** ARTIFACT Game Museum ** GIFT: Sketchup plans and... ARTWORK!

[ARTIFACT]

I PULLED THE TRIGGER (no pun intended) and ordered an ACT LABS Light Gun w/ USB-VGA box




wooow yummmmmmmmmmm ... it better calibrate and work correctly!!!
(I have 30 days to return it w/ refund)
... one more package to patiently wait for...

[ARTIFACT]

**** UPDATE ****

Finally decided *not* to put visible screws / bolts / etc on my Control Panel, and add a convenient way to troubleshoot / work on my wiring.
I used a long piano hinge ($6 from Home Depot) and added a 2x3 behind the Control Panel top, in front of the monitor.
I will also add magnets to hold the CP down. Because the CP top is already "snug" so much between the sides, gravity will do the rest of the holding.

I am not 100% done, but it already is hugely more convenient to access and work on now.
Because my CP top was so exactly fitted, I had to shave off ~1/16" in length using sand paper. I actually damaged the nice black paint trying to open the CP before I did that (ARG!).
I will mostly likely do retouching and finishing at the very end, after the whole cab is moved upstairs and ready to power back up.

Sorry for the phone pics ... that's all I had at hand

Testing placement of hinge + additional 2x3 beam ... the screen plexi will cover this:


After removing all the controls/wiring (to sand comfortably the length down a bit), and mounting the pieces, it works!




My MameMarquees.com package finally shipped Friday, so I will wait for it before re-assembling all the controls + do final wiring.
I may even apply the artwork when the cab is in its final location... I am paranoid about damaging it during transport (very steep stairs, very tight corners, etc )

OH, I almost forgot... My custom MALA LAYOUT is taking shape... I haven't put "tree snaps" in place yet (photos of various systems) or layout variants for different lists (gun, trackball, spinner, etc), but the basic foundation is in place and works very well. You can see SIMPLICITY is the goal here, and that 'retro feel' in sync with my marquee, CPO, and overall shape of the cab. Small accents of goodness such as subtle transparency are also thrown in where it makes sense ... A readable and usable layout.

Custom MALA Layout Overview:


Subtle transparency effects, where it makes sense, revealing the depth of the "retro landscape":


On-screen instructions! ... I plan to make a nice exhaustive instructions "label" also (add/remove game from list, audio volume, etc) and stick it on the cab somewhere.


... I also play Ahofle's amazing "Arcade Ambiance" audio files when MaLa is on the screen ...


What's left!

. wood-fill my trackball mount (so it won't show through the adhesive CPO)
. redo the plexi (lexan) CP top ... Get a thicker sheet this time so it won't bent/lift as easily (1/16" now ... Will go 1/8 or 1/4 this time)
. Add "felt pads" under the joystick dust washers!!! Without, they made circle scratches all over the plexi top! (I am open to put the washers "under", but I don't know how that'd work)

. de-assemble parts of the cab (monitor, electronics/guts) to make it as light as possible
. transport the cab "upstairs" to its final location in the family room / den
. wait patiently for my packages (marquee, CPO, act-labs lightgun, ... long joystick shafts!)
. re-assemble, apply artwork, wire everything final as clean as possible
. close the back + add a couple of fans (blow air in low, blow hot air above)
. retouch paint scratches (all over the place!)

. oh, IF I ever get Future Pinball to "get focus" when launched from MaLa (!!) ... I'll add pinball buttons to the sides.


I couldn't resist to post... My 5 year old son's hands playing the arcade... Come on... Isn't that the cutest thing you've ever seen? 
He can travel the MaLa tree and flip games by himself. He loves throwing the trackball racing thru the lists

[javeryh]

Just AWESOME.  I really love all the attention to detail.  You also seem to be able to find time to work on it which is something I'm insanely jealous of.

How hard was it to make the custom MaLa layout?  I'd like to do one for my cabinet but I don't have any real computer skills and I've never used photoshop or anything other than MS paint...

 

[Akuma]

I can only continue the positive feedback. Great work so far. Personally, I really love the custom skin for the frontend and I really like the pixelart concept! (How do you say? I dig it (?) )

: )

Waiting for the final piece. I'll keep my fingers crossed for an unproblematic transport upstairs : )

Cheers

[philby85]

This is one of the best threads I have read in my time at BYOAC. The fact that you designed the cab in sketchup and brought it to life is amazing. Your artwork is perfect for the time period and the cab. Can't wait to see it totally finished. Your attention to detail is a credit to you. The best thing is your enthusiasm it's infectious and will have inspired many You are also gracious in your praise for others and their helpful tips. Well done mate! 

