Ultimate Vertical - Alpha Too

[Malenko]

The name is derived from Opt2Not's Alpha One
And the inspiration to even make the cab is from that cab and  HarveyBirdman's BulletReign


And yes, THIRD project when the first one still inst done. See Jennifer, this is why I like to get 1 thing finished before moving onto the next.

Specs:
Haruman Customs Ultimate Vertical Kit
22" Monitor, the specifics escape me, but it was a monitor I already owed with a cracked housing, so it was the one getting used no matter what
TK Warrior "Modder" PC w nVidia GTX 220(?) video card
Ultimarc Servo Stick
Hacked XBOX360 controller
Happ buttons/switches

With that out of the way, I wanted to make a bartop kit. And I wanted it Vertical, but I didn't want a "golden age" shape. So I got with Haruman and pitched him the idea of modifying the Ultimate Widescreen kit and making it an Ultimate Vertical kit.  We got hung up on the marquee area for a while, and with one up top the cab was just WAY too tall. I had the idea to put the marquee in front of the controls, which was a great idea in theory.....

but I personally couldnt get the wiring and everything else out of the way to light up the marquee area without shadows.  I had him cut me a new CP with 4 buttons, and no light box behind the marquee, I just haven't gotten them yet, so when I do get them, there will be new/more pictures.


As always, Haruman does a top notch job of packaging:


I thought the baggies were a nice touch!


Gets da clampin!


Getting it together:




And some weights on top to keep everything taut:


and no, the 3lb weights are not mine.

[Malenko]

And here she is all in 1 piece:


I cheated to get Jamestown running full screen. I rotated the windows display, then put the game in full screen. Its really not meant to be played TATE full screen. The stretching is really noticeable, and getting it to run that way is kind of a pain, so I probably wont be leaving that game on there :/


Crimzon Clover is amazing on this little machine:


Mushihimesama, while not Caves best game ever, is still quite fun. If I scale the screen up to fit, even in TATE mode, there is some tearing but not enough to really affect the game. Nonscaled its still a nice sized play field on this 22" monitor.



Printed out the artwork, at work, since its going behind plexi AND our printer isnt too shabby.


The power panel on the back with art applied (even though you'll never see it)


And the front art, its a little washed out from the flash, I promise to take better pictures later!




So still to do:
Black out the inside of the monitor area.
tidy up the wiring and buy shorter power cords
decide on keeping existing stick or getting a nice japanese one.

[Token]

Cool idea! I'm looking forward to seeing how that CP marquee turns out. I always thought if I ever make a bartop it will be 4-way only, but this has me thinking.

Not to be nit-picky, but I think this would look even better if the screen angle matched the side-panels.

[Malenko]

Cool idea! I'm looking forward to seeing how that CP marquee turns out. I always thought if I ever make a bartop it will be 4-way only, but this has me thinking.

Not to be nit-picky, but I think this would look even better if the screen angle matched the side-panels.

That was the goal, but the screen is too tall. There is a little wiggle room, so I'll see how much more I can adjust. I may even cut a groove in the top to recess the screen into. As for the 4way only, most of the vertical shooters I love to play used an 8way, but that's why I went with a servo stick. 4way and 8 way together in 1 cab I love DoDonPachi as much as I love Time Pilot.

[harveybirdman]

Art is awesome! Cab is Awesome!

[BadMouth]

A dedicated shmup cab needs a short throw shmup stick.
Gotta be someone making an oversized actuator.
I'm not sure how that will work with the 4-way mode.

On Jamestown:  Run it windowed and use an AHK script to black out the title bar and frame.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,106477.msg1128194.html#msg1128194
The key part of that is:

Code: [Select]

Run, C:\Emulators\Programs\Makaron4\NAOMI.exe ikaruga.dat
sleep, 1200
WinSet, Style, ^0xC00000, NAOMI - PVR
(NAOMI - PVR is the window name)
The rest of the crap is just putting up black boxes to hide the transition.

[Malenko]

Not to be nit-picky, but I think this would look even better if the screen angle matched the side-panels.

Just showing that I take a lot of people's opinions here seriously....

