Star Wars upright cab...build it up as a Mame-Wars while I wait for parts?

viewsonix

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Star Wars upright cab...build it up as a Mame-Wars while I wait for parts?

I got a Star Wars upright cab, no parts inside.

The thing is just too beautiful to not use, and I was toying with the idea of making it a mame cab that ONLY plays Star Wars (or ESB too perhaps). I would not put a 'aircraft carrier control panel' on this thing, instead I would try to get the regular marquee, monitor/cpo bezel, etc. to go with the controller.

I know I can buy a repro controller now for like $250 but waiting on the boards would take some time.

I was wondering if the mame version of the game (graphics/gameplay) was fairly close to the original.

Thought I might as well use the thing while I wait for parts!
 
Don't mess up a nice SW cab!

Emulated vector games aren't the same. Sell it to someone who needs a nicer cab, use the $ to buy a working game.
 
I got a Star Wars upright cab, no parts inside.

The thing is just too beautiful to not use, and I was toying with the idea of making it a mame cab that ONLY plays Star Wars (or ESB too perhaps). I would not put a 'aircraft carrier control panel' on this thing, instead I would try to get the regular marquee, monitor/cpo bezel, etc. to go with the controller.

I know I can buy a repro controller now for like $250 but waiting on the boards would take some time.

I was wondering if the mame version of the game (graphics/gameplay) was fairly close to the original.

Thought I might as well use the thing while I wait for parts!

I agree, why waste a perfectly good cabinet. As it is yours to turn it into a chair or what-ever.

Just keep collecting as much parts as possible for it, sounds easy right? :)
 
OK here's the deal. SW on MAME is nothing like the original. Never will be, even on VECTORMAME.

That said, if you can SW MAME it and continue to reconstruct the original then go for it. At least you get to play while you pay.
 
Don't worry, I'm not going to mess up the cab. That's Rule #1 for me.

The cab has some damage to it from its long life before I got it. A piece was broken off of the front above the coin doors and there was some separation issues with the side panels coming away from the cab. Even so, it looks good.

I was just thinking of trying to use it while I wait for parts.
 
Well, with a repro yoke, I definitely would. Use it, I mean, and MAME it for SW, Empire, and Jedi. Once you play all three games on it you might decide to leave it that way, at least until you see it again in real color vector. I have a real Tempest sitting right next to a MAME that can actually play Tempest (of course, my Tempest cannot play Tempest, and if you own one, you know what I mean). But I'll still sink a few more hundo's into the real thing, to play the real thing.

And yes, I know Jedi is raster, before someone latches on to that.
 
Do you have any good photo's of your SW cabinet that you can post up? That way we can comprehend your situation better.
 
OK here's the deal. SW on MAME is nothing like the original. Never will be, even on VECTORMAME.

That said, if you can SW MAME it and continue to reconstruct the original then go for it. At least you get to play while you pay.

It's the exact same roms....it is the same game
 
I got a Star Wars upright cab, no parts inside.

The thing is just too beautiful to not use, and I was toying with the idea of making it a mame cab that ONLY plays Star Wars (or ESB too perhaps). I would not put a 'aircraft carrier control panel' on this thing, instead I would try to get the regular marquee, monitor/cpo bezel, etc. to go with the controller.

I know I can buy a repro controller now for like $250 but waiting on the boards would take some time.

I was wondering if the mame version of the game (graphics/gameplay) was fairly close to the original.

Thought I might as well use the thing while I wait for parts!

I do reversible conversions all the time. If its reversible no harm no fowl. Just avoid drilling new holes! :)
 
I do reversible conversions all the time. If its reversible no harm no fowl. Just avoid drilling new holes! :)

I did a reversible conversion on mine using a Wells Gardner U3100 VGA monitor. While it will never be the same as a real vector game, it is nice having SW, ESB, and ROTJ in the same cabinet, especially when you don't have room for all 3 full-sized cabinets. Plus it can play other yoke games like Battleshark, STUN Runner, Turbo Sub (yes, Turbo Sub is now playable in MAME), and even Paperboy.

