Author Topic: New build (hopefully!!!) (Read 8056 times)

rvs0002 · « **on:** January 12, 2016, 04:29:34 pm »

Howdy folks! After finishing my MAME cab last winter, I decided this winter's project was going to be a sit down racer. I found a used G27 kit along with a car seat and steel frame on craigslist for $275 (see pics), so I'm off to a good start. I'm just now digging into all the posts here (special thanks to BadMouth who has already answered a question or two behind the scenes).

I've got a few games up and running on Model 2, but haven't put much time into it yet. I really want to get HydroThunder working as it is a game my son and I grew up playing together a lot, so it would be special to be able to play that together again in our own hand built cab. I'm afraid to put too much work in getting the games to work or we'll spend every night playing and not enough time building. I also want to figure out how to run a dual system using both a pc and either a PS3 or Xbox. I can't imagine it's to hard...maybe just a usb switch or something?

Last but not least, if anyone has any good leads on plans, please let me know. For my MAME cab I used Ond's awesome plans as a starter which were great. I have a general idea of what I want to do, but I'm not the best woodworker so having some plans to refer to really goes a long way.

Hoping to get my wood and start the build this weekend, so will be posting pics soon! For now, back to reading and learning.

rvs0002 · « **Reply #1 on:** January 14, 2016, 12:05:23 pm »

Well, pretty much got the Model 2 games I wanted working except for a few that have missing files and got my coin/start/shifter settings working as well. Would go much quicker if I didn't stop to play all the time.

Probably a stupid question, but is the clutch used for shifting on any games, or just not on the Model 2 stuff?

Started looking into front ends, and will probably move into that next. I really like the MALA front end that BadMouth had in an older post, that looked sharp. Don't really want to invest the time to get Hyperspin up and running. Tried that with my Mame cab and it was a nightmare and I never could get it to work right. I ended up going with mGalaxy for that and it works pretty well. Would like all my games to be together though, so I still have some reading to do on that (as well as other games, emulators, and on and on!!! So much reading...).

I would still like to incorporate the PS3 as well. Is there a thread for how to run the dual setup? I did some searching but haven't found anything yet. I was thinking of just putting an hdmi splitter/selector box in and using that, but there is probably a better way as it seems like many people are running dual set-ups.

We've got a break in the cold spell here for a while, so I'm hoping to start on my cab build next week. I'm still trying to decide if I want to order a set of Ricmotech RS-1 Build plans and modify them, or just try free wheeling it. I'm leaning more towards free wheeling it even though my skills are pretty limited. I don't know how to use sketch up so I'll probably try to photoshop something and then cardboard it up this weekend.

Happy racing!
John

BadMouth · « **Reply #2 on:** January 14, 2016, 01:10:17 pm »

Quote from: rvs0002 on January 14, 2016, 12:05:23 pm

Probably a stupid question, but is the clutch used for shifting on any games, or just not on the Model 2 stuff?

Not many. Hard Drivin/Race Drivin, SF Rush, and Ridge Racer off the top of my head, but there are versions of both that do not require the clutch.
Most PC sim racers can use it if you want to, but don't require it.

Not sure which front-end to recommend.
Howard came up with one specific to driving cabs, but I haven't taken the time to try it:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,141041.msg1459529.html#msg1459529

The good thing about Mala is that you can trick it into putting all the games in the MAME list regardless of emulator.
That is a PITA if you aren't already familiar with how everything works though.
I always wanted to do a tutorial specific to all the driving games, but since Mala no longer works with newer version of MAME without workarounds I'm not sure it's worth it.

rvs0002 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 15, 2016, 11:31:17 pm »

Went ahead and went with mGalaxy for now since it's simple. Might change it up later.

Finally started building tonight. I just made the base but I figured doing something was better than nothing. Doing it actually gave me some ideas, so I'm glad I jumped in. Hope to carpet the base tomorrow and then start on the backside enclosure.

I know this isn't as exciting as most of the builds here but as long as I keep posting it motivates me to keep going!

rvs0002 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 17, 2016, 12:31:49 am »

Got the sides cut out. Cut 4 of them as they will be about 9 inches wide (like an arm rest). The right side will hold the shifter and on the left I'll have the often maligned cup holder. Still need to cut out the back which will contain the back speakers. The front will be shaped like your basic arcade cab and will hold the monitor, pc,front speakers and ps3. It all makes sense in my head of I can just get it out of there and actually put it together!

rvs0002 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 17, 2016, 11:13:11 pm »

One side built. Was only 9 degrees today so once I got that done I decided to go in and watch football! Tomorrow is supposed to be 27 degrees so hopefully I will be able to get the whole back built. Also need to raise the seat by afew inches.

