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Author Topic: 1985 Rewind  (Read 14630 times)

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bobbyb13

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1985 Rewind
« on: January 16, 2022, 01:55:07 am »
One of the entertaining things about being my age is that in middle school and half of high school my primary job was still working as the neighborhood paperboy.
So in that fateful year of 1985 it seemed like the arcade gods had seen fit to create a ridiculous game meant only to immortalize what was presently my most humble vocation.

Oh, the joys of delivering The Evening Sentinel no matter what the weather, to people I would often have to chase for a few dollars every other week so that they could enjoy yesterday's news that evening.
The rain, the snow, the wipeouts when my paper sling got caught in something and flung me, the bruised shins, crushed gonads, blood and scabs.
Ahhhh....

All for $ to pump into arcade machines and buy burgers and pizza.
And bike parts.

The nostalgia of it all!

And so this is my justification (that and a few double Mai Tais) for yet another leap over the edge here, that and the fact that after 4 years now of trying, I have succeeded in gathering all the parts to make one of these!



I've really wanted to have a Paperboy machine (once I discovered that this could be possible- thank you lords of MAME!) but it was obvious that the biggest hurdle to a proper playing machine was that elusive controller.
So now I have no excuse!

If you were fortunate enough to play that cabinet in the wild, you would probably agree there really is no proper substitute.
The Star Wars yoke works for it of course, but that only rekindled that dream of a proper set of bars and reliving the joy and pain (but this time without the actual pain!) of my teen years.

Big props to markrl on klov for fortuitously posting the last axle and spring housings that I needed to make a functional Paperboy handlebar yoke- and giving me a great deal on them too!
Better still, he has made so many of these Atari 2 cabs that he also had artwork available.

I figured having that to begin with would help immensely in ensuring I got proper proprtions for what would inevtiably be a scratch build yet again.
And so it begins...



I spent the standard hour plus with straight edges and tape measure and profile tracings to calculate what was as authentic as possible for a cabinet body.
I had entertained the idea of checking in with a local cabinet business that I know has a few CNC tables and seeing how those files from classicarcadecabinets would go, and then thought... screw it!

CNC my eye... Give me a few clamps and a SkilSaw!



Use the jigsaw to finish the circular saw cuts without overcutting, clean up the edges with a random orbital, run the router with a slot cutter, and voila!



I'm going to make the cab an inch wider than original in case for some reason it winds up with a larger screen in it at some point.
Just thinking ahead.

I got a bit of the blocking on both sides after that pic and also build the base compete with casters so the next hour I have to spend on this it will be a standing box already.

Ironic that the BitKit and Multi-Williams are only waiting for artwork to be done (which I still haven't made a final call on yet) and this one I am beginning with it.

Go figure.
 :dunno
Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools! I can fix it.

Zebidee

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #1 on: January 16, 2022, 02:57:35 am »
CNC my eye... Give me a few clamps and a SkilSaw!

I like your attitude!

Dunno where you find the time!

Is this going in next to your SF Rush double?
Check out my completed projects!


Mike A

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #2 on: January 16, 2022, 06:16:32 am »
Yeah. CNC is not necessary.
You can still use the DXF files from that website.
It will give you all of the measurements you need.

javeryh

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #3 on: January 16, 2022, 07:29:48 am »
Oh man this is going to be good.  I never quite figured out how to play Paperboy when I was a kid - it used to take my quarters in about 20 seconds - but I liked the game for some reason.  Probably because I used to deliver newspapers on my bike as well.  I was really terrible and I haven’t played in decades because of the unique controls.

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #4 on: January 16, 2022, 11:28:57 am »
in highschool we were at the arcade watching a buddy just do terrible at paperboy.
until a few cute girls came up to watch and he somehow completed the level with perfection.
he was sweating and his knuckles were white afterword. lol.

we were playing street hockey and someone said "hey we need a goal, someone call their sister to come watch so paperboy can score"
lol.

leapinlew

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #5 on: January 16, 2022, 11:49:52 am »
Huge fan of paperboy. I play it on a Star Wars yoke today and it plays great. It wasn't until Mame that I was able to beat Easy Street.

bobbyb13

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #6 on: January 16, 2022, 01:40:13 pm »
Yeah. CNC is not necessary.
You can still use the DXF files from that website.
It will give you all of the measurements you need.