AWESOME JOB!

philby

[ARTIFACT]

Thank you everyone again for the cool posts!!! It keeps me going!!!

philby: I don't know what to say!! thank you


I am going to post a mega update soon!!!
For now it will be text "bullets" ... PICS LATER

. Cab is moved upstairs (YAY! I was freaking out about that one) ... the 6 casters design proved VITAL there... It went vooom thru the front lawn like a dolly

. My artwork arrived! Scott did a BEAUTIFUL JOB... GO SCOTT @ mamemarquees.com!!

. My marquee is installed, the light is NOT on yet (still re-wiring the PC inside) ... I will post pics as soon as it's lit!

. I took the plunge and invested time in properly modifying the 27" Monitor's case and PCB placements... What a NIGHTMARE this was!! Well it was FUN but very stressful (I have ZERO experience with monitors and I didn't want to break it) ... Modification is PERFECT... the monitor fits in the cab perfectly now

. Carried the monitor upstairs (not a trivial task! PHEW!)

Thanks again for all the positive posts. This is truly an amazing community.

[Lakersfan]

 
Keep goin', Artifact!

Can't wait for the pics!

[ARTIFACT]

Here we go... Crappy cell phone pictures for now, sorry!

[theCoder]

IF I ever get Future Pinball to "get focus" when launched from MaLa (!!) ... I'll add pinball buttons to the sides.

IF ??    You love your son don't you?  You want all the best things for him don't you.  Don't deprive him of the life long memories of playing video pinball with his Dad.  Come on man.  Do it for the kid.

Even if you can't get Future Pinball to work, there are lots of other very good pinball games out there.  Pro-Pinball Series, Addiction Pinball, and Microsoft Pinball for example.  You can usually pick them up on eBay for less than $10 delivered.  "no-cd" versions of the Pro-Pinball executables are out there that allow you to launch from the HD without requiring the CD in the drive.  There is also a utility for the Microsoft Pinball game that allows you to bypass it's menu and launch directly to each table from your menu.

Looks great!

[bfauska]

That marquee is very, very, very cool.  It looks like it came straight from the golden era of arcade cabinets, great design.  Congratulations on the successful relocation.

[ARTIFACT]

thank you all!

last night i started wood-filling the trackball mount plate and all the small imperfections on the CP board... letting it dry overnight. I need to sand and do a second pass to make it all perfect. I also need to cut the long opposite side of the CP "straight" ... it was handheld (jigsaw) and deserves to spend a minute on the table saw

... OH! I also finally received the U360 LONG SHAFTS (well the missing "sleeves" pieces)... One remaining package to be delivered: ACT LABS Lightgun + USB/VGA Box


Stay tuned! Thanks again for all the great comments.

[ARTIFACT]

**** UPDATE ****

(again, crappy phone pics... I *promise* to dig for my SLR camera again soon)


Control Panel:
. wood filled the trackball mount plate & small holes/imperfections of plywood
. used table saw to cut the top edge STRAIGHT
. sanded everything smooth (220)
. applied a coat of primer (mamemarquees.com's manual says to *not* stick artwork directly on wood)




... IF the primer is dry tonight... I may apply the CPO and start wiring everything final! WOOO

OH, and I have received the ACT LABS Lightgun! It's still in the package

[leapinlew]

Looking good! Prepare to sweat - putting on the CPO always made me nervous.

Keep up the good work and good documentation. I've enjoyed your build.

[Zero_Hour]

I just want to put a quarter in that thing.

Just a total package sort of project ARTIFACT. Kudos.

[ARTIFACT]

mamemarquees cpo is printed nice but sticking it down is a NIGHTMARE

not only that, but the adhesive backing is peeling off the vinyl front (!) ... i will email scott to see if it was a adefect in the material...


more details later...

[ARTIFACT]

**** UPDATE: ALMOST DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ****

. CPO installed (it was HARD... my CPO may have a defect - will contact Scott about it)
. CP wired up!
. Long shafts for the U360 joysticks installed
. Act Labs lightgun plugged ... It keeps calibrating with an "offset" (on both X and Y, shy by ~100 pixels) ... mmhhh...

OF COURSE NEW PICS!

Inside the cab - pretty clean - tucked all the wires on the sides w/ electrical tape


More inside, this time the decased multisync 27" monitor ... I am DEFINITELY putting a cover on the back of the cab SOON


Wiring controls (Details)


Wiring controls (Overview) - link to large image
click here

Overviews




CP!


