Pole Position driver bartop - Finished!

[jennifer]

-1, design does not contain an exhaust pipe.

  Jennifer gets all confused... Wheres there an exhaust pipe?... +1!

[johnrt]

Nehh... somebody must have smoked his own underwear. 

[Malenko]

Well. Why don't you make it yourself? It's all there out on the internet. I can help you with links to parts and so on.

PM'ed!

-1, design does not contain an exhaust pipe.

Ya know, a tiny bass tube shaped like a tail pipe aint a bad idea!

[ChanceKJ]

That's what I was thinking. On that little surface on the back. Just a small hole with a tailpipe sticking out. Maybe take a torch and age it a bit.

[jennifer]

   WHAT?,  Have I finally gone insane?? Or am I missing something??.... I could maybe get on board with a vent pipe for cooling or something. But even then a screen would be better to keep out mice and such.

[ChanceKJ]

Mice??

[yamatetsu]

Ya know, a tiny bass tube shaped like a tail pipe aint a bad idea!

Ah, c'mon, it's gotta be a double barrel chrome pipe at least 

[jennifer]

   It happens, Those pesky things will get in there and chew wires...And pee, (I think they like the warmth of the electronics) No need to give them an open door.

[johnrt]

If there's gonna be a tail pipe back there it has to come smoke out of it. No way I'm installing fake pipes! 
Maybe I can power this arcade with something like this:

And have a REAL portable racing arcade. No need for electricity.

[Fursphere]

As long as you don't mind your eyes burning from the nitro methane fumes.  Lol

[johnrt]

Does anyone of you guys have the Pole Position 2 bezel artwork? Or somebody knows where to find it?

[Xiaou2]

Your build skills are good.. and I do like bartops.. but I think that the wheel space isnt very good for a 360 degree game.

 Games like supersprint, turbo,  and etc.. requires you to whip the wheel as hard as you can... then let it spin untill the desired angles... then grab the wheel and stop it immediately.    Such a motion on your design,  will end up smashing your hand into the side panel... and possibly get wrenched between that wheel and the cabinet side panel.

 With Pole Positions.wheel... its raised... due to the arms being bent outwards.  Its also got a raised mount, if memory is correct... as well as plenty on spin space.  The wheel outter diameter, is extendedwell past the cabs side panels... and thats the most important.

 I think you should get a 2 or 4way shifter in there.  And an analog pedal set thats either plugged in via a jack... or use of a wireless controller hack.  Certain games play ok in digital mode...but others really require that additional control.

 The pedal set could possibly be integrated into the base. Pull out drawer unit and or a box section that completely disconnects from the rest of the cabinet.

 Id mod the wheel... build or get a better one,  that has a more similar pp or turbo look, and that angled arm setup. Make a raised mount.   Maybe even make it so the control panel hangs over the table edge further too.(depending on if the table is flush faced, orr allows feet to slide under where the cp is aligne.

 An exaust is a cool idea... but probably only if other things are also real...such as real speedometer, tach, oil...etc.
Othwise keep it uniformly 2d, with at most, cab sides that extend in the shape of exhaust pipes, and graphically overlayed.

 Use of under-lit stenciled plexiglass. .. could make some cool effects.

 Vibration shaker motor, as well as bass-shaker transducers would be great.
Optional engine vibration and noises could be added.
A tiny pair of fuzzy dice Hanging under the marquee?
8 ball shifter knob?
Leather covered wheel and cp?
Optional blower fans for speed simulation.. and or air vents for mere hand & body cooling.
Possible optional sound effects.
Headphone jack
Mp3.player mounted inside.the cp... with merged game audio.
Possible surround speakers mounted on telescopic extending pull-out system.
Possible mini sub, and or bass shaker ttansducer..built into the pedal unit.
Replica of outruns sliding wheel shaker mounting plate?
Dual wheel system.. supporting geared pot or optical.. using a d-shaft couple/de-couple slide-lock  assembly..

Finally... a possible stand, extending legs, folding box, or wheeled trunk . Where the main unit is facing  Inwards when closed
Rear tail brake lights?
Spoiler top rear?
Ignition key on/off switch
Mp3 used as the radio... but volume control dial hacked to the speaker amp.
High quality sealed speakers. Ports make awful boomy farty bass.
Tempered Polorized glass in front of the monitor?

[ChanceKJ]

Does anyone of you guys have the Pole Position 2 bezel artwork? Or somebody knows where to find it?

  my GoogleFu must be weak tonight.  I really can't seem to find one at all. Closest I can find are images and I'm afraid it's beyond my ability to recreate that.

