MAME Cabinet - Design to Completion - Sunday Sessions

Sunday Sessions - A MAME cabinet built by father and son from Australia.

- A video documenting everything from the design and art phase to a complete working cabinet for the arcade machine and retro gaming enthusiast.

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CHAPTERS:

Intro: 0:00
Design Phase: 0:41
Art: 1:21
The Build: 2:19
Done!: 7:11
The Cabinet in Action!: 8:10
Games: 10:30
Outro: 14:40

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MUSIC/SOUNDCLIPS:

1. Intro Theme (DonkeyKong) (FREE SOUNDBYTE)
http://www.digitpress.com/dpsoundz/soundfx.htm

2. Blackbird Blackbird - Blind (FREE MP3)
http://www.last.fm/music/+free-music-downloads/ambient

3. Lemaitre - Blue Shift (FREE MP3)
http://www.last.fm/music/+free-music-downloads/ambient

4. vurtX - Playboy (Meets Bunnygirl) (FREE MP3)
http://remix.kwed.org/?search_id=4637

5. Fill Your Boots (Podcast) (FREE MP3)
http://iax.podomatic.com/

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MATERIALS:

----Local Hardware ----

- Large sheets MDF x4 (16mm)
- MDF/Wood Glue
- Plexi glass sheets (Marquee and Control Panel covering)
- Self adhesive cable tie block mounts
- Black finishing strips (Iron On)
- Sponge lining strips (Soft surface for control panel lid to sit on)
- Fluero light bar with 2 lights (Marquee)
- Zip ties
- Plastic cable tubing (Hide cables etc)
- Screws (Assorted)
- Hinges (Back door and control panel)
- Rubber gromets (Speaker seating to lift off MDF and minimise vibrations )
- White paint (Cabinet Interior)
- Plastic meshing (Sit between cabinet fans and plastic speaker covers to catch dust)
- Caster wheels x4

----Local Electronics Shop ----

- Speaker covers
- Interior fluorescent light bar
- Low voltage wiring - Assorted colours
- Crimp connectors
- Toggle switches (used for switching on fans/lights etc)

----Custom Built ----

- Laminated glass.
- 2 pac paint - Black - Spray-gunned
- Aluminium marquee holder - Powder coated
- Aluminium strips - Powder coated (For protecting MDF edging at base of cabinet)

----Online Retailer----

- T-Moulding - Chrome (Australian Retailer)
http://www.gamedude.com.au/arcade/

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HARDWARE:

----Local Computer Shop----

- Power supply
- Case fans x 2

----Local Electronics Shop ----

- Sound sensitive light

----Online Retailer----

- Ultralux -- (Illuminated Buttons) x 14
http://ultimarc.com/ultralux.html
- Dimpletop buttons x 7 (Australian Retailer)
http://www.ozstick.com.au/prod_btns.html
- Dimpletop buttons with player legends x 2 (Australian Retailer)
- Round Illuminated Power Button x 1
http://www.ozstick.com.au/prod_btns.html
- Sanwa JS01 joysticks x 2 (Australian Retailer)
http://www.ozstick.com.au/prod_joy.html
- I-PAC 2 ( 2 player cabinet - Keyboard Encoder) x 1
http://ultimarc.com/ipac1.html
- Pac-Drive ( Output Driver Board for LED buttons) x 1
- Microswitches (Australian Retailer) x how many buttons you have
http://www.ozstick.com.au/prod_btns.html

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COMPUTER:

- Windows XP
- AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor -2.01 GHz
- 2.00 GB of RAM
- ATI Radeon HD 4550
- Acer 27" Monitor
- Creative 5.1 speakers with volume/bass control and headphone jack.
- Wireless Logitech keyboard and mouse
- Belkin surge protector powerboard

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SOFTWARE

----Design Software----

- Autodesk 3dsMax (3d cabinet design-pre-visualisation)
- Adobe Photoshop (2d artwork -- marquee and control panel -- Printed at local print shop)
- WinIPAC Interactive Panel Designer software (control panel design/configuration)
http://ultimarc.com/download.html

----Emulation Software----

-Frontend-

- GameEx (Full PaidVersion)
http://www.gameex.com/

Emulators:

-Arcade -

MAME -- 0.131
http://mamedev.org/

-Pinball -

Visual Pinball
http://vpforums.org/

-Console-

Multiple emulators exist for each console so choose one that suits you for the particular consoles you want to run.

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EXTRAS:

Project Arcade -- Book -- The plans I used (but modified) come from this book, which is worth the buy if your like me and had no experience with building or electronics :)
http://www.projectarcade.com/

Emu Movies -- Video Snapshots/Box Images etc --

***BE CAUTIOUS***

I payed for the video snaps from the DVD section and they never arrived. After getting in contact with the owner he assured me the problem would be rectified. We had a few emails back and forth (which I have kept). I was never sent the DVD's....nor was I refunded. In the end I had to pay extra money to get access to the FTP and downloaded all the videos myself (Approx 30gig)
http://emumovies.com/

Instruction Cards/InGame Artwork etc
http://mrdo.mameworld.info/mame_artwork_ingame.html

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APPROX BUILD COST:

$1500 (Australian)

** Already had computer equipment (Excluding Monitor)**

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Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• MAME
• arcade cabinet
• arcade machine
• retro games
• MAME cabinet
• Video Game Arcade Cabinet
• GameEx
• emulation
• roms
• consolegames
• frontend
• joystick
• 2 player
• coinop
• computergames
• pacman
• donkeykong
• mortalkombat
• building
• mdf
• mame build
• ultimarc
• mame arcade cabinet

[whenyoubite]

Amazing quality of construction and one of the slickest videos Iv ever seen on youtube regarding a home build. Thankyou very much for documenting/uploading this, very interesting and deserved of many views!

[2ManyVids4EyeLids]

Hi, Thanks, that means alot :)

It's my pleasure. The video is pretty long but I really wanted to show other people out there every aspect of what was included so they could get an idea of how they might go about it. I'm considering doing a pinball cabinet next so I'll have to make another video then! Thanks for the feedback.

[psyco96]

this is a great cab!! one of the nicest ive seen so far!

i would have gone with a 4:3 monitor instead of widescreen tho

[2ManyVids4EyeLids]

@psyco96 Thanks, that's great to hear. I think I will still have things to do with it over time including side art etc. I agree with the 4:3 monitor and I actually had one to begin with which I might put back eventually. The reason I chose the widescreen was so I could cater for both older games and newer HD games and video playback etc...Future proofing I guess. The video doesn't show it but you can easily switch the games back to 4:3 with black bars. I just like full screen sometimes

[psyco96]

@2ManyVids4EyeLids i understand that :P

you can take a look at mine if you want its on my channel! (in french srry :( )

of course its not complete (or even close to look as good as yours) yet but its comming along pretty good!

since then i also bought plexi and placed the screen correctly and

im probably getting my marqee printed today!

will post more vidz :)

tell me what you think about it and good luck with yours!

[2ManyVids4EyeLids]

Hi hubiecisme. Thanks!

Not a problem at all, I originally listed all the tools also but YouTube wouldn't let me save that much information unfortunately. Your at the stage where you must be getting really excited about playing it. I really like GameEx for it's cleanliness. I haven't tried the other frontends but this one works great for what I need. You can always customize it with your own schemes etc. Look forward to seeing your cabinet.