Author Topic: A Little Rage Officially Finished! 03/09/13 (Read 48978 times)

darthpaul · « **Reply #120 on:** February 03, 2013, 07:03:28 pm »

Looking good, don't be so hard on yourself, I do have one question, why not print the lettering in green and use white LEDs, this will solve the problem with the coloring of the Characters.

DaOld Man · « **Reply #121 on:** February 03, 2013, 07:07:38 pm »

Thanks man.
That would be way too easy.
That is what I should have done to start with, but to do it now I would have to buy another LED strip and have the marquee printed again.
How do you think it would look if I colored in the white lettering with a green sharpy? Nah.
I might could put a green piece of plastic behind the lettering, and use a white light. Hmmmm. I happen to have a green plastic clipboard that could be sacrificed.

DaOld Man · « **Reply #122 on:** February 04, 2013, 10:10:30 pm »

Just a little update.
I found some "Poppa Johns Pizza" garlic sauce containers at work (someone had pizza last week).
These are small round white plastic containers, and they will work perfect to light up my marquee characters.
I scooped them up and brought them home.
On the way I stopped by Radio Shack and picked up some super bright white LEDs.
I cut a hole in the bottom of one container and stuck the led through.
I temporarily stuck the contraption behind one of the characters.
Can you tell which one has the white led behind it?

I guess it's true. One mans trash is another mans treasure.
I plan to detail what Im doing with the trash later.

chopperthedog · « **Reply #123 on:** February 04, 2013, 10:18:39 pm »

And I pondered all of the options. i.e. coloring the letters, adding green gel and so on. But the only thing in my head to "retain" the ambiance of the same green leds that highlight other areas of the cab was to hot spot the characters with white. And these were just half assed thoughts as I was doing the pixel by pixel edits to edges of the new images of the characters I had a thought (these would look cool lit up separately now). Neat stuff.

good day.

DaOld Man · « **Reply #124 on:** February 04, 2013, 10:25:21 pm »

Quote from: chopperthedog on February 04, 2013, 10:18:39 pm

And I pondered all of the options. i.e. coloring the letters, adding green gel and so on. But the only thing in my head to "retain" the ambiance of the same green leds that highlight other areas of the cab was to hot spot the characters with white. And these were just half assed thoughts as I was doing the pixel by pixel edits to edges of the new images of the characters I had a thought (these would look cool lit up separately now). Neat stuff.

good day.

Thanks Chop. I sorta figured you were working on a solution for me.

DaOld Man · « **Reply #125 on:** February 06, 2013, 11:59:34 am »

Ok, I decided to take a break from the marquee lighting and take some up to date pictures.

I think I have finished the cab wiring.
Here is a shot of the back, with the door on (Still got to install the lock.)

Close up of power connections (Have not installed the serial plate yet, and need to label fuse, usb and LAN connects.)

Bottom wiring. (I think its moved up from rests nest to squirrel nest)

Back of monitor, with power block:

Credit panel wiring, Control Panel Plug:

Marquee lights and under cab (floor) lights brightness control:

Speaker volume limit and service switch (Need labels):

Shot of bottom wiring, looking through CP opening:

Unfinished control panel, test fitted:

Now I need you honest opinions about my proposed CP layout:

Do you like the layout?
Do you think player controls are too far up? (towards monitor?)
Do I need mouse buttons?

Thanks for checking in. Hope you like my work so far.

chopperthedog · « **Reply #126 on:** February 06, 2013, 06:04:43 pm »

A long time ago I had mouse buttons wired to mine and it lasted about 2 weeks before I had the buttons wired to encoder. It just lead to people left and right clicking things.

I do dig the layout. I always hate to see a trackball buried. And not just for the superman golden tee moves but for games like marble madness, centipede, missle command and so on, where some room is needed for quick swiping actions in all directions.

How high is the front lip of the panel from the floor? And how deep is it (twss) and the pitch? It will help others to visualize to try to physically visualize what you got goin on.

good day.

DaOld Man · « **Reply #127 on:** February 06, 2013, 06:46:28 pm »

Thanks Chop.
The bottom of the CP (player side) is about 27.25" from floor to top of CP. The upper side (next to monitor) is about 32.5" from floor.

