Arcade machine noob!

smithy1981

Ok, ive decided to build my own machine and i figure i need to get a screen and the pc first.
I'm on a budget so will be getting them second hand, the machine will be used to play, MAME, nes, snes, sega emulators etc, nothing too demanding.

So im wondering what kind of pc ill need, it'll be running xp and ive heard mame will make use of a second core so was wondering if its worth my while getting a duel cpu. What would be a good spec for the kind of games ill be playing and what kind of money should i expect to pay for this stuff second hand?

sry for all the stupid questions but im really a novice at this

thanks, jamie

Pyongyang

keithgeo or Adultappleflavouredbeveragemale are your keys to success here chief.

smithy1981

Pyongyang wrote: »

keithgeo or Adultappleflavouredbeveragemale are your keys to success here chief.

Took me ages to cop what you were on about ha, i'll await their reply, thx.
I'll probably wreck their heads tho as ive quite a few questions to ask

Pyongyang

Well, one has been lavishly slaving away on his cab build since the battle of the Somme. The other has a funtastic Ikea cab which might be more down your street if you require wife/husband/gf/bf approval.

...or just hound your one until they cave in on the provisio you'll buy them endless supplies of bags and Chistopher Le Biggins (or whatever they are called) shoes. :pac:

smithy1981

Dont require any approval as im sharing the apartment with a friend who also loves gaming. It'll mainly be used when friends call for a few drinks over the weekend, darts and jenga are getting boring

Another friend is giving me plywood for the cabinet so ive that covered too.

Optimus Prime

Pyongyang wrote: »

Well, one has been lavishly slaving away on his cab build since the battle of the Somme.

Haha ..

any questions just ask, the spec of the pc will depend on the frontend you are using with mame (if any), take a look at hyperspin or maximus arcade. Hyperspin is better but the menu system it uses is a hog on a pcs resources.

Have a flick to my arcade thread here, it might answer a couple of questions, mine is nearly finished.... ive said that before though!

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056152726

safetyboy

Wheres the best place to get a jamma harness as my poker machine is rotten on the insides, i wanna clean it up and get the xbox to jamma running properly1

smithy1981

keithgeo wrote: »

Haha ..

any questions just ask, the spec of the pc will depend on the frontend you are using with mame (if any), take a look at hyperspin or maximus arcade. Hyperspin is better but the menu system it uses is a hog on a pcs resources.

Have a flick to my arcade thread here, it might answer a couple of questions, mine is nearly finished.... ive said that before though!

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056152726

Thx, i see you went with maximus, is that because hyperspin is such a hog??

What kind of spec is needed if i dont bother with a front end?

Was also thinking of making a door at the front of the cabinet and just throwing in my gaming rig when i use it (until i can afford descent components) I could make it a duel boot machine and set windows on 1 partition like the way you set up yours. This a good or bad idea?

The controller panel is another place im undecided, epically after looking at your pics I might get a premade one. Was looking at the 2 player x-arcade tankthingy but its a bit expensive. Is there cheaper good alternatives??

Optimus Prime

i dunno, its cheaper to do the control panel yourself i think. I didnt like the look of those tank things, I wanted an arcade cab that looked like an arcade cab, not a press with an xarcade stuck on it.

i ended up rebuilding my pc with windows 7 64bit 8gigs of ram, in a dual core pc. I also went with hyperspin in the end, its really brilliant when running right. if your not using a front end then any old pc will do. mame emulates games using software not hardware, so as long as you can fit them on the hard drive they will run fine. pc only comes into play when you are looking at a frontend.

smithy1981

keithgeo wrote: »

i dunno, its cheaper to do the control panel yourself i think. I didnt like the look of those tank things, I wanted an arcade cab that looked like an arcade cab, not a press with an xarcade stuck on it.

i ended up rebuilding my pc with windows 7 64bit 8gigs of ram, in a dual core pc. I also went with hyperspin in the end, its really brilliant when running right. if your not using a front end then any old pc will do. mame emulates games using software not hardware, so as long as you can fit them on the hard drive they will run fine. pc only comes into play when you are looking at a frontend.

Thx, i think ill use my gaming rig until i can afford something decent. How much did you pay for all the buttons, wiring, i-pac etc..

Your cab is looking great too btw

The Last Bandit

I'm working on another one at the moment (cus 2 just isn't enough is it).
Using a lowish spec mini-itx motherboard with a Intel i3 core, 2GB ram and its plenty fast enough for any emulators I've thrown at it.
No problems with Hyperspin & XBMC either.

unky chop chop

smithy1981 wrote: »

The controller panel is another place im undecided, epically after looking at your pics I might get a premade one. Was looking at the 2 player x-arcade tankthingy but its a bit expensive. Is there cheaper good alternatives??

