Oh no, another artsy Tron cab?!?!? - COMPLETED

[JRobATL]

Gentlemen! (and others)

I'm very new to this forum - but I definitely love the atmosphere, and of course the hobby itself.  I have never built an arcade cabinet before, but I have a decent set of tools. I've enjoyed MAME since my kids were little, but now that they're teens, I can't convince them to play TMNT and The Simpsons with me on a dual-keyboard laptop anymore... so here I am!

First off, a big thanks to Chance and Aspirex for the detailed builds.  Secondly, this is an acknowledgement that this will in NO WAY compare to the awesomenesses that are Chance's. Arroyo's and WP's Tron cabinets.

I am in no way a purist, and am not seeking to replicate any specific cab or experience.   I really just want to build it without making it so ambitious that I never end up getting to finish it. :-)

My goals: 
- Four player cab (to play with the kids as well as our frequent party guests) to fit nicely next to the pool table and dart board
- Plays Tron
- Plays the original classics and up through SFII Turbo and MK3 (I was born in 1979, so I have a healthy obsession with arcade games from mid 80s through college)
- Needs to fit through a standard 32" door (possibly after removing CP)
- Looks good enough that the wife allows it to remain as a featured item in our rec room
- LED buttons, LED ground and backlighting effects
- illuminated (static) marquee
- Needs to pay homage to the greatest sports program in the history of the NCAA, the University of Florida  (let's hear those boos!)

May I introduce:

GATOR LEGACY

[JRobATL]

I started with a Sketchup model that I got from Aspirex, who got it from Chance? ...who begat Hezekiah who begat Jeremiah who begat Nehemiah...

Acutally, I started by having to learn Sketchup.  You know - I gotta tell you, having taken CAD classes back in the day, I was surprised at how non-intuitive copying a circle around on Sketchup actually was.  LORD it took me 2 hours to finally get it right. Then it only took me about 10 minutes of actually doing it.

[Mike A]

The mishmash of themes makes no sense at all.

Just pick Tron or the Gators.

[meyer980]

I agree the mix of sports and tron doesn't make sense to me. But I also say, build what you want.

A four player cab that can play tron well, so spinner and flight stick? That's a lot of controls but I would think could all fit on a large panel. Good luck!

[JRobATL]

The mishmash of themes makes no sense at all.

Just pick Tron or the Gators.

I shall do no such thing, good sir.  . The beautiful thing is with just slight tint filtering, the gorgeous art of Tron Legacy lends itself well to the ol' Orange and Blue. Keep in mind this design appeases me first, other gator fans second, and video game fans third. 

I do realize, though, that I've given you nothing to comment on besides the art, so it's all good.

[JRobATL]

I agree the mix of sports and tron doesn't make sense to me. But I also say, build what you want.

. 

A four player cab that can play tron well, so spinner and flight stick? That's a lot of controls but I would think could all fit on a large panel. Good luck!

Indeed. I started with a cardboard layout to find what generally fit comfortably, and also used a button layout that I found on slagcoin. ...measured the locations, put them on SketchUp, and laid out the art. 

My father-in-law actually runs a print shop, so I *hopefully* qualify for a discount. The plan is to use laminated art and skip the acrylic.

And yes, spinner and flightstick in the middle there. (planning on Ultimarc's mini-grip with two buttons unless someone talks me out of it).

[Mike A]

There is way too much ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- on that control panel.
Nobody is going to know what to do with all of those controls and buttons.

[Mike A]

I have an arcade room full of dedicated machines. I have one MAME cab. It has a trackball, a four way joystick, and three buttons. People still get confused and gravitate away from the MAME cab.

[Arroyo]

You can consolidate a lot of those (presumably admin) buttons at the top.  If you setup the software correctly there really isn't a need to have them while running the system.  You can also double up buttons with long presses or combining buttons to perform other functions.  Same can be said for coin buttons, especially if you are going to use a real coin door.

I also will have a Frankenpanel, and the only justification I have for it is that using the led's on the buttons will light whats necessary, hopefully making it clearer to the player.  But yeah, minimizing as much clutter as you can is important.

Also sounds like you are fixed on the theme, but for what it's worth I think keeping a unified theme would make the most sense    Good luck!

[JRobATL]

I appreciate that, Arroyo.

