The Game Hole - finished!

[Dr_Dave]

Hello!

I think this post could have been accurately subtitled "standing on the shoulders of giants". That is, if you are here hoping to see something new or innovative or unique, then I would slowly back out of the thread now. As a complete newcomer to the woodworking arts, I found that I had enough to worry about keeping my router under control, and decided to base my cabinet on the work of others. That said, it's fitting to begin this post by doffing my cap to the following:

For basic side panel dimensions and plans, I used the utterly gorgeous Project Mame (http://www.koenigs.dk/mame/eng/stepprojectmame.htm).

And for tips on construction, as well as colour scheme, I was heavily influenced by Silas (son of Silas)'s own Project Mame cabinet (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=94010.0).

Thanks chaps!

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So, I always wanted an arcade cabinet. I think most chaps of my social strata did. As children of the 70s and 80s, our entire psyche is a peculiar mish-mash of the ingenuity of MacGyver, the wisdom of Kung-Fu and the camaraderie of the Goonies. But underpinning these pillars of consciousness is a sense that there is no place on the planet that can soothe and delight quite like an arcade. We were prepared to ignore the smokey air, the sticky carpets and the roving gangs of older kids to bathe in the glow of those ancient CRTs. Even today, I swear, the background sound - the bleeping, the low hum of fans and transformers, the tapping of buttons - can induce a state in me that no drink or drug has ever achieved.

Of course, no-one could ever actually OWN an arcade machine. These towers of wood and glass and silicon were forged in distant lands, by artisans and poets, their purchase took place behind vast doors, for sums of money that the 12 year old mind can't begin to comprehend. We acolytes of enjoyment had to content ourselves with ports and conversions, imperfect reflections of the Platonic ideals that we wandered amongst on rare trips to the seaside.

Time passes, arcades are forgotten in favour of bills and booze and breasts. But somewhere behind it all, there is a voice... a garbled, static-obscured voice... a voice that repeats in our minds and anchors us to that time: "Prepare to qualify!"

Soon, you realise that you're in your 30s and you have a little disposable income. You notice that the wakening interconnected world has incubated communities for every sub-culture and movement. You dare to dream... you dare to wonder what might happen if you typed "build you own arcade cabinet" into Google. And then... you find BYOAC. And everything changes.

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Like most of you probably, I went through the various stages of cabinet building:

• Excitement: my early planning had four player controls, a spinner, bottle holders, a track ball and an integrated garlic press. I think I may have even tried out FIVE player controls at one point. You know, just in case.
• Confusion: do I buy an existing cab or do I try to build my own?
• Fear: I discovered CrapMame. I promptly scraped the five player control panel.
• Denial: I prepared my budget and figured I could probably come up with something cool for about two hundred pounds. Ho ho.
• Acceptance: I finally realised my own limitations, scaled back the CP massively and set about planning things properly.

As I mentioned before, I have no prior experience woodworking. Though I have done quite a bit of DIY. My only rule on this project was Dave's #1 Rule Of Cabinetry: "I will not compromise or settle for something I knew I could have done better."

In practise, this meant that I scraped and recut about 50% of my panels. But, it meant that I felt better about things.

I set to work in August.

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And now I'm finished. While I would have liked to have done step-by-step thread, I truly feared the CrapMame. I reasoned that if it all went wrong or looked awful, then I would hold a private bonfire and the world would never know my shame. So you'll have to settle for the finished product. That said, I did learn a huge amount working on this project, so I'll share some of my hints n tips. Hope you like how it turned out, I'm very happy with it! The whole gallery of my adventure is here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/dave.tansley/Arcade#

And here's a few pics of the finished thing.







I have the bug now. My name is Dave, and I am an arcade-o-holic.

Dave

[jimmy2x2x]

Great job there Dave! well done mate

I once knew a girl with a Game Hole, how did you come up with the name?

[Dr_Dave]

I once knew a girl with a Game Hole, how did you come up with the name?

