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Mounted Cheat Code / Cheat Sheet / High Score Whiteboard (Swivel) Holder
Since many STGs have some kind of unlock code or secret 1up, remembering them all can suck.
The idea is to type out a short list of all the input codes or other vital info and attach the paper to a fold-out/retracting hard-backed memo holder that you could mount to the inside of the arcade cabinet frame, below the marquee, near the upper corner area of the bezel.
Like, imagine a small clipboard that could swing out similar to a door mounted on one hinge.
I just don't know what memo holder I could use to keep it "classy" and sturdy, even if it requires cutting the hard surface backing in half to save space. I'm trying not to permanently obstruct the bezel.
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Mounting a cooling fan (for the player)
The idea is to mount either a wired small personal fan or a battery powered handheld fan to an inside upper corner of the bezel area of a cabinet. Other options are the very top above the marquee pointed downward, or the outside of the cab pointed in.
The problem is do they make fans with small mounting holes on the metal frame? I've never found one. Or are there other mounting alternatives? Making this not look goofy is also a concern, if that's even possible. It might not.
-----------------------------------PC Engine Fan X! wrote:There was the centrally mounted fan that'd turn on at certain times if playing a serious session of the classic Whirlwind pinball machine. It was a godsend to be cooled off by that fan.
(Doubleplay) Foot Pedel Shot button.
I got this Scythe USB foot pedal, drilled a hole under the cab, ran the usb cord underneath into a Mame computer, and assigned 1P & 2P shot buttons to the foot pedal. This way you can focus on steering two ships and bombing instead holding two joystick all convoluted-like. At least it works for old constant autofire games anyway.
In MAME cabs, this is also helpful for assigning a critical keyboard command like the Enter key in case if a mame rom crashes in a certain way that requires clicking "ok" and for whatever reason the mouse cursor is unavailable; the footpedal can save some convenience.
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Beer Fridge or Kegerator as a coin door
I know The Gamerator exists. It's a mame cab with a beer tap on it. I dunno how to make one.
My idea would be to strip all the coin mechanics out of the coin door, replace the coin door backing with a custom cut of a (insulated) plastic sheet, take a travel refrigerator, remove the door from it, then mount (and seal) the front of the fridge to the opening of the coin door. 'May or may not need to add a water collection tray underneath and isolate electronics from sweat defrost drips.
This is probably a terrible idea if you don't want your house to burn down.
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Cup Holders, Ash Trays, Cell Phone Stands
Only the single, simplest, best addition ever.
Buy this. Four screw holes. It folds up into a half-inch wide square, so it works great on the outside area of the cab. Best of all, the top circular holder folds in independently of the square base, therefore if you want to keep an ash tray or cell phone there instead, you can do that.
If you want variations, include "Marina" or other references to ships and boats in your drink/cup holder search.
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Wireless ALL-ON power button
Genuine arcade cabs already have a master switch somewhere. MAME cabinets are a different story. To solve the issue of how to power up a computer, sound system, and lighting all at once without the inconvenience of wiring a master toggle switch, here's a solution.
This surge protector with wireless switch will switch on or off six plugs simultaneously while leaving two plugs always on.
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Ground Effects
SWFLS/SNFLS series Flexible Light Strips with Side Emitting LEDs is a thing you can buy to get that ghetto levitation monolith look or even mount some to the back of the cab for some inconspicuous glowing effects like some people do with their HDTVs nowadays. I've only found versions that ship with open-ended wires. These strips are 12V and almost designed for cars. However in MAME cabs, one of the power supply open ends is usually a 12V, so you can cut the plastic clasp off, buy some spare wire, twist-connects, then electrical tape, and run the wiring from the bottom of the cab into your dedicated MAME computer. The LED strips come with some kind of adhesive and stand about 2mm tall. So arcade cabs with some kind of leg levelers underneath is all the jacking you likely need to make these possible.
There is a practical effect of doing this mod. The ground effects can double as a power-on indicator for your computer tower. In MAME cabs, the bios setting that makes "Auto-boot on power restore" possible when switching a surge protector/master switch on is not always consistent on a switch-on just after a total power down. This will let you know if a quick shutoff-shuton actually powered up the tower.
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Button Layout Ergonomics
Slagcoin has the diagrams you need to make ideal competitive button layouts.
I modified the design to accommodate for some special things:
Described in six button street fighter terms:
Jab | Strong | Fierce
Short | Forward | Roundhouse
1. Replace Fierce with a Start button. This allows for offbeat things like easily activating Start+button cheats and for raising or lowering the autofire rate in Armed Police Batrider. On Mame cabs, Start button can become a "shift key" paired with joystick inputs and other buttons to perform certain mame shortcuts quicker like save snapshot, save state, etc.
2. Replaced Forward with a 24mm button. Since very few STGs require a fourth button to play well, I reduced the size of this to technically enable a fourth button but for a Mame cab, double more as a second (harder to press accidentally) "shift key." When this is paired with the Fierce Start button, this greatly increases the number of shortcuts allowed for accessing mame features without conflicting with standard three-button controls. (I also removed roundhouse button, but that's not ergonomic, just less clutter and I only play FTGs on console anyway)
3. Added additional 24mm button inches southeast of Roundhouse. This is technically my left mouse click button for my modded trackball enclosure (modded into a mouse). What I'm really using this for is an additional ergonomic shot button. It is designed exactly where my right palm would rest on the control panel. The button is disabled for games in Mame by default, but if say a Darius or 1943 were put on, I could configure Mame in This Game setting to allow the new button to be a second Shot button, then in Mame Plus or Shmupmame, set autofire on. Then I can play on autofire with my wrist lazy, but ready to bomb or use additional buttons at anytime.
4. Swapped the buttons with the stick for 2P side and reduced the gap for buttons, entirely in the name of running doubleplays
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Regular-into-Rotary Stick Switch
-----------------------------------Ed Oscuro wrote:You know what might be useful? Altering the 2P player with a rotary stick and a switch so that you could use the same cabinet to play both regular and rotary stick games. Maybe even a switch on both joysticks / start buttons / coin mechs so that they can both be switched from 1P to 2P (or perhaps you'd need to have a switch to switch both at the same time, to avoid conflicts, i.e. the switching to standard 1P / 2P in the 1P and 2P slots respectively, and reversing it so that 1P becomes 2P and vice versa).
iCade mod into existing control panel to sync with nearby iPads
I believe iCade is just a bunch of Happ equipment connected to a branded bluetooth receiver PCB. The cabinet shell is just to keep the iPad center 'n maintain the illusion of a mini arcade.
With that in mind, perhaps it would be possible to wire the same arcade control panel buttons up to that iCade bluetooth receiver and main controller PCB simultaneously? Then if an iPod happens to be set on the control panel ledge in front of the screen, it connects?
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Headphone Jacks
The first theory is buy an audio coupler, drill a hole in the cabinet itself, shove 'n caulk the coupler in the hole, string a Aux cable into the internal side (in a MAME cab)
The problem is having an easy way to switch between headphones and external speakers, to which I have no ideas.
-----------------------------------rugdoctor wrote:Headphone jacks for 1p and 2p.
Pretty sure small calibur audio amps are readily available for the job and some nifty mounting and biwiring and you will be in audio nirvana. Extra points for mounting an analog knob too.
External Analog Volume Knob
Any ideas on how?
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Hardware Adjustable Autofire Mod
I dunno where to begin on this.Dave_K. wrote:6 speed adjustable autofire and headphone mod embedded in player2's unused buttons.
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Any other ideas or tips, discuss.
