Retro themed bartop (Retrocade). First time build 2P

[gomeq]

This is going to be my first built on a bartop arcade machine. Did lots of reading on the topic and got really enthusiastic about building my own.

I want to build a two player bartop with a Raspberry Pi inside running Retropie.

I am planning to start building this fall. This gives me the time to correct lots of components and start working on a theme. Most of the components are ordered via AliExpress. When I have time I will start making a list of all the stuff I ordered with corresponding prices and links.

For the artwork I got inspired by the evo XR cade bartop. http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=123039.0

Just made some first sketches for the marquee. Is all very early stage stuff but I am interested in your opinion.

[Richie_jones]

I like these marquees.. very nice

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[Typefighter01]

I actually like the last marquee color palette best, would look classy in a living room vs a basement games room. Only thing is, you would want some sort of pastel button colors to go along with it to really tie it in. I have seen button colors similar to this (never seen brown at all) in some fight stick thread on shoryuken.com, but I can't find them now.

You say most of the components are ordered, what color buttons and joy stick tops are you getting...that might help dictate which color scheme works best.

[Alejo I]

Fantastic choice of colours and lovely art. All them are great, but I think I'm partial to the two at the bottom. They have this old timey vintage electronics look and grading.

[gomeq]

I actually like the last marquee color palette best, would look classy in a living room vs a basement games room. Only thing is, you would want some sort of pastel button colors to go along with it to really tie it in. I have seen button colors similar to this (never seen brown at all) in some fight stick thread on shoryuken.com, but I can't find them now.

You say most of the components are ordered, what color buttons and joy stick tops are you getting...that might help dictate which color scheme works best.

Thanks for the tip on the button colors. I'm going to do some research on this topic. If anybody has some links to share with me would be nice.

About the component, the controls part is one of the things that needs to be done. Not quite sure what type of controller I'm going for and what the button scheme is going to look like.

[gomeq]

Here are a some new color test ready for some feedback

[Brouhaha]

Second or fourth (using brown as font color instead of gray) with wood laminate on the sides would look awesome.  I'd go with yellow and/or orange controls.

[Slippyblade]

I like #2. 

Dump #6, the gaps between the color bars just looks... off.

[vwalbridge]

dump the words "classic game machine"

If people don't know what they are standing in front of, then they shouldn't be playing on it. 

[markc74]

I like #2. 

Dump #6, the gaps between the color bars just looks... off.

Agreed - unless you were planning on putting white rings around your controls in which case it would tie it together nicely.

All the marquees look nice to me - let's see the control panel tho. You need to see the artwork in context to make a real judgement

(Says the man who builds black and white cabs) 

[harveybirdman]

Let me be the first to commend you on your original name.

 

Now that the appropriate shade has been thrown, let's talk feedback

I like the white one.

[n3wt0n]

I really dig the style of all the marquees but at first glance like #6 the best. The rest of the pieces need to be considered though. Nice work.

[yotsuya]

I love the simple old school look you're going for. To me, it's much better than a bunch of roided-out characters looking like they want to kick each other's asses.

[Wyo]

I'm in the #2 or #6 rock camp. Those color schemes are gonna be badass!

[gomeq]

I'm not quiet sure if I want to go for a light of dark theme. I like the idea of a light marquee and control panel in combination with a dark cabinet.

If I go for a dark theme I don't think a dark cabinet will work. Anybody any suggestions or examples on how this will work?

I think I want to go for orange buttons and a joystick. Are the orange ones you see everywhere very bright or do they have that retro look which fit my theme?

[yamatetsu]

This is probably not the type of cab you want to go for and the angles are all kinds of wrong, but this might give you an idea of what it could look like.

[gomeq]

This is probably not the type of cab you want to go for and the angles are all kinds of wrong, but this might give you an idea of what it could look like.

