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Author Topic: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop - Artwork Update  (Read 12739 times)

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jholman76

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"Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop - Artwork Update
« on: July 26, 2010, 07:40:52 pm »
Well, it’s about time...

I have built, as the kids say, a "murdered-out" or blacked-out bartop. I like that style as it matches the last pair of cars I have owned, as well.

Ok, well, it’s not my FIRST cabinet. I am actually dragging my feet on my Knieval Woody that is about 75% complete. I started that one  
BEFORE I got all of my fancy tools, so it is sitting in a friends shop right now waiting to be stained. Soon, baby, soon!

But I digress; this post is about the BARTOP!

This sort of project was always in the back of my mind to do. I am building this for my Dragons Lair-era older brother. I'm not sure if I'll GIVE it to him yet, or just let him play it when he is here  >:D

The Back story:
One day when my brother was at my house (he is from AZ, I am in SD), I showed him a mock-up of a CP I did. He was impressed that this culture existed. The second I showed him Dragon's Lair, his eyes lit up like that 12 year old kid at the arcade with a pocket full of quarters. He had to have one. He wasn’t sure what "one" was, but he knew he wanted it. He was such a Dragons Lair nerd that he used to have the paperback book on how to win at it.

Major tools I am using:
------------------------
Craftsman Professional 10" portable table saw with a Freud Diablo 80T (ohhhh baby)
Sears Router (Old one from BEFORE they were called Craftsman)
   2x Flush Trim Bits (one top mount bearing, one bottom mount bearing)
   Slot-Cutting Bit
Makita Jig Saw
DeWalt 18V cordless drill
   Misc drill bits/spade bits
   Various hole saws
Dewalt 18V cordless impact gun
Dremel rotary tool
Bostitch SB2in1 brad nail gun

Major components of the build:
-------------------------------
Free 5/8" particle board (yeah, I know)
Black Laminate
Dell Optiplex 280 de-cased
Dell 17" monitor
Dell Speakerbar w/ hacked power adapter
MicroXP
Happ Super joystick
13x Happ black buttons
Nuetrik USB module
92mm Scythe exhaust fan
92mm black fan filter
60mm black fan filter
Hacked Dell Keyboard
Hacked generic USB Gamepad
2x 12V LED Strip lights
Marquees (printing @ EMDKAY)
Black 3/4" T-Molding
.080 Clear Plexi for CP/Marquee
Tinted Plexi for Monitor Bezel
Misc screws, brads, threaded inserts, L brackets, wood glue

Basic Dimensions of the Bartop:
-------------------------------
CP is 15" wide
...No exact plans available, but inquire for any specific measurements...

The pics below may not be in EXACT order, so please don’t critique me on that.

Introduction:
I based my plan off of the WeeCade project. I just had to convert the Metric measurements to standard and modified it some to the size I wanted. Thanks so much to lokesen for making the plans available.
http://www.koenigs.dk/mame/eng/stepweecade.htm

The project didn’t really get started until I got my hands on some free materials and my table saw (thanks online price mistake!). At work they were throwing a couple shipping crates made of 5/8" particle board away and I spotted that were in pretty good shape, so I saved them from destruction. I know it’s not the preferred material, but it was free.

But Joe... particle board sucks!!

IT WAS FREE, OK? The aforementioned Woody I am making is made of furniture grade maple plywood, so BACKOFF!  :P

I made a template from some scrap plywood and made up the sides with a flush-trim bit.


After that I started cutting and measuring for the other panels and of course, fitting along the way.



After getting the bulk of the panels done, I fit it together and realized this was going to be pretty kick-butt.


I pondered what buttons to include and I decided to keep it clean. I don’t want to end up on the CrapMAME site, do I? :P

I am going to be using Maximus Arcade, so I went with the very basics:

Front Panel:
-----------------
Coin
1P Start
Pause
Exit

Top/back admin panel:
----------------------
TAB
Power

If I'm going to make any other adjustments, I can plug in a keyboard/mouse. No biggie. The TAB key is enough for me.

