Author Topic: Doc's Modular MAME - Updated 6/18 (Read 5028 times)

Doc- · « **on:** April 25, 2004, 01:46:21 pm »

UPDATE 6/18/04: I added quite a few new panels since the original version was published as well as new layout pictures.

If nothing else - seeing other people's CP layouts and panels sometimes help me to think of new ideas. I can't take credit for the ideas in many of these panels - most of the good ideas came from this board!

Some of the additions to the original modular panel include:
- A converted Logitech wingman "tron" style joystick
- Small 4 button "diamond" layout panels
- USB Gamepads as a four-player option
- A converted PC Analog joystick panel
- Volume control (Thanks to Oscar's article!)
- Q-bert joystick,
- Dual four-way and top-fire joysticks
- Dual light-guns

Also I added and updated quite a few pictures of alternate layouts you can create with a modular panel.

http://www.beersmith.com/mame

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Old message:

I started the project in February and finished the basic cabinet in about three weeks.

About 2-3 weeks ago I converted the control panel to a fully modular panel. The modular panel provides a lot of flexibility for different games. I'm pretty happy with the modular panel conversion, and I detailed a lot of the hard parts (mounting system, wiring) on the web page.

Doc

mozzer · « **Reply #1 on:** April 25, 2004, 03:31:50 pm »

Looks awesome!

I love seeing those modular designs!

Apollo · « **Reply #2 on:** April 25, 2004, 05:03:23 pm »

Great job, well done.

walls83 · « **Reply #3 on:** April 25, 2004, 05:04:27 pm »

That is sweet. Thats the best Idea Ive seen for small control panels. Very nice

SuperRabbit0 · « **Reply #4 on:** April 25, 2004, 05:36:04 pm »

What a great cabinet! And a great website to boot.

I've got this one bookmarked for when I build my full size cabinet

Even your cabinet-building pages were helpful. Great Work!

Tilzs · « **Reply #5 on:** April 25, 2004, 09:23:57 pm »

Wow very nice

Harry Potter · « **Reply #6 on:** April 26, 2004, 09:53:06 am »

Very nice

Keep it up.

Smittydc · « **Reply #7 on:** April 26, 2004, 10:40:05 am »

I've actually gotten to play on Doc's cabinet and it really does work as smoothly as he describes. It only takes a minute to swap in different panels.

Now he needs to take some time and learn to play the games better... if he wants to beat all the high scores I set on his cabinet, that is.

Oh yeah, Doc also brews great beer!

Mr. Dude · « **Reply #8 on:** April 26, 2004, 01:52:40 pm »

Excellent job! Your modular CP is one of the best I've seen.

Minwah · « **Reply #9 on:** April 26, 2004, 03:21:42 pm »

I decided against modular panels myself (mainly for artwork reasons), but I have to say that looks very slick, I like the curved front edge

BldnACab · « **Reply #10 on:** April 26, 2004, 03:33:46 pm »

Very nice! Well done!!!

BldnACab

bigmoe · « **Reply #11 on:** April 27, 2004, 01:03:11 pm »

Doc, this looks fantastic! Congratulations!

I'm so glad (for my own sake, too

) to see a real, workable, attractive modular panel design that uses wood. Thanks for sharing!

b

Doc- · « **Reply #12 on:** April 27, 2004, 05:36:11 pm »

Thanks for all of the kind comments.

I did toy with the idea of artwork - if you used thin lexan over the art, I think it would be workable. The panels fit pretty tightly together, so if you had access to a good table saw you could cut the lexan to fit each panel. In fact, the size of most of the panels allows the art to be printed on a home printer. You could secure the lexan either with bolts through to the joystick mounts or some countersunk screws that are hidden under the bezel.

Obviously there would be lexan lines along the panel breaks, but if you did it right I don't think it would look bad.

Also - I finished mounting my cheap Analog USB joystick using a liberal amount of epoxy on a 4" panel last night - and it worked great the first time I plugged it in.

Here's a picture of the installed analog joystick panel -

patrickl · « **Reply #13 on:** April 27, 2004, 06:02:59 pm »

This really is the most elegant modular CP. Really cool and clever.

I was wondering about artwork too. If you buy a laminated print from classicarcadegrafix or mamemarquees you could use that without the need to put extra Lexan on it. Allthough I guess you run the danger of things to look messy if you actually put on some artwork.

Doc- · « **Reply #14 on:** April 27, 2004, 07:17:47 pm »

Quote from: patrickl on April 27, 2004, 06:02:59 pm

If you buy a laminated print from classicarcadegrafix or mamemarquees you could use that without the need to put extra Lexan on it. Allthough I guess you run the danger of things to look messy if you actually put on some artwork.