Originally, I was going to have just two admin buttons (ESC and pause) but decided dedicated volume up and down buttons would be nice, as I really don't want to wire a manual volume control.  I've seen CPs with 4 admin buttons in the top center, and I don't mind the look at all.

I do plan to have label inserts on each of those 4 admin buttons with the standard icons, so that should be fairly user-friendly, and I definitely want to use LED-Blinky to light up the specific player buttons for each game.

I've got all my games with Mame bezels and Hyperspin theme art set up already. I think I only have like 70-80 games total, so fully prepared to add led assignments to each as well.

I originally wanted a real coin door, but I feel it's best to leave that for a future build, since this is all new to me, and installing that would be a huge time suck for someone at my level. 

Though I am looking at the RGB Helio9 coin buttons at GGG. Is anyone familiar with those? I wonder if there is a video that shows them displaying different colors. I assume they're white or clear when not lit?

Any advice/input on that front would be much appreciated.

[meyer980]

I wouldn't be afraid of a coin door. In my opinion, they're easier to install and setup than LEDblinky. You just cut a square hole and put the door in it. As for the coin mechs, they're just little microswitches like any other arcade button (that's all assuming you just do coin mechs, bill receptors are a different story).

[vertexguy]

I originally wanted a real coin door, but I feel it's best to leave that for a future build, since this is all new to me, and installing that would be a huge time suck for someone at my level. 

I haven't gotten far enough on this yet to speak to level of difficulty with expertise, but for nostalgic sake alone, I'd say get a coin door.  It adds so much authenticity to the build.  Installation wise I'm not really intimidated because it's 4 bolts and a hole fundamentally to get it in place.  Powering it and even having coins work is the next easy step and no more complex than what you're already going to do with the control panel.

In any case good luck and I look forward to seeing it come together!   

[LTC]

You can buy a blank "coin door" pretty cheap, and add a couple of push buttons that look like coin slots. That's what I went with and I think it looks and functions great.

[JRobATL]

Excellent points, guys. Thanks for giving me some different perspectives to consider!

[yotsuya]

Personal philosophy: If it doesn’t have a coin door, it’s a piece of furniture that plays video games.

I say go for it!

[Kingcade]

Personal philosophy: If it doesn’t have a coin door, it’s a piece of furniture that’s plays video games.

While I do like the look of coin doors, I have no fond memories of them. I think I've lost as much money in coin doors as I did playing the games themselves...

[thatpurplestuff]

Before you even begin the coin door debate, PLEASE reconsider the artwork as it currently is.

I'm no purist, and I'm actually a fan of artwork that incorporates things outside of the arcade realm, but in my opinion it is important to have them tie together somehow.  Adding the name Gators on top of Tron light cycles is going to look just like... well... having the word Gators added on top of Tron light cycles.  With nothing tying the light cycles / basketball / gators together, they are such different concepts that it comes across as very awkward imo.

I just googled "tron basketball" and there are some really cool images there that could serve as a jumping off point for some awesome artwork... imagine having a version of basketball exist within the Tron realm.  Hell, even taking Tron artwork that has people posing with discs and just replacing the disc with a basketball that has neon lines on it... just have SOMETHING that ties the Gators to Tron.

I think your theme actually has a ton of potential, make it kick ass!  You will be looking at this arcade FAR more than you actually play it, don't settle for something as simple as typing text on top of Tron artwork.  Just my 2 cents.

[JRobATL]

I'm no purist, and I'm actually a fan of artwork that incorporates things outside of the arcade realm, but in my opinion it is important to have them tie together somehow. 

I hear you. It seems that what most people here are missing -- or just don't care about (which is cool) -- is how significant the orange and blue color scheme is to the theme of the Gators. That is the tie-in. When I, (and most of my friends who would actually enter my basement) see orange and blue, it's instantly recognized as "Gators".  The Tron artwork (with some slight tinting left to go) instantly spoke to me as orange and blue.

This is further reinforced by many other things in my basement, which obviously you guys aren't privy to.

