Author Topic: My first arcade build in over 13 years.. this one's for the boy. (Read 63330 times)

Phreakwars · « **on:** July 18, 2015, 09:02:04 pm »

So, I guess the story of this new build goes back about 14 years, and it revolves around my 16 year old son.

It started back when Shawn was 2. At an early age, we notice odd behavior things about him that just didn't seem right. So we took him to some Dr's and specialists and what have you, and they had diagnosed Shawn with Autism. Specifically, HYPERLEXIA.

Around that time, I had picked up an old broken down Player's Choice 10 arcade game from a church for $50. I knew then what I wanted to do with it... I wanted a MAME cabinet.

So I gutted it out, had a guy make me a new wooden control panel for it, bought a then barely heard of and obscure up and coming interface called the iPac. Along with some of the old buttons from the PC10 cabinet and some new ones from a supplier, I had me an awesome working machine that I'd play MAME on all the time.

My son Shawn LOVED watching me play. And by the time Shawn turned 4, I had taught him how to use that joystick for Pacman. I'd prop him up on that barstool chair and he would play and play and play.

It was calming for him in the world of mystery and uncertainty a child with Autism lives in. Once, when we went on vacation to Indiana, we had problems with Shawn... The trip was a huge change for him. He couldn't keep settled, he would constantly cry... It was almost hopeless.. I thought we were going to have to cut our vacation short because he couldn't handle it... But then I got an idea... I asked around town (Lafayette), if someone knew where they had arcade games at, maybe a pacman machine or something.. Found out there was this bar in town that had a Ms. Pacman machine, so I carried my pal over there, found the machine, sat him down... and boy was he in heaven... Later on that night when I was in Indianapolis, I bought Shawn a GameBoy Color and a pacman game. That did the trick. Kept him content for the rest of the 4th of July trip.

So for many years, Shawn has played Pacman genre games. He's gotten better and better as time has went on. His favorite of all time, is Super Pacman.. Believe me when I say he has broken OVER 1,500,000 on that game. Currently, on twin galaxies database, the high score is 1,570,010... but they haven't seen the likes of Shawn. He has MAME installed on his computer, but I haven't been able thus far into coaxing him to let me record his gameplay for twin galaxies using the INP method they require. He let me record him for YouTube about 6 years ago, but he likes to isolate himself when he plays now. He doesn't like people watching him play.

Here is a video of Shawn playing Superpacman back when he was 10:

And here's another one of him at 10 playing Ms. Pacman. I asked him to NOT go for ghost points, to just go for screens and see how far he could get:

And here is Shawn at age 10, playing Pacman (with speedup hack):

When Shawn turned 14, he started working with me at my part time weekend job at Pizza Ranch. He is a table busser. So for almost 2 years now, he has saved up almost every dollar he has made, which is a feat in itself considering he works for minimum wage and only about 8 hours total each week... sometimes just 4 hours if I'm on overtime at my regular job at Polaris.

Shawn had decided right after starting working, that he wanted to use his money to buy an arcade game.

My old Player's Choice 10 MAME cabinet was sold about 8 years ago after I purchased a new home. Mainly because I had nowhere to really put it, and since then, Shawn has wanted one of his own.

We decided that the next time we have an arcade in the house, it was going to be a cocktail cabinet. And at first, we were looking at buying a preassembled machine that had roms with it... You know, one of those 60 in one or 1000 in one type games you could buy..

But after doing some research and price crunching. That type of arcade was scratched off the list... The interface on these things suck big time, and for the most part... for $1,500+ with shipping.. you are getting CRAP.

So it was settled... for all that money Shawn saved up... he was gonna get a NICE arcade the way HE wants it. And that's what I will be shooting for here.

I just ordered all the parts this last week, hopefully I remembered to cross all the T's and dot all the I"s for everything I'm gonna need to make this thing work.

I'll post pictures and a parts list breakdown later on and as the parts arrive and it progresses.

