Author Topic: First Cab - LuSid w/ Galaga theme -Finished (Read 29916 times)

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #40 on:** September 13, 2005, 01:55:00 am »

So your thinking something more like this:

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #41 on:** September 13, 2005, 02:22:18 am »

Just had a thought, if I put the trackball down low, then I could just use the thumb buttons on the 7-button layout as the main key in trackball games. Something like this:

paigeoliver · « **Reply #42 on:** September 13, 2005, 03:45:09 am »

There is no reason to have ANY dedicated trackball buttons, the player one button bank works perfectly for trackball games, and if you want mouse buttons then I would suggest using the start buttons. Those buttons you have over the trackball aren't usable for gaming, and aren't REALLY usable for navigation (unless you have really long fingers).

So, I'd drop those trackball buttons altogether.

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #43 on:** September 14, 2005, 01:30:44 am »

Well I lined everything up in photoshop, printed it out in full size (tiled it, then taped it together) and put my hands in the location of each joystick and trackball. I decided on a few minor alterations and now have what I feel will be my final CP layout. Now I just need to design the overlay which shouldn't be too hard since I'll be using only Galaga graphics, although finding a similar font may be difficult.

Elfman · « **Reply #44 on:** September 14, 2005, 10:39:47 am »

You may want to also build a mockup out of cardboard with the actual controls too. That way, you'll be able to feel if when your hands are rested while playing that the other joysticks or buttons are being pressed or get in the way. This really helped me when testing my CP.

Also, you don't have a spinner on your CP which means you can't play Tempest. And a cab that can't play Tempest is just sad

But that's just my personal preference

Skadar · « **Reply #45 on:** September 14, 2005, 10:48:46 am »

I did a bunch of work on my cabinet last night as well and I am basically at the exact same point as you. I have decided NOT to include a keyboard drawer.

As I was lining up my cabinet front visualizing the the whole assembly, I started playing with my drawer rails. I realized that, taking into account the overhang of the control panel, the drawer would only extend out about 3 inches out from underneath.

And... I have a vertical over/under door like in the book, which doesn't give me a lot of room to work with vertically on that cabinet front for a keyboard drawer.

I suppose it's time to start my thread and post all of my pictures so far.

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #46 on:** September 14, 2005, 11:10:12 am »

Ya I know, no spinner. The thing is, I can't remember ever playing any games with a spinner and can't see myself playing any now. It wouldn't be too hard to add one later since theres still some good sized open areas on my CP, so for now no spinner. I thought about doing the carboard mockup, but I'm lazy and fairly confident my layout will be fine. I did some searching around and it seems a number of people have pretty much this exact same layout and from what I saw none of them complained about any problems with it.

Lastly, on the keyboard drawer issue. I had a feeling that might be the case with the drawer rails. I'll probably just end up getting a wireless keyboard and keep it inside the lower section, unless I can find some gigantic drawer rails.

GameOver · « **Reply #47 on:** September 14, 2005, 11:15:30 am »

Quote from: AtomSmasher on September 14, 2005, 11:10:12 am

Lastly, on the keyboard drawer issue. I had a feeling that might be the case with the drawer rails. I'll probably just end up getting a wireless keyboard and keep it inside the lower section, unless I can find some gigantic drawer rails.

If you have a coin door, it shouldn't be a big deal. Anytime I need to 'type' on my cab, I just pull my keyboard out thru the coin door & set it on the CP. Works just fine.

The only reason this isn't a good solution is if you plan to play PC games on your cab.

Bones · « **Reply #48 on:** September 15, 2005, 04:11:55 am »

Your project is screaming along. You have made some quick progress since I last checked it out.

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #49 on:** September 15, 2005, 02:51:43 pm »

Yup, I'm still on schedule, which is amazing since this is the first woodworking I've done since my woodworking class in highschool....which I took almost 10 years ago.

I posted this in the art forum to get some responses there, but since this thread seems to be cataloging everything I'm doing, I should probably post here as well.

I made my first (ever) control panel overlay for my Galaga themed cab. My photoshop skills are subpar at best, so I made it fairly simple.

