Ahhh, ambition...

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: Question 1: do whatever you like to any cabinet unless it is a classic. Then you have to decide whether to incur wrath of the crusty purists here. : : : 2) I read somewhere that ArcadeOS needs to beep 3 times before turning on a arcade monitor connected to a PC - why?? It almost sounded like a arcade mon can only display DOS. Can it actually fry a monitor if I were to fire up Windows on the arcade mon?? : Yes, due to the high scan rates Windows expects of a PC monitor versus the lower scan rates of the typical RGB arcade monitor or NTSC TV monitor. However if you had a video card with S-Video output connected to an S-Video TV, that would remove one problem (although there is still that authenticity thing). : : 3) I am planning on buying a new PC to run this on - what would you suggest is the lowest I should settle for? : Depends on your needs; I can't tell you what those are. >:-P If you are eager to run Taito F3 games in MAME rather than RAINE, you will almost certainly want a 1.3 GHz or faster. Also, there is the usual batch of CPU hogs: Time Killers, Street Fighter the Movie, Galaxy Fight, STUN Runner, Hard Drivin' etc. etc. : : : Also, I plan on running AracdeOS with MAME DOS. If in fact a arcade mon can't handle non-DOS, I would not even plan on installing Windows95 - can AracdeOS and MAME DOS run without Windows?? I tried once closing my Windows, went to DOS and tried my MAME DOS - it didn't work?? : Apparently DOS-Mame and ArcadeOS are run quite frequently in cabinets without Windows. Can't help you with your problem though. : : : 4) I want to use 8way joysticks, though heard that there is some type of "mask" or "plate" that can be built that temporarily converts it to a 4way. Does anyone have a jpg of this mask or a webpage that talks about it. : Nope. : Your options are: : 1) buy Happs Super joysticks that switch from 8-way to 4-way by flipping an actuator over in the joystick base. Probably a 1- to 2-minute operation at most. : 2) Keep your 8-way sticks on the opposite ends of the panel and have a dedicated 4-way in-between. : : : 5) I want the ultimate control panel capable of playing almost every game, and thus want a 4 player setup. : Wanting a panel to play every game versus a panel to play 4-player games are two different things!! Consider spinner, trackball, dual-stick, steering wheel and other miscellaneous game types... and that's just 1-3 players. You will want to build swap panels, otherwise this one universal panel would be unbelievably cluttered on top and have a hell-hole rat's nest of wires beneath. : : : I want 6 buttons per player (can't think of any games that use more than that??), plus each player to have a start. My question is whether that will be all I need? I've seen other MAME cabinets where each player also had a ALT, ESC, ~ button - why???? : D'uh, why do you think? Haven't you used MAME lately? These are the basic navigation keys inside the emu. : : : All I think I'll need is a "O" and a "K" button on top of my description above - is there any other buttons that I'll need. : You're still too fresh to know enough about Mame. The emu allows to push Stick 1 left and then right to bypass the OK prompt. : : : 7) I'd love to have sometype of steering wheel that I can quickly disconnect when not in use, along with pedals and shifter. Is this possible (can I use a joystick as a shifter)? Anyone got some jpg of current models that have this? : See www.skum.org/oscar and visit the Links page for do-it-yourself ideas on steering wheels. Also a few threads down there is an interesting discussion on stress loads for spinners vs. steering wheels. : If Mame recognizes the joystick control, you can probably map any individual game to use it as a shifter. Bear in mind that some games use a 2- or 4-position shifter, and some just use one same switch to toggle between high and low gear. : : : 8) Lastly, is there any other things you'd suggest for my ultimate control panel. I know some would suggest a trackball and spinner, though I'm more into the late 80s and 90s games and can't think of any that use that. I also like some of the classic 80s, though other than Tron and Centipede, can't think of any need for these - am I wrong? : Damn, you're such a newbie.

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