The star empire strikes back wars

[rockyrocket]

Hi,
So I have never been one for posting my builds before but feel like it with this one (and sorry for the low quality photo`s).
Anyway last year I managed to find some incomplete Atari yokes that combined made one full one, so now it was game on!.

Having never much liked the standard sw art for the control panel ect and also liking the empire strikes back art the decision was made for a fusion of the two.
I know the purists will baulk but it is what I wanted, so different art will be on each side with a SW marquee and a ESB yoke overlay sent for print.
If you are in the states and after a printer I can recommend brad who being a builder himself knows exactly what you want you can find him here...
http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14150
I also was going to use a second screen and blatantly rip off shrunkenmaster`s build but as I got further in decided against it but the back panel is still convertable later if my mind changes.
One other idea dropped was to recreate the kick plate artwork in 3d then lay some EL glowwire in the slots to create a circuit effect but it was decided this may be tacky.
The cabinet shape and moldings are also not a perfect clone of the original (sorry) and a pinball coin door was used as I had it laying about.
As for software I an using the front end released by urban interactive to launch SW and ESB the third slot in the launcher points to 3d starstrike also by urban interactive, I have not had any of the problems others had had using this FE with a yoke , dual strike and xpadder.
Not content with only loading the three games I also wanted star wars trilogy through supermodel3 so wrote a small batch script to launch the SW loader on boot then when exiting that FE go straight into the supermodel loader found here..
http://www.supermodel3.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=18
This has a nice gui so with only the one rom looks fine, and works great, being lazy all the game files from both emu`s are in the mame folder.
I then created a shortcut to the batch file and set it to start minimized and put it into to start up folder.
heres a copy of the bat file

Code: [Select]

@echo off

:rungame1
Launcher.EXE

:rungame2
"C:\mame\Supermodel Loader.exe"

goto rungame1

One other tweak that was made was to compile mame 144 with the vector diff found here..
http://www.mameworld.info/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=254782&page=0&view=expanded&sb=5&o=&vc=1
this gives the best effect yet imho in mame but not being a shader is a bit CPU intensive so needs a butch processor.
Anyway its mostly done now, just waiting for the marquee and have some yoke tweaking to do (too much sideways travel) and then get the thing upstairs to its home.
But I have to say that the now its on the standard SW side art is now my favourite.

Used the dual strike hack

And picked up a 20" crt for £35 with free delivery on ebay

The lay out is a bit non standard.
You gotta love templates!.



Some random build shots


Was very tempted to go all white after seeing the primer coat

but black it was

Then a few cosmetics




And now just need the marquee!.
Edit- all finished, here are some pics from a later post..




So I have had another play with the shroud and added sone corner details containing EL tape and also added a script to sync the targeting animation ingame to the starwars trench run, details can be found
HERE


EDIT - 2013 added an AHK script to sync the targeting animation on the smaller screen with the trench run in game for more info see HERE
And here is a game demonstrating the script at work


EDIT - 2014 changed the FE to GameeX with a skin from This thread as seen below....




EDIT - 2014 Again!,
Made a removable keypad mount to enable Elite Dangerous and and diaspora to be played properly...

[ark_ader]

Love it! 

Is the Storm Trooper side art from the Criterion Collection laserdisc cover?

[SammyWI]

Very nice.

It may not be an exact repro but it's very well done and looks great.  Frankly, I really like seeing both faithful reproductions and the more personalized, custom cabs like this.   

[yotsuya]

Hey, if Lucas can re-imagine his films, you can re-imagine the game cabinet! 

[drventure]

Nice job. I love that storm trooper art. It almost looks abstract.

 

[rockyrocket]

Love it!  

Is the Storm Trooper side art from the Criterion Collection laserdisc cover?

No  Idea who did the art, grabbed it from the BYOAC art collection http://www.coinopart.com/index.php
Also forgot to mention I had some pinball flasher caps so mounted three red ones above the screen by the speakers.
So has anyone any idea why my cursor hits the side of the screen only half way through a turn?.
Gearing is right and its an original pot, so it should work with a dual strike right?.

[monkey puzzle]

Great job! I also your like Atari cab in the picture.

[menace]

No  Idea who did the art, grabbed it from the BYOAC art collection http://www.coinopart.com/index.php
Also forgot to mention I had some pinball flasher caps so mounted three red ones above the screen by the speakers.
So has anyone any idea why my cursor hits the side of the screen only half way through a turn?.
Gearing is right and its an original pot, so it should work with a dual strike right?.

Did you setup the dual strike under windows joystick calibration?  Also the original pot may be a 10K whereas the dual strike was 5K so you might be getting wonky results coming out of the dual strike if thats indeed the case.

[DaOld Man]

Good job!!

 

[rockyrocket]

No  Idea who did the art, grabbed it from the BYOAC art collection http://www.coinopart.com/index.php
Also forgot to mention I had some pinball flasher caps so mounted three red ones above the screen by the speakers.
So has anyone any idea why my cursor hits the side of the screen only half way through a turn?.
Gearing is right and its an original pot, so it should work with a dual strike right?.

