Newsflash: Small asteroid hits BYOAC! [Mamey Winner]

[dmworking247]

This little 'side project' took a little longer but I've been on a project-freeze this month.

My bartop projects are still underway (currently undercoated, awaiting decisions on artwork and colour schemes), but during the final building stage I decided I was going to change the design to be a manual-rotate (to accommodate a larger, real LCD and real (upgradeable) PC components rather than the original stripped-down laptop that was going to be on a rotating disc.

Changing my mind left me with a routed MDF 'disc' (that was intended as part of the rotating mechanism) and the stripped down laptop that I'd already considerable time on:



So, not being one who likes to waste time or materials, I turned them into:

THIS:


 

An "Asteroid" rock made out of paper mache and painted with two types of 'stone effect' spraypaint, hosting a stripped down laptop/LCD with a 5 button configuration (left/right games only).

It also features function buttons (power, credit, p1 start, p2 start (which I might change to a pause key), and ESC), can be run on the laptop battery, and weighs a less than 5kg (tbc).

More pictures:




The machine boots into 'Asteroids' by default, but when you exit it takes you to a Mala front end with some other games the machine can play. The left two buttons navigate the menu, and the right two buttons control the master volume while in the front-end (using "Volume Tray" utility).

This is the front-end menu I quickly whipped up to suit the Asteroids theme:



Full Games List (these can all be played with the left/right controls and button configuration on this machine)

• Asteroids
• Asteroids Deluxe
• Bubble Bobble
• Hyper Olympic
• Hyper Olympic '84
• Joust
• Lunar Lander
• Moon Patrol
• Pasha Pasha
• Rainbow Islands
• Space Invaders
• Space Invaders Part II
• Super Bubble Bobble
• Tetris
• Toobin'
• Wonder Boy

I'll be really interested in some feedback on this one... given that it was a thrown-together project with very little planning, I'm abundantly aware that some people will love this, but others will hate it. Bring it on.

Newspaper & PVA Glue: $10
Cans of spraypaint: $18
Look on my wife's face when I announced I was building a 'rock' to host the game "Asteroids": Priceless

[psychotech]

 

Awesome, simply awesome !

 

[polaris]

excellent mate, undeniably original.

and in case you missed it, you can play pacland on that setup(i really like pacland)

[dmworking247]

Thanks guys,

Pacland may have come up in my filtered list, but I would have had to remove it because I'm sure it needed higher specs than the 900mhz inside the laptop.

Here's some build pics, by the way:

[sparcade]

Very original and very cool!

[BobbyG66]

Well done!
Should get a Mamey for most original!

[DaOld Man]

I have finally seen it all... 
great work...
In another board (might have been here on the jukebox forum), someone talked about building a "Flintstones" juke box that looks like a rock. I think the idea was just tossed around a bit. This reminded me of that post.
Your cab looks very good.
 

[Akuma]

What an idea! Cool thing! : )

[WunderCade]

Brilliant!!!

What else can I say?

    

[(+_+)]

That's funny, cute and cool all rolled up into one.

Talk about outside of the box. Great Job! 

[Franco]

Someones gotta say it.... that rocks! 

Seriously tho, thats awesome. 

[nicklaw17]

 

Great job!

[Pops]

Totally ramalamadingdong whangdangdoodle

That 3 way button thingy at the top what's that off?

[Kevin Mullins]

EXCELLENT bartop idea !!     

Love the originality behind the idea and concept.

Great job !!

[dmworking247]

Totally ramalamadingdong whangdangdoodle

That 3 way button thingy at the top what's that off?

Those 3-way buttons were another purchase for my 'proper' bartop projects that I decided not to use...

I bought them from 'arcadegamingaustralia.com.au'
Link:
Arcade Button Multi-Colour

[leapinlew]

 

[Zakk]

Am I the only one not seeing a single picture? 
(I'm telling you they were gone!)


Awesome, simply awesome.   

[RetroBorg]

Am I the only one not seeing a single picture? 

Yep! 

[solderguy1]

Heh, it not only brings back the the arcade games from the 80s, but also the Pet Rock.   

[DrewKaree]

I see the wooden frame, and I know due to that, the "guts" of the whole thing will be solid, but how is that papier-mache feeling?  It seems like the rest of the machine would hold up just fine, but in a heated session of ______ or just moving the thing and accidentally bumping it too hard against something, you'd bust a hole in that.

Does it feel solid, and if so, what did you do differently than traditional papier-mache to make it "game-worthy" and less indestructible? 

Kudos on the concept and bringing it to fruition!

[markrvp]

I like it a lot.  I would like it even better if it were painted a little darker brown.

[Level42]

Brilliant !! 

I only have one tiny-tiny suggestion: The three colors of that circular button really distracts from the overall  white/black look....maybe hard, but I'd make that some shades of grey or something ? Just a suggestion of course

Otherwise: this Rocks !           

[dmworking247]

Does it feel solid, and if so, what did you do differently than traditional papier-mache to make it "game-worthy" and less indestructible? 

Kudos on the concept and bringing it to fruition!

The paper mache was made with a strong mix of PVA and water (rather than the 'kids' paper mache made out of flour or some such), which not only dries a lot stronger but it also wont rot over time.

In addition I put about 8-10 layers on over as many days (a normal paper mache would probably have 2-3), and its painted with several coats of primer, undercoat, overcoat (paint) and a sealant/clear coat layer.