Thanks for the tip Mike.
I'll have to see about getting that file open/viewable.

The original System 2 cabinet is actually pretty elaborate.
Making one form factor that could cover the assortment of games (I think there were 6 different ones Atari put in them?) leads to a lot of small panels, to accomodate pedals, coin door, and still reach steering or joystick comfortably.

I do want it to look and play right though.
Not to mention that I also have a Road Blasters yoke and loved that game too  ;)
This build may very well get fully templated/catalogued so I can make another one (or more!) easily.

At this point I need to decide if I will give it white formica on the sides or try for paint.
Haven't researched what is the best substrate for Scotchcal adhesive yet.

I believe this is the kind of stuff you float into place and squeegee down but want to make sure before I cause myself any headaches.

Huge fan of paperboy. I play it on a Star Wars yoke today and it plays great. It wasn't until Mame that I was able to beat Easy Street.

What type of system and mame version are you running in that cabinet sir?
Still haven't decided what I will do for that portion if the machine yet.

Thanks for the replies gentlemen!
This will be a fun one.
Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools! I can fix it.

bobbyb13

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #7 on: January 18, 2022, 05:43:41 am »
CNC my eye... Give me a few clamps and a SkilSaw!

I like your attitude!

Dunno where you find the time!

Is this going in next to your SF Rush double?

Covid chaos work-wise has given me time recently.
Everyone around us seems to be sick and our household keeps coming out clean.

I haven't actually paid attention to the height of this cabinet versus the other cabs up there so I don't know if it will be upstairs or live down in the workshop really!
Hope it fits up in the loft without wrecking the feng shui of the joint but if it lives down below I can live with that.

I had (made!) a few hours to work on it after dinner today so made some progress again.

Having a good table saw and a bevel square makes a remarkable difference in construction speed.

I'm still trying to figure out if I will be covering the sides with white vinyl or formica before the artwork gets put on but I couldn't wait any more to keep building.

Stitched the sides to the base and added the top-most panel so that I could get it standing.



Another consequence of designing as I go is that I will need to trim the base sheet by 3/4" on the front edge to accomodate the toe kick-panel.
Maybe next cabinet I can get the base right the first time?!  :banghead:

I decided that I will build the coin door/pedal box into the cabinet rather than cut the back portion of the kick panel around it.
Seemed like it would be more stable that way (although the sides of it wind up this kind of quadralateral/ trapezoidal kinda thing that will be interesting to get cut properly.)
There are so many little panels for this cabinet that it is nuts.

Since this thing is never going to live in an arcade where I need to worry about people thrashing it I can leave out some of the detail of the original really.

The dimensions are such that if for some reason I wind up with a proper Paperboy boardset I could install it all, but I won't be holding my breath for that.

The other thing is that I can't see the metal control panel of the original really being necessary either.

I beefed up where the CP will sit enough that it shouldn't be moving at all and I will add a strongback along the rear edge once I see how the controller and monitor fill the space.
If for some reason I need to rout out a spot and drop a metal plate in I can do it.

I have glued and braced the front part of the control panel to the top also so that I can round off the edge like the authentic metal panel and have an assembly that won't move around during play.

It will be screwed into the blocking so that I can remove it also, in case it needs to be worked on (or even redesigned because I missed something) and the screws should keep it in place easily.



It is getting two 4" speakers that will not be behind one of the original style grills that are as wide as the cabinet.
Again, no need to sweat the abuse that thing was built to stand.

After building a decent number of these things now I can see how you really don't need much to make them solid and functional.



Still haven't decided what system will be running the game.
I believe I have another PC that I could use but this is only going to play Paperboy at this point (maybe also Road Blasters in the future with a panel swap?) so maybe a RPi build would be in order.

Still haven't built one of those up yet so no clue how the Paperboy emulation is there and how integrating the potentiometers would work.

