GAME OVER!!!!-MAME machine <update 11-10-04> ALMOST DONE!!!! Side Art ideas?

Design Stage:

Well….you might remember me from my Homestarrunner.com Mod…..but alas I have had horrible luck with that. The only thing that DIDN’T blow up was the floppy drive….which I never use anyways. But so anyways onto this project.

A while back…probably last October I was talking with my brother about having arcade controls hooked up to my computer. At this time I had no idea of what MAME was…or that you could buy a set of controls from X-Gaming. So I started on my endeavor.

Fortunately I didn’t have to buy any computer components for this computer because my generous brother in law had an extra computer that he gave to me. And I didn’t have to buy a new monitor either because I had also been given a 19” SGI monitor recently.

Front:


Size Comparison of how big this beast is:


Because it is an SGI monitor and it is meant for a Silicon graphics design computer, it has a really funky connector in the back <thankfully when i got this monitor it came with the video card that is AGP so you can use it with a normal computer. Only problem is that it doesn't support Direct X...it only supports Direct Draw>


Probably the coolest part of this monitor is that it has a remote, even though i won't be using I still think it is awesome.


The computer that i recieved isn't that great of a computer but it served my purpose. Here are the specs:
6gb hard drive
128mb Ram
Intel Pentium II 400mhz processor....I think, not exactly sure of speed

Well here is a picture of the computer with the case on and the case off:



So I started looking around on the internet and to my amazement I found that there were thousands of websites containing information about building your own arcade controls. I also found out about MAME, and the wonders of the I-PAC. I saw hundreds of people who had made MAME machines and put them into old arcade boxes…..but one thing I didn’t see that many people doing was building there own arcade machine. So I decided to build my own arcade machine.

A Picture of the I-PAC i purchased.....these things are SO awesome!


I knew I wanted some certain sides to be certain lengths but I didn’t know all the sides so I decided that I would try and design the arcade machine in a 3D design program. I decided that I would use Sketchup. Seeing as this was my first time working with Sketchup thought I did pretty good.


It won't actually be red in the end, i am thinking about a shadow color perhaps. That guy is there for size comparison.....i was having a hard time visualizing how high the control panal would be. The machine itself is about 6' tall and the base is 2.5'x2.5'. The sides will be made of 3/4" plywood and then the rest will be made with 1/4" and there will be 2"x4" pieces connecting the 2 sides.

Well that is all I have for now, hopefully i can get my parents to buy me some plywood, saying as i am basically ready to build!!!

 

Hi, nice monitor and nice project you've got there!

I happen to know the funky monitor connector you're talking about pretty well, so I thought I would register and give you some info/advice.

That thing is called a 13W3 connector, and it is/was used mainly on Graphics workstation monitors. Basically, it is quite similar to the classical HD15 VGA connector, but it uses 3 coax to carry the RGB signal, instead of pins.

Last year i managed to get my hands on a used but functional IBM RS/6000 workstation on its way to the trash container. There was a very nice P200 20" monitor with it, so i thought i would pick it up (which wasn't easy because the beast weights some 40 Kgs) and hook it to my PC. And then I faced the 13w3 conector issue.

After a lot of Googling, I found out that 13w3 was used mainly by 3 manufacturers: IBM, Sun, and SGI. And also that these 3 manufacturers used 3 different pinouts. So it got a bit complicated. It was easy to find 13W3 <-> HD15 cable for Sun monitors, but i couldn't find none for IBM ones. So i just bought an inexpensive Sun cable, opened it, and reading the Sun and IBM pinouts, i managed to rewire it so that it would work on my monitor. Turned out there was only one cable to desolder/resolder.

I then hooked the cable on my PC, and it work flawlessly. Piece of cake

So, you see, it's possible for you to either find a SGI 13w3 <-> HD15 cable or build it yourself from a Sun cable like i did. In any case, google around to find technical data on this, as there may be some incompatibilities to work around.

Cheers and good luck!

[Edit] Ah! Found the schematic you need, if you feel like building a cable
http://www.monitorworld.com/Cables/hd15male_to_13w3female_pinout.html

 

amazingly enough when i scored this monitor the person i got it from had both the cable and the AGP video card that makes it work....but i am interested in making a new cable. Do you know if you can then just plug it into a regualr APG/PCI video card? and do you know if it will support Direct x afterwards?