Not a bad idea! The side art I got from mamemarquees was printed on heavy laminated vinyl that is probably as thick as the vinyl I'm using on the panel now.

The hard part would be designing the artwork. You would want a consistent background theme so you could swap the panels around and it would still look OK. Plus you would want to paint the edges an appropriate color (or wrap the vinyl over them) so it would not appear as a color gap.

You would need some way to fit meaningful artwork on the 2, 4, 6, and 8" panels -- though in practice I tend to start with the two player fighter layout and swap the middle panels for most game variations -- so perhaps the number of variations is not huge. The 4" and 6" panels get used the most, but the trackball is on an 8" panel.

Finally, I now have a lot of panels (I'm working on my 8th joystick panel), so there is quite a bit of printing to consider as well.

Unfortunately I'm an engineer and no artist. Maybe someone educated in the arts can come up with a good idea here. A variant on the Galaga theme perhaps?

patrickl · « **Reply #15 on:** April 27, 2004, 08:53:12 pm »

Yeah the hardest part would be to design something that would work even better than the slick black look you have going now. Let alone making it continous over many different permutations of the modules.

teetu · « **Reply #16 on:** April 28, 2004, 01:53:26 am »

you're "panel mounting system" is genius!

Aceldamor · « **Reply #17 on:** April 28, 2004, 04:19:52 pm »

VERY SWEET!!!!

I like the storage shelf inside the cab too

I wish I had a table saw so I could make cuts that damn straight...

Yander · « **Reply #18 on:** April 28, 2004, 04:24:44 pm »

Your modular panel looks great. Like all the combinations you accomplished.

Very Nice Job!

eldercaribou · « **Reply #19 on:** April 29, 2004, 11:19:20 am »

wow! a really cool take on the modular panel concept - way to go! very nice!

RecycledPast · « **Reply #20 on:** April 30, 2004, 12:05:34 pm »

Very impressive design of the CP and detailed website.

I have one question about the dowels. Did you drill the holes in the panels at an angle?
I'm referring to this image http://www.beersmith.com/mame/panel_mount.JPG

Doc- · « **Reply #21 on:** April 30, 2004, 05:54:40 pm »

Quote from: Recycled-Past on April 30, 2004, 12:05:34 pm

I have one question about the dowels. Did you drill the holes in the panels at an angle?
I'm referring to this image http://www.beersmith.com/mame/panel_mount.JPG

The rear rail is set at an angle as shown, so there was no need to drill the holes at an angle.

One of the issues with my existing cabinet was the fact that the pinball flipper buttons were already drilled and installed, leaving no room for another rail. I had to use the front CP edge as the front rail. The dowels are set vertically into the front edge, but the holes in each panel had to be drilled at an angle. In this case, my CP is tilted about 12 degrees, so I just tilted the drill press clamp 12 degrees while drilling the front holes.

If I had more space, I would probably install a separate front rail tilted just like the one in the back. It would go right behind the CP edge. That would allow you to drill all of the holes vertically.

Doc- · « **Reply #22 on:** May 01, 2004, 09:55:04 pm »

Some new configurations - these were taken without the flash.

I noticed that most of the pictures on my web site are washed out and appear much worse than the actual panel. The flash tends to put glare on the parts express vinyl that just is not there in real life.

The first is a shot of dual 4 way joysticks. The one on the left is an old Wico leaf 4-way, while the one on the right is a pac-man galaga reunion stick that I just finished mounting.

Doc- · « **Reply #23 on:** May 01, 2004, 10:02:47 pm »

And here's another without the flash.

This is a dual-tank configuration for something like Ultratank (or possibly 2 player smash-tv!). I have a second top fire on order to go on the right side.

Violineb · « **Reply #24 on:** May 06, 2004, 01:33:42 am »

Wow!! The possibilities are endless

Great job on it, looks really slick

Matt, GoC · « **Reply #25 on:** May 06, 2004, 03:00:35 am »

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude.
Woooooooooooooooooooooow.

Personally I think having a full-out modular CP is a bit hectic, but if it works for you than absolutely wonderful. I am seriously considering making a semi-modular CP for my old vertical-game-dedicated cab that's in the works, now that I've seen your ideas. I could swap out a small area in the center; a 4-way for pac-man and such, a 4-way diag (Q*bert, baby!), and a steering wheel for one of my favs, All Points Bulletin! Great. Now I'm gonna be thinking about this ALL night in bed. Goodbye sleep, hello caffeine-induced alertness...

Doc- · « **Reply #26 on:** June 18, 2004, 08:06:06 pm »

Web page updated 6/18/04 with some new panels and layouts - see message at top of the thread.


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