Any wisdom on the details of an R-Pi build vs, PC for this case would be appreciated!


Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools! I can fix it.

lomoverde

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #8 on: January 18, 2022, 08:16:02 am »
This looks great,I love the shape of this cab.Its like its leaning into the player (if that makes sense  ;D ) .

Jimbo

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #9 on: January 18, 2022, 10:02:48 am »
Great stuff!

I have an original paperboy cab so if you need any dimensions/photos/info, let me know!

Mike A

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #10 on: January 18, 2022, 11:00:34 am »
Look at you. Getting ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- done.

pbj

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #11 on: January 18, 2022, 12:53:50 pm »
Huge fan of paperboy. I play it on a Star Wars yoke today and it plays great. It wasn't until Mame that I was able to beat Easy Street.

Same here.  It was a very intimidating game when I was a kid.  Guaranteed to kill your quarter in about 45 seconds.  With the magic of unlimited freeplay in emulation, I recently decided to conquer my hang up and this game isn't so bad once you get the hang of it.  I feel like all the Atari games from this era had some non-intuitive factor to the controls. 

Don't know how you do it, Bobby, but great work so far.

 :cheers:

bobbyb13

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #12 on: January 18, 2022, 11:44:35 pm »
Huge fan of paperboy. I play it on a Star Wars yoke today and it plays great. It wasn't until Mame that I was able to beat Easy Street.

Same here.  It was a very intimidating game when I was a kid.  Guaranteed to kill your quarter in about 45 seconds.  With the magic of unlimited freeplay in emulation, I recently decided to conquer my hang up and this game isn't so bad once you get the hang of it.  I feel like all the Atari games from this era had some non-intuitive factor to the controls. 

Don't know how you do it, Bobby, but great work so far.

 :cheers:

Flattered Jim, thank you.

And apart from trying to utilize numerous techniques and materials I have seen/learned here I believe it is all Mai Tais, insomnia, and unbridled childish obsession.
 :lol

This is a great (albeit occassionally frustrating) hobby.
Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools! I can fix it.

bobbyb13

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #13 on: January 19, 2022, 01:15:03 am »
Great stuff!

I have an original paperboy cab so if you need any dimensions/photos/info, let me know!

Thanks Jimbo!

And so my first question!

What does the base on your cab involve, i.e. casters, leg levelers, nylon feet...?
And what is height from the floor to the lowermost panel of it?

I think I may have mine set too high for being able to use with a gas pedal and yoke for Road Blasters if I made a second panel.

Not sure if Atari altered the heights of these cabs based on this (since the box is obviously identical.)
Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools! I can fix it.

bobbyb13

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #14 on: January 20, 2022, 01:16:01 am »
And...
I was wrong about the Road Blasters cabinet anyway.
I thought since it was released after Paperboy that it was a System 2 game, but nooooo!

Maybe I'll need to make a System 1 cabinet for Road Blasters  >:D

Anyway,
I forced some more time to work on this again today (too hot to cut the ocean of grass, too humid for my drywall mud to fully kick.)
 :)

I was dreading dealing with the coin box because it was going to be so weird, but I was just being a sissy.
It DID however require some fun with ridiculous angles.

For all those making this ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- up as they go along (like me!) you NEED to own these things.



Bevel square and sharp pencil a necessity of course, but this True Angle thing is awesome in case you actually want to know what angles you are actually playing with.
The side of the coin box (because of how I built it) has 3 weird angles so I checked those against my side length measurements a few times before I made a cut.
I still nearly messed it up.

I figured I should anticipate having a legit coin door and cash box stack in this, so I used the one I have in the Rush cab to measure for a porthole.
Then I figured if I was REALLY good then I could use the cut out as a door panel while I wait to spend the $$ on a real door.
So, careful plunge cuts first



Then finishing out the corner radii with a jig saw.
I have found that this really narrow blade works well for even tight curves and while you're cutting you are literally only rotating the saw (instead of actually pushing it around the corner.)
As you twist the saw around, the teeth actually pull it around for you and you can get a really nice curve if you go slowly.



