Author Topic: Scratch built cabinet with reversible control panel (Read 22799 times)

Scassidy24 · « **Reply #40 on:** July 13, 2016, 09:23:42 pm »

Routed slots for T mouldings today!

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Scassidy24 · « **Reply #41 on:** July 14, 2016, 11:26:50 pm »

Coming along very nicely super happy with the covering material. Yes it's wallpaper but it's nicely textured and it feels really cool almost like leather.

The drawer is pretty sticky now that there's paint and I'm worried it's going to rub on the t mouldings and wear them over time . I've got to work on making it a little smoother

Also I'm going to put a steel kick plate on so I left a portion of the bottom front unfinished.

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wemr97dl · « **Reply #42 on:** July 15, 2016, 01:15:57 am »

Really like the look of the textured sides nice

Scassidy24 · « **Reply #43 on:** August 24, 2016, 09:55:56 pm »

Learning to use Inkscape as I go. I've switched from Gimp after learning the difference between raster and vector images, and gotta say If anyone out there wants to tackle doing their own art this is the program and it's totally free. Going to put the space invaders ship on the right side of the marquee and try to squeeze an asteroids ship under "nostalgia" and a couple asteroids breaking apart dead centre under the title. And I want to get a bit of a Galaga pixelated star field background. We'll see what my noob art skills can produce. This marquee is going to work nicely with the red and blue too so super excited about that.

So obviously I've also have settled on the Name finally! The "Nostalgia Machine" which actually came from a friend who said his build was basically a nostalgia machine and I Immediately had a light bulb moment. So its got a name and inspiration for marquee art which will inspire new CPO art as well.

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yamatetsu · « **Reply #44 on:** August 25, 2016, 03:36:19 am »

Quote from: Scassidy24 on August 24, 2016, 09:55:56 pm

Going to put the space invaders ship on the right side of the marquee and try to squeeze an asteroids ship under "nostalgia" and a couple asteroids breaking apart dead centre under the title. And I want to get a bit of a Galaga pixelated star field background.

+1 on the star field

-1000 on the asteroids ship + asteroids. Don't put that much stuff on it, it just will look crowded. If you have to squeeze something in, it probably is too much.

If you are going to use the red frame, you should keep in mind that the marquee retainers will cover parts of the marquee, so you have to place the frame accordingly.

If this was my marquee, I would have the 'Nostalgia' text follow the planet's shape. Something like this :

Scassidy24 · « **Reply #45 on:** August 25, 2016, 09:35:14 am »

Quote

If you are going to use the red frame, you should keep in mind that the marquee retainers will cover parts of the marquee, so you have to place the frame accordingly.

If this was my marquee, I would have the 'Nostalgia' text follow the planet's shape. Something like this

I Love it! That has a more natural midway/arcade feel to it. Here's what I came up with last night but I'm sure I'll be changing it now.
And a big 10-4 on the marquee retainer remark.

Scassidy24 · « **Reply #46 on:** September 07, 2016, 01:20:14 am »

Ok here are the final (I hope) artworks for the Nostalgia Machine ......

I think I may take a few minutes to re-do the asteroids ship as this one is a little too soft around the edges. Anybody have an opinion on that?

The trackball & spinner control panel has a Breakout rendition on it. Just to clarify its not a poor attempt at an Arkanoid rendition it's it's a throwback to an even more retro time

I don't intend to change much else but feel free to make suggestions.

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yamatetsu · « **Reply #47 on:** September 07, 2016, 06:27:07 am »

Marquee : I would make both the Nostalgia text and the spaceships a bit smaller, it looks a bit crowded right now. I would leave some space between the ships and the text.
The starfield. Where is the starfield ? I can't see the starfield. Must be going blind or something.

CPs : I think that the graphic styles of the marquee and the CPs don't match. The marquee has a blocky pixel style while the CP's looks sharp and crisp.
Another issue (for me) is that you just use the middle third of the available space for the artwork. That leaves a lot of space on the sides.

I would recommend to do the CP graphics in the same blocky pixel style as the marquee's, i.e. making the objects bigger and pixellating them. I would also suggest to fill the available space better so that you don't have the 'action' going on in the middle of the CP and a whole lot of nothing to the left and the right.
I would expand the breakout playfield to the spinners and make the objects bigger accordingly.

Scassidy24 · « **Reply #48 on:** September 07, 2016, 08:16:21 am »

A number of good points there, you've given me an idea, let's see what I can do about it tonight after work

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Scassidy24 · « **Reply #49 on:** September 07, 2016, 11:15:03 pm »

Well I've tried a couple different takes on a star field and just haven't been satisfied with the results. end up being to busy for my taste and not authentic feeling so I've decided to pass on that. This is the second time I've tried at it and I'm happier without any of my attempts being in the final cut.

