Project - Starcade (Finished!)

[opt2not]

It looks great, congrats on completing it. You made great progress in a short period of time, compared to a lot of projects here. You should be proud, it looks fantastic. (maybe down the line you can add some side-art to really complete the whole package).

Sorry about the reflection. The marquee didn't turn out the way I had hoped. Its a lazer etched infinity mirror, but the infinity mirror part doesn't really look as good as I hoped. I went cheap and used two-way tint film when I should have used real two-way mirror.

I dunno, from the pictures it still looks pretty good. Very cool concept, especially because it's a simple idea that uses a traditional amusement technique to get an awesome effect.  I'm sure down the line you can upgrade this to a proper two-way mirror, but for now I think it looks cool.

I just wanted to also say thank you to every one on the forum that gave advise and help, especially with the control panel. I am glad I listened to you guys.

Happy to have helped. And thank you for taking our feedback seriously. Slowly we'll get rid of that failed designed aircraft carrier shaped CP that people keep following.

All-in-all, you made the right choices for this build and it turned out wonderfully. 

[Arroyo]

Nice job!  That turned out really good, and damn you work fast! (probably I just work slow) .

I actually like the marquee a lot gives it a 3d feel, which is really cool.  Congrats on finishing, now what about that side art that you showed a few posts back?  That would be rad.

[GandalfTheRed]

Awesome work! I've been watching your build as it is similar to mine. I was wondering if you had finished! It looks great! What is the LCD in the control panel for?

The LCD in the middle shows the controls of each game. It works but I kind of regret including it.  It is really hard to read. You kind of have to lean over  the control panel to read it. It might be better if I had used a more expensive screen this one was around $20 and the angle of view is terrible.  Live and learn....

I blew my budget on the controls and buying a good main monitor and could not afford the side graphics. I think it looks good without, and I figured I could always add the graphics later .

[yotsuya]

Yeah, that marquee’s actually pretty cool. Definitely a million times better than any sort of half-hearted collage of characters.

Yeah, not digging the mini screen either, But all-in-all yours is probably one of the better four player cabinets I’ve seen. Not having the USS Bideo Gamez bolted on the front definitely helps. Good job!

[javeryh]

Your cab came out great.  Extremely well built - clean lines all over the place.  I also like the marquee - it's original but also looks good.   

[05SRT4]

Well Done 

[gingecko]

That looks really nice. I think the black with white t-molding really works with the "Starcade" theme. I also like the marquee.

Which Mame Frontend/layout are you using?

[GandalfTheRed]

That looks really nice. I think the black with white t-molding really works with the "Starcade" theme. I also like the marquee.

Which Mame Frontend/layout are you using?

Thanks!

I am using Launchbox /Big Box for the front end. I tried hyper-spin first. Big Box was way easier.

[gingecko]

That looks really nice. I think the black with white t-molding really works with the "Starcade" theme. I also like the marquee.

Which Mame Frontend/layout are you using?

Thanks!

I am using Launchbox /Big Box for the front end. I tried hyper-spin first. Big Box was way easier.

Thanks, I took a look at Big Box, but I think I should take another look. That interface looks pretty simple and I like the info screen. I had settled on Attract Mode initially, because it's layout is pretty simple. Mainly I just want something clean and basic. Not super flashy like Hyperspin (though I imagine there are options to make Hyperspin more basic too).

[GandalfTheRed]

Attached is the illustrator file I used for my control panel.   I like many other people on this forum came here looking for ideas and inspiration on how to build one of these crazy things, and stumbled upon ChanceKJ's and Jarret's machines. Not only are they really cool looking but they also had the files and plans needed to make to make one. So I grabbed those files and came up with art work, and excitedly posted it, not really knowing what I was doing... and was quickly schooled on why the "aircraft carrier" was not such a great idea. I appreciated and tried to take the advice of all of the very smart members of this forum to make a cp that I thought looked cool and would be more comfortable than Jarret's CP. It is not perfect, and every one has their opinions. But I wanted to post it so that others could use it if they wanted to. One of the really awesome things that ChanceKJ and Jarret did was make those files available. I think that's one reason there are so many people like me posting they want to build one. I know if they hadn't posted those files I probably wouldn't have started this project. So to give back and to thank ChanceKJ and Jarret I am posting my version of their CP. Thank you Chance and Jarret. And thank you to everyone who gave me advice.  You guys are awesome.

I deleted my artwork out of the illustrator file, I ended up not using it anyway. I also removed the cutout I put in mine for the small instruction card LCD. It was a bad idea and doesn't work well, I do not recommend it. You could add a spinner and tron controls in the middle if you wanted. I would not recommend that either. I think it would be hard to use them, and I am pretty sure I would hit them every time I play golden tee or the Simpsons bowling and spin the track ball really hard.  I used this file to laser cut a template out of 1/4 hardboard, and then used the template to route 3/4 black mdf melamine. Not the only way to do it but worked well for me. You should be able to clean this file up a bit and use in in a CNC machine as well. I just don't have access to one of those.  Or print it on paper and trace/cut it out. Whatever works.  Feel free to modify however you want.

If requested I will post the illustrator files for my sides too, but I actually recommend using Chance's sides. His has a flat top, on mine I sloped the top because I liked the look, but it was very difficult to get the marquee to fit because of that slope. The slope limits how deep you can build the marquee box to about 2 and a half inches. I had to redesign the marquee several times to get it to fit.

If anyone actually uses this file, let me know I would love to see your build

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[Pazza]

If you didt use the LCD next time would you move the track ball up slightly higher on the panel ?