I owe you a DECENT picture of the marquee in action


Act Labs Lightgun (RED) ... Hoping that it will calibrate without an offset when I figure out what's up...



Is there anything left to do? YES:

. a new screen bezel (will use a black plastic sheet)
. back of the cab (cover w/ plywood)
. fans to cool down the cab (esp. with back cover)
. get the old coin mechs to work OR make up coin drop ducts with cardboard (seen on BYOAC)

[Akuma]

It's coming together great! And a very clean wiring job! (should make it like that, too ; )

Just curious - do you plan to add side art to the cab in the future?

I am curious to see the final result! : )

[javeryh]

Holy crap.   

This cab is a stunner - I defintiely think it is because you had an attractive overall design and concept in mind and you executed perfectly.  Nice job!

[Knievel]

Beautiful! Love the pic taken from the side, great curves

[The Chugnut]

Stunning! Congrats mate. 

[Lakersfan]

Nice work! You should be proud!! This whole project has kept me captivated from some time now! And I appreciate your reviews of the items you've bought along the way.

 

[ARTIFACT]

Thanks guys!! It's definitely awesome to finally play on it with all the buttons working, artwork on, in its final location with the family.

One thing: my sound just stopped working this morning for some reason... Troubleshooting now... Me being new to soldering altogether may be the source of my problem
I may redo the amp unit again if I can't get this one to work again... It was fine last night until I turned it all off

... Also figuring out if the gun is compatible with my setup... on email with the act labs guys about an offset problem.

[psychotech]

Yes!

Love the funky profile! A really unique and good looking cab 

And, yes, good work on the wiring too

Sorry to hear, NO pun intended, about your audio problems.

Good luck finishing that great cab!

psychotech

[ARTIFACT]

OK the lightgun is driving me crazy
It DOES calibrate "ok" (with only 10 pixels offset .. acceptable) BUT ONLY 2 INCHES FROM THE SCREEN
... it does not calibrate at any other distance  (!)

SO

I am going to keep testing for a few more days (without plexiglass, etc) and I may give up and send it back (they have a good return policy).
If I do that, I will go and order the LCD TOPGUN (the "other" choice)... I may wait for one to show up on Ebay for sale in the US... I do NOT feel like ordering one from Hong Kong.
I really liked the design of the actlabs, and the elegance of its installation (no LED bars)

THE SOUND IS WORKING AGAIN
It was not my wiring skills, it was the fact that first the WAVE LEVEL was all the way down (!) and then it was that I mistakenly chose to use the wrong sound-card somehow.

That's the latest

My son and I are playing "Bang Bang Ball" right now... That's an excellent game for kids (not easy though!), FYI

[ARTIFACT]

Update regarding the ACT LABS lightgun:

the act labs guys suggested that the lighting in the room (6 very bright recessed flood bulbs!) were the source of my problem. I tried in the dark and WOW IT WORKS!!!

I had a great time at House of the Dead (Model2 emu)

In MAME, BIG problem... it seems that it aims OK but the gun's button is NOT working.... The screen flashes, but it does not trigger the Button 1 in MAME ... Any idea?


There is still an offset, in 1 direction (vertically), but it is playable. I think I may fix this by playing with my monitor stretching pots... They also mentioned that having too high contrast on the monitor can do that. I will play with that too


We had friends over tonight, and the cab was a HUGE SUCCESS!

Again THANK YOU ALL for the amazing support, ideas, thoughts, searchable posts on BYOAC, and everything else throughout this project. You made it possible.

[theCoder]

Try to squash all the remaining bugs now, while your energy level / enthusiasm is still high.  The things you don't get to now, will probably nag you for months to come.

Looks great.  It feels good to see your friends and family enjoying the fruits of your labor, doesn't it.

[stephenp1983]

Looking really good, how are the u360s working out for you.  You just have the soft spring in yours right?

[ARTIFACT]

Reminds me, I should type a more formal list of "reviews" for the things I have gotten and people I have done business with throughout this project:

I love love looove the U360 sticks... AS-IS! Standard! Regular (soft I guess) springs, NO restrictors. So smooth. OK it's "different" from the SF2 sticks you may be used to, but the advantage of being able to play TRUE 2/4/8/49/analog/45-rotated games without EVER getting "stuck" is just WELL WORTH the getting over the smoothness/softness and longer throw.

