first cp build

[sitzkrieg]

Been lurking & planning for awhile. I design/build RC planes & brew beer in my garage. It's time to add an arcade system to the mix. Only a few types of games being played, fighters (sf2, mk), 4-player side scrollers (simpsons, tmnt), gauntlet, blitz, the stuff from my youth.

I've sketched out an "Aircraft Carrier" layout. It's 54" wide, 18.25" deep overall. The CP itself is 5/8" wood, 1/8" plexiglass top, CNC cut. The framework is all 1/2". The upper CP corner reinforcements are 1", pedestal's are 1/2". I wanted a healthy amount of wrist room, so p1/p2 have 6", p3/p4 get 5" from the center of the joystick. The center of the trackball is 11" from the p1/p2 edge.

Sticks will be GGG Roundhouse with SmoothJoy switches, ClassX buttons with True-Leaf Pro switches, i-pac ultimate, & a utrak ball. All the sticks are oriented towards the screen, p3/p4 button layouts are rotated to be parallel to the player's edge.



Simple pedestal mount. The CP slides right over the top of the pedestal, where I'll countersink some screws and epoxy it together. The tilt is 7 degrees. The lower edge of the CP is 34.5" from the ground. They are not drawn in, but I intend to hinge the lid for maintenance access, t-strip the panel, and mount an under-panel raspberry pi 3 with retropie for the brains. The screen will be a wall mount 55" lcd. I'll probably add diagonal bracing to the pedestal, it's going to be abused.

[dgrams2000]

Looking good.
Just my personal preference that I think the Player game buttons are a little awkward for me all over on your layout.
But if that is how you like to play and if they are comfortable for you - then go for it! 
I have been a fan for the straight across button layout.  (Street Fighter style)  but that is just me.

 (P4 LOOKS wacky to me, but I understand that you are going off the angle of the CP, so I get what you are doing.  Just looks visually deceiving, with the buttons going 'upwards')

Make sure your buttons don't get too close to the frame on the underside.  In one picture it looks like your top 4 buttons might be kinda close.

Can't wait to see more!

[Slippyblade]

Yay for not angling your sticks!

[sitzkrieg]

Just my personal preference that I think the Player game buttons are a little awkward for me all over on your layout.
But if that is how you like to play and if they are comfortable for you - then go for it! 
I have been a fan for the straight across button layout.  (Street Fighter style)  but that is just me.

This is the Sega layout from slagcoin's panel layout page. It's not as aesthetically pleasing as the straight row layout, but it's very, very comfortable to use.

Thank you for the other suggestion. I moved my top row of buttons down 1/2", that should handle any clearance issues caused by the panel's slant.

[jimmyfloyd]

looks interesting to me. I can see the button arrangement looks visually awkward, but you are probably right with being more comfortable. And I like that you left room for wrist support. I have seen many that do not leave much room there.

[Cynicaster]

I design/build RC planes & brew beer in my garage. It's time to add an arcade system to the mix.

I can confirm that a MAME rig is great for killing time during the mash and the boil. 

Project looks cool.  I prefer a proper PC to a Raspberry Pi any day of the week but I guess I can see the appeal of the Pi's small form factor in a compact build.  You might want to do some research to make sure the Pi is powerful enough to smoothly run everything you want to play. 

I assume those buttons along the top are coin/start buttons?  Have you considered moving them to the front/sides of the control box? 

Lastly, be careful with joystick mounting locations.  The P1 stick looks awfully close to hitting the sides of the box.  Make sure you account for the full footprint of the joystick base, and also some room for wires/terminals to hang off the edges. 



 

[sitzkrieg]

I design/build RC planes & brew beer in my garage. It's time to add an arcade system to the mix.

I can confirm that a MAME rig is great for killing time during the mash and the boil. 

Project looks cool.  I prefer a proper PC to a Raspberry Pi any day of the week but I guess I can see the appeal of the Pi's small form factor in a compact build.  You might want to do some research to make sure the Pi is powerful enough to smoothly run everything you want to play. 

I assume those buttons along the top are coin/start buttons?  Have you considered moving them to the front/sides of the control box? 

Lastly, be careful with joystick mounting locations.  The P1 stick looks awfully close to hitting the sides of the box.  Make sure you account for the full footprint of the joystick base, and also some room for wires/terminals to hang off the edges.

Awesome. Going to an all-electric BIAB system. Lots of standing around waiting on timers.

I'm considering using an older gaming laptop instead of a Pi. I have several laying around. I'm really not particular on what the system is.

I'm looking at moving the top buttons. Definitely not married to where they're at right now. I don't think this layout is that good of a plan. If somebody wants to play Golden Tee, there's no way they won't hit the 4 center ones. A front mount might just be the answer. To more easily fit the joysticks, I'm going to need to widen the pedestal and center of the CP framework by 2". It'll have a little less overhang, but install & maintenance will be much easier. I'd considered pinball buttons but I think I'd rather just build a virtual pinball cab as a standalone project.

[Cynicaster]

Awesome. Going to an all-electric BIAB system. Lots of standing around waiting on timers.

It's all Blichmann burners, Igloo coolers, and plastic buckets for me. 

I'm considering using an older gaming laptop instead of a Pi. I have several laying around. I'm really not particular on what the system is.

I'm looking at moving the top buttons. Definitely not married to where they're at right now. I don't think this layout is that good of a plan. If somebody wants to play Golden Tee, there's no way they won't hit the 4 center ones. A front mount might just be the answer. To more easily fit the joysticks, I'm going to need to widen the pedestal and center of the CP framework by 2". It'll have a little less overhang, but install & maintenance will be much easier. I'd considered pinball buttons but I think I'd rather just build a virtual pinball cab as a standalone project.

I guarantee you'll be much happier using one of your laptops.  Plus, it's always nice to find jobs for disused gear. 

You're right about Golden Tee.  Another annoyance with games like that is sometimes the proximity of the joysticks to the ball can be annoying when trying to do those moves where you roll the ball at different angles. 

[sitzkrieg]

I think that's about it. Added token buttons & top hinged front hatch + internal shelf for a laptop to the pedestal. Moved the player start buttons to the front of the panel, under the overhang. Added all of the screw holes (it's a big overbuilt, but it has to hold up to drunk adults). Removed the emulator control buttons, will probably put them inside the front hatch. Added holes for the fan & wire routing. Changed how it fits together, using angle aluminum bolting the bottom of the panel to the top of the pedestal. Moved the joysticks a little to fit their mounting plates. Changed up the electronic selection a little but it's all the same footprint.

Time to get ready to CNC it soon.