Build Your Own Arcade Control Center FAQ
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CHANGE HISTORYUpdated!

6/19/00
Enter the Mon-ARC!
This hobby is blessed by the presence of some incredibly talented people.  Enter Andy Geeze's latest effort, the Mon-ARC!  Andy posted a message about his latest creation, a TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) program that converts standard VGA output to 15khz Arcade Monitor signal required for Arcade Monitors.  Features:
  • Support for all standard VGA modes.
  • Support for Mode-X modes (320x200/320x240 recommend).
  • Support for VESA modes, both linear and banked.
  • Extended VESA modes (384x224, 864x240, 256x240).
  • New Modes can be added on request.
Currently supported video cards include the Voodoo Banshee/Voodoo 3, and the SIS6326/SIS300 cards.  Visit the web site to see the fun things you can do - think along the lines of Quake 3 on your arcade cabinet's arcade monitor :)  Well done Andy!
Catch up time
Looking at my "to-do" pile in my email, I realized it was well over a year old.  Yipes!  I'm going through it now in oldest - newest form...  Apologies to anyone who thought I'd just ignored them ...
New (old!) MAME Marquee
One of the oldest was an *excellent* MAME marquee contributed by Richard Kirk.  Included are a preview, a .TIF file (487 KB), and an .EPS file (614 KB) that you can resize at will without distortion.  Really excellent - thanks Richard and sorry this took so long.  Added to the downloads page.
Mouse driver for Wingman Warrior
Back in September, Peter sent me a mouse driver (shift or right-click and choose save-as) that he was able to use to get the Wingman Warrior spinner working with in DOS.  Presumably other mouse drivers may work as well, but if you have one and aren't having luck, try this.  Thanks Peter!
Sidewinder info anyone?
Updated the step-by-step guide to reflect the use of daisy chained SideWinder's to get around the limited # of inputs via the joyport.  Thanks to Ken (Sept. 1999) for the input.
Misinformation?
Know of any parts on the FAQ that are just outright wrong?  Not just bad links, but a statement saying one thing when you know in fact it's the other?  Please give me a holler!  I'm doing a bit of "spring-cleaning" on the FAQ (and yes I know it's June already)...  Thanks!
Updated contact page
Updated the contact page, and added 4 graphics if you want to use them to link to the FAQ (a few folks have asked for them).
New keyboard blocking testing utility
Back in November 99, J.D. sent me a utility from the game Star Control 2 -- this utility was used to test blocking to determine which keys would work best as controls in the game.  You can hit as many keys as you want, and it will show you which ones actually respond - those that don't are blocked in that combination.  Download (1.08 MB).  Thanks J.D!
6/13/00
New MAME keyboard interface
Check out Ron's Arcade Home page for his MAME keyboard interface.  Still a work in progress, but the planned features are:
  • Up to 40 single wire digital inputs
  • Each input can be mapped to almost any key and can be changed at any time by software.
  • No interference between inputs
  • It's a small PCB with only 6 IC's.
  • It plugs in between your computer and an optional keyboard, that can be used at the same time.
  • It can tell your software which control panel is installed (If you have more than one)
Cool cabinet restoration
Craig of Roswell 88201 fame has done an excellent restoration/reproduction of an arcade cabinet.  Interesting viewing!
New arcade console project
Brian, who created one of the slicker arcade consoles on our examples page, has done it a third time.  Check out his 4 player interchangeable arcade panel!  Very nicely done, with excellent detail and pictures to guide you on the way.Tom61
The Ultimate Arcade collection moves
The Ultimate Arcade Collection has moved to a new and faster home.  Check them out at:
New arcade project
Check out Casa Gino!  A neat cab with removable control panels, including Pole Position, and Tron (actual panel modified).  Very cool.  This makes project #142! Tom61
New arcade project
Hop over to the Lilly Pad!  The Lilly Pad is the home of the All-N-One MAME Game.  Fairly cool arcae cabinet project with a slick control panel.  This makes project #143! Tom61
New Arcade Project
Go prospecting in Mengy's Goldmine!  When I was younger I blew many a quarter in the local Goldmine :)  Mengy's Goldmine is a scratchbuilt arcade cabinet with a kicking control panel and a nice writeup.  This makes project #144! Tom61
New Arcade Project
Stroll on over to Lanie's Arcade Machine - one *heck* of a cocktail project based off a Ms. Pacman cabinet.  Truly one of the slickest cabinets I've seen -- if I do a cocktail project I'll be looking at this one for inspiration.  This makes project #145!
New Arcade Project
Zigzag your way over to Ms. Stacie's Arcade Cabinet - a cool scratch built arcade cabinet with one stick dedicated to Ms. PacMan, from the maker of RetroCactus!  This makes project #146! :)
New Arcade Project
Zap your way over to LaserRot's Arcade-33 MAME cabinet :)  This is a 33" Teken 2 converted to Mame.  Think this gets the award for the biggest cabinet?  Project # 147!
New Arcade Project
Added Hin Tysen's MAME cabinet to the examples - , this makes project #148...
New Arcade Project
Roll the dice (ok, it's getting cheesy but I'm on a roll.. no pun intended) to Reno's Arcade PC - a PC-To-Jamma hack running ArcadeOS in a mini cab with the PC located outside.  This makes project #149!
In the "WOW" department!
Every now and then, someone comes along with a idea that just knocks your socks off.  Xiaou2's done it with an incredible 6 panel control panel that has to be seen to be believed.  All 6 panels are active at the same time, and are selected just by rotating.  No more unplugging and replugging.  Very cool.  If you haven't checked it out yet, stop on by! :)

 
 

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