Irish arcade machine builders

o1s1n · 04-10-2010 06:27PM

It takes longer than a few days to find a cabinet. If you don't want to spend a fortune and dont want to build, you need to play the waiting game. One'll turn up eventually. Contact Mitchomagic and see if he has any.

If you're building and want a proper arcade experience, don't use an X arcade. They're decent enough for messing about with but to be honest look a bit naff bolted to a cabinet. It doesn't look like an arcade machine. It looks like some wood with an X arcade stuck to it.

If you're going to make the whole thing, then drilling some button holes through a piece of wood and wiring up it up isn't going to be much hassle for you.

You can get get entire kits online alright.

CiDeRmAn · 04-10-2010 06:31PM

Regarding the repurposed IKEA cabinet into a cocktail cab, should have a broken screen lappy in Dec, going to pick up a 17" monitor then and have a crack at it.
Would there be any advantage in getting a touch screen I wonder?
Also, with regard to controls, would it be best to make them from scratch or cannibalise an existing arcade style controller?

o1s1n · 04-10-2010 06:46PM

A touch screen would be brilliant! Only problem though is it all depends on how much use you want this thing to have. I was going to make one as it can double up as a coffee table. People can put drinks and whatever else on it. These kind of advantages make girlfriends and wives happy

As long as it serves a non videogame purpose.

A touchscreen though..I don't fancy putting a can of beer down on that!

Real arcade controls are always a plus. Cannibalising an exisiting stick and trying to get it to fit might be more difficult.

Shapey Fiend · 05-10-2010 01:00PM

There are so many badly built arcade cabinets out there. If your going to do it use an old television at least. Computer screens look horrible when it comes to old arcade games.

Mounting arcade controls properly (as opposed to sticking an X-arcade on it) takes a bit of wood work skills so find a mate who's handy to do that bit for you at least so there's not big bolts sticking out the top. And find a proper button layout template off the internet.

Or just stump up a grand or so and buy and import a candy cabinet from the UK. Loads of people have them over there. Even the flat pack woodies that Gremlin are selling are much more expensive than minty Taito Egret 2's or Sega New Astro Cities.

Optimus Prime · 05-10-2010 01:05PM

Im pretty sure im going to build the cabinet, ive found some great plans/guides on the internet and I know a guy who is a carpenter in work, and has a lot of top quality machines in his workshop.

I have to do some more research into the controls as opposed the XArcade, am i right in thinking the XArcade is usb where as you have to wire up the other option somehow yourself? I am totally new to this, so its going to be a learning experience for me along the way, but im looking forward to it!

I think i will definitaly use an old tv or something as opposed to a lcd for the picture effect. Ive been reading you need a tv with SVideo in on it?

Myrddin · 05-10-2010 03:01PM

keithgeo wrote: »

Im pretty sure im going to build the cabinet, ive found some great plans/guides on the internet and I know a guy who is a carpenter in work, and has a lot of top quality machines in his workshop.

I have to do some more research into the controls as opposed the XArcade, am i right in thinking the XArcade is usb where as you have to wire up the other option somehow yourself? I am totally new to this, so its going to be a learning experience for me along the way, but im looking forward to it!

I think i will definitaly use an old tv or something as opposed to a lcd for the picture effect. Ive been reading you need a tv with SVideo in on it?

The Jamma display signal is RGB...so anything with an RGB scart socket will do.

CiDeRmAn · 05-10-2010 03:49PM

I found, in my one experience of wiring up a set of arcade controls to a supergun, that the experience was a lot less intimidating than I expected.
Just a matter of wiring each switch and remembering the ground.
Unless there is something I am missing, it means that the only really difficult thing is the design and construction of the controller itself, the holes to be cut, vinyl to be applied etc, mounting of a dummy/real coin slot and that sort of stuff.

Optimus Prime · 05-10-2010 04:20PM

Thanks guys, is it possible to wire up the control panel etc to a pc or is that just the likes of XArcade controllers you can connect to a pc via usb?

Myrddin · 05-10-2010 04:25PM

keithgeo wrote: »

Thanks guys, is it possible to wire up the control panel etc to a pc or is that just the likes of XArcade controllers you can connect to a pc via usb?

Are you building a Mame Cab or a standard Jamma cab

Optimus Prime · 05-10-2010 04:27PM

Im going to go with a mame cab this time out.

