Aaron's ultra slow moving project

[4Aaron GE]

Project Abstract

Hi everyone.  Building an arcade style setup has been a project that I have wanted to do for a while now.  The idea started when I switched schools and moved back home.  The school I used to go to (university of Ottawa) actually had an okay arcade (where I wasted a LOT of time playing Street Fighter).  However, when that I'm back home, I discovered that there are NO arcades here.  At all.  Unless you count the overpriced games at the theatres.  But the games they had never really appealed to me.

Anyways, the idea started out as making a two player USB stick.  Nice, plain, and simple.  Then I got to drawing and planning, and the project grew from there.  After seeing a showcase style cabinet, I decided that was the type of design I wanted to have.  However, space limitations in the house prevent me from making a full fledged cab.  Solution?  Enclose everything inside the CP to cut down on space and have a removable pedestal for the times I feel like standing up while playing.  I figure if I build the pedestal part with an open face, I could use it as shelving when not in use.  The only major concern I have right now is making sure the weight in the core unit is balanced, and that the unit isn't too top heavy.  I would be pretty mad if I managed to make it topple while playing.

Drawings/designs are forthcoming.

[Chris G]

Howdy - welcome to the hobby!  You've come to the right place.   

 
Chris G

[javeryh]

Sounds like a cool idea - let's see those plans!

Welcome! 

[btp2k2]

Buddy, I got news for you......there aren't many arcades anywhere...

[vrf]

I like the idea of using the pedestal as shelving. I suppose you'll have to use locking (and hidden) wheels on it so you don't have to empty the shelf every time you want to move it out to play?

Welcome to the boards! (Now let's see those plans...)

[Jeff AMN]

Alright, fresh blood!

Heh, welcome to the community. We're always happy to see it expand. Just a word of advice, spend WAY MORE time reading than you think is necessary. You'll have questions at every turn and you'll find just about anything you'll need to know between these forums, the Wiki, and Saint's book (Project Arcade).

[4Aaron GE]

Thanks for the welcome and comments, guys.

Jeff, I'm with you on the reading thing.  Coming from a car forum, we're constantly inundated with the same few questions over and over again.  I imagine it's the same here.  In fact, I've been lurking for about a week now, just reading, and studying what other people have done.  (A sawboard!  That's brilliant!)

VRF, that's a good idea.  I hadn't really thought of that.





Anyways, onward with the plans:

Preliminary cabinet design

After perusing the designs by the two major commercial vendors (MAS and X-Arcade), I decided that I'd like to go with a curved bottom edge for my CP, instead of the more conventional design of a flat edge with the corners trimmed off.  So after lots of messing around with dimensions in CorelDraw, I came out with a shape I was happy with.  Much to my dismay, I then saw the SlikStik unit and realized that I could have just cribbed everything from there.  (Oh well.  And as it turns out, the one I'm building is bigger)

The "box" part of the cabinet had to be able to contain the entire PC setup that will be used for the emulation.  I decided on using a Micro-ATX form factor motherboard, since they're fairly inexpensive, and easier to come by compared to the Mini-ITX form factor boards.  Plus, they tend to be more powerful per dollar spent as well.  Being 6 inches tall at the short end, I should have enough clearance for the sticks and buttons and assorted hardware meant to run the unit.  Plus, all the extra space should come in handy for keeping things sort of cool in there.  The tall end will have some sort of metal gutter guard type material (I was thinking something along the lines of expanded mesh) across the top to act both as a cooling vent, and so I don't have to make a bevelled edge.

The only part I've laid out on the CP is trackpad and it's L/R buttons.  That's because I haven't worked out the spacing I want to use.  But it's not going to have that many buttons on it.  8 per player (Capcom/NeoGeo (7) + Start) on the surface, and a single coin insert on the front.  I'll probably mount one on the back somewhere to quit the game.


Oh, and the drawings are essentially to scale, and I'll probably be using 5/8 MDF, depending on the colour I go with for the CP.