<I will try and post some pictures of the video card and cable when i get around to it>

 

Well i haven't read much on SGI monitors but i don't remember reading anything special about them, and my IBM P200 worked fine with the cable i modded (until i replaced it with a larger LCD monitor ) except for a slight reddish tint on black areas, which was probably due to the sync on red signal or whatever. Nothing major.

It's pretty straightforward: once your cable is properly built, just plug it in and your monitor should work like any other CRT monitor. DirectDraw or Direct3d won't be a problem, as your monitor doesn't have to deal with it, only your graphics card do

Maybe SGI uses special sync signals, but i doubt it. Nothing Powerstrip can't handle anyway, AFAIK.

EDIT: I read that earlier SGI monitors weren't multiscan (they could only work with one fixed resolution and fixed vsync and hsync frequencies). Yours seem to be a more recent, and thus multiscan, model so that shouldn't be a problem (no Powerstrip tweaking needed). I can only advise you to find the model number of your monitor and look for it on MonitorWorld.com. There you should find info on how to hook it to your Mame Machine

Linky link: http://www.monitorworld.com/Monitors/sgi/

Good luck

 

Hi again!

Found this page, where adapters are sold:
http://www.si87.com/Products/Cabling/Adapters/adapters.html

So if you have a multiscan monitor and don't want to bother with soldering, desoldering and whatnot, you can still buy one (although it costs 30$) and move on to building your cabinet.

But as a modder I guess you wouldn't choose the easy way

 

I had a monitor just like that for my old SGI Personal Iris workstation (80 lbs of whopping 16Mhz).
Anywho, the only thing about the monitor you have to worry about is whether it is a fixed frequency monitor or not. If you've tested it and it works on a normal video card, you're fine. Otherwise, it could be fixed frequency and you'll need to snag a special video card. If you read off the part number, I think I can remember what kind it is. If it has a 'D', it's fixed frequecy, if it has an 'E', it's like a normal monitor (I think, it's been a while).

PS. I had a 13W3 to normal monitor connection made up by a cable shop for $20 or so.

 

You might want to check out http://www.arcadecontrols.com then. Many home-built Mame cabs in the examples. Lusid's design seems to be the most popular design currently.

 

Begining of Construction

Begining of Construction

Well my dad decided that he would get me some plywood for my early Christmas present….<way early…..but it’s aight with me>. We got 2 sheets of ¾” plywood <regular 8’x4’ sheets> and then 2 sheets of ¼” plywood…I know this is kind of a lot of plywood but my dad wanted to try and build some other stuff as well so it was all good. I think the total cost of the plywood was somewhere around $50 <American>.

So first thing I did was lay out the ¾” plywood and draw what needed to be cut out on it.

Can't see it that well but it works:


Next I cut the two side pieces out, they turned out pretty nice and I thought that most of the heights and such were right, mainly the height of the control panel.

Cutting the control panel part out on one side:


All cut out:


Next I tacked the 2 pieces together with some 2”x4”s that I had lying around, I used screw because they hold well and they are easier to sink deep into the wood so that you can bondo over them.

Tacked together:


Bottom of the frame:


Front of frame:


Well that is all that I have done for today, hopefully I will get some of the front pieces on tomorrow.

 

Looks like it's coming together nicely, hopefully everything will continue this smoothly.

 

thankfully i haven't had any major problems yet. I have had the problem of the plywood splitting a bit when i screw/nail pieces on, but most of the time this gets covered back up with a piece so you can't see the split part.

 

If you drill a very small hole before you set your screws, the wood will be much less likely to split and it is easier to put the screw in straight. You should look into a special bit that they sell that pre-drills a skinny hole for the screw and does a countersink at the top so that the screw head is recessed.

 

burninatingly good

 

Construction Continued

Construction Continued

Yeah my dad also mentioned the pre drilling idea….I think I might do this for parts that are going to be seen. And countersinking is going on while I do this, later on I will puddy them all over, along with the cracks between pieces and other things that I feel need some puddy.

Aight today I worked a decent amount of time. Mainly I was putting all the panels on.

I started off by tacking on the kick board panel.


