Revenge of the Space Invaders?

[fgh]

Finished cabinet:




Original thread:
Hi!

Here's my mame project..
Based on a Rampart 3player cabinet, using J-Pac, ArcadeVGA and MameWAH.
I am working on a new cp and new graphics.

It seems I'll use an outer space graphical theme I'm working on (a rip-off from a design by a swedish graphic artist), somewhat similar to the frostbite graphics everyone uses, except this one has no planets.? Need some help figuring out a name for it, though. Currently considering "Revenge of the space invaders" but it might be too cheesy..? ?

Please comment on the graphics as well.

And another important thing : How many 'extra' buttons do you recommend for software control? I've got Pause and Quit and will use one of them as shift key, producing enter, tab and coin inserts on 'hidden' keys..

[fgh]

I placed the graphics on top of the cabinet photo in photoshop..
The whole thing might be too dark.. What do you think ?

I wonder if I should go for blue t-molding on both cp and cabinet..

[ChadTower]

Looks good, but I would rethink the size of that CP.

[fgh]

you think ? Do you refer to the p1 joystick position not matching the cp graphics ? (that's just due to lazy photoshop work)
Or do you think it should be bigger/smaller?
The current size is the atari original, just added about an inch each way..

[fgh]

Some color variations here. Thought of standard blue first, but maybe something more intense would be cool.

[dfmaverick]

you think ? Do you refer to the p1 joystick position not matching the cp graphics ? (that's just due to lazy photoshop work)
Or do you think it should be bigger/smaller?
The current size is the atari original, just added about an inch each way..

I'm thinking he was referring to the P1 being WAAAAAY over on the left with all that space closer to the center. Would make for some awkward solo play which will be most of your time. Bring P1 & P2 closer to center if possible I believe is his suggestion.

[fgh]

That's a good point. I originally planned a trackball at the center, but it wouldn't fit in the box underneath. I kept the joystick positions in case I would come across a smaller footprint trackball, and wanted to fit it later.

Now that I finally have cut the mdf and plexiglas, I don't think I will redo it. Not yet, anyway. But I'll keep it in mind if there will be another project..

[ChadTower]

It's close... I was suggesting reducing the overall size of the panel.  Those bigass panels look good on paper, but after a while it gets really old, especially if you have to move the thing.

Moving the P1 closer to center was assumed if reducing the overall panel width.

[the3eyedblindman]

Id go with the green or the red, my cabinet has a red black theme and i like it, but the green looks good too, the whole blue and black thing has been wayyyyyyyyyyy overdone, i woulndt do that.

[HAWKXP]

i dunno i like all the sample pictures i also think its down to the surroundings in the room as well,id go black with crome edging strips,(black and crome)very nice

[fgh]

Thanks for all the input!
My girlfriend definitely prefers the blue one, but I agree it's overdone..
I might go for red. Will give it some more time though, maybe print out some hires previews.

I found a use for the extra space in the middle of the cp by the way. A 270" wheel! (See attached image)
Edit: The two joysticks are the good old competition pro now available in usb version. They will have to do for some of the 3 or 4 player games. (as well as the amiga/c64 emulators..)

Now over to the name..
The Space Invaders name is cool, as space invaders is one of the early arcade icons. And the mame project is kind of a revenge of the classic arcade. And the graphics are kind of space invaders..

But after all - with all the different games, this machine is so much more than just space invaders..
I attached some name suggestions. Others are "Revenge of the Arcade: re-experience the classics", "Home Arcade: All-in-one game system". (I will not call it mamecade or some other mame name variation..)

[Bones]

I am digging the green the most.

[fgh]

The green brings the "alien" look to it, which is cool. But that color screams! I don't have a dedicated game-room, so it will take all the attention in the room. (it probably will anyway..).
Here's a mock-up of the living room + arcade. Would attract some people, but scare most away
I probably won't have it in the living room anyway, but it was a fun preview..

[Bones]

Yeah that certainly does stand out like dogs balls. I see only one solution, change your furniture to suit the cab.

[fgh]

I wonder what kind of furniture would match the green glowing alien cab..
Aargh.. I hate compromises!

You got a ducati by the way ? I sold mine last year and I miss it I miss it I miss it!

[Bones]

No I don't have a Ducati. In November I plan on riding the new S4R and the MV Brutale with the view of purchasing one or the other though.... Just a few lose ends to chase up before I can commit to a purchase.

[fgh]

Go for it! Hopefully I'll get another ducati sometime. Can't afford it at the time though.

Now.. any name comments/suggestions? Should I just stick with space invaders?

[danny_galaga]

I wonder what kind of furniture would match the green glowing alien cab..
Aargh.. I hate compromises!

gree glowing alien furniture of course...

[ChadTower]

Some nice stuff imported from Chernobyl.

[dfmaverick]

Now over to the name..

Here's an Alien Life Form (ALF) for you to name your cab after. Very 80's.