One of our friends was a long time SF2 and Capcom vs Marvel player, and had NO problems throwing Tiger Punches (and the others) over and over when we played... THAT was the test for me, as I have gotten used to the sticks and may be biased ... his comment was "It just feels so natural and comfortable"

theCoder: DEFINITELY ... I have experienced the "playable too early" phenomenon in the beginning, and had to put the X-Arcade CP away in the box to FORCE myself to make progress on the REAL CP and the rest of the cab ... best advice ever.

I also LOVE THE TURBO TWIST 2 SPINNER. Randy @ GroovyGameGear.com is AWESOME and spent a ton of time typing PMs back and forth to answer all my questions ... Highly recommended. I also got the LED MATRIX marquee light from him and looove it too.

Same with the USB TRACKBALL (some people were worried about a "lag"). The NEWER batches have a "second generation encoder", as Divemaster127 told me... There are no issues whatsoever with it, and DM charged only ~$90 if I remember correctly.

VERY happy with Divemaster127 too BTW, do go order from him if you need anything. He was really cool with returns (I first got Mag Stick Plus's and didn't like them, and also have to return the restrictor and spring kits for the U360s).

THANKS! Gotta figure out how to get MAME to register the gun trigger as P1 Button 1 now... I'm sure it's easy... SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!!

[WCBoudreaux]

WOW! That's a slick cabinet... Very impressive... You really know how to take a peice of wood, and turn it into a work of art... As soon as you're 100% complete, you can come over and help me with mine! hehehe

Great job!

[ARTIFACT]

Thank you

A few more pics... for the road

[xmenxmen]

Wow, the end result turns out great.   

[AMDman13]

If you haven't come up with an ideal for that lighting your awesome blue trackball I would highly recommend this product. http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=51658.0

I couldn't believe the difference when I installed mine. I'm using the single adjustable blue led and it puts off such a nice even blue glow.

[ARTIFACT]

ah very cool didn't know about that product!

I am pretty happy with the light the current Happ LED Kit puts out though. It DOES mount the LED sideways, which is not the ideal (no straight up like the product you linked to).

[AMDman13]

I am pretty happy with the light the current Happ LED Kit puts out though.

Nice, I was unaware of Happ having any LED's for there trackball. Now I learned something too! Anyway, your Cab is SWEET!

[herbertsmart]

hey guys, I'm new to BYOC too.  Didn't have enough time to read all the posts so it might have been covered already, but are you going to add side art to your machine?  Killer job though, looks factory professional!!

[ARTIFACT]

no side art on this one, no


its in the family room, that would have been too much



WHAT IS LEFT TO DO:
---------------------------

. Screen bezel (will build one out of plastic sheets
. Back panels of cab
. add 2 or 3 fans in the back ... blow cool air in, blow hot air out
. replace broken coin mechs with custom coin chutes/sleeves (use cardboard, like I've seen done on BYOAC)
. (maybe) add pinball buttons
. Get 2 bar stools

Bugs to iron out:
. figure out this lightgun button issue... Model2 and PC games work great
. find a way to get focus on Future Pinball when launched from MaLa

[ARTIFACT]

**** LIGHTGUN ISSUE IN MAME FIXED! ****

My ACT LABS works in MAME 119 now!

I was moving the gun while trying to assign the trigger to Button 1
Simply keeping the gun from moving while pressing the trigger did the trick.

[ARTIFACT]

****************** GIFTS FOR THE COMMUNITY *******************

. FULL plans of the project (Sketchup project file)
. ARCADE COMPONENTS (Sketchup models / components)

(SORRY: NO SUPPORT for these files... you are on your own... I am super busy... If you understand Sketchup, all you need is in the files)




Attaching the 2 files to this post!

Merry (early) Christmas everyone.
ENJOY

-ARTIFACT

PS: use the "tape measure" tool in Sketchup to take ANY measurement in my project file... This tool is your new best friend... Because of it, I did not make ANY bad cut (!) throughout.

[Bender]

Thanks so much!
It  is very generous of you to share your incredible work!
I've made most of the components already but I'm really glad I can use your awesome cherry switch and casters, those files will be a big help to put the finishing touches on my sketch up layout.
as I said in my project thread I'll post all my sketch up components when the project is done (or at least close, are they ever really done?)

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=68865.0

[dmworking247]

This is the first time I've seen this thread, and let me just say its projects like these that make me want to hack apart my upright and do it from scratch.

Either you're a master photographer (even with your camera phone) or your wood crafting skills put most others to shame. Well done, an awesome cab that I'd even consider buying (and to me, its all about the build not the end result... so thats saying something)