brainstorming

[dkersten]

I need some help from this wonderful pool of arcade lovers!  I need ideas for artwork and theme for a new cab, and I am hoping that maybe some of the members here are more creative than me and can at least kick something loose that I can run with.

Here is the situation:
2 player cab.
For a family, primarily for the two sons who are still fairly young (7-10 ish)
Don't want any kind of violence or fighting theme, looking more for the "fun" side of arcade. (wholesome comes to mind)
Still want it to have a "cool" factor for boys.
They like star wars stuff, but I don't want to highlight the fighting part of the "wars" lol.. (this is the hard part for me) Maybe even just a space theme with the name of the machine in the star wars style, but maybe a little more to tie it together, doesn't need to be the main theme per se, but anything I do I want it to work together and make sense, even to a 10 year old kid.
Going with the old standby of black with blue highlights and lighting.
Doesn't need to be groundbreaking or anything like that, I am OK with generic, just don't want to do blue lightning on a black field.  Anything I do will be unique to them. 
Family name is WYLIE, and I want to incorporate that into the theme name.  Can be as generic as "Wylie-Kade" but would really like to figure out something a little more unique.

ANY help here is appreciated, I am the type who can write an entire novel with an intricate story, but I have to use a phonebook to come up with names for characters and finding that initial concept for a story is the most difficult part for me, so if I can get a hold of any kind of idea that I can run with, I know I can make it work.  I am just having a tough time with that creative spark.

Thanks!!

[yotsuya]

I say go with a generic space theme. Check out the artwork on early 80s space-themed cab, like Defender and Berzerk. Would love to see something that looks stenciled.

Family name is WYLIE, and I want to incorporate that into the theme name.  Can be as generic as "Wylie-Kade" but-

Did they specifically request the name into the theme? Otherwise, you're really limiting yourself. 

[BadMouth]

Girls Gone Wylie
(just kidding)

I'm guessing Wylie Coyote is out of the question due to violence?

Wylie-Time Arcade

Wylie's Play it or Not (done in the style of Ripley's believe it or not)

The Wylie Zone (done in the style twilight zone)

Wylie's Arcade (done in the style of Flynn's Arcade from Tron)

[BadMouth]

Do you have a copy of that gif with the characters reversed? 

[dkersten]

Yes, they specifically want the name in the theme and suggested "wyliekade".. I would like to do something better, but like I said, whatever I do is original and really cool to them, and that is what matters. 

Plus these kids don't play many video games (a little sheltered) so they don't have any favorites, even on any modern platforms. 

I like your idea of early 80's space theme with stenciled art, but with these kids I just don't think they would relate.  I will kick it around though.  Was thinking that it would be easy to do the Republic and Empire symbols, one on each side, with some stenciled art pertaining to each, but I just don't think they would appreciate the connection.  I am sure they are all about star wars cartoons and legos and not into the history and all that. 

Plus I am thinking I can do the sides with the black space field, some stars and maybe a planet, a ship or whatever as the focal point, but do it in all gloss laminate on the vinyl, which gives it such a great "pop".  I want to hit that "wow" factor, but it is for non-arcade fanatics, so the wow is going to be in making it shiny and light up and have something they really recognize, along with their name in it.

[dkersten]

Girls Gone Wylie
(just kidding)

LOL!  Love it!  But no, it probably wouldn't go over well, hahaha..

I'm guessing Wylie Coyote is out of the question due to violence?

Thought about it, but I don't think the kids will really relate, not sure if they are fans or not. 


Thanks for the ideas, Keep them coming!   
I like some so far, and the gears are turning.  The Flynns reference would be badass, but again I don't think they would get it.  Darn it anyhow, that would be great..

[Vigo]

Maybe do a theme where player 1 and player 2 look like pilot and co-pilot of a starship. Have controls labeled as hyper drive or cloaking shields, etc. Make it fun and techy looking, maybe a little more Star Trek-ish than Star Wars. Maybe consider no having a marquee at all, but put up ship status lights that change based on what is happening on the cabinet. In the same fashion that Gorf works with the light-up bezel lights. For instance, if the front-end is up, have a light that says "ships computer activated", or "Navigation: Plot a course"
Then when it comes to naming the cabinet, you can put the name on the side, like what a named ship would have written on the side. Call it something like "Starship Wylie", "Wylie Falcon" "Wyllie Mach 10" "Wylie Defender", etc.