 

[Rip]

Cab looks great ... but it can't compare to the clip of fainting goats on your site.  I  just picked myself up off the floor after laughing so hard!!!

http://www.frodehansen.no/filer.php (last one)

John

[fgh]

That clip IS hilarious!
The link you provided will bring up the norwegian file listing though.
www.frodehansen.no/filer.php?sprak=2 will fetch the english one.

By the way - The people that will actually use the cab prefers the blue theme. So blue wins, with red on second and green on third. I'm placing my order on t-mold.com today..

When it comes to the name, there really hasn't been much input at all.  So I'll stick with the space invaders theme..

There you go. The baby is blue and will be a space invader!

[fgh]

Been busy for a few weeks now.. No progress with the cab.
I've recieved the t-molding though.. The color differed from the picture, but it'll still work I think.

Next thing I need to figure out is how to wire the thing.
I'll be using the jamma connector and the j-pac, in case I will throw in a jamma board someday.
What would be nice is to be able to add additional control panel later, should I come across some fancy controllers (machine guns, 360 degree wheels, flight yokes, etc etc).

I think I might go for a scsi or similar connector for the controls. (see illustration).
What do you think ? Any better ideas?

[fgh]

Here are my thoughts for the button setup..
The jpac handles 8 buttons per player + p1/2 start if I recall correctly..

2 players with 6 buttons each
+ 2 buttons next to 4-way stick
+ 2 pinball buttons
+ 4 admin buttons
+ P1&2 start

This will add up if the 4way buttons are mapped to p1 buttons 1 and 2, and the pinball buttons are mapped to p1 button 3 or 4 or something..

The thing that's been bugging me is how the admin buttons should be set up.
Here's the best setup I've come up with for mame + mamewah:

1 PAUSE
2 START (ENTER)
3 CHANGE PLATFORM (MAMEWAH)
4 COIN INSERT

Secondary functions (with instructions)
1 SHIFT
2 EXIT
3 FILTER GAME LIST (MAMEWAH)
4 RESET

Tab and other buttons I would only use once in awhile can be set up with shift + p1 stick.
Does this all make sense ?

[markrvp]

SCSI cables are typically much more expensive than serial cables.  You might try a serial cable instead.

[fgh]

Light Guns!

Just ordered two wireless light guns for my cabinet. They are GunCon2 compatible Playstation 2 guns, and should work with Smog's GunCon2 driver (Hopefully). Will have to hack into the gun signals (by actually making a PCB cirquit...), but I'll hopefully get some help with that

And I will probably NOT use scsi for the control panels .. Will be serial or some other connector.

[fgh]

Great news for the lightgun project: I won't need a custom cirquit, as the J-Pac incorporates it already!

I'll modify the admin buttons aswell.
- Will map coin inserts to shifted p1/p2 start buttons. (without instructions)

Primary functions
1 PAUSE
2 EXIT (ESC)
3 CHANGE PLATFORM (MAMEWAH)
4 FILTER GAME LIST (MAMEWAH)

Secondary functions (no instructions)
1 SHIFT
2 ENTER
3 RESET
4 TAB

As I understand it, enter will only be needed for configuring stuff, right ?
If I find enter is needed with normal usage, I will switch it with "filter gamelist"..
Some feedback on this would be great.

Got the CP indent for the t-molding done today. Next will be to print out graphics once I've decided what to do with the admin buttons. THEN I can start wiring up the thing. (finally..)

[fgh]

Just printed out the graphics for the controlpanel. The printout was worse than expected though, with dissapointing color gradients and black level. It will have to do for now. If the guy with the plotter can figure it out, I'll do another printout, but if I start soldering the controls, replacing the graphics will be a huge task..

I replaced the black worn t-molding, with a light blue one. It was brighter than expected, but it works (in a baby-blue kind of way)..

[fgh]

Finally - some more progress! (after 13months..)

The Arcade PC had a few hardware issues, and I've had a busy year.
But yesterday I finally finished the marquee and bezel.
This time I used a different plotter, and the colors didn't match 100% with the control panel, which is a bit of a shame, but i can live with it.

It's not entirely finished yet, though (these things never are, right?). Still to be done:

• Mount the new speakers
• Add pinball buttons to the sides, (remove original p1-2 start buttons in front)
• Figure out lightguns
• Finish the software

Just tested maximus arcade front-end and have to say it looks awesome (especially the platform selection!). Might end up letting go of good old mamewah..

Merry christmas to you all!

[rlemmon]

Very nice ! What kind of monitor are you useing ? Are you going to add some side art ?

[fgh]

Thanks! I'm not planning any side-art, as it would take lots of time to design and lot of money to print.
If, one day, I have more time and too much money, I'll make another controlpanel. I'm playing Super sprint a lot on it with some friends, so having 360-wheels like the original would be awesome..

The monitor is the 25" Wells Gardner that was in the cabinet when I bought it.
Don't know if it's the original monitor atari fitted with the rampart game, as "NEO-GEO" is burned into the screen. (barely noticeable). Either it's replaced, or the cabinet has been used with other games.