I have thought about making P1 button 2 & 3 the mouse click buttons, but only if the cab is in service mode.
Thought about just lighting these two buttons and make the trackball red when in service mode. (Windows desktop).
Im going to use an LED wiz to light the buttons and the trackball. Trackball will have a RGB led, so I can probably make it just about any color I want. (Or at least I think I can, gotta work on writing directly to the led wiz.)
When not in service mode, the buttons and trackball will work normally. (Arcade mode.)
But... is it worth the extra effort? (I do have two USB plugs on the front of the cab so a mouse and/or keyboard can be plugged in at any time.)

darthpaul · « **Reply #128 on:** February 06, 2013, 07:32:06 pm »

Keep the track ball as far away from everything as possible, I'm always hitting my hand when I play golf. I have dropped my keyboard and mouse for thishttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004SQ5OYO/ref=oh_details_o07_s00_i01 It takes a little getting used to but i really like it. I need to save some of these pictures for future reference on how to wire a MAME Machine.

DaOld Man · « **Reply #129 on:** February 06, 2013, 07:37:03 pm »

Thanks Paul, that hand held keyboard looks neat. Not really a bad price for a specialty item like that.

DaOld Man · « **Reply #130 on:** February 07, 2013, 10:37:55 am »

In this pic, I have dropped the buttons down so that the 4 even ones are center of the joystick.
I think I like this better.
Im not real sure about the two left buttons being dropped down lower than the 4. What do you think?

jennifer · « **Reply #131 on:** February 07, 2013, 04:08:49 pm »

I like the semi random look of the offset, Like its set up for some super fast quick move trick... I have recently decided to take a new look at Mame,Since I have little practical knowledge of it, Jernnifer shall use this thread as my template, Currently Im looking into Hyperspin, And Roms that are not corrupt...This may have been the problem up to this point.

BadMouth · « **Reply #132 on:** February 07, 2013, 04:23:51 pm »

I have a similar button layout on my current build and I like it.
I don't think it's superior or inferior to the straight 6, but I like it a little bit more.
It started out as a curved layout, but I kept tweaking it until it felt right.
By the end, the middle four buttons were in a square.
Part of it was just that I wanted to do something different.

Deciding where the joystick and buttons were in relation to each other was also done by trial and error until it just "felt right".
I think they ended up just above the center point of the bottom center buttons.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,119308.msg1331143.html#msg1331143

EDIT.....hey wait a minute, all your button placements look somewhat similar to mine....
It's all good.

DOUBLE EDIT: I've actually moved my P1 & P2 buttons in a newer revision.

Malenko · « **Reply #133 on:** February 07, 2013, 04:28:25 pm »

P2 seems a little too close to the edge. Its definitely an odd shape, I cant reallly tell the scale, but how far from the bottom are the sticks, 14 inches? That wouldnt be comfortable for me.

DaOld Man · « **Reply #134 on:** February 07, 2013, 05:45:46 pm »

Thanks Jennifer! Feel free to ask if you have any questions about what I did.
Thanks BadMouth, Im not 100% sure who I stole the button layout from (it is not my original idea), it might have been you!

Thanks Malenko, I put the P2 controls as close as I could to the edge same with P1, due mostly to the width of the cabinet. I think I widened it a bit more from original plan just because I wanted 6 buttons for each player. Also, I wanted to keep the P2 joystick as far away from the trackball as possible.
But Im open for suggestions.
Oh, and that pic is not to true scale. P1 joystick and P2 joystick are 8.5" center of stick to lower edge of CP. Again, this is to make room for the trackball, but I am worried about my G-daughter reaching them comfortably. I guess I could move TB up and controls down, but as I get near the bottom of CP, I run out of underneath clearance, down to ~3". Not sure how close I could get the joysticks to the edge and still have enough clearance underneath.
Thanks for the comments, please keep em coming.

Jigenjuke · « **Reply #135 on:** February 07, 2013, 06:02:46 pm »

Hey there DaOld Man, looks great!

As far as suggestions about your track ball. Years ago I came across someone who had made his/her trackball on a rotating panel that could be rotated up to be used and locked into place. When not using the trackball it could be unlocked and rotated into the control panel so that wasn't in the way when playing fighting games and the like.

I always thought that this was an interesting idea but never used it in any of my cabinets.

May have a few ideas on how to implement it.

Might be kind of cool, might be a logistic nightmare.

I think that you layout looks great! I might move the joysticks and buttons on the right a little more to the left but, Awesome cabinet.