Pulled EVERYTHING out of the cab to restart the "stuffing of the guts"

notice the old alignment of the mobo, cards pointed to the right

Remounted the hard drive to the back of the monitor board instead of between the monitor and the board:


The monitor remounted as  close the the "side lines" as I could get. The very bottom of the screen is hidden behind the cross-bar but you can still see it when standing up and looking at the screen.  I might sneak my dremel in there and trim it back, but its not likely.

Also, the cards now face the front, which made wiring significantly easier and cleaner.

borrowed Chad electrician hat:



Slightly out of focus, but the USB speaker is mounted to the monitor board, its clamped in place. I used some industrial duct tape for a little added stability. Used 2 small pieces for the hard drive (its mounted with industrial velcro) as well. Power Block is wired, red button is the power button for the PC, and I have another Neutrik USB pass through on order. I originally bought a network pass through, but its not possible to mount easily on this cab.


All the wiring inside is grouped with zip ties (even the ATX cord from the PS to the mobo) and its super nice and tidy inside.

[Malenko]

A little more progress. 


Back door fan mount, blows air OUT the back of the cab:



I will be making the monitor bezel tonight and working on adding MAME/MaLa and loading up the rest of the shmup steam games and all the other software I bought for this thing. Couple hundred bucks in software alone!

[harveybirdman]

Is there room for side art?  You know I love racing stripes....  Maybe a Mecha with a sword!

Everything is looking good with this little sucker. 

[Peabo]

Can you mount the back door with the holes up top?  If so, I don't think you'll need that fan.  The one I built for my brother does just fine, with the cpu (I3-2120) running around 52-53C under load with a stock cooler and no case fans.

Looking good though.  Nice job with the Artwork

[Malenko]

Can you mount the back door with the holes up top?  If so, I don't think you'll need that fan.  The one I built for my brother does just fine, with the cpu (I3-2120) running around 52-53C under load with a stock cooler and no case fans.

Looking good though.  Nice job with the Artwork

no fan and the mobo goes apeshit. Plus it looks neat lighting up red in the dark 

[Malenko]

Try #2!  (clicked submit, took me to the sign in screen, post gone)

I installed the V2.0 control panel, to add the fourth button and to switch over to Japanese buttons. Pulled the servo and put a Japanese clone stick in there.


Galaga is great!


Tested to see how big horizontal games would show up. Totally playable!


Not a shooter, but hey, MsPacMan!


All these years later, still cant 1cc

[snakezone]

I love the final design, nice color combinations !

[Token]

Looking good!

I'm interested to see your approach on a bezel for this project.

[vwalbridge]

Clean and compact. I like it. 

[harveybirdman]

I don't really even like bartops, but I still think this thing is totally bad-ass.

Yeah I get pretty lost after level two when it comes to DDP 3

[emphatic]

Very nice.

[opt2not]

Sweet and simple bartop. I like it. 

[Malenko]

So after getting the new CP all squared away, I decided to finish off the front art:

[n3wt0n]

Looks good Malenko! 

[Peabo]

Looking good.  What's in store for the CP? 

[BadMouth]

Was there a particular game that prompted you to add the 4th button?

[emphatic]

Was there a particular game that prompted you to add the 4th button?

I'm guessing ESPGALUDA, ESPGALUDA II, DDP DAIFUKKATSU?

[Malenko]

Was there a particular game that prompted you to add the 4th button?

I'm guessing ESPGALUDA, ESPGALUDA II, DDP DAIFUKKATSU?

Cave shooters in general, I'd rather have the 4th button and not need it, over needing a 4th button and not having it.

[Malenko]

Small update, that big ass LCD ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- the bed, so I tossed a better sized one in the cab:


Sorry for the washout, Im an IT guy not a photographer, and its a phone not a camera

I also have the USB and Power sockets permanently mounted:

yes, one of them is a ballhair crooked , buts a non issue.

gratuitous booty shot:

[Malenko]

Looking good!

I'm interested to see your approach on a bezel for this project.

Was just black construction paper behind plexi.  Forgot to take pix before I sold it.