Calling Ms Pac/Galaga owners *3 simple measurements needed pls*

[patrickl]

Now guys... just a reality check for you all.  The cabinet you are making is NOT a real Ms-Pac Man.

Yes, I agree. Personally I don't even like the Galaga cab from an ergonomics point of view. The monitor laying down is really bad for your neck and the cab is way too low for me.

I do love the side profile though and I have to agree with the others that it would be nice to get that more or less accurate. I think JoyMonkeys drawing should help there. At least, that's enough for me.

I'm surprised that with so many people using the plans over the past 4 years that no one has caught this before.

I think Wade was the first to notice it in the PacMan/Galaga Exact Cab Dimensions  a few years ago.

Unfortunately over the years it has proven hard to find someone who has a Galaga or MsPacMan cab and who is willing to measure it. This thread here must be the fifth one or so on the subject.

[Jakobud]

Ya know what is funny is that when you look at this forum/community and the EXTREME details people go into when constructing a cabinet ("What is the ideal distance between buttons?" "What is the ideal exact slope of a perfectly ergonomic control panel??" etc....), is that the original designers of these cabinets like Pac-Man and Galaga, etc probably just designed what felt right when they stood at it and went with it. :-)

Don't worry, i'll get these plans fixed someday.  I'm just so busy nowadays.  And of course I'd need someone to give me the fixes since I no longer have access to those cabinets.

[patrickl]

Ha, ha, yeah I doubt they put much thouhgt in the design other than what is easy to make, looks cool and be sturdy enough for commercial use.

If you want to use the original artwork you need to make sure that the cab is sized sort of accurate though. Or you will get what is shown in one of the pics a bit higher up 

[spacies]

Good point Jako. It will never be the same.
I have thought of just importing one and be done with. I still might, but in the mean time a scratch built will do.

I know someone in Australia also wanting to build one. He has already purchased most of the items to make it look like an original as well,  like the coin door, speaker cover, rear handles, marquee etc etc so he wants the plans as well.

Like I said, I am building 2. The first will be a guinea pig to make sure I like the angles, then I will go from there.

Keep truckin'

[coltchillin]

@ spacies and patrickl:

could you guys please compare my trace of the side panel to yours?
i'd like to know if i'm anywhere close.
thanks...

i've attached the .ai (just change the .png extension into .ai)

[patrickl]

Looks fine to me

[spacies]

Nice work coltchillin.

I overlayed it with joymonkeys pic:



Almost there 

[spacies]

Just changed you drawing to white and moved it closer to the edge.

Looks great:



I reckon we have a winner!

  to you.

[coltchillin]

thanks guys, i'll work on it some more.

[patrickl]

I did the overlay thing too and it came out identical in my case 

[coltchillin]

you guys also traced it from joymonkeys bitmap?
i did too and compared it to this other pic cause some angles and curves a wasn't sure about.
but if we all used the same source it's no surprise they resemble each other... but then... i'm curious why mine is slightly different then spacies 

what was joymonkeys source then?
cause if his is off were kinda f*cked right?

[patrickl]

you guys also traced it from joymonkeys bitmap?

No, for my Galaga birdhouse I used the picture of the south african site (after straightening it as best as a I could) to correct Jakobuds plan. I then changed it to make it's size more sensible for the birds though (basically I made it a bit deeper).

I overlayed JoyMonkeys version on the base picture I used and it looked pretty similar. I assumed JoyMonkeys version would actually be better than the picture I used. He had the benefit of using the MsPac artwork to correct the sizes.

[coltchillin]

a birdhouse hehe cool.
i saw your miniature cab already but this is insane 

the south african pic... i also used it to double check but it's a bit different from joymonkeys so i guess were stuck with some estimation till somebody traces an actual panel.

i might be a little obsessive compulsive about it but i won't start until i got it correct

if not i think i'll just design my own panel.

[spacies]

Sorry,

When I had it in black I couldn't see the alignment marks so I changed it to white.
It is spot on.

I am going to use it for my build. 

[patrickl]

a birdhouse hehe cool.
i saw your miniature cab already but this is insane 

Ha, ha, yeah. I'm a bit "space challenged"  at the moment so no room for a full cab (or for much woodworking). In a few months i get my new house with a garage so I can finally get going again.

i might be a little obsessive compulsive about it but i won't start until i got it correct

Well it looks pretty much spot on. Why would you care if it's a millimeter off here or there?

I've been meaning to go back to Scheveningen to see the MsPac-Galaga reunion cab and measure that thing. I doubt it has the exact same dimensions though. The monitor in that is quite a lot bigger. If it's still there even. Every time I go back there they have less games.

[coltchillin]

...I am going to use it for my build. 

thanks, cool! can't wait to see your wip thread.

I've been meaning to go back to Scheveningen to see the MsPac-Galaga reunion cab and measure that thing. I doubt it has the exact same dimensions though. The monitor in that is quite a lot bigger. If it's still there even. Every time I go back there they have less games.

sounds like a plan, why don't you just buy it
but yeah, not sure if it's an exact reproduction either.

i was also wondering... you mentioned you gonna stick an lcd screen in it instead of an ctr, for a specific reason? or is it just a matter of preference? wouldn't there be like angle issues with a lcd?

thanks...

[patrickl]

i was also wondering... you mentioned you gonna stick an lcd screen in it instead of an ctr, for a specific reason? or is it just a matter of preference? wouldn't there be like angle issues with a lcd?