Myrddin · 05-10-2010 04:31PM

keithgeo wrote: »

Im going to go with a mame cab this time out.

Is that then a PC inside the cabinet, connected directly to a TV? If so, then your kind of limited in what you can do with your control panel. A standard Jamma control panel has the wiring running down into the Jamma connector, which connects to a game board or JPAC/IPAC etc. If your handy with wiring/soldering etc, consider making the Jamma harness yourself. I's very easy & allows you to use proper arcade joysticks & buttons etc.

Optimus Prime · 05-10-2010 04:38PM

Hmm decision to be made. so the options are

Mame Cab with a pc\tv and a xArcade - No custom controller

Jamma which allows custom controllers.

Mitchomagic · 05-10-2010 04:39PM

Keithgeo,

I can save you a lot of trouble.If you want a project to do.I have a jamma cab upright is very clean condition,New WG monitor,or you could fit your own.control panel has been redone new stick/buttons and a overlay.I will include a PS and a wiring loom.So all you have to do is put it together.

Let me know if you are interested,if not no problem I will finish it

Cheers Mitch

Optimus Prime · 05-10-2010 04:44PM

Thanks! do you have any pics or anything, how much are we talking, I was planning on spreading out the money on this over a couple of months so getting money together for the whole thing might be an issue for me, you can pm info if you want. I really appreciate the offer.

Thanks again

Mitchomagic · 05-10-2010 04:49PM

Its the same style of cab as I have listed here,As for price I would need to know what you wanted to include.just PM and will can take it from there..

Also just remember 1 machine is never enough!!!!

http://adverts.ie/281066

Myrddin · 05-10-2010 05:32PM

Mitchomagic wrote: »

Keithgeo,

I can save you a lot of trouble.If you want a project to do.I have a jamma cab upright is very clean condition,New WG monitor,or you could fit your own.control panel has been redone new stick/buttons and a overlay.I will include a PS and a wiring loom.So all you have to do is put it together.

Let me know if you are interested,if not no problem I will finish it

Cheers Mitch

To be honest Keith, that's the way to go. It's an authentic cab, with a proper low-res arcade screen, proper arcade controls, and you can get your hands dirty by finishing it off - the best of all worlds there really.

Myrddin · 05-10-2010 05:33PM

Mitchomagic wrote: »

Also just remember 1 machine is never enough!!!!

Heed those words Keith

Look what happened to LoGiE :pac:

06-10-2010 12:44PM

keithgeo wrote: »

Hmm decision to be made. so the options are

Mame Cab with a pc\tv and a xArcade - No custom controller

Jamma which allows custom controllers.

I would steer clear of x-arcade controllers, i've heard bad things about the quality of the parts, and they don't sit into your average cabinet too well and generally look crap, and take away from the whole customised nature of a homebuild cab.

To be honest building a control panel from scratch isn't that difficult. You only need basic woodworking skills, some MDF, a bit of plexiglass or perspex, a ruler and marker, and a drill and a cone saw drillbit, and you can make one to suit and customise it with whatever artwork you want. The wiring kits you can buy on any of the arcade suppliers online are very good and all come with quick disconnects (no soldering), so all you have to do is follow a wiring diagram and hook it into an IPAC interface which plugs right into your PC.

Just read up on it. It really is all painting by numbers, and isn't nearly as daunting as it seems. For me it was one of the most enjoyable parts of building my cab, and i was a complete newbie when i did it.

The one piece of advice i'd give you on building a custom panel though, is buy decent quality sticks and buttons, don't go for a cheap option, and research things like their mounting depth to make sure you know what thickness your panel needs to be for them to fit in it. Different buttons, and especially sticks, mount in different ways and require different depths of panel to be fixed into. Just plan out what you're going to do first before you hand over your credit card number to buy the parts.

Optimus Prime · 06-10-2010 12:57PM

Cheers, ive been reading up a lot on the control panel today and it doesnt seem too complicated wiring up etc, especially with the ones that require no soldering.

As i understand it at the minute, joystiq/buttons connect to a pcb, which in turn connects to a pc. How does it connect is it USB? or as metnioned in a previous post using some sort of Keyboard connecter or something? (just talking out loud, i know i can find the info on the net myself.)

To be honest im more worried about building the cabinet and controller unit. I dont have much experience with woodwork. I know a guy who might be able to do it though. Looking forward to the challange!

PS Someone posted a message with a link to a great site here yesterday, but its gone now for some reason. thanks for the link!

