Centipede Cabinet conversion to MAME, any help/suggestions?

[8bitbobby]

Hey Hyperspinners!

I picked up a Centipede cab through a local ad. It has been gutted (i.e. no monitor, arcade board, or controls). Sideart, Marquee, and Bezel are intact and though it needs some work I plan to keep the original artwork the same and put a MAME machine inside. My question is what all do I need to interface with the computer?

I would like to obviously have a trackball, one joystick (suggestions welcome for 8-way or what I should use) and 2-3 buttons. Do I use a Jpac to interface? Will that work with the trackball too or does it need it's own interface? The goal is to have it look like an authentic Centipede machine (save for a joystick) and play the classic era games (two player if it is turn-based using only one controller) so I don't think I need a bunch of buttons and I want to use the existing control panel if I can (just drill a few more holes for the controller and any extra buttons). Sorry this post is so disjointed. Any help or suggestions are welcome. Want to use it for games like: frogger, centipede, donkey kong, pacman, asteroids, etc., etc. Thanks guys!

p.s. Once I have the controller layout figured out I play to get a proper Control Panel Overlay printed (in the style of the original one with the extra placements for the controller and any extra buttons).

[SORHP]

There is a cpo out there somewhere that has a good layout for joy and trackball. Be sure to get it first to help with your hole cutting if you must. Don't just cut then make a cpo. Or use a cpo from gameongrafix and don't worry about the placement. Just make a place that's comfortable on the control panel for the joy...

Use a dell 1907, or 1908 5:4 LCD monitor, and get the black plastic bezel from holland computers , make a wooden mount for the monitor to work inside the machine... It will be a challenge, but it looks great when finished . Mine works great and looks beautiful...

Use jeepguy81's vertical cocktail themes for HS and you can thank me later.

You don't need a jpac, you may need an a-pac, unless you plan to use a jamma harness

Research it first. You may want to get a trackball that hooks up USB , rather than pulling your hair out trying to get an original trackball to interface. I bought a snes USB pad, and hacked it to be my controls interface (for buttons and joy) only $10, plus a little wire and solder.

Let me know if you have any more questions.