So you want to build an MAME cabinet and system? Well figure a budget, then add about $200 minimum. Yes it sounds like a lot, but if you figure what you initially want, then research all the other things you can add (I just ordered blueprints to build your own star wars type yoke) it expands…. and expands…
You can get all the ideas you need from:
o Start under examples, try to find the kind of setup you want
- 2 player or 4 player
- How many buttons per player
- Do you want a trackball (also doubles as your mouse)
- Multiple control panels – removable?
- One for joysticks
- Steering wheel, etc...
- Do you use a TV, arcade monitor, or a PC monitor
- Light guns
Parts (buttons, joysticks, etc.) can be found at the sites listed below. Remember: they sell parts to make a lot of short cuts, but it’s very expensive to buy all the parts this way (i.e., a trackball that will connect directly to your pc, as opposed to saving $60 and taking apart a mouse and connecting the trackball to the guts of it). They do sell the standard parts, which are cheaper, it just takes a little bit of work to set it up.
- Wico
- Download and read this before trying this project!!!!
o This will walk you step by step through the whole process; start to finish, but only for a 2-player version. Pretty simple to change it to 2-player with trackball!
If you know of a game that you want you Cabinet to look like, try this site:
- KLOV (Killer List Of Video Games)
o Just about every game ever built (and some that were just in design stage) will be listed on this site. The only problem is that you need to know the name of the game. Usually that is the hard part!!
Misc. software and updates can usually be found at:
- Which frontend (FE) do you want to use
o If you use MAME32, you don’t need a separate FE unless you want to get rid of all the Windows looking parts. I use MAMEWah, corny name, but it’s free and looks great.
- If you want to emulate multiple platforms (arcade, Nintendo, Atari, jukebox) you may want a program that offers the option to load whatever you need.
Things you need for the computer:
- 450 MHz processor minimum which will run your older games.
- Good video card (32 MB memory minimum)
o if you use a TV, your video card needs TV out. Everything I’ve read says that s-video is soooooo much better then RCA, but it costs a bit more.
- 128 meg ram (256 if you use XP)
- TV, arcade monitor, or PC monitor
- Sound card – plus 5 speaker output system, it kicks ass!
- CD or DVD player – some arcade games can only be loaded if you have a dvd player, not many though (Laser disc games like Dragons Lair, etc…).
- 40 gig hard drive minimum
- floppy drive
- Copy of windows XP – most stable
Using software:
- M.A.M.E (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator)
o First you need an emulator. Like I said above, if you don’t care if it looks like windows or not just use MAME32. Like on a laptop or your home computer. When (if) you make or buy a cabinet, you might want something that looks better. To get something that looks better you need to use MAME for windows (the file name is mame.exe, MAME32 is mame32.exe, and MAME for dos is mamed.exe – all different zip downloads found at MAME). This version of MAME is a command prompt version; you need to type a command to load a game, i.e. "mame.exe 10yard.zip". This sounds like a big pain in the ass and it is. This is why FrontEnds were designed; they do all the work for you. Now most FE’s look like MAME32, very windows like. It is more for playing a quick game on your home computer then for a dedicated cabinet. I like the ones that put you completely away from the windows environment, makes the cab look more like a game then a computer. People have even designed boot up screens to replace the windows ones. When my cab boots up, you don’t even see the task bar or any icons, just a wallpaper that read "Loading, Please Wait" in this cool fire type font. A list of FE’s can also be found on MAMEWorld or here. My FE of choice is MAMEWah. It will run just about any command line emulator, and if it doesn't the author is always willing to help! With MAMEWah, it is no longer necessary to need a separate good looking emulator for you cabinet, and it also plays mp3's now so UltimateArcade (listed below) isn't even completely required to have everything you need!
- Atari
o Z26 for ATARI 2600 emulation. ATARI games were worse then I remember! I use a special version of Z26 with built in remapped keys to be compatible with MAME. It can be found here. This program is a command line version only. If you use a FE (like MAMEWah) it will work without a hitch! You can find a configuration page for MAMEWah for all emulators here and here.
- Nintendo
o FCU Emulator for Nintendo (NES not N64). This one is slightly modified to allow exit with
the Escape key. It can be found here. This program is a command line version only. If you use a FE (like MAMEWah) it will work without a hitch! You can
find a configuration page for MAMEWah for all emulators here and here.
- Jukebox!
o This is one of favorite aspects of the whole cab thing. When you got your 5-speaker system going (4 surround, 1 subwoofer) and it sounds like a really good sound system. The only bummer is putting all your CD’s as MP3’s. That takes some time but is really worth it! The only programs I would use would be ones that can be controlled using arcade controls (MAME controls), I don’t want to pull out my mouse just to play music. Two programs I would recommend:
o MAMEP3 – this is a very simple and "MAME" looking program.
o Arcade Jukebox – Tries to look like a real jukebox (without the bubbles, but I’m thinking about that!). More options then MAMEP3.
- Put it All Together
o Ultimate Arcade for the main menu. This doesn't limit me to use a Frontend with mp3 support or to go into windows to switch to another program (MAME to mp3 to NES). I think this is the only software I purchased for this project. If you use win98 you can change your win.ini so that the computer boots to UA instead of explorer.exe. Boots really fast and you can't "escape" out of it (good for parties and/or kids), but you lose keyboard shortcuts, taskbar, etc. Good thing UA provides a way to load up explorer! I'm not a real big fan of the latest version of Ultimate Arcade (the pic to the right is of an older version) but you might be able to get the author to sell you the older version. Because of the capabilities of MAMEWah, I currently have UA displaying two choices: MAME and Jukebox. MAMEWah controls all the emulators, but I still use the jukebox for guests and such.
Other things to make your life easier:
- A keyboard decoder – just trust me one this and spend the $40 on it. Hacking a keyboard is no fun and very aggravating! You have to remember that you have two options when setting up you controls: you can go the keyboard route (decoder or hacked) or you can hack a gamepad control. I got other plans for my USB port (light gun), so next one I build will be with a decoder.
o Two major sources:
- Ultimarc
- Go with a PC monitor, much easier to setup, and then you can still play the PC games. 19-inch monitors are big enough and are getting cheap enough. If you do enough research, you’ll see that a lot of people prefer the look of a TV over a PC monitor (looks more like a real arcade monitor), but don’t like the high cost ($500) and the aggravation of installing an arcade monitor. I don't like TV's because when I was building my cabinet you couldn't play light gun games :)
- Good links page:
o www.arcadecontrols.com/arcade.htm/
o If you need it, you’ll find a link to it on this page.
- Located lights guns that are cheap and will work plug and play with MAME!
o I’ll buy one of those after I talk to my wife about them...