Any plans for a 4 Player arcade cabinet that supports at least a 43" screen

[irishpump]

I'm brand new to this forum, so I apologize if this has been asked several times in the past. I've had a hard time finding plans for a 4 player arcade cabinet that supports a 43" screen. I won't be using a CNC program. I'll be doing it by hand (jigsaw, router, etc.). Is there any decent/complete plans that anyone as seen or maybe posted in the past and I've just missed it in the search?

Thank you so much for any and all help.

Danny

[javeryh]

Welcome to the forums.  Monitor width usually dictates the width of your cabinet.  So you could grab any set of plans and just make the cabinet 43" wide.  That seems way too big though.  You will be standing close to the monitor and shouldn't have to move your neck to follow the action on screen.  Also, a cabinet that big won't fit through a door.

Some advice for what it's worth - every single person that is new around here always envisions building a gigantic 4P cabinet that plays "everything", which is not a great idea.  It will end up doing a bunch of things OK and nothing particularly well.  You should make a list of "must-have" games and design around that. 

Ask yourself if you really need a 4P cabinet.  How many times will you have 4 people over that want to all play the same game?  Nostalgia plays a big part in this hobby but most of the 4P games people remember fondly were brawlers and basically clones of each other.  Simpsons, TMNT, X-Men, etc.  They are fine games but not worth all of the added size, expense and aggravation of a 4P cabinet, IMO.  But maybe it works for you. 

Finally, the more controls you include, the more difficult it will be for guests to understand how to play.  I have a cabinet in my basement that has 1 button and 1 4-way joystick and the questions are still constant.  If you really get into this hobby you are going to want to own/build more than one cabinet so you can make each one focused on a set of controls.  Just something to think about.

[PL1]

Here's a more detailed breakdown of the design process that Javeryh was talking about.

http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/FAQ#What_type_of_build_meets_my_needs.3F

If you work through the process and decide you still want a 4 player setup, consider a pedestal build.









Since we're talking about a possible 4 player build, here's the obligatory "angled joysticks" reminder:  Green is good, red is bad.




Scott

[irishpump]

Thank you guys very much! I actually have a family of 6 (wife and 4 kids). I have a small cabinet for 2 players, but it's always an issue, which is the main reason for building a 4 player cabinet. I've had to make some adjustments to a set of plans I found, which I really excited about working on. Thank you guys again

[pbj]

That’s my pedestal in the junky garage in that picture.  I’ve since gone with a 48” monitor.  I can get 4 obese people on it and we can play comfortably.

 

[P-chan]

A 4 player pedestal with a TV mounted on the wall in front of it is a very good way to go, plus you can still obviously use the TV for normal TV, just push the pedestal out of the way.

If you actually want a cab, consider mounting the 43" TV vertically, like the attached image shows.  The blue line is the visible screen area.  I'm building one of these right now and it's going to turn out great!

[Howard_Casto]

So how are you going to keep that from tipping over, because as is it's going to want to take a dive anytime someone gets too excited and pulls down on the joystick a little too hard. 

[P-chan]

So how are you going to keep that from tipping over, because as is it's going to want to take a dive anytime someone gets too excited and pulls down on the joystick a little too hard.

Who are you replying to?  If you're referring to the diagram I posted, all the weight is in the bottom, the TV weighs like 20 lbs, maybe?  The wood and PC are going to be maybe 100lbs.  I don't think I'll have any issues.  There will be no weight in the top at all.  Also I haven't started building yet but I think I am going to make it a little deeper.

[schmerzkaufen]

You can always think about leaving enough room for putting some dead weight at the bottom.

Once I was trying a mock build of a similar design the lack of weight was indeed a problem, so I've simply shoved a heavy stone a the bottom, problem mostly solved (~20kg maybe?)

A more clean solution would be to make a custom-shaped one in concrete, it's also easier to optimize weight distribution this way.

[Mike A]

If you are putting rocks and concrete in the bottom of your cab then the greater issue is that it is a bad design.

[Mike A]

[bperkins01]

MikeA is correct.  That skinny base cabinet will fall over pretty easily
Or.  Make sure you screw
It to the wall.  Adding weight is not going to help much at all.
The majority of its weight is at the CP and up.  It’s already top heavy on a small base

[schmerzkaufen]

I thought the free space below the cp on a variety of cab designs was meant for more comfortable bar stool sitting? if stool's the plan, well...

Unless one plans to use all the space stuffing a ton of hardware inside that slim cab, I see no problem with shoving something heavy at the bottom of it.
It can be anything really, a bag of dirt or a dead animal, whatever, it's not like everyone's going to see it.

EDIT: Yes it's not an ideal solution, for effectiveness it need to be very heavy. The 20kg stone made things better but twice that would have been much better. Sure; the heavier the more room it takes...
When you try and create slim and compact designs though, why not go all the way and try to create the thing you're really dreaming about even if that means being inventive and making difficult compromises, tweaks/hacks?
Kinda like when building a custom SFF PC.

Custom shape also means custom weight distribution;
(ok it doesn't have to be that big, but you get the idea)

[Mike A]

There is some middle ground there to accommodate seated play. You can extend the base enough to support the CP and still fit your legs underneath. Then you don't need to stuff patio blocks in your cab like a goof.

[schmerzkaufen]

Yeah sure, there were some with those nice...er how it's called...steel plates with rice-grain shaped anti-slip pattern.

edit: this



And nothing stops from mixing both ideas, with a bit of weight at the bottom instead of a ton.

[bperkins01]

Or screw it to the wall.  It’s a big cantilever.  The base is small.   
It really needs to be wider than what is shown.
 
2 screws at the top will be a lot better than weight at the bottom
 

[bperkins01]

If you extend the base out to the line up with the front edge of the monitor behind the cp.  you will be fine and won’t need to add any weight.  It’s just a little and you will have plenty of room to sit

[MartyKong]

I built a slim style cab that was 18.5 deep. I ended up extending the levelers to as wide as I could get them. Live and learn.