Please for the love of god don't go near an x-arcade.
They look like crap,they're pricey and terrible to play with.
It's like putting loads of work into a masterpiece and then heaving a steaming turd upon it and letting it dry in.

look at http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/
and
http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick.html

Also these layout demisions are great...

http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/layout.html
Get a bit of mdf and pop sanwa/seimitsu buttons in and wire up.
If you've done the rest it shouldn't be hard,and if you have are like me and can't work with wood to save your life just give the design to a pro and let him do it

Optimus Prime

smithy1981 wrote: »

Thx, i think ill use my gaming rig until i can afford something decent. How much did you pay for all the buttons, wiring, i-pac etc..

Your cab is looking great too btw

Buttons joystiqs are cheap enough, cant remember how much i paid. you can get some off arcademachines.ie or ultimarc.com - I got my iPac off Ultimarc.com too.

smithy1981

unky chop chop wrote: »

Please for the love of god don't go near an x-arcade.
They look like crap,they're pricey and terrible to play with.
It's like putting loads of work into a masterpiece and then heaving a steaming turd upon it and letting it dry in.

look at http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/
and
http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick.html

Also these layout demisions are great...

http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/layout.html
Get a bit of mdf and pop sanwa/seimitsu buttons in and wire up.
If you've done the rest it shouldn't be hard,and if you have are like me and can't work with wood to save your life just give the design to a pro and let him do it

I'm useless with wood, but my friend thats supplying the plywood is great and he'll be doing all the woodwork for me (except sanding,painting, etc)

After reading up on the buttons etc ill be taking your advice, ill probably order the sanwa buttons etc and the ipac next weekend.

My friend has 8x4 3/4" sheets of plywood, how many do you think ill need?

And im also gonna work off keithgeo's plans as i think its a good size.

keithgeo: what size screen are you using?

Id also like a working coin machine, ive seen one for about 35 euro i think, but its ugly as fcuk, anyone know of alternatives?

Thanks again for the help.

defenderdude

smithy1981 wrote: »

I'm useless with wood, but my friend thats supplying the plywood is great and he'll be doing all the woodwork for me (except sanding,painting, etc)

After reading up on the buttons etc ill be taking your advice, ill probably order the sanwa buttons etc and the ipac next weekend.

My friend has 8x4 3/4" sheets of plywood, how many do you think ill need?
And im also gonna work off keithgeo's plans as i think its a good size.

keithgeo: what size screen are you using?

Id also like a working coin machine, ive seen one for about 35 euro i think, but its ugly as fcuk, anyone know of alternatives?

Thanks again for the help.

Regarding the plywood - good selection. Three 8' by 4' sheets should be perfect.
Plywood will last longer than MDF and is lighter and easier to work with regarding cutting, routing etc. however, the "finish" you're after - might make it more or less suitable than MDF...

Alot of early 80's games tended to be built from marine plywood (of most interest to me were defender uprights) and are still as good and strong today 30+ years later, but many more were made from chipboard and simply crumbled.

In my opinion, the main drawback against MDF is at 3/4" - it weighs a flippin tonne, which for a big cab is not a great thing when it comes to transport etc. The extra weight tends to hammer the living shote outta the cabs which can get very wooly and crappy with impact. MDF isnt great when it comes to water either.
I built an exact replica of my defender a number of years back. Was going to go the mdf route until I looked a bit closer and saw the original was ply. Spoke to a few guys in the wood manufacturing and furniture industry and all recommended ply for strength and durability.
In my case - the original defenders had the ply woodgrain visible in the paint finish - hence the use of ply was my obvious choice. Essentially, if you have ply - go for it, but if you're after a high gloss smooth flat finish - be aware you will have likely the wood grain comming through - even after spray fillers, primers and finishes. (In which case get laminated mfd sheets...)

I can post a few pics of the process if you are interested.

smithy1981

The ply is free so ill be using that, keithgeo's pics almost made me change my mind but my budget says different.

If you could post a few pics, that would be great, im trying to learn as much as possible.

My carpenter friend is calling tomorrow to have a look at the design etc, ill know more then, cheers.

CathalDublin

If you've space in the cab I'd go CRT(tv or arcade) over LCD anyday

smithy1981

CathalDublin wrote: »

If you've space in the cab I'd go CRT(tv or arcade) over LCD anyday

Is that solely for the retro look of the games or another reason? I was going for a 19" but I'm thinking of going a bit bigger now.

o1s1n

smithy1981 wrote: »

Is that solely for the retro look of the games or another reason? I was going for a 19" but I'm thinking of going a bit bigger now.