Next I attached the pieces that go along the front of the control panel and underneath it.

<I nailed all of the paneling pieces on because it is only 1/4" plywood and nothing will really be tugging on it so nails should be sufficient>

Her is a picture of it from the back:


When I was testing to see how stable it was with just these pieces together it didn’t seem very stable so I asked my dad what would be a good idea to make it more stable. He suggested putting a piece of ½” plywood on the slope up between the control panel and the monitor piece. I also decided to take out the second slop above the monitor <you can see it in the Sketchup design>. I also cut out a piece of ¼” plywood for the main front piece where the monitor is. I also added a whole for where the monitor could be seen through. I will be putting tinted plexi glass over this part and the marquee later on. I will explain that later on…..<too many later on’s in a row>. The next thing that I did for the day was attach the marquee <which is blank right now but eventually I am going to cut out GAME OVER in small pixel font> and the piece that is underneath that. I realized after I had done this that it would have been mush easier to have just cut out the letters before I attached it, but whatever.

Attempting to show the 1/2" plywood:


All the front pieces attached:


A picture of the beast from the back:


I decided to test fit the monitor in there just to make sure it was the right height and everything. To do this I had to create a monitor platform, which was relatively easy. All I did was take some scrap 2”x4”s and screw them to the sides of the cabinet. Then I cut out a piece of ½” plywood for the platform part.

From the front:


The monitor holder....and yes the picture is slanted slightly, but also the platform is slanted slighty, i fixed this by putting a piece of scrap wood under one side of the monitor:






The final thing I did was I measured out how big the control panel should be. I cut it out and I will begin drawing and drilling out the holes for the controls and buttons. I might have the holes all drilled out by either Tuesday night or Wednesday afternoon, just depending on what goes on.

A picture of the piece of plywood that i will be using for the control panel:

<nice smooth 1/4" plywood>

Aight that’s it for now, ask as many questions as you want, comments and suggestions are welcomed!!!

 

wow thats cool! thats looking real nice but the monitor looks a little small in comparison to original MAME machines doesnt it? couldnt you get something that magnifies the image?? just a thought - but im likin this keep it up

 

Really cool idea
No coins for that machine

 

I've been lurking here for some time. You guys (EVERYONE INCLUDED) have some great ideas, but I had one problem with this: the machine is six feet tall, yet the overhang sticks out as far as the control panel.

I suggest doing THIS: Simply cut off some of the overhang. Thus doing, the box will feel less restricted and more like one of those that you'd see at the arcade. I also suggest getting some sort of panel (possibly lit) to put on that overhang.

 

aight there are a couple of reasons why i have it come out like that. The first reason is that i want to put the speakers underneath there so that you will hear them better <they are not very good speakers but i don't want to spend any money getting new halfway decent ones>. The second reason is that i want to have a marquee that is above your head, this way the light won't cause glare off the screen but people behind can still see the marquee. If you are conserned about fitting underneath the overhang while you are playing, i can assure you that is fine. I have tested out the heights of everything and they all seem to be pretty good, i am pleasently surprised with the height of the control panel becuase a lot of people that i talked to said that it was goign to be too high, but when i tested out the heighth it seemed just right.

I hope this explains the reason for the overhang....plus most of the older arcade games have an overhang over them....and i was going for a look kind of like the olds ones.

 

this is a very neat mod. im going to look forward to see how you do the control system for the comp.

 

Hmm Looks good, but one quick thought that comes to me is that you might want to put some plexi in the hole for the screen, that way it would be easier to clean, and probably safer for the screen itself (I know I need to punch something when i loose j/k)

But other than that all looks well! Keep it up.

Oh since I didnt notice if you had already purchased your buttons for the project, I thought I would point out these... Seems like a resonable deal

-Brad

 

I actually i have the buttons already and the joysticks. I got 30 buttons and 2 8-way joysticks off of ebay for $30. They came with momentary switches...and the best part....the momentary switches are guaranteed up to 1 million pushes!!!!!

Hahahah....yeah well here are some pictures of the the buttons mounted in a testing board that i made like 2-3 days ago. Sorry i don't have any of the butons or joysticks by themselves.



I am going to have 6 buttons for each player and a start button and insert coin button for every player as well.