Prefab Bartop Build

[vaportrail]

Hey guys,

I didn't cut the wood, but I figured I would post on here about my Bartop arcade build.  I picked up a kit from game room solutions last week and just posted a Youtube video on the unboxing.  It will be sporting a Rasberry Pi 3 and running Hyperpie as the front end.   It's my first venture into an Arcade system, and a lot has changed from 7 years ago when I first downloaded Hyperspin and 20,000+ ROM's for my PC.  I never got around to building one until now, and I'm kind of glad that I waited.  More posts/pics/videos to come.

[vaportrail]

Here's an update, got the build finished and spent the last couple of days playing on it and tweaking it a bit. Had a few too many wheels for my liking so I hid some of them. Also connected a mini wifi keyboard and set up a search function to make it easier to find games. Before that it was nearly impossible to find a game you were looking for. Anyways, here is the build video condensed down to about 5 mins.

[busbeepbeep]

Very cool video.   Thanks for sharing.  That bartop looks great.  Really like the graphics.

[Arroyo]

That you were able to complete that in what looks like 2-3 days is....well....is just awesome.  Very jealous right now.  Congrats.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[vaportrail]

Thanks guys, it was about 2 days, but only because of forums like this and others that have paved the way before me.  When I was looking into this stuff about 7 years ago, it was almost all DIY.  There were no "kits" that you could buy yet, and the info was much harder to search out!

[vaportrail]

Here are some pics of the finished product.

[djlunchbox]

That's awesome man!! I'm waiting on my kit from GRS tp arrive. Couple of questions:

1) what were you laying down in the speaker/marquee area.

2) what LED strips did you use and how did you wire them?

I like the Mars Attack theme, very unique!

[vaportrail]

That's awesome man!! I'm waiting on my kit from GRS tp arrive. Couple of questions:

1) what were you laying down in the speaker/marquee area.

2) what LED strips did you use and how did you wire them?

I like the Mars Attack theme, very unique!

Congrats, you will love it! What did you end up going with for artwork?

1) I put some aluminum HVAC tape inside the marquee box, and then I cut and covered a piece of cardboard to mount the lights to.  I had bought the tape from Lowes for another project a while back.  It was probably overkill, but I thought it might reflect the light around the marquee so that the light is distributed out evenly.  https://www.lowes.com/pd/3M-1-88-in-W-x-150-ft-L-HVAC-Tape/4009603

2) The LED strips actually came with the "Guts mega pack" from GRS.  You can get the same lights from Amazon, as well as the power supply to run them. They're pretty simple to hook up, just connect to the 12v power supply and then plug that into your power strip.  So they turn on when you switch on the power to the cabinet. http://a.co/7PVZM8r  http://a.co/bwo9i0E.

Just a couple of things I noticed with my build.  First thing is, I used all 16.4 ft of lights with my kit, and quickly realized that it was too bright.  I ended up throwing in a dimmer I had laying around from when I put similar strip lights under our kitchen cabinets.  If you install them the same way that I did, I would recommend only using 8 ft of lights.  Second thing is that I played around a bit with the placement of lights, and found that if I covered the entire piece of cardboard with light, the speakers would cast a shadow on the marquee.  I found that if you start your lights about 2" from the bottom of the cardboard (the depth of the speakers) I got excellent light coverage without any shadows. 

Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions.

[djlunchbox]

Ahhh ok that's good to know about the lights. I wasn't planning on using that much LED lighting, at least not all in the marquee. I plan to add some so the underside lights up as well.

I went with what I dub Arc:Eden Reloaded. Took the sides from ArcEden but made my own Marquee and control Panel. I'll start a post.

I'll definitely be getting that reflective tape. Legit after I wrote that I figured out what it was haha.

[vaportrail]

Nice, are you going RGB color changing LED’s? I’ve seen a couple of those builds and they are very cool looking.

I’m not familiar with Arc Edens build.  I’ll have to do some searching and check it out, or just eagerly await your build!

[GnobarEl]

Great Build! I love your arcade, hope you enjoy a great time with it!

Were did you buy the buttons kit? Can you share the link?
Are you happy with them?

thanks.

Best Regards.

[vaportrail]

Great Build! I love your arcade, hope you enjoy a great time with it!

Were did you buy the buttons kit? Can you share the link?
Are you happy with them?

thanks.

Best Regards.

Thanks, I have been playing some games on it and slowly configuring things here and there.  It is a blast!

The buttons/joysticks I purchased from GRS.  I believe they are just generic LED buttons, and generic LED Joysticks.  So far I have been happy with them.  The only negative thing I can say is that when new the LED's inside the buttons were all the same brightness, but just over the past couple of weeks I have noticed that 5 of them are slightly dimmer than the rest.  I've read that same complaint from someone else in the forums of similar buttons.  It's not a deal breaker and doesn't affect the functionality, but I am a little picky when it comes to things like that.   

Buttons: https://gameroomsolutions.com/shop/chrome-illuminated-led-arcade-push-button/
Joysticks: https://gameroomsolutions.com/shop/illuminated-joystick/

Are you building a setup right now? 

[GnobarEl]

Hello,

thanks for your reply.

I'm thinking to build a bartop arcade for the last 5 years :p hopefully the time is now!

I was looking around when I found your arcade and that get me inspired to make one. I will might need some tips from you =)

About the LEDs, cant you replace them with others?

Best Regards,

[vaportrail]

Hello,

thanks for your reply.

I'm thinking to build a bartop arcade for the last 5 years :p hopefully the time is now!

I was looking around when I found your arcade and that get me inspired to make one. I will might need some tips from you =)

About the LEDs, cant you replace them with others?

Best Regards,

LOL....You sound just like me...I found MAME and Hyperspin about 7 years ago and loaded it onto an old PC.  The plan was always to build a full size arcade until I started snooping around on the forums again a few months ago.  The bartops are perfect because they don't take up a bunch of space up, and are just more manageable to work with. The amount of resources and information is amazing now.  What are you waiting for?  Go for it! 

Yes the bulbs are changeable, although I haven't yet looked around for a source for just the bulbs.

[GnobarEl]

Thanks for your support! That really makes me motivated!

Now we just need a video from your playing it

Cheers!

[barrymossel]

Now we just need a video from your playing it

Get a room, you two...

[GnobarEl]

Wanna Join? :p

[vaportrail]

Haha....sorry....got caught up in the bromance!

[GnobarEl]

HAHAH!

[vaportrail]

Here are some more shots of the internals.