Did you setup the dual strike under windows joystick calibration?  Also the original pot may be a 10K whereas the dual strike was 5K so you might be getting wonky results coming out of the dual strike if thats indeed the case.

Ah yeah that may be it as I replaced the up/down pot with a 5k and that works fine, and just left the other thinking it was the same!.
Will get two new good quality 5k ones as the other one is just a cheap one (anyone have a link to a good uk outlet?)
Thanks for the feedback.

[PIZZ]

Nice build, Im lovin that Atari cab!

[rockyrocket]

Thanks for the kind words everyone.
So as an update on the pots I ordered two of these 5kΩ..
http://cpc.farnell.com/ab-elektronik/abw1-5k/potentiometer-5k/dp/RE04643?in_merch=Products%20From%20This%20Range
Ps. I know i do not hyperlink buit personally i like to see my destination before i click a link.

[Green Giant]

Hey, if Lucas can re-imagine his films, you can re-imagine the game cabinet! 

Don't go insulting this guys fine work with an analogy like that.

[rockyrocket]

Got my camera sorted so for those that like the atari themed one..


And thanks green giant!.

[Le Chuck]

   I dig it, well done man.  What are the specs of the computer you're running everything on?  I like the idea of the glowing vector compile but don't know if I can handle it with what I'm running. 

[DaveMMR]

Damn, those are some fine looking cabs. The "Atari Age" one especially. I love simple retro artwork.
 

[rockyrocket]

  I dig it, well done man.  What are the specs of the computer you're running everything on?  I like the idea of the glowing vector compile but don't know if I can handle it with what I'm running. 

Athlon 6000+ and a 8800gt, its amazing what you have laying about if ya upgrade enough!.
Why not just try the exe, pm me if you want me to send it over?.
or..  http://www.mameworld.info/ubbthreads/download.php?Number=256401  Has 142 pre compiled
Have to say though that I think its running supermodel3  a bit slow.
Also due to using an old dying 2.5" drive the cab is now dead for a bit and what with the price of hd`s ended up buying a SSD.
Talk about overkill.

[rockyrocket]

Finally got my marquee today after almost seven weeks wait so can declare this complete.
I went full circle on my decision not to shamefully rip off shrunkenmasters targeting display from his build but you know what they say about immatation.
The display is a mimo 7" usb display picked up from ebay with a bit of paint on, the plan was to inset it on the back board but the stand it came with enabled it to e flipped up out the way should you feel the need to "use the force".
The issues I had with the  pots were sorted by swapping out the duel strike board for an apac.
Anyway hope you like it, and the eagle eyed amongst you will spot the paint drip I still need to sand out (so nearly complete ).

[LeedsFan]

Brilliant!  Side art on SW cabs is one of my all time faves. You've done a great job combining the two. Love the Shrunkenmaster copy up there     How long did it take to get the yokes? Did you buy them together?

[Le Chuck]

Looking great, I like the screen.   

I have a dual strike stuffed in a drawer for whenever I finally refurb my yoke, can you post more details about the issue you had and how you resolved it incase I run into the same thing?  Thanks man. 

[rockyrocket]

Thanks for the words guys!
@LeedsFan yeah it was a while before I found a yoke then I came across someone with three incomplete ones that combined made one good one.
Do have most of another one though just need some cogs and a piece for the right handle, should really put it on ebay.
@Le Chuck I think my issue was caused more by using tiny xp rev12 as I do not think it has the drivers for a dual strike so you can not calibrate it.
You can install the D-S software but calibrating the cursor travel was a problem.
I fixed this by just swapping the dual strike for an ultimarc APAC, it was instantly recognised as a gamepad and I could calibrate it fine, it`s also easier to add more buttons with this.
Of course I could of just used a different build of xp!.
All that being said it was only the left and right pot that was giving issues even after a new pot was added.
I think it may of started to come back a little bit so i`m thinking that it may be an old worn out grub screw holding the cog to the shaft of the pot that's slipping.
So to sum up yes I now love APACs and will use them again but maybe a bit of locktight is all that's needed.

[rockyrocket]

Oh and Leeds Fan yes it is great artwork but my favourite is asteriods i think, but that's a whole different discusion isn't it.

[rockyrocket]

Ok so I thought i`d share the results of all my tweaking with the APAC for any others that might go this route in the future.
With a bit of work it will indeed work perfectly and the issue mentioned above about a suspected loose grub screw was just bad settings.
The apac basically needs to have no dead zone and full joystick saturation in the mame.ini, so that's "joystick_deadzone  0", and "joystick_saturation 1" both under the core input options section of course.
Then I found that under the analogue input part of the Mame tab menu my preference was for about 150 for the X and Y sensitivity and digital speed.
Anyway hope that info is of some use to somebody sometime .

