First build - Tabletop

[JohanT]

Hi,

A few days ago I had no idea that I deperately needed an arcade game at home, a friend mentioned Mame, I played some old games and I was hooked   
I have a habit of starting up projects that I never get around to finish, but to avoid that this time I will start with the, for me, hard part, the wood work.

Step 1 - Plans
I'm think to start with a pretty simple looking cabinet like this one:


Step 2 - Get material
Need: 16mm MDF and paint/vinyl if I find something cheap that I like.
Need: About 16-18 buttons.
Need: 2 joysticks
Need: 2 speakers

Want: Nice marquee, but I might settle for a sticker

Have: 20" 4:3 monitor or 22" 16:10
Have: T-amp amplifier
Have: Raspberry pi 3b

I've been looking at Ebay and Aliexpress for joystick/button sets, but I have no idea of the quality and would happily have some advice on this.

Step 3 - Build stuff
I doubt it will be as nice looking as alot of the stuff I see here, but I hope it will at least be functional and that my wife does not throw it out day 1.


Tomorrow is MDF shopping day 

Med vänliga hälsningar
JohanT

[BobA]

Nice start.  I have built many similar bartops.  You might want to consider what games you want to play before finalizing on the Joystick Button layout and also the processor.  Best of luck.

[JohanT]

I'm not planning on running anything high end, mostly NES and classic Arcade games.

I think a 6 button setup will cover most of the games I have in mind, is there anything else I should consider regarding the  buttons?

What is that nice metal band that everyone seem to be using on the edge of the side panels?

/Johan

[PL1]

What is that nice metal band that everyone seem to be using on the edge of the side panels?

It's called T-molding.

https://www.t-molding.com/

It comes in a variety of colors and widths.

 


Scott

[JohanT]

Thanks PL1, I will consider using T-molding for my next project

Instead of shopping 16mm MDF today I decided to check my current inventory and found that I had lots of 12mm laying around. I think it will be stable enough but It might not look as good.

I spent most of the day watching junior hockey, but was able to get started on the side panels and so far I'm happy with the progress.
Next step is to decide how wide I want the thing.

I've seen some button layout plans somewhere, but I can't seem to find them again, any advice on this would be great, thanks!

/Johan

[ugleymatt]

http://www.instructables.com/id/2-Player-Bartop-Arcade-Machine-Powered-by-Pi/ this is the source of that plan you first posted, its got a control panel plan too,

[yamatetsu]

I've seen some button layout plans somewhere, but I can't seem to find them again, any advice on this would be great, thanks!

You probably found them on http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/layout.html.

[JohanT]

Thanks, I'm slowly getting better at the terminology, it helps a lot when Googling

/Johan

[JohanT]

Hi,

Do you guys think this could work and look OK?
https://www.amazon.com/3M-CF12-BLACK-CARBON-FIBER/dp/B0058DIDTY

I'm thinking using it for the center pieces and black side panels, but I don't know if it will even stick on mdf.

/Johan

[firedance]

Used similar vinyl on my projects, stuck no problem to the bare MDF

UK - http://www.wilko.com/sticky-back-plastic/d-c-fix-original-glossy-deco-self-adhesive-film-white-346-8075/invt/0309609

[JohanT]

Ok Firedance, I will try it out the, thanks.

[JohanT]

Good evening,

Made some progress tonight, I've cut all the pieces except the frame for the monitor. Put it all together to see if it fit and I'm really happy with the result!
I noticed that I will need some extra reinforcement since I went with 12mm MDF instead of 16 or 19, but all in all it feels very robust and stable.

I think I'm far enough in the process now to actually order buttons and joysticks

/Johan




 

[JohanT]

Hi all,

I've made some progress over the weekend, but I will have to wait for the controls from Ultracabs to arrive before I can continue. Also waiting for the carbon style vinyl I ordered.

This did not stop me from giving it a test run though

Does anyone have any suggestions for the edges, I do not think I can use t-molding on 12mm MDF, right?

/Johan

[firedance]

12mm chrome car body trim, used some on my second bartop

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Durable-8m-Silver-Car-Chrome-Styling-Decoration-Moulding-Trim-Strip-Tape-12mm-/201441733828?hash=item2ee6dcecc4:g:uPoAAOSw4HVWD3-F

i had to use some contact adhesive as the supplied foam backed stuff wasn't strong enough for the tight curves.

[JohanT]

Thanks firedance, I've ordered the same now, should arrive next week.

I got my controls yesterday and decided to hook them up for a test, 1 player games work great, but I can't get player 2 to work.

I've got a Xin Mo controller from Ultracabs and I have found that I'm not the only one that have problems with this.

Following this guide makes no difference at all
I'm running Retropie 4.1 and the guide is for 3.X, maybe that is the problem, but whatever I do I cant get the controls to register as 2 gamepads.

Any ideas on how to solve this would be greatly appreciated.

/Johan

[JohanT]

Hi,

I managed to get the controllers working for 2 players by starting over from scratch with Retropie, no idea what I did differently, but I'm ok not knowing as long as it is working
The only controller related issue that remains is that P1 and P2 need to swap places, is there an easy way to do that without physically rewire the controls?

Currently waiting for my vinyl to arrive to complete the build.

Mvh
Johan

[equlizer]

I had the xin mo 2 player before with same issues and just gave up and got a KADE instead.  How did you manage to get it working?

[mafiafan123]

1) Add the following line to the end of the line in the Command Line .txt file in the boot folder:
usbhid.quirks=0x16c0:0x05e1:0x040
This basically allows the Pi to see the xin mo as 2 seperate controllers instead of 1.

2) Reboot the Pi and then set up PLAYER 1 ONLY in the normal emulation station controller config.
For some reason if you set up P2 as well it goes wrong and it does not control the navigation properly.

3) If you are useing Liberto emulators (the only ones I have used so cant comment on others) You can set up core and game config files.
To do this load up a game and hold down Select and Press X (default) this will open up the Retroarch RGUI.
You can go into the controls menu and change the keys to whatever you want.
If you then go save core remap it will save those buttons for every game in that emu.
If you want to save them on a game by game basis click save game remap.

The game remap will overide the core remap if you have one saved.

Other than that its just allot of experimenting etc.

Titchgamer posted on his Bartop


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