LCDs do the job and also make the cab nice and light...but if you want it to truely look like an arcade cab running arcade games, you need a CRT. LCDs just don't look right.

sham69

Has to be CRT.
When I built mine I tried LCD and it was just too clear.
I am building one now for my niece and using LCD, it will be fine for her but i wouldn't have been happy with it.

CathalDublin

Play your favorite arcade game on an LCD then play it on a CRT. The difference is massive
I recently played bubble bobble on an LCD and couldn't believe the difference.
The CRT looks far better, now I've never tried scan lines so I can't comment on how good they make it

Optimus Prime

CRT looks a million times more authentic, but! Im using an lcd in this cab, because i have one, its 21" and the girlfriend wants to run a jukebox on the cab too so i need the app to run in high resolution, now i have a scan lines thing running on it, and it looks great to me. as good as arcade as your going to get without buying a proper crt. i went down the road of trying a TV with an arcadevga card, but it didnt work out too well, the tv was cutting the top and bottom off some games. you really need to get a real crt arcade monitor if you dont have anything (jukebox) keeping you from it.

smithy1981

keithgeo wrote: »

CRT looks a million times more authentic, but! Im using an lcd in this cab, because i have one, its 21" and the girlfriend wants to run a jukebox on the cab too so i need the app to run in high resolution, now i have a scan lines thing running on it, and it looks great to me. as good as arcade as your going to get without buying a proper crt. i went down the road of trying a TV with an arcadevga card, but it didnt work out too well, the tv was cutting the top and bottom off some games. you really need to get a real crt arcade monitor if you dont have anything (jukebox) keeping you from it.

Yeah i want the jukebox too, the more i read the more i want

Thinking of following this guys plans with a 26-27" crt tv : http://arcadeparadise.org/arcade/ap3/index.htm

I cant afford the flight stick and a few more things on the control panel atm but im thinking of following the plans anyway and leave the space on the CP so i can cut the holes when i can afford the rest. Dunno if this is practical yet tho...And maybe add two pinball buttons to the side

Also going to use something like this http://www.arcadeshop.de/Coin-Mech-Coin-Mech-Front-02-EUR_889.html

Its ugly but its cheap

Optimus Prime

you will get a better one for that, i bought mine of arcademachines.ie, now i didnt buy the mech for it just the door, i only wanted it to look like a coin door rather than having a plain piece of wood on the front. think it cost 40 you can see pics of it in the thread i setup on here for mine.

smithy1981

Yeah that looks a hell of a lot better

Their website is down for the next few weeks, would i be able to just put one of these behind it and have a working coin slot? http://www.arcadeshop.de/Coin-Mech-Coin-Mech-35-02-EUR_903.html

Optimus Prime

yeh thats it i think, there is a holder thing on the back of the door i got and i think that just slots into it. it looks like the same size anyways.

defenderdude

Found a clatter of old pics from the replica build.
I actually used two sheets of 8 by 4 marine plywood.

I used my old original machine as a template for the new machine - simply lay down and got the exact outline, clamped the two panels together and my Dad used a disc saw to cut out the sides - both identical.;)

I used the remaining wood for the rest of the machine.

I dont want to spam this thread with pics but here's a few to show some of the process and showing the finish which shows the woodgrain of the ply. (not really very visible to be honest - just looks glossy and obvious under a flash).
There's also a link to more of them on photobucket.
Have fun!:)


















http://s303.photobucket.com/albums/nn149/PvtBogman/Defender%20Arcade%20Project/

CathalDublin

defenderdude wrote: »

Found a clatter of old pics from the replica build.
I actually used two sheets of 8 by 4 marine plywood.

I used my old original machine as a template for the new machine - simply lay down and got the exact outline, clamped the two panels together and my Dad used a disc saw to cut out the sides - both identical.;)

I used the remaining wood for the rest of the machine.

I dont want to spam this thread with pics but here's a few to show some of the process and showing the finish which shows the woodgrain of the ply. (not really very visible to be honest - just looks glossy and obvious under a flash).
There's also a link to more of them on photobucket.
Have fun!:)


















http://s303.photobucket.com/albums/nn149/PvtBogman/Defender%20Arcade%20Project/

WOW
You haven't any spare cheap defender parts for sale/swap have you?

smithy1981

Nice pics defender dude

Going to order my buttons and that later

Am i missing anything? and any advice on a trackball?

Also would ye recommend the long shafts?

Optimus Prime

I got the long shafts for mine because i was mounting the joysticks under the mdf not on top.