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #50 on:** September 17, 2005, 09:44:13 pm »

Well heres how my day went...

Actually lets start with yesterday, I went to a number of print shops to try and get my CPO printed only to find most places dont print anything that big, so I went to Kinkos, and they were able to print it onto a vinyl, but it wouldn't be done till the next day.

Anyways, back to today.

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #51 on:** September 17, 2005, 09:53:54 pm »

Heres the actual Galaga control panel so you can see how much of it I copied.

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #52 on:** September 17, 2005, 10:08:32 pm »

Stupid people on ebay. There was a Galaga sideart and kickplate art set on ebay made by a company called Two Bit. I put my max bid at $75 since it can be bought new at www.arcaderenovations.com for $100. Well apparently other people didn't do their homework on this because it sold for $137.50.

Heres the auction if your bored http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=6208334622&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #53 on:** September 18, 2005, 10:10:35 pm »

My control Panel is done!!!

Bones · « **Reply #54 on:** September 18, 2005, 10:42:32 pm »

Man, I really dig the CP and it will look even better when you put the t-moulding on.

Great job.

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #55 on:** September 25, 2005, 03:01:00 am »

Thought I'd give an update. I put on the wood putty, sanded everything down, cut out a new coin door (first coin door was from my first day of cutting and I didn't feel like spending all day trying to sand it straight) and installed the hinges. Unfortunately I still haven't received the coin thingy I got an ebay (I know its called a coin door, I just didn't feel like referring to two different things with the same name) so I haven't been able to cut out the spot for that, guess I'll do that sometime later. I still had a few hours left in the day so I went and bought paint supplies and put on two coats of primer.

Tommorrow I'll hopefully get the painting done and I'll finally be able to move it from the garage into the house. Unfortunately I have a lot of other stuff (non-arcade related) I have to get done tommorrow so I don't know for sure if I'll get to finish painting it.

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #56 on:** September 26, 2005, 11:18:44 pm »

Well I only got 2 coats of paint on so its not yet ready to come in the house. I really wanted to be able to start wiring my control panel, so I went ahead and put a few more coats on that since its small and only took a few min to do each coat. All the buttons and joysticks are now installed, I haven't been able to wire it yet but I'm hoping to find time during this week to do that.

pathdoc2 · « **Reply #57 on:** September 26, 2005, 11:25:53 pm »

Love it. Great work.

Knievel · « **Reply #58 on:** September 27, 2005, 11:23:07 am »

Sweet CP, I love when someone re-configures a classic like that.

bossyman15 · « **Reply #59 on:** September 27, 2005, 01:41:12 pm »

how much does it cost to have your CP artwork printed at Kinkos?

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #60 on:** September 27, 2005, 04:01:11 pm »

Quote from: bossyman15 on September 27, 2005, 01:41:12 pm

how much does it cost to have your CP artwork printed at Kinkos?

To have them print it on vinyl it was a little less then $50. I'm sure you can get them to print on photo paper or something similar for a lot less if cost is an issue.

rbarr110 · « **Reply #61 on:** September 27, 2005, 11:49:33 pm »

OK - question regarding the Kinkos print job.

markrvp · « **Reply #62 on:** September 28, 2005, 01:46:14 am »

CP looks really nice. Kudos to you!

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #63 on:** September 28, 2005, 01:47:28 am »

I guess you could call it thick vinyl paper, I don't really know how to describe it other then vinyl.

dfmaverick · « **Reply #64 on:** September 28, 2005, 12:56:06 pm »

Regarding Kinko's:

I would suggest as above to just go to Kinko's & ask questions.

If you're still concerned, have them print a small sample on the material you desire. That way you are only paying a couple bucks for something small to test. If that turns out fine, I'd go for the large print.

As for me, I had a small CP Overlay printed there months ago. The guy there printed it on Polypropylin (sp?) and then laminated it. It was very cheap and turned out very nice. FYI It was about $7.00 for a 6.5" x 18" output.

I haven't built anything yet, so I haven't tried attaching it to anything yet, but will probably try the 3M adhesive spray when I finally get around to it. The arcade I'm planning is a budget mini one for my nephews, thus my attempt to cut costs.