The Cabinet itself, was purchased from recroommasters.com, it's this one: http://www.recroommasters.com/Xtension_Classic_Arcade_Cocktail_Machine_p/rm-xt-classic-pro.htm

I'm using an ASUS motherboard which supports changing the BIOS boot logo and also utilizing other hacks and utilities and guides to completely hide the OS.

Here is a preliminary video of the OS boot screen:

And here, is an image of the customized underlay design that Shawn decided on for the cocktail cabinet...

Slippyblade · « **Reply #1 on:** July 18, 2015, 09:31:44 pm »

That's a lot of Pac!

yotsuya · « **Reply #2 on:** July 18, 2015, 09:58:46 pm »

Good for you two! Good luck on the project!

Phreakwars · « **Reply #3 on:** July 19, 2015, 12:25:29 am »

brihyn · « **Reply #4 on:** July 19, 2015, 12:30:48 am »

Curious... Are you by chance located in vermillion SD? The mention of both Pizza Ranch and Polaris made me curious

Phreakwars · « **Reply #5 on:** July 19, 2015, 12:39:23 am »

Quote from: brihyn on July 19, 2015, 12:30:48 am

Curious... Are you by chance located in vermillion SD? The mention of both Pizza Ranch and Polaris made me curious

Spencer Iowa. However, I work in Spirit Lake. We manufacture Indian & Victory Motorcycles, as well as the Polaris Slingshot. Fantastic company to work for.

EMDB · « **Reply #6 on:** July 19, 2015, 04:27:09 pm »

Quote from: Phreakwars on July 19, 2015, 12:25:29 am

OK, here's a breakdown of most all of the parts minus a few wires, crimp ends, and power strips from the hardware store that I need to go pick up still..

Cabinet:
http://www.recroommasters.com/Xtension_Classic_Arcade_Cocktail_Machine_p/rm-xt-classic-pro.htm
...
.

I would not really call this an arcade build but enjoy it with your son anyway

Slippyblade · « **Reply #7 on:** July 19, 2015, 04:40:18 pm »

How is it not a build? He's using a pre-cut carcass, no different than the dozens of refurbs or conversions on this board. He's designing artwork, doing the PC legwork, installing buttons, joysticks, and encoders. Just cause he didn't run a saw through the wood doesn't mean it's not a build.

yotsuya · « **Reply #8 on:** July 19, 2015, 05:05:37 pm »

Quote from: Slippyblade on July 19, 2015, 04:40:18 pm

How is it not a build? He's using a pre-cut carcass, no different than the dozens of refurbs or conversions on this board. He's designing artwork, doing the PC legwork, installing buttons, joysticks, and encoders. Just cause he didn't run a saw through the wood doesn't mean it's not a build.

Amen. I find this more meaningful than the rash of "I was browsing Reddit and I was greatly inspired and decided I needed to build my own!!!!!1!!!" projects that seem to have popped up.

Phreakwars · « **Reply #9 on:** July 19, 2015, 07:30:00 pm »

Quote from: EMDB on July 19, 2015, 04:27:09 pm

Quote from: Phreakwars on July 19, 2015, 12:25:29 am
OK, here's a breakdown of most all of the parts minus a few wires, crimp ends, and power strips from the hardware store that I need to go pick up still..

Cabinet:
http://www.recroommasters.com/Xtension_Classic_Arcade_Cocktail_Machine_p/rm-xt-classic-pro.htm
...
.
I would not really call this an arcade build but enjoy it with your son anyway

I would have loved to have done my own woodwork, but unfortunately for me.. I got a C- in shop class. Working with wood was never one of my strongest points. Now electrical though.. I'm a wiz.. Computers.. hey I have a BA in Information Technology.

My very first project in wood working class in high school, we were told to make clip boards... yeah... even I admit mine sucked.

