Simpsons Pedestal

[GrandpaBob]

Long time stalker, first time poster, blah blah blah... 

Finally got spousal approval to move forward with the building of a MAME cabinet.  The wife is hip to the pedestal design so I can roll it out of the way when not in use.  I have a 50" plasma wall-mounted in the family room that I'll be using as the monitor for this.

I've worked up the pedestal design in sketchup based on the funglo pedestal.  It has a nice 2x4 internal base that will have 6 casters for easy rollability.

I've been working on a Simpsons theme for the pedestal, since it will be a 4 player control panel.  The goal is to use characters from Springfield Punx based on 4 player arcade games (X-Men, TMNT) as the side art.  I was attempting to make the Control Panel look like the clouds from the Simpsons opening theme and I think I did an alright job.





Comments? Critiques?

Thanks
GrandpaBob

[Slippyblade]

Looks good to me.  I love the aircraft carrier design and I really like your footrest base.  Good luck!

[lamprey]

Surround the trackball with a doughnut!

[Slippyblade]

Surround the trackball with a doughnut!

Yes!  This!

[GrandpaBob]

Something like this?


Thanks for the suggestions!

GrandapaBob

[Slippyblade]

Mmmmmm, donut...

Yeah - that'll work.

[Malenko]

I know Im an old fuddy duddy, but what the fascination with that CP shape lately?  Are rectangles just way too easy to cut, and people want a challenge?

[yotsuya]

I know Im an old fuddy duddy, but what the fascination with that CP shape lately?  Are rectangles just way too easy to cut, and people want a challenge?

I'd actually like to see a photo of 4 people on one (I've never seen one). Do the outer people stand in a little closer to the joysticks, hence the shape? 

[pbj]

The shape is to better accommodate fat people.

[GrandpaBob]

Truthfully, I just think it looks nicer than a giant rectangular slab...

The other reason I like this CP shape is I can put pinball control buttons on the sides of the front portion of the control panel.  The wife loves pinball games and this would be a good gateway for the "I really should build you a virtual pinball cabinet" conversation that will inevitably come up. 

I plan on making a full sized mock-up before I cut the control panel just to see how well folks fit around it.  Especially with the pedestal base "wings", I'm concerned about foot space for player 3/4.

GrandpaBob

[Malenko]

I only asked because the "footers" look like they'd be in the way of the outside players. My CPs a "giant rectangular slab" cause thats the best CP shape for a faux hockey rink   

[yotsuya]

The other reason I like this CP shape is I can put pinball control buttons on the sides of the front portion of the control panel.  The wife loves pinball games and this would be a good gateway for the "I really should build you a virtual pinball cabinet" conversation that will inevitably come up. 

Well, see, THAT makes sense... 

[PL1]

The other reason I like this CP shape is I can put pinball control buttons on the sides of the front portion of the control panel.  The wife loves pinball games and this would be a good gateway for the "I really should build you a virtual pinball cabinet" conversation that will inevitably come up. 

Just in case you haven't seen the MAME overlap/"backward wiring"/MagnaSave+Upper Flipper diagram, here it is.



Also consider using Goldleaf or GGG Class-X with True-Leaf Pro buttons for the flippers instead of microswitch buttons.   


Scott

[FuzzyMonkey]

Awesome design Grandpabob.  Did you ever finish the build?

[chito]

Looks great GrandpaBob

Ive got a question about the joysticks orientation... Why arent they orientated parallel to the player, instead of parallel to the front and back?
any chance of releasing your sketchup model?

[PL1]

Ive got a question about the joysticks orientation... Why arent they orientated parallel to the player, instead of parallel to the front and back?

From the FAQ:
(wiki is still down, but here's a link to a copy on the Internet Wayback Machine)

Orientation
It is important to note that joysticks should always be mounted parallel to the screen since it is intuitive for a player to move the joystick in relation to the action on the screen. This might seem not obvious in 4-player designs, but experience has proved that this holds true even if the player is standing diagonal towards the screen. Therefore it is advised not to angle joysticks for players 3 and 4. P3, P1, and P2 joysticks are shown parallel, while P4 joystick is shown angled.

Scott