[yotsuya]

I'd love to see someone try their take on this side art:

[yotsuya]

Make sure you talk them into a G-Force One 4K LCD Ultra Hi-Def monitor. You know, for games.

[dkersten]

Maybe do a theme where player 1 and player 2 look like pilot and co-pilot of a starship. Have controls labeled as hyper drive or cloaking shields, etc. Make it fun and techy looking, maybe a little more Star Trek-ish than Star Wars. Maybe consider no having a marquee at all, but put up ship status lights that change based on what is happening on the cabinet. In the same fashion that Gorf works with the light-up bezel lights. For instance, if the front-end is up, have a light that says "ships computer activated", or "Navigation: Plot a course"
Then when it comes to naming the cabinet, you can put the name on the side, like what a named ship would have written on the side. Call it something like "Starship Wylie", "Wylie Falcon" "Wyllie Mach 10" "Wylie Defender", etc.

OOooooh, I LIKE Starship Wylie.. hmm..  And I like the idea of making the control panel look like a spaceship controller..

Loving it, keep it coming guys! (you all rock!)

(I am throwing some art together with an idea to see how it sticks.. will post when it is looking like something)

[yotsuya]

OOooooh, I LIKE Starship Wylie.. hmm..  And I like the idea of making the control panel look like a spaceship controller..

Loving it, keep it coming guys! (you all rock!)

(I am throwing some art together with an idea to see how it sticks.. will post when it is looking like something)

I concur - if you're going to use a name, "Starship Wylie" is the best so far.

[yotsuya]

Do you have a copy of that gif with the characters reversed? 

That's Caparo8bit's. I wish!

[Le Chuck]

Nobody ever completed that Spaceman Spiff theme - I still have the CP for that.  Do a red and chrome cab with a CP like the controls and a bezel with some Waterson space art.  Call it "Another Perfect Landing" and show Calvin crashing.  http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,130488.0.html

You people should pay me for this gold. 

[dkersten]

Make sure you talk them into a G-Force One 4K LCD Ultra Hi-Def monitor. You know, for games.

[dkersten]

Nobody ever completed that Spaceman Spiff theme - I still have the CP for that.  Do a red and chrome cab with a CP like the controls and a bezel with some Waterson space art.  Call it "Another Perfect Landing" and show Calvin crashing.  http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,130488.0.html

You people should pay me for this gold.

Love it!  Wonder if I can talk him into some Calvin and Hobbs....

I like the CP too..

[dkersten]

Hitting a wall, my photoshop skills just aren't translating what I have in my head.. Gonna have to sleep on it. 

Bouncing between doing the whole cab like a spaceship and doing a space theme with some star wars elements thrown in.  Was going to try to do an early 80's space arcade-like theme but the shape of my sides just didn't lend itself to the style.  Plus after my experience with the art for Nostalgia, I wanted to get the focus up to the top part of the cab, not the bottom that will likely end up covered by an end table again.. But that leaves a huge chunk of canvas to cover with background...

Starting to lean toward just mocking up the sides to look like the surface of a space ship and do the CP as a pilots control panel for the "ship".  But this is where my skills at large scale detail start to fall apart.  The CP would be simple enough, but the sides.. uff da.. And then to rough it up a little to give it the look of a well traveled hunk of space junk.. I just don't know if I have it in me.. 

I will bounce it around for a while. 

[Ond]

Can you sketch with a pencil?  If you can draw some  sketches of what you are thinking of, I can help you.

Caveat:  you'll have to post sketches in this thread.

I have it in me.   

[yotsuya]

I Like the side art of Space Zap, if you're going with a "ship" theme:


Reminds me of the detail on an X-Wing

[dkersten]

Thanks Ond, I might take you up on that!

I pretty much have free reign on this, as long as it is cool in the end, lol.

I just met with my friend who this is for, and we went to my parent's house to look at Nostalgia and to try to get more direction.  He is actually perfectly OK with the whole "conflict" part of star wars, so lightsaber fights or space battles are on the table.. What he wants to avoid is the fantasy side of things, like D&D type art. 

His older son has read a bunch of the books, seen the movies, watched the animated stuff, and is really into everything star wars.  His younger son has watched the movies with dad and likes it because of that.  So Star Wars is definitely the theme to go with.