I had thought of doing a rebuild from an older cocktail cabinet, but the thing about doing one of those, is you are really kind of robbing that classic shell of it's original intent when you swap out it's internal guts for a M.A.M.E. project with multiple games. I actually felt kind of bad when I first did a cabinet using a Player's Choice 10. Looking back over the years. If I had to do it all over again, I would have replaced the caps on those monitors instead of busting them up, and I would have replaced the PCB and hunted down other ROM chips to have added to it and restored it. IMHO, it was kind of a damn shame to turn it into a MAME cabinet. Especially on a game that had a very rare dual screen configuration.

And yeah, maybe I can agree with you just a bit, that it's "not really" an arcade build, but what it will be, is something my son has dreamed of for years, and that's what is most important to me.
.
.

Slippyblade · « **Reply #10 on:** July 19, 2015, 07:31:36 pm »

Quote from: Phreakwars on July 19, 2015, 07:30:00 pm

...but what it will be, is something my son has dreamed of for years, and that's what is most important to me.

As a father myself, that's all that matters.

yotsuya · « **Reply #11 on:** July 19, 2015, 07:32:22 pm »

Dude, it's a build. You keep on posting it and let others worry about semantics.

vwalbridge · « **Reply #12 on:** July 20, 2015, 12:34:56 am »

Quote from: yotsuya on July 19, 2015, 07:32:22 pm

Dude, it's a build. You keep on posting it and let others worry about semantics.

Well said yotsuya. It doesn't matter if you didn't cut every board, solder every wire, or print every graphic. A build is a build. And it's YOUR build.

And a special note to Phreakwars:

I also have an autistic son. He is 4 years old and an awesome little dude. I know that feeling when you find something that connects with your child. So it's really great you are doing this for him. He is gonna love it and you'll make some great memories along the way.

wp34 · « **Reply #13 on:** July 20, 2015, 12:23:34 pm »

Welcome from another Iowan!

This is such a nice story about your son and his love of arcade games. This is also a cool project you two can work on together. Good luck with your build.

yotsuya · « **Reply #14 on:** July 20, 2015, 12:58:08 pm »

Quote from: vwalbridge on July 20, 2015, 12:34:56 am

Quote from: yotsuya on July 19, 2015, 07:32:22 pm
Dude, it's a build. You keep on posting it and let others worry about semantics.

Well said yotsuya. It doesn't matter if you didn't cut every board, solder every wire, or print every graphic. A build is a build. And it's YOUR build.

And a special note to Phreakwars:

I also have an autistic son. He is 4 years old and an awesome little dude. I know that feeling when you find something that connects with your child. So it's really great you are doing this for him. He is gonna love it and you'll make some great memories along the way.

You need to come out to ZapCon next year, bro. You and WP34.

wp34 · « **Reply #15 on:** July 20, 2015, 02:09:14 pm »

I'm kicking the tires on that one.

Quote from: yotsuya on July 20, 2015, 12:58:08 pm

Quote from: vwalbridge on July 20, 2015, 12:34:56 am
Quote from: yotsuya on July 19, 2015, 07:32:22 pm
Dude, it's a build. You keep on posting it and let others worry about semantics.

Well said yotsuya. It doesn't matter if you didn't cut every board, solder every wire, or print every graphic. A build is a build. And it's YOUR build.

And a special note to Phreakwars:

I also have an autistic son. He is 4 years old and an awesome little dude. I know that feeling when you find something that connects with your child. So it's really great you are doing this for him. He is gonna love it and you'll make some great memories along the way.
You need to come out to ZapCon next year, bro. You and WP34.

yotsuya · « **Reply #16 on:** July 20, 2015, 02:12:28 pm »

Quote from: wp34 on July 20, 2015, 02:09:14 pm

I'm kicking the tires on that one.

Quote from: yotsuya on July 20, 2015, 12:58:08 pm
Quote from: vwalbridge on July 20, 2015, 12:34:56 am
Quote from: yotsuya on July 19, 2015, 07:32:22 pm
Dude, it's a build. You keep on posting it and let others worry about semantics.

Well said yotsuya. It doesn't matter if you didn't cut every board, solder every wire, or print every graphic. A build is a build. And it's YOUR build.

