Dazz's MAME cabinet

[Dazz]

Here is a shot of my cabinet as it was when first built. The cabinet was built from scratch using the plans for the UA II from Mameroom.com. I am currently going to be re-doing the cabinet in the near future, need new artwork first. The current artwork was a rush job as my artist flaked out on me and I had to get something generic within 2 days. Thankfully Scott from Mamemarquees.com was able to jump in and help out at last minutes notice.

I am going to turn this into a dedicated HyperSpin cabinet if I can get the artwork. The control panel is going to be completely redone to incorporate the U360's that I recently received. :D

I'm hoping to have it re-done by August for Quakecon 2009 as it was a huge hit in 2005 (http://dazz.genmaygamers.com/qc05.htm).

http://dazz.genmaygamers.com/images/cabinet1.jpg

Cabinet Specs:
AMD 5800+ X2
4GB DDR2
nVidia 7800GT (being replaced with a 9800GT shortly)

Screen:
27" flat screen CRT TV using Component.

Sound System:
Creative Labs 2.1 Speaker system. Speakers were cut off and wired up to 4.5" car speakers.

Control Panel:
4 Player Control Panel Design - Interfaced with Ultimarc I-Pac 4 and O-Pac
4 x 8-way Happs Ultimate Joysticks
1 x 4-way Happs Mrs. Pac-Man Replacement Joystick
7 x Happs Convex Competition Buttons for players 1 & 2
4 x Happs Convex Competition Buttons for players 3 & 4
1 x 3" Happs High Trackball
6 x Happs Ultimate Pushbuttons
1 x Turbo Twist 2 with engraved MAME Oscar Spinner Top.

Pinball Setup:
1 x Pinball Plunger - Plunger is hooked into the I-Pac4 and O-Pac via an optical switch circuit.
5 x Happs Ultimate Pushbuttons - 1 flipper and 1 tilt button on each side + front tilt button


BTW - if you are planning on building a cabinet - DO NOT use Plexi or Lexan. Use real glass. Tempered and tinted Solar Grey is the way to go.

[SophT]

I can't believe how big that is ;)

Dazz: in regards to plexi - are you talking for the CP or for the monitor?

for the monitor I agree - I use smoked glass.

[Dazz]

Heh, it's definitely big... Estimated about 350 to 400 lbs when complete. Designed to house 4 people comfortably when playing.

For the monitor use smoked glass... The colors just seem to pop really nicely. For the CP, I would probably go with Lexan instead of plexi. Plexi scratches really easy even when taking care...

[koolbrez67]

That is so F*^&Ing Kool Wow All I can Saw WOW.

[nachoman]

so, how much did this set up cost?

[seabass905]

Can you put post plans on how you put this together. I haven't seen anything like this with the pinball controls. Maybe i haven't looked around enough. I'm getting ready to build a custom cab with a 32" LCD and I'd like to have a controls set-up similar to yours. GREAT JOB!

[jtslade]

Kick ass. I reason to bet that turtles 4 player on that is f'ing awesome.

[akiles500]

Dazz a great job is enormous

[Dazz]

so, how much did this set up cost?With everything this probably cost about $1500 USD.



Can you put post plans on how you put this together. I haven't seen anything like this with the pinball controls. Maybe i haven't looked around enough. I'm getting ready to build a custom cab with a 32" LCD and I'd like to have a controls set-up similar to yours. GREAT JOB! The cabinet plans are the Ultimate Arcade II plans from Mameroom.com. The control panel was just built on the fly with just basic dimensions. The pinball plunger control is just an optical circuit that I found on www.johnsretroarcade.com. It works great. I am going to be adding a UHID-G from Ultimarc.com in the near future to handle nudging once Andy releases the next version.



Kick ass. I reason to bet that turtles 4 player on that is f'ing awesome.Turtles was the ONLY reason I went with 4 players. :D

[Mungeste]

very nice! much jelously here.

[Nucklez]

Man, that is a very attractive cabinet! Very clean, and yes big. :) So, how many wires do you have hanging around under that control panel? Haha!

Yes, the turtles and 4 player was awesome back in the day. Still is! I've found that if you use the Oceania version of Turtles, you can play one or two players and choose the turtle you want to be instead of always being Leonardo for player one. I've always like Michaelangelo best myself.

[Dazz]

After Quakecon, back in August, there were a couple repairs that needed to be done to my cabinet. Most repairs needed were just cosmetic scratches and I needed to replace the keyboard drawer. As I prepared to finally get around to doing the repairs I decided to completely dismantle the cabinet instead. Now I'm turning it into a complete restoration of my 5 year old cabinet.

