Quote:
natlight wrote:
 WOW! You have really put a lot of work into your MAME cab. I have been planning to build one for the past year and will get started on the build in the next couple months. I already have around 2k games and have been playing them on my home pc. I just purchased a refurbed 2 gig dell for $50 that I will use to run the cab. Actually I really don't have that much work in it at all. The last picture of the Spy Hunter cab is just a picture of the actual arcade cab. I just got the control panel. It hasn't arrived yet, but when it does I'll take a picture of the actual panel and replace the stock photo above.
A couple questions for you.
Would you choose a different cabinet style if you were to do it over again? I originally picked the same one as you but I have seen a couple others that have peeked my interest recently. Honestly, after thinking about it, I probably would get the same kit again. It is expensive compared to getting a gutted arcade cabinet, but I like the design and looks and it is super easy to assemble.
When I get this one completely done I am thinking about making a sit down driving/flight cab and between the two I think just about all bases will be covered. For the sitdown cab, I'll probably build that out of a gutted M.A.C.H. 1 cab that I found locally for $150, but it needs a lot of work.
I plan on building my own control panel. What special controls would you suggest adding? I'll definitly add track ball for golden tee but I'm confused on my light gun choices and any other analog devices that I may need. What would you suggest? I am building a modular control panel so I can swap out controls for specific games... like Spy Hunter for one! 
I've seen many people build their cab and then spend the next year on the control panel. That seems like a waste to me. A perfectly good cab just sitting there unable to be used. That's why I got a TankStick. This way I can play now while I build my cp.
Most people seem to go with a single panel designed to be able to play everything. This is my opinion, but most look too 'busy', and some refer to them as 'Frankenpanels'.
The TankStick is cool, but very much like the all in one universal panel. The joysticks are fine, but they are 8-way sticks, which are horrible for games that use a 4-way stick, like Pac-man and games like that. So definitely get yourself a 4-way stick as well as a good 8-way.
I definitely recommend a trackball, and I have a spinner that I need to mount yet.
I'm also toying with the idea of building 2 cabinets. A stand up for regular games and a Spy Hunter sit down for driving/flying games. Do you think this would be a good idea? Have you run into any problems with the driving games on the stand up? I would think it could be difficult to incorperate a stick shift on the stand up cabinet.
Thanks. |
If you have the room for two cabs, I say go for it! A sit down driver is always the best experience and most fun if you ask me.
Light guns... this is probably the weakest link when it comes to controls. Right now there are the ActLabs guns, and the EMS TopGun. Both have pros and cons. I have one of the original Topguns and the Topgun is okay but there are a lot of things I don't like about it.
Happcontrols is going to be selling an interface that will allow us to connect actual arcade guns to a PC via USB.
They are also testing an even newer interface that uses sonic sensors instead of IR tech (the TopGun) or scanline tech (ActLabs). This one is very interesting and will work with any type of display, not just CRT. I'll know more about it in a couple weeks probably.