Super Mario Strikers - Arcade Edition

[8BitMonk]

No turning back now, sent the art off yesterday for printing!  Thanks to all for feedback along the way. 

Below is the final mock-up I applied just to make sure everything lined up.



Only minor change made after this was the wording for P1 and P2 to 'menu' instead of 'start' as they're not always start buttons. They're actually my 'shift' functions but that seemed confusing so I went with 'menu' which is what they'll be used for most.

[Vidiot]

Awesome! I like how it looks like Kong is holding one of the joysticks.

[vwalbridge]

I also like that you spent as much time as it took to get it right. 

[8BitMonk]

Finishing up the custom balltops. I wanted to test the epoxy coating on one of the foosballs before plopping it on my painted ones.

Probably tough to make out in the photo but I applied 1 coat to the test ball here.



There's a little yellowish color cast to it but it's not bad, the box says 'crystal clear' and you can't really notice once applied. I was a little worried it'd be sticky or feel wierd but after a day of drying it was fine, instructions say 72 hours for full cure. I'll do 2 coats on the finals.

The action shot, epoxy being applied to final balltops. 



You can see I built little tents out of painters tape at the base. I learned from the test balltop the epoxy can be a ---smurfette--- to remove if you let it pool at the bottom, even with tape around it.

No epoxy



First coat



I put a small box and a small stack of paper plates with holes cut in them for the shafts to do the poor. The box holds them in place and the paper plates are good to catch the excess you inevitably have.

[8BitMonk]

Awesome! I like how it looks like Kong is holding one of the joysticks.

Yeah I like that too. Not totally planned from the beginning, was a happy mistake while positioning the art but it's a nice little touch.

I also like that you spent as much time as it took to get it right. 

Measure twice, cut once... and then realize no matter how careful you are something will get botched along the way and roll with it. 

[megrog2]

Are you intending to relocate the volume pot from the Lepai to a more accessible area?

[8BitMonk]

I debated this early on in the build but decided against it. Instead I use a wireless keyboard to navigate around the system outside of the Hyperspin FE and control the volume.

I had thoughts of foregoing a keyboard entirely, there is an app named Controller Companion that works relatively well for typing and navigating with a controller (or joystick) but nothing is as efficient as a good old keyboard. 

At some point I asked myself why I'm trying so hard to NOT use a keyboard when it's the best tool for the job. I just made sure to pick one that is wireless, has a small/light footprint, has separate volume controls and has a trackpad built in so I don't have to worry about a separate mouse. I just set it on top of the cab when not needed, it's pretty unobtrusive.

Logitech's have a unifying receiver so it can potentially be used in multiple locations or builds. The K830 I chose also has backlit keys which I like but it's a little more expensive.The cheaper K400 works fine as well but it's grayish, isn't quite as nice looking and doesn't have the backlit keys.

Logitech K830 


Logitech K400

[8BitMonk]

Custom balltops complete, pleased with how they turned out.

Original untreated foosball



Finals painted white with shading added and 2 coats of clear epoxy.

[vwalbridge]

Very nice!

Is the epoxy thick enough to hide the texture of foosball? Does the ball top feel like one continuous surface?

[8BitMonk]

Very nice!

Is the epoxy thick enough to hide the texture of foosball? Does the ball top feel like one continuous surface?

Not quite, there's still a very slight texture to it where the ridges are. I think one or two more coats of epoxy would've smoothed it out completely but I liked the contour.   

[8BitMonk]

The eagle has landed, artwork arrived and looking good. One last look at the bare metal before applying.

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CP overlay applied.



Close up of buttons. Sadly I mis-aligned the P1 and P2 menu box slightly right.  Oh well, it'll annoy me but not worth redoing.



Installing side art.



Cutout and adding t-molding.



All art and t-molding applied.





 

[vwalbridge]

  Well done. I like the matte finish on all the artwork. Turned out really good. It was fun to watch you experiment with all the different artwork layouts. 

So are you calling this one finished?

[8BitMonk]

Well done. I like the matte finish on all the artwork. Turned out really good. It was fun to watch you experiment with all the different artwork layouts. 

Thanks for the kudos and art feedback along the way. 