Thnx for the impression, the yellow is a bit to much for me. I think i m going for orange tmolding if not to bright and  brown sides. But your image gives a good idea

[nordemoniac]

How about centering the text. The name is the center of attention.
Don't have all the lines visible. I did a a simple crop/move here, maybe the lines will have to be changed to make this look nice. In my opinion they should be the same width.

Move the lines or add some so there's no background at the right, only the colored lines. Also, maybe have a oval ring around the whole thing in one or a few of those colors.

[gomeq]

Did some quick sketch work on the side panels. As a background I love the dark brown wood grain as you see on the old arcade machines.

[nordemoniac]

Did some quick sketch work on the side panels. As a background I love the dark brown wood grain as you see on the old arcade machines.

I like the first one.

[harveybirdman]

fourth

[yamatetsu]

If I had to choose, I'd take #4. However, I would go with option #6 : Skip the graphics, go find a piece of wood with a nice color and grain, and use that. Sometimes less is more ...

[plazma]

First but curve the stripes towards the marquee.

[nordemoniac]

First but curve the stripes towards the marquee.

And maybe add the edge stripe from the 4th one?

[gomeq]

Finally had some time to do some rework on the prototype. I tweaked the initial design so the monitor angle is a bit more vertical and the  marquee section has more depth so the speakers will fit more easily.

I find it hard to figure out the best position for the controls. I used some templates from slackcoin but can't figure out what's the ideal position from the bottom and the side to the controls. Anyone any thoughts on this one?

[leapinlew]

I would pull back some of the marquee overhang and move the speakers to the base of the cabinet (pushing sound down the base). The marquee overhang sort of forces you into looking straight ahead into it.

[gomeq]

Finally got my hands on another piece of cardboard. Made some changes to the design again. The viewing angle was indeed a bit of. I'm quite long so the marquee partially blocked my view. Tilted the monitor angle a bit more to the back and the marquee section has less length now.
I don't like the idea of putting the speakers to the base. I left enough space to put them in the marquee section. Hope to update you with some pictures this week.

Thnx for the feedback guys.

[UEDan]

Wow, that looks so similar to my bartop:


I did speakers in the overhand as well. I have a 4-5 inch overhand and was just able to fit 2-3 inch speaker in.
Image 2 is the button layout I used. Keep in mind my bartop is 2 feet wide.
Good luck and have fun.

[gomeq]

I did speakers in the overhand as well. I have a 4-5 inch overhand and was just able to fit 2-3 inch speaker in.
Image 2 is the button layout I used. Keep in mind my bartop is 2 feet wide.
Good luck and have fun.

In deed, got any photo's from the interior where you place the speakers or a topic item to see this build?



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[reptileink]

If you are looking for pastel type buttons, you could always buy white ones, and use RIT dye. A short dip will give you just enough color to appear pastel, and you can re-dip to get darker if you so choose. 

Loving the old school look of this. The name? Not so much, but as long as you like it, that's all that matters.

[UEDan]

No actual build thread. But I posted it here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10204039449819100.1073741826.1609613654&type=1&l=fd30d84054
You can see the speaker holes and a single speaker in the "mockup" picture.
Speakers I used were these:
https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Powered-Computer-Speakers-A100/dp/B00GHY5F3K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1476396209&sr=8-1&keywords=amazon+basic+speakers

The front face comes off with grill. Routed a rectangle hole big enough for it and used acrylic bar to hold it in place.
The speakers have a lip, so it hides everything very well. I can take more pictures when I get home if you'd like.

[gomeq]

Here is the final result

[ivwshane]

I don't know if you already decided but #6 looks like something from the 70's and definitely gives it the most old school look.

[gomeq]

Did some sketching of the button layout. Can anyone give me some feedback on the amount of 'system buttons'. For now I only have two at the top. Is this enough? I have no experience with the ipac 2 in combination with Retropi. I know buttons can have a double config via a shift function.

What are the common actions?

- exit
- pause
- menu?
- volume up/down?
- reset?

