Full size arcade plan suggestions?

[proplayer77]

I have now gathered almost all the stuff needed for a full size cabin.

I have several 24" inch widescreens and a 37" Samsung tv to use as monitor. This is going to decide a bit how wide its going to be.

I was thinking about 4 player, but i think 2 player will do, as its going to be in my garage to start with and with not that active use at first.

What do you suggest? Its going to be a Retropie machine to start with, later on Hyperspin. This is while i want to get it going on and then use more time for the Hyperspin, i also need to build a bit more effective pc that i first thought using.

Im happy to check out links to your plans.

Thx in advance.

[Mike A]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Arcade+cabinet+plans

[stigzler]

A full sized cabin like this one?



Yer gonna need a lot of wood

[yotsuya]

A full sized cabin like this one?



Yer gonna need a lot of wood

He did ask for a full-size arcade plan, I think you can fit plenty of arcade cabinets inside that building if you make it an arcade.

[stigzler]

True - get rid of all that wood, replace it with sweaty bricks and sticky carpet and he'd have his arcade.

[Jakobud]

Old school but still works: http://jakobud.com

[Mauxe]

I agree with Mike A.  Reminds me of when I am around my kids when they ask me a basic question. I always reply, "If only there were a way for us to find out that answer.  If I could I would pay for you kids to have a device that you could carry around and ask just these sorts of questions..."

I also know that there is a lot of stuff that comes up when you enter that search.  I have been parsing through a lot of it myself.  There are some really, really good resources out there - most of them from this site..  Here are a few that I have found incredibly helpful both in answering build questions and for cabinet design:

• http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,135116.0.html - I'm not looking for a 4-player cab but this one looks done right.  Lot of helpful resources and he also links to many other great projects in his first post.  I also bookmarked other links from within his post.  Really good stuff.
• http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,130690.0.html - Great project and post.  Very informative.
• http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,129725.0.html - Another great post and build.  He has a plan on his first page somewhere.  I like this style - I think I just want my CP enclosed by the cab sides rather than overhung.
• http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,156272.0.html - This is what I started basing my own plans off of.  I love the whole look.  He is still working on it and you can follow along at the link.  I think art is next on his list.
• http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,118612.0.html - This one also.  I used the plans here as a reference along with the previous link.  I forget on what page I found the plans link.  They aren't on the main post anymore but another user posted a link to them in the post somewhere.  It's well worth reading the entire post.

That is really only scratching the surface.  There are so many great cabs to see on these forums.  I have found it best to take it slow, read as much as you can and really plan out what you want.
Most of the posts you see have at least some sort of plan you can reference.

I'm also now going to check out Jakobud's stuff.
And his arcade cabinets.

[wp34]

You probably are not going to find a cabinet suitable for what you are trying to accomplish but here is a great site for plans.

https://www.classicarcadecabinets.com/

[paigeoliver]

The single most important thing about your build is the choice of display. The second would be controls and the third would be what powers it. Fourth would be cabinet design.

Everything you are ever going to emulate is 4:3 aspect ratio and designed with a CRT in mind. Yet you have chosen widescreen LCD as your display.

The pi, despite its capability is the worst possible thing anyone is using to power their cabinets. I am not going to say it can't do things, I am simply going to stress that of all possible choices you could make it is the worst. Most longterm builders, including Mame developers agree with me on this.

So, you already locked yourself into making worst possible choices for #1 and #3. #4 doesn't even matter at this point, build it out of cardboard.

Now with that said, build a copy of a Defender cabinet, it is easy to build with basic hand tools, doesn't have any curves, has an easy shelf the mount the monitor, the control panel is a flat piece of wood that holds a 2 player fighter layout just fine, and can squeeze a bonus control in if you get a bit creative. A 21" PC crt monitor or a 19" 4:3 LCD fills the monitor bay perfectly.

[stigzler]

Agreed on Pi's in a full sized cab. Tragedy. OK for small builds, but put yourself a PC in there - you can then upgrade as you go along if needed. Also think carefully before design what systems you are going to want it to play. Then imagine yourself in a year imagining what systems you wish you'd built it to play.

Once you got this, buy you PC to match. Agreed on the control point too - I bought a budget joys/buttons set, but soon realised with all the effort putting into build that wanted it to play well on my kinda games (fighting/schmups) - thus ended up buying Sanwa 8 ways.

Then consider:

Display/s
Lighting
Audio
Features (light guns/rotating monitor etc etc etc)

For me, the display thing depends on what your design aims are for your builds. If it's to solely play 80s + early 90s classics, then a CRT makes sense. However, if it's going to be multi-system up to PS2/Wii etc then a LCD might suit better? You can always apply shaders over the top to get effects - again, for me, this is the personal choice of the builder.

Lastly, on the Defender cab recommendation, that depends on what kind of a chap you are:

If you're naturally handy and think in practical terms then I'd say forget simple + go big or go home. You'd thank yourself for it later. However, that's in terms of design challenges (such as curved edges, integrated audio etc) not in terms of pushing the envelopes of "what is an arcade machine." Aircraft Carriers are a no-no for me, as are TVs on sticks with a box put in front of it. For me - try and make it look like an arcade machine.

If you struggle to put up a shelf, then buy a pre-made kit.

Alternatively, build a log cabin and call it "Dennis"

[nitrogen_widget]

A full sized cabin like this one?



Yer gonna need a lot of wood

He did ask for a full-size arcade plan, I think you can fit plenty of arcade cabinets inside that building if you make it an arcade.

Saw pics of a rental property in the blue ridge mountains with a "Multi-Cade" covered in log cabin siding. should of saved the pic.

[proplayer77]

I agree with Mike A.  Reminds me of when I am around my kids when they ask me a basic question. I always reply, "If only there were a way for us to find out that answer.  If I could I would pay for you kids to have a device that you could carry around and ask just these sorts of questions..."

I also know that there is a lot of stuff that comes up when you enter that search.  I have been parsing through a lot of it myself.  There are some really, really good resources out there - most of them from this site..  Here are a few that I have found incredibly helpful both in answering build questions and for cabinet design:

• http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,135116.0.html - I'm not looking for a 4-player cab but this one looks done right.  Lot of helpful resources and he also links to many other great projects in his first post.  I also bookmarked other links from within his post.  Really good stuff.
• http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,130690.0.html - Great project and post.  Very informative.
• http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,129725.0.html - Another great post and build.  He has a plan on his first page somewhere.  I like this style - I think I just want my CP enclosed by the cab sides rather than overhung.
• http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,156272.0.html - This is what I started basing my own plans off of.  I love the whole look.  He is still working on it and you can follow along at the link.  I think art is next on his list.
• http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,118612.0.html - This one also.  I used the plans here as a reference along with the previous link.  I forget on what page I found the plans link.  They aren't on the main post anymore but another user posted a link to them in the post somewhere.  It's well worth reading the entire post.

That is really only scratching the surface.  There are so many great cabs to see on these forums.  I have found it best to take it slow, read as much as you can and really plan out what you want.
Most of the posts you see have at least some sort of plan you can reference.

I'm also now going to check out Jakobud's stuff.
And his arcade cabinets.

Thx to all replies. Ive allready finished one Rpi bartop and have hyperspin test running on laptop so im going to use more time on planning as i want to be also a spotify jukebox thru hyperspin. I have 18cm and 14cm plywood sheets waiting for the planning. 🙂