A little sanding to clean up and think this will still work well as a temporary door.



I clamped those three panels together to see how I did and it is actually coming out as I planned it.



If I hadn't shown it before, here is the magic potion for filler that mixes and sands so easily.



I use a digital scale because if you don't get the mixture spot on you can have drama.
This aluzine is getting kind of old too, so it is more intolerant of ratio screw ups.
Mix in a little of that brown microballoon stuff until it is marshamllow consistency and spackle it on!



This stuff should have kicked by now actually (took a dinner break) so I bet I can go start prep for primer coat tomorrow before work.

I bought a new (cheap) sprayer so hopefully it won't choke on some thinned out enamel.
Find out tomorrow!
Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools! I can fix it.

Jimbo

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #15 on: January 20, 2022, 04:45:06 am »
Looking good!  I'll try and get a look at the base of my cab for you asap.

James

javeryh

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #16 on: January 20, 2022, 11:09:32 am »
Wow bobby - this is looking really nice and you are really moving fast.  I'm a little jealous of your weather - it's snowing where I am right now and I won't be able to get into the shop for several months...   :cheers:

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #17 on: January 20, 2022, 09:52:08 pm »
This is looking great so far Bobby.  I forgot what a cool looking cab Paperboy is!  I'll be watching with great interest because one day I wanna make my own detachable controller for this.

bobbyb13

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #18 on: January 21, 2022, 01:03:33 am »
Thank you all!

Wow bobby - this is looking really nice and you are really moving fast.  I'm a little jealous of your weather - it's snowing where I am right now and I won't be able to get into the shop for several months...   :cheers:

I do still love playing in the snow, but tolerating it otherwise I think I can only do in small doses.
Sucks to get put off your work for weather!
Only humidity gets me here at this point, as long as the workshop stays upright of course-
When I finally get the damn guest house done you should probably get back on that Hawaii trip idea.  8)

This really is proving to be a fun build and better still, I'm mostly satisfied with the simplicity of the panel layout and their fit here (finally now that I'm on my 6th!)

Doesn't keep me from blowing it in places though.

I have taken to liking the ability to remove the speaker panel without having to destroy anything (screws rather than glue and brads) but remembering that at an appropriate time in the build still escapes me apparently.
Thankfully, I... got this ultimate set of tools!  I can fix it.



Someday I will happen upon a more elegant speaker solution that I am patient enough to implement.
Maybe I just need to make them out of MDF...?

... I'll be watching with great interest because one day I wanna make my own detachable controller for this.

It was my ability to finally put together a proper controller (without having to buy ANYthing from that Ram Controls jackass on ebay, Etsy or elsewhere!)  that was the impetus for building this.
The damn parts are so expensive and so hard to find that it was a non-starter for 4 years.

Atari used the same or similar parts for a number of their more exotic controllers, but a Paperboy yoke has more parts that are specific to it only than any other control I have encountered.

I was trying in earnest to assemble one from various guts of orginal Star Wars yokes that I would find but before I had finished I happened upon an almost complete original controller from someone else who had been trying longer than I apparently.

Don't think I know more than anyone else but I'll help you if I can!

Utilizing that controller with a 3/4" wood panel while retaining as much wood as possible has required a strange orifice though.



It looks like a square should suffice at first blush, but when you accomodate the X axis gear that partially sits outside the housing, one of the protruding spring tails, and the rather large stops for side to side motion of the controller it gets pretty interesting.

I'm guessing with an original metal panel they just made the hole a regular square to the largest dimension of what I cut.

Hopefully tonight I can go hang the bracket to carry the CRT and then she will actually be ready for the pain of painting.






Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools! I can fix it.

Ond

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #19 on: January 21, 2022, 01:28:29 am »
Great work bobby, nice clean woodwork, Paperboy is kind of a unique cabinet, game-play aside, just the look of the cabinet is really nice. Your filler 'potion" interests me, I've been thinking about my own recipe for a a mix of Bondo (styrene base) with wood particles or similar. The main reason is for expansion differences in materials due to heat/cold when used as a filler.

bobbyb13

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #20 on: January 21, 2022, 02:22:00 am »
Thanks Ond.
I'm stoked on this one!

