Posted by Bernard on 15, 2000 at 11:21 AM:
Hello,
I've been following this website off and on for a while. I've got an arcade cocktail machine with a working vertical monitor, it used to be a Tron. I gave away the control panels to a friend who had a good use for them (closer to making a Tron that I), the only thing that works in this cocktail machine is the monitor (a nice plus though). I decided to forgo trying to make it a Tron again, and wanted to make it a Multi-Pac machine, but now I hear that the person selling those Multi-Pac kits is being sued or something...so that plan is out now too. I think I'd like to make this cocktail into a MAME machine, and I'd like some advice.
The cocktail is set up as a Pac-Man cocktail would be...the controls are at the skinny ends and the monitor is vertical. I know from reading here that I could use the monitor in the game for my display, rather than a PC monitor, but would I want to? any thoughts on that? Also...it being a vertical monitor, would I want to bother with it? Ideas? I've seen projects on here with rotating monitors...not sure if I'm THAT ambitious, but what other options do I have?
Perhaps what I may do is just make this machine a Pac-machine, and just use MAME instead of investing mucho money on a Pac board and Multi-Pac kit that's now unavailable. I could easily have it play JUST vertical games, what's more if it only needed to play Pac-Man games or other older such games, the computer processing power I would need would be greatly diminished, as I don't have much in the line of spare computer parts at Pentium level, etc. However of course I'd rather it be able to play ALL MAME games.
I'm open to any and all suggestions ideas about what to do with this cocktail machine, please feel free to contribute your ideas. For those of you who have GREAT ideas for a MAME machine but lack the time, funds, materials to make it happen, please allow me to fullfill your ideas with this machine. Suggestions and ideas are greatly appreciated! Thanks.
-Bernard