookin good so far you may want a footkick niche on it though"

is that like an indentation at the bottom of the cab?

4/18/2007 6:42:05 PM

yep, that's what i meant

[Edited on April 18, 2007 at 7:29 PM. Reason : i like making up names for things]

4/18/2007 7:28:56 PM

no need to cut that out of the side, he can put that in with a recessed kick plate just across the front.

4/18/2007 7:45:25 PM

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11187859

4/18/2007 8:43:01 PM

pffft 3 games for 3k, no thnx

4/18/2007 8:51:38 PM

xmen/simpsons/fighter would be worth it.

[Edited on April 18, 2007 at 9:18 PM. Reason : fighter could be replaced with old gauntlet or golden axe as well.]

4/18/2007 9:18:19 PM

gonna fit through doors?

4/19/2007 10:00:15 PM

i cant figure out wtf i'm doing with mamewah, can anyone recommend anything more user friendly as far as front ends?

4/20/2007 1:35:14 AM

couple updates...





camera is being weird atm, hope to have it up and running in a week.

6/5/2007 9:24:42 AM

looks good so far man, keep on truckin!

6/5/2007 11:51:43 AM

awesome... screen is way too small imo

6/5/2007 10:47:10 PM

yeah i totally agree, i need to ask my room mate if i can stick his 25" in there until he gets back to raleigh.

6/5/2007 11:36:05 PM

just got my new cabinet up and running using GameEx.

kick-ass frontend... does as much for you as possible as long as you have the roms and artwork for the emulators.

7z support for all emulators through it if you donate $25.

7/24/2007 11:10:01 AM