building a arcade machine

elexes

im looking to build or if i have to buy a arcade machine .

anyone got any sites that could be helpfull .
id like to actually buy a old case of one and do it up so i wouldnt have to build it

also what would the best type of pc to put in it and software to run on it . any sites that ppl know of thx

Kai

Hi,
its an idea ive been playing around with as well. heres a few links ive found, i think there was a thread on this earlier as well.


Classic cabinets - Not the best of guides on building your own cabinet but not too bad.

HApp - place you can buy controls / buttons

Thats only a small few of the sites ive seen but i didnt keep the bookmarks :dunno: - try google.

On the Operating side of things ive heard about ArcadeOS and theres also KnoppixMAME but i havent used either so i dont know what they are like.

Let me know how you get on.

l3rian

http://www.udc.co.uk/video/video_dx50.htm

buy Tokyo Wars - Deluxe, Daytona USA 2 - Deluxe, and Air Trix - Deluxe

watty

If it in a public place and/or you charge it needs a "gambling machine" type licence! Honest!

Furp

I found this link to Coin Express.

http://www.coinopexpress.com/products/machines.html

They sell cabinets/parts full machines and other arcade type stuff they have prices and you can even view these in Euros.

The Harley Davidson machine looks cool, in two versions a $2000 & $6000 full ride on version..

wild_eyed

The following will supply you with a decent video card that will automatically cobvert your pc's output and display it on a 15 kh monitor.

www.ultimarc.com they also do j pacs, which will help with your control set up.

i use both in my cab.

also,

im running command line mame, with the mamewah frontend.

some good forums exist here, www.mameworld.com

best of luck.
im bored of mine!

thesteve

i've just put the finishing touch on my cabinet, the site that hekped me the most would have been http://www.arcadecontrols.com/arcade.htm

they have everything you'll need, information wise

my machine is a p3 550, 256MB Ram, 10GB HD, it's set to boot to DOS and uses DosMame and ArcadeOS

it can't play mortal kombat or anything high graphics (8MB video card) but handles all the old classics well

if you have any questions, feel free to pm me

steve

watty

I once offfered to convert my attic to a StarTrek style "bridge" with all the displays really being built in PCs. I thought it would be the ulitimate Arcade Experience.

But the Kids said they beyond that and would rather have the PCs in Bedrooms, Dinning room etc etc. We have up to 8 on our LAN with a Server in the Attic. All the old classic Freeware and Shareware DOS games are on a "share" from the Server. Some of the old Win3.1 games are too. I had a Linux server also and for a while they ran X-Windows application in MS Windows to run the Linux games on that server.

zilog_jones

Originally posted by thesteve
it can't play mortal kombat or anything high graphics (8MB video card) but handles all the old classics well

Er, with emulation the graphics card doesn't really make much of difference (as long as it's at least 8MB and not some crappy on-board thingy), unless you're using Direct3D filtering or some other swanky stuff like that. Though a PIII 550MHz wouldn't be great for some newer stuff - I have a Celeron 366 (o/c'd to 412MHz) and that struggles in MAME with things like Out Run and Neo Geo games (though Neo Geo games work fine in Kawaks).

Your motherboard should be able to take up to 1GHz PIIIs if you can get one off ebay or somewhere - maybe even up to 1.2GHz if it can take Tualitin CPUs. But watch out for the two main different types of PIII's - the Slot 1 (a big card-like thing) and the Socket 370 (normal shaped flat chip).

thesteve

they work fine through windows but running it from DOS causes some problems.... it plays all the neo geo games no probs though...

i put the PC together from spare parts I had lying around and couldn't be bothered looking for a faster chip (thanks for the advice but I know the difference between processors) , when I go to upgrade it when I get bored of the 344 games I have on it, I'll replace the motherbaord and processor altoghther

BLITZ_Molloy

From the examples I've read about on ArcadeControls.com it seems to be alot cheaper to buy a used cab than build one from scratch.

You don't really need a very new PC to run 99% of games. A machine with a 1ghz processor is enough and you can get away with one half as fast if you use an older version of MAME.

thesteve

that may be so, but don't forget that it's an american site and they would have a much larger pool of old arcades/sources o cabinets than we would..... the wood for my cabinet cost 60 euro and I knew someone with the tools and the know how to put it together... this gave me the ability to draw up and customise a design exactly the way I wanted it, plus the added satisfaction of knowing that I built it

watty

Originally posted by thesteve
that may be so, but don't forget that it's an american site and they would have a much larger pool of old arcades/sources o cabinets than we would..... the wood for my cabinet cost 60 euro and I knew someone with the tools and the know how to put it together... this gave me the ability to draw up and customise a design exactly the way I wanted it, plus the added satisfaction of knowing that I built it

That's the spirit!

elexes

thx for the links etc..

my brother went to school with a some guy whois parents own dr. qurkies (sp) ive asked him to bug the lad about old broken cab's that i could maby take off there hands for lil or no cash . i know its prob never going to happen but its worth a try .

as for the os im going to have it installed on im not sure atm. but ive got the components that ill be using for it well mostly still have to decide on a good graphics card but i have a p3 550 with about 256 mb of ram lying around that i can commit to the project

TinCool

Anyone recommend a good arcade controller that'll plug straight in to a PC ?

TinCool

After spending yesterday trawling through various different sites on arcade cabinets and controllers, I went ahead and ordered the x-arcade 2 player control unit. Can't wait to get it. Myself and my mate are gonna relive our mis-spent youth, double dragon, bubble bobble, super sprint, the list goes on and on.

Also, found that my graphics card has s-video out, hooked it up to my widescreen TV and it looks so much better than on the monitor, less crisp like an arcade should be. Gonna get a crappy 21" TV for dedicated mame'ing.

Looking in to making a cocktail cabinet. An upright whould just be heaven but it's a massive job and wouldn't have any space to keep one. Found a great site that do cocktail cabinet kits for as little as $200. Going to send a mail to them to see if they can personalise it to take the x-arcade controllers.

thesteve

don't forget to ask them if it'll take a 21" TV aswell!

clonedmonkey

these 2 links are all you need:

http://mame.velociworks.com/

http://www.webbpickersgill.com/mame/

enjoy, and goodluck

HacksawEddie

sweeeet, imagine growing up in an arcade, tht dude's probably a machine!