Up next:  The guts.

[phines]

I can't wait to see how this pans out.  The gaming/shelving pedestal was an idea I had because of space limitations, and the fact that I had a HD LCD tv in my living room.  I decided to go with a bartop instead!  Good luck!  Read, Plan, plan some more, measure twice and cut once. 

[4Aaron GE]

Heh, we're definitely on the same wavelength, phines.  There's a particular HDTV I'm planning on using for this.  Just got to make sure my dad's not using it when I want to play.


Electronics and controls

Given the nature of the project, I can afford to forgo a lot of things, CD rom, marquee lighting, etc.  This means lower power consumption, and more space.  In the attatched pic, there's the power supply I'll be using, the HDDs, cooling fan, mobo for mock up (I was going to use it, but it's dead.  Hope the processor and ram are okay, I might still use those).  And yes, those are PC Joypads and trackpad you see.  I am going to commit mortal sin number uh....  ten - Hardware hacks.  Yes, the I-pac is relatively inexpensive, but the original idea was USB stick and I know they work.  I got the pads before the scope and design expanded, and I'm going to use them.  The trackpad is a different matter altogether.  I needed a pointing device for when I'm not in the emulator.  I had considered a trackball, but I decided that I probably wouldn't be playing any trackball games anyway, so I went with the trackpad.  There will be a fragment of keyboard in there to keep the mobo happy, and for admin/quit buttons.

As far as the actual touchable hardware, I'll be using Happ Super Sticks and either the Happ competition buttons or X-Arcade buttons.  It really depends on what colours I choose for the CP.  I know a lot of people here rag on the X-Arcade buttons for various reasons, but the one that I keep seeing is that they're louder than the Happ ones.  I think I can live with that.  Trackpad, along with what I said earlier, I decided I liked the profile of the trackpad.  No protrusions out of the plexi.  I was kinda hoping I could just 'tap' on it to click, like on laptops, but nope.  two more buttons on the face.

[blueznl]

I looked at trackpacks as well, the one you picked may need buttons, but there are a few around that can handle a doubletap.

[4Aaron GE]

blueznl, to be honest, I wasn't really expecting it to be able to handle tapping (it was 10 bucks), but it would have been nice.  Apparently it's a driver issue, but the thing hasn't been supported since NT 4.0 (or thereabouts)

Potential CPO Artwork

Not all vectors yet.  Only the couple I had to build from scratch.



Put comments here.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=64576.msg646486#new

[Jeff AMN]

Heh, that last panel has a strong Taito vibe going for it. It's probably the one I like best, to tell the truth.

[psychotech]

Yeah! 

Number 7 looks awesome !!!

 

[4Aaron GE]

As much as I'd love to do number 7, it's looking a lot harder that I first thought, since the curved edge of the mockup CP is just an approximation.  I'd have to actually cut the CP out before I actually do the graphics.

That said, here's a controlless v2 of the graphic.

[psychotech]

!

That looks great.

I'd go with this (number 7) CP if I were you, even with the potential problems with the curved front edge. (just read my Bombjack thread on the printing/drilling before ..;( )

I really have to say that it's easier to first print the graphics and then fine tune your controller placement.. For some reason all my prints have so far been at least a few millimeters off.. The graphics software insists the layout is the exact size ..and every time the final product is ...well.

Measure, measure ..have it printed and then ..measure again !

Good luck with the build 

[4Aaron GE]

Ah, here's the beauty of it: See how there aren't any button frames or stick arrows?  I can throw the controls on there any which way, just so long as it lines up. 

http://www.ironvulva.com/?p=14  I'm probably going to do what this guy did graphics wise.  I'm trying to keep my budget low.  Printing multiple copies of the graphics of that size could get expensive.

[theCoder]

CP #3 or #7 get my votes.  With #3, you could easily paint the tree with buds on the sides.  7 definitely has the "high tech" look.