And a special note to Phreakwars:

I also have an autistic son. He is 4 years old and an awesome little dude. I know that feeling when you find something that connects with your child. So it's really great you are doing this for him. He is gonna love it and you'll make some great memories along the way.
You need to come out to ZapCon next year, bro. You and WP34.

You come, I'll buy your pass. You can sleep on HaRuMaN ' s couch, or spoon with LeChuck in his hotel room.

vwalbridge · « **Reply #17 on:** July 20, 2015, 02:48:49 pm »

Quote

You need to come out to ZapCon next year, bro. You and WP34.

I signed up for the ZapCon newsletter and it looks like a pretty rad time. I'm keeping it on the calendar and totally need to go. Short flight from Denver.

yotsuya · « **Reply #18 on:** July 20, 2015, 02:59:06 pm »

Quote from: vwalbridge on July 20, 2015, 02:48:49 pm

Quote
You need to come out to ZapCon next year, bro. You and WP34.

I signed up for the ZapCon newsletter and it looks like a pretty rad time. I'm keeping it on the calendar and totally need to go. Short flight from Denver.

I'll have Nephasth pick you up on his way through from Wyoming.

Phreakwars · « **Reply #19 on:** July 21, 2015, 01:54:03 am »

That would be fun to go to, but I'm always way too busy for trips like that anymore. But I am planning a trip up to the Mall of America with the family so we can do some shopping. I'm gonna let my boy check out the Namco Arcade & Midway.. he'll love that. I just wish we could have been there when they had the Pac-Man 30th anniversary event a couple years back.

Phreakwars · « **Reply #20 on:** July 24, 2015, 03:29:39 am »

OK, so here's the first video for the project.

Just finished building the computer last night, then off to work, and back at it again. The joystick and buttons arrived, just waiting on recroommasters to deliver the cabinet.

In this video, I show what I have done thus far with the PC

Phreakwars · « **Reply #21 on:** July 24, 2015, 04:30:05 am »

Here's a short clip of the LED joystick connected to a 12v power source, no need for LEDBlinky or a PacLED64 controller with this little guy:

hdtv00 · « **Reply #22 on:** July 24, 2015, 04:34:30 am »

Yea I'm a member here too. Not sure about those generic joysticks cool as led is proper old arcade sticks or something I'd think would be better. One thing that bugs me about my Qanba Q4 is the newer arcade style buttons. I miss our old school concave buttons man. Kills me. But I am happy I found a solution that didn't end up costing me $400+ just to play Super Pacman. Cool project you got going.

mgb · « **Reply #23 on:** July 24, 2015, 11:55:23 am »

First off, this is totally a build. No question about it.
I like that the video games can be helpful to your son and give him some level of comfort.
I hoped he's enjoying this project and I hope it brings him much enjoyment.

DaOld Man · « **Reply #24 on:** July 24, 2015, 12:35:29 pm »

Cool project! Will be following this build.
Your son is a natural on pacman. Has he tried Mappy yet?

Phreakwars · « **Reply #25 on:** July 24, 2015, 01:12:07 pm »

Quote from: DaOld Man on July 24, 2015, 12:35:29 pm

Cool project! Will be following this build.
Your son is a natural on pacman. Has he tried Mappy yet?

Yeah, he's played it. He's familiar with alot of the popular games we all played back in the early 80's. I did a custom Hyperspin a couple years back that I put on his laptop with I think 44 or so roms. He's familiar with all of these games and a few others that he's played using MameUI

Phreakwars · « **Reply #26 on:** July 24, 2015, 01:51:20 pm »

Quote from: hdtv00 on July 24, 2015, 04:34:30 am

Yea I'm a member here too. Not sure about those generic joysticks cool as led is proper old arcade sticks or something I'd think would be better. One thing that bugs me about my Qanba Q4 is the newer arcade style buttons. I miss our old school concave buttons man. Kills me. But I am happy I found a solution that didn't end up costing me $400+ just to play Super Pacman. Cool project you got going.