[markc74]

This might help 

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B2XxpmZ16vfOX2w3ZWU3T1E4dm8&usp=sharing

[johnrt]

my GoogleFu must be weak tonight.  I really can't seem to find one at all. Closest I can find are images and I'm afraid it's beyond my ability to recreate that.

After some considerations, I think the PP2 bezel is quite ugly, so I'll stick to the PP1 one.

[johnrt]

Ok. Not going to quote or address everything here.

Your build skills are good.. and I do like bartops.. but I think that the wheel space isnt very good for a 360 degree game.

 Games like supersprint, turbo,  and etc.. requires you to whip the wheel as hard as you can... then let it spin untill the desired angles... then grab the wheel and stop it immediately.    Such a motion on your design,  will end up smashing your hand into the side panel... and possibly get wrenched between that wheel and the cabinet side panel.

 With Pole Positions.wheel... its raised... due to the arms being bent outwards.  Its also got a raised mount, if memory is correct... as well as plenty on spin space.  The wheel outter diameter, is extendedwell past the cabs side panels... and thats the most important.

This was also one my first thoughts. But the final plan for this is a PP only cab using the ppclone (http://ppclone.blogspot.no/) if and when it's gonna be finished. In the meantime (or perhaps forever) it will me MAME'd. The final build is about 3 cm wider than the cardboard model, and the CP's placement is a little bit raised so there just 5.5cm of sidepanel at most on each side. And you can not compare this to the fullsize cab. Like my OutRun bartop the driving will be a little "tighter".. if you know what I mean. I have also tested the wheel on the cardboard model using the spinner connected to a laptop, and I felt good about it. So hopefully it'll work OK. Otherwise, there's gasolin and matchsticks available. 

I think you should get a 2 or 4way shifter in there.  And an analog pedal set thats either plugged in via a jack... or use of a wireless controller hack.  Certain games play ok in digital mode...but others really require that additional control.

I agree! And when the ppclone is available I will make one. Until then the diamond shaped button-pattern works fine. And I made it easy to change the CP just for that purpose. And analog pedal... well, I tried it, didn't like it, and for PP the only thing that matters is full throttle anyway! 

And for the other suggestions, well, in that case I need a bigger cab! 

[johnrt]

Now I'm almost finished making all panels I need for this cab. And I also replaced the marquee retainers with another type. I made the back lid, but right now it's too tight so I have to adjust it a little. And I testfitted a monitor inside there. I need a bezel to determine the exact monitor location inside the cab. And I need the mandatory lock on the back lid.

Now to some decisions: Should I add USB-connectors on the back panel? Should I add an addtional on/off switch? What about fans? What computer should I install? What kind of PSU? I need to sort these things out. Since the monitor probably will be mounted quite deep inside the cab, there's not much space left. I will however make room for a MiniATX motherboard if required. So the first priority will be to determine the monitor location, then I'll take it from there.

And nothing is glued yet. I usually don't glue anything until I'm 100% sure how I want it.

[DeLuSioNal29]

JohnRT, The quality of your builds are SICK!     Looking great so far!  I can't wait to see this one finished.  Those marquee brackets look perfect!

Keep up the good work!

DeLuSioNaL29

[ChanceKJ]

Why not just put a Pi in there and put both versions of PP on it? I bet you could skin a basic Pi front end to choose either game. 

[johnrt]

Why not just put a Pi in there and put both versions of PP on it? I bet you could skin a basic Pi front end to choose either game.

Will a Pi run PP ok? (I've never used the Pi before)
Edit2: ok there's only one way to find out. I have buy myself a Pi!

Edit: Making it a PP only bartop would simplify the build A LOT! No need for admin buttons at all!

[ChanceKJ]

I figure why not?

Purist will say that a Pi won't give you that original feel. Pffft, whatever.  The new Pi2 should be more then enough to run a few 1970-80's era games.

Skin the fronted to basically give you a choice between both games. simple. done.


Here, this might help...

[jond]

i just have 2 questions what size monitor are you using and where or what do you use for a wheel and controls? is it just a usb spinner whit a wheel attached?

thanks and very nice job

Jonathan

[johnrt]

i just have 2 questions what size monitor are you using and where or what do you use for a wheel and controls? is it just a usb spinner whit a wheel attached?

A 15" LCD. And the wheel is a SpinTrak spinner from Ultimarc with a 6 inch mini steering wheel:
http://www.ultimarc.com/SpinTrak.html

[yotsuya]

I figure why not?

Purist will say that a Pi won't give you that original feel. Pffft, whatever.  The new Pi2 should be more then enough to run a few 1970-80's era games.