Ah, here's the beauty of it: See how there aren't any button frames or stick arrows?  I can throw the controls on there any which way, just so long as it lines up. 

I think it would look much better if you were to put on the button frames and stick arrows.  I did my last project just as phychotech described.  Print the artwork first, with small cross-hairs at the center, lay it temporarily in place, punch the centers....

Good luck on the build.

[Buddabing]

I like number 7, too, but I would not put the word MAME on it. I also would not name your cab anything with MAME or CADE in it.

[tommy]

Number 6 looks good to me, minus the trees and butterflies, I'm sure you can add a few other graphics on there somewhere.

[4Aaron GE]

More stolen artwork.

More ideas coming when I have more time to flesh em out.

[blueznl]

Stick to the girls 

[btp2k2]

I really dig the Jackie Chan/Bruce Lee....would look GREAT on a fighter cab

[toe.]

late to this set but im diggin'
both 5 and 10.
they scream fun at me...

[theCoder]

I guess it all depends on your taste and what look you're going for.  I like the abstract look of #10, but #7 still gets my vote.

[MameMaster!]

I really like that retro look of number 7. Definitely go with  that!....but those are great designs overall! 

[Loki]

The two Capcom SNK cpo's get my vote ^^

Love to see more of this

[4Aaron GE]

Okay, last batch.  Too many ideas running through my head, and I'm only making ONE of these for now.

I'm linking lucky number 13, since it might be NSFW (I've seen the cheesecake thread.  I'm not taking any chances. )
http://i17.tinypic.com/674x7j4.jpg





Next up, find job, buy parts.

[4Aaron GE]

Project update 07/28/07

Still not sure on what graphics to use, but I have started construction of the actual wood stuff.

The case is nothing spectacular.  Just a trapezoidal box.  CPO still needs final shaping (and I still need to buy the plastic).


Just finished test fitting the PCBs for the joypads/trackpad

[draginit]

#7 looks the best, go for that one, but i have to agree with cakemeister, i wouldnt put "mame" in it. maybe a favorite character or something....
-but besides that, green and yellow are the best two colors ever to put together!!...IMO 

[4Aaron GE]

<b>Project Update 01/02/08</b>

So I finally got time to buy some polycarbonate, get some buttons (thanks to Austin Wolff), pop by Lee Valley to get a drill bit, and get to work.

Hacking the trackpad:
Not really much to do here.  Just take trim the base of the trackpad board itself so that it'll sit flat in the CP

Drilling holes:
Stupid me didn't bother to check what size chuck was in the drill, so I ended up with a sawtooth bit from Lee Valley that was too big.  However, thanks to some quick and reckless "engineering", I made it work.  Holes came out great.  The trick with drilling through both the MDF and polycarbonate is to clamp it down to another bit of scrap MDF on the other side to recieve the drill bit afterwords.  No cracking, no tearing off of material as the drill bit exited.  Also had to do some 'corrections' to the holes holding the player 2 joystick.  I'm so glad that there's an opaque layer of plastic going over this.

Shaping the CP:
I used a headboard I found in the house to use as a guide/fence for the router to move along.  I've also got to give proper credit to my dad for helping me round out the corners on the front.  He did a fantastic job with that.

Hacking/Soldering:
Note to self: definitely get a real encoder next time.  Mapping out the PCB was okay.  I enjoyed that.  Actually trying to modify/solder one, what a PITA*.  I ended up crippling one of the 3 gamepads that I bought.  I'm so very glad I bought 3 now.

Test wiring:
This wasn't so bad.  Player 2 works great.  I had forgotten how hard it was for me to hit those Raigeki Shuus, though.  I also need to get some zipties.  Wiring is such a mess.  I'll work on hooking up player 1 controls after I figure out the t-molding situation.  I don't look forward to taking the controls back out for routing out the slot.


*note: not shown on picture - solder used to actually solder on the PCB.

[DaOld Man]

Nice work..