[Drnick]

As you are sticking with the  Tron/Gators theme then at least Get Tron Lafavor's name on there,  Maybe Tron's Gator Legacy  That could be an inside joke that only real Gator fans would get

[JRobATL]

As you are sticking with the  Tron/Gators theme then at least Get Tron Lafavor's name on there,  Maybe Tron's Gator Legacy  That could be an inside joke that only real Gator fans would get

   . You, sir, are a genius! You know, I actually saw him on campus a few times. Usually with Alex Brown and Andra Davis from my home town.

[JRobATL]

Okay everyone, how about this for a compromise? 

<Waits for the "well at least now it makes sense" comments>

But seriously, thank you all for your input. And no, I'm not changing the artwork. 

[Mike A]

If you really want to push the Gator Legacy theme you should put all of the characters in orange jumpsuits.

[rablack97]

Do you bro, i dont do coin doors either, you will never use them, and that's all mame cabs are, furniture that plays a crapload of games.

A dedicated classic cab yes, coin door is warranted, but mame, its an extra un-needed expense UNLESS you need access to the front for some reason like volume control etc.

The art and the theme has to speak to you and you only, good luck on getting everyones approval in a forum, not happening.  Just make sure it's clean, don't do BS collage of characters, that's one thing thats just atrocious.  Being that you will only have 70 games, i know this thing isn't for playing, its a wow factor in your rec room, hey i built that.

Just keep in mind, the more controls you add, the more you will have to babysit every player that goes over there too, they wont have a clue what to press and when.

Tron is always a good theme, me being a junkie myself, the issue is you're only showing us sketch-up, just use the old , lemme finish, can i finish, lemme finish, ok i'm finished verbiage.    Once you draw out your graphics then post those, then the vision will make more sense.

All people see now is just Gators and the colors but not the vision........i got the same flack when i built my unorthodox machines, but they all turned out great........be different, be a trendsetter, forum needs new ideas and looks vs. the same old same old.   Good luck...

[thatpurplestuff]

Mocked these up really quick with a watermarked basketball just to show an alternative idea to hopefully inspire, you could have a second orange player mirrored into the image or whatever... just thought I would throw up a hail mary against the light cycles haha.

Alright I'll stop preaching now.

[Mike A]

That is an interesting way to combine the two ideas.

[JRobATL]

Mocked these up really quick with a watermarked basketball just to show an alternative idea to hopefully inspire, you could have a second orange player mirrored into the image or whatever... just thought I would throw up a hail mary against the light cycles haha.

Alright I'll stop preaching now.

That's pretty cool actually. I mean, I'm not going to use it, but it really is nicely done!
Now, if only I could stand basketball. (Or any sport that used an actual sphere-shaped ball) 

[JRobATL]

Do you bro...

...I got the same flack when i built my unorthodox machines, but they all turned out great........be different, be a trendsetter, forum needs new ideas and looks vs. the same old same old.   Good luck...

"Great art is rarely understood in it's time."
- Someone famous

[morton]

I find it easier to scale things back and minimize when you realize you're gonna build more than one of these things over time.

[JRobATL]

Well, I finished the cab back in July, but I just haven't been able to get around to posting about it.

I absolutely love the way it turned out... plus my teenage sons called it "sick" when they came to visit, so that's really all that matters.

I am happy, though, that my friends love it as well, as it's a great excuse for them to just come over and shoot the breeze.

This is the exact cab I wanted to build.  I wanted something that looks good that lets my friends and I play all our favorite arcade games growing up (read Double Dragon through MK3 and all the 4-player games in between).  I have zero desire for a cab dedicated to one game, but I certainly understand the charm of those machines if that's what you want.  For other folks interested in MAME cabinets, I strongly recommend RGB LEDs if you can afford it.  To me, that's what makes the cab.


I'm not sure I can offer the forum any real advice other than the following general information. Also, I don't consider my build anything exceptionally novel, so I won't spend a lot of time detailing my build, but I'm happy to answer any questions, and provide the following lessons learned.

- Required tools: jigsaw, router, drill, a butt load of clamps, value-sized container of Gorilla Wood Glue, my pneumatic brad nailer came in handy while letting the glue set, but probably wouldn't consider it a requirement.
- I'm pretty sure that straight cuts with a jigsaw are a myth, and that anyone telling you otherwise followed up the cuts with a flush trim bit on the router when the camera was off.   
- Having the cab on 4 locking casters seemed like a great idea at first, until you actually use the cab I quickly took off the front casters and replaced them with legs.
- I skipped the bezel. The tv mounts nicely in the opening and everything around it is black, so to me it wasn't worth it.
-I bought some cool RGB "insert coin" buttons.  They look nice, but I'd skip this for a MAME cab if I could do it again.