So now I have to make a decision on one of 3 general ideas:
1) Starship Wylie.  Sides done up in some kind of space ship art, the "starship wyle" stenciled on like Vigo suggested.  Control Panel done up like a pilot dashboard.  Maybe even some front art too, to carry the theme around the whole cab.  Probably won't go so far as to light up different parts of the marquee, although I might consider trying to control the marquee lights with the ipac UIO. 

I do like this idea, just not sure I could pull it off to really look great and be distinctively "star wars".  Like I said, I might take up Ond on a little help on the detail work, or anyone else willing to help out. 

2)  Star Wars art, no particularly cohesive design.  Big space battle on one side, Jedi fight on the other (mostly recycle whatever hi-res art I can find on the interweb and shoot for something only unique in the layout).  Safe and relatively easy.

3)  Star Wars: Rebels vs Empire.  Probably overdone but still cool: Rebel theme on one side, Empire on the other.  Thinking the symbols as a centerpiece on each side, some kind of yet undecided style to give it a battleworn machine-like feel, and maybe on that big lower part of the cab maybe a silhouette of a well known character.  Carry it around to the lower front of the cab where a blue and green lightsaber cross...  Control panel and Marquee could also be where the two sides clash.

2&3 I still don't have a good name though.  Might have to settle for the old standby "Wylie's Arcade"..

Soon as I decide on the theme, I will start a project thread with all the build details.

[Generic Eric]

Defender:
Sandwich layers of plexi to do a fading light show with RGB LEDS using LEDBlinky to create a random star field.  Have a scrolling effect for the Defender logo.  Use backlight plexi to highlight the space dude.


So Year of Star Wars? Amirite friends and neighbors? 

The upright INCOM T-65 trainer is on the table for anyone to use.  Basically, the idea I had for this was to create an upright that played Star Wars/Yoke games that looked like it was built by a defense contractor.   It is in the "back of the napkin" stage for me. 

Last night, I saw a post on reddit or imgur about someone that bought :REAL: tank controls to use for a tank simulator game from a military surplus liquidator.  Looked like a military grade Star Wars Yoke.  I mention it now because Star Wars.

[Le Chuck]

Last night, I saw a post on reddit or imgur about someone that bought :REAL: tank controls to use for a tank simulator game from a military surplus liquidator.  Looked like a military grade Star Wars Yoke.  I mention it now because Star Wars.

I was playing with those today at work.  I run a school house that has all the Tank and Stryker Master Gunner instructors for the Army running around it and they have great toys.  The hand grips have toggles called "cadillacs" that are totally awesome.  The whole getup is very much a high tech Atari Yoke - with POTs that weigh like a pound a piece.  I keep on meaning to take some pics - I'll get around to that eventually. 

[Generic Eric]

Last night, I saw a post on reddit or imgur about someone that bought :REAL: tank controls to use for a tank simulator game from a military surplus liquidator.  Looked like a military grade Star Wars Yoke.  I mention it now because Star Wars.

I was playing with those today at work.  I run a school house that has all the Tank and Stryker Master Gunner instructors for the Army running around it and they have great toys.  The hand grips have toggles called "cadillacs" that are totally awesome.  The whole getup is very much a high tech Atari Yoke - with POTs that weigh like a pound a piece.  I keep on meaning to take some pics - I'll get around to that eventually.

:shazzle:  I knew I should have gotten out of bed to bookmark it, but it was around 3am and I wanted to go to sleep.  I looked again tonight, but I couldn't find it.

Friends and neighbors.  I saw it with my own 2 eyes.  The :beefiest: yoke you ever did see.  Alright now! /ozzy

[PL1]

Is this it?



http://imgur.com/a/Rrxlk


Scott
EDIT: Reddit link at http://www.reddit.com/r/DIY/comments/2e2z1z/a_pc_joystick_made_from_army_surplus/

[Generic Eric]

Is this it?



http://imgur.com/a/Rrxlk


Scott

!

Yes!  You get all of the plus ones!  Your super sleuthing is impeccable!

[Xiaou2]

If its going to go Space Ship style... why not go all out and make it a sit-down?   That would be a great thing for a kid... even if your a 41 yr old kid 

 You could add a force feedback motion system, using a hacked controller and some treadmill motors or something like that.

 As minimal,  place some bass shakers in the bottom and backs of the seats - Much better vibration effects than most subwoofers, without the need for very loud volumes.  (they dont move air - just create vibrations)

 Besides the arcade controls..  you might even pop on some falsies, that light up, and tie into some sound effects.