Hmm, maybe we knew the same girl!

Dave

[Dr_Dave]

Here's what I learned:

1) No matter how much you measure, no matter how good your saw board, no matter how many times you re-cut, the accuracy of your dimensions will never match the accuracy achieved by getting the depot to cut your MDF on their machine. You may think that it's admitting defeat, but the sting that you feel when giving into the mechanical horde will be considerably less than the sting you feel when all your 600mm pieces are 599mm! I discovered this late, but next time I'll definitely plan out my cuts and take them to B&Q and endure the standing around awkwardly while the sales dude tries to decipher your drawings!

2) Guard your t-molding slot! Your slot is your life. Give your slot a name and let nothing sully or besmirch your slot. I had the right approach to slot best practice: I bought the right tool (at great expense), I rehearsed on off cuts. I did the old flip-upside-down trick to ensure I was centred. And I cut early to ensure I didn't foul any screws. And then I forgot about it, happy that when it came to fitting the t-molding, all would be simple and easy. But I didn't guard my slot! So it became filled with paint and dust and crap and when I came to hammer parts of my t-molding in, either the MDF got crushed or warped, or the t-mold wouldn't go in. Very frustrating. Next time I'll guard my slot better. It will be called Charlene.

3) Clamps, you can never have too many. I had two. It wasn't enough. If I'd had 22, it still wouldn't have been enough.

4) Routers are great, but I learned the hard way that when they're still spinning, no matter how slowly you think they're going, they can still take a large gouge out of your work. Or, I would expect, leg. Leave your router alone till it stops!

5) The pencil you think you've lost. It's behind your ear. This doesn't just happen in ancient sitcoms.

6) I read the opinions of Scott's work at gameongrafix.com and I noted the gushing praise. I didn't really believe it. How good could print outs possibly be? I discovered how good they could be when the slack-jawed Parcelforce gawkers finally gave me my delivery: UNBELIEVABLE. The quality of the work is staggering, and well worth the money. You too will be sceptical of how good it can be, but use the force Luke, trust your instincts.

7) Put some thought into where your coins will end up. Currently, any 10p piece put in my cabinet lands on the motherboard. Design flaw... ahem.

This is my learned wisdom. I commend it unto you.

Dave

[yotsuya]

Awesome monologue there, Dr_Dave!

[BurgerKingDiamond]

Rastan!
I met I guy once who had a Rastan tatoo. It was pretty awesome.

[JustMichael]

When I read the title I thought it was about this video game.  I am glad it wasn't!

[Dr_Dave]

When I read the title I thought it was about this video game.  I am glad it wasn't!

Just be thankful that I rejected my first idea: "Dave Invaders"

BurgerKingDiamond: Rastan is the big surprise of this project. I remember it from the old days, but don't remember it was that good or that big. But it has held up really well to the tests of time, and it is easily my most played game. Somewhat relieved to discover that the Japanese version doesn't have the pesky "hurry up!" bats like the US/World version!

Dave

[Termin8tor]

congratulations on an excellent build. You should upload pics to koenigs "User Projects" where it belongs.

[mozzer]

Quality build! It looks great. I enjoyed your Picasa album

[BobA]

Nice personal story with your build.  Great looking build.  Stand proud among those who have made the journey for you are a true BYOAC.

[emphatic]

Very nice build and very amusing thread as well.  I used to love Rastan myself, but now fancy Rygar and Black Tiger more because Rastan has terrible gameplay. 

[Silas (son of Silas)]

 

What fantastic taste in colour you have 

That's a really nicely executed job. Hats off to you 

[Dr_Dave]

What fantastic taste in colour you have 

That's a really nicely executed job. Hats off to you 

Cheers buddy!

You any closer to finishing yours?

Dave

[Silas (son of Silas)]

...You any closer to finishing yours?

Dave

Sadly not. I unexpectedly moved house when a 'too good to be true' opportunity fell in my lap. My attentions have turned to a somewhat larger projects.....