RECAP:
1. Ask questions
2. Do a small test run
3. This is Kinko's if you don't like the output, refuse it and have them redo it.

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #65 on:** October 10, 2005, 01:06:35 pm »

Its nice when things come together nicely. I guess I should go over what I did this past week, although I didn't take any work in progress picks. First thing I did was wire the control panel. I worked on it for a few hours a few nights last week, everything went smooth and when I hooked it up to the computer everything worked as it should. The only problem I had is I ran out of wire and didn't get to wire all of the admin buttons, I plan on stopping by radio shack later today so I can finish it.
On Sat. I checked the local ads and saw that best buy had a 27'' TV that was 25.5'' wide for $150, so I ran out and picked that up. When I test fit the TV and it was a perfect fit, the thing Irealized is that it needed to be tilted back, having it level just didn't work. I then had to tear into my first layers of paint to take out and adjust the monitor shelf, its now at around a 30 degree angle which seems to be perfect.
I finally received the coin door (took over 3 weeks in the mail) so I then marked out and cut the hole for it. I then began painting again. I got three more coats on, so theres a total of five coats which should be more then enough to protect it and it definately looks good.
The great moment had finally arrived where I got to bring the cabinet from the garage to the house, the wheels on the bottom made it easy to move across the concrete and tile, but once I hit carpet it had to be dragged, the wheels weren't quite big enough I guess.
I then installed the marquee, the speakers, T-molding, the TV, the CP, and the computer. There weren't any complications so theres nothing really to mention about the install of each. I fired up the comp and everything worked perectly, oh and if your wondering about the comp, its an old comp I used to use as a tivo (AMD 800mhz T-bird, 512ram, radeon all-in-wonder 7500) so it was already set up to run on a TV, I also put a 130gig drive, which I used to use to store all my random crap on, into it to hold all my roms (I have 35+ gigs of mame roms).
Now that I knew everything was working I decided to install the artwork, which went on easy. It took a few tries to get it lines up right, but it turned out really good.
What I have left is a bezel and plexiglass over the TV, finish wiring the CP, and find lights for the coin door. Who knows if I'll ever get it finished now that its fully playable though.

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #66 on:** October 10, 2005, 09:24:33 pm »

Yup, just as I suspected......this is just too dangerous of a time waster, I got almost no work done today. Too bad its too big to move so I guess its a poison I'll just have to learn to live with

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #67 on:** October 15, 2005, 09:05:49 pm »

This week I finished wiring up the control panel so now all admin buttons work. I ended up making one of the side admin buttons to be "enter" because it would let me navigate the "tab" config menus without the use of a keyboard. I also drilled out a hole for a new button on the back left side on the CP, its on the little lip that sticks out from the cab, and I wired it to the power button on the computer. Doing this makes it so I'll hopefully never have to open the front and pull out the keyboard.

The last thing I did was wire the lights for the coin return buttons, I got the lights at a mall radio shack and let me warn you, never go to a mall radio shack if you want anything to make your own electronics because they don't have anything. It was quite sad, I opened the drawer where all the leds and light bulbs were suppose to be and it was completely empty except for one package of lights, lucky they were pretty much what I wanted. I planed on picking up a few other things there, but every drawer was empty except for one or two random things.

I also put a strip of electical tape on each side of the marquee because as you can see in the above pictures, there was some bleed through on the sides. The tape sealed it nicely and is thick enough to not let any light through.

I picked up another piece of lexan at home depot yesterday, I'm planning on cutting and painting it tommorrow for the bezel. Hopefully all will go well.

On a side note, kind of sad that no one commented on my cab after I put it all together

dfmaverick · « **Reply #68 on:** October 15, 2005, 10:37:06 pm »

Been following your build the whole time, just haven't commented. Looking very very nice.

The control panel looks sweet and once you put the bezel on to cover up the silver tv, it'll be great.

What did you use for the sideart and the kickplate? Print it out of your own printer or did you have something printed somewehre. I saw that you got you CPO printed at Kinko's but was just wondering about the rest.

Good job overall.

