Important Links

Project Links

MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) - the emulator that started it all! 

Advance Projects - home of AdvanceMAME and the AdvanceMenu FrontEnd 

Build Your Own Arcade Controls (BYOAC) - excellent resource for cabinet plans, FAQ's, wiring tips, etc. 

Easy MAMECab - lots of info on setting up AdvanceMAME, plus learn how your CRT works! 

The Purple MAME Page - essential config for AdvanceMAME / ArcadeOS 

LuSID's Arcade Flashback - LuSID's cabinet was the base design for my cabinet, like so many others out there :) 

Arcade Vector Graphics - Eric Devaud's vector art library 

Interactive Control Panel Designer- excellent tool to brainstorm and validate control panel layouts

Manufacturer Links

Ultimarc - Home of the I-PAC, Opti-PAC, and ArcadeVGA interfaces 

Oscar Controls - spinners for Tempest, etc. 

Happ Controls - Joysticks, buttons, monitors, coin mechs and more! 

Wells Gardner - Best source for arcade monitors - right from the manufacturer! 

T-Molding.com - Best price on t-molding for your cabinet.

Construction Completed!

Well, it's official - the cabinet construction is complete! I have moved it from the garage into the front bedroom that is our library. The only thing left to do is troubleshoot the spinner (loose wire most likely), cull the rom directory for games I don't want/need, and finish the OS configuration. I plan to try to build a ramdisk and copy the program files and roms into it at system boot to speed up execution and get rid of hard drive noise when games load. I think that all the video modes are working well - I love the D9200! I have loaded some pics of the cabinet with different games running, and I have taken some other pictures with Paula's Minolta, and when they have been developed I will scan and post them.

Now comes the task of putting all of my notes together and trying to massage them into some sort of order. I hope to have that done by the end of the week as well. I have learned much during the last 5 weeks, and I want to share what I have learned with the community. Much of it is in the logs below, but there is more that I haven't had time to put down. This has been fun, and draining at the same time; it will be a while before I try to build another cabinet :) Now I can reap the rewards of my labor, and enjoy the experience of the arcade again!

Pics uploaded, ready for software configuration

Just uploaded a few pics - descriptions will follow, but as you can see from the pic above, it is just about done! The only thing left to do is install the monitor bezel and glass tonight after the last coat of polyurethane dries... then on to the software configuration phase ( and playtesting :) )

control panel assembly, first coat of polyurethane, front glass installed

Wow - the project is really coming to a head! I got the controls from Andy at Ultimarc on Thursday - a day earlier than I expected them! This good fortune allowed me to start work on the control panel a couple of days early - a good thing, as it turned out. After some consideration, I decided to use T-nuts to mount the joysticks and the spinner, which meant that I would have no bolt heads showing above the panel. This led to a much more professional look. I counter-sunk the T-nuts just enough so they would pull flush with the wood, and used 1/2" bolts + washers to attach the controls. Then I unmounted the controls, sanded the top of the panel and sprayed it with 3M #77 Spray Adhesive - this stuff rocks! The overlay went on perfectly, and I cut the holes for the controls with the trusty X-Acto knife. Then, using much care, I drilled the holes in the Lucite overlay with the 1 1/8' spade bit ...here's something I learned while doing the drilling: you *have* to let the drill and bit do the spinning, and let the Lucite kind of "pull" the bit through; *don't push*!! This will certainly shatter the piece! Just let gravity and the drill and the Lucite do their thing, and you'll have no problems. Definetly practice on some scrap first, if you can. I ruined the first piece of Lucite by rushing it and pushing the drill...

After I got the lucite and the overlay in place, I installed the controls, and started wiring. First I did the trackball and spinner, connecting them to the Opti-PAC interface. Then, I used spade terminals and built the ground network first, daisy chaining the grounds on each side of the board separately. Finally, I wired all the buttons, then the joysticks. Once it was all wired, I installed the control panel and wired the coin door / free play buttons. Of course, I *had* to fire up AdvanceMAME to test the setup :) but before I could do that, the monitor was mounted in the cabinet. The monitor mounts fit like they were made for it (hmmmm....) and I only had to drill out three holes to get the bolts to fit - that monitor is not going anywhere! I also had to add some spacers for the VGA connector bracket in the back - the cable stuck out too far and wouldn't allow the door to close.