I went with a 1P setup because I liked how much more slender it made the cabinet and that it will probably get most of its use in 1P mode anyhow. The plan after this is done is to make a dedicated CP box for P2 as well as for HTPC use.

This next part of the project is where I unfortunately didn’t take too many pictures. Basically I spend my time cutting, gluing, screwing and drilling the parts.

After reading horror stories about others trying to paint particle board, I decided to laminate it.
 I had to laminate the panels first as well as the visible parts of the insides. Overall, laminating is an amazing look and very easy to do. I got in good with the local counter-top biz near me and they sell me the smaller scraps dirt cheap. To them anything less than 4’x8’ is a scrap since they make very big counter-tops. I got a 10’x12’ of gorgeous wood-grain laminate for free simply because there were a few scratches on it. Nice.

After laminating the panels and inside, I started putting it together. Things went fairly well. I didn’t have the back figured out yet because I wanted to add the access door back there. I originally thought about having access from the front too, but I decided against that.

I screwed the panels to the sides from the outside and counter-sunk the screws so the outside laminate would cover them. I also added a few brads to each panel just to make sure they held. Glue was used wherever wood touched wood.




I laminated and trimmed the sides, and wow, it’s starting to come together!



As a woodworker here is the best part after assembly… SQUARE!



After the parts were together and the sides were laminated/trimmed, it was time to tackle the back door. I was very nervous because I knew this could make or break the cabinet.

The back panel was to be cut into 2 pieces. The top would be there for stability and the bottom would hinge and open for access. After some measuring, chamfering and precise cutting, I was able to make it look pretty dern good, if I can say so myself.



I was planning on using some salvaged chrome fan grills for the fans, but I decided they were too flashy.



I decided to order some black filters instead. This way it will hide the exposed wood from the hole-saw cut.

I used a Hole Saw to cut an outlet for a 92mm fan and an inlet below for adequate airflow. The other smaller holes will be for a Neutrik USB module and a power module.

Hinges and lining up doors is stressful to me. I wanted it to be perfect. After buying 3 different types of hinges, I was able to find what I needed.

I tested them out on scrap pieces to make sure the clearance was right. After that was a success, I figured it was time to jump in and just DO IT. I had to trim the door so it would fit as close as possible without binding. I even chamfered the top so it would shut nice incase the hinges raise it up too much.

The door mounted great and the hinges are pretty-well hidden. I added a spring-loaded click release so I don’t need a handle. It’s looking Very nice.










There is a very little bit of a gap between the two panels, so I will take some of aluminum I used for the marquee bracket and attach it to the door. When it closes it should hide that.

Ran the T-molding and trimmed it down with an uber-sharp chisel. No frills on this step, but it made a lot of edges look much better.

When mounted the PC, I had to completely de-case a Dell Optiplex 280. I planned to just use the metal tray it is all mounted to, but the spacing was just off, so it had to go.

PC Before:


Remove the case/ tray/PSU bracket:



I used threaded inserts and MOBO stand-offs that I had from a spare ATX case. This way I can remove the mobo/PSU in case it ever fails. The possibility of this is high since Dell's have a lot of bad caps.

The PSU mounted beautifully too since it had screw holes already in to for the bracket I removed. A scrap of plywood, thumbscrews and 2 L brackets later and we are mounted!



A test-fit:



I also mounted a 3 1/2" HDD to the back of the monitor bracket. Near the exhaust fan so it should stay cool. I love threaded inserts. It just makes everything interchangeable in case things fail.

The speakerbar is going to be mounted up top. I found a small power strip to mount behind the marquee as well. I like the speakerbar because then I can counter-sink it into the panel so the volume knob is accessible. I also got a couple 12V LED bars and wired those up to the PSU with a female MOLEX connector for easy disconnect if they ever fail.