Like I mentioned on YouTube. I'd like to put a couple of Servo Sticks in it (with RGB stick). But those aren't really in his budget at the moment, neither are concave LED buttons. It took him 2 years to save up enough to get done what I'm doing now. And if he's happy with it, I'm happy with it.

Malenko · « **Reply #27 on:** July 24, 2015, 01:57:38 pm »

great idea and great build. 1 favor to ask though, can you post up pix? Videos are awesome unless youre at work on on your phone (or on your phone at work :p )

Phreakwars · « **Reply #28 on:** July 25, 2015, 02:06:56 am »

Oh absolutely, and I apologize if thus far I have been video heavy. What you will be seeing coming up is a combo of videos and pictures. It would be kind of silly of me if I just post video after video of the whole process. I'll try to find a medium where video is needed over photos. I believe the coming photos will depict what I want to convey without having to give a moving chronological. Keep in mind I have shared the link to this topic to friends on Facebook, many of which are viewing this on their PC, some will be viewing it on their cell phones. My son and daughter have also shared this topic to their friends, so it will be a cornucopia of viewers with different configurations. I'll try not to saturate this topic with too many videos moving forward.

My son has been super excited the last few days as he sees me progressing further and further on his dream cabinet. He's come to the realization that all his work and effort from his job has reached the point where it has went from the saving phase, to the building phase. He is aware of what has been done so far and frequently keeps asking me when I think things will be done. recroommasters.com has given me a date of July 27th for shipment of the cabinet. I am anticipating arrival around July 30th or so, and depending on my work schedule, I'll put things together I'm guessing August 1st or 2nd. This gives me the entire week to configure the PC for the project when not sidelined by my work duties.

Anybody who has done a dedicated MAME cabinet knows, in reality, it is a real pain in the ass, but worth the effort. I wanna try and be helpful to anybody who wants to attempt this themselves. I'm by no means an expert on building arcade cabinets, but I am confident enough in my own abilities that I feel my input on the process will be quite helpful even though it has been many years since I have taken on such a project.

I have several Facebook friends who have asked about doing this themselves, or have asked about having me build one for their "MANCAVE", and I want to show them the possibilities available to them and cost associated with it.

For sure, the cost to do this could be lower or higher, depending on your expectations. I think my son's build will show what can be done for around $1200..... even cheaper if you can do your own wood work.

yotsuya · « **Reply #29 on:** July 25, 2015, 01:32:38 pm »

Quote from: Phreakwars on July 25, 2015, 02:06:56 am

Oh absolutely, and I apologize if thus far I have been video heavy. What you will be seeing coming up is a combo of videos and pictures. It would be kind of silly of me if I just post video after video of the whole process. I'll try to find a medium where video is needed over photos. I believe the coming photos will depict what I want to convey without having to give a moving chronological. Keep in mind I have shared the link to this topic to friends on Facebook, many of which are viewing this on their PC, some will be viewing it on their cell phones. My son and daughter have also shared this topic to their friends, so it will be a cornucopia of viewers with different configurations. I'll try not to saturate this topic with too many videos moving forward.

My son has been super excited the last few days as he sees me progressing further and further on his dream cabinet. He's come to the realization that all his work and effort from his job has reached the point where it has went from the saving phase, to the building phase. He is aware of what has been done so far and frequently keeps asking me when I think things will be done. recroommasters.com has given me a date of July 27th for shipment of the cabinet. I am anticipating arrival around July 30th or so, and depending on my work schedule, I'll put things together I'm guessing August 1st or 2nd. This gives me the entire week to configure the PC for the project when not sidelined by my work duties.

Anybody who has done a dedicated MAME cabinet knows, in reality, it is a real pain in the ass, but worth the effort. I wanna try and be helpful to anybody who wants to attempt this themselves. I'm by no means an expert on building arcade cabinets, but I am confident enough in my own abilities that I feel my input on the process will be quite helpful even though it has been many years since I have taken on such a project.

I have several Facebook friends who have asked about doing this themselves, or have asked about having me build one for their "MANCAVE", and I want to show them the possibilities available to them and cost associated with it.