Once I had played a few games, the only problems I encountered were:

1. X2 / X2 were reversed for the spinner
2. X and Y were reversed for the trackball

Both were easy enough to fix, but the trackball problem was probably caused by my mounting it 90 degrees out. Oh, well, it works now :) The rest of the controls worked perfectly out of the box - I am really satisfied with the I-PAC and OptiPac interfaces from Ultimarc! This would have been much more difficult without them. Unfortunately, I was so intent on getting the panel done that I took very few pictures, and none of the control panel overlay installation procedure. Sorry, but I hope my descriptions are detailed enough - if anyone has questions, just email me. I also got the side art mounted, using the spray adhesive to mount them. I'll cover them with polyurethane for protection.

Today, it was less humid so I was able to put the first coat of polyurethane on the cabinet, and do some touchup for the scuffs I made while working on the monitor bezel and front glass. The bezel is made from foam board I got from the school supply section at WalMart, and the front glass is actually smoked 0.8" Lucite. It really makes a difference - contrast is improved and it helps the bezel do its job of hiding the ugly bits.

Second coat of paint applied, graphics, the story of ZEN

Painting is really going well - I got the second coat on tonight, and should be done tomorrow night with the third coat. Friday night I will mount the graphics and do the polyurethane. I was really pleased with the job that Diane did at Kinko's; it cost about $75 (at $10 / sq. foot) for the control panel overlay, and 2 18" sideart logos - I increased the size at the last minute, and I am glad I did - they will really look good, and will be the only graphics on the side. I am going to test the polyurethane on a piece of scrap I have been painting, to see what it looks like over a test logo I printed up. If all goes well, I may not put plexiglas over the control panel, but just coat it in poly - ill just have to see.

I was cleaning the brushes when the thought occured to me to sign the cabinet... I decided to do it where it wouldn't be obvious - the only way you'll see it is if the monitor is removed, or you use a flashlight and mirror - a kind of easter egg. I have been putting ZEN on high score tables since 1986; my roommate at Cameron Univ., Greg Ellis, and I used to play 1942 in the snack bar of the Shepler Center (The Aggie Barn, for those who remember)... anyway, one night we were taking over the high scores, and I goofed putting my initials, entering a Z as the first letter... after a few seconds of thought, I completed the entry as ZEN, the only 3-letter word I could think of at the time. Then, Greg came up with the idea that we could use the high score display to leave messages (did I mention we spent a *lot* of time in the Aggie Barn? :) ) So we kept playing, tailoring our scores and entries so that, hours later when we left, the high score table had the following entries (no, I don't remember the scores :) ):

1. ZEN
2. I S
3. THE
4. WAY
5. M Y
6. SON

Goofy, I know, but it was the best we could come up with, and ever since then I have been putting ZEN on the boards.

Sanding started, new marquee light

I didn't have a lot of time to work on the cabinet this weekend due to an impromptu trip to Oklahoma to see my folks, but I did manage to get some things done. I finished the initial sanding and started applying the primer, installed a new marquee light, and reworked the wiring harness. The 12v power supply is gone - since the new light uses 110v AC, I'm pretty confident that I can run the coin door lamp on the 12v line from the motherboard power supply. I also used some spare molex connectors from old pc parts to make a wiring harness for the coin door. I had to be diligent in labeling the lines, since the coin door uses yellow/black for the coin switch wiring, and the power supply uses yellow/black for 12v DC :) I just connected the yellow/black at the PS end to red/black in my harness by swapping the yellow and red pins in the molex connector, and labeled them accordingly - the molex connector will make sure I don't put 12v where doesn't belong :)

prep for sanding, preparing side art

Today I covered the screw heads and filled the gaps and dings with wood filler, so it will have a good 2 days to dry before I start sanding the cabinet in preparation for painting. I have also chosen a control panel layout, one that I found on Eric Devaud's site that matches the rest of the cabinet. I am going to take it to Kinko's to have it printed, since it is 12" x 27" and I don't want to spend time matching edges for at least 6 sheets :) I am also going to have the main side graphic printed there. Other graphics and the instruction cards will be printed here on my Canon i560 color photo printer.