Myrddin · 06-10-2010 02:25PM

The standard Jamma wiring has buttons 1 through 4 (also the start button) going directly to the jamma connector. The game then plugs into that connector, allowing the button functions to work. If the game has extra buttons ie SF2, these buttons run to a seperate little connector, which plugs into the relevant spot on the game pcb.

For a cab running Mame with a standard jamma layout, it's exactly as above with one difference. If the cab retains the jamma layout, it presumeably will be running a J-PAC or equivilent jamma-pc interface. The extra buttons (if your control panel has them) get wired directly to the relevant spots on the jpac instead of the extra game pcb connector. The J-PAC plugs into the cabs existing jamma harness, and then links to your pc via a usb lead. Depending on the screen you use, you will need wither a JPAC or an I-PAC (i-pac if your using a standard pc screen, jpac if using an arcade screen).

LoGiE also bought an ArcadeVGA card, but the display end of things can wait for now as it's a whole other subject. Just pick out the screen you'll be using and go from there.

Optimus Prime · 06-10-2010 02:40PM

Well, here is what im planning on doing, obviously there will probably be stuff im missing here as im a total noob but here goes. each one of these steps i have to look into further too so im not worried too much about the details yet.

Build the cab, I have been looking at plans on the net and have settled on one. Im going to get the wood myself build it, bolt it etc, spray it and all that. I may be able to get a carpenter i know to do this, he works in my job and is really good and has all top equipment available. I have yet to run it by him though.

I have PCs so thats not an issue, i can get everything i need there no problem.

assuming i now have a cab built im going to buy everything else.

buttons, joystiq, pcb, monitor/screen, marquee, backlight, glass for the cab, maybe graphics etc for the side and top of controller box, with a plexi glass cover or something.

now i know im missing stuff there that i need, and that i need to look into more and read about. ignoring the cab and design etc, what am i missing from the electronics side of things there that i need to go off and look into more?

Myrddin · 06-10-2010 02:45PM

keithgeo wrote: »

Well, here is what im planning on doing, obviously there will probably be stuff im missing here as im a total noob but here goes. each one of these steps i have to look into further too so im not worried too much about the details yet.

Build the cab, I have been looking at plans on the net and have settled on one. Im going to get the wood myself build it, bolt it etc, spray it and all that. I may be able to get a carpenter i know to do this, he works in my job and is really good and has all top equipment available. I have yet to run it by him though.

I have PCs so thats not an issue, i can get everything i need there no problem.

assuming i now have a cab built im going to buy everything else.

buttons, joystiq, pcb, monitor/screen, marquee, backlight, glass for the cab, maybe graphics etc for the side and top of controller box, with a plexi glass cover or something.

now i know im missing stuff there that i need, and that i need to look into more and read about. ignoring the cab and design etc, what am i missing from the electronics side of things there that i need to go off and look into more?

What is the pcb on your list? Is that the J-PAC I was talking about?

Optimus Prime · 06-10-2010 02:47PM

Im not going to lie to you... I dont know yet lol. I was only reading about them today. Am i right in thinking one connects to an arcade monitor and the other type to a pc monitor? I read somewhere you can connect a TV too if it has SVideo in?

Myrddin · 06-10-2010 03:16PM

keithgeo wrote: »

Im not going to lie to you... I dont know yet lol. I was only reading about them today. Am i right in thinking one connects to an arcade monitor and the other type to a pc monitor? I read somewhere you can connect a TV too if it has SVideo in?

If your using a pc screen or a tv (via s-video out on a gfx card), you need an I-PAC. This way, you can interface the arcade controls with your pc via USB. You then display directly onto the screen via your graphics card.

If your using an arcade monitor, I'd recommend a J-PAC. This was, you interface your controls with your pc exactly as above, but the J-PAC has video circuitry too. This means you connect the VGA lead from your graphics card into the j-pac, and from there on out the jamma harness takes care of everything else (as the j-pac & i-pac connect dorectly into the jamma harness).

Optimus Prime · 06-10-2010 03:50PM

Sounds good thanks for the help. I think i will look more into both before i make a decision no which way to go.

06-10-2010 04:29PM

keithgeo wrote: »

Sounds good thanks for the help. I think i will look more into both before i make a decision no which way to go.