So far I have:

1. Ripped off black t-molding
2. Removed all components on cabinet.
3. Removed top part of cabinet from lower cabinet
4. Sanded lower cabinet with 100 grit and going to start upper cabinet this weekend.
5. *currently* Filling screw holes and cracks with wood filler.

Things still to happen:

1. New t-molding
2. Repaint of both top and bottom of cabinet. Thinking of Blue/Black combination but all depends on #3 below
3. New artwork (any artist willing to help out?)
4. ?? Control panel redesign (debating on this because I like the layout already, just need new artwork)
5. Tinted glass and new bezel with artwork
6. Trying to find LCD screen to replace 27" Flat tube TV. Finding something that will fit in the cabinet and not look too funny is turning out to be quite a chore.

A couple pics of progress below... Please pardon the mess in the background that is called my garage.

[Ptaz]

That's a really nice cabinet man, I wish I could build something that sweet,
good job.. I am sure you had many beers building that amazing four player cabinet.

[JoeyLYCAN]

I would love to have an actual cabinet some day, this one is phenomenal! Although because of the lack of money right now, I built myself an NES PC and am running HS through that, once the new version of HS is released it'll make it near perfect since everything will be able to be controlled by joypads :)

[Dazz]

Things are starting to finally pull into place... Got the lower part of the cabinet sanded, re-painted and new t-molding on today. The blue looks really good in person. The iphone pics do not do this justice.

[Dazz]

Just a small little update... Got the lower part of the cabinet nearly completed. The coin door is installed, rear access door, and keyboard tray installed. I still need to order the diamond plate kickplate for the bottom. In these pics you can see the wall mount how I'm going to mount the LCD in my Ultimate Arcade II cabinet. Also, the small area where my 7" LCD is going to be installed under the main 26" LCD.

Going to start on the upper cabinet when I get home from work at 2:30am.

Today I received a couple new toys... 2 Happ Mechanical Rotary joysticks and a Ultimarc Rotary Interface. These will allow me to finally play Ikari Warriors how it was meant to be played. I just need to re0design my control panel and remove all of the pinball functions and add the 2 rotary joys.

[Dazz]

The cab is finally starting to look like a cab once again... The blue and grey look really good together. Very Dallas Cowboys looking right now. I just need a star on the side and it's a Dallas Cowboy's cabinet. Not gonna do that though.

[Dazz]

I swear my ADD is really kicking in now... I keep switching between working on my MAME cabinet and my Pincab. Because of this I'm not really making any progress on either right now. I did finally get around to re-designing my control panel. Just got the templates measured out and taped down ready for drilling/cutting.

Not much of an updated, but the beginnings of a control panel are starting to emerge.

[glassbox]

You dont happen to know the site for those joystick and button layouts do you? i found them a few days ago but cant seem to find them again. somewhere buried inside byoac's forums i think

[Dazz]

I used www.slagcoin.com for the joy stick / button layouts. For the trackball I just traced my Happ 3" mounting plate onto a piece of paper.

[glassbox]

thats the one, thanks!

[Dazz]

Just a small quick update. Still need artwork and needs a nice cleaning once all the saw dust settles from my pin build.

Again, apologies for the crappy iPhone pics.

[Garebear911]

Haha, I've had the desktop image in the first picture as my wallpaper on my phone for forever

[Usul]

Dazz,

have you already decided where your retro ports will go?
I am really unsure about where to put them on my cab, especially since this will require some very precise routing....

[Dazz]

Dazz,

have you already decided where your retro ports will go?
I am really unsure about where to put them on my cab, especially since this will require some very precise routing....I do know where mine will go, but I've changed the way I'm going about doing it. I've ordered several chips from Raphnet.net. I've added Jaguar controls as well as switched my NES and SNES controls to a single USB controller. I'm still working on soldering the new connections as well as waiting on some to still arrive. Once I have my panel built it is going to go under my control panel on the slightly angled area above my coin door.

[Dazz]

My son, Xen, took it upon himself to clean the garage out tonight because he wanted to play ping pong. We got the garage cleaned and finally moved the pinball cab to a more user friendly location. Right now without artwork; it matches my MAMEcab pretty nicely.

[UKShark]

looking GREAT. Whats the 7 inch lcd for?

[ghetoprobe]

Hey Dazz, do you have any issues with your 7" DoubleSight and viewing angles for the 3rd & 4th players? I've read a few reviews on Newegg complaining that if you're not directly in front of the screen, it can be hard to see. The pics of your cab seem to be taken from an angle and the screen looks fine.

[Dazz]

Hey Dazz, do you have any issues with your 7" DoubleSight and viewing angles for the 3rd & 4th players? I've read a few reviews on Newegg complaining that if you're not directly in front of the screen, it can be hard to see. The pics of your cab seem to be taken from an angle and the screen looks fine.Nope, I have not noticed any viewing angle issues.