Also the paper mache is built upon a 'bird wire' frame that was twisted into a ball shape to give me the foundation to layer the paper onto, so in the end that adds a little more rigidity too.

Overall, its quite strong, especially on the 'game surface' because the wooden disc is underneath too. The side walls still do have a bit of flex but it'd take a pretty (hard) direct impact to tear it.

That said, this was a project made out of 'spares' mainly for novelty, and probably isn't suited to hard-core gaming, unless you wanted to make it out of fibre-glass or something.

[dmworking247]

Brilliant !! 

I only have one tiny-tiny suggestion: The three colors of that circular button really distracts from the overall  white/black look....maybe hard, but I'd make that some shades of grey or something ? Just a suggestion of course

Otherwise: this Rocks !           

I agree, though as mentioned in the previous post this was made with things I had lying around, and other than the paint I didn't buy anything special for this project. The three-in-one button only came with that colour combination and was suitable to fit all of those functions into a small space (I didn't want a cluttered control panel for such a simple machine, and the cheap encoder doesn't have any 'shift' functions).

I'd like to see those buttons come with interchangeable colours too, and it'd be nice if the outer bezel of it wasn't so raised (I compensated for that by building up the paper mache around it though)

[arcadefever]

SO COOL 

Great job !!!! i LOVE IT 
very creative   

what's next ? 

[Dave_K.]

Yeah, an old thinkpad being put to good use!  Kudos on one very creative project!

[dmworking247]

SO COOL 

what's next ? 

Thanks everyone for all the positive feedback, I'm really taken back by the amount of praise this project got considering it was such a 'throw together/weekend job' compared to my other projects (which probably will end up getting less attention! )  It goes to show there's a lot to be said for originality over plain hard work eh?

As for whats next, I have to finish off my two bartops project first (note: I don't know if its just my projects, but these are are MUCH harder than my original upright, be warned anybody who thinks bartops are easier!). After that I'm contemplating a big (i.e. 2 year) project to build my own pinball machine from scratch using a PC with encoders/output boards and solid state relays to drive a scratch-built playfield and ruleset using real pinball parts.

There might still be some more 'weekend projects' thrown in for good measure though

[Knievel]

Ha, reminds me of the old paper-mache tunnel we made for our Lionel train..good times.

Very creative, very well done.

[CheffoJeffo]

 

[danny_galaga]

Someones gotta say it.... that rocks! 

Seriously tho, thats awesome. 

 

mamey! mamey!

[Kaytrim]

 

mamey! mamey!

I totally agree  Give that guy a MAMEY!!!    I guess this takes us back to the stone age of arcade games.

TTFN
Kaytrim

[Neilyboy]

This is awesome!! Very cool.. It makes me want to get a start on my Jukebox project I have in my head. its just too dang cold outside as of now.

Neil

[Ninja Supremacist]

  amazing, imaginative, cool, etc.

[knave]

Wow, Nice work!

Y'know that layout would play Bust-a-move...

[MameMaster!]

Awesome!...you just made the March news (yes I write it early!) in GameRoom Magazine.....congrats! 

[mountain]

Wow, this thing is cool.

Now if you could just mount it in the wall as if it crashed there, while keeping it playable, it would be perfect. 

[Malenko]

why not play Galaga?

that is an awesome idea and looks fantastic.

[Zakk]

http://www.mameworld.net/massive/NEWMAMEY/misc.htm


WAY too cool. 

[Neilyboy]

congrats on the mamey man!!! much deserved.

Neil

[leapinlew]

  Congrats dude 

[The 80s Man]

  I love to see orginal creations, great work.

Here's what it might look like if it had a marquee and coin slot.

[dmworking247]

Thanks everyone, I'm honestly blown away by the recognition this little project has received. I honestly thought this would get about a 50/50 love/hate reaction, so I never expected this kind of response.

On a daily basis I browse this forum and am impressed at the creativity of so many projects. Most of the time I'm looking at these projects wishing I had half the skill (or the money or time) to do such creative cabinets.

Having almost completed my fourth 'cabinet' and with two more already in my mind, I've learned there is a LOT of work between an 'average' build and 'real quality', and some times the hardest challenges or the finest details are the things that others take for granted.

So thanks to all of you who've posted projects before, you all deserve a pat on the back for the hard work and especially for sharing ideas and inspiration to so many others, including me. 

This project was built from a spontaneous idea and used very little time or money... obviously it could be improved with fiber glass for rigidity or different button combinations but it still seems that its provided some inspiration. The fact I've been able to give something back to a community where it often feels like everything has been done before is the ultimate reward for me (although, some sponsorship from some arcade part distributors would sure help with the next project  )

I'd love to hear about it if anybody ends up building their own unique cabinet using this project as inspiration.

Thanks again for all of the kind words.

[dmworking247]

In an effort to better document projects completed to date, I've summarised this build into a PDF available on My Project Website

Click here for a direct link to The Asteroid PDF file.

[Doctor Ugs]

Awesome man,

Oh with that setup, a couple games you could add are:
Mario Bros
Donkey Kong

Really nice work.

[dmworking247]

Has Mario Bros been Mame'd in anything but Playchoice 10? I muts have missed the rom.

Donkey Kong requires 'up/down' for the ladders.  I suppose you could use the right side buttons but that wouldn't feel the same

[SNAAKE]

wow thats awesome..very creative. you should go ahead and install the marquee and coin box too.