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NEWS21 December 2004: MOVEMENTI've added a News page! Yes, it's this one. It even includes the April 2004 update that never happened. Also, in case you hadn't noticed, this site has now moved to a new location. I left a redirection at the old site, but I'm not sure how long that'll be there before it gets pulled down. So make sure you update your links. I need to do the same as well, it seems about half the links on my links page are now dead... Other things to do include replacing some of those grainy photos and maybe look at a new format since this one's starting to look a little dated to me.I 'm still getting requests for detailed plans on a regular basis so hopefully I'll find the time to do something about it soon. Mind you, I remember saying that 12 months ago.. I'm still not sure what form this should take, maybe either basic drawings or a .pdf instruction book with dimensions and sketches. Either way, I'm not making any promises.. 24 April 2004: ABOUT BLOODY TIME YOU UPDATED THIS PAGE!I know I know.. Give me a break, it's only about 3 years since this page went up.Seriously, I've been recieving a steady stream of mail for the past few years and was starting to feel bad about the lack of updates. So, until I have a chance to update everything properly, I'll document the further development of the machine here. FURTHER DEVELOPMENTSMotherboard and CPUWhile the original P133 (mildly overclocked to a stonking 166MHz) worked fine for the older games like Galaga, Defender, Gyruss etc, it didn't like anything made after about 1985. So I finally swapped it for a K6-233 on an Ocktek TX motherboard with 64Mb RAM. This allowed titles such as Double Dragon and Xevious to chug away merrily. In the process of this upgrade, I carried out extensive benchmarking of CPUs and Video Cards. If I get time I'd like to include a more detailed article on the results.SoundThe original Sound Galaxy Basic 16 was dumped ages ago, it was pretty dreadful. I tracked down a reasonably early Sound Blaster 16, from when they still had a decent on-board amplifier. With this I was able to lose the separate amplifier that was picking up a lot of noise from somewhere (hard drive I think). I really don't think you need a more exotic card than this for these games, but a separate amplifier would still be nice if you were using larger speakers than my little 4" ones.FAQQ1. Do you have detailed plans available for your cabinet? A1. Not yet. I simply haven't had the time. I do intend to produce a basic instruction guide with dimesnsions and cutting list, but have no idea when it'll be finished. Q2. Do you make these cabinets for sale? A2. Not at present. I still have a real job. I would consider it if someone offered me stupid money though. Q3. How do you get the screen to invert for Player 2? A3. MAME has a "cabinet" feature in its dip switches menu (tab to activate). Set this to cocktail and IF that game supports it, the screen will flip when it's Player 2's turn. Q4. I have similar hardware to you but MAME runs really slowly on my machine. Why? A4. Could be lots of things. The most likely cause is that you video card is rubbish. Unless you have something that was expensive in its day, like a Matrox Millenium, a card with less than 4Mb of RAM will give disappointing results. Get something better, any crappy old 4Mb S3 Virge card will give reasonable results and cost almost nothing. Don't bother with anything by Cirrus Logic or Trident. Q5. Do you know of anywhere in Australia that sells buttons and joysticks? A5. There are amusement machine repair shops in most large cities that you could try but I'd recomment getting them straight from Happ Controls in the US. Mine arrived in about 10 days and postage was not unreasonable. Q6. I can't get MAME to run, what do I do? A6. Go to www.mame.net and visit their FAQ.
Q7.Can I fit a larger monitor in the same size cabinet?
A7. Maybe, depends on the monitor of course. I did drop in a 17" (LG Studioworks 77i) to see if it would fit, and it did. Anything bigger than that and you'd probably have to scale up the cabinet.
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