If you will be applying a paint finish to the item in question then that 2 part aluzine and microballoons concoction is where it's at for filler as far as I have found.

I have used it for surfboards made of polyester or epoxy, auto body repair, wood of various kinds...
You can play with the amount of filler added to the resin and achieve different results in terms of weight, adhesion, ability to stick on a vertical surface, and difficulty of sanding.

It is remarkable in that it cures as hard as it does and still sands so easily.
And it also feathers into all of the above substrates so nicely that you can get any hint of an edge to disappear.

It does have a slight surface porosity to it when sanded out but if you need it to be smoother then you can always add a regular glazing compound over it (auto finish stuff yet again) and you can make it as smooth as you can stand to sand to.
The grit you need to sand it to to get it to disappear beneath paint depends on how much filler you add.  More filler, more porous of course.

I know that the brown variant of microballoons is a phenolic compound (hollow spheres even apparently!) and there are silicate types of filler also if you need a white or clear result, but none of the other ones (Aerosil, Cabosil, Sipernat, etc.) mix and sand as easily as the brown phenolic in my experience.
Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools! I can fix it.

bobbyb13

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #21 on: January 22, 2022, 01:29:54 am »
Reminded myself today while painting...

IF you have used the aforementioned filler, as you are laying down youe primer, give a first little wash across those filled areas so that they have adequate coverage when you are done.

I had committed an entire day for a trouble call on the other side of the island for a previous customer and the operation took me 15 minutes (if you don't include the hour drive there and hour drive back...)

So I had more time for this again!
The arcade gods want this cab done apparently.

I went to school on Ond's direction to focus on prep and actually sanded the entire cab down to 240 before I even put on any primer.

I got one of the rather cheap guns from Home Cheapo and I have to tell you, with a series of proper moisture traps and some attention to thinning with mineral spirits, this thing actually puts material down pretty nicely.
40 psi max, get your paint down to the consistency of heavy cream and off you go.



It does say that it is NOT for spraying latex paint.
I will say that after suffering through it, I will NEVER use latex paint for a cabinet ever again anyway.

If you are going to apply any artwork afterward, I don't think any of the adhesives that people use will ever stick to latex properly and the fact that even cheap oil based enamels can be run through a sprayer and dry faster make it the only choice.

After that dried (in a few hours just sitting in the sun even!) it was so easy to give a quick rub with a 200 grit foam sanding block and get a nice surface that I was mad at myself for not having taken this route earlier in my cab building sagas.
Live and learn.

After I got to that point, I thought what the hell, this should just be like fixing a board or dent repair on a car.

Tape and mask your zone and get going with your next coat.



I shot black satin enamel (oil base of course) onto it while it was still daylight out but had to run down to the house and finish the turkey dinner I had committed to making for the missus so I'm going to head back up now and see what it looks like.

I know it will have some holidays (since AFTER I started shooting I remembered what I forgot- to run some solvent through the gun before I loaded the cup with paint.
 :banghead:

Needs at least more coat of black on the front and visible interior bits anyway so no big deal really.

Look forward to getting the white done tomorrow and being able to actually put the side art on Sunday maybe...?
Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools! I can fix it.

bobbyb13

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #22 on: January 22, 2022, 04:51:50 am »
So for anyone (like me) who was hesitant to start spraying cabinets instead of the roll and tip method, here is everything you need to pull it off it appears.



Home Cheapo gun, oil based primer and color coat, mineral spirits for thinning those to proper viscosity, turpentine for cleaning gun afterwards, and tape and masking plastic.

Oh, foam sanding block for in between coats and air gun (compressor too of course) for blowing off dust.

I have a moisture trap right on the compressor (65% humidity common here) but put another one on the tail of the gun so there aren't any hurt feelings.

Current result.



The black should harden up enough by tomorrow morning that I should be able to shoot the second coat of that before lunchtime and get to some top coat white on the sides before the day is out.