For sure, the cost to do this could be lower or higher, depending on your expectations. I think my son's build will show what can be done for around $1200..... even cheaper if you can do your own wood work.

If they ask for one for the "mancave", charge them $4500, or calmly tell them to "GTFO".

spocktwin · « **Reply #30 on:** July 25, 2015, 04:30:01 pm »

Just saw this thread.....Wow everyone give props to this gentleman!!!!! He is the definition of "Dad" Keep up the good work and blessings to your son......game on!!!!! we have a neighbor who is raising an austistic son after the "chump, jerk, jackass, man with no balls etc etc " left after he found out the boy was autisctic.......God Bless you sir!!!

Phreakwars · « **Reply #31 on:** July 25, 2015, 09:06:01 pm »

Quote from: spocktwin on July 25, 2015, 04:30:01 pm

Just saw this thread.....Wow everyone give props to this gentleman!!!!! He is the definition of "Dad" Keep up the good work and blessings to your son......game on!!!!! we have a neighbor who is raising an austistic son after the "chump, jerk, jackass, man with no balls etc etc " left after he found out the boy was autisctic.......God Bless you sir!!!

I can't, for the life of me, figure out how someone could do that. I have 5 kids total, the 2 youngest both have Autism, and quite honestly, if I had to compare the 2 youngest with my others and other teens, there is no doubt I'd much rather deal with the special needs kids. They are very well behaved, very polite, they work hard at their job, they are honest and a whole lot of other things too numerous to mention that makes raising a child with Autism much better then a regular kid. Sure there are times when I feel frustrated... mainly because the kids live in a closed door world that is hard to tap into and hard to communicate with. Sometimes I'd like nothing better then to be able to have a deep conversation with my boy... to have him tell me what he feels inside... what he is thinking. Sometimes it's hurtful to me when I try and don't get the response I was hoping for, but I wouldn't want him any other way. He's my best pal and he knows it.

reptileink · « **Reply #32 on:** July 28, 2015, 05:59:23 pm »

The build will be awesome, but the reason makes this incredible!

THat's what I love about hobbies, they bring more into it than the actual work being done. It's the stories and memories they invoke.

Can't wait to see what you guys come up with!

Phreakwars · « **Reply #33 on:** July 30, 2015, 10:32:45 pm »

OK, so the kit came today, and I took a couple of vacation days off to put it all together.

Started out with the controls.

Here is what it did look like

And here is how it is looking now:

I have already ran into a snag..

The joystick that changes colors, is too short.

On the pre-made control panel, it is milled and would probably work, but the pre drilled holes are wrong. If I tried redrilling the holes, that would look messy

On the other panel, that is made for creating your own setup, it is not milled and way too short.

Slippyblade · « **Reply #34 on:** July 30, 2015, 10:40:34 pm »

Not sure I fully understand the issue with the joystick. My knee-jerk advice is to just route out a pocket on the underside for the joystick to sit in.

Phreakwars · « **Reply #35 on:** July 30, 2015, 10:47:31 pm »

thats the prob... no router

Phreakwars · « **Reply #36 on:** July 30, 2015, 10:49:49 pm »

Hopefully I can get ahold of someone tomorrow to route that out real quick for me.. kind too late in the night ATM.

Phreakwars · « **Reply #37 on:** July 30, 2015, 11:18:44 pm »

But... I ain't gonna let it slow me down... just finished 1 set of daisy chains..

And now all the fire buttons light up.

Slippyblade · « **Reply #38 on:** July 31, 2015, 01:04:39 am »

Just a minor critique. Those buttons are WAY to far apart.

Unless you like that much distance.

Phreakwars · « **Reply #39 on:** July 31, 2015, 01:54:01 am »

Quote from: Slippyblade on July 31, 2015, 01:04:39 am

Just a minor critique. Those buttons are WAY to far apart.

Unless you like that much distance.

That was the spacing configuration when you buy the kit from recroommasters.com. I honestly have no probs with it. But I will be drilling a couple more holes in the cabinet for admin buttons.


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