[PL1]

Looks like a reasonable number of admin buttons.   

One consideration is that you might want to swap the Exit and Pause buttons.

In the current setup, if you're pressing Pause with your right index finger, your other fingers might accidently press Exit.

IMHO, it's better to accidently press Pause when trying to Exit.  YMMV.

Shifted functions:
- At a minimum, make sure that Menu (P1 Start + P1 Joystick Right) is disabled.

Pinball buttons:
- No ball launch?
- No L/R/Up nudge?
- What type of buttons do you plan to use?  Goldleafs?  GGG ClassX True-leafs?  (Microswitches suck for pinball   )


Scott

[gomeq]

Finally started with some woodworking. All the parts where cut out an 18mm thick MDF panel. The side panels where done with a jigsaw an then equalized both panels with a sander.

Next I will be rounding some sides with a router. This will be the first time working with this tool. Very curious how this will end up.

[gomeq]

All the routing stuff is done now. Added the grooves for the t-molding and the marquee panel. Also rounded some edges.

[gomeq]

Today I finally had time to assemble the base of the bartop. The control panel will be mounted to the base with a piano hinge so that it will be easy to access the all the hardware inside.

Yesterday I ordered all the hardware for the control panel. The joysticks will be a Seimitsu LS-32 and for the buttons I chose orange and black IL PSL-H Concave Arcade Buttons. This will all be wired up to a ipac2 keyboard encoder.

No have to wait for some drill bits to arrive from China so I can add to the back door.

[jimmyfloyd]

Looks great. This is on my winter project list. Like the cardboard mockup. Did you find a template for the sides, or did you design it yourself?

[gomeq]

Did you find a template for the sides, or did you design it yourself?

My design is based on another design which I modified to fit my needs. I can share it with you if you want.

[gomeq]

Test fitted the piano hinge. This gave me the opportunity to place the supporting beams for the control panel and the monitor bezel in the correct position.

Did a quick test fit for the monitor mount. Pretty happy with the result so far.

[gomeq]

The cabinet needs some air vents so I came up with the idea to do some pixel art on the back door panel. This is a test I did on some left over MDF to see how it would end up.

Happy with the result but have my doubts if it will interfere with the retro design direction I'm going for. On the other hand its just a detail on the back.

[gomeq]

control panel hardware finally arrived



Cut out the monitor bezel and added the monitor mounting plate. Also printed some test designs tot see how they would fit.

[gomeq]

Here is a small update on the project. Added the back door. Fitted the plexiglass plate, installed the speakers and painted everything.

Now need the let everything dry and start with the installment op the hardware.

[mafiafan123]

Here is a small update on the project. Added the back door. Fitted the plexiglass plate, installed the speakers and painted everything.

Now need the let everything dry and start with the installment op the hardware.

Looks neat!  What type of speakers are those?

[gomeq]

Looks neat!  What type of speakers are those?

3 inch 4ohm 10 W Stereo Speakers
 http://www.aliexpress.com/item/32695620877/32695620877.html

[gomeq]

Drilled the holes for the buttons and joystick and tested how everything would fit. To be honest, I'm very happy with the result so far.

I'm still not sure what color I want for the t-molding. In one picture you'll see for example pieces. What do you guys thing?

Does anyone have any experience with dark themed marquees. How many light will the let through?

[yamatetsu]

Based on your t-molding examples.



My favorite would be red. Dark brown would work, too, but red pops more.

[mafiafan123]

Based on your t-molding examples.



My favorite would be red. Dark brown would work, too, but red pops more.

I like the dark brown but that's my opinion

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[markc74]

Orange. Ties the buttons and artwork together nicely. The rest don't look right at all.

Cool invader on the back 

[gomeq]

Based on your t-molding examples.



My favorite would be red. Dark brown would work, too, but red pops more.

Thnx for the examples. I doubt between the orange and dark brown color. I guest black will also be an option.