The to-be-mounted LED’s/Power strip/Speakerbar.



Marquee plexi test-fit



Some may be asking why I don’t use a smart strip. For one it’s too big, but the real answer is that the dell monitors are perfect for this setup since they stay in a constant “on” mode even when the power is off. When power is plugged back in, they just come back to standby.

I also was environmentally responsible and found that a sleeping Dell monitor draws 0 Watts. Same goes with the speakerbar when not in use. Now I don’t have to feel bad about leaving it plugged in!

I was looking for marquee brackets, but I needed a bracket to hold down the back of the CP as well, so I found some right-angle aluminum stock from a local big-box store. 8’ was $5. I just hack sawed it down and painted it black. It will go over the marquee quite nicely too!

-Pause for explanation/validation-
OK. First off, I own an I-Pac for my soon-to-be-completed stand up cabinet. It’s a great tool. Very easy to use and set up. Some may blast me for not using one and hacking a GP/KB for the controls citing cost/ease/time, etc.

I love hacking small things like this. Soldering, decasing, etc is a lot of fun. Plus it gives me a lot more appreciation for the project knowing that I modified what I could for this project. The control pad was $6. The KB was free. It was a lot of fun to do too and works just fine. So there!
-Unpause for explanation/validation-

I mounted the joystick/KB hacks and wire them up appropriately. I used spare CAT-5e cable to wire up the buttons and connected them to the screw-down disconnects that hook up to the hacks. You can also see the power strip soldered to the power module below (red heat-shrink tubing).






Wiring started!




I used a tinted plexi bezel and it is easily removable and is stays in place thanks to a very small lip I glued to the back of the CP. You can see it in the picture below of the guts. It stays in there nice and is very easy to remove if I need to swap the monitor out.

For anyone that wonders if tinted is the way to go…. IT IS!

Before I started stuffing the guts in the cabinet, I had to find the leads for the power button and the “on” LED to hook up to the power button. Thanks to some multi-metering, I found it and hot glued the connectors because they kept coming off.



I also hot glued the vid card for extra stability.



I also figured it would be better to round off an IDE cable for better air-flow, so I did that too.



I then proceeded to stuff the guts into the cabinet. Lining things up carefully and screwing down the mobo and PSU. Things fit perfectly, screwed down perfectly, and looked quite good. I had to cleverly run the power cables and I’m contemplating getting a 1’ VGA to alleviate more clutter.



I shortened a USB cable for the Neutrik module so there is no bulk there. Those things are slick. Glad I ordered 3 of them for future use.

I know the pic above sort of looks like a rats nest, but from other angles it looks pretty good. I still need to zip-tie some cables in place, but the door closes!  Sorry about the finger-prints. They only show up on camera. They are hard to see in person.



I hacked my power button on top taking a cue from the great OND,
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=88912.msg971849#msg971849), I modified the power button to light up when the pc is on. This way, I don’t have to open the back door if there are any doubts!

OFF:


ON:



In the dark:



Thanks to Pongo for the button vinyl too. I’ve had them for a long time. Feels good to use them finally!

Well, here are the pics of how it sits now. I haven’t blacked-out the bezel yet, so you can see the guts and monitor LED. I just have to decide if I want to spray paint it or if I want to get some poster board and cut out a window for the monitor. Any suggestions?






If you read the entire log, I thank you. If not, it’s ok. I’m long winded, eh? After showing this off to people, everyone’s initial response is pure childhood love. Next will be the suggestion of manufacturing them. After I decline that, they start asking how much for one!
I hope to order the Marquee art soon as my bro flies in early this week and will be here for about a week. Its close timing, so hopefully it all works out. If not, he will be blown away by this anyhow.

I’ll post more as I change things and update when I have the marquee done. I have some MAJOR props to give out to Supadave
 http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=103549.0
 and EMDKAY
 http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=98344.0
 for the spectacular art they let me use. I can’t wait to see it printed!