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #69 on:** October 15, 2005, 10:41:38 pm »

Quote from: dfmaverick on October 15, 2005, 10:37:06 pm

What did you use for the sideart and the kickplate? Print it out of your own printer or did you have something printed somewehre. I saw that you got you CPO printed at Kinko's but was just wondering about the rest.

Good job overall.

www.arcaderenovations.com got both sideart images and the kickplate for $100 total, they are great quility too. And thanks for the compliment

dmsuchy · « **Reply #70 on:** October 16, 2005, 06:34:19 pm »

Very nice! Love the Galaga theme.

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #71 on:** October 16, 2005, 10:38:59 pm »

Well today I secured the TV with some spare pieces of wood, then I measured and cut out the lexan and then painted and secured it using the method laid out in this tutorial

markrvp · « **Reply #72 on:** October 16, 2005, 10:47:58 pm »

Congratulations on a job well done.

Timoe · « **Reply #73 on:** October 16, 2005, 11:00:58 pm »

Very Nice. I almost want to make a cp with lexan now, cause yours looks so nice.

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #74 on:** October 16, 2005, 11:09:59 pm »

Quote from: timoe on October 16, 2005, 11:00:58 pm

Very Nice. I almost want to make a cp with lexan now, cause yours looks so nice.

Thanks, if you do make it with lexan, I'd recommend to get the highlip trackball, I think happs is the only place that makes it (of course I bought mine from ponyboy). It raises the trackball 1/8'' so that its flush with the lexan, I don't want to think of the nasty edge that would be there otherwise.

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #75 on:** October 16, 2005, 11:27:11 pm »

One more thing I should mention because someone else might find it useful.

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #76 on:** October 17, 2005, 01:49:21 am »

Heres some of the ugly interior of my cab:
Heres the control panel, as you can see I'm storing my extra wire and stuff inside there for now.

Inside the cab you can see the bare computer with wires everywhere.

Here you can see where I put the power button, on the back of the CP.

testicle187 · « **Reply #77 on:** October 17, 2005, 11:50:55 pm »

Your cab is beautiful and the control panel looks amazing. Congratulations!

Santoro · « **Reply #78 on:** November 21, 2005, 11:04:33 pm »

Looks Nice, very clean.

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #79 on:** November 22, 2005, 03:10:53 am »

Quote from: Santoro on November 21, 2005, 11:04:33 pm

Looks Nice, very clean.

Thanks

I figured this thread was going to fade into obscurity, but I'm glad it was bumped back up.

Since my last post I've added a light gun (a ps2 guncon2) but I've been having trouble getting it to work in mame and the drivers (I've tried both available) keep crashing the computer, so I'll probably just take it off for now. I've also installed emulators for nintendo, genesis, and super nintendo and have them all configured into MameWah.

I think this project is finally finished, unfortunately the bug has gotten to me so I'll likely be working on another project before too long. I'm going to wait until after Christmas before I start anything new because I'm asking for all the tools I had to borrow for this project. Theres 3 projects I have in mind to do, but two of them have to wait until I move into my new house (its not finished until late april) because I want to custom make them to fit perfectly.

Heres the 3 projects I'm planning on doing:
1. Jukebox - I'll start this sometime after christmas, I'll probably use the plans (or at least close to the plans) found here: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,20824.0.html

2. Bookshelf with secret door - I'm going to put this into the room I'm going to use as an office in my new house. The secret door will just go to the closet, but its just something random I always thought was cool, plus its a better use of space for an office. Heres a few examples: http://pervivere.blogspot.com/2005/09/holly-shelf-unit-batman.html
and http://www.garymkatz.com/Charts/pivot-bookcase.htm

3. Huge Cocktail cab - I want to make a cocktail cab to be used as my dinner table, similar to the one found here: http://www.angrymods.com/mame/ Mine will likely be very different from that one, but I'll definately use it as inspiration.

I may be a little ambitious and maybe I'm dreaming, but I'm single, have money, and can free up most weekends to work on random projects so I think I'll eventually be able to do it and be the envy of every guy I know

If all goes as planned, I should have all three projects done in less then 2 years.


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