Paul's Modular Control Panel

[Paul Olson]

The patch panel was a clever idea, just not mine. 

I spent the last week playing instead of working on this. It is nice, but I really need to get my steering wheels and analog controls mounted on panels so I can make sure everything works right.

I bought a core2 duo e8400, so I will be adding that to the cab as well this week. My Athlon 2500+ can't handle Donkey Kong any more ( past .120) , so it is time for an upgrade.

Teaching my nephew how to play DK made the whole project worth it. I used the infinite lives cheat so we could get some practice. He made it to the 3rd elevators, but I couldn't get him to be patient enough to get past it. I played all the way through to the kill screen. I died a lot, but the practice was a big help to me. I was jumping barrels better than ever before. 

The kids are leaving tomorrow, and the pinball machine is done until my new flippers come in. I better get something done on this. 

[Paul Olson]

Wow, it has been three years since I posted an update in this thread. Not too surprising since there really hasn't been much done to the cab during that time. I still haven't got any of the analog stuff mounted and working, but the cab has been played quite a bit off and on over that time. I started collecting dedicated games probably 3 years ago, and they take a lot of time that would have been spent on this project. At the beginning of this year, I decided that I was tired of fighting to display all of the games in their native resolution. I also want to show the bezel art around the game, so the logical solution for me was to use an LCD TV. I am pretty happy with the TV now, and I haven't tried to add any of the scanline effects yet, but the blockiness of the sprites really doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would.

Here is a pic of the new test cab. Not a cab at all yet, but pretty close to how it will be laid out when I am done. The third pic is what I want it to resemble when I am done. I didn't see the point in trying to shove a TV into a regular cab, and I really like the look of these Silver Strike cabs. As a bonus, I should be able to move the cab to the living room for parties and just plug it into the TV out there. I don't really have a timeline set for getting this cab done, but at least now I can test exactly how I want everything setup. The original cab is in the process of becoming an NBA Hangtime.

[TopJimmyCooks]

Cool rotating wall mount for the lcd. 

I don't know if I ever posted/credited this anywhere, but your CP build was an inspiration and a guide for mine.   

[Paul Olson]

Cool rotating wall mount for the lcd. 

I don't know if I ever posted/credited this anywhere, but your CP build was an inspiration and a guide for mine.   

I just saw some of the pics of your cab build, and I am really jealous of your woodworking shop! I have had to sell off all but the bare essentials as my arcade started taking up more and more room in the garage.
I am pretty happy with the simplicity of my build, but it is really cool to see your cp operate with the gear.

The rotating wall mount is $70 at Amazon, and holds up to 50lbs. As soon as I mounted the TV, I realized that it (the TV) was too small. The arm sticking out is only part of the problem. The main problem is that I really want to use the artwork in mame, so the actual game screen is just too small. I think I will go with either a 42 inch, or 46 inch. At this point, I don't think I can really go too big since I can always pull the cab out a bit.

If anyone is thinking of rotating an LCD TV, make sure the mounting holes are centered on the back of the TV. This one mounts higher, and it makes it difficult to rotate to vertical without adding a lockout.

[TopJimmyCooks]

I have seen and priced offset Vesa mount adapters before, like the ones shown on the bottom of this pdf. http://www.lantekrackmount.com/pdf/LTRVM-200.pdf

They give adjustability but are ridiculous $$$$, often $50-60 plus.  The one time i had to center rotation I made an 1/8" plate that offset the vesa screws 3/4" from the center of rotation, more for weight balance than layout. 

[Paul Olson]

I just cleaned up the shelving for the modular panels, so I figured I would take a pic. As you can see, a project like this can take up a lot of storage space. I am hoping to get some more panels made before too long. I have had some of these unmounted parts for years. There are more in the garage, but this is all I am bringing in tonight.

[Green Giant]

I just cleaned up the shelving for the modular panels, so I figured I would take a pic. As you can see, a project like this can take up a lot of storage space. I am hoping to get some more panels made before too long. I have had some of these unmounted parts for years. There are more in the garage, but this is all I am bringing in tonight.

Ummmmmm..........well..........











DAMN

[Paul Olson]

Well, I still haven't finished the new cabinet, but I just replaced the TV. The 32" was too small when displaying the artwork around the game. I think this 47" looks just about right.

[Paul Olson]

Added a monitor for displaying the marquee images:

[TGov]

Really neat setup you have there, congrats!

