| For many years I had been thinking about building my own MAME Arcade System. Then a close friend gave me the book Project Arcade.
Soon after, I found the web community ArcadeControls.com.
So I decided to do it. This became Project Arcade Addiction (AKA, The Money Pit)!
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| Progress... |
January 1, 2006
My profession is software development, so I started this project by looking at MAME front end software.
I spent the next few weeks doing research on everything MAME.
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January 7, 2006
The spending starts... Purchased a Happ Trackball and SlikStik Tornado Spinner. I figure I'll get
the most expensive parts out of the way first.
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January 9, 2006
Purchased 49-Way Joystick and GP-Wiz 49 Max.
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January 13, 2006
Purchased I-Pac/4 Keyboard Encoder.
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January 23, 2006
As you can see from my prior purchases, I've decided the control panel comes first. Using MS Visio,
I've started designing full size layouts. I'm pretty sure I want a 4 Player control panel with two tiers,
similar to the Supercade design.
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January 26, 2006
Purchased a bunch of buttons and 6 Happ Super Joysticks (on sale, $5.99 ea.).
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February 4, 2006
My Franken-panel starts to take shape!
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February 7, 2006
Built the control panel proto-type over the weekend.
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February 26, 2006
Converted a PC joystick and Happ Super to an 8-Way Trigger Joystick.
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March 12, 2006
I have finalized my control panel layout and started construction.
Purchased 16 Electric Ice Pushbuttons and an LED-Wiz from GroovyGameGear.
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April 2, 2006
Completed construction of control panel. Painting comes next.
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April 9, 2006
Using cans of spray paint, I've applied a coat of primer and then gloss black to
the sides and bottom of the cp. The top surfaces will be covered with a Formica laminate.
I'm not pleased with the results and will most likely try again with a roller.
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April 29, 2006
Using a foam roller, I applied two coats of Rust-Oleum Satin Black. The results are much
better than the high-gloss from the spray can.
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May 8, 2006
I applied laminate to the top of my prototype panel and trimmed the edges and a few button holes.
This was practice.
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May 20, 2006
Applied laminate to the upper and lower deck control panel.
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May 23, 2006
Routed all holes for controls and buttons. This completes the lamination.
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June 3, 2006
Completed the control panel construction. Mounted all the joystick bases. Installed all the buttons.
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June 5, 2006
Mounted the keyboard encoder (I-PAC) and the LED encoder (LEDWiz). Wired up one of the RGB LEDs
and installed the LEDWiz control software. Very Cool! Unfortunately the LEDWiz encoder and software
are not communicating well via my USB controller (a known problem with some USB chipsets), so
I'll have to purchase a new USB hub or controller card.
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June 11, 2006
Installed a VIA based USB/PCI card in the pc and now the LEDWiz works perfectly. I've also wired
up 10 of the RGB LEDs. I'll need to order a second LEDWiz for the remainder of the buttons and some
other LEDs (Trackball, Joysticks, etc.). Started wiring the returns for all the buttons and joysticks,
but I ran out of black wire.
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June 17, 2006
I've added a second LEDWiz and wired up the remaining 6 RGB LEDs. Time to start playing with the software.
I'm also considering purchasing a 27" display monitor (re-certified) from GGG.
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June 24, 2006
Installed PowerMAME on the pc and configured the LEDs. I also installed the WinIPAC software and
configured it for my button layout. Unfortunately I've come across a limitation with the LED controllers;
There's no way to set an attract mode sequence for the second device. Looks like I'll have to rewire
all the LEDs. Here's a forum thread on the subject.
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June 28, 2006
Rewired all the RGB LEDs with the blue color controlled from LEDWiz #1 and the red and green controlled from
LEDWiz #2. This will allow me to sequence all the buttons, but only with blue. During game play, any color
can be used for the active buttons.
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July 4, 2006
The 27" display monitor I purchased has a non-standard DB9 connector. I purchased a DB9 male to
DB15 male cable to hook the monitor to the pc, but the pin-outs were still wrong. So I cut the cable
and re-spliced the wires. I also had to install PowerStrip; a software app that allows the video card
to display at the correct resolution and frequency for the monitor. And miraculously, it all worked!
Hopefully I won't get a brain tumor from standing 18 inches from this beast of a monitor!
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August 27, 2006
Wow this summer went fast! I finally got back to working on Project Arcade Addiction. Spent most of the
weekend finishing the wiring on the control panel. Also installed the Track Ball, Spinner, and all the
joystick handles. Basically, the control panel is complete.
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August 29, 2006
I fired up the Ultimarc software and uploaded my layout into the I-PAC keyboard emulator. Using the
test program, I then checked each of my buttons and joysticks. Now... I consider myself a semi-intelligent
person - and when I wired all the controls, I took into account the fact that the panel was upside down. This
meant that all the controls were reversed from the I-PAC layout. It also meant that the left and right switches
for each joystick were reversed. But much to my surprise, every joystick direction (up/down/left/right) was
wrong! What I forgot to account for was the fact that each direction on the joystick activates the opposite
micro-switch on the bottom, DOH! I had two choices, reprogram the I-PAC or rewire the joystick connections to
the I-PAC. A normal person would have gone with the easy solution - reprogramming the encoder. But it bugged
me that the joystick "Up" was wired to the I-PAC "Down" connection, and "Down" to "Up" and "Left" to "Right" and
you get the picture. So I rewired them all. Now I'm happy.