It sounds like the surf got pretty big though, so there could be a break in cabinet action first thing!

https://www.pacioos.hawaii.edu/waves/buoy-waimea/#forecast




Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools! I can fix it.

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #23 on: January 22, 2022, 05:36:10 am »
Hey Bobby...

So I took a couple of photos of the base, (see below).  I can't really move this very easily as the cab is in position in the gameroom, up against a wall one side, and another cab on the other side, plus its one of the heaviest upright cabs I own.  So I bent down and had a lookie.  ;)

The base of the cab (bottom of the lowest panel) is pretty much 2cm from the floor.

Looks like there are 4 what look like metal leg-levellers, one in each corner of the base, very close to the edge, I'd say no more than 2 or 3cm in, max.  They are each screwed into a small square metal plate that's maybe 6 or 7cm square.

 :cheers:

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #24 on: January 22, 2022, 08:24:09 am »
I have so much to learn about materials and painting, especially spray painting, from you (and Ond too)...

Locals could learn too. If you ever came here we could organise a workshop day with some local tradies, do some spray painting together. Then probably some rice whiskey shots afterwards   :o

We also have high humidity to deal with.

Love the peacock feathers <3
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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #25 on: January 22, 2022, 12:20:01 pm »
Hey Bobby...

So I took a couple of photos of the base, (see below).  I can't really move this very easily as the cab is in position in the gameroom, up against a wall one side, and another cab on the other side, plus its one of the heaviest upright cabs I own.  So I bent down and had a lookie.  ;)

The base of the cab (bottom of the lowest panel) is pretty much 2cm from the floor.

Looks like there are 4 what look like metal leg-levellers, one in each corner of the base, very close to the edge, I'd say no more than 2 or 3cm in, max.  They are each screwed into a small square metal plate that's maybe 6 or 7cm square.

 :cheers:

Thanks Jimbo!
That is exactly what I hoped to learn.
Mine is set a little higher than your original but it doesn't seem like enough to go through the drama of re-engineering the caster setup.
I think it will play fine but we'll see once I have it running!

A visit and various clinics would be good fun Andrew.
I still have a lot to learn!
Ond is far beyind me in coatings.
My work with enamel is quite crude compared to the urethanes he is working with now.
Mine will look ok, but the quality of finish and durability that Ond is achieving can't be bested.

The guns look intimidating at first but are very simple units really.
Just a bit of practice using it to get good with.

The hardest part really is keeping the things clean enough to continue working well.

The peacocks are prolific feather producers and the boys always drop those elaborate tails of theirs in July/August.
Last summer I decided I would throw some seed out every day those months to keep them around the back of the lot and was rewarded with a pretty big pile of feathers over a few weeks!

I need to go check on my paint!

Surf is in the only in the 10 meter range so not big enough for the contest I thought could be a go for today.
Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools! I can fix it.

bobbyb13

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #26 on: January 22, 2022, 02:44:08 pm »
Mask peeled and drying.

Next up is two coats of white.



Only things I'm not satisfied with are the result of using plywood really.

More support for the argument to use MDF in the proper places.
Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools! I can fix it.

javeryh

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #27 on: January 22, 2022, 07:41:42 pm »
Looks really great.  You banged this one out quick.

Ca you see the grain of the plywood through your top coat?  Is that the issue?

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #28 on: January 23, 2022, 03:59:28 am »
After a coat of primer and two coats of color you would think it was melamine or formica really.
Granted, this is decent raw cabinet grade plywood, but even here it was only $65/sheet.

The difference between sanding raw ply to 240 grit and then spraying enamels compared to anything else I have tried is enormous.

Only less than desirable bit is on the edges of the ply where the last ply has 1/4" long pulled splintered spots on the bottom edge.
As I never touched that side, it came from the factory like that.
If I really cared I could have skimmed it with filler first but only I (or anyone who has read this!) could possibly notice.

It won't effect gameplay at all and could have wound up worse after the first time I moved the cab really!