 I wanted to get this out there so friends of mine could read the log too. It’s been a great project. I can’t wait to do another, but I probably won’t until the stand-up is complete! Look for that in the future!

What’s left to do:
1.   Figure out bezel (paint plexi or black poster board)
2.   Order Marquee art (art is 90% ready)
3.   Apply remaining button vinyl labels
4.   Cover speaker holes with cloth (chipped the laminate drilling them out)
5.   Test!
6.   Whittle game list down
7.   Build custom MA skin
8.   Build Player2 breakout box
9.   Build Spinner breakout box

I know it’s been a long first post, but I wanted to get some work done before I posted anything. Hope to hear what you all think so please, let me know!

Joe
« Last Edit: August 05, 2010, 10:21:20 pm by jholman76 »

emphatic

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop
« Reply #1 on: July 26, 2010, 07:51:39 pm »
Very nice looking!  :cheers:

ninjasquirrel

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop
« Reply #2 on: July 26, 2010, 08:04:34 pm »
Nice job jholman! Clean and precise  :applaud:
Looking forward to artwork

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop
« Reply #3 on: July 26, 2010, 08:55:41 pm »
Love that look. I built a totally blacked out upright, then decided on colored buttons right at the end.
Maybe I should go back to the black ones!  :cheers:

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop
« Reply #4 on: July 26, 2010, 09:09:34 pm »
Nice Job!

jholman76

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop
« Reply #5 on: July 26, 2010, 09:25:30 pm »
Thanks alot. I went with black because it doesnt stick out too much. the white vinyl labels are almost easier to read.

Basically I was getting a little tired of some of busy designs out there. not that its a bad thing, but I just like the more subtle look. I always have.

I thought about colored buttons/theme next build after my Woody is done. That one is going to be black t-mold/buttons with a red cherry finish.

As for the art... its going to be the icing on the cake.... got some GREAT art samples. classic marquees of my favorite games.

joe

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop
« Reply #6 on: July 26, 2010, 09:38:08 pm »
Never be afraid to be "long winded".  ;D  I must say, well documented (the Arcade love shows) and a great result.  I like the fact that you've gone with the uncompromised black theme.  As nice as it is to share projects with folks on here, it's great fun to see the reaction from people who know nothing about the hobby.

 :cheers:

Ond
« Last Edit: July 26, 2010, 09:44:05 pm by Ond »

jholman76

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop
« Reply #7 on: July 26, 2010, 10:06:44 pm »
Everyone I have showed it to wants one. Its very satisfying to hear the compliments after all the time I put into it.

Thanks, BTW for the tutorials for the glowy buttons. Its not a perfect replica, but it works!

As for the documentation, in college I had to take a few manual writing classes. Ive done my fair share of documenting!

joe

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop
« Reply #8 on: July 27, 2010, 12:54:39 am »
Small update...

Bartop as it sits right now weighs in at 47.5 lbs!

its not budging under any kind of tough play, me thinks.

joe
« Last Edit: July 27, 2010, 08:16:31 am by jholman76 »

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop
« Reply #9 on: July 27, 2010, 01:41:27 am »
Slick unit, a job well done sir.  :)

jholman76

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop
« Reply #10 on: July 27, 2010, 12:37:54 pm »
Artwork has been ordered. There will be a total of 7 marquees.

pics to come later.

joe

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop
« Reply #11 on: July 29, 2010, 03:07:57 pm »
...seem to be having some software issues with Maximus Arcade, MicroXP and Daphne. Everything boots just fine and Maximus comes up, but when I try to load a Daphne game, it says the video card failed to initialize. after tooling with it for a little in Daphneloader (not sure if I even changed anything), it starts working...

The weird thing is though that once I turn it off for a period of time and turn it back on, it is broken again.. WTH? I am going to try new drivers and if that doesnt work, switch to TinyXP and if that doesnt work, go back to (GASP!) normal XP.