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August 31, 2006
Set a new personal high score on Robotron 2084 - 299,150. I remember playing the game in the arcade
and thinking how quickly it could eat quarters, but also how addictive it was. UPDATE: I've continued
to score higher in Robotron, but no matter what score I achieve, my son beats it within a day!
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September 9, 2006
I began to notice that the 49-Way joystick was behaving oddly - it seemed like the stick was hanging
up on something. It would move freely, but every once in a while it would stick for a second. I disassembled
the entire base and found nothing wrong. Then I noticed that the shaft had a ring/lip worn into the black
tapered section near the handle. Here's what was happening - the throw of the stick was long enough that it
was rubbing against the top edge of the control panel and the laminate surface was actually cutting into the shaft!
In turn, the worn in lip was hanging up on the plastic dust washer causing the odd behavior. The fix turned out
to be simple - using the trim router and a 1/8" round-over bit, I beveled the top edge of the hole in the control panel.
I also used a file and some very fine steel wool to polish down the lip in the joystick shaft. Problem solved!
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October 1, 2006
Finished the cabinet layout in MS Visio.
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October 8, 2006
Cut the cabinet side panels from two sheets of 4x8 furniture grade plywood.
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October 15, 2006
Cabinet construction has started in earnest. It stands! I assembled the sides, bottom, top, and back.
Also tested the control panel – fits like a glove!
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October 22, 2006
Added the monitor shelf. The design may have been a bit of overkill, I think it could support 200 pounds!
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October 29, 2006
Added the speaker shelf. Also installed the casters - now I can roll it around the garage myself.
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November 12, 2006
Added a keyboard shelf. I don't think this was necessary, but I had a set of really nice full-extension
shelf glides left over from our kitchen renovation, so I put them to good use.
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December 3, 2006
The cabinet construction is complete!!! The front and back door panels were completed over the weekend
and I've applied wood filler to the nail holes and any plywood edges that splintered from the cuts.
Next up, sanding, priming, and painting.
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December 6, 2006
Applied wood filler to all the nail holes and any edges which splintered during the saw cuts. After the putty
dried, I sanded it smooth.
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December 9, 2006
I had planned on using an oil based primer under the oil based top coat, but the paint guy at
Home Depot suggested Glidden Grabber - a latex primer - which they custom tinted to dark gray.
From what I've read, the general consensus is that oil based paint should not be used over a latex primer,
but per Home Depot and Glidden, I can use any paint over their primer. Regardless, the cabinet is primed!
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December 16, 2006
Rather than take any chances with oil over latex, I had Home Depot custom color match the Rust-Oleum Satin Black
I used on the control panel in a latex for the cabinet. This made the clean-up much easier! I will say though,
the oil based paint went on much smoother. But after three coats using a high density foam roller,
the cabinet looks pretty good. I figure I'll need at least one more coat on the sides to cover the wood grain.
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December 19, 2006
She has moved indoors! It was a tight fit - 3/4" on either side and a couple of inches at the top (and that was with
the door removed from it's hinges), but the cabinet made into the basement. Using plywood for the majority of the
construction and having removable front and back door panels paid off - the weight was not bad. After installing the
monitor (Dotronix 27" in a steel case - now that was heavy!) I cut the monitor bezel to fit with a utility knife and
straight edge. For the plexi-glass in front of the bezel, I tried the utility knife, but that was futile. So I switched
to using a trim router which cut the plexi like butter. Next came the panel clamps to hold the control panel in place,
and lastly the speakers were mounted.
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December 23, 2006
Arcade Addiction had its first full-on play test this weekend as family and relatives converged on my house for a holiday celebration.
Temporarily, I used Mame32 as the front-end. NBA Jam was the game of choice! It was a huge success and the control panel ergonomics proved to be excellent,
even with 4 (adult) players side by side! But there's still a lot more to do - software, graphics, etc.
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August 5, 2007
Yes... I'm still here! Since my last entry back in December, my wife and I decided to buy a new home. We sold our
old house in one weekend and we've been in the new house since May 1st. Needless to say, I've been busy with other
projects. But through out all the crazy house stuff, I've continued to work on my Mame project when time permits - focusing
exclusively on the software. I decided to code my own LED-Wiz application as a plug-in for the MaLa front end. And so
LEDBlinky was born! More to come on this subject.
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November 26, 2007
Released LEDBlinky v3.0 to the ArcadeControls.com community. With version 3.0 I finalized all the features including
full support for both the LEDWiz and PACDrive LED Controllers. I'm sure there will need to be a few additional updates - to fix bugs and maybe
add some minor options.
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December 2, 2007
Andy from Ultimarc was kind enough to send me a free set of Ultralux Translucent Illuminated Pushbuttons with logo inserts - to show his
appreciation for the LEDBlinky PACDrive support. I've replaced all my player start and coin buttons with the
Ultralux buttons and they look awesome - plus they light up and blink when credits are available.