Trying to finish (or at least be playable ) in 2 weeks for a family birthday party we are hosting. It's going to be tough.

rvs0002 · « **Reply #6 on:** January 17, 2016, 11:14:18 pm »

Sorry for the sideways pictures. Posting from my phone and I don't know how to rotate them.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #7 on:** January 18, 2016, 01:46:00 am »

It's looking good. I see I'm not the only one using a fugly junkyard chair. You know I never have found a satisfactory seat cover.

rvs0002 · « **Reply #8 on:** January 18, 2016, 01:58:16 am »

Ha, yes you are right! It is in good shape though but I've been trying to decide on a cover as well. My wife is an awesome seamstress so I'm hoping she can do something custom for me when I'm all done.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #9 on:** January 18, 2016, 02:02:53 am »

That would probably be your best bet. I can find covers that fit well but are made from really cheap materials (so they'll stretch to fit) and I can find covers made out of good material, but they don't fit very well. You can get custom covers made if you know what car the seat came from, but they cost so much you might as well get a custom racing chair.

ant2 · « **Reply #10 on:** January 18, 2016, 04:37:04 am »

Good job. You have mounted the seat the opposite way i was expecting.
I presumed you'd have the tall pieces housing a monitor. Out of interest why is the back so tall? Good place to put some huge speakers

rvs0002 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 18, 2016, 09:40:47 am »

They will house speakers, but mainly because I wanted the feel of an immersion cab without being completely closed in. I think it will make more sence when the back and other side are on.

rvs0002 · « **Reply #12 on:** January 19, 2016, 08:48:22 pm »

Made some progress tonight. Got both sides cut out and dry fitted. Now to take them apart and route out the speaker holes and cup holder, then glue and screw everything together.

Next I'll build the cabinet for the dash, pedals and tv.

Last will be the back and roof. Wish it wasn't 30 degrees in my garage. Would make it easier to work.

rvs0002 · « **Reply #13 on:** January 25, 2016, 11:09:41 am »

Sorry for the lack of updates. I'm having trouble on laying out the dash part of the cabinet and have stopped and started numerous times. I'm hitting it hard tonight so hopefully I will have some updates tomorrow. This really shows how important it is to actually have a plan before hand. Also saves you from running to buy more plywood constantly!

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #14 on:** January 25, 2016, 12:55:36 pm »

It's nice that everyone has broken away from the standard arcade designs and are doing their own thing. That usually leads to good ideas.

rvs0002 · « **Reply #15 on:** January 25, 2016, 01:15:20 pm »

Quote from: Howard_Casto on January 25, 2016, 12:55:36 pm

It's nice that everyone has broken away from the standard arcade designs and are doing their own thing. That usually leads to good ideas.

That remains to be seen haha. Fingers crossed that I have a finished product that I'm not too embarrassed to show here!

rvs0002 · « **Reply #16 on:** January 25, 2016, 10:54:52 pm »

Made some progress tonight. Got my cabinet built and I think I have my dash figured out. That's a good feeling. Tomorrow I will build the shifter support, see if i can figure out how to invert the pedals and install my audio components. It's finally starting to look like something...

DudeRegular · « **Reply #17 on:** January 25, 2016, 11:59:03 pm »

Looking forward to seeing how this shapes up. Also dig the KC fridge.

rvs0002 · « **Reply #18 on:** January 26, 2016, 12:35:35 am »

Quote from: DudeRegular on January 25, 2016, 11:59:03 pm

Also dig the KC fridge.

Ha! Then you'll love the back wall (and plastic bag holder)!

rvs0002 · « **Reply #19 on:** January 26, 2016, 07:17:39 pm »

Got dash laid out with wheel and shifter and added the top to the cabinet. Next up this evening is pedal inversion. Little nervous about it.

rvs0002 · « **Reply #20 on:** January 26, 2016, 11:23:03 pm »

So in doing some more testing, I ran into a problem. If my arms are comfortable on the wheel, my seat is too close to the pedals. If my seat is at a comfortable distance from the pedals, I have to lean forward to grab the wheel. Really struggling trying to find a solution so didn't get anything else accomplished tonight. Going to be digging through the forums to see if anyone else has had a similar problem and how they solved it.

