Monster 4-player machine

[Tiberian Fiend]

I've been working on this machine with my stepfather for over a year, now.  He mostly worked on the cabinet, and I mostly worked on the electronics.  I wish I had found these forums earlier!  It would've saved a lot of trial-and-error.  We weren't planning on recording our progress, so I don't have step-by-step photos, but I did take a few pictures along the way.

The earliest image I have, taking measurements for the side art:


I tried spray-painting it at first.  As I'm sure you all know (but I didn't), spray paint and particle board don't mix:



I eventually got it to look OK after enough cans of quality spray paint, but it was much too rough to put any decals on:


My stepfather eventually sanded it and painted it with a brush.  We tried to put a plexiglass cover on the control panel, but it looked like crap.  The edges were rough and a couple of the button holes cracked.  We removed it eventually.  Here's a first test of the marquee light and illuminated buttons:


Here's the underside of the control panel:



I switched the coin door lights over to 12v to use with the computer power supply.  I ended up using a discrete power supply anyways.  Here's the first test of the coin door lights:



The computer's on-board video turned out to be S-Video incompatible.  I eventually had to install an old Radeon I had lying around.  With on-board video:


In its current state, none of the artwork is done, the speaker cover panel isn't screwed in, and the front-end isn't set up (I will remove the keyboard, eventually), but the machine is now playable:


A video of the nearly-completed machine:


Now, for the stats.  It's got a Core2Duo in a server case that slides in the back, a 29" Sony video monitor, and car speakers wired through an old stereo audio receiver for sound.  The control panel has IL transluscent buttons lit with incandescent lights, Leaf-Pro joysticks, and a generic PS/2 trackball that also functions as a mouse.  The cabinet is made from 3/4" CF board, has a real 4-player coin door, and has two 220mm fans at the top for ventilation.  And it's massive.  We had to take the machine apart and re-assemble it inside because it wouldn't fit through the bedroom door.

[the_gamer]

What does Player 3 and 4 have 6 buttons for?

[Tiberian Fiend]

Symmetry.

[Le Chuck]

That's a beast.  Great job especially since you found the forums after doing the majority of the work.  I think my only critique would be having all the controls right at the edge of the CP but that's just a preference.  Nice leaf switches.  It's awesome that you worked on it with your step-dad.  Good stuff.  Now unplug the CP so you can't play it and get it done.  A working cab is a huge deterrent to a finished cab 

[Tiberian Fiend]

The main obstacle I face in continuing the project right now is a financial one.  I'm going to commission artwork for the sides and marquee, but I'm going to have to find a new job before that, so it's still a while away.