Project AURIGA

[Shifty McSly]

Hey all, hopefully this will be a very short-lived build log. I am on the home stretch with this build. Like many others here, I am a skilled procrastinator, I have been putting off this project literally for years at this point. I decided that I really need to learn to finish what I start, and this project seemed like a good first step.

This is my first cabinet build, I had a design worked out in advance but a lot changed as I went a long. Here's an early sketchup mockup -



I don't have any really early pictures, but here's where I was about 3 weeks ago - finished with the inner fixings on the side panels -



My construction style was a little odd. I didn't want to put any screws through from the outside of the panels, so all of the frame is screwed and glued onto the inside of the side panels. Then I attached the two sides together using some crossbeams to complete the frame.







Here I've just attached the speaker panel and marquee light. It's a little hard to make out the details as the area surrounding the screen and speakers is all black.



At this point I was ready to start painting but I wanted to nail down the side panel and control panel design, here is what I settled on -



Here's a mockup with a photo of the control panel.



I've got a couple of coats of blue done already, with four colours to paint and three coats each, I've got about another two weeks of painting. I'm pretty excited that it's so close to finished, can't wait to strap in the speakers and monitor, but I don't really want to do that until all the painting is done. I'll have some more pictures soon, let me know what you think!

[Drnick]

Looking good so far. The real thing doesn't look anywhere near as boxy as the sketchup.  Not that I see boxy as a bad thing, my bartop is pretty boxy 

Looking forward to more updates.

[pbj]

What kind of monitor are you using?

[Shifty McSly]

Thanks Drnick, I think it looks a little boxier in sketchup due to the orthographic perspective.

pbj, I scored an arcade crt from a local seller a while back, the chassis is wei-ya branded but I'm not sure what the tube is. It's 27" I think. It's a tri-sync, but I wouldn't mind an svga monitor instead for newer games.



All three coats of blue are done, yellow and black details next -

[markc74]

I like it.

Double kudos for using a crt and not jamming a million controls on there... 

[pbj]

 

[Nephasth]

Man... If yer gonna angle controls... Angle player 2. ---fudgesicle--- player 2.

[Nephasth]

Playing in the Player 2 position of a machine that you built is the BYOAC equivalent of being cuck'd.

[Drnick]

Playing in the Player 2 position of a machine that you built is the BYOAC equivalent of being cuck'd.

I'm not seeing angled joysticks anywhere yet Angled lines of paint yes, joysticks, no 

[Nephasth]

Button arc for player 1...

[Shifty McSly]

I got the basic button layout from slagcoin, it said this was the standard japanese layout, and I tilted it equally for each player like so -



I probably should have tilted player 1 less than player 2, I would change that if I could, but I don't think it's that bad really. I feel like some tilt is warranted so that you are facing more towards the screen anyway.

[pbj]

Don't angle the joysticks.

[yotsuya]

I got the basic button layout from slagcoin, it said this was the standard japanese layout, and I tilted it equally for each player like so -



I probably should have tilted player 1 less than player 2, I would change that if I could, but I don't think it's that bad really. I feel like some tilt is warranted so that you are facing more towards the screen anyway.

No no no no tilt is ever warranted. The buttons are fine the way they are, just don’t tilt the joysticks.

You still have time. Make it right.

[Drnick]

As above joysticks straight on, feel free to angle buttons all you like

[yotsuya]

Think of this - 90% of the time, you’ll be playing a single player game.... do you really want to stand off center because of the way you angled the joystick? And a lot of the classics don’t use the second joystick for player two. Are they going to want to stand off center as well?

[Shifty McSly]

No no no no tilt is ever warranted. The buttons are fine the way they are, just don’t tilt the joysticks.

You still have time. Make it right.

Why not?

[yotsuya]

No no no no tilt is ever warranted. The buttons are fine the way they are, just don’t tilt the joysticks.

You still have time. Make it right.

Why not?

See my post above yours, for one.

I like the simplicity and classic lines of this cab. I’d hate to see unhappy players because of overthinking it.

[Shifty McSly]

I agree that player 1 doesn't really need to be tilted, but why should player 2's joystick not be tilted to match the buttons?

[yotsuya]

I agree that player 1 doesn't really need to be tilted, but why should player 2's joystick not be tilted to match the buttons?

I’ll quote an expert:

I've built (like a noob), and played on angled joysticks, and so have a lot of my co-workers and friends. The general consensus is that it's hard to adjust your hand-eye coordination due to the fact your perception of what cardinal directions are from standing at an angle is skewed.

It's actually a really important piece of the building process. People tend to build these cabinets for vanity first, then playability second. When it should be the other way around. Optimal functionality in the controls is what is made up of the core of arcade cabinets ergonomics.
It should feel natural to handle the controls, and if you have to second-think what to do in a game, you're toast.
Having people play on angled joysticks makes them have to adjust to it and not innately conform to the control structure. At that point it is an engineering failure if you are forcing the user to interact outside of their natural mindset. It's pretty much the whole shibang around engineering for ergonomics and intuitive design.

[yotsuya]

Look here: the joysticks are all oriented up (you can tell looking at the carriage bolts), even though the buttons are all at angles...