[Paul Olson]

I am having a new cabinet built, and it will have a different panel mounting method than I am currently using. That will make this control panel box pretty much useless for me. I will be reusing the actual controls, but the box with the patch panel, and a bunch of blank panels are available if someone wants it.

I am in Reno, NV, and it really isn't worth shipping, but if someone wants it and can come pick it up, it is yours. I have no use for it, so it will go in the trash if no one can use it.

[Paul Olson]

Still waiting on a lot of the panels to be completed, but this is what the cabinet looks like now. The picture below that is just a sample of the new panels.

[Paul Olson]

Still a lot of work left to do, but I am finally making progress. I have around 50 panels now, and all but 15 of those are mounted and wired up. I am getting ready to place my final order of panels, which will add about 20 more. With any luck, I will have this project finally completed in a month.

Here is the first pic with a full contoller layout and one showing the sides lit up. Putting that Roadblasters panel on the cab stopped production for a weekend while I played.

[Paul Olson]

I just got the last order of panels in on Friday, so now it is time to get to work on the rest of this. I ended up with 61 controller panels and 8 blank panels.

The breakdown is:
8 blank (2 4" endcaps, 2 2.5" endcaps, 2 4" spacers, 2 7" spacers)
11 Button (2 6 button, 2 2 button, 2 1 button, 2 Neo Geo, Defender, Missile Command, Donkey Kong)
26 joystick (2 4-way wico, 2 atari logo, Defender, Donkey Kong, 2 49-way, 2 joust, 2 karate champ, monroe, Mr Do, Pacman, 2 rotary, Sinistar, Tapper, 2 wico 360, 2 wico 8-way 4", 720, Analog Trigger, Tron)
2 spinner (Tempest and Tron)
3 start (Center start buttons, Left side start buttons, and the middle of the Defender layout)
3 trackball (2 3", 1 4")
8 unique (Paperboy, Enduro Racer, GP Rider, Space Harrier, Spy Hunter, Star Wars, Boot Hill, Road Blasters)
5 wheel (3 optical, 1 analog, one full Cart Fury CP with force feedback)
2 shifters (1 2 speed, 1 4 speed)
1 throttle

I am wiring up the remaining button panels now, then I will start mounting the rest of the joysticks. I have posted pics of my closet storage area before, and I am starting to face the reality that there will not be enough room in there for everything. I will probably end up storing the overflow on the main shelves in my office. I will still have a lot of left over parts that I decided not to use. I could have easily done another 50 panels, and there would still have been some compromises. I decided it just wasn't worth it right now. I can always add more later if I really want to, but I think this will cover the games I really care about.

I just looked at the date on this thread. In 6 weeks, this project will be 7 years old!That sounds like a good goal for finishing it up. At least the hardware part. I may tinker with the software for quite a while yet.

There were two main reasons for this redesign: I wanted to use a big TV instead of an arcade monitor, and I wanted to be able to play Super Sprint with all 3 wheels. Everything else was taken care of by the old design. I have posted this pic in other threads, but I am adding it to this thread as well. Most of the posts for a while will most likely be pics of the different control layouts as I get them finished.

[Paul Olson]

[Malenko]

fantastic work. Really shows what a modular panel can do. I bet artwork would have been a nightmare 

Gotta say, I absolutely LOVE the plexi with the asteroids etching.

[Paul Olson]

And a $30 DK button finally completes my Donkey Kong Layout.

[Paul Olson]

fantastic work. Really shows what a modular panel can do. I bet artwork would have been a nightmare 

Gotta say, I absolutely LOVE the plexi with the asteroids etching.

One of my first decisions when I started the original version of this 7 years ago was to go with black vinyl instead of artwork. There are just too many possible combinations. The controls are the important part to me, and I have no problem letting them show in front of the black background.

[Paul Olson]

[Brian74]

First off congrats  2nd, where did you get the plexi sides at and how much did it cost to get them etched?

[Paul Olson]

My cabinet guy has a laser in his shop, so he cut it in house. I gave him an asteroids screen shot for the asteroids and ships and told him I wanted one big player ship at the bottom. The ship that is used was his rough sketch in. I thought it looked pretty good as it was so i told him to just use it. I think it cost $175 for the laser etching. It would probably be a lot more for an intricate pattern. I chose Asteroids over a few other choices just because it is pretty lite on the cutting needed.

[bfauska]

Just found this and wow, how this thread with such attention to accurate controls has been so seldom replied to boggles my mind.
I also really like the edgelit plex. I don't really have any call for it on my cab but I should figure some out since I could cnc it.