Budget:
- Controls cost about $700. (used Ultimarc and Groovy Game Gear) - 32 RGB LEDs aren't cheap, plus I bought one servo stick and controller (I also had to pay for like 3 or 4 separate shipping charges, because I'm not smart enough to figure everything out ahead of time)
- LED Blinky was $25 and is worth every penny.  Thanks, Arzoo!
- 2 sheets of 3/4" birch cost about $100
- Art cost about $200 (used GameOn Grafix). The CP overlay and marquee are worth it.  If I had it to do over again, I'd skip the side art.  I think the cab looks almost as good with the sides black as it does with the art.
- 32" Westinghouse TV was free (sitting unused in a closet)
- Win10 i5 computer was free (friend donated)
- speakers are L, R and subwoofer of a Logitech surround sound setup I had laying around.  (let me know if anyone wants a center channel or rear surround speakers) 
- random bits, blades, and other expendables which are one-time use or most likely won't get used again .... wild ass guess is about $100


I have a light up marquee and a light up front bottom panel. I essentially built them like a picture frame in case I want to swap out the art later.

The speakers were tricky.  I wanted to finagle a way to use the pre-enclosed speakers  I had (long story, but I'll detail with photos/narration if interested), so I essentially routed out grooves for them in the speaker panel, and wrapped the whole panel in speaker fabric.  I honestly like the way this turned out with minimal lines rather than speaker grilles.  Very hidden, but looks like a bookshelf speaker if you inspect it closely.

Big thanks to each of the vendors I mentioned above as well as Arroyo, DJO_Maverick, wp34, and most of all PL1. Thanks, Scott!


The colors look weird on the photos (both for the buttons, and for the light-up panels), but that's par for the course.

[javeryh]

First post in May and finished in July.  Wow.  Does not compute.  Your cabinet looks good although not my style.  Looks like a very clean build and I'm sure you are having a lot of fun with it. 

Can you fix the last 2 pics?  They look squashed.  Also, got any videos?  How does it boot up?  What does the front end look like?  Etc.   

[JRobATL]

First post in May and finished in July.  Wow.  Does not compute.  Your cabinet looks good although not my style.  Looks like a very clean build and I'm sure you are having a lot of fun with it. 

Can you fix the last 2 pics?  They look squashed.  Also, got any videos?  How does it boot up?  What does the front end look like?  Etc.   

Thanks!  Yeah, I'm not sure why the photos are squished.  I just clicked "attach"... I'll see if I can try it a different way.  If you right-click on the image and select "open in new tab" does the photo look normal then?

Yes, I have a boot up video.  I'm using Hyperspin which auto runs on startup, and I bypassed the Win10 login/password stuff.  I also configured the CPU to start up when power detected, so I just flip the master switch on the power strip on the floor to turn everything on at the same time.

I'm not sure I follow the "does not compute" is that time frame unusually long, or short?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/jxcmj7RtFtm4Cx4f8   Here's the video.  I found a great version of Daft Punk's "Derezzed" from Tron Legacy that perfectly matches my orange and blue scheme.  And I made an LED Blinky animation to accompany it. The video shows the boot up process, the front end set up, and the "speak button action" function from LED Blinky. 

[javeryh]

yeah opening in new tab makes the pics look good.  Really nice job.  How did you bypass Windows 10 login/password on start up?  Was that tough to figure out?  It's on my list of things to do.  You can't even tell there is a PC in there, which is ideal.

The video is great - your start-up vid perfectly ties everything together.  How did you make it?  Where did you find the voice sample that says "Welcome to Gator Legacy"?  I have another cabinet I am about to finish up and I wanted to add a computerized voice to the start up video but don't know how.

I meant that your build time is incredibly fast.  Light speed compared to most of us around here, especially me.  Seeing it in action really elevates it too - I like it even more than I did just seeing the pics.  Just an all around nice job.   