[PL1]

I agree that player 1 doesn't really need to be tilted, but why should player 2's joystick not be tilted to match the buttons?

This usually comes up in the context of P3/P4 on 4 player panels.

You're controlling objects on the screen, so it's more instinctive to orient the stick to the screen.
- No matter where you stand, the screen and joystick are aligned -- up on the stick = up on the screen.

Almost all arcade games had straight (green) sticks.

The few like Virtua Fighter and VF2 that had angled (red) sticks were not well-received.

Image from VF2 manual.

*** Cue the obligatory reminder about angled sticks for P3/P4. ***

Green = good.  Red = bad.



https://web.archive.org/web/20160809113045/http://newwiki.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?title=FAQ#Orientation

Scott

[pbj]

I never understand why people come here to argue about angled joysticks. 

[yotsuya]

I never understand why people come here to argue about angled joysticks.

I never understand why people question angling joysticks when they’re told they shouldn’t.

[pbj]

That's what I meant.

 

[yotsuya]

That's what I meant.

 

[Shifty McSly]

I never understand why people come here to argue about angled joysticks.

Oh, I thought I was asking questions to find out why I needed to redo several hours of work. But I guess I'm done "arguing" now. Bye.

[Mike A]

I just want it recorded somewhere that I had nothing to do with this.

[javeryh]

I never understand why people come here to argue about angled joysticks.

Oh, I thought I was asking questions to find out why I needed to redo several hours of work. But I guess I'm done "arguing" now. Bye.

I don't think anyone is arguing because this is a settled issue - more like explaining.  For all the proof you need, try standing at a 45 degree angle to your screen and play Q*bert on a standard 4 way stick.  Your brain can't handle it.

I just want it recorded somewhere that I had nothing to do with this.

I can see you twitching as I read this, but noted.

[yotsuya]

I never understand why people come here to argue about angled joysticks.

Oh, I thought I was asking questions to find out why I needed to redo several hours of work. But I guess I'm done "arguing" now. Bye.

Don’t be like that. We like your cab. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t say anything. I know I wouldn’t. I like the color scheme and the look of the cab - I’d hate for people not to enjoy it to the fullest.

[Drnick]

I hope we haven't chased them off already    As long as there aren't any pockets on the bottom of the board then there isn't anything to fix,  so it wouldn't require hours of work.

[Nephasth]

I’ll quote an expert:

I've built (like a noob), and played on angled joysticks, and so have a lot of my co-workers and friends. The general consensus is that it's hard to adjust your hand-eye coordination due to the fact your perception of what cardinal directions are from standing at an angle is skewed.

It's actually a really important piece of the building process. People tend to build these cabinets for vanity first, then playability second. When it should be the other way around. Optimal functionality in the controls is what is made up of the core of arcade cabinets ergonomics.
It should feel natural to handle the controls, and if you have to second-think what to do in a game, you're toast.
Having people play on angled joysticks makes them have to adjust to it and not innately conform to the control structure. At that point it is an engineering failure if you are forcing the user to interact outside of their natural mindset. It's pretty much the whole shibang around engineering for ergonomics and intuitive design.

Completely true. Without thoroughly play testing my original design, I committed to a control layout for the Beast. I thought it would be most practical for a wide variety of games. It indeed looks nice, but even the "straight" arc of P1 and P2 buttons is uncomfortable for fighters.


After having played many games on the Beast, I went with the same button layout (minus B7), but rotated ccw to be more ergonomic on the ZD Invader. WAY more intuitive and comfortable to play.


Do the angles of the buttons affect gameplay? Not really, and definitely not as big an issue as angled sticks. But it will impact your ability to play for any significant amount of time. The cw rotation of P1's buttons on this particular CP makes my wrist hurt just looking at it. The biggest thing I took away from all this... I don't really give a ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- about fighters. The games I enjoyed most are classics and shmups, and honestly pinball is king. YMMV.

[yotsuya]

I’ll quote an expert:

I've built (like a noob), and played on angled joysticks, and so have a lot of my co-workers and friends. The general consensus is that it's hard to adjust your hand-eye coordination due to the fact your perception of what cardinal directions are from standing at an angle is skewed.

It's actually a really important piece of the building process. People tend to build these cabinets for vanity first, then playability second. When it should be the other way around. Optimal functionality in the controls is what is made up of the core of arcade cabinets ergonomics.
It should feel natural to handle the controls, and if you have to second-think what to do in a game, you're toast.
Having people play on angled joysticks makes them have to adjust to it and not innately conform to the control structure. At that point it is an engineering failure if you are forcing the user to interact outside of their natural mindset. It's pretty much the whole shibang around engineering for ergonomics and intuitive design.

Completely true. Without thoroughly play testing my original design, I committed to a control layout for the Beast. I thought it would be most practical for a wide variety of games. It indeed looks nice, but even the "straight" arc of P1 and P2 buttons is uncomfortable for fighters.


After having played many games on the Beast, I went with the same button layout (minus B7), but rotated ccw to be more ergonomic on the ZD Invader. WAY more intuitive and comfortable to play.