[Paul Olson]

Just found this and wow, how this thread with such attention to accurate controls has been so seldom replied to boggles my mind.
I also really like the edgelit plex. I don't really have any call for it on my cab but I should figure some out since I could cnc it.

I like the plex, but I honestly usually forget to turn on the LEDs.

This has been a great project. So far, the highlight for me is playing Space Harrier with the real controller. Other games are great on here, but it literally took me 10 years to piece that controller together. lol

[datafry]

hows the new mounting look?

[Paul Olson]

hows the new mounting look?

There were a few things I was worried about with the design. This really requires very low tolerances to work right. I built my original design to those types of tolerances, so it worked as expected. This one works...pretty well. The cabinet guy was not anywhere near as precise as was. This turned into a year long cabinet project due to his schedule, and some things were definitely rushed. The wood that gets clamped into the cabinet needed to be exact, and he was pretty careless on that. The height of the router was not set the same. I made him redo the really bad ones (basically the ones that were upside down), but it was starting to get a little strained at that point. It works. There are a couple of panels that I have had to pad that a little because they were loose when the clamps were tightened. It would have worked great on all of them with a little more attention to detail on his part. I should mention that I don't blame him too much. I think these were a lot more work for him than he thought, and his normal projects bring in a lot more money per hour than these did. There are a few that I will probably redo someday, but for the most part, they work fine. It is a very simple locking mechanism, and I think it will do the job fine.

My biggest gripe is the T-molding on the panels. I told him that it would be hard to get the vinyl to match up to it right. I had tried it in my original design, and the edge of the vinyl tended to loosen (almost like bubbling) when the tmolding is pounded into place. He assured me that he could do it right, and I relented. I was right. It annoys me, but most of the panels are actually ok.

I think my original design is better (as in more of a secure mount), but this is definitely a bit easier to swap.

All in all, I am happy with the upgrade. I will try to take a video of a panel swap one of these days. It is pretty quick to swap them out. I am working on the software setup now, so hopefully that will be done soon. I have been concentrating on pinball for quite a while now, and I am ready to start playing some games on this again.

[Paul Olson]

Hi again!

My cabinet has been sitting for years, and I have sold off a lot of the controls over the years.

I haven't used it because the TV I bought for it has been repurposed for guest room use. lol, and I just really don't play a ton of games anymore.

I have had it for sale for a long time, but not really pushing it. I think I finally found out why I have been keeping it around, at least for solo play. I have been on the site trying to find all the sensitivity settings for the driving games, and stopped to look at this thread, and glad  I did. The purpose of the whole redesign was to have a 3 player wheel setup for super sprint, and a big TV, so this project is now complete.

The video is a little jerky, but here is Super Sprint being played on a 3 wheel cabinet with a big screen in Vision Pro.

I still need a TV for 2 other players, but it was fun to play and get this set up.

Anyone else still messing with these modular panel projects?

https://youtu.be/ISbZQpLVioI?si=VMWXReHTJdgMeb7Z

[telengard]

Wow, I would love to have that kind of setup, isolated controls for each player.  I had never heard of a "spatial" monitor, does that add something to the visuals?

My cab is still going strong, have made a few more modular panels over the years (paperboy yoke, missile command trackball, omega race spinner, 720 joystick), next up is to finally finish the Star Wars yoke, and I'm also going to build a Mouse Trap panel (I enjoyed that game as a kid).

https://www.briansturk.com/mame/controls.html

[Paul Olson]

Wow, I would love to have that kind of setup, isolated controls for each player.  I had never heard of a "spatial" monitor, does that add something to the visuals?

My cab is still going strong, have made a few more modular panels over the years (paperboy yoke, missile command trackball, omega race spinner, 720 joystick), next up is to finally finish the Star Wars yoke, and I'm also going to build a Mouse Trap panel (I enjoyed that game as a kid).

https://www.briansturk.com/mame/controls.html

I was just using Apple's branding for the Vision Pro as a Spatial Computer.  I am just playing on the Macbook and the controller cabinet, but the Vision Pro is providing the virtual big screen.

Thanks for adding the link to your site. It has been a long time since I have seen all of that wonderful insanity. lol

I sold off most of my cool controllers, and I even tore apart the panels for a bunch more that I never sold. I may have to rebuild the panels. I still have my Space Harrier joystick, and that game would be pretty fun on a huge monitor, I think. Have fun building the rest of your panels!