So frustrating as I was really feeling like things were coming together for me.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #21 on:** January 27, 2016, 12:48:52 am »

You are going to have to pull that dash forward about a foot or more. Check out my build log (which I should really update) and note the crazy overhang that everyone worries about. That was so the wheel was far enough forward.

rvs0002 · « **Reply #22 on:** January 27, 2016, 01:18:52 am »

Quote from: Howard_Casto on January 27, 2016, 12:48:52 am

You are going to have to pull that dash forward about a foot or more. Check out my build log (which I should really update) and note the crazy overhang that everyone worries about. That was so the wheel was far enough forward.

I spent about 2 hours tonight trying to think of a way to do that without it looking like complete crap.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #23 on:** January 27, 2016, 01:25:35 am »

I would focus on getting it functional first.... You can always go back to cut a new profile later.

BadMouth · « **Reply #24 on:** January 27, 2016, 09:33:56 am »

Quote from: rvs0002 on January 27, 2016, 01:18:52 am

I spent about 2 hours tonight trying to think of a way to do that without it looking like complete crap.

Check out the stickied "links to driving cab projects" thread.
Go to the build threads of the ones with homemade dashboards and see how they handled it.

Personally I'd cut the footwell out of that front section and move the whole thing closer to the driver.
(so the persons feet extend into a box behind the screen. ...or it could just be open)

rvs0002 · « **Reply #25 on:** January 27, 2016, 10:16:10 am »

That's what I was thinking as well. Today I am going to see if I can modify that and if not I am just going to start from scratch on the back cabinet.

ant2 · « **Reply #26 on:** January 29, 2016, 06:27:24 am »

Box the footwell out, that's what i did on both of mine.

rvs0002 · « **Reply #27 on:** January 29, 2016, 10:56:46 am »

I ended up extending the wheel and shifter out about 7 more inches and I think it is going to work. At least I'm proceeding as if it will. If not I can go back and box out pretty easily. Starting paint tonight and will post more pics on Saturday.

rvs0002 · « **Reply #28 on:** January 30, 2016, 02:06:48 pm »

Late night of painting. About to start taping off racing stripes. Was going to go with red but I kind of thought that was too common so much to my wife's dismay I went with orange and black. Love the looks of the dodge challenger so I thought that might be cool. Anxious to start reassembly and get to playing!

ant2 · « **Reply #29 on:** January 30, 2016, 03:53:42 pm »

Spray or roller?

Looking good

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #30 on:** January 30, 2016, 04:04:08 pm »

I'm not sure why, but I really like that orange. I think it's because it's an uncommon color for cabs.

rvs0002 · « **Reply #31 on:** January 30, 2016, 07:53:42 pm »

Quote from: ant2 on January 30, 2016, 03:53:42 pm

Spray or roller?

Looking goodr

Roller unfortunately. My brother in law has a spray shop but I didn't want to lug everything over there.

Quote from: Howard_Casto on January 30, 2016, 04:04:08 pm

I'm not sure why, but I really like that orange. I think it's because it's an uncommon color for cabs.

Thanks, I really like it too so far. My wife isn't crazy about it but once it is all assembled I think she will like it. I'll post some more pics later tonight.

rvs0002 · « **Reply #32 on:** January 30, 2016, 08:41:07 pm »

Quick pics of back of cabinet, sides and back board all striped up. Tape didn't adhere in a few spots so I'll have a bit of touch up but that's ok. Also a pic of the base and seat. Pic of my first mame build as well.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #33 on:** January 30, 2016, 08:45:20 pm »

-10 for not painting the General Lee on the back.

rvs0002 · « **Reply #34 on:** January 30, 2016, 09:33:19 pm »

It's not done yet

rvs0002 · « **Reply #35 on:** January 31, 2016, 02:29:57 pm »

Got everything painted, assembled and playable at 3:30 am and the kids are loving it. I have much to finish but at least I met my wife's request of having it working for the party today.

ant2 · « **Reply #36 on:** January 31, 2016, 02:55:28 pm »

fast work! - looks good.

