First Project. First forum or social media post of any kind, ever. Anywhere. I’m begrudgingly entering the 21st Century.
Big thanks to all of the skilled and creative (and OCD!) people who have taken the time and effort to document their projects and respond to questions on this forum and elsewhere. This is such a great project because of the wide range of different skills to learn and use (including 50 ways to use your router (someone should make a song about that)), but it would be awfully daunting without all of your help.
I started thinking about doing this several of years ago. My plans started simple, quickly progressed to a do everything control panel, then I decided to split it into two separate projects to; make the controls more functional, have another family heirloom to pass down, allow multiple people to play at the same time, and give me a chance to maybe try some new things on the second project (assuming I am even able to complete the first!)
The second project will have a trackball, spinner (with small wheel attachment) and an analog stick.
The first will just be joysticks and buttons. I am trying to focus my layout on functionality dictated by some of my priority games, being Robotron, Smash TV, and Defender, as well as having a dedicated 4-way joystick. I am not a big fan of the switchable ones that I have tried and I don’t really want to have kids having to do mess with them (I don't have any grandkids yet, but might have 3 or 4 by the time I finish). I am trying to incorporate a 4 player game option without making the control panel too large, but it will be more of a novelty, so I’m not too worried about extended functionality. That being said, it seems to be viable after laying it out to size on paper, but I am certainly open to suggestions. Worst case, redoing the control panel isn’t the end of the world.
As far as themes, I plan on making more “Game Room” themes, using some common interests with my wife. One of them will be a James Bond theme with the Title “No more 4 play” with a picture from the scene that quote comes from in Goldeneye on the marquee. I’m thinking of either the classic gun barrel view or some sort of opening sequence art on the control panel and either poster art or movie screen shots on the sides (either just one or at most 2-3 pics on each side. It would be nice to include several characters, but i don’t want it to be too busy).
The other project will be a Rock and Roll theme with some of our favorite bands (AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Guns and Roses, Rush, etc.) titled “Ride and Roll”. Probably an empty stage set on the control panel.
Now if I can only decide which theme to use with which control panel!
A few questions:
-I will definitely need to enlist some (paid) help with designing the artwork, if anyone is still around here that does that. I have tried to dabble with some art programs but I just don’t have it in me.
-I would like to be able to play short audio clips with random Bond movie quotes or song clips upon a game launch. It seems that the paid LED Blinky might have some of this functionality (not sure if it can be random tho), or is there a better option? I am currently planning on using the paid Launch Box, but will consider other options.
-I will have a functional Coin door and want a switch inside the door to turn off/on the coin buttons on the control panel. I want to be able to limit the number of coins, especially for the kids. I think the feeling of trying to make every credit count really adds to the games. It would seem that a simple open/closed switch at the end of the daisy chain, before going to the desired buttons would work, correct? Or maybe I’ll just get rid of the coin buttons on top
Control panel:
-I am using Dominux8 Joysticks (tested a number of different sticks and love these). The 8 ways will be Long setting and round restrictor. The 4 way restricted will be Short setting and recessed 1/8 inch into the bottom of the control panel. I have (for now) moved the 4 way a bit forward on the control panel, along with the defender reverse button. It will also probably have a different color ball top than the other 4. This seems to give me a bit better spacing and it also seems like it might be more intuitive for people who are new to the panel. Critique is requested!
-I am using Electric Ice 2 Buttons from GGG with Micro-Leaf switches. I nominally liked the feel of the IL clear buttons with black plungers from Paradise with the Cherry Microswitches better, but prefer the lighting of the GGG buttons and they have a lower profile under the control panel, which is a little bit of an issue because of my tight spacing in a couple of spots with the IL buttons and their LED board. I might actually use the IL buttons for the coin, start, and Admin buttons with labels, tho. I like the idea of the admin buttons being different from the game buttons to make the panel a bit more intuitive, but I’m not sure how this will look with the vastly different lighting. Thoughts?
Woodwork is already mostly done, except for the control panel.
One thing I would do differently from my design so far is the top rear removable panel. It has developed a slight bow and will let in some light at the top. This also made cutting it with the table saw at a 45 degree angle a bit off. I will put some weather strip to block the light or just redo it, but I should have just made the top edge of the removable panel a 90 degree cut, like the bottom one.
I probably would cut an inch or maybe two of depth from the entire cabinet (make the bottom of the side panels 20 or 21 inches instead of 22, removed from the rear). I think it would still be plenty stable (especially with the 2x2s and edge to edge framing adding weight in the bottom part), but there would have been issues with the 18 inch drawer slides and mounting the monitor panel at 20 inches.
Also note that the measurements assume 3/4 inch material (mdf). Plywood requires some minor adjustments depending on actual thickness. I also scrapped my plan to do wood retainers for the marquee on the plans.
Nothing earth shattering here, but hopefully I can add a few basic things I learned (often the hard way, per usual) and found helpful.
using the simple rectangle one
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Finished a while back but wanted to do some testing then got busy/lazy
Things that worked:
-Push to open drawer slides on the hidden drawer worked out great
-Switch inside the coin door to activate/deactivate the Coin buttons on the control panel are working well, although, as others have said, I pretty much always deactivate them to force use of the coin door. Could have done without them.
-Defender and SmashTV layout work great
-4 Player games actually work out much better than expected due to the P3 and P4 button arrangement and positioning that many here have meticulously harped on
I would probably add an inch or even 2 between the P1-3 and P2-4 joysticks to make it even more so without significantly increasing the overall profile of the machine.
-I really like having the dedicated 4-way joystick offset more toward the front. Its more intuitive for visitors and is in a more natural position for those games. Plus the P1-2 thumb buttons are in a perfect position for single button games.
-The Ultimarc Nanoled is working well with the addressable LEDs for the joystick lights, however, occasionally all of the lights at the end of the chain will get stuck on after exiting a game and can only be reset with a computer restart. I do not think I have a short or bad connection. It occurs starting at different LEDs in the chain and does not seem to be from specific games. It usually only occurs after numerous games and most sessions, it never happens.
Things I don't necessarily love:
-I knew going in that the defender reverse button might be an annoyance, and it is a minor one when using the right hand on 4-way games. Visitors never seem to be bothered or comment on it, but I notice it. I don't think it impacts game play and it's not anywhere near enough to be a deal breaker for me, since I wanted the tradeoff of a good Defender layout, but it's there. I don't notice it anywhere near as much as I thought I might using the P2 joystick.
-I was a little worried the extra width between the P1 and P2 joysticks might bother me on Robotron, but that has not really been an issue for me, as an average, at best, player. Serious players might not like it, but probably wont like any of it!
I'm not about to play off center to get around it.
-The screen seems a little too close because of the low profile. Looks like I could move it back an inch or two without obscuring the view from the sides. I had left those parts unglued, just in case.
Thanks again for all the great info and advice on here!