I know its hard to ask if anyone has had this issue before without a screenshot, but I'll try to get that posted tonight. I just remember it complained about failing to initialize the card. It is a Radeon X1300 with just the base drivers installed (no ATI console). I did have some issues with installing .net 2.0 (required for the console) in a previous install of Micro, so I just skipped that step and went for the driver only.

joe

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop
« Reply #12 on: July 29, 2010, 06:54:11 pm »
I'll probably have to go to the Daphne-emu boards, but I thought I would document this here too. Here is the error:


Going to check into the screen resolution.. that seems HUGE for daphne

and the log:

--Command line is: C:\daphne\daphne.exe lair vldp -framefile C:\Daphne\mpeg2\lair.txt -fullscreen -useoverlaysb 2 -x 1280 -y 1024
--CPU : GenuineIntel 3000 MHz || Mem : 1280 megs
--OS : Windows XP/.NET || Video : Radeon X1300/X1550 Series   
Setting screen width to 1280
Setting screen height to 1024
Could not initialize video display: DirectInput::CreateDevice: Device not registered
Video initialization failed!

Shortbus

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop
« Reply #13 on: August 01, 2010, 10:47:52 am »
Crap, another one....this site rules. Nice work. good descriptive job....

bravo!  :cheers:

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop
« Reply #14 on: August 03, 2010, 10:21:23 am »
Thanks shortbus. I'm still up in arms with what was more fun, the building or the playing of it.

I brought it to my parents house last weekend and  it made its debut to the family. Everyone loved it and wanted one! My middle brother even asked me where I bought it! That's a big compliment from him since he is a wood/metal worker himself.

The kids got to take turns, but they had to fight off my oldest brother. He is addicted to a couple top-down vertical shooters..oh, and Dragons Lair, derp! He said he still has his book and needs to get it out when he goes home!

My dad played some Pac-Man and I think I need to get him a dedicated 4 way stick because he was complaining about the controls! I showed him how to be more deliberate with his controls, but he still had fun.

My brothers and I had a track and field battle. We took turns trying to get as far as we could. I won of course, shattering my oldest brothers long jump record! Thanks highscore diff re-compile! We ended up playing a little rough though as the two run buttons started to unscrew and were loose!! I only hand tightened them, so its understandable.

A couple quick updates to the cab:
-Received the marquee artwork and took some pics which I will post tonight. My bro is coming tonight and he has been reading this thread, so I cant spill the beans before he sees them! 7 different marquees of my favorite games. Pics to come.

-Painted the Bezel to hide the guts. looks very tidy now.

-Applied vinyl decals to the 1P/Coin/Pause/Exit/Power buttons.

-removed the MOBO/PSU and removed all of the CP buttons and joystick. I removed the plexi cover and cleaned it. It had some dust under it that was really bugging me. I guess I was in a big hurry to get it together! It is now dust/lint/fingerprint free!

-tightened up the CP buttons with a button wrench. I had to cut the wrench down as it wouldnt fit in such a small space! the buttons are TIGHT now! labeled the cherry switches also as I removed them. The E clip on the super joy was almost coming off too, so I re-clipped that as far as it could. I remember now that I only fastened it enough to test it and then forgot about it!

-made a very simple XP boot screen. Black, of course, with gray letters on the bottom that say "loading...". Still have to hide the start bar, etc when the software is tweaked to my liking.

To do:
-fasten marquee with retainer bracket (its just floating now for easy removal)
-tighten up software/created MA theme
-clean up game names (lots have the Version/USA/J/EU after their name still)
-fasten marquee LEDs

Oh, I did find out that my Daphne error goes away and works when I change the .exe in Maximus from DaphneLoader.exe to just Daphne.exe. But here is the catch, it defaults back to Daphneloader.exe every time I reboot! Anyone have any ideas? I'm going to look for an .ini or similar file to hard code it tonight.