White got sprayed and dried so I am ready to set a tube in this thing.
Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools! I can fix it.

bobbyb13

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #29 on: January 25, 2022, 05:32:41 pm »
I intentionally made this cabinet wide enough to accept a 27" CRT (just in case) but in the interest of making sure I pick the right tube to begin with (starting with a 24" component input Trinitron here?) I figured I should have a go at configuation.

And so, a little MAME PC wrestling.



Since this is going to be a dedicated Paperboy probably for the remainder of its (my anyway!) life I would really prefer a more elegant solution that just boots right to the game at startup.
I have now read SO many different ways that people have gone about this that I am at a loss.

If ANYone reading here has some wisdom to offer on what they have found to be the best method for a single game boot solution for MAME I would love to hear it!

I just stumbled into yet TWO more projects that will be very cool (and take a ---steaming pile of meadow muffin----ton of work) so getting this done so that I can just play it (and not futz with it) will be awesome.
Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools! I can fix it.

Zebidee

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #30 on: January 25, 2022, 06:36:00 pm »
That PC looks like you've taken to it with a chainsaw, to cut away the unnecessary parts.

So many ways to boot directly into the game, don't know what advice to give you that you don't already know. Simplest way is to put a shortcut to groovymame into your startup folder (if using Doze). Lot of other things you can do to minimise the PC-feeling of boot-time.
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bobbyb13

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #31 on: January 25, 2022, 07:18:30 pm »
That PC looks like you've taken to it with a chainsaw, to cut away the unnecessary parts.

So many ways to boot directly into the game, don't know what advice to give you that you don't already know. Simplest way is to put a shortcut to groovymame into your startup folder (if using Doze). Lot of other things you can do to minimise the PC-feeling of boot-time.

Aviation snips!
It was meant for a different cab where real estate was a huge issue so needed to lose some volume yet maintain support for graphic card and fans.
Still an (un)work in progress.

Maybe the startup folder route is the way.
Don't mind seeing windows crap during boot or waiting a bit either, but having to drag out a keyboard/mouse to navigate through folders or icons for this is anathema.

The BEST part of the video situation will be the joy of a GreenAntz board here.
Any experience using an ArcadeVGA with one yet (or will I be the primary beta tester?)

I know the original Paperboy was medium res so not sure what will be playing out here to get proper function throughout the signal path.

Not that I knew much to begin with, but haven't had my video brain in place for a while now.
 :lol
Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools! I can fix it.

Zebidee

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #32 on: January 25, 2022, 08:22:59 pm »
The BEST part of the video situation will be the joy of a GreenAntz board here.
Any experience using an ArcadeVGA with one yet (or will I be the primary beta tester?)

Is just another video card, should work just fine :D

Quote
I know the original Paperboy was medium res so not sure what will be playing out here to get proper function throughout the signal path.

You'll need to use a 15khz mode with a standard CRT TV. GM will do the mode choosing/tweaking and speed matching thing, as best as it can. Keep your eyes open for a med res monitor! Worth it for a dedicated machine. CRTEMU/GM works with 25khz too.
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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #33 on: January 25, 2022, 08:55:29 pm »
That was what I was hoping for (a medium res chassis for a 25" tube that I have on hand) but we'll see how long before a functional one materializes.
That chassis would be worthless for the Trinitron I was going to hang in the cabinet to begin with so we'll see if I can find a compatible chassis in the next week.
The layout of how the screen will be mounted was meant to be modular so we'll see.

Until then it is make-do emulation-wise it appears!

Should still be good fun.
Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools! I can fix it.

bobbyb13

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #34 on: January 27, 2022, 03:44:44 pm »
Every time I wind up interacting this intimately with the software that people have written and the hardware designed to make this hobby happen I am still amazed.

I'm at it again with CRTEmudriver (thank you Calamity!!) for Paperboy here and since I don't do this all the time it took a few shots to get a stable image of course.
I have it down to the point where the only frustraions I have with it are either windoze based or me being inept.



Using a GreenAntz to the composite on the Sonys makes part of this easy but I'm still trying to figure out how the resolution situation works with what I am trying (having) to do.

