Need ideas/designs for a differnt type of cabinet

[Nacimroc]

I love different cab's like  MAME on a Stick Or Quercus. The problem is I have no imagination. I want to build something thats different from the regular old cabs and would love to know if any of you have any ideas. It doesn't have to be too wacky, just different. 

The only idea I was thinking about was a cab in a box. Where the whole cab is in a small box about 3x2x2 feet that folds up to a full size cab when turned on using actuators etc. It will be a pet project I'll do over a few months.

[MTPPC]

I'm going unicorn hunting this afternoon. I'll try to dream up something for you then.

[mo1e]

im the total opposite. i dream up ideas all the time. but i never put them into practice.

PS i know the screen on the cocktail version needs turning

[shponglefan]

Design I came up with last summer.  Still have yet to get to building it...

[mo1e]

Or if you want to try something completely bonkers. why not try to build around one of those rocking gaming chairs with built in speakers?

[Nacimroc]

Wow! Nice ideas! Definitely what I was after.

[mgb]

Design I came up with last summer.  Still have yet to get to building it...

That's a slick design. very nice

[Unstupid]

Don't do it!  These "Way out there" designs never seem to get finished.  I mean, look at the 2 examples you linked.  Neither of them have made it to the "completed stage".  If you want another example do a search for "retro-futuristic mame cabinet".  Look how long that has been under construction.  I think the problem is that when you are the first one to do something you need to have a very clear, very conscise plan of attack.  You need to know exactly what you want and exactly how you are going to get it.  When you start changing things up in the middle of the project because you think something may look better a certain way it starts to push the finish line further away.  Plan, plan, plan...  If you jump in without enough planning you'll soon realize "oh I can't do that because it'll interfere with this".  If you have access to some 3d cad software use it to design "everything" down to the screw holes.  It's easier to make/fix design mistakes when you can visualize it in 3d.   

[jimmer]

I'm not too sure about a full size cab-in-a-box, but a bar top that folds up into a box seems like a practical idea. (Probably been done already?)

[jimmer]

Similar to MAME-on-a-stick, could be done with a wooden box section spine. You could maybe make it so that the screen and panel are adjustable for different height players.

[Nacimroc]

I will finish it quite quickly once I start. I couldn't leave a project unfinished. It would eat at me.

The idea of a box was 2 actuators to bring a screen from the top of a box (2 feet) to about 5 feet tall where a normal screen is. Or using a scissor lift for bikes etc.  I don't think it would be all that difficult with the right design. It would need locking into place once at full height and maybe some solenoids to release the locks for lowering it. Maybe using pneumatics as it would sound amazing. Some smoke/sound and light affects to top it all off? 

OR If you look at the upright example. Now imagine the screen folded down onto the CP and both then lowered down 2 feet and folded into a box.

My dodgy back rules out the rocking chair unfortunately, but a great idea. I love the big screen and simplicity of the upright and angles on that cocktail look fantastic.

[RyoriNoTetsujin]

I'm not too sure about a full size cab-in-a-box, but a bar top that folds up into a box seems like a practical idea. (Probably been done already?)

Indeed it has. Search for Bender's "Benderama."

Don't do it!  These "Way out there" designs never seem to get finished.  ... ...  If you have access to some 3d cad software use it to design "everything" down to the screw holes.  It's easier to make/fix design mistakes when you can visualize it in 3d.   

I don't necessarily agree with the "Don't do it!" part of this, but Unstupid is right; with something like this you really must have a clear cut understanding of what you're trying to achieve. I built an entire project from start to finish (Occam's Racer) that, in the end, had just enough wrong with it that I ended up scrapping it and starting over from scratch.  Determined not to make that same mistake twice, I spent a month or so in Sketchup just refining the design for Final Stage, once I had the basic idea and structure. (Seriously, everyone on this forum should be using Sketchup; it's free, it is incredibly easy and just as affective.)