I've shrunk the marquee text and ships down, good call Yamatetsu, looks much better

. and replaced the smoothed button border lines on the CPO's with pixellated looking blocky style button borders which definitely ties in the CPO's with the Marquee a bit better. I can see a MaLa layout in my head that will tie them all together nicely too.

you'll just have to wait for the final product tho, not going to put any more pics up till after i get the prints. That'll take a couple weeks I'm sure. In the Interim period I've gotta do some other work on the cabinet, fix up the drawer which inst working nearly as well as I want and start laying out the guts.

Scassidy24 · « **Reply #50 on:** September 13, 2016, 10:43:13 pm »

Kick plate and coin door installed

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Scassidy24 · « **Reply #51 on:** September 14, 2016, 02:04:21 pm »

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markc74 · « **Reply #52 on:** September 14, 2016, 06:06:58 pm »

Really liking the control panel artwork on this but not sold on the font for the marquee. As a pixel type font i think some embellishment could make it stand out a lot better. Maybe some perspective so it's leaning towards you or shadowing but keeping the plain colour could look good.

I'm not near my pc otherwise I'd mock something up for ya. If you're interested anyway

Scassidy24 · « **Reply #53 on:** September 15, 2016, 08:36:43 am »

Quote from: markc74 on September 14, 2016, 06:06:58 pm

Really liking the control panel artwork on this but not sold on the font for the marquee. As a pixel type font i think some embellishment could make it stand out a lot better. Maybe some perspective so it's leaning towards you or shadowing but keeping the plain colour could look good.

I'm not near my pc otherwise I'd mock something up for ya. If you're interested anyway

Man that's a great idea I wish I had thought of that. It's already gone to print and too expensive to do again

sabreerbasAlpha · « **Reply #54 on:** September 15, 2016, 03:06:10 pm »

Some really nice work here mate

Could you not de-case those speakers? They look a tad on the large side!!

harveybirdman · « **Reply #55 on:** September 15, 2016, 05:58:53 pm »

I know you've already sent marquee to print, but it's too bad such a high quality build won't have better artwork.

Scassidy24 · « **Reply #56 on:** September 23, 2016, 11:21:39 am »

Picked these up today! Pictures don't do them justice

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Scassidy24 · « **Reply #57 on:** September 23, 2016, 09:33:04 pm »

I must have mis-measures the plastic discs on the joysticks. I expected more of the white to be covered up, otherwise I love it and I'm really happy with how the installation of this CPO went.

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Wyo · « **Reply #58 on:** September 23, 2016, 10:25:28 pm »

Quote from: Scassidy24 on September 07, 2016, 01:20:14 am

Ok here are the final (I hope) artworks for the Nostalgia Machine ......

I think I may take a few minutes to re-do the asteroids ship as this one is a little too soft around the edges. Anybody have an opinion on that?

The trackball & spinner control panel has a Breakout rendition on it. Just to clarify its not a poor attempt at an Arkanoid rendition it's it's a throwback to an even more retro time

I don't intend to change much else but feel free to make suggestions.

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I love that marquee. Looks great!

Scassidy24 · « **Reply #59 on:** September 24, 2016, 12:43:38 am »

Wiring next

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n3wt0n · « **Reply #60 on:** September 24, 2016, 01:02:45 am »

The artwork came out really pixelated compared to what you had on screen. Did you change it to look like that or did you just send art to the printer that was incredibly low quality?

Scassidy24 · « **Reply #61 on:** September 24, 2016, 01:03:35 am »

Quote from: n3wt0n on September 24, 2016, 01:02:45 am

The artwork came out really pixelated compared to what you had on screen. Did you change it to look like that or did you just send art to the printer that was incredibly low quality?

I changed it to look like that to help tie it in with the pixelated text on the marquee. It's 300dpi

Scassidy24 · « **Reply #62 on:** September 24, 2016, 01:06:20 am »

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Scassidy24 · « **Reply #63 on:** September 24, 2016, 01:13:00 am »

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yamatetsu · « **Reply #64 on:** September 24, 2016, 03:01:52 am »

Looking good.

Another suggestion : How about painting the CP edges white and putting a white line between the upper CP edge and the screen ?

IMHO white CP edges would make the CP pop a but more when looking at the front. Adding a white divider between the CP and the screen would enclose the CP and make it looke like a playfield (see 3rd pic).

Scassidy24 · « **Reply #65 on:** September 24, 2016, 09:54:32 pm »

Quote from: yamatetsu on September 24, 2016, 03:01:52 am

Looking good.

Another suggestion : How about painting the CP edges white and putting a white line between the upper CP edge and the screen ?

Hah! I was out picking up some tidbits for electrical work and did have a look around for some white pin striping. We're on the same page here. I actually was thinking more about above the glass doing it along all of the seams and down the edge of the glass

Man that glass is dirty.

Scassidy24 · « **Reply #66 on:** September 24, 2016, 09:58:20 pm »

Been working on wiring today here is how you make a nice raceway out of zip ties.

Got the opti wiz and turbo twist cards installed. Wiring on the most tedious level is done.