Jigenjuke

DaOld Man · « **Reply #136 on:** February 08, 2013, 08:05:15 am »

Thanks Jigenjuke. How far would you move P2 controls to the left? I am really afraid P2 joystick will be in the line of fire of the trackball.
Speaking of changing panels, Darthpaul was working on an ingenious approach to that, but I think he got side tracked.
On this cab, I did engineer (or is it rig up?) a fairly easy way to swap control panels, using the molex plug it could be easy to change them out, but I dont have any storage area on this cab for spare CPs, plus I havent figured out an easy latch/unlatch system yet to hold the CP in place.
But I dont know how the molex plug would hold up under a constant switching back in forth.
I planned on the molex plug for as my grandaughter grows, I may redesign another CP later, but for now, Im going with 2 player + trackball.
There's not a lot of room on that CP for much else, so the molex plug might not be necessary, but it sure looks neat.

darthpaul · « **Reply #137 on:** February 08, 2013, 11:06:47 pm »

I like it, try not to over think it too much, it will make you crazy, I know, that's why I needed to get side tracked for awhile. I'm sure your Granddaughter will love it no matter what the position of the buttons.

DaOld Man · « **Reply #138 on:** February 16, 2013, 07:00:09 pm »

Thanks DarthPaul. You are right, I shouldn't be over-thinking things.

Well, a lot of crap has recently came my way, and I figure the best medicine would be to do something to take my mind off it.
So here is an update.
First, here are the Pizza garlic sauce containers, with a bright white led hot glued into the bottom of each.

I put a piece of scotch tape over each to diffuse a hotspot from the brightness.
I found they were washing out the green a little, so I wrapped the cups in black electrical tape, then attached them to the marquee with green frog tape.
Here it is lit up with the green light:

And here is the final result:

The white in the characters are white, I dont know why they show up blue in this pic.

The speaker and marquee power:
I did not account for the speaker and marquee lights being in the way of the monitor plexi, so I added a system to easily disconnect speaker and marquee so that the plexi glass can pull up and out.
(In hindsite, I should have routed a trench in the side panel to allow the wires to be flush).
Here is the marquee and earth ground connections (TS2):

And here are speaker power and audio connections:

Notice the green frog tape? That is to seal the slot for the monitor plexi glass. I was going to put a thick black poster cutout between monitor and plexi, but later decided not to use the poster board.

And now a little labeling.
Power entry:

USB/LAN plate:

Back door lock installed:

And I got all the holes drilled in the control panel. Also got the plexi for it drilled and fitted.
Here is a pic with buttons and trackball test fitted:

I have green bat handle joysticks on the way.
I need to counter sink the holes for joystick mounts (t-nuts).
Also need to figure out how Im going to mount the trackball.
Then its bondo time to fill in the center punch holes I made from the first CP theme I had going on.
Then it's painting time.
It's cold here right now, but hopefully it will be warm enough for paint later in the week.

sharpfork · « **Reply #139 on:** February 16, 2013, 07:16:03 pm »

Looks great!

Quote from: DaOld Man on February 16, 2013, 07:00:09 pm

Also need to figure out how Im going to mount the trackball

A buddy of mine did the best mount of that trackball I've ever seen using a modified mounting plate:

DaOld Man · « **Reply #140 on:** February 17, 2013, 07:47:07 pm »

Thanks sharpfork! I dont have a TB plate to fit this one so i think I will have to go with something different.
(Updates soon).
How do you like that trackball?

DaOld Man · « **Reply #141 on:** February 17, 2013, 07:53:09 pm »

Teaser photo:

darthpaul · « **Reply #142 on:** February 17, 2013, 11:38:17 pm »

thatpurplestuff · « **Reply #143 on:** February 17, 2013, 11:58:06 pm »

Looking good!

DaOld Man · « **Reply #144 on:** March 03, 2013, 10:04:22 pm »

Thanks Darthpaul and Thatpurplestuff!

It does not take long for projects to move down the list! I had to go to page 2 to get the latest post on this, but that's a good thing, it means people are working and creating.

Now for a little update for my personal project, A Little Rage.

I have finished the CP wiring.
Here is the way I mounted the sparkfun 2-1/2" trackball:

And here is the CP wiring complete. (I still am contemplating the way I attached the led for the trackball):

A close up of the keywiz eco wiring:

And a close up of the LED wiz wiring:

6 days till I have to present this to the final judge, my grand daughter, Gracie.

