PLEASE READ THE GUIDE BELOW BEFORE TURNING ANYTHING ON
IMPORTANT NOTES:
- The PC ships separately from the cabinet. We manually email cabinet tracking, while PC tracking is sent by our automated system.
- The keys can be found in the coin slot.
- The game discs are for backup purposes only and already loaded on the PC, you can simply store them inside the cabinet.
- You will be connecting a total of 4 USB cables to the PC, 2 power cords (one for the PC and one for the cabinet), an audio cable, and a VGA cable for video from the PC to the monitor. If your PC only has 3 USB ports on the back, there are 2 more on the front (behind a door on some models).
- The Purple and Green round connectors on your X-Arcade and inside the machine are not used!
- The cables for the PC are bound with a wire tie and ready for hookup, you can carefully cut/unscrew the wire tie to get the full length of the cables.
- The green/white cable is not needed (for connecting coin door only), simply store it in the cabinet.
- The X-Arcade Tankstick manual is a general manual for using the control panel itself, as it uses the same electronics.
WARNING: Do not turn off the Machine without first turning off the PC properly by simply tapping (do not hold) the power button on the front of the PC.
The PC is shipped separate from the Machine, here is how to get things up and running:
Maximus Arcade GUI Button Layout:
Initial Setup:
- Open the rear door and place the PC on the shelf with the front of the PC facing the coin door (for easy powering of PC). Be sure not to cover the side vent of the PC.
- The controls, audio, and VGA video cables are already waiting near the PC. Connect the 2 USB plugs for the control panel to the USB ports on the back of the PC.
- Connect the green/black headphone cable into the green headphone jack on the back of the PC (typically the center port).
- Put the keyboard and mouse inside, and then connect their USB connections into the back of the computer.
- Plug one end of the power cable that came with the PC into the back of the PC, and the other end into the white power strip.
- Connect the other power cable between the cabinet and your wall socket, a surge protector is recommended.
- Connect the other power cable between the cabinet and your wall socket, then turn on the power switch on the back of the cabinet and on the power strip inside if needed. A surge protector is recommended which will also give you an easier way to power on/off the cabinet without having to get behind it.
- Turn on the PC, wait for it to fully boot to the arcade playing software. Note that the screen will turn black for a few minutes on the first boot only while it scans the game software.
Basic Operation
IMPORTANT: If the light on the top-right of the control panel is not lit, it will not work. Try switching the Serial Switch Box from A to B, and then back to A again.
- To choose a game, first pick which system you want to play using the joystick or trackball, then press the Player 1 Start button. Also use the joystick/trackball to scroll the list of games and press Start again to start one.
- After you start up an Arcade game (MAME menu only), use the left pinball flipper button closest to you to insert coins, and then press the white Start button(s) with men on them to play. If a game only used 1 button, then it will always be button 1 closest to the joystick. If a game uses 2 buttons, then it will add button 2, and so on.
- To Exit a game, press the Exit Game button (this requires the trackball to be connected and working). You can alternatively HOLD the left pinball button closest to you and press the Player 1 Start button.
- Atari 2600 Games (see image): The Player 1 Start button acts like the Game Select button (usually used to change the game mode), the Player 2 start button acts like the Game Reset button which means the Player 2 Start button is the Start game button. So for 2-player games you would use Player 1 Start button to select a 2-player game mode, and then start the game with the Player 2 Start button. This is a limitation with the current MAME builds. Button 1 is the only button needed to interact in the games once you've started.
- VOLUME: The primary way to adjust the sound is the sound adjustment found on the back of the coin door. There is a green light on the control when it has power and is switched on, the volume power on/off switch is located on the front of it near the headphone jack. (See the Advanced Operation section below for other ways to adjust volume if needed.)
- When you are all done playing, you can leave the cabinet running, or Tap (don't hold) the power button on the front of the PC and allow the PC to fully shut off. Then you can optionally turn off the main power on the back of the cabinet (or a power strip if you are using one). You can leave the main power on if you expect to play again in a few days, or power it off if you won't be playing again soon. See Advanced Power Options for other power options.
- See full list of other commands listed below.
Maximus Arcade GUI Button Layout:
Function: | X-Arcade |
Scroll Up | Joy Up |
Scroll Down | Joy Down |
Scroll Left | Joy Left |
Scroll Right | Joy Right |
Page Up | Joy Left |
Page Down | Joy Right |
Page Up Letter | Button 2 |
Page Down Letter | Button 5 |
Select | Start 1 or Button 1 |
Previous Menu | Button 4 |
Insert Coins (in arcade games only) | Left Pinball button (closest to you) |
Start Game (after coins inserted) | Start 1 or Start 2 |
Exit Game (return to Maximus) | Exit Button |
Master Volume | There is a volume control inside/behind the coin door |
Raise Volume* | Hold Exit Game button + Joy Up |
Lower Volume* | Hold Exit Game button + Joy Down |
Favorites* | Button 3, then press Select Button |
Add Favorite* | Button 6 |
Put PC to sleep* | Hold Exit Game button + Press Right Pinball (closest to you) |
Reboot PC* | Hold Exit Game button + Press Left Pinball (closest to you) |
*Disabled when in Presentation Mode.