Plus you cant go wrong with a long shaft. :cool:

edit:You might need an arcadevga card too if you are using a crt?

edit2: they sell a joystick mounting kit too thats handy. look that up, its 4 things that you twist into the wood with an alan key then the screws go into these to screw in the joysticks.

http://www.ultimarc.com/controls.html#mountingkits

defenderdude

CathalDublin wrote: »

WOW
You haven't any spare defender parts for sale/swap have you?

I just sold a complete control panel (buttons, joystick and harness) and a full working defender boardset to a guy in the UK a number of months back. They were surplus stuff I had and needed a few quid at the time.

I think I have two CP's left but not sure about supply of boards - I'd have to go through them and see what's available.

I've no bezels, and maybe just a couple of marquee's (2 stargate's and a defender). I tended to dump original psu's and just use switchers - I might have a few sets of 4116's and 4164's but the could be gone too.

All the stuff I have has either been bought in from the UK or USA and as you probably know is not cheap or easy to get. That said - it's been sitting in storage for several years now and I still havent managed to get the time to make any more than 1 machine! It will probably go the mame route soon too...
I've a new mancave and the whole lot is moving out of storage in the next couple of weeks - big clearout and I'm sure I will have stuff to move.

Is there anything you're after in particular? Drop me a pm if you think I can help.

smithy1981

keithgeo wrote: »

I got the long shafts for mine because i was mounting the joysticks under the mdf not on top.

Plus you cant go wrong with a long shaft. :cool:

edit:You might need an arcadevga card too if you are using a crt?

edit2: they sell a joystick mounting kit too thats handy. look that up, its 4 things that you twist into the wood with an alan key then the screws go into these to screw in the joysticks.

http://www.ultimarc.com/controls.html#mountingkits

Yeah ill be using a 26" crt tv, will the arcadevga card run more modern games, is it easy to connect tot he tele?

CathalDublin

I have the ultimarc trackball and I wouldn't rate it very highly
While it works it isnt great for games like marble madness, centipeade, etc.
it doesn't seem quick enough

CathalDublin

smithy1981 wrote: »

Yeah ill be using a 26" crt tv, will the arcadevga card run more modern games, is it easy to connect tot he tele?

yep you can connect the rgb and sync feeds from the card to your RGB scart socket
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=77370.0
I've use a few different TV's in my arcade with good success, have a look for your TV manuals service manual online to get into the service settings like hotz/vertical positioning, etc

smithy1981

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/2M-SCART-VGA-SVGA-15-PIN-CABLE-LEAD-CONNECTOR-/170729204216?pt=UK_Computing_CablesConnectors_RL&hash=item27c040e9f8 ???

CathalDublin

smithy1981 wrote: »

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/2M-SCART-VGA-SVGA-15-PIN-CABLE-LEAD-CONNECTOR-/170729204216?pt=UK_Computing_CablesConnectors_RL&hash=item27c040e9f8 ???

You might be better off buying a vga breakout cable with the arcadevga and a scart socket and making your own as I've heard the resistors on the RGB lines make a huge difference, I've always used them so I cant comment on how it looks without

smithy1981

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/2M-6FT-ATLONA-VGA-COMPONENT-BREAKOUT-VIDEO-CABLE-/200623219682?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eb61363e2 ??

CathalDublin

well the 1st one would be your best of the 2 as I doubt your TV will have RGB phono sockets

smithy1981

CathalDublin wrote: »

well the 1st one would be your best of the 2 as I doubt your TV will have RGB phono sockets

Haha thx, im ****e at these things. I'm crap at soldering too so id be weary of doing it myself, can you buy the one your taking about premade?

Pyongyang

Check out Faginrs500's videos on YouTube if you want the lowdown on RGB, scanlines and anything related. He isn't dubbed The Godfather Of The Scanline for nothing! Seriously informative videos, well worth a couple of hours wading through his video archive I think. You'll learn tonnes.

horgan_p

On the subject of scan lines :

http://www.arcadeshop.de/product_info.php?item_number=1078&products_id=1050&language=en

anyone used one of these ? I'm re doing my mame cab as a jamma.
I have a spare 4:3 lcd screen , so i'm considering using one of the above with the lcd.

Pyongyang

Yes. I own one. Jochen at Arcadeforge is an absolute gent (buddies on G+ now ). The SLG is fantastic for newer screens. If you'd like to see it in action, check out a video I made last weekend, the day after visiting Andrew 'Greek Mother' 76 at his gaf.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPIeMR3ZGqw

smithy1981

defenderdude wrote: »

Found a clatter of old pics from the replica build.
I actually used two sheets of 8 by 4 marine plywood.

