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| Retro Box - Just a Regular 'Ole Bartop (COMPLETED AUG 2024 - UPDATED SEPT 2024) |
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| DaveMMR:
My marquee came in from GameOnGrafix. I designed it in Illustrator, using the vintage design of Time Out arcades for inspiration. Although, sadly, I wasn't able to find a font that matched their old logo. But I found something else that looked suitably "retro". I thought for sure I'd have to do some trimming, but it fit perfectly without any modification. The plexiglass option doesn't leave me room in the slot I cut for a front piece of plastic, but that's fine. It's sturdy enough I don't think it really needs it anyhow. I am very pleased with how this turned out. |
| DaveMMR:
I wasn't liking how my lines came out for the monitor bezel. So I simply cut out the center where the display shows, gave it a couple of more coats on the back, and now it looks much cleaner... Home stretch, time to work on the CP. I laid out a few templates from slagcoin and got them aligned and straight. Next I drilled some pilot holes And with the thin plexi overlay sandwiched below it and a scrap piece of wood, I drilled out all the button holes. The hardware I was going to use didn't quite work out, so I got some some inexpensive sticks and encoders off Amazon. The upside is that it comes with wires that just plugs right in. Meanwhile, the paint job on the CP itself was a little rough. So I spraypainted the back of the plexi, coming up way more vibrant. |
| DaveMMR:
The wired up panel was fitted onto the bartop, hooking up the wires for the coin/select and start buttons as well. I got lazy and just secured the CP down with two painted screws. But it's done! |
| DaveMMR:
I added some more pictures below of the Retro Box in action. The software side of things will always be a series of additions, deletions, fixes and fine-tuning. As I wanted this to be an "all-in-one" emulation machine, I made sure all my various console controllers worked. And they did... with some tweaking and remapping. I am happy with the way this turned out, but there's always room for improvement. * The inexpensive Amazon sticks are fine and will probably be better after some 'breaking-in", but I might replace those down the line with better sticks. * I want to make a stand-alone "analog" panel with spinner and trackball. * My CP is just solid yellow because my original plans for adding a matching 'rainbow' pattern didn't work out. I might fix that if I upgrade the CP. * Speaking of... I might redo the panel completely one day. The left and right control sets can be moved more inward. * While I can adjust volume in Batocera, I may add a dedicated volume knob that doesn't require me opening the back door. * Upgrade the computer a bit. It can run plenty of consoles. Even some later ones fairly decently. But a little more memory wouldn't hurt short term. Or an entire replacement long-term. I'll keep an eye out in the trash for newer ones. ;D But for now, I'm going to enjoy it. Thanks for looking! |
| javeryh:
Looks great - love the yellow! You work FAST. :cheers: |
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