Skin the fronted to basically give you a choice between both games. simple. done.

Why do you hate games, Chance?

Have you played with the RP2 and the front ends? Attached a wheel to one? It's not as simple. done.

[ChanceKJ]

  I'm an equal opportunist hater I guess. 

[ChanceKJ]

I mean really, in comparison how hard can it be?? The way I look at it, that YouTube channel is pretty solid when it comes to easy to follow advice. I'm sure the hardest thing would be getting the spinner going and I'm sure retropi has that covered.

Really,

Like I'm probably just gonna buy a Pi to try it out. It looks easy as dirt.  ...mind you some people find advanced calculus easy.  At any rate, I might use one for that future SMB build I wanna do next. 

Also Microsoft is giving away Windows 10 free with RPi2's when it's released. I'm sure we're gonna see a LOT more builds with them.

[yotsuya]

I'm an equal opportunist hater I guess.

 
 

The problem is that the FEs for the PI aren't as community/modder friendly as, say, MALA or ArcadeFE. Once they get there, they might be a better option. I love the look of EmulationStation, but it's closest to GameEx and is best suited for running a bunch of stuff.

[yotsuya]

I mean really, in comparison how hard can it be?? The way I look at it, that YouTube channel is pretty solid when it comes to easy to follow advice. I'm sure the hardest thing would be getting the spinner going and I'm sure retropi has that covered.

Really,

Like I'm probably just gonna buy a Pi to try it out. It looks easy as dirt.  ...mind you some people find advanced calculus easy.  At any rate, I might use one for that future SMB build I wanna do next. 

Also Microsoft is giving away Windows 10 free with RPi2's when it's released. I'm sure we're gonna see a LOT more builds with them.

Honestly, I think the target for those videos are people who want to slap together something that "PLAYS ViDEO GAMES, MAN!!1!". For the tinkerer, it's not there yet.

I have a Pi2. When I get some time, I might mess with it, but other than running older versions of games faster, there's no reason for me to give up the MiniITX and Atom boards I'm currently using. I just found an old build of MAME called FastMAME on an old hard drive, and I want to see what kind of performance it gets on an Atom board.

[ChanceKJ]

But see that's really it for me, I'm getting sick of that never ending burden of software. I mean, ES isn't a JAMMA board 60-in-1, but it's also NOT Hyperspin, (thank Science)

ES looks nice too, and judging by what I've seen I'm quite impressed.

[yotsuya]

But see that's really it for me, I'm getting sick of that never ending burden of software. I mean, ES isn't a JAMMA board 60-in-1, but it's also NOT Hyperspin, (thank Science)

ES looks nice too, and judging by what I've seen I'm quite impressed.

You can make Hyperspin as loud and as quiet as you want it to be. You don't NEED to use every single theme out there. For me, the wheel art is the main selling point. I've done custom themes that don't use loud music, Flash, or any of that other stuff, but the wheel art still makes it look nice.

And you're right, ES looks very nice. PiPlay looks like ass, so it'll be nice to see if they improve that.

[johnrt]

This afternoon I fell asleep on the couch, so I haven't done much. But I made a hole! Namely the hole for the lock on the back lid. Here's how I did that. (Ok, this is getting too detailed, but what the hell..)

Keep in mind that the hole for the lock is not completely circular, but kind of compressed on the sides. Hence the template.

I always make templates now. And then I try the template on som scrap wood. So first I make a template for the lock on some scrap MDF. Then I inserted the lock and drew the center line as the lock can be a little twisted in the template. Then I fastened this template on the back lid, drilled a hole just big enough for the copy bit, and used the router to copy the hole.

And for the inside I inserted some IKEA... thingy...  (see pictures). The result is a lock that is dead centered on the back lid! :-)

[ChanceKJ]

Oooo, clever use of IKEA spare parts. 

I'm sure we all have a bin of random ikea parts to some extent.

[emphatic]

Looks great!

[johnrt]

T-mold slot cut, back door finished. Well, that's it! 

[johnrt]

I made holes for some USB connectors and an on/off switch today. Additionaly I started gluing this togehter.

[johnrt]

Experimenting with bezel artwork. This turned out quite nice in my eyes. It's a combination of the PP1 upright and the PP2 sitdown bezel artwork.

[cw]

very nice blend

[tomstewdevine]

Really enjoying this build.

[johnrt]

I have made the ventilation grill on the top back panel today. This required making a jig. And I think the result is fantastic. /me like!  Here's pics. The last picture shows a 92mm ultra silent fan I'm gonna use on the back lid.

[johnrt]

I'm gonna try the Intel Nuc for this project. Just ordered one. :-)