Small monitor integrated into CP?

[Xerobull]

I've seen one here (in the CP Database). Anyone else done this?

I came into a small monitor and would like to integrate it into the 4-player CP I'm building to display game instructions/marquees/etc.

[SavannahLion]

Sort of... I had a test CP swappable panel-like build that used a small screen in the face.

I used it as a status and debugging tool since I write a lot of my own code. I did have some ideas to expand it further beyond just using it as a debugger.

I never finished that particular cab and I completely lost interest in swappable panel designs. I canabalized it since then for its parts so the screen is now gone. Some of the work and design is finding use in my current WIP but the relationship is minimal. The current iteration is neither as a primary or secondary screen I guess.

Did you have a specific question about it?

[Xerobull]

Thanks for the response.

Looking for feedback. Was it used once implemented or a waste of space/effort/cost? How did it look, what was the feedback from other players, etc? Challenges, problems, anything else.

I know I can make it work just trying to gauge if it's worth the effort.

[vwalbridge]

I've never done this so just take my advice ramblings as just 2 cents:

1. Is this your first arcade build? If yes, then I would leave out the screen. Why? Because everyone's first build is already challenge, don't make it even harder for yourself on the first go around.

2. If you insist on using the screen...putting it directly on the control panel seems like an odd place. One would have to move thier eyes too far down and away from the primary screen to see it. If anything, I'd implement it like RxBrad did with his Avengerless Avenger build currently in process.

3. I guess it depends on what you want to show on the screen but I scratch my head trying to think of anything substantial worth putting on it.


This is a "risk vs reward" situation for me. This sort of thing only works if you deliberately pull it off. Otherwise it just becomes a useless accessory. However, if done tastefully and executed with purpose, it could be nice.

[harveybirdman]

IIRC Griff abandoned the functionality on Revolution because the app he wanted to use didn't play nice with Mame. We'll see how RxBrad's admin panel turns out on Avengerless Avenger, it looks promising.

If Griff didn't throw enough $ at it for it to work, I would guess that it's probably not worth undertaking.

[BadMouth]

I experimented with a touchscreen and software called touchbuddy that sim flight guys use. 
The software allows you to have an area of the screen cycle through pics when touched so it looks like a switch was flipped or dial was turned.
I just used pics of fight cards instead, so it cycled through the fighters each time you touched it.
Since you can have multiple buttons on the touchscreen, each player could have their own section working independently.
It worked well enough as a proof of concept, but I couldn't sucker anyone in to making all the instruction cards for me.
Actually what I wanted was a fight card maker application that used the already available command.dat and appropriately named pic files to generate them automatically.

Anyways, I'd recommend starting in the software forum and asking what software or front-end is needed.
IIRC in the case of marquees, some people use mamehooker, someone usually chimes in that gameex can do it without any other programs.

[Gatt]

Instead of a small monitor,  it would be substantially easier to use a tablet.  Route in enough that it would lie flush,  setup a service on it that's listening for commands on wifi,  setup another service on the computer that broadcasts commands over wifi based on the game being launched,  and have the tablet display the appropriate graphics.  This should be an order of magnitude easier than trying to mess around with multiple monitors,  finding a useable tiny monitor,  and trying to get everything wired up.

[Xerobull]

Great feedback!

This is the embedded monitor I referred to in my first post.



A little more info on my build: Yes, my first build but, I'm no spring chicken; I've been in IT for over 15 years and also have some experience with woodworking and emulators. I am building a 4-player pedestal with 1-4 joysticks/buttons and a trackball. I'm really not interested in spinners or other types of controls. I feel like there's a lot of real estate left over for a monitor.

I already have a small monitor; I picked up a 12-inch widescreen (16x10) laptop monitor that I plan on buying a control board for. Pretty much the same concept as 'Avengerless Avenger'. At $40, it's not a huge expense and if I can use it for added 'wow' factor I think it will be worth it. I think the biggest ascetic issue with the CP I posted above is that the graphics don't accentuate it; it's just there. Good graphics go a long way to giving you that pop.

That said, I'm envisioning the trackball lower center with the monitor above that. in my experience, it's better to not have any buttons in the path of your hand as it's going over the trackball, which leaves some room for the monitor.

I considered an angled area for the screen and other control buttons, but decided against it as I don't like the concept for a pedestal. Having one flat surface works better IMO.

Software-wise, I'm using Hyperspin anyway and there's a nice third-party software called Hypermarqee offers some of what I'm envisioning.

[vwalbridge]

If you are going to use it for marquees, at least crop the screen to be in a widescreen format so that you don't have black bars showing above and below the screen.

But I have a feeling that you want further justify the screen by using it for more that just marquees...so cropping it wouldn't work.

Unless the screen has really high resolution, putting any text (like game instructions) is going to really hard to read.

EDIT: I see that you are planning to use a 12" screen. That would be much better for text. However, I personally still wouldn't do it. I feel like it's one of those things that sounds good on paper but just never really turns out useful in reality.

It sounds like it's important to you though, good luck with it. I'll be watching to see how you do it. 

