RTS Arcade System - Almost done (new digital pics!!)

[RTSDaddy2]

Hey guys!

My wife got a new digital camera for her birthday, so the bottom four pics (sans the wiring) are new and done with it.  I finally have up a decent pic of the control panel, as well as the whole system with bezel, faux coin door, and barstools.

http://hometown.aol.com/rtsdaddy2/myhomepage/profile.html

On one of the pics, I think you can (perhaps) make out the double bezel idea we did (as the TV is not at an angle, but level).  If so, let me know if you think we need to "close the gap" between the two or not...I can't decide!

One bezel fits flush against the TV, hiding it's silver color, and then there is the big bezel fitting flush against the sides of the cab - your input as to whether the gap should be closed is again appreciated!

I will probably post more here tomorrow, if I think of anything, but I've got to head to bed - teaching tomorrow (as everyday)!

[Mark70]

Nice looking cab.... except for the paint.

[RTSDaddy2]

RTS are my daughter's, mine, and my wife's first initals...

As for the paint job, there's no way on god's green earth I'll paint it black.  If I was going to do that, I would have just bought a pre-built model so I could have one just like everyone else's.

[motorfish]

The symmetry of the joysticks for Player 2 vs. player 1, while atheistically appealing, I'm not sure that having player 2 have to use his right hand for control and left hand for buttons will be suitably functional, especially for fighting games.

I would put the player 2 joystick on the left, as most games use a left justified joystick.

[RTSDaddy2]

Motorfish, most people in my family are right handed and preferred the feel of the stick on the right side.  I do not disagree on the point about fighting games, but as we rarely play fighting games together, this is a moot point at best.   

Ok guys, let me try and explain all this.  You are looking at it from an arcade machine standpoint...but we built it, in part,  to be a part of a home entertainment center.  This thing is our TV center, DVD center, etc...

We were not going to put our brand new $1000 flat screen in this thing and never be able to watch TV again.  Part of the reason we placed the joystick on the right is so that the stick is out of the TV viewers way if you're sitting on our sofa, looking directly at it. 

I appreciate the seriously thought out responses, but no one's addressed the issue of the look of the double bezel.  Sometimes I look at it and notice the wood between, but other times I look at it and think it gives a nice 3-D look to the front.  I still can't decide whether to cover up all that space or not.
 

[motorfish]

As per the double bezel, it's hard to comment on because the pictures you've supplied are very small and very low resolution. Personally, the tv you're using looks dwarfed by the size of the bezel and cabinet.

A good way to trick the eye that the bezel area isn't as pronounced as it really is would be to put some detail and graphics around it.

I won't comment on the rest of the cabinet as this appears to be a "work of progress" update you've given, and you seem to be interested in feedback on the bezel and nothing else at this time.

- Dan


p.s. Did you really put a $1000.00 flat screen TV in there? Wow!

[RTSDaddy2]

Motorfish,

Yes, we did buy a $1000 flat screen in November to replace our ancient RCA (it was my parents before it was ours...thing was well over 20 years) whose pic tube went out.

[motorfish]

I'm going to assume - I DON'T KNOW, so don't be hating! - that you're relatively new to the community based solely on your number of posts.

[/i]

Hmmm....If you're basing it solely off THAT, it'd be hard not to with an ill-chosen comment like that. I'd like to think that my still-active role in the MAME community speaks for itself, to those who know who I am.

I'm also thinking that I don't necessarily really care for, or appreciate, your defensive and mildly sanctimonious writing tone you've got going on in this thread. You can't judge my participation in this forum by the number of posts I do or do not have. You need to check out this neat little feature called "user profile", which you can access by clicking on my name, and you'll discover that I've been actively registered and contributing here for almost three years longer than you have.

I'm sorry that Mark70's comment felt like a personal slam upon the cabinet. I'm sure he probably didn't mean it to come off that way. I think if he prefaced his comment with "my personal preference would be to have the cabinet in black rather than in faux marble paint" would have been better received than how he ultimately delivered his critique.

It's not that I disrespect the advice and thoughts...but it took me 8 months to build this thing, off and on, and it looks like the least someone could do first is say something positive rather than start out on all the flaws

[/i]

#1 - We're here to see new projects concerning new MAME cabinets and arcade restoration. If you post pictures of your project, you will get feedback on it, good and bad, asked for or not. If you can't deal with criticism, be it positive, negative, opinionated, or unwanted you might want to re-think on posting in the future. I know it's no fun when you feel like somebody is poo-poo-ing your hard work, but posting just to fish for positive comments is a bit naive.

If you really want some feedback concerning your double bezel, I'd suggest that you post some better pictures of it up, and I'm sure that it'll receive a more scrutinized look, at least from me.

My comment on the $1000.00 TV was genuine awe. I don't know of anybody who has put such an expensive display device in a MAME machine before. All I've got is Wells Gardner D9200 with some hefty convergence problems in mine, so I'm sure the display in yours is as crisp as fresh salad.

In closing, I'd like to say this: In the future, ease the throttle back on the "who's-a-newbie" talk there, newbie.

- Dan

[RTSDaddy2]

I'm also thinking that I don't necessarily really care for, or appreciate, your defensive and mildly sanctimonious writing tone you've got going on in this thread. - Motorfish
________________________________________________

Duly noted.

[DrewKaree]

Hey brudda!  Glad to see you making some more progress on this.  I haven't checked here in a bit.  Ya know, I gotta say it was personally funny to me to see motorfish "newbie-d", but just because I had to read EVERYTHING when I first found this site.  Bones even stole his "outline around the buttons" idear

Yeah, I think raising the monitor would help for certain.  It might be the pics, but it looks almost like the bottom edge is sitting even with the CP, and it looks unbalanced, or more specifically, bottom-heavy.  Is that bezel done from Tailgunner's $2 bezel write-up?  If not, I'd suggest giving that a looksee.  I redid a cocktail bezel and a standup bezel for a buddy who bought some thrashed cabs, and they look SWEET! 

Dunno what size posterboard you have in your area, but if Wal-Mart doesn't carry any REALLY big sheets of it, head over to a craft store like Michael's or whatever's in your area.  I think you'll find it to be a cheap solution that will end up beautifully for you.

[RTSDaddy2]

Stayed clear of this forum after making such a doofus of myself before...but we've kind of stalled out on it.

To answer Drew's question, we used a foam board I found at the School box for the bezel.  Might need to try and find "stiffer material."

Question - what in the world does the plexiglass do to it? We had a piece cut for ours and instead of making the picture "cloudy" like I expected, it actually made the picture sharper! Anyone know why? Does it cut down on the glare and that helps the pic?

We are still considering raising the TV up some.  I've been looking at other projects and I see what you guys mean.  The issue will be will higher make it too high for TV watching for our little one.  That may be something we have to do after she gets a little older.

Likewise, I am reconsidering the joystick layout as well.  Not really sure what would work, however, as if I put the stick for player two on the left hand side, it will interfere with TV watching.  Any ideas?