I used my old original machine as a template for the new machine - simply lay down and got the exact outline, clamped the two panels together and my Dad used a disc saw to cut out the sides - both identical.;)

I used the remaining wood for the rest of the machine.

I dont want to spam this thread with pics but here's a few to show some of the process and showing the finish which shows the woodgrain of the ply. (not really very visible to be honest - just looks glossy and obvious under a flash).
There's also a link to more of them on photobuck.
Have fun!:)

how many times did you
sand, paint and prime the thing?

Oh and is there many games that require the flight stick? Many of the two player?

I'll post up the final list later to see if im missing anything.

@keithgeo? will the arcadeavga card more play some modern games, such at PC fighting games etc. And are the joysticks mounts a necessity or personal prefrence??

defenderdude

smithy1981 wrote: »

how many times did you
sand, paint and prime the thing?

I was in the lucky position of working in the finishing industry - supplying coatings to the furniture and metal and plastics industry.

Primed twice with a black cellulose high build sanding filler - sprayed with a conventional gravity feed gun. The primer/filler was designed for mdf but worked very well on the ply.
Medium sand after the first coat with about 320 grit and then a lighter sanding after the second.

Finished with a single coat of low sheen two-pack polyurethane black (designed for the electronics and medicare industries).

If you need help when you get closer to the finishing stage - just shout. Be happy to assist in any way I can.

smithy1981

defenderdude wrote: »

I was in the lucky position of working in the finishing industry - supplying costings to the furniture and metal and plastics industry.

Primed twice with a black cellulose high build sanding filler - sprayed with a conventional gravity feed gun. The primer/filler was designed for mdf but worked very well on the ply.
Medium sand after the first coat with about 320 grit and then a lighter sanding after the second.

Finished with a single coat of low sheen two-pack polyurethane black (designed for the electronics and medicare industries).

If you need help when you get closer to the finishing stage - just shout. Be happy to assist in any way I can.

cheers appreciate that

smithy1981

Was just about to order these along with the vgacard, but the site is down, so it gives ya the chance to suggest better alternatives or tell me whats missing


Im also gonna order this in 2 week unless i can sore a second-hand one with similar specs

Motherboard: Asus M5A78L-M LE - €45.89
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/artic...7608&agid=1292

RAM: 4GB Corsair XMS3 1333MHz - €27.53
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/artic...8039&agid=1192


HDD: 500GB WesternDigital Caviar Blue Sata6 - €32.91
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/artic...9670&agid=1342

Disc Drive: Samsung SH-222AB DVD+RW - €16.79
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/artic...47362&agid=699

Case: Xigmatek Asgard - €31.61
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/artic...28607&agid=631

PSU: Super-Flower Amazon 450W - €41.31
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/artic...0074&agid=1627

Shipping - €30

Total - €275.30

Optimus Prime

Pyongyang wrote: »

Yes. I own one. Jochen at Arcadeforge is an absolute gent (buddies on G+ now ). The SLG is fantastic for newer screens. If you'd like to see it in action, check out a video I made last weekend, the day after visiting Andrew 'Greek Mother' 76 at his gaf.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPIeMR3ZGqw

will this work with a pc running mame? it would be prefect for my cab as im using a lcd, im currently using scanlines applied with hyperspin but this looks like a better option?

Would it start working immediatly from when the pc is switched on?

Pyongyang

Yep. It works immediately. But you need to remember what kind of signal you are feeding in to it and out to the tv/monitor. It should be fine though, it works great with an XBOX360 which is in essence just a glorified Celeron.

CathalDublin

Missing the processor
I wouldn't rate the mag stick plus joysticks very highly, the sanwa or seimitsu are a much better stick, using a restrictor plate like the octagonal one will make 4way games quite playable on an 8way stick imo.

smithy1981

Processor: AMD Athlon II x2 255 - €49.22
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/artic...0594&agid=1242

Motherboard: Asus M5A78L-M LE - €45.89
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/artic...7608&agid=1292

RAM: 4GB Corsair XMS3 1333MHz - €27.53
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/artic...8039&agid=1192

HDD: 500GB WesternDigital Caviar Blue Sata6 - €32.91
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/artic...9670&agid=1342

Disc Drive: Samsung SH-222AB DVD+RW - €16.79
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/artic...47362&agid=699

Case: Xigmatek Asgard - €31.61
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/artic...28607&agid=631

PSU: Super-Flower Amazon 450W - €41.31
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/artic...0074&agid=1627

Shipping - €30

Total - €275.30
FMP
gonna check out swana butons now while ulitmaci is down. Know of any sites that sell sanwa products and other stuff i need, including vgaacrade? in one handy cheap site

CathalDublin

gremlinsolutions.co.uk