Advanced Operation:
- SOUND: The primary way to adjust the sound is the sound adjustment in the coin door opening. While outside of a game (in any menu) you can also hold the Exit Game button and move the Player 1 joystick up and down to raise and lower the volume even more.
Alternative Volume control: If you need it to go louder still, go to options in Maximus by pressing RCtrl+P (Right-Control + P) while in a menu (not in game), then go to the Controller tab, then the Menus subtab. Next to Volume menu put in a value (for example the letter v). Save that when it asks (overwrite original), and now when in a menu press the v key to open the volume menu. You can press left and right on the arrow keys to adjust volume, v key again to close the menu.
For MAME games you can adjust the volume by pressing the ' key (key above Tab key normally) and adjust using left/right on the controller (press the ' key to exit volume adjustment menu). For some games (such as Rampage World Tour and Mortal Kombat games), the - and = keys can be used to raise or lower the in-game volume. - Screensaver and Sleep settings.
- Scanline feature is on by default which makes the games look more like they did on an original CRT monitor. You can disable/enable it, to do so (while outside of a game only) hold the Exit Game button and press F1 to enable it or F2 to disable it.
- Adding MAME™ Arcade Game ROMs
- Reassigning a Games Controls
- Q*Bert (if you have it) is a 4-way game where the joystick was mounted in an X mount. There is no way to make a diagonal (in other words 2 keys pressed at once) to be a direction to compensate. So to play it you will want to play it with that in mind, Up=up-right, Down=down-left, Left=up-left, and Right=down-right.
- For any games that say "Reset to Factory Defaults" or similar, simply hit the F2 button on your keyboard. You will only have to do this once.
- If you wish to use a game console, you will need to buy a console adapter and the Game Console To VGA Monitor Adapter for video (SGVA and RCA Connections only). You can optionally purchase the Serial Switch Box to be able to easily change controls between the PC and console.
- Advanced Power Options for X-Arcade Cabinets
- To delete the game save states and delete all of your games high scores, hold the Exit Game button (or 2 on your keyboard) and press End on your keyboard.
- Backup: If you wish to create a backup of your arcade software in case something should go wrong, you only need to back up the folder C:\Max 2.10\ to an external hard drive.
Troubleshooting
- If the light on the control panel is not illuminated, the joysticks and buttons will not work. Make sure the serial connection is connected firmly to the back of the Tankstick, and that the USB connection with purple end next to it is plugged into a USB port on the back of the PC. If you still don't get a light, try unplugging it from the PC and plugging it back in. (if this continues to happen see solution here).
- The screen is upside-down: First exit the Maximus Arcade software to Windows, so do this while in the menus (not in a game) on the keyboard press Right Ctrl + Q (hold Ctrl key on right-side of keyboard and press letter Q key). Once in Windows, right-click anywhere on the desktop and under Graphics Options>Rotation and choose 180 degrees. You can now reboot the PC to get back into the game software.
- Screen is flipping sideways or upside-down when I play?
- No sound: The sound adjustment control can be found inside the coin door, it is the primary way to adjust the sound. There is a green light on the control when it has power and is switched on, the power on/off switch is located on the front of it near the headphone jack. Make sure the power is plugged into the subwoofer in the rear and that the power switch is on. Also check to make sure you have the green audio cable plugged into the green audio port of the PC (typically the center port). If the sound jack is plugged in while the PC is on, you will need to reboot it before it will work. If you still have trouble, exit to Windows and make sure the PC is not muted.
- Video is cut off at the top and bottom: While outside of a game only, hold the Player 2 Start button (or 2 on your keyboard) and press F2, and then try a game again.
- The PC is rebooting or sleeping when trying to play: Notice the function list above has commands for rebooting the PC or putting it to sleep, so be sure you are not simply pressing this combo. Otherwise, check that the mode switch found inside of player 1 control panel near the PCB is set to Mode 1 (simply remove the 2 screws on the top of the control panel to open it).
- To test your controller, exit Maximus to Windows; while in the menus (not in a game) on the keyboard hold Right Ctrl and press Q. The test program is on the desktop.
- Exit game button not working: Make sure the trackball is plugged in and working as it uses a trackball button to exit games.
- Invalid Locations error.
- A button or Joystick isn't working: There are 2 screws on the control panel that, once removed, will allow you to open the control panel like a door giving you access to the components inside. See: Button or Joystick is sticking or not working for troubleshooting help.
- No Power or complete power loss: Make sure the power switch on the back of the cabinet is on, as well as the power strip inside. In the AC Inlet on the back of the cabinet there is a fuse holder between the rocker switch and AC Inlet. There are 2x 250V 10A 20mm fuses in this holder, one is a spare. It's important to get a flat head that goes under the lip and that you bring it from the side that is in the pictures.
- If you upgrade Windows (not recommended) you will need to reinstall the registry file to make Maximus boot with Windows. To do this, exit Maximus to Windows by holding Right Ctrl and pressing Q on the keyboard. Then you will need to go to the directory "C:\MAX 2.10\! Restore Default Prefs\" and run the file called "Registry Shell". You will also need to re-input the Maximus Registration code.
- Door Adjustment: If your cabinet door is rubbing or difficult to open/close you can adjust the hinges multiple ways to better align it. Here is a video explaining how to do so. It only takes a very small amount of adjustment.
- Scratches and wood repair
- X-Arcade Coin Door Manual