Sorry for posting artwork in the project announcement section

[jdbailey1206]

After looking over the comments I went back to the drawing board and tried something new.  Again, maybe its just the artist in me never being truly satisfied, but I reworked everything and I am looking forward to everyones input.

Side note.  The turbo buttons will be as follow left to right - Start Button, 1st Player, Exit, Second Player

Don't mind the white marks on the CP I know they are there and will be corrected if it goes to the printer

[Nephasth]

You cannot be forgiven!



But it looks good!

[thatpurplestuff]

Absolutely love the control panel artwork... you nailed the Advantage perfectly while at the same time adding buttons and making it work well for two players.  I think the side art is very promising with the similarities of old NES box art but the top part with the arcades doesn't look like it belongs there for me... I feel like the fairly detailed arcade images shatter the NES illusion that you've got going on (maybe because the complexity looks more SNES-ish or something?)  I would try either going a lot more pixelated with less colors or go all out and have an illustration ala Castlevania or something.  Here's a couple of cool fake covers that were done back in '09... -> http://geekadelphia.com/2009/04/08/nes-modern-classics-dead-space-fallout-3/

Also, you HAVE to include the Nintendo Seal of Approval or a spoof of it on there somewhere!  Either way nice work!

[PL1]

Definitely like your new/improved CP and marquee, but I'm a little surprised you changed the sideart from this.



Might have missed something, but not quite following what the labels on your turbo buttons mean.
Are you doing something other than MAME?

The turbo buttons will be as follow left to right - Start Button, 1st Player, Exit, Second Player

Scott

[jdbailey1206]

Lets see if I can get everyone in one fatal swoop. 

Nephasth - Thank you for the praise.  Surprisingly what I thought was going to be the easiest part (the artwork) has been a major pain the ass.  But it took Edison 2000 times before he got the light bulb correct so I'll just keep plugging along. 

Purple Stuff -  Thanks for the insight.  The arcades that I put on were not my design and I just threw them on there.  I searched the internet for a more appropriate picture.  I have seen variants of the Nintendo boxes online but not the ones you showed.  I redid the artwork and I think it looks better.  (See attachment)

PL1 - I changed the artwork from my previous design.  I was not impressed with it and felt it was just thrown together.  Still a work in process.

Thanks again for the input and I hope to hear more suggestions from everyone.  Keep it coming!   

By the way I worked on a seal of approval.  The wording can also be changed. 

I forgot also.  PL1 - The turbo buttons were just a way to incorporate the player one and player two arcade buttons.  The turbo sections will be where they are placed.  I'll try to get a pic up to show you what I mean. 

[lordnacho]

I really like the CP, but the sideart isn't working for me.  Maybe it's just too wordy and too many fonts(pet peeve of mine)?  I'd remove these lines:
"The Original !" 
"Weecade"
"Arcade Classics"

You've already got a decent logo(NEStalgia), that should be the focus.  I can't think of any cabinet that had that much text on the side

[jdbailey1206]

Hey PL1.  I hope this pic dissolves your confusion.  The player one and player two start buttons will be located at these positions.  Along with the start and exit buttons.  In between the "turbo" sections I am hoping to place a fully functional NES Power, reset button replica that will act as a start and reset button for the computer.  (See attached pics)

[jdbailey1206]

Sorry all.  Too much information to put out.  On a side note I found this very cool 8 pixel artwork done by a very cool Pixel artist that goes by the name of Darokin.  Wish I had seen this before even starting my build so I could model my weecade after the rendering.  (see attached file)

[jdbailey1206]

I really like the CP, but the sideart isn't working for me.  Maybe it's just too wordy and too many fonts(pet peeve of mine)?  I'd remove these lines:
"The Original !" 
"Weecade"
"Arcade Classics"

You've already got a decent logo(NEStalgia), that should be the focus.  I can't think of any cabinet that had that much text on the side

Yeah Nacho.  I thought of how wordy it was when I finished it.  All I could think of was the  Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flaling Tube Man scene from Family Guy.

[vanrose72]

I really like the CP, but the sideart isn't working for me.

Maybe something more similar to this? Less words and more NES-type details?

[PL1]

Hey PL1.  I hope this pic dissolves your confusion.

Nope.        Let me ask another way.

What emulator are you going to run on this? (MAME, MESS, NEStopia)

The labels that you have used seem to correspond in MAME to:
"1st Player" Player 1 start - 1
"2nd Player" Player 2 start - 2
"Exit" Exit - Esc
"Start Button" Is this supposed to be P1 Coin - 5?

-- Original-style Power/Reset buttons - Looks like a great plan.
Power button - Are you planning on disabling the latching function to make it momentary to power the system up/down?
Reset button - Not sure what you're planning on using this for -- might be a good exit button.

IF you are running MAME and IF the butttons are assigned this way, that raises two things to consider.

1. You may want to find a different location than the turbos for the exit button.  It seems like it would be really easy to accidently hit it instead of Player 2 start.