Not to "call you out," mo1e (because I totally get that you're experimenting) but that rocking chair design is a perfect example of this... it simply would NOT work if you tried to build it as it is currently designed.  Play with it a bit, work on the ergonomics/scale, and you could probably find a way to make it work. 

Would it be "worth it" to build it, ultimately? That's up to the player! 

[sandheaver]

A SOLID design (I'm not talking about construction, though that should be solid, too), some conviction that you're going to complete the project, sufficient funds & resources (time, tools, energy), and a great deal of forethought into the assembly are required to complete any cabinet project.

The most common, well, most of the best cabinets I've seen so far, have all been reproductions.  These are often chosen for a few reasons, a known-good design is often one of them.

You must think of more than just the shape and the lines.  How will the wiring be done?  Should you wire directly or use disconnects/connectors?  How many players?  Are you sure?  Which games are you going to support?  Will the monitor need to rotate?  How are you going to implement that?  Standing or sitting?  All that kind of thing. 

You have to make all of those decisions, and more, before you even commit a single line of pencil on paper or a single shape in Sketchup, or little additions will creep in as you physically build it and ruin it all.  You'll suddenly decide that a trackball or spinner would be nice, and then you have to rethink your wiring layout, or your control panel will need to be resized, or you'll need to move from an x-in-1 JAMMA board to a PC and dammit I need this to be 1/4" taller to fit a PC.  Etc. 

Decide, first, exactly what you're building and stick to it.  Think it through.  You should have built the cabinet in your mind a dozen times before you even pick up the first piece of wood you're going to cut.

If you can do that, you can complete any cabinet of any design.

[Ond]

Bah!  Take pencil to paper and get some ideas flowing.  Scan and post it here, lets go from there.  I dare ya.

[Unstupid]

Bah!  Take pencil to paper and get some ideas flowing.  Scan and post it here, lets go from there.  I dare ya.

[Ond]

Bah!  Take pencil to paper and get some ideas flowing.  Scan and post it here, lets go from there.  I dare ya.

  No but seriously.

[Ond]

I'm not having a go at you Sandy, in fact I couldn't agree more about "building things in your mind" that's a really powerful method.  It was just the whole, 'getting all your ducks in a row, checking all the traffic lights are green before heading out' feeling I was getting from reading your post.  You're a programmer so makes sense I guess.  No one wants some dopey design that's crapmame worthy.  That's what's good about BYOAC, there's so much knowledge and experience on the ergonomics of good cabinet design you can start off with your idea and let it evolve with good advice.  I like 'out of the box' thinking, it's what I'm paid for in my job.

There I've been all boring and explanatory.

I love seeing raw sketches, cardboard mock-ups etc, they are fun!  Lets not forget this hobby is meant to be fun (that advice self applies to me too).

Hmph, now I gotta go into four hours of design workshops in real life and I'm in a mischievous mood - think out of the box, creative darling, Milan darling Milan.   

[shponglefan]

That's a slick design. very nice

Thank you. Hopefully this summer I'll get around to building it!

[markc74]

Here's a design I was playing around with for a while - the idea was to use a 21" LCD and have it manually rotate using a handle on the back.  In the end I decided against it as couldn't be sure how stable it would be and found that lag on the Samsung 214t monitor was really distracting so gonna go CRT instead.

Always interesting to see other peoples ideas tho - even if they don't make it to final builds!

[sandheaver]

I'm not having a go at you Sandy, in fact I couldn't agree more about "building things in your mind" that's a really powerful method.  It was just the whole, 'getting all your ducks in a row, checking all the traffic lights are green before heading out' feeling I was getting from reading your post.  You're a programmer so makes sense I guess.  No one wants some dopey design that's crapmame worthy.  That's what's good about BYOAC, there's so much knowledge and experience on the ergonomics of good cabinet design you can start off with your idea and let it evolve with good advice.  I like 'out of the box' thinking, it's what I'm paid for in my job.

