Mame help/Mame build

owenf

Well first of all I'd like to say hello I believe it's my first thread possibly post I've been lurking for a while and think I'm finally going to take the plunge and try build a mame cabinet . Ill start from the beginning ..........................

I've always been into toys gadgets and games as long as I can remember and I tend to buy strange things very compulsively I was out one night this year in January and I was in a bar that had a poker machine so I started goin on about how I'd love to buy one for myself and one of my friends said he knew where there was some for sale I rang the guy the next day and he wanted a couple of hundred for them I thought it was too much so I left it . A few days later I found out he was goin selling them at auction so I decided to check them out I ended up buying 2 noraut poker machines and a fruit machine........................

My first plan was to take the better of the 2 poker machines for myself and sell the other one and the fruit machine to try and pay for my one but I just couldn't be bothered trying to sell them so I've decided I'm going to turn the second noraut poker machine into a mame cabinet which is all good and well but I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to wiring I pacs joysticks and all that I have a 21" CRT tv that I'm going to put in the cabinet as the original screen is way to small ideally . Anyways that's my first post ill ask my questions in my next post as I don't want to confuse people sorry about the lack of punctuation was never any good at it

owenf

This is the tv that I want to use I've taken it from the case as can be seen in the pictures

owenf

Right question time what I want to play is the likes of street fighter and stuff like that and of course the classics like mario now I've read there's different joysticks 4 way and 8 way can you get one that you can switch between easily without having to go into the cabinet ? And is a joystick an six buttons a player enough on the control panel ?

CathalDublin

owenf wrote: »

Right question time what I want to play is the likes of street fighter and stuff like that and of course the classics like mario now I've read there's different joysticks 4 way and 8 way can you get one that you can switch between easily without having to go into the cabinet ? And is a joystick an six buttons a player enough on the control panel ?

I've tried the ultimarc ultimate360s, magstik plus and hated them both,in the end I found octagonal restrictor plates on sanwa or similar joysticks work and feel better for 4way/8way play without having to switch.

dontforget p1&p2 buttons, six buttons/player should be plenty

owenf

I was actually looking at the magstik plus last night I think ill go with what you recommended cheers Cathal

Right that's buttons and joysticks sorted next question . I have a tv a computer and i will have my sticks and buttons how do I connect it to the computer I've read of Jpac ipac and mini PAC but what's the difference ? I'm also goin to need av out from the computer to run the tv . What about a trackball do I need one of those or can I just mount a twin USB port somewhere hidden so I can plug in a mouse and keyboard for setup and maintanence ?

The Last Bandit

To connect your controller to the PC you'll need an IPAC2 or MiniIpac, one has screw terminals the other solder posts - price is fairly similar I think.

Wouldn't bother with a trackball unless you've a lot of trackball games lined up, they just add clutter to the controller panel. USB ports at the rear is a better solution or adding keyboard/mice etc..

For AV out from the computer, you've a choice of crappy composite out if your video card has a TV out port or getting a VGA/SCART cable and trying to get soft15Hz working. Or just buy an ArcadeVGA video card

owenf

Would I be better of using a computer screen altogether CRT not LCD I have to buy a computer anyway so might as well get a computer screen while I'm at it I'm gonna buy a secondhand one off donedeal or something and most come with screens

CathalDublin

No no no, you have the space, you have the crt, are you mad?
A tv(VGA to scart rgb) or arcade monitor is the best option, arcade vga is the easiest to setup although you could use soft15 if your graphics card supports it.

Myrddin

CathalDublin wrote: »

No no no, you have the space, you have the crt, are you mad?
A tv(VGA to scart rgb) or arcade monitor is the best option, arcade vga is the easiest to setup although you could use soft15 if your graphics card supports it.

This

owenf

Right ill have a look for one of them VGA to scart leads ill try maplin today

The Last Bandit

owenf wrote: »

Right ill have a look for one of them VGA to scart leads ill try maplin today

Maplin won't stock anything useful like that Someone here got one on ebay recently I think

owenf

They have something like it but its 68 pounds sounds dear for a lead

o1s1n

Just to note though, a simple VGA to scart cable wont work.

Your PC will need to have a card that will output the lower resolutions and sync properly with your television.

So you'd need something like this for your pc

http://www.ultimarc.com/avgainf.html

Or you could get a VGA to scart scaler.

owenf

Now I'm gettin confused so I need the arcade vga and the vga to scart cable to get the tv to work properly

The Last Bandit

A standard PC monitor (CRT/LCD) used a 31Khz sync signal which is what a typical video card outputs but a TV uses a 15KHz sync signal.

So you need to get your PC card to output a 15KHz signal for the TV to work.

Two ways of doing this:

1. Buying a special video card designed to output a 15KHz signal - this is the ArcadeVGA card you seen mentioned..

2. Using a software hack that configures your existing video card to output a 15Khz signal, this is the soft15Khz program. It can be tricky to get working at times and doesn't support all video cards - but is free.

The VGA-SCART cable is just a cable to connect the 15 pin VGA connector to the 21 pin SCART connector and making sure the TV auto selects the correct AV channel etc..