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Scassidy24 · « **Reply #67 on:** September 24, 2016, 11:25:40 pm »

All buttons on both panels are wired and "on" all the time

I just took leads from the 4 buttons each player has on the spinner/trackball control panel and tied them in to the leads on the corresponding buttons fighter stick control panel

In hindsight I have close to 20 wires in total so if I were doing this on another build I would just make a 24pin connector to make any future disassembly much easier to do

Vidiot · « **Reply #68 on:** September 24, 2016, 11:49:14 pm »

That is some beautiful wiring! Good job!

Love the ziptie "raceway". I'm gonna remember that for future projects.

Scassidy24 · « **Reply #69 on:** September 25, 2016, 04:02:17 pm »

Really really busy in there now. Including a USB hub to minimize the wiring leaving the control panel

Got it down to a single USB cable and wiring for the coin door.

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Scassidy24 · « **Reply #70 on:** September 25, 2016, 09:54:14 pm »

Getting soooo close

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fablog · « **Reply #71 on:** September 26, 2016, 11:43:50 am »

Like it a lot. Good job!

Scassidy24 · « **Reply #72 on:** September 26, 2016, 05:51:02 pm »

Marquee!!!!!!

Cabinet still needs a back but I have to find some chassis fans that come with guards before I close it in. Also I have some various electrical ease of use type things to do like wire in a hidden power button for the system as well as a few cosmetic touches.

And a lot of work on the front end for aesthetics and ease of use. Game lists and artwork for the games etc.

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Vidiot · « **Reply #73 on:** September 26, 2016, 10:57:05 pm »

Nice job! The marquee looks really good all lit up.

Scassidy24 · « **Reply #74 on:** October 09, 2016, 11:28:44 am »

Just an update on things,
New MaLa layouts done with tree setup and I've tweaked configurations with MaLa and project 64 and Zsnes for seamless integration into the front end in and out of game. Still working on a way to get n64 USB controllers to work for 3rd and 4th player although they're not always plugged in so mame seems to forget about them. Gonna try binding the joystick button presses to key presses to circumvent that issue but will need to see how that effects the way the console emulators work. It would be best if it only had to be done that way for Mame if the software that does it can be turned on when just mame games are run and not used for other console setups like PJ64 because of the need for analog input on the stick

Lots of tweaking on the software end. Have enjoyed some gaming too of course

Took a while but I've got trackball and spinners working well for any game we might play. From golden tee to centipede to sprint and everything in between. Had a hard time at first with lag Turned off all of the nice cosmetic features. Waitvsync triple buffer, HLSL and couldn't figure out how to get things working but then realized enabling auto frame skip in mame was the solution. Turned back on HLSL and all works great.

Also did some patching up behind the scenes to keep light from the marquee from shining thru around the speakers etc. Still need to put a back on the cabinet and if I do that will need some fans mounted somewhere to help keep the pc cool.

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yamatetsu · « **Reply #75 on:** October 09, 2016, 01:19:29 pm »

Quote from: Scassidy24 on October 09, 2016, 11:28:44 am

Still working on a way to get n64 USB controllers to work for 3rd and 4th player although they're not always plugged in so mame seems to forget about them.

Setting the rom's .cfg file's attributes to 'read only' seems to do the trick.
Let's say you want to play 'simpsons' with four players. Plug the N64 controllers in. Start the game, hit 'TAB' to open up the menu, go to 'Input (this machine)', configure players 3 and 4.
Exit mame.

Go to your mame directory. There should be a subfolder called 'cfg'. Open it. There should be a file called 'simpsons.cfg'. Set this file's attributes to 'read only'.
You now should be able to play the game properly with and without the N64 controllers (although without them players 3 and 4 will probably be configured to the mame default).

Scassidy24 · « **Reply #76 on:** October 09, 2016, 01:28:00 pm »

Quote from: yamatetsu on October 09, 2016, 01:19:29 pm

Quote from: Scassidy24 on October 09, 2016, 11:28:44 am
Still working on a way to get n64 USB controllers to work for 3rd and 4th player although they're not always plugged in so mame seems to forget about them.

Setting the rom's .cfg file's attributes to 'read only' seems to do the trick.
Let's say you want to play 'simpsons' with four players. Plug the N64 controllers in. Start the game, hit 'TAB' to open up the menu, go to 'Input (this machine)', configure players 3 and 4.
Exit mame.

Go to your mame directory. There should be a subfolder called 'cfg'. Open it. There should be a file called 'simpsons.cfg'. Set this file's attributes to 'read only'.
You now should be able to play the game properly with and without the N64 controllers (although without them players 3 and 4 will probably be configured to the mame default).

Excellent, that was my next idea. Thanks!

Scassidy24 · « **Reply #77 on:** October 10, 2016, 11:05:24 am »

It worked thanks

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yotsuya · « **Reply #78 on:** October 10, 2016, 07:18:29 pm »

That raceway is pretty tight, bro.

n3wt0n · « **Reply #79 on:** October 11, 2016, 08:08:40 pm »

Everything came together well. The build looks real nice. Congrats.

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