There I've been all boring and explanatory.

I love seeing raw sketches, cardboard mock-ups etc, they are fun!  Lets not forget this hobby is meant to be fun (that advice self applies to me too).

Hmph, now I gotta go into four hours of design workshops in real life and I'm in a mischievous mood - think out of the box, creative darling, Milan darling Milan.   

No, no, it's fine.  Design on paper all you want, sketch ideas as they come to you, etc, but if you find a design you want to finish all the way to the end, you must (MUST) plan, plan, and plan some more before you make the first cut.  That was my point.  My above post is for cabinets you wish to complete.  Go crazy, if you're just designing.

[Ond]

Don't do it!  These "Way out there" designs never seem to get finished.  I mean, look at the 2 examples you linked.  Neither of them have made it to the "completed stage".  If you want another example do a search for "retro-futuristic mame cabinet".  Look how long that has been under construction.  I think the problem is that when you are the first one to do something you need to have a very clear, very conscise plan of attack.  You need to know exactly what you want and exactly how you are going to get it.  When you start changing things up in the middle of the project because you think something may look better a certain way it starts to push the finish line further away.  Plan, plan, plan...  If you jump in without enough planning you'll soon realize "oh I can't do that because it'll interfere with this".  If you have access to some 3d cad software use it to design "everything" down to the screw holes.  It's easier to make/fix design mistakes when you can visualize it in 3d.

I actually missed this comment.  I  guess you were laughing at me not with me.  There's plenty I could say, but instead I'll just say this.  You're wrong.  It will give me all the more pleasure when I finish that project for comments like this.

My designs (which ALL start life as pencil scratchings on some scrap of paper) have been built and are being built and completed by other folks as well, check the top of this Forum board for that.  I've stated the benefits of detailed planning and taking advantage of CAD software many times myself elsewhere.  Telling someone not to bother dreaming up an ambitious idea  because it takes longer or is harder to execute is ---That which is odiferous and causeth plants to grow---.  No one is a greater advocate of careful planning around here than me, my point is, having an exciting dream comes first, not umpteen details.  10/4?  Loud and Clear?   

[Xiaou2]

Ive built a Lot of projects from Scratch, without so much as a quick pencil sketch.

 For example, I built a complete working StarWars yoke, On-the-fly.  No Cad.  And only limited sketching at best.
Cut parts out, sanded them, drilled holes, cut shafts, mounted gears, routed and chiseled out the handles, etc...

 Anything Innovative is going to take some work, and possibly a few revisions.   But not everything can be done well in Cad... if you even know how to use it well.

 For example, some people might design, or copy a design, that has a commonly reproduced flaw... such as a control panel that has no angle... or too steep an angle.   Maybe they space the buttons out curved, but find they dont like the end result.  Maybe the trackball ends up too close to the sticks or monitor...  or the controls are too deep in the CP to be comfortable when playing for more than 5min spans.

 Point being... is that you cant always get a good result, without some physical test, with some trial and error.


 Ive failed on certain projects, such as a 6 way shifter... but I also learned a lot about the mechanics of the device, material worksmanship, martial stress factors, and much more.   At that time, I couldnt afford a 6 way shifter.  There were no commercial 6ways.

 If money and time is more of a concern than getting something right the first cut... then sure.  But to say that one should not Invent or Build something unique?   Thats just going too far... and IMO, its Laughable to hear someone protest such a thing.

Decide, first, exactly what you're building and stick to it.  Think it through.  You should have built the cabinet in your mind a dozen times before you even pick up the first piece of wood you're going to cut

 Thats assuming you even know what you want.. and that your mind will never change.

 I found out after making some CPs, that I wanted real restricted 4ways... and Real Leafswitch buttons & Joysticks. These things only realized after playing some real classic machines such as Robotron, Galaga, and MsPacman.  I used to be totally against anything Leaf, until I realized my misunderstanding of how to operate them properly.. as well as the benefits they attain in gameplay, over Micros.