[yamatetsu]

Does anyone have any experience with dark themed marquees. How many light will the let through?

If you are worried about the black parts letting light through, you can block those parts with thin cardboard. Cut it to marquee size, print the marquee, put it onto the cardboard, use a scalpel or something like that to cut out all non-black parts. Now you can doubletape that cardboard to a piece of plexi, then put the marquee onto that and put a second piece of plexi on it.

[gomeq]

Well I do want some light to go through the dark areas. I'm worried it won't be enough.

[yamatetsu]

That will depend on the material you print the marquee on, then. You probably will need to put a strong light source behind it.
There is this guy Lucian045 in this forum who prints marquees and artwork for forum members. Maybe you can contact him via email and ask him whether his material lets light through dark areas or not.

[gomeq]

Printed the designs to see how they would fit and look on the cabinet. I think it looks nice.

I still have my doubts about color of the t-molding.

[GSXRMovistar]

That looks killer! Now thinking black t-molding would go very nicely.

[NIVO]

Oinge FTW! Remember that 70's orange shag carpet that we all had or knew someone who had it in their living room? I mean the rig does say RETROcade right?

[Mike A]

I had orange, green, and brown shag in my bedroom growing up. 

[Locke141]

This is coming along nicely.

In regards the choice of T-molding, if I was you I'd think about where this build is going to live. Bright orange t-molbing may fit the 1970's theme but it may stick out like a sour thumb in your living room. Just something to consider.

[ugleymatt]

Thanks for sharing the build process of this, very useful.

One question i had was how are you powering the speakers?

[gomeq]

One question i had was how are you powering the speakers?

I bought this amp
http://s.aliexpress.com/f6rMFfAZ

[gomeq]

Finally had time to add the decals. They came up really nice I think. Also added the t-molding but forgot to take a picture of that.

I'm really not happy with the monitor bevel so I think I'm going to redo this part.

Next stop is also the wiring inside. No need to find some time to start working on this part of the job.

[yamatetsu]

How about doing a decal for the bezel? Right now the bezel stands out too much.

[gomeq]

How about doing a decal for the bezel? Right now the bezel stands out too much.

I'm indeed thinking about replacing this bezel with an acrylic glass plate and putting a decal on it. The monitor sits way to deep now and doesn't look right to me.

[ugleymatt]

This is coming on very nicely.

I agree that the monitor bezel doesnt look quite right as it is, the rest of the cab is so superb. The depth of the monitor might not matter as much when you get the glass infront of it though. So maybe try that before you go changing the monitor location too much.

I'm making mine out of plywood and was originally going to stain it and keep the wood effect, but i am now looking at a vinyl artwork and seeing how you have made the CP top and front into a single piece with that lovely rounding has confirmed that for me.

Are you planning on putting plexiglass over the control panel or leaving it as is? After seeing yours i am considering the piano hinge CP as it looks like a great way to get access easily. Would also make it very easy to access the joystick to switch into 4-8 way modes.

How do you lift the panel up? just pull the joysticks i guess? I thought of maybe using strong magnets to keep it closed down.

[gomeq]

How do you lift the panel up? just pull the joysticks i guess? I thought of maybe using strong magnets to keep it closed down.

Haven't got the best photo to show you at the moment but notice the two metal plates in de corner. These will click on magnets that sits next to the wooden bars that supports the control panel when in closed position.

I can open the panel by pulling on the joysticks but a better way is to open the back door and push the panel out from the inside.

[ugleymatt]

Thats exactly what i was considering doing, so nice to see that two people had the same idea at least.

I'll have a look at my control panel plans and see how i can modify them.

[gomeq]

I added the emulationstation theme to github. For anyone who's interested here is the link to the repo.

[BrandonLaw]

I've made a few arcades, but I'm really enjoying the side/control panel artwork.  Are you considering sharing the theme by chance?  That would be great!  (I'm in the process of building a bartop for my folks' new place which is a wood cabin, and this would go great!)