I also removed my home-brew 8-Way Trigger Joystick and retrofitted the NOS Heavy Duty Arcade Trigger Joystick
(bought on eBay). My stick worked ok, but it felt a bit flimsy and
I was concerned the shaft might give out. The arcade stick is built for heavy use and feels great!
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March 27, 2008
Released LEDBlinky v3.6 to the ArcadeControls.com community. Back in November I mentioned that I might still add a few options - how about
a major architecture rewrite! LEDBlinky now has plug-in support for the MaLa, AtomicFE, and GameEx. It can also run as a stand-along
application for almost any front-end. I've also added a bunch of cool new features including the ability to set joystick digital restriction
modes for the GP-Wiz49 and Ultrastik 360 joystick. Speaking of the U360, I've removed the 49-Way and one of the Happ Supers from my cp and
replaced them with U360s. I found the 49-Way was a bit stiff and did not work well in analog mode. Plus, I love the red ball-tops on the
U360s - so much so that I plan on replacing all the bat-tops with ball-tops.
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August 10, 2008
Replaced all bat-tops with ball-tops - I really like they way the control panel looks now! I also spent some time retrofitting a
rubber restrictor into my heavy duty 8-way trigger stick so that it works better for Tron. Basically, the restrictor provides a
bit more resistance against the diagonals. On the software side, I've created a Tron themed skin for MaLa and I'm working on
the marquee graphics. Lastly, released LEDBlinky v3.7.2 to the ArcadeControls.com community - mostly new features for the
Animation Editor.
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August 18, 2008
Finished the artwork for my marquee. Now I just need to send it out to MameMarquees.com for production. Next up, work
on the graphics for the sides of my cabinet.
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September 28, 2008
Released LEDBlinky v3.7.3 to the ArcadeControls.com community - Added HyperSpin support!
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October 19, 2008
Finally got back to working on my cabinet. I added another coat of paint to the sides - this to
cover over the scratches caused by the professional movers from when we moved a year and a half ago (grrrr).
Installed a light bar for the marquee. Mounted a power strip and organized some of the power cords. Installed
the speaker grill covers. And lastly, I applied all the T-Molding. I had been holding off on finishing the
external details until the side art stenciling was complete. But I've since decided to go with a custom side art
sticker - the stencil idea was a bit too ambitious. So now it's looking almost complete!
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November 19, 2008
Been working on the screen/menu layouts for the MaLa front-end. I've also installed the Daphne emulator so now
all the laser disc games are working - Dragon's Lair! Oh, and my custom marquee was printed up at MameMarquees.com
and has been installed on the cabinet.
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March 11, 2009
Released LEDBlinky v3.7.4 to the ArcadeControls.com community - Here's the story;
Back when I started to configure my mame rig to run some additional emulators (Daphne, etc.), I
quickly came to the conclusion that LEDBlinky was lacking when it came to non-mame setups.
So I embarked on what has turned out to be a major overhaul of LEDBlinky's underlying data
structures and a shiny new Controls Editor to ease configuration. Along the way, 10 ini files
and the Color Profile app have bit the dust - all replaced by a single xml file and the new Controls Editor.
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August 30th, 2009
Released LEDBlinky v3.8 to the ArcadeControls.com community - Added all kinds of cool audio animation features!
Now that I can blink the buttons to music I've been looking at various jukebox software options for my rig.
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February 13th, 2010
I've updated this site - added a new set of pages for LEDBlinky.
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May 1st, 2010
LEDBlinky has been moved to it's own site: LEDBlinky.net. Released
version 4.0. And the really big news - the software is now distributed as Trial Software / Shareware.
Read about it here.
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December 31st, 2010
Completed LEDBlinky version 5.0 which supports the new Ultimarc Pac-LED64!.
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February 6th, 2011
One of the reasons my arcade system hasn't advanced much in the past year (still need to do the side art)
is because I've been working to finish my basement. The basement project started in 2008, and
completed on schedule :) for the Super Bowl Party of 2011! The large open living space includes
an arcade area and a home theater with a ceiling mounted projecter and 120" screen. In
preparation for the inaugural party, some of my old pinball machines were finally pulled from storage
and setup, and Steve from Penbrook Amusements came out to fix both the Defender and Stargate! It had
been many years since I last played the Defender - but it only took a few games to get back in
the swing and roll the score!
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October 30th, 2011
I've updated the site to include pictures of our arcade and home theater. There's also pictures
of my Demolition Man pinball restoration project. And released LEDBlinky version 5.0.0.3 with minor enhancements.
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September 26th, 2012
Released LEDBlinky version 5.1 with new Cabinet Animation features and support for the Ultimarc ServoStik.
Plus other enhancments.
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October 13th, 2013
Nothing to report. Although based on LEDBlinky sales outside the U.S. I'd say the hobby continues to grow internationally.
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November 12th, 2018
Wow I'm lazy about keeping this site updated! LEDBlinky (now at version 6.5) is over a decade old and continues to be used
by the home arcade community. The UI is looking very dated, but it continues to run well on all versions of Windows.
Thanks to everyone who has supported the software!
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