I found out that in MicroXP, you have to install drivers for USB items each time you plug them into a different USB port. Its frustrating, but not too hard to deal with. You just have to make sure you have the KB or mouse plugged into the right port or you will have no way of installing anything else!

I was able to get P2 to work through a USB controller, but I'll have to write that one up and post again today. Lets just say USB and multiple game pads in XP are not fun to troubleshoot.

joe

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop
« Reply #15 on: August 03, 2010, 11:42:18 am »
Great job with this bartop. I love the curves but even more, I love the sleekness of the design, like a boomerang.  :cheers:
Last Project



Epyx Tutorials:
Tutorials

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop
« Reply #16 on: August 03, 2010, 12:46:50 pm »
My dad played some Pac-Man and I think I need to get him a dedicated 4 way stick because he was complaining about the controls! I showed him how to be more deliberate with his controls, but he still had fun.

Your bartop is great.  Have you considered using a U360 stick to avoid control problems?  They are great once you get used to them.   :cheers:

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop
« Reply #17 on: August 03, 2010, 02:15:10 pm »
Thanks for the compliments. I'm going to try to get some pics of it without the flash, that way you get a better sense of the blackout look.

I didn't look to deeply into the U360's for this project simply because of the cost involved. I read up on them in the past for my soon-to-be completed upright, but I decided to go with supers. I must confess I can be cheap sometimes. (you did see the USB hacks right?? ;D)

The issue I was seeing isn't new (infact its OLD) and I actually found a lot of other threads on the same subject. When you plug in a P2 gamepad, P1 sometimes will default to P2 and the gamepad will be P1. Frustrating.

Well, from what I can deduct, XP enumerates the USB ports and then that determines their hierarchy. I have a bank of 4 USB's and another bank of 3 under the NIC card. Two scenarios have to be in align for the gamepad to always be P2.

1. The 1P gamepad has to have a higher alphabetical name that is recognized by windows (closer to A, not Z) or has to be IDENTICAL to the 2P gamepad (see notes below)
2. The 1P gamepad has to be on a higher level USB port than the 2P gamepad

In #1, I have 2 identical USB gamepads (thanks GGG) and when plugged in at the same time, certain USB's are have higher priority than others, so they will always be 1P and the other will move to 2P. I found that even with a different gamepad plugged in the same way, it overtook P1. The reason I can best find is that the problematic gamepad was detected as a "Logitech Gamepad USB" and the P1 gamepad was similar to "USB Gamepad". L comes before U, therefore the Logitech is player 1 regardless of what USB it is plugged into. These names can be seen under Control Panel>Game Controllers.

Fun, eh??

In #2 I just had to poke around until I found the "alpha" USB port that would never change. Once I had that cornered, I use that for the P1 cabinet controls.

I have tested it several times  under different conditions and every time, as long as I plug in BEFORE the game starts, P1 is P1 and P2 is P2. woo!

Now, I know I may be incorrect on the findings above, and I KNOW that simply buying a iPAC or KeyWiz would have solved this earlier, but now I get to make a P2 joystick that will double as a single player lap-top joy for my living room tv as well! Another project!

The findings above may be long winded again, but in all seriousness, it took me about 15 minutes to figure it out. It took longer to type and format this post than it did to troubleshoot and find a solution.

joe


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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop
« Reply #18 on: August 05, 2010, 09:41:50 pm »
Alright, another update! This time its time for the marquees, vinyl button labels, and the newly painted bezel!

I finally had a night to work on this again, so sorry for the delay.

Here are the vinyl button labels courtesy of Pongo:

There are only 4 on the front panel, and its all that I find I need. No franken panel here!

Next up is the painted bezel. It wasnt that fun to mask off and paint/fit, but it got done. It helps by drawing more focus to the screen.


Ok, and now what you really want to see... the MARQUEES!
I got all of these printed from EMDKAY. He was awesome to work with and I would suggest using his services.