[Xerobull]

If you are going to use it for marquees, at least crop the screen to be in a widescreen format so that you don't have black bars showing above and below the screen.

But I have a feeling that you want further justify the screen by using it for more that just marquees...so cropping it wouldn't work.

Unless the screen has really high resolution, putting any text (like game instructions) is going to really hard to read.

EDIT: I see that you are planning to use a 12" screen. That would be much better for text. However, I personally still wouldn't do it. I feel like it's one of those things that sounds good on paper but just never really turns out useful in reality.

It sounds like it's important to you though, good luck with it. I'll be watching to see how you do it. 

It's not terribly important, rather, it's more of a utilization of resources at hand. But I agree. It sounds good but you know how that goes....hence the thread

[vwalbridge]

On one had, I can actually understand why you want to do it now that I know you are building a pedestal.  Pedestal builds obviously have nowhere for ANY marquee to go, so you miss out on that aspect of arcades. 

Sure, you can throw virtual bezels and marquees on the screen during game-play but that isn't very elegant.

[wp34]

I have a 7" monitor embedded in mine.  I like it but to be honest it has been a pain to get working properly.

[Xerobull]

Very nice, wp34. The black CP makes it blend in well when it's not on. What front end are you using and what kind of issues are you having?

[wp34]

I'm using GroovyMame, Mala and CPWizard at the moment but am in the process of switching to Attract Mode for my FE.    I have issues where CPWizard will hang.  Also the DOS command box will display partially on the 2nd monitor.  I can get it to work but the experience feels very clunky and unprofessional currently.

My biggest issues is that I'm in IT and since I work on computers all day my patience for software debugging at night is very low.  My problems are solvable I just would rather work in the shop or play arcade games.   Point being don't let my experience disabuse you from pursuing a 2nd monitor.

[SavannahLion]

Yeah... you need to integrate the artwork better or do what wp43 did. IMHO the most beautiful commercial art integration is the Deathrace cab coinbox art. I have never seen its equal anywhere though there a few private cabs that do an excellent job of it. It's really 70's but check it out on KLOV to get an idea.

[Xerobull]

Yeah... you need to integrate the artwork better or do what wp43 did. IMHO the most beautiful commercial art integration is the Deathrace cab coinbox art. I have never seen its equal anywhere though there a few private cabs that do an excellent job of it. It's really 70's but check it out on KLOV to get an idea.

Got a link?

[SavannahLion]

Here you go
http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7541

I wish I kept the shots of the original artwork when that actual cab in that link was destroyed as KLOV did a piss poor job of documenting the cab itself. They call themselves a museum? 

[JDFan]

Here you go
http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7541

I wish I kept the shots of the original artwork when that actual cab in that link was destroyed as KLOV did a piss poor job of documenting the cab itself. They call themselves a museum? 

That was a fun 2 player game - shame it's not in mame !!

[SavannahLion]

I wish I knew.

It's one of the few commercial cabs where I admire the artwork and/or design so much that I would be willing to have an original even if it ends up being a white elephant. From what I understand, the game received so much controversy that it became an influence for quite a few games down the road.

Hell, last time the game was brought up here, it induced a rather heated discussion over the now forty year old controversy.

[RxBrad]

IIRC Griff abandoned the functionality on Revolution because the app he wanted to use didn't play nice with Mame. We'll see how RxBrad's admin panel turns out on Avengerless Avenger, it looks promising.

If Griff didn't throw enough $ at it for it to work, I would guess that it's probably not worth undertaking.

I have a gut feeling that I'm going to be disappointed by the viewing angles on my little 7" LCD.  While the main screen point directly at the player's eyeline, the 7" LCD technically points lower.  Hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

The software setup I have right now is relatively low-tech.  I used CPWizard to export PNG files for each game and put them all in the same folder.  Then, I have GameEx's GameExtender feature set up to display the corresponding game's CP layout on the secondary screen while playing.  Once I finally get everything put together, I think might look a little harder at the software stigzler put together for this purpose.

The official Raspberry Pi 7" touchscreen LCD that was just announced looks interesting, as they specifically say that they looked at viewing angles when choosing the hardware.  Also, it can be used as a secondary display along with the HDMI output.  I'm just not sure how one would set it up to work (I'm pretty Linux-illiterate).

[thomas_surles]

I experimented with a touchscreen and software called touchbuddy that sim flight guys use. 
The software allows you to have an area of the screen cycle through pics when touched so it looks like a switch was flipped or dial was turned.
I just used pics of fight cards instead, so it cycled through the fighters each time you touched it.
Since you can have multiple buttons on the touchscreen, each player could have their own section working independently.
It worked well enough as a proof of concept, but I couldn't sucker anyone in to making all the instruction cards for me.
Actually what I wanted was a fight card maker application that used the already available command.dat and appropriately named pic files to generate them automatically.

Anyways, I'd recommend starting in the software forum and asking what software or front-end is needed.
IIRC in the case of marquees, some people use mamehooker, someone usually chimes in that gameex can do it without any other programs.

Sounds like this would be cool for Mortal Kombat. Cycle through move lists and fatalities.