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Thinking of building my own


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#1 RHM

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Posted 04 November 2019 - 06:10 PM

Building your own cabinet seems the best option, there must be at least 1,000 emulations out there and having them in one machine seems the best idea, unless you have a massive warehouse. Its probably more reliable too.

 

From what I can gather I need an empty cabinet or a broken machine I can strip out. I'd like to try it in a front opening cabinet (the newish Bell Fruit cabinet), preferably a club one as there are more buttons which would suite clubbers too. 

 

I have seen the inside of one of these type of cabinets and they have a little shelf and areas were a stripped out PC could go. In relation to a PC i'm thinking an entry level one off flebay would suffice along with an LCD 28" tv/monitor (if 28" fits).

 

Ideally I'd want the machine to power up just by pressing the power switch at the wall, i'm sure PC's can boot up like this (read it somewhere years ago) and then obviously load the emulator or a load screen up automatically (a bit like a b3 rio booting up, it just loads everything). 

 

I'd have a wifi dongle for updating the emulator, and probably some for of extension so a mouse or keyboard could be plugged in.

 

The thing I think I would struggle with is making a coin mech, buttons, payouts etc. work with the emulator and the 'auto loading' software I'd have to acquire. Everything else seems straight forward, unless i'm kidding myself.

 

I looked through some posts by other forum members and they have had their hurdles.

 

Your thoughts please! :D



#2 CharlieRaymondo

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Posted 04 November 2019 - 06:20 PM

I'd ask Reg over at Dif as he has completed his and it looks the dogs nuts. There are most probably others around too, so good luck on your journey.



#3 RHM

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Posted 04 November 2019 - 06:30 PM

I wonder if he would consider a two machine swap or sell it? :D 

 

What's Dif? Desert Island Fruits?

 

Ohh another question... with a variety of machines loaded, let's say one is full, does the machine know how to back the coins, and then if one has had a good payout does it know to take the coins in the hopper, does that make sense lol.



#4 RHM

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Posted 04 November 2019 - 06:38 PM

I've messaged him.



#5 No1Stoney

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Posted 04 November 2019 - 08:45 PM

Hi RHM, a few members have made their own custom cabinets. I was one of the first (I think) building mine around 3 years ago and I still use my today, and it has had lots of improvements since then.

 

The original topic on my build is here: https://www.fruit-em...-machine/page-1

 

Coin mech is really simple, just hook up a parallel coin mech (like the cashflow 126 for exmaple) to a keyboard encoder (like the ultimarc Ipac http://www.ultimarc.com/ipac1.html) and make the keyboard encoder press the relevant keys in the emulator. The coin mech has a pulse for each type of coin, If you have a cashflow mech, I have a diagram to show you where all the wires are to go.

 

I built my own cabinet from MDF, but others have used old fruit machine cabinets. Use whatever works for you. I suggest you add your own buttons to it as each machine is different and you can map different combinations of buttons to each machine.

 

As for turning my cabinet on and off, I simply added a push switch which hooked up to the PCs motherboard Power On header, then it boots into windows and then into my custom made front end software that I also made myself.

 

Payouts were a chore when I built mine originally, but MFME has come a long way and now it has support for payouts. Simply buy yourself a (always off) Pacdrive from ultimarc (http://www.ultimarc.com/pacdrive.html) and hook a parallel type hopper to it, Me and others on here and DIFcan help you with that also.

 

It is a great replacement for having multiple machines. Having a coin mech / hoppers / lamps and buttons just like the real thing really adds to the experience.

 

Good luck with your project if you choose to have a go.



#6 CharlieRaymondo

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Posted 05 November 2019 - 12:22 AM

Sorry Stoney, didn't know you did yours first but with your help and others this member will be up and running before they know it.

#7 RHM

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Posted 05 November 2019 - 06:09 AM

Hi RHM, a few members have made their own custom cabinets. I was one of the first (I think) building mine around 3 years ago and I still use my today, and it has had lots of improvements since then.
 
The original topic on my build is here: https://www.fruit-em...-machine/page-1
 
Coin mech is really simple, just hook up a parallel coin mech (like the cashflow 126 for exmaple) to a keyboard encoder (like the ultimarc Ipac http://www.ultimarc.com/ipac1.html) and make the keyboard encoder press the relevant keys in the emulator. The coin mech has a pulse for each type of coin, If you have a cashflow mech, I have a diagram to show you where all the wires are to go.
 
I built my own cabinet from MDF, but others have used old fruit machine cabinets. Use whatever works for you. I suggest you add your own buttons to it as each machine is different and you can map different combinations of buttons to each machine.
 
As for turning my cabinet on and off, I simply added a push switch which hooked up to the PCs motherboard Power On header, then it boots into windows and then into my custom made front end software that I also made myself.
 