Myrddin

The Last Bandit wrote: »

2. Using a software hack that configures your existing video card to output a 15Khz signal, this is the soft15Khz program. It can be tricky to get working at times and doesn't support all video cards - but is free.

This is the solution I use, I never had any real trouble getting it working...but as mentioned, it has to support your video card. There's a compatibility list over on the Soft15 authors page.

Also also, it only supports XP. Given my mame pc has 4GB ram, I has to 'find' a version of XP x64 in order to utilise all the memory...but otherwise, plain sailing

owenf

Well I done a bit of a search and chose this crowd is the stuff I picked the right gear anything else I need http://www.arcadeworlduk.com/cart.php

Also anyone able to point me in the direction of a vga to scart cable that would be right for me cheers

Myrddin

owenf wrote: »

Well I done a bit of a search and chose this crowd is the stuff I picked the right gear anything else I need http://www.arcadeworlduk.com/cart.php

Also anyone able to point me in the direction of a vga to scart cable that would be right for me cheers

Why don't you contact Mitch & see if he has any screens for sale? You'll be so glad you went this route when you see it running. I think another user here had dreadful trouble getting a tv working properly

owenf

EnterNow wrote: »

Why don't you contact Mitch & see if he has any screens for sale? You'll be so glad you went this route when you see it running. I think another user here had dreadful trouble getting a tv working properly

Ill contact him and see but then how do I connect the computer to an arcade screen I'm also trying not to spend a fortune on it since I'm going to have to buy a computer to put into it but I don't want to buy cheap **** either

Myrddin

owenf wrote: »

Ill contact him and see but then how do I connect the computer to an arcade screen I'm also trying not to spend a fortune on it since I'm going to have to buy a computer to put into it but I don't want to buy cheap **** either

Its quite easy, are you building a cab yeah? You buy a jamma harness, one end connects to the chassis of the arcade screen. The other end, connects to a jpac {pc}, & your arcade buttons/sticks.

There's obviously a bit more to it but thats the basic setup. No amount of scalers etc can touch the look of a genuine arcade screen.

You can go the tv route, I've never seen how they look when you go vga-scart etc, maybe they're just as good. But a screen won't cost you much & I think its the best quality solution

CathalDublin

I've connected dozens of TVs using the Scart(RGB) documented here using an arcadeVGA card/direct to jamma harness and never had a single problem. Its no different than hooking up an arcade monitor in terms of difficulty. If you've a 4:3 TV already there its a huge saving and you can always change it later to an arcade monitor if the tv fails/etc as you'll have the same setup and only have to connect 5 wires.
I think the problems people have with using TVs arise when they read American forums which advise using SVideo and they go this route first. American TVs do not have Scart/RGB so SVideo is their best option.

owenf

CathalDublin wrote: »

I've connected dozens of TVs using the Scart(RGB) documented here using an arcadeVGA card/direct to jamma harness and never had a single problem. Its no different than hooking up an arcade monitor in terms of difficulty. If you've a 4:3 TV already there its a huge saving and you can always change it later to an arcade monitor if the tv fails/etc as you'll have the same setup and only have to connect 5 wires.
I think the problems people have with using TVs arise when they read American forums which advise using SVideo and they go this route first. American TVs do not have Scart/RGB so SVideo is their best option.

Cathal did you make your own cable as described in your link or buy one ?

owenf

Cough cough .....

The Last Bandit

owenf wrote: »

Cough cough .....

owenf

The Last Bandit wrote: »

Feel much better now cheers

CathalDublin

I made it, I've made a few of them. I've always added resisters to the rgb lines as its suppose to make the colours better, can't remember what value off the top of my head but I think I've one there in the bottom of the cabinet I'll check for you

owenf

Cheers that would be handy

owenf

I've been doin a lot of reading these last few days about arcade machines and came across multi game pcbs and Building a jamma cabinet main reason for the change of heart is money good chance ill be let go after Christmas . But I still want to build my cab I mainly want to run street fighter anyway so anyone any info on multi game pcbs would be greatly appreciated

Myrddin

owenf wrote: »

so anyone any info on multi game pcbs would be greatly appreciated

Some like them, personally I hate them. Rubbish hardware, archaic gui & clunky to use. For the likes of Street Fighter 2 etc, nearly any old pc/laptop would be enough for you to run it. All you need is a Jpac then to connect up to the Jamma loom. Or an IPac if your going to use an lcd/crt pc screen. Pick a nice free frontend & your set

Optimus Prime

Ive a 60in1 vertical pcb in DonkeyKong style cab. its pretty good. the sound is off on some games, but they are ones i dont really play anyways. the rest are fine. its all donkeykong, pacman games etc. It saves the highscore too which is nice. takes about a minute to come on.

I dont like the menu on it though, its just not nice looking. ive never really looked at any of the other ones available.

I started out in your position and built my first cab from scratch. To be honest i only really use it as a jukebox now and the kids play the games on it. Ive 6 other cabs bought since i made it, there is nothing like playing original hardware on an original arcade crt.

o1s1n

keithgeo wrote: »

there is nothing like playing original hardware on an original arcade crt.

There's a certain magic the glow from a low res arcade monitor isnt there? It can't be beat.

I'd love to see all your 6 cabs powered on at once. Must be some drain on electricity!