The reset button might be good for exit or if you use an encoder that supports shifted functions, you could use P1 Start + P2 Start for exit.

2. You may want to consider having a P2 Coin button for TMNT, Simpsons, Gauntlet, etc. since those games assign credits based on which "coin slot" is used.  Right now P2 can't play those games.


Scott

[jdbailey1206]

Very cool side art Van.  I was going for something that looked like the side of the original Nintendo Black Box art that first came out.  (See the attachment at the bottom)

Scott - Don't worry about being confused.  My wife says it's a good thing I'm pretty that way she has something to look at when I get wordy or just off on a tangent. 

Anyway.  Its a good thing that you went over this because I have not even considered that the software would be an influence on the button scheme.  I have Maximus Arcade in mind as my front end.  If that is the case I think I will need coin buttons which may go in place of the start and exit buttons in the same place and hopefully I can work a combination of buttons for start and exit like you mentioned in your post.  There is a tutorial for Maximus Arcade that I am going to watch either on lunch or later tonight while watching tv.  I still am on fence about front ends, because I haven't done that much research, but I don't want to have random buttons stuck everywhere like some cabs.  That is why I am not going to print anything before I get everything else set in stone.

As for the actual NES power reset button, the power button does have a small clip behind it which can be removed to make it act like a power button on a PC.

[jdbailey1206]

Here is a quick rendering of what should be the final CP.  The power and reset buttons (fully functional) are in the middle and I was looking to use red led illuminated push buttons with rupee inserts as the credit buttons. 

[PL1]

Looks like it's coming together very nicely.

Have you looked at coordinating the style of your player and/or admin buttons?

For the coin buttons, are you going with IL translucent (concave), chrome-rimmed, black-rimmed, or translucent-rimmed? (convex)

You can print inserts for the 3 convex styles, and I think you can for the concave style, too.

Also, with that red ruby insert, do you want to use a red translucent or a white translucent button?  Seems like the ruby insert would blend into the red translucent unless it is just black lines that divide the button face into "facets".

     

For the player start buttons are you going with white-on-black, black-on-white (concave), or translucent with B&W or color or plain for self-printed insert? (convex)



You can print your own inserts on Avery 18665 or 8665 adhesive labels.


Scott

[jdbailey1206]

Hey Scott,

I have looked at various buttons for the ruby red rupees.  I am leaning towards the red translucent rimmed convex buttons and I will be using one of four renderings of red rupees that I have found to place inside of them.  I am definitely going to place black lines throughout the rupee so that it will be distinguishable when looked upon.  The only thing I see as a distraction will be the glowing red buttons while playing, but don't see them as a problem as they will be on the front of the cabinet.

As for the start buttons I like the black push buttons (second from left) as they keep with the black start buttons on the regular, original, NES controllers.

But as of right now I still have to finish up my cabinet.  Which between our cold weather here in Michigan, and other holiday family priorities has put the whole project on the back burner.

Thanks again for all your input Scott.

[vanrose72]

Very cool side art Van.  I was going for something that looked like the side of the original Nintendo Black Box art that first came out.

Oh, okay! That makes complete sense.

Your artwork looks phenomenal, especially that CP overlay. Keep up the great work!

[PL1]

My only concern with your current plan is that you end up with dissimilar button profiles that won't look right next to each other.

You can put inserts like these in the black-rimmed white buttons and the rupee inserts in the black-rimmed red button.
 

To minimise the distraction from the glowing buttons, power 12v LED buttons with 5v.  If that's still a little bright, add a current-limiting resistor in series. (maybe an 11 ohm, 1/4 watt?)

Alternate method, use the black concave imprint buttons and get an IL black concave pushbutton and an IL red translucent concave pushbutton.  Swap the plunger of the translucent into the body of the black button -- the inverse of what Nephasth did here for the Double-Headed Beast.  You can find related details in his TE Fightstick mod here.




Scott

[jdbailey1206]

Thank you for thinking out loud Scott.  I have run into so many outside issues (life in general) I haven't had time to remember that they make LED lit rimmed buttons.  Nephasth's CP looked really professional when it was completed and the buttons themselves did not give off as much light as I expected.  It doesn't distract the player from the main screen.  (At least in my opinion.) 

I may keep with the black buttons with the white player icons and and then get red rimmed black buttons (for the credit, ruppee, buttons) to keep with the same theme as you suggested.  Both ideas are worth while.  Now I just have to find the time to get to this point (and the time to rob a bank to buy 'sticks and pushbuttons.)   :cheers:z

By the way...Just wondered if you had read anything good about the Ultrastik 360.  I'm leaning towards that as my joystick

[jdbailey1206]

Wow....I just realized I may not even be able to play any emulated Nintendo 64 games with this controller setup.  I either need to completely rework the artwork to contain a 6 button config or just keep with the Microsoft XBox controller I was going to use in case I didn't want to sit on top of the screen.  Oh this weecade has definitely become my white whale.

The following video pretty much sums up how I felt when I realized the six button catastrophe.