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Building 2x bartop cabinets (Second cabinet complete!!!)
leapinlew:
--- Quote from: dmworking247 on November 17, 2007, 07:02:55 pm ---If I go with a 19" screen, remember that I don't HAVE to rotate to vertical to play a vertical game... no more than they HAVE to remove the 8-way/6-button joystick and install the 4-way/3-button panel. I'd reserve changing it around for when you want to have a 'serious' game of pacman/frogger/1942 etc, and leave the 'kids' with whatever setup its on at the time.
--- End quote ---
I know your trying to make an analogy, but I think that a 4-way is much different situation than an 8-way.
How would you accomplish this software wise? Meaning - how would the computer know if the LCD was oriented vertically or horizontally? Heres the situation: your playing a game of Joust and the monitor is horizontal, now you want to play a game of Joust 2 which is vertical. Lets say you didn't want to rotate the monitor, and played a vertical game on a horizontal monitor. Now, lets imagine you wanted to get "serious" with Joust 2 and play in the proper orientation. You flip the monitor (either manually or electronically) - how would you then tell the system to change it's resolution?
Personally, I like 17" or smaller displays for bartops. I even made the LCD portion of my bartop smaller because I liked how it looked. It's all relative to the machine I guess. I've used 15's, 17's and 9" screens and they all look fine because the machines are proportioned properly.
dmworking247:
I'm pretty sure this can be sorted in the software. I can't recall if MAME has an 'in-flight' orientation switch (I think it doesn't), but MAME has the option to rotate accordingly with the game, and I'm sure I could hack something to use different Mame.ini files based on a flag in the front end (ie, if mala is in horizontal mode then dont rotate, if it is in vertical mode then do rotate MAME).
I intended on rotating the front end based on on a 'sliding motion sensing' switch (I forget the proper term but basically its a little bearing that rolls inside a tube and thus would push the button if it was rotated vertically).
I'm leaning towards the 17" now based on peoples comments and for affordability reasons.
leapinlew:
Good luck. I'm pretty interested in this build and your wood working has been most impressive so far.
inaka:
Any updated news on this project?
This is exactly the type of bartop cab I wanted to build. I'm using a 19" LCD (since I have it lying around anyway) powered by a cheap laptop. I'm using Pivot Pro to rotate the menus of MAME32 for for for either vertical or Horizontal orientation, but I too can't decide if I want to have a rotating LCD (round bezel, etc.) or one that can be manually repositioned with a little effort.
Your woodworking skills are top notch, and I'm looking forward to reading more on this.
dmworking247:
I'm glad people out there are still interested in this project... helps to keep motivated. This project has been moving slow for the last month or so (due primarily to Christmas and the "Asteroid" mini project, but never fear... I've been making small steps.
In actual fact, I've worked several days on these cabinets... its unbelievable how much time I've spent filling every tiny dent/scratch/join and sanding it down to 240 grit paper just to paint the undercoat.
The undercoat is a 3-in-1 (sealer primer undercoat) mixed with PVA, then diluted to be sprayed on with a paint gun. This is my first time using paint guns so I've been taking it very slowly. Add to that the 5 control panels I'm building for just the initial build and I've had a LOT of fine-tuning.
I've actually come up with a color scheme for the 'smaller' bartop that I reckon is going to look awesome, but its going to have to remain a secret for now :D The larger bartop is still going to be a more traditional gloss black with green T-molding, but I'm still intending on getting some adhesive vinyl printed for the side art.
Here's some progress shots of all the control panels and the two cabinets ready for their colour coats (next week)
How the control panels are put together:
The routed hole on the underside of the 'trackball' panels (I will be using a stripped down Macally I-ball (A USB trackball for the Mac), which will work well for trackball games on these bartops, but isn't suited for 'high momentum' trackball games like Golden Tee (thats for my upright cabinet :D )
Using the electric plane to shave off the overhang of the top panel so there's no overhang and it sits flush when mounted in the cabinet (I then rounded the edge)
The cabinets and the control panels.
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