[JRobATL]

yeah opening in new tab makes the pics look good.  Really nice job.  How did you bypass Windows 10 login/password on start up?  Was that tough to figure out?  It's on my list of things to do.  You can't even tell there is a PC in there, which is ideal.

The video is great - your start-up vid perfectly ties everything together.  How did you make it?  Where did you find the voice sample that says "Welcome to Gator Legacy"?  I have another cabinet I am about to finish up and I wanted to add a computerized voice to the start up video but don't know how.

I meant that your build time is incredibly fast.  Light speed compared to most of us around here, especially me.  Seeing it in action really elevates it too - I like it even more than I did just seeing the pics.  Just an all around nice job.   

You're too kind! 

Regarding the Win10 login, it wasn't hard and only took a few minutes.  I basically just googled how and followed like maybe 4 or 5 steps. You basically just assign a default user and then I think you can uncheck a box that says "use password"...something along those lines.  - you'll probably also want to google how to move your Recycle Bin off the desktop, Auto-minimize your tool bar, and remove all the icons and the clock from your toolbar as well.  (I had to Google those things as well).  That will give it a clean look while loading so that you just see the background image.

The start-up video was a free video I found on Vimeo.  I searched there for Tron Legacy art and found it as is.  I couldn't believe it when I saw it, as it was so perfect it almost felt like I designed everything else around it.   

The "Welcome to Gator Legacy" isn't a sound file, it's just a text-to-speech function (I typed it in). It's a feature that comes with LED Blinky - I believe it's called "FE Startup speech" or something like that.

I suppose it was a fairly quick build, but it didn't seem like it at the time.    I have to thank Covid-19 and the ability to "work" from home for several months for that!  Plus my wife is amazing and was very supportive of this goal (even though she won't play any video games with me ).  Heck, she even helped me apply the side art.  (see below!)

[vertexguy]

Wow.  I can't believe how fast you built this either!  Turned out great!  So given that you decided to go with a coin door, does it also function?  If so I'm curious what you did to differentiate credits between 4 players with only 2 slots.

I love that it announces what the controls are too.  What software is doing that part?

Congrats on a job well done! 

[JRobATL]

Wow.  I can't believe how fast you built this either!  Turned out great!  So given that you decided to go with a coin door, does it also function?  If so I'm curious what you did to differentiate credits between 4 players with only 2 slots.

I love that it announces what the controls are too.  What software is doing that part?

Congrats on a job well done! 

Thanks, Vertexguy!  To answer your 2nd question first, I have 4 dedicated coin buttons on the control panel (one each next to the player start buttons). These are actually the only buttons that anyone ever uses. What I have down below isn't actually a coin door, it's just two RGB buttons I found at GroovyGameGear (link below).  I'll include a close-up photo as well, since it's really hard to see in the photos.  They are wired in parallel with the 1p and 2p coin buttons on my control panel for input function only.  I chose to wire the buttons' RGB input in parallel with my volume control buttons.

Reason being... I didn't have enough RGB slots on the Ultimate I/O for them to have their own dedicated LED controls, and I wanted them to light up like my volume control buttons instead of lighting up like the actual 1p and 2p coin buttons on the control panel.  I created an orange-to-blue-pulsing animation for the volume buttons that runs during every game, and that's what I wanted these fake coin door buttons to do.

Though you can't see the coin buttons at all while you're at the machine, so... mehhh... that plus having an additional 8 wires running from my control panel down to these buttons makes it all kind of not worth it in my opinion.


Here's the link to the fake coin door buttons, HelioGemCDR (Coin Drop Replacement) RGBs:
https://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=89&products_id=410

[JRobATL]

I love that it announces what the controls are too.  What software is doing that part?

Sorry, forgot to answer the last bit.  The control announcement is through LED Blinky. You can set it to announce the controls on startup and/or when you pause the game.  Love that feature!

[vertexguy]

Lol nice.  You fooled me with the other photos being so dark with the coin slots lit up.

[Kingcade]

The video you shared is fantastic - from the Startup Video and voice synthesis, to Hyperspin, to LEDBlinky, it really makes a professional-looking and sounding setup. Great job!

[JRobATL]

The video you shared is fantastic - from the Startup Video and voice synthesis, to Hyperspin, to LEDBlinky, it really makes a professional-looking and sounding setup. Great job!

Thanks, King!