 4k 3d display..  ya know... so its future proof      Doubles as a nice mini cinema.

 Surround sound setup.

 Fully enclosed, with possible removable top.. for ease of disassembly, cleaning, repair, and times when your entertaining more guests.

 Possible multi monitor setup (3)... for racing games like TX-1, and even more modern games that support it.

[dkersten]

He doesn't want a sit down, so that is out. 

Working on vectorizing some raster images I like, but it is slow going, my illustrator drawing skills are worse than my photoshop skills, lol.  But it is good practice I guess, and I can sort of warrant doing this on business hours since I am honing my ability to use software I can use in other areas.. right?

Last night I tried overlaying a pretty high res top view of the Millennium Falcon over a side to start drawing my own version of the side of a star wars ship using it as a template.  The detail was just too much, I could spend 100 hours on a side doing it, and still not have the ability to make it look the way I want.  So that idea is on hold while I explore other ideas..

The ship thing is still an idea, and maybe even going with "Millenium Coyote" as the theme... But not sure if it would be obvious enough or appreciated..

So for now I will explore one of the other options.. I found some decent hi res art last night that would look nice on the sides, and have an idea of how to make that work.. But I also like the idea of more of a vector type side with the rebel alliance logo and the empire logo with the conflict in the middle, so I am going to hit that one first and see what happens..  This is turning into an art thread, but I still need a name and more ideas for the control panel and FE graphics, so for now I figure this is the best place for it. 

Keep in mind, while it is themed on Star Wars, I am not looking to theme it for the Star Wars game, so no yoke.. just simple 2 player controls, trackball, and maybe a spinner if I can find a reasonable place for it.  Reminds me of a different issue I have been kicking around regarding a spinner.. Might need a thread for that one.

Still looking for more feedback and ideas, so feel free to throw whatever comes to mind out there   Hopefully I will have some rough art I can post soon..

[yotsuya]

Xiaou2, while your ideas are , the additional costs incurred would probably be prohibited.

[AzureKnight]

Just to throw another idea on the table, you could go for some kind of droid theme YLE-D4 or somesuch.  Work their name into the droid name.

[dkersten]

That would be cool too.. The whole thing could be a droid and the FE the interface with the droid..

[AzureKnight]

I would envision a flat R2-D2 like pattern for the side art and maybe the blue R2 head for P1 and a red R5-D4 head for P2? 

I will say I like the ships/stars options as well, just brainstorming other ideas.

[dkersten]

First try at a side

Other side will be blue gradient with empire logo, a darth vader silhouette, and a tie fighter.  Front or CP will have the colors coming together with lightsabers crossing.

At either Wylie's Arcade or Wylie Wars, either done like the star wars surround.

CP joystick surrounds will be the logos for each side with colors to match, surround the buttons with the same "lightsaber" effect.  Thinking the same black with chrome stripe t-molding because I think it would fit nice on this, with some blue and red ambient lighting.

Whattya think?

[AzureKnight]

Looks good!

[yotsuya]

Good start. Maybe make the background a gradient instead of solid?

[Vigo]

Maybe angle the rebellion logo at the same tilt as the top of the cab.

[dkersten]

Background is a gradient, and a pretty aggressive one at that, lol.  But with more dark at the bottom in the silhouette, the lighter background looks darker.  I like the effect personally

Here is the empire side.

Was going to do empire in red and rebels in blue, but the rebel symbol is typically red, and I am thinking the contrast with the light sabers is pretty cool. 

[Slippyblade]

Tweak the TIE so it's not coming straight on.  I like how the X-Wing looks dynamic, reflect that in the TIE.  I saw the gradient and was confused by Yot's comment however I wouldn't use 'aggressive' to describe it at all.

[JDFan]

MAybe add a bit of an outer glow around the black images. Similar to this

[Slippyblade]

MAybe add a bit of an outer glow around the black images. Similar to this

Oh, now THAT is sexy.

[dkersten]

The rebel logo is the same color as the bottom of the gradient.. When I look at the difference between it and the background color it is, at least to me, pretty aggressive .. lol. 

I was thinking about angling the tie, might try it to see.. I tried angling the logos to match the top, I will bounce back and forth a bit on them and see which I like better. 

Quick marquee then I am done with art for the weekend (or at least for tonight, lol). 

[dkersten]

OK, quick composite with tweaks.. Gotta run get my car before shop closes, lol