DaOld Man · « **Reply #145 on:** March 07, 2013, 08:56:55 pm »

Well, I think I can call this project done. Well, almost, i still got to tweak some Mala and emulator stuff, but I got tonight and tomorrow to do that.
My grand daughter, Gracie turns 3 years old tomorrow (Friday), but her party is Saturday, so I got till then.
Here is a pic of the control panel, before cleaning up my fingerprints:

A closer view of the CP, with some of the buttons lit up:

A front view showing Marquee and control panel. (I dont know why the white in the marquee characters show up blue in the pics?):

The credit panel:

Side view:

Back view:

Closeup of the serial plate:

Full frontal view. (I have been using my dining area as a workshop because of the nasty weather outside. Please overlook the mess.)

And lastly, but not leastly, a pic of yours truly beside A Little Rage for size comparison. ( I am about 5' 9" in height.):

It is a very satisfying feeling when you finally finish a project like this.
But the really satisfying part will be watching Gracie playing with it Saturday. (I may post pics of that later.)
Still got to iron out some of the emulator issues, and I cant get the led wiz to light the buttons on any emulator but mame. I would appreciate help on this.
Thanks for following this project and for all the comments, suggestions, hints, and opinions from everyone.

Louis Tully · « **Reply #146 on:** March 07, 2013, 09:06:25 pm »

rtkiii · « **Reply #147 on:** March 07, 2013, 09:21:56 pm »

That's awesome for kids...nice!

Nephasth · « **Reply #148 on:** March 07, 2013, 09:38:05 pm »

Well done!

Nothing beats seeing kids' excitement around machines like this.

sharpfork · « **Reply #149 on:** March 08, 2013, 01:37:35 am »

I really dig this build. Nice design and implementation + solid construction and creative problem solving. I think the "coin door" is pure genius!

rockyrocket · « **Reply #150 on:** March 08, 2013, 02:33:44 am »

What a lucky little lady

.

dandro · « **Reply #151 on:** March 08, 2013, 09:26:12 am »

That is awesome! Good job!

Malenko · « **Reply #152 on:** March 08, 2013, 09:46:38 am »

looks good man, something to be proud of for sure.

jennifer · « **Reply #153 on:** March 08, 2013, 03:57:38 pm »

That is nice...Now you will have to start ALL over and make one for yourself.

chopperthedog · « **Reply #154 on:** March 08, 2013, 07:07:54 pm »

Well I'm a dumbass... I guess I haven't been paying attention and thought it was a full size cab this whole time.

Looks sweet!!!!

good day.

CoryBee · « **Reply #155 on:** March 08, 2013, 09:00:17 pm »

Quote from: chopperthedog on March 08, 2013, 07:07:54 pm

Well I'm a dumbass... I guess I haven't been paying attention and thought it was a full size cab this whole time.

Haha, me too!

Good job on it old, I love looking at these mini cabs. Something awfully cute about them.

chopperthedog · « **Reply #156 on:** March 08, 2013, 09:16:12 pm »

Quote from: CoryBee on March 08, 2013, 09:00:17 pm

Quote from: chopperthedog on March 08, 2013, 07:07:54 pm
Well I'm a dumbass... I guess I haven't been paying attention and thought it was a full size cab this whole time.

Haha, me too!

Good job on it old, I love looking at these mini cabs. Something awfully cute about them.

The kicker is, I edited his marquee to 20" x 4 1/2" and it didn't even register at that point.

I was in the mode of just adding a 1/2" all around for trimming bleed.

puff puff, pass.....

good day.

CoryBee · « **Reply #157 on:** March 08, 2013, 09:29:16 pm »

Quote from: chopperthedog on March 08, 2013, 09:16:12 pm

The kicker is, I edited his marquee to 20" x 4 1/2" and it didn't even register at that point. I was in the mode of just adding a 1/2" all around for trimming bleed.

puff puff, pass.....
good day.

HAHAHA, smooth

X-fact0r · « **Reply #158 on:** March 09, 2013, 04:20:15 am »

I really liked the way you handled the monitor stand and the coin door!

Nice job!

DaOld Man · « **Reply #159 on:** March 09, 2013, 10:07:49 pm »

Thanks for all the kind comments guys! I could not have done it without the help of the people on this forum.
My grand daughter accepted the arcade cab and she really loved it, so this project is now officially finished! (I do plan to get all my paper work together and make a sort of users manual for it, but that may not ever get done. LOL)
Here is a pic of her and a friend playing World Class Bowling.
This is what makes all the work worthwhile, and we all know that this so called hobby is a lot more than just a hobby.


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Author Topic: A Little Rage *Officially Finished! 03/09/13* (Read 48978 times)

Nephasth

Author Topic: A Little Rage Officially Finished! 03/09/13 (Read 48978 times)