Planning

"I like it when a good plan comes together..."
Colonel Smith, A-Team

Planning is essential to any project, so first I researched what it would take (and cost) to build my Defender machine. There are substantial resources online, and I thank all of the sites below, and references in these pages, for their assistance:

I broke down the project into 4 sections:

1. The Emulator

Since I wasn't going to be buying genuine Defender machine boards, I needed an emulator. There are a few choices out there but by far the most popular is the freely available MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator). This powerful emulator runs on Windows o.s. and emulates hundreds if not thousands of arcade machines as well as other games consoles such as Sega and Nintendo. Almost anything you ever wanted is available on MAME. An incredible piece of software. Using MAME would also allow me to use my Defender machine to play all sorts of games when I need a break from defending against aliens!

MAME traditionally runs from the command line so a nice graphical front-end would give my machine flair. Again, several are available, but I will probably choose between:

I will also need ROM images for the games I want to run. Obviously I will need Defender, and I thought I might also install another Williams classic: Moon Patrol. Most of the MAME ROMS are available from ROMNation. There are 3 Defender ROMs, namely Red, White and Green Label. Further research will be needed to decide which of these provides the best Defender experience. Maybe I will install all 3.

2. The Computer

I obviously need a computer to run the games on, and because those 1980's arcade machines used so little computing power, I don't need state-of-the-art hardware. I think a Pentium 1 or 2 machine with a small hard drive, CD-drive, middle of the road video and sound cards will suffice. I intend to pick up such a machine from craigslist for under $100.

The monitor also doesn't have to be state-of-the-art. In fact, it will be more authentic if I use an old CRT monitor and the cabinet has plenty of room. These are going for a song on craigslist these days as everyone moves to flat screen monitors. 17" is fine.

3. The Cabinet

And so on to the main construction phase. There are plans and dimensions of the Defender cabinet online and all I need are some simple tools and a jigsaw to manufacture one out of plywood or particle board. A nice weekend project. It will have shelves for the monitor and computer, and an acrylic sheet will protect the monitor.

More specialised parts of the cabinet include the Marquee, coin door, and artwork. I have seen reproductions of the original Defender machine cabinet artwork online, so I am sure I can make up some full-size templates and spray paint the artwork after I have painted the cabinet black. Luckily the Defender artwork is only 2-colour: yellow and red. The Marquee is the game banner that runs along the front top of the cabinet. Original marquees for several games are available on eBay, so I intend to get an original Defender one, and then backlight it using a fluorescent light inside the cabinet.

The final, and perhaps most difficult of the cabinet components is the coin door. Obviously I could just use a button to get game credits but it is far more authentic to use a real arcade machine coin door and drop quarters into it! I have seen these around on eBay and elsewhere, so I can either cough up for a fully-restored one, or buy an old one and try to restore it myself.

4. The Control Panel

Finally the control panel and wiring. Several manufacturers make authentic arcade game buttons in all colours, and the 1 or 2 player buttons, as well as joysticks. They are inexpensive. Preliminary research tells me that I will need to buy a special keyboard encoder to convert the control panel buttons and joystick into the key presses that the MAME emulator understands. I intend to mount my buttons and joystick in authentic Defender positions on the front panel and to get an artwork overlay if I can.

Well that's the plan. My aim is to build the entire machine for under $400. Follow my progress on these pages, where I shall report on the entire construction process along with photos, time taken and cost, as well as a full shopping list: Everything you would need to build your own Defender or arcade machine.

Start | Planning

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