An ipac is the simpler option if you just want to build a cab out of a PC and a modern monitor versus getting hold of an actual cabinet and making it's original low-res monitor work with a modern PC. Depends on the level of authenticity you want. As was already posted, JPAC is the same exact thing as IPAC, but just handles video as well, and makes your PC output the low res video signal that old arcade machines used to give you as well as looking after your buttons and joystick inputs.

Depending on what you want to do, most emulators like mame etc have effects to make the display on a computer monitor look like it's got scanlines, burn in, etc that old arcade monitors used to get, but many people will tell you there's nothing like the real thing if you're fussy. A JPAC is obviously more expensive than IPAC, and original monitors in arcade cabinets can be finnicky and prone to problems as they get old, but it depends how "all out" you want to go.

I used an Ipac and a PC monitor. Essentially, it makes your computer think the joysticks, buttons etc on your control panel, are keyboard buttons. it sees your control panel as a keyboard. You can get 2 models, the USB one, or a PS2 one (the old analogue keyboard connector, before USB happened, not the sony games console). The PS2 one has lower latency but it's really much of a muchness, make sure you buy the right one for the PC you're using though, especially if you're using an old PC from pre USB days.

All you do is build the control panel and buttons, attach the wires in the right order to the terminals on them, put the other end of each of the wires into the terminals on the IPAC and tighten the screws, and plug the IPAC into the PC and configure your buttons. Easy!

Optimus Prime · 06-10-2010 04:45PM

It sounds easy! haha..

I think im going to keep it simple, the first time..

I have new pcs so im grand there, i think i will go with the ipac and a monitor and see how i get on. I appreciate all the info you have provided its been a great help!

Im off to look for more info on the ipac!

Myrddin · 06-10-2010 06:34PM

keithgeo wrote: »

It sounds easy! haha..

I think im going to keep it simple, the first time.. I have new pcs so im grand there, i think i will go with the ipac and a monitor and see how i get on. I appreciate all the info you have provided its been a great help!

Im off to look for more info on the ipac!

Contrary to the above, the added difficulty in using an arcade monitor is not very much at all. Pick yourself a nice cab from Mitch, which will have everything in it ready to go, all you have to do is plug the jpac into the jamma harness, the extra buttons in the jpac, and the vga lead form your pc into the jpac. Thats the hardware done!

Run soft15khz on your pc to modify the signals down to 15khz (the jpac doesn't automatically do it as was mentioned above), and thats it in a nutshell. Trust me, you'll be delighted with the results, instead of thinking "Hmm maybe I should have gone the j-pac road instead". Arcade games on a mame/lcd setup are noteably different to mame & arcade screen. I sold off all my jamma boards after seeing the result trust me, it's that good.

06-10-2010 07:06PM

EnterNow wrote: »

Contrary to the above, the added difficulty in using an arcade monitor is not very much at all...

This is true, both JPAC and IPAC are very simple to get running, there's nothing difficult in either, and the effect of having a real arcade monitor running your games is something that you have to see to appreciate how cool it is. Difficulty isn't really a factor. It's just a trade off between cost of parts and maintenance hassle if a hard to find part goes bust or something.

If you can get your hands on a good quality cab that's in good nick wiring wise, and has a decent monitor that you feel has plenty of legs left in it, by all means use a JPAC. If you have a feeling that your cab's monitor is on it's last legs and you don't want to be hunting high and low for a discontinued or hard to find replacement screen or tube or something, or if you want to build from scratch then a PC monitor and IPAC is probably the way to go.

They are both great options and both work really, really well, it just comes down to what makes more sense for your situation, and how much you want that really authentic look. If you have a BIG cab, a BIG screen is important. In my case i modified and resprayed a 3/4 size poker machine that had a damaged screen for my cab, rebuilt the control panel from scratch, and used a 17 inch CRT monitor i already had that was the perfect size, instead of the hassle of trying to source a working screen for it.

PS- whatever route you decide to go, take pics the whole way along and post em back here. It's something i never did on my first cab and i wished i had thought of doing.

Optimus Prime · 07-10-2010 10:23AM

I think im going to take the handy option the first time out, construct the cab myself, spray, get an ipac, monitor/screen and a pc, buy the buttons etc and make a control box.

I will post pics etc im sure this first attempt will be a learning experience more than anything, i dont expect it to be great again im finished with it haha.

Im going to do a write up along the way over on my site gamersireland.ie . I do have one quick question though that might affect that, whats the legality of running mame on these?

Irish arcade machine builders

Comments