Do the angles of the buttons affect gameplay? Not really, and definitely not as big an issue as angled sticks. But it will impact your ability to play for any significant amount of time. The cw rotation of P1's buttons on this particular CP makes my wrist hurt just looking at it. The biggest thing I took away from all this... I don't really give a ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- about fighters. The games I enjoyed most are classics and shmups, and honestly pinball is king. YMMV.

I thought darts wuz king.

[Nephasth]

I thought darts wuz king.

Darts is from England, and they serve the Queen.

[rablack97]

see told yall, suggestions run people off.  our opinions dont matter.

I'll say it once and say it again.  People build these things to see if they can do it.  The aesthetics, physics, and purist wisdom does not matter.

Like the one guy who put the sticks on the right side of the buttons.

Let these folks build their dream however they want to, angled sticks, no coin door, whatever....

Oh Neph, Bitches love Centipede.

[Shifty McSly]

On the contrary, I am very interested in your opinions, but I will expect some explanation for them. It's not pleasant or helpful to be told to do something with no explanation as to why. It seems very arrogant, I am new here, I do not know the prevailing wisdom of these parts.

I never understand why people come here to argue about angled joysticks.

I never understand why people question angling joysticks when they’re told they shouldn’t.

This is, frankly, a bad take. You do understand why. If I told you to never walk more than 10 meters in a straight line, how would you respond? You would ask why. And if I continued to say, "don't ask why, just do it", you would not follow that advice. Everyone needs to know the why, always, for everything.

I gather that this issue has come up before, so here is a suggestion. Skip the multiple one-line comments commanding that a person redo their work. Go straight to the explanation of why, that is the only way to convince someone of something. Say something like, "hey, I see you've angled the joysticks in your design, around here we really recommend not doing that, and here's why ....".

I did eventually get some comments of explanation, so thanks for that, I will take it on board. Unfortunately it is too late to really save me much work, the control panel is a three layer design, and each layer is pretty specific to the angle of the joystick and buttons. I will consider redoing the control panel, it is not permanently attached to the body, so I always have the option of building a replacement at a later date. But at this stage the control panel is pretty complete other than the paint job, so I have to at least test it out on my friends to see how big a deal it is. You have convinced me that it is an issue, but I still don't know how much of an issue. If it turns out to be awful then I will of course redo it.

[Nephasth]

https://web.archive.org/web/20160809113045/http://newwiki.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?title=FAQ#Orientation

Scott

---gosh-darn---, Scott... That sent me down a rabbit hole. Pretty interesting link on the bottom of that page... "Useful tips on asking smart questions". Though geared towards hackers, if read by a BYOACer, one would surely think one of the "purists" who run new members off wrote it.

[Ond]

I just want it recorded somewhere that I had nothing to do with this.

Nup.  If this guy does a runner it's totally your fault. PURIST   Ond salutes Mikey. 

@ Shifty McSly  - The very fact that these guys are posting in  your project is a good sign.  You have a nice design, and the woodwork looks nice and clean thus far.  If you are too far committed to the existing  CP to feel like reworking it that's fine.  When you join BYOAC you join for either a few posts or for the long term.  The advice about controls is sound and comes from guys who live and breathe arcade design best practice.  If you are for the long term, give some thought to best practice in future modifications/improvements of your design as it will only add to your enjoyment of the hobby.

 

Ond

[pbj]

Just widen out the routered hole on the underside of the panel.  It's not rocket surgery. 

[PL1]

Pretty interesting link on the bottom of that page... "Useful tips on asking smart questions". Though geared towards hackers, if read by a BYOACer, one would surely think one of the "purists" who run new members off wrote it.

Felsir added that gem of insight and knowledge to the FAQ.   

It has great info on how to successfully navigate and communicate with communities of knowledge like our beloved "purists".


Scott

[morton]

Subtlety is not always practiced around here OP, but what you can be assured of, is that you've got the attention of many of the big names around here. Just what you want when it comes to getting input on your project and avoiding mistakes before it's too late. If you keep feeding them enough progress, you have some of the best advisors on the forums more than willing to help ya out. They may not be sugar coating their answers, but their participation says a lot. Congrats OP...

... keep it up, looking forward to seeing what your cab ends up like and what the next one will be, because you definitely have the chops to build some nice stuff.

[Shifty McSly]

I was going to update when this was all finished, but it has dragged on a bit. It is 95% done anyway.

The panels are all painted -


The monitor is mounted, just need to finish cutting down the plastic bezel to fit around it -


It was very satisfying to mount the monitor, I had the wood frame pretty perfectly measured out and there was no hint of flexing or creaking. I applied some auto tint to the glass panel in front of the monitor. There are some tiny imperfections in it that were really annoying me, but they aren't really visible in practice.

I've finally received the control panel and marquee stickers I got printed, I guess the shipping was delayed by covid. The marquee was easy to slip in and test out, looks super slick imo -



Still have to cut and drill some fresh mdf for the new control panel, so there's still a couple days work to go on that, and the front door is a little warped, have to try straighten it out before I attach it, but getting really close to completion now! I'll get some proper glamour shots when she's all done.