I chose these games because they were either my favorites growing up, or heavily influenced my gaming preference.

1943


Double Dragon


Dragons Lair (Thanks to supadave for the assistance!)


Galaga (it was this, or waste a big chunk of marqee. The blank areas will be filled in later with black paper)


MatMania


Mortal Kombat II


Street Fighter II


Let me know what you think!

joe

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop - Artwork Update
« Reply #19 on: August 06, 2010, 12:29:58 am »
fantastic bartop! and the mat mania marque brought a huge smile to my face! :)  spent waaaaaaaaaaaay too many quarters on that game... awesome :applaud: 

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop - Artwork Update
« Reply #20 on: August 06, 2010, 01:01:13 am »
Nice clean build! :applaud: If it was mine I would go with the 1943 (I have most likely dropped a grand into 1943 over the years) or Double Dragon for the second choice as it seems you see less of them, and why have something every one else has? I have a thing against wrestling so mat mania is out for me...

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop - Artwork Update
« Reply #21 on: August 06, 2010, 02:45:45 pm »
Thanks guys. The artwork and button labels really completed it for me. I have a couple really small hardware things to do, but after that, its all software tweaking.

I fixed my Daphne problem. I just edited the ini file for Maximus and now it all boots just fine. I just with my older version supported -fastboot.

Whats left:
-mount LED strips permanently
-clean up power cables
-tweak software (as I have stated in previous posts)

Future plans
-build 2P box
-PLAY, DANGIT!

I might get a higher CFM fan. The Scythe is really quiet, (in fact I don't even hear it when I have it open) but after a few hours, the heat does build. Its not super hot-but I don't want to have any pop pop pop of the caps.

joe

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop - Artwork Update
« Reply #22 on: August 11, 2010, 03:04:34 pm »
Thanks guys.

That is amazingly beautiful in its simplicity.  I scanned through the marquee shots thinking you had setup some lcd screen, or rotation system and thought, "OMG that's awesome!!!"  But, no.  Simply beautiful, beautiful, beautiful marquee artwork.  (I'm not panning it - just planting the bug in the ear of the next enterprising modder.)

 ;)

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop - Artwork Update
« Reply #23 on: August 11, 2010, 03:36:04 pm »
That is amazingly beautiful in its simplicity.  I scanned through the marquee shots thinking you had setup some lcd screen, or rotation system and thought, "OMG that's awesome!!!"  But, no.  Simply beautiful, beautiful, beautiful marquee artwork.  (I'm not panning it - just planting the bug in the ear of the next enterprising modder.)

 ;)
I have a little LCD, but its only 7" wide so that would look goofy there. Its also a touch screen, so that would be an even bigger waste.

Check this out:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=70840.msg729906#msg729906

thanks for the kind words none the less.

joe


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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop - Artwork Update
« Reply #25 on: August 26, 2010, 03:54:23 am »

I shortened a USB cable for the Neutrik module so there is no bulk there. Those things are slick. Glad I ordered 3 of them for future use.


Where did you buy the Neutrik modules? I' could sure use some for an upcoming project.

Razzer

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop - Artwork Update
« Reply #26 on: August 27, 2010, 04:36:04 pm »
This is one of the best ones I've seen in a while - love the black on black look and the custom marquees. Emdkay did mine as well and he did a bang up job with them. you should post a video of it in action!
 

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Re: "Murdered Out"/ The BlackOut Bartop - Artwork Update
« Reply #27 on: August 28, 2010, 01:57:41 pm »
Thanks guys, I'll see if I have time sometime to do a video of it in action.

Where did you buy the Neutrik modules? I' could sure use some for an upcoming project.
Razzer


I got the neutrik adapters from B&H Photo. They seemed to have the best price I could find at the time with shipping.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/561202-REG/Neutrik_NAUSB_W_B_NAUSB_B_USB_Female_Type_A.html

they are quite nice. they make it looks more professional.

joe