So are you calling this one finished?

I'd say 95%. I still need to add a power button for the marquee and I'd like to do a custom serial plate.

[reptileink]

Looking really great man! The artwork turned out awesome! Can't wait to see it in action!

[Vidiot]

Wow! You've gotta be happy with that turnout man! Looks fantastic. 

[8BitMonk]

Looking really great man! The artwork turned out awesome! Can't wait to see it in action!

Wow! You've gotta be happy with that turnout man! Looks fantastic. 

Thanks! I'm very happy with the end result, it's nice to see it all come together. I'll do a quick video once I finish up.

[kiel0909]

looks great, if you're ever in CA, i'd love to play strikers with you!  Its my favorite console game, i teach high school and the matches we play at lunch get pretty intense.   Peach and Toads FTW!

[thatpurplestuff]

Great cab, and those are the coolest balltops I've ever seen.  Amazing stuff!

[8BitMonk]

looks great, if you're ever in CA, i'd love to play strikers with you!  Its my favorite console game, i teach high school and the matches we play at lunch get pretty intense.   Peach and Toads FTW!

Another SMS fan! I've got decent skills but still haven't been able to win a single cup on Legendary. If you haven't tried it in Dolphin with the resolution cranked up you should give it a go, it looks fantastic. You'll never go back to playing on a Gamecube/Wii on a TV again.

Great cab, and those are the coolest balltops I've ever seen.  Amazing stuff!

Hey thanks! First time I've done custom balltops and I wasn't sure how well the painting and epoxy would go but really liked how they turned out, nice little finishing touch.

[vwalbridge]

If you haven't tried it in Dolphin with the resolution cranked up you should give it a go, it looks fantastic. You'll never go back to playing on a Gamecube/Wii on a TV again.

Man, this build really makes me want to play this game. I've never been much of a soccer game guy but this game looks like Nintendo made it fun.

On a related note, I was disappointed that when the Wii U came out, it didn't just automatically upscale gamecube/wii games. I'm obviously taking for granted the technical details required to do that but with all the old games getting HD remakes, it sure would have made sense.

[8BitMonk]

Man, this build really makes me want to play this game. I've never been much of a soccer game guy but this game looks like Nintendo made it fun.

You definitely don't have to be a soccer fan at all to enjoy this game, it's very arcady and actually more akin to hocky than soccer and has the traditional Nintendo power ups. It's very accessible, simple to pick up and play at a basic level but then there's also a meta game once you master the basics. Single player is ok but multiplayer is really where shines.

On a related note, I was disappointed that when the Wii U came out, it didn't just automatically upscale gamecube/wii games. I'm obviously taking for granted the technical details required to do that but with all the old games getting HD remakes, it sure would have made sense.

Yeah I'm not sure how that all works. When I started this project I considered just running it off an old Wii I had but I could never get it to look anywhere near as good as emulation with the resolution up'd, the difference is night and day. This was the only Mario Gamecube game to support 16:9 and 480p which maybe explains what the emulation is leveraging that the console wasn't.

[emphatic]

Looks very striking. 

[8BitMonk]

Looks very striking. 

I see what you did there, clever.   Thanks man!

[george b]

damn nice!  i have a newer style apple 23" cinema ( the aluminum one ) sitting in a closet.   how is the lag on yours??  googling around, they seem to have no lag?? 
kudos to the excellent artwork!

[8BitMonk]

damn nice!  i have a newer style apple 23" cinema ( the aluminum one ) sitting in a closet.   how is the lag on yours??  googling around, they seem to have no lag?? 
kudos to the excellent artwork!

Thanks! No lag that I've noticed on anything I've played so far, decent viewing angles too 170/170.

[tigernut]

Really like the craftsmanship and artwork here. Great job.

[Le Chuck]

I'm in love. 

[jdbailey1206]

 

Is that filled in with a pen?  I know someone who would appreciate that. 

[8BitMonk]

Thanks for the compliments!

Is that filled in with a pen?  I know someone who would appreciate that. 

I did a wash of diluted black acrylic paint over it several times and then painted back the white on the raised areas. That way you get a more muted line in the crevices, not solid black.