Cabinet #3 - The Ultimate PC MAME Conversion?
For my next project I decided to take what I'd learned from projects 1&2 and try to make a few design improvements along the way. I had one remaining 20" JAMMA cab, but this one had no monitor (because I used it on project #2) and a really badly set out control panel. The PSU wasn't in good shape and the loom had obviously been hacked around over the years to accommodate different boards, so it too needed replacing.
Rather than try to replace and repair all of these JAMMA items, I decided to go for a straight PC/MAME conversion with this cabinet. This would allow me to use one of four lovely 21" Sony monitors I'd recently acquired, and also design the internal layout to my specification. In truth, I figured that once somebody has 5000+ games working on MAME there's very little chance of them ever wanting to plug in a JAMMA board anyway! So with that in mind I set about stripping the whole cabinet down for repairs.
My first challenge was to build a support mechanism for the (very heavy) Sony monitor. I wanted the monitor to look just like an arcade unit from the front, and to be rotateable and easily removable for servicing. Luckily, I still had the original monitor surround and chassis from the old Hantarex Polo unit, and I was able to adapt this to fit the Sony. To accommodate the extra depth of the Sony I had to move the internal support shelves forward (towards the glass) in the cabinet, but this actually gives a much better look in my opinion, and the square lines of the new monitor give the cab a high tech feel. I really like it! To ensure that things keep cool inside the cab I added an extra ventilation slot on the rear door, which fits snugly against the back of the monitor when closed - only millimetres to spare here.
Custom monitor support unit.
With the monitor sorted I moved on to redesigning and rebuilding the control panel. The original had only 3 buttons per player and very cheap joysticks which had to go. I'd learned from previous projects that ergonomic placement of the buttons is essential for sustained use without discomfort, so I spent a few days making mock-ups and testing the spacing and positioning before I cut the final panel. To get the feel right I decided to move the P1 & P2 start buttons from the top surface to the front, and for added functionality I added a central pause/multifunction button between P1 & P2. this gave me the room I needed to mount the two new X-Arcade joysticks and six buttons per player on the top surface giving the user optimum comfort when playing.
To ensure a perfect fit I re-used the original control panel base, filling the old holes and re-drilling new ones. I topped this off with a new clear acrylic surface which I painted on the reverse surface to match the bodywork of the cabinet. I'm really pleased with the results and it's definitely the best control panel I've created so far.
Old control panel filled, drilled and ready for electronics.
Electronics fitted and ready for testing.
Wired up and working.
The bodywork of the cabinet wasn't in too bad a shape. It had the usual bumps and scratches that you'd expect from a cabinet that had spent the best part of 20 years in active service, but nothing that couldn't be easily repaired. One thing that did need changing though was the screen glass and marquee. The original 'Play A Coin' logos were tired and damaged, and to be honest they looked pretty damn boring anyway in a dull grey and red pinstripe. I wanted this cab to have a high tech look so I went for graphite grey metallic paint all over, topped off with three coats of high gloss clear coat. I was feeling creative so I designed my own MAME Marquee and got this printed onto high-res clear vinyl backed in white (to allow the light to shine through) and applied this to brand new 6mm toughened and tinted glass which I bought for the marquee and the screen surround.
I replaced all the rubber with new, and did the same for the t-moulding, choosing a satin black to compliment the metallic grey exterior. The metal parts (coin doors, frame, marquee retainers etc.) were all stripped back to bare metal, then primed and given three coats of gloss black smootherite to make them look like new. I also replaced all the locks with new high security ones and added a new Euro socket and switch to the cabinet to complete the bodywork.
Bodywork repaired & ready for primer
Satin Black interior & Graphite Grey Metallic exterior applied.
All that remained was to configure and install the PC. This is where I hit an unexpected problem! As MAME has evolved to run more and more complex games the minimum spec requirement of the host PC has crept up. I hadn't really noticed this because I like playing the old classics like Phoenix and Defender, but some of the newer games really do chug on the old PIIs and lower spec PIIIs. To make this system as future proof as possible I decided to upgrade the host PC to a PIII running at 1Ghz with 1Gb of RAM. This coupled to a high power graphics card with an Nvidia chipset means that every game currently working on MAME V1.03 runs perfectly without any sign of slowdown.
Having made the decision to use a high spec PC I was shocked to discover that it wouldnt actually fit inside my newly refurbished JAMMA Cab! Despite having the same overall dimensions as the last two cabinets I'd worked on, the inclusion of two footwells at the front of the cabinet (presumably there to take brake and accelerator pedals for driving games) had substantially reduced the amount of space inside the cabinet. This forced me to make a decision I'd been toying with anyway and de-case the PC to make a custom fit inside the cab. This is not as crazy as it sounds because by doing this all of the major components are exposed once the back is removed, so upgrading, adding new ROMs, servicing etc is made much easier. Doing this added two days to my build time but I'm pleased I did it and I think I'll do this for all of my future machines now I've seen the results.
PC de-cased and built into cabinet - easy access to everything!
To finish off the project I wanted the MameWah front-end to look its best. As the system is running on a Sony monitor I was able to take full advantage of running MameWah at 1024x768 which gives excellent clarity and detail for the menu screen. To make thins even better I decided to design my own MameWah layout with custom graphics that matched the marquee on the cabinet. These really look the business and give the whole project a professional finish I'm really proud of.
Custom MameWah Front-End - clear and easy to use.
So that's it, another JAMMA cab conversion completed and ready to entertain for years to come. The whole project took me three weeks to complete from start to finish and I'm really happy with the end results. The redesigned control panel is a pleasure to use and won't give you RSI after 30 mins of playing. The graphite grey and black bodywork looks fantastic and makes this a real state of the art piece of furniture. It'll be a shame to see it go, but go it must as I'm just about to start project #4 - a massive 26" BAS cabinet which will really keep me busy over the next few weeks. Check out this site for updates!
Here's a slideshow of the completed Project #3 - enjoy!