[kahlid74]

Well done, looks great!

[rockyrocket]

Thank you!.

[Gonzakpo]

Hi. Sorry to bring this up. I've tried to sent you a PM but the forum tells me "Many apologies, but you can't view just any profile.". I searched on the rules about that but I didn't find anything. So, I'm asking you here: Could you please send me the sideart with the stormtrooper? I love it!

Thank you!

[SpaceHedgehog]

Very nice work indeed. Congratulations on a lovely pair 

[PL1]

Hi. Sorry to bring this up. I've tried to sent you a PM but the forum tells me "Many apologies, but you can't view just any profile.". I searched on the rules about that but I didn't find anything. So, I'm asking you here: Could you please send me the sideart with the stormtrooper? I love it!

Thank you!

Wecome aboard, Gonzakpo.

Keep posting and somewhere around 10-15 posts your PMs will enable.

Two things about anyone sending the files:

1. They are BIG.

EXIF data excerpts:
FILE    FileName    ESB_Sideart_Fantasy_Version1_Right_psd.jpg
FILE    FileSize    44357455
FILE    MimeType    image/jpeg
COMPUTED    Height    23400
COMPUTED    Width    12900

2. The files are hosted on Joymonkey's pay site.

For a $10 (or more) donation to help cover his bandwidth, you can download any art on the site.

Details here and here.

Once you set up your membership there, the sideart files are located at:

http://www.coinopart.com/index.php?option=com_rsgallery2&Itemid=26&page=inline&id=463&catid=7&limitstart=29

and

http://www.coinopart.com/index.php?option=com_rsgallery2&Itemid=26&page=inline&id=464&catid=7&limitstart=30


Scott

[swaffar]

Nice!!! I don't know if I could be that committed to a single game.

[Gonzakpo]

Hi. Sorry to bring this up. I've tried to sent you a PM but the forum tells me "Many apologies, but you can't view just any profile.". I searched on the rules about that but I didn't find anything. So, I'm asking you here: Could you please send me the sideart with the stormtrooper? I love it!

Thank you!

Wecome aboard, Gonzakpo.

Keep posting and somewhere around 10-15 posts your PMs will enable.

Two things about anyone sending the files:

1. They are BIG.

EXIF data excerpts:
FILE    FileName    ESB_Sideart_Fantasy_Version1_Right_psd.jpg
FILE    FileSize    44357455
FILE    MimeType    image/jpeg
COMPUTED    Height    23400
COMPUTED    Width    12900

2. The files are hosted on Joymonkey's pay site.

For a $10 (or more) donation to help cover his bandwidth, you can download any art on the site.

Details here and here.

Once you set up your membership there, the sideart files are located at:

http://www.coinopart.com/index.php?option=com_rsgallery2&Itemid=26&page=inline&id=463&catid=7&limitstart=29

and

http://www.coinopart.com/index.php?option=com_rsgallery2&Itemid=26&page=inline&id=464&catid=7&limitstart=30


Scott

Thank you PL1!

I'll take a look to that site!

[AlienInferno]

That stormtrooper artwork looks great. 

[rockyrocket]

Thanks for replying PL1, missed the posting myself guess I should hit the new replies button more.
As an update the second usb screen lasted all of two weeks before dying, first it went totally white then just expired ..bummer.
Will get another when the time is right on eBay.

[AC.]

Very cool! 

[rockyrocket]

Hi,
So seeing as the thread has received a bump I feel like giving a bit of an update,as I have added  some more games to the cab.
These being rogue squadron for the PC and then star wars - shadows of the empire and episode 1 racer on project64 then star wars demolition on nulldc.
The extra games meant a rethink of the front end was needed so I decided to change to hyperspin using rondars star wars theme as default for all games.
I am happy with my decision to change as it means that I can have all the starwars games on a favourites wheel but if I want a game of scudrace for example I can drill down through the emu menu`s to find it

EDIT. 2014 and I have dropped hyperspin for GameeX with a skin FROM THIS THREAD see below for a demo

[lettuce]

Are you using MAME or AAE, as AAE is a must for vector based games

[rockyrocket]

Mame compiled with a vector diff as per the first post, unless you know a way with a yoke and AAE as i would love to use AAE.

[shrunkenmaster]

A bit late joining the party here - great job! I had the idea of making a  flip-down targetting display too - glad to see it worked out nicely for you.

[ChadTower]

That is definitely very sweet.  Nice one!

[yotsuya]

Looks great! I'll be doing something similar this spring.

[rockyrocket]

Blimey guys talk about resurrecting an old thread! .
Thanks for the kind words though (glad i went back and fixed all the image links now to embed them all properly)
So as an update its still going strong although I have still to replace the usb screen and I decided to revisit the bezel area to clean up some visable wood grain.
A bit of in-situ bondo and spray work sorted this out and now i am happy.
So yotsuya what are you planning, a repro cab or one with a twist?.