Payouts were a chore when I built mine originally, but MFME has come a long way and now it has support for payouts. Simply buy yourself a (always off) Pacdrive from ultimarc (http://www.ultimarc.com/pacdrive.html) and hook a parallel type hopper to it, Me and others on here and DIFcan help you with that also.
 
It is a great replacement for having multiple machines. Having a coin mech / hoppers / lamps and buttons just like the real thing really adds to the experience.
 
Good luck with your project if you choose to have a go.

Sorry Stoney, didn't know you did yours first but with your help and others this member will be up and running before they know it.


Thank you for the reply, I'm going to obtain an entry level pc with windows 10 on first to get the software aspect working.

With regards to entry level, how much umph does the emulator require?

With regards to the software setup, I was hoping to have it so when it's switched on it loads a custom menu with large graphics on I. E. Manafucturers, you then Pick which one, I. E. Barcrest, jpm etc. When you've selected the one you want it then has a games list for those. I.e. Barcrest, Andy Capp, Road hog etc. With a pic of that machine, price per play, jackpot, percentage etc. You then press the desired game and it loads it. A bit like a modern rio.

Surely this is doable?

#8 RHM

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Posted 05 November 2019 - 06:17 AM

Something like this? https://rover.ebay.c...tm/223683456943

#9 cashbox1

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Posted 05 November 2019 - 09:08 AM

id go for something other than a Dell, when you pull their motherboards out of their cases,you have a bitch of a job sorting out the cooling for the cpu as the fans are sometimes separate from the heat sinks and can be a pain in the arris


Einstein`s theory of FME 90 downloads = 3 thanks


#10 RHM

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Posted 05 November 2019 - 09:36 AM

So at least a double core, with at 4gb ram. HD space could be 80GB the games don't really take up that much space.



#11 RHM

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Posted 05 November 2019 - 10:03 AM

Just measured my casino crazy cabinet, not that i'm going to use that lol, it looks like a 23" lcd would fit in portrait mode within that space, is that the size other builders have used?



#12 Wizard

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Posted 05 November 2019 - 10:24 AM

My Cabinet has a 30" Dell WFP3007 in portrait mode, this was originally a Casino Crazy Club

 

Attached File  IMG_1071.JPG   162.72KB   4 downloads


Warning: This post is mostly my own opinions and may contain irony, if you are obsessed with PAST history you may want to ignore it.


#13 cashbox1

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Posted 05 November 2019 - 10:44 AM

that looks the mutts :D


Einstein`s theory of FME 90 downloads = 3 thanks


#14 RHM

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Posted 05 November 2019 - 10:51 AM

WOW so anything from a 20" to a 30", do you have any pictures of the inside? I'm curios to how the tv is mounted, how your coin slot is on the inside. etc.



#15 frig

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Posted 05 November 2019 - 10:58 AM

There is nothing better than having your own cabinet for MFME! 

For me, I have to be careful as to what I build,  because gambling is strictly illegal where I live, so I can't have something that can be mis-interpreted as an actual slot machine. On the plus side, I can get cheap parts from China (Hoppers, switches, relays ect). The only things I have to import are the PacDrive and Ipac.  

Attached File  20191105_181744.jpg   127.55KB   5 downloads

This lot currently works perfectly with 1443 games so far. 


Edited by frig, 05 November 2019 - 10:59 AM.


#16 RHM

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Posted 05 November 2019 - 11:01 AM

I like wizards joy stick, whats the purpose of that wizard?


Would something like this do for running the emu? https://www.ebay.co....bkAAOSwyMVdu~i5



#17 Wizard

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Posted 05 November 2019 - 11:07 AM

Here you go:

 

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Edited by Wizard, 05 November 2019 - 11:09 AM.

Warning: This post is mostly my own opinions and may contain irony, if you are obsessed with PAST history you may want to ignore it.


#18 frig

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Posted 05 November 2019 - 11:20 AM

Wizard...What the hell is on that Veroboard?


Edited by frig, 05 November 2019 - 11:20 AM.


#19 Wizard

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Posted 05 November 2019 - 11:21 AM

WIzard...What the hell is on that Veroboard?

 

That is my homebrew Pacdrive and Ipac replacement, connects via USB and does all the LED driving and switch reading. It also drives those 7 seg displays around the joystick. It is PIC based.

 

The joystick is used to navigate around the Manager screen and the 7 segs can display meters or act as a clock


Edited by Wizard, 05 November 2019 - 11:25 AM.

Warning: This post is mostly my own opinions and may contain irony, if you are obsessed with PAST history you may want to ignore it.


#20 RHM

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Posted 05 November 2019 - 11:22 AM

That looks neat! I have looked at Reg's too and you both have done a brilliant job enabling people envision how to do it.

 

Looking at the front of yours Wizard it looks like you have perspex going over your screen or the screen is built in to something or is that just my old eyes playing tricks on me.

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