Another added bonus is reliability. I don't have to worry that my boardset will require another $200 repair job whenever I turn on the machine.

I would say go for it. It is an empty cabinet, and it is yours to do what you want. I got an empty Tempest cabinet from Al Warner that I converted to MAME Tempest. It is awesome having a Tempest cabinet that actually plays Tempest every time I turn it on.
 
I know I can buy a repro controller now for like $250

Where can you get a Star Wars controller for $250? I found one for something like $600.

I am tired of waiting for one of these to pop up for sale in my area. I want to MAME the bejeezus out of this game and play it. I haven't seen/played one since something like 1986, but I remember it like it was yesterday... :)
 
Nevermind, I just found it! Time to get this project off the ground!!
 
There's an interesting thread on BYOAC where a guy built a SW cockpit from SCRATCH and the discussion has led its' way to vector game emulation.
ZVG cards have to bought 2nd hand, as they are no longer sold new.
AAE cannot play SW, it does not accept joystick inputs.
PC versions of mame will never be as bright as old versions of macmame os9 but there are several compromises when working with old macs. Old versions of macmame os9 emulate vector games much better IMO.
Good luck!
 
I got a Star Wars upright cab, no parts inside.

The thing is just too beautiful to not use, and I was toying with the idea of making it a mame cab that ONLY plays Star Wars (or ESB too perhaps). I would not put a 'aircraft carrier control panel' on this thing, instead I would try to get the regular marquee, monitor/cpo bezel, etc. to go with the controller.

I know I can buy a repro controller now for like $250 but waiting on the boards would take some time.

I was wondering if the mame version of the game (graphics/gameplay) was fairly close to the original.

Thought I might as well use the thing while I wait for parts!


If you change your mind and decide to sell the cabinet, let me know. I'm about 2 hours away from you.
 
If you need parts I have the following:

- PCB cage
- Wiring harness
- Marquee frame
- Speaker
- Tinted glass bezel

I am also fairly close to you in Woodbridge.

- Mike
 
All the Star Wars games on mame play different than the real thing. But unless you're a stickler for details, it's all very playable. My biggest complaint is with the asteroid field speed and positions. On MAME I can just point the yoke in one direction and miss being hit. On the real game, they're flying swiftly from all directions, giving you no room to cheat.

I modified some POS non-working game I was given from oregonarcade. Game was called Lock-on. Cab was solid, the yoke needed a new pot. So for under $100 for parts, arts, and a cheap computer off CL, I converted it to do just what you propose to do. Of course, my shitty cab already had the yoke. So I went cheap and just hotwired the Sidewinder gamepad.

I say go for it. There is absolutely nothing that will be harmed, should you choose to convert to real stuff. I've seen other SW cabs with the trilogy playing on them on youtube. You can see how mine works as well on my youtube vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIQ6BB12LLM
 
Unless you buy a Ram Controls SW USB interface, you will have to hack the yoke to an A-PAC or sidewinder. I'd go with the Rams Controls if possible, no hacking involved!
 
Go for it! As long as you don't make any serious modifications to the cab, I see no harm. Granted, the PC monitor won't look like "the real thing," but truthfully, having a nice and playable game is better than having an empty shell sitting around.

I'm currently doing the same thing with an Omega Race cockpit. It was either let the cabinet get thrown away, destroyed, and forgotten; or have me run Omega Race (and a number of other games) in the cabinet through MAME. Now, the game will live on for years more. No harm done there.
 
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Go for it! As long as you don't make any serious modifications to the cab, I see no harm. Granted, the PC monitor won't look like "the real thing," but truthfully, having a nice and playable game is better than having an empty shell sitting around.

I'm currently doing the same thing with an Omega Race cockpit. It was either let the cabinet get thrown away, destroyed, and forgotten; or have me run Omega Race (and a number of other games) in the cabinet through MAME. Now, the game will live on for years more. No harm done there.

We're still waiting for an update. ;)
 
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