The HOasis Arcade

[tho]

Hi, I'm fairly new to the forum, but I built my first CP more than 7 years ago.  I had just come across the MAME software and very quickly got hooked.  I picked up buttons, joysticks and a Keywiz from Randy at GroovyGameGear and built myself a small CP that I was able to play with.  I also picked up a coin door from eBay with the plans to build a full size cabinet "someday".  A house and a baby later, my son is now 6 and was showing interest in the Pac Man at the local pizza place.  Thinking about how many thousands of dollars I spent as a kid, I thought that this was a perfect time to pull the CP off the shelf  and start building.  It's 85% done at this point but I'm not sure when I'll get on to the last 15% as I'm on to other projects.  Hope you enjoy the pics.

Old CP sitting on top of cabinet skeleton


Side Views


Template of side panel and then Finished side panels.  To keep costs low, my Home Depot sells "cull" wood and so all of the plywood used were made from 2ft X 4ft sheets of cull wood costing $2 a pop.


New CP box built.  The 21 inch monitor was given to me from work when they upgraded.


Template to mount the joystick, buttons and trackball



Cutting the Plexiglas for the top


Top all routed out and moving the controls from the old CP to the new CP


Mounted


First Look


Craigslist find!  27inch Nettv Monitor for $40!!!


Had to re-build the support because the new monitor is heavy!


Test driving the new monitor.  Like father like son...


Construction Support Pics



Marquee Lighting pics.  After Christmas, I got a box of LED lights cheap.  I then enlarged the holes in the peg board (more cull wood) and painstakingly dis-assembled each bulb and then installed each light.  I'm really happy with the results though.



Got permission from the boss to move it upstairs for it's first party.  Construction continues.




Marquee Poster printed, first try with 3 separate sheets.  Will be a poster later.  Best picture that I have with the marquee lit (sorry)


My wife and I are currently painting the logo on the sides.  The "HOasis" name was coined by a co-worker when brainstorming for names for the bar (that I'm planning to build downstairs)  My last name is Ho and the rest is obvious hopefully.  The logo comes from a set of bar glasses that were made and given to me from my best friend to go with the bar (now I have to build it)  Like the cabinet, it's still work in progress.





This is how it currently sits today.  I made up a bezel for it that I'm pretty happy with.



Things to do (that I can think of) include:
T-Molding (sp?)
Finish painting logo
Install Coin Counter
Re-do CP top - I'd like to change it to a 4 button setup instead of 6 and I screwed up when I was drilling the holes and the plexi on top
Paint CP box and add graphics to the top
Add some graphics to the Bezel
Work on getting a nice set of Tokens to go with it

I hope you enjoyed the pictures.  Would love to hear comments/suggestions.

Thanks,
  TD

[DaOld Man]

Looks good!
Nothing like the feel of building your own, is it?
Your son will have years of fun with it (you, your wife, and your friends too.)

[IG-88]

Very nice!  I got to say tho when looking at the first few pics I was thinking "Oh boy, this is gonna be a winner"  but it's turning out really good! 

You've obviously put a lot of time and effort into it and it shows. Good job.

Never heard of that "cull" lumber before. Do all Home Depots have it? I may have to go check it out.

[tho]

DaOld Man
Thanks!  We are having a lot of fun with it.  I do enjoy saying "yeah, I built that..."

IG-88
Yeah, it's definitely not up to caliber of some of the projects on this site.   But I sort of like the hand built look of it.  It goes along with all the other crazy projects that I've taken on.  Thanks for the note!

[TheChairmanH2K]

i dig your cab!  when i first saw the name, i must admit, i expected half naked chicks as the sideart not knowing you of the asian persuasion  im sure that would bring down the wife acceptance factor by a good margin though 

[RandyT]

Big monitors rule!  That's also a very clever use of the white Christmas lights.  They all but give them away after the holidays, and I suspect that after seeing this novel application, some will be finding their way into the shopping carts of BYOAC'ers.

Looks great so far!

[emphatic]

Big monitors rule!

+1. Nice to see it vertical as well.  I see so many MAME builds that has a horizontal fit yet so many great games are vertical. If only people would take a look at the percentage of horizontal games they play and compare it to the vertical ones before they build.. It looks kinda funky when you play TMNT on it though. 

[sapro]

Nice work and some good creative ways to reduce cost here, bravo.

This pic makes it look HUGE! What's the width of the cabinet?

[eds1275]

That is awesome. I really like the olde-timey wood look, with the hand-drawn logo.

[tho]

Thanks again for the kind words.

TheChairmanH2K
Not half naked chicks, but I do like the side art of one of the cabs that I saw on here.  Endless Credits I think it's called?  Has a pinup style girl on it.  My wife wouldn't let it out of the basement though.  In fact, we're currently debating what color T-Molding to put on it 

RandyT
I do love the big monitor.  It ended up fitting perfectly (I think)  I don't think I could have gone bigger inside the cabinet.  I am really happy with how the marquee lights came out.  Wedging each of the lights into the pegboard sucked though.  It was slow going and my fingers were sore.  But because of the shape of the light and how it's installed, they aren't going anywhere and it will be easy to replace any blown bulbs.  The LED's help cut down on energy consumption as well.

emphatic
Definitely most of the games that I like to play are vertical games.  For now I just deal with the horizontal games being vertical.  But I did pick up a 32inch Gateway Destination Monitor from Craigslist that I hope to make into a showcase style arcade "one day"...must get basement done first...

sapro
I don't have the dimensions here with me but with the CP detached, it just fits within the door frames.  Some of them, I had to remove the doors to get it to fit through.

eds1275
Thanks.  I may be biased but I feel it looks better in person as well.

[emphatic]

emphatic
Definitely most of the games that I like to play are vertical games.  For now I just deal with the horizontal games being vertical.  But I did pick up a 32inch Gateway Destination Monitor from Craigslist that I hope to make into a showcase style arcade "one day"...must get basement done first...

I hear you. 95% of the games I play are vertical.

[jmike]

  Really good build. I applaud the construction support pics. Nice clean cuts, no gaps, well done sir.


 

[shagodoyle]

Looks really good. I have just started thinking about making one myself.

Good job