1.) what front end did you use?

2.) You planning to do any more on it, like add a screen bezel, rear speakers etc?

Now on to the real time killer, setting up all the games, front end etc

BadMouth · « **Reply #37 on:** January 31, 2016, 03:08:29 pm »

Came out waaaay better than I was expecting by looking at the bare plywood.
Congrats on having a vision and seeing it through.

I see a cupholder.
If you drink...Crazy Taxi is the best buzzed driving game ever.
On the PC version that lacked the original arcade soundtrack, it's possible to swap in whatever music you want.
I prefer the original soundtrack, although IIRC I swapped out a couple of the other songs for more Offspring.

rvs0002 · « **Reply #38 on:** January 31, 2016, 03:24:07 pm »

Quote from: ant2 on January 31, 2016, 02:55:28 pm

fast work! - looks good.

1.) what front end did you use?

2.) You planning to do any more on it, like add a screen bezel, rear speakers etc?

Now on to the real time killer, setting up all the games, front end etc

Thanks!
Oh yeah much to do. Bezel,plexi,additional wiring, rear speakers (sub is already behind seat), move pc to rear case, more painting, cutting out back to extend pedals, reverse mount pedals, and more things I can't remember right now.

rvs0002 · « **Reply #39 on:** January 31, 2016, 03:35:33 pm »

Quote from: BadMouth on January 31, 2016, 03:08:29 pm

Came out waaaay better than I was expecting by looking at the bare plywood.
Congrats on having a vision and seeing it through.

I see a cupholder.
If you drink...Crazy Taxi is the best buzzed driving game ever.
On the PC version that lacked the original arcade soundtrack, it's possible to swap in whatever music you want.
I prefer the original soundtrack, although IIRC I swapped out a couple of the other songs for more Offspring.

Thanks msn, I appreciate it. Not on par with a lot of the amazing builds on here but came out better than my limited skills should allow.

I have a very limited run of games right now, just the easy model 2 ones, but once I finish the upgrades I'll add more. I'm afraid if I add more now I'll just play and not finish the build!

And it's not a question of if I drink, it's WHEN I drink

rvs0002 · « **Reply #40 on:** February 08, 2016, 12:39:48 pm »

Just a quick update:

So my hdmi auto switcher and usb switch box came in and I tested them out this weekend. Both work great, except the usb switch box has an issue with channel two so I have to send it back for a replacement. Looks like once I get the new one they will both be exactly what i needed.

Also managed to get the pedals out of their case and mount them. Couldn't get them to work at first and then realized that even though I made wiring notes, I had the clutch and gas pedal reversed, so I had to take everything apart and re-wire. I also thought the brake and clutch weren't working as only the gas pedal responded in joy to key, but after futzing with it for about an hour my son suggested trying to play a game and they were working fine. Not sure why they don't highlight in joytokey, but whatever I guess.

Also got my usb board for my buttons, but for some reason it came with half the wires using the big ends and half using the small ends. I thought about going to radio shack and buying some of the larger ends and soldering them on, but then decided I had enough other stuff I could be doing, so bagged it up and returned it and have a new one on the way.

In the meantime I'll be working on the bezel. Got my plexi and hardboard for that, so that is this weeks project.

So many little things to do, doesn't feel like I'll ever be finished with this thing!

BadMouth · « **Reply #41 on:** February 08, 2016, 01:21:59 pm »

It's not a necessity, but while you've got access to the pedal wiring, you may want consider installing a switch on the clutch pedal that switches between the regular wiring and a 5k resistor.

When mapping the controls on some emulators and games, the clutch pedal will register constantly and mess stuff up unless it is held exactly halfway down.
The 5k resistor will make the pedal show as being halfway down (axis centered).

The in-game controls are fine after you get them mapped, but it makes mapping them more of a PITA.

There are also one or two oddball cases where the clutch axis is hard coded as something else.
Nobody but me has ever had an issue with it though.

I reaaaalllly like driving around offroad in the game Fuel. It is supposed to only supports xbox360 controllers, but some direct input controls are hardcoded in.
You can create a virtual controller with x360ce for the controls, but the non-virtual clutch axis is still hardcoded to gas/brake and makes my vehicle go in reverse all the time unless the clutch is held exactly halfway down.
So the next incarnation of my cab will have a switch on the clutch just so I can play that one game.


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