I worked on making sure the controller actually fits properly and getting my temporary coin door fake into place also.
I guess I'll just drill a hole in that for a coin button?



I'm looking forward to getting artwork on it but I am behaving myself and being patient.
 ;D

After wrestling with never getting groovymame to launch (a flash of a window and then nothing) I tried just using a regular mame build and then tweaking the resolution with the OSD in CRTEmu and got it happening finally.



Now that I have confirmed I can use this screen I can make the bits to mount it and move everything into the cabinet finally.

At some point I'll get smarter and actually sort out how to use all this stuff properly and get proper resolution/timing going on.

I may need to make a flow chart of the progression of signal from item to item to actually get my head around it and learn why I screw it up at first every time!
Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools! I can fix it.

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #35 on: January 27, 2022, 05:46:38 pm »
If you're running Paperboy and only Paperboy and nothing but Paperboy I'd consider Win 98 set to boot into DOS and then fire up Paperboy via command line.

But I'm ancient.

 :dunno

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #36 on: January 27, 2022, 07:49:29 pm »
If you're running Paperboy and only Paperboy and nothing but Paperboy I'd consider Win 98 set to boot into DOS and then fire up Paperboy via command line.

But I'm ancient.

 :dunno

That is the goal precisely.

I was trying to do something similar with what appeared to be an all in one solution called 'groovytime' but I can't get this stupid box to boot after I (believe I have) loaded the image.
An issue of bios and uefi conflict I think but I'm too ignorant to know how to deal with it and not sure I am using rufus and macrium properly to begin with really anyway.

If I can find a win98 image I may try that.
The HD 5450 card I'm using may still work and maybe I can find all the crap I need to pull that off?

The whole ala cart thing with configuring all of this makes me nuts because I only know enough to cause headaches and then sometimes after I have suffered for a few sleepless nights I accidentally stumble into something functional.
 :banghead:
Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools! I can fix it.

bobbyb13

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #37 on: January 28, 2022, 04:39:43 am »
I will start to get antsy to get this playable soon at this point.



Got the Trinitron pulled apart and the screen hung.

My favorite way to hang a tube now.

Minimal
Modular
Adjustable (if a tube swap needs to happen)



A template saved from when I got a shape that is pretty universal makes this really quick now.
Only need to center that curve on the appropriate width panels and cut them out with the jigsaw.

The other element is putting a set of 4"x4" ply pieces on the sides of the cab which have a 3/4" notch in them to accept the lower cross pieces and everything sits quite nicely.
Nearly all the weight sits on the bottom pieces of course so a smaller cross piece for the top is plenty.

I don't notch that one as it is easy to rest the tube on the bottom one (already screwed in place) and then slide the top piece behind the mouting ears and just screw it down when it is in the right spot.

Since the bottom is leaning back into the notch by virtue of the angle and its own weight it doesn't move around before you can get it squared up with the cab and the ears screwed down.

I do spend a bunch of effort making sure the screen winds up where I want it in terms of vertical placement and angle of the face but not a big deal any longer.



Using 1/4" machine screws and t-nuts makes it easy to adjust and secure.

It's been fun to really pare the process down to the minimum required components and effort to make a solid cabinet.

Only took me a half dozen of them to start getting a clue.
 :lol

I already put the power inlet, line filter, and a small distribution block in place so it's coming along quickly now.

Maybe tomorrow I can get time to set a shelf for the chassis, GreenAntz and audio amp and work on connecting things and firing it up in place.

I'm waiting on artwork anyway so I have time before I start getting nutty over the rest not being done.

Still need to sort out something for a bezel now I think of it.
At least the original was just black posterboard so it is a pretty low bar!
« Last Edit: January 28, 2022, 04:45:26 am by bobbyb13 »
Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools! I can fix it.

Mike A

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #38 on: January 28, 2022, 05:42:48 am »
Look at this guy. :cheers:

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Re: 1985 Rewind
« Reply #39 on: January 28, 2022, 10:27:01 am »
Looks great. Is this a bigger screen than was being used in the dedicated Paper Boy cabinets?  :cheers: