Hello, folks.
I signed up yesterday to thank you for all of the info contained here on this forum. It's been very helpful to me in my very first arcade build. I belong to a few guitar forums as well, and they always like to look over my shoulder while I build guitars - so I know that build threads are usually appreciated. I documented this first build to share with you so you can see how much your advice and knowledge has helped me.
I have been building electric guitars from scratch for about four years now. I am familiar with woodworking in general, so I knew that I could pull this off as far as the physical build is concerned. However, I have limited experience in emulation and programming. I have worked with console emulation, but MAME and CD/DVD based emulation is new territory for me. Though I have learned a lot in the area, wiring is always something that I really have to concentrate on to get right - even in something as simple as an electric guitar.
I have always loved video games, and this has rubbed off on both of my kiddos. In early November, (during a particularly lenghty Forza Horizon 4 session) my daughter noted that we have plenty of games, but none that really support local multiplayer. She was right. Forza, Mario platformers, Metroidvanias, Skyrim... anything you could want, but no real party stuff that can be enjoyed with others simultaneously. Now, my kiddos (11 and 12 years old) absolutely love 80's nostalgia and pop culture. They love the music, the movies, the clothes, everything. Now, the 90s are becoming cool again, too. Since this is an arcade building forum, you already know where this is headed...
Suddenly, thoughts of the whole fam enjoying four player Simpsons, TMNT, and NBA Jam filled my head. I can't wait to see the kiddos faces when I first show them a Mortal Kombat fatality. I would also love to finally play all of those NEO GEO games I could never find cabinets for.
I have always wanted to tackle a full sized cabinet, and this was my chance! However, this was in early November, and I had no knowledge whatsoever about putting one together at all beyond the woodwork. So instead, I settled for a control surface with a Raspberry Pi heart. I did some more research and decided on 3/4" MDF for the construction. I'll simply run an HDMI cable from the console to my 55" TV.
I decided on a simple box construction, one where the top and bottom will extend beyond the walls of the box for stability, strength, and aesthetics. I'm going with Sanwa joysticks and Japan spec buttons (Seimitsu, if memory serves).
I want four players, of course, and I've opted for 7 buttons for players 1 and 2, and four buttons for players 3 and 4. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the joystick layout pattern I have printed out in the pic. Again, I went with the Japan spec (buttons in close spacing) because the kiddos have smaller hands, as do I for a guy my size. Two admin buttons for each player (coin and start), and four central admin buttons. No trackball or spinners for this first one - although I would've loved to include them, I didn't think time would allow for learning how to get them up and running. This has to be done by Xmas, and there's paint curing time to consider.
I'm not going to use graphics or laminate on the sides this time, but I did custom paint the control surface in a way that I've not seen anyone else do. I also am going for a little extra bling with an LED light strip along the bottom since (again) I didn't want to extend my already tight schedule by wiring up LED lit buttons or joysticks. I'm going for a very simple build for my first effort. I'll be cutting corners again by purchasing a couple of SD cards with the emulation already set up so I don't have to do that work. I'm hoping to learn a bit more about how it all works by looking at the file structure of the cards. Maybe I can try to get "Run and Gun" up and running, it's the only game I want that's missing from the cards' libraries.
Please keep in mind that I started this bad boy the second week in November, and I'm at an advanced stage presently. Paint is curing and I'll be wiring up my panel tomorrow. I won't be able to change much now, but I still welcome your constructive criticism and advice. I've made some mistakes on this build, (yes, I angled the 'sticks for players 3 and 4...
) and I would love to hear your war stories and solutions. So if you know a better way of doing things, please feel free to comment.
If there are any questions, fire away. The answer I give will likely be something like, "because it was cheap" or, "because it was faster this way," but I consider it worth asking anyway.
I'm going for speed of build and functionality, all while trying to keep the costs down and using the skills I already have. I also must apologize for the condition of my shop. You'll see in these pics that I'm not cleaning up much as I go, and you'll also notice that I like a few sunflower seeds while I work (they're all over my shop floor). I usually work far cleaner than this, but again - time is of the essence. I normally take better lit photos as well, but my shop's window is covered for this project to keep kiddo peepers from looking in and spoiling the surprise.
I don't have a table saw or mitre box to use, so you'll see me using a few workarounds as well.
Hopefully, you'll at least enjoy the show. Thanks again for having such an informative forum, and I hope to learn even more from you.