Project Planning: An 'Unusual' Design Idea

[pacmandude]

A few months ago I stumbled across a fun book called "Project Arcade" by John St.Clair at our local Barnes and Noble. I fondly remember happily feeding the Pac-Man cocktail cabinet at our local arcade when I was younger, so I thought it would be right up my alley. I had no idea what I was getting into and where this book would take me. I have decided to build a cocktail cabinet. I can't find my old favorites at arcades anymore, so I thought it's time that I bring them to me.

My plan is to use the 'real' hardware, no emulation. My reasoning is twofold: It's difficult to legally acquire some ROM images, AND you simply can't beat the real thing. I plan to use the JAMMA configuration since that's what the PCB's of my few favorites are built for. By now you are asking, "Why doesn't this moron just get an old cabinet and shove the printed circuit boards in?" I don't want to do that because the 'arcade' look of the cabinets will look out of place in a home enviornment. I build furniture for people in my spare time, so I feel that I can create a more 'elegant' design myself. I also don't find fiddling with an old rat's nest of damaged wiring to be a very enticing prospect! I know how to solder, understand the basics of electronics, and am in no hurry to finish, so I think it will be a fun project.

My understanding is that the wiring is simply a matter of matching pins and connecting a power supply. A 15KHz arcade monitor and arcade speakers would also connect with minimal fuss since that's what the board transmitts, right? To my knowledge the sound is also amplified within the board?

Am I on the right track or way out in left field? 

[Kronos]

Sounds good to me. Keep us posted on your progress

[pacmandude]

That's good news. I was planning on having twelve messages all telling me I had everything wrong. I suppose I did learn something from those books and webpages after all. I'll be hanging around here sucking in as much information as I can get while making a parts list and beginning to search for hardware. I'm sure I'll have many more questions along the way.

Thanks for the help!

[Pops]

Posted by: pacmandude

" I build furniture for people in my spare time, so I feel that I can create a more 'elegant' design myself."

Looking forward to seeing this, anything that add to the W.A.F. has to be a good thing.

Plans, drawings, renders   Go on give us a look!!

[Xiaou2]

It might be cheaper initially to make a PCB cab... but...   

 The downfalls -vs- Emulation:

- Limited # of games
- Real Hardware 'Failures'
- Have to transport Cab or ship boards out to be fixed
- Growing Cost of repairs over time
- Loss of play time when game is down


 The upside,

- Easier setup ?
- Instant On (no window load times & boot downs)
- Accurate, so long as no hardware failures

[pacmandude]

Xiaou2, those are all very valid points. Personally, I think PCB's are the way to go for me. There are only a few games that I am looking for (I only had a few favorites), and I place a high priority on accuracy.

Pops: I don't have plans made yet, and I'm a bit old fashioned for renderings, but when I do I 'promise' I will share them. By the way, what exactly is W.A.F? I know, I'm clueless. 

Here are a few pictures of previous work to whet your whistle. The table and bookshelf were built at the same time as a matching set (the natural/artificial lighting makes the color look different). Unfortunately, I sold the bookshelf and only have the small table.  I wish I had a picture of the whole bookshelf because there was some really neat molding and exotic wood inlay work at the top, but it was TALL (8' 2"). I believe in emphasizing the natural beauty of the wood, not covering it up. The cabinet will look different though.

[javeryh]

Do you have a jointer at home?  If not, how did you get everything flat and square?  I'd like to build a table or something but I don't have a jointer...

I can't wait to see what you come up with for your cab...  oh yeah, WAF is Wife Acceptance (Approval) Factor.

[pacmandude]

I used a jointer on the edges and attached the individual pieces with biscuits. Whenever I use a jointer I make a relief cut at the end. This keeps the wood at the end of the cut from splintering out at the grain. When you lay the boards down to plan the top you need the end grain to be alternating to avoid warping/splitting years down the road due to the annual expansion/contraction cycles. It takes some time to flip the pieces and look at the grain to get the best look while maintaining the alternating pattern. After everything was fitted, glued, and dried I ran the whole top through a drum sander. After doing this you really have to look hard to see that the top is individual pieces, especially if you carefully select the wood.

Anyway, I'm planning on posting some drawings once I finish brainstorming (constructive criticism encouraged). I hope you don't get your hopes up too much. I didn't plan on the interest from a 'newbie' and doubt I will have any 'revolutionary' ideas. We'll see what happens.

[pacmandude]

Okay. I still don't know if I have a winner yet, but I have sketched two ideas.

The first incorporates an interesting feature. The control panels rotate up and fill the notches in the top for a 'table mode'. Interesting, but I don't really like the look. The darker brown pieces of wood on the corners are just that, darker decorative pieces to give it a less 'bland' look. This design is not space efficient because of the excessive tabletop overhang.

The second is more traditional but has a small tabletop just large enough for a 19 inch monitor. The edges are routed and the bezel is a wood inset. I would use homemade wood veneer instead of t-molding similar to what I've done with other projects. I like the compact design, but it's a little bland. Despite being a single color I think it would still be interesting if I use a nice wood such as mahogany or maple. I could also do some cherry or ebony inlay work to spice things up, too. It seems like a straightforward build. The most difficult part will be the tabletop. I would make a solid wood tongue and groove or dovetail frame similar to a giant raised-panel door. The outside would be routed along with the inside to make the bezel.

As for parts:

PCB of a favorite classic (hopefully good condition)
19" raster arcade monitor
Power supply
Coin Door (I must hear the satisfying 'clink' of the coins, no coin buttons)
JAMMA Cable
Speaker
Two leaf digital joystics (preferably 'bat' style)
Buttons (leaf style of course. I don't remember the Pac-Man joystick clicking)
1/2 player buttons (microswitch)

Will I need a powerline filter? I didn't read anything about this.

Would THIS:(http://www.happcontrols.com/powersupplies/80021000.htm) be a good power supply? I'm not sure if it's cheap or if powersupplies are just inexpensive.

What am I missing here? It seems too straightforward. No video output conversion would be required due to the arcade monitor. The sound would hook directly to the speaker since the signal is already amplified by the PCB. Controls are directly wired to the JAMMA harness, so nothing is needed there either. I'm thinking I will get a cheap PCB as well to test my wiring with. I'd hate to inadvertently euthanize a classic. 

[Stobe]

Looks like you are on the right track.

Not sure if you've stumbled upon this yet, but this is a good article from Bob Roberts about building a game from scratch.

http://therealbobroberts.net/buildit.html

Hope it helps )or at least gives you pice of mind that you know what you're doing).

-Stobe

[pacmandude]

Excellent! That's exactly the type of information I was looking for. There's a little more to it than I thought, but it's still not bad. I've decided on a hybrid of the two cabinets. Plans are in the works as we speak. After an hour of sitting down with the phone and phonebook I managed to find a good PCB too.