 Im fairly knowledgeable about this stuff, yet there were many things even I didnt know or realize at the time.

 If you change your mind... you jusy rebuild the CP... or whatever else you have built.

 Or... you could just sit there forever in contemplation...  never actually building anything, because you are waiting for a 'perfect design',  that someone else already built... which actually came from a visonary, and plenty of revisions.

[Xiaou2]

All that being said... 

 The Op said he has no Imagination.  IMO, its very difficult to create, without that.

 Either you try to exercise your creative side.. and expand its abilities..   or, you will just have to resort to
copying something note for note.   Not something thats only an unfinished 'general idea' sketch.

[Unstupid]

Telling someone not to bother dreaming up an ambitious idea  because it takes longer or is harder to execute is ---That which is odiferous and causeth plants to grow---.  No one is a greater advocate of careful planning around here than me, my point is, having an exciting dream comes first, not umpteen details.  10/4?  Loud and Clear?   

I wasn't telling him not to do something ambitious, I was telling him that if we was going to do something different to plan, plan, plan everything.  When you build something never done before its like walking down a long lonely road, and it's better to have a map.  You can jump on BYOAC for suggestions but no one will be able to tell you how they did it.  Now I'm not advocating building someone else's design.  In fact I dislike all those ---smurfing--- weecade clones.  I love the creative designs that people come up with like your retro cab, and anything that pops out of griffindodd's garage.  In fact my rule of thumb is either 1) Build something different or 2) build it better.

[Unstupid]

Here's a design I was playing around with for a while - the idea was to use a 21" LCD and have it manually rotate using a handle on the back.  In the end I decided against it as couldn't be sure how stable it would be and found that lag on the Samsung 214t monitor was really distracting so gonna go CRT instead.

Always interesting to see other peoples ideas tho - even if they don't make it to final builds!

I do like this design... I like everything about it except for the rotating monitor idea.  Rotating monitors leave you with a tiny screen surrounded with a huge black bezel.  Just build one horizontal and another vertical.  Hey, why build 1, when you can build 2 for twice the price?   

[Nacimroc]

I think the "design then build" and the "progress the idea as you go along" arguments are both valid. Even designed perfect, its not until its on front of you that you realise proportions may be off or you come up with an idea in the mean time. I think its just how people look at projects. I also don't think finishing is massively important to some.  I enjoy building, a lot more than playing so finishing is an end to the fun in my eyes, but I will always finish it regardless, otherwise there is no point.

I do have "some" imagination, but I was looking for inspiration more than a full design. I won't copy an idea from here straight up. I will use bits from each at best. Just wanted something challenging. It won't be a botch job either. I will take my time and do it right.

[yotsuya]

It's interesting what to see what people like. I guess I'm a Traditionalist myself. My favorite scratch build in the three years I've been here has to be DrChek's Echo Base. He took a traditional design, but through his own custom artwork, controls, and front end, really made it his own. It's worthy of sitting in any classic 80's arcade. I find that kind of thought and creativity as exciting as a new shape, or new mechanism.

I love seeing all the stuff you guys come up with, but nothing grabs me like classic designs. If you told me I could have any cab I saw this website, Echo Base would be the one, hands down.

Having given those two cents, I just want to add, keep creating guys! It's the lifeblood of the site.

[Vigo]

I completely agree with ya man. Some of those scratch traditionals are really enjoyable. Echo Base is possibly on the top of my list as well. I really liked Starcade too.

As far as planning an idea goes, I have to give it to Ond, Get out some graph paper and hammer something out. Bounce ideas back here. You could shoot from the hip completely like X2 said, or get busy making a CAD model for every bit you plan do, but no matter what, nothing seems to connect better for me than using a pencil and transferring those thoughts down to a real sheet of paper. No barriers, just your ideas down in graphite.