I'm not going to mount it horizontally. I never liked the ergonomics of the Galaga cabs. you practically need to stick your head inside the cab to see the screen properly, but then the marquee is so low that you cannot.

Actually, I posted a design for my version of a Galaga cab a few years ago. Based on Jakobuds plans, but then slimmed and stretched.


Looks pretty odd, but I gotten used to it seeing more LCD cabs built by other people over the last 5 years.

I just like LCD screens and back then I was constricted in space. It had to fit next to the pool table. In the new house I will have more space, but I still wouldn't want it at full depth.

[coltchillin]

ok thanks.
ergonomics... yes... never even thought about that.

[patrickl]

ok thanks.
ergonomics... yes... never even thought about that.

Seriously, try the size out before you build it. The whole thing is 67" tall. That's 1.70m. Not sure what your height is, but I look straight over the top of a standard Galaga cab. It's seriously uncomfortable for me to play on while standing. I'd need a bar stool to sit on or something.

When I was a kid I was short enough to fit my head in the cab under the marquee (well sort of).  I did always love the sound echoing around inside the cab. I guess I will miss that in my design, but then I won't have the sore neck after playing on it either 

[coltchillin]

Seriously, try the size out before you build it. The whole thing is 67" tall. That's 1.70m. Not sure what your height is, but I look straight over the top of a standard Galaga cab. It's seriously uncomfortable for me to play on while standing. I'd need a bar stool to sit on or something.

yeah i guess in really need to look into all of this.
i recall using a bar stool at the arcade, even back then.

[patrickl]

I guess it could work with a bar stool, but I can't remember if that helped much (must have been at least 22 years ago since I last played on an original Galaga). I'd think your knees would be banging the front of the cab?

[WunderCade]

It appears Jakobuds plans for the Ms. Pac upright are actually the Galaga upright dimensions. He probably made the common mistake of thinking they are exactly the same...they are NOT exactly the same. And your comparison Patrick1 demonstrates the subtle differences between the two cabs.

JoyMonkey's measurements are correct, they were taken off his own Ms Pac machine that he bought just for the stencil project, so he could be as accurate as possible. His machine is the one in that side by side pic you posted.

So, if you want to build a Galaga, Jakos plans are fine. A Ms. Pac - not so much.

Can't wait to see it Spacies...I have a Ms. Pac cab if you need any more angle measurements.

 

[patrickl]

Actually the whole thing started when Wade checked the Galaga cabs that he new and noticed that the plans were off (the half an inch angle in the sides of the kickplate mostly). Then others checked their Galaga cabs too and also noticed the difference. The CP area difference is visible from all pictures of Galaga cabs that I have seen. You can easily pick a scratch built one (based on Jakobuds plans) from the real cabs.

So then we only looked at Galaga cabs and argued that maybe the MsPac was different and as seen in Jakobuds plans 

[coltchillin]

...He probably made the common mistake of thinking they are exactly the same...they are NOT exactly the same...

wow, really?
i really thought they were identical.

can you point out some of the differences?

so these replacement cabs are off as well?

[spacies]

Can't wait to see it Spacies...I have a Ms. Pac cab if you need any more angle measurements.

 

Thanks, I am happy with the drawing now and will base the sides on that.
I will use the same drawings for a Galaga as well. I am not too fussed about that cab.

I won't be doing a project announcement so I will just post a pic when I am done.

 

[coltchillin]

...I won't be doing a project announcement so I will just post a pic when I am done...

 

[patrickl]

...He probably made the common mistake of thinking they are exactly the same...they are NOT exactly the same...

wow, really?
i really thought they were identical.

He's only assuming they are not identical.

Like I said we had the exact opposite idea a few years ago. People determined that Jakobuds plans did not correspond to actual Galaga cabs that people had and assumed that maybe the MsPacman cab was different.

I've sinc seen a picture of them side by side and they are identical. At least the top.

[coltchillin]

  hehe...

it's becoming more and more likely that i will end up designing my own cab.

i've been playing with the idea of a fictional game, name, cab design (loosely based on midway cabs), and artwork... all 80's style a la pac etc.
still gonna use midway parts like the cp.

"super knock-off"or something.

[WunderCade]

He's only assuming they are not identical.

I am not assuming anything...they are subtly different. For example, if you look at the Galaga cab, the front of it angles up slightly from its base to the control panel area sides whereas the Ms. Pac is straight in that regard, also the outcropping where the control panel area makes a "v" in the cab is angled slightly higher on a Galaga cab. They are minor, but distinct differences.

I'll assume you weren't "assuming" that I was merely "assuming", were you?

I've never tried Jakobuds plans, that's why I used the word "appears" in my post.

[patrickl]

Wade and the people with a Galaga cab who responded in the Galaga shape threads obviously don't agree with you on that.


and I found the picture I was talking about:

[spacies]

...I won't be doing a project announcement so I will just post a pic when I am done...

 

Ok,

I MIGHT do a PA. If I don't I will give the link to a page where I will upload progress pics.

Wade and the people with a Galaga cab who responded in the Galaga shape threads obviously don't agree with you on that.


and I found the picture I was talking about:

Interesting pic.
They look the same to me, although it does look like the Galaga slopes down from the CP to the bottom of the kickplate. But then when you look at it when comparing the same part on the Ms Pac, they are the same.

I am happy with what I have. The pics that is     

[patrickl]

They look the same to me, although it does look like the Galaga slopes down from the CP to the bottom of the kickplate. But then when you look at it when comparing the same part on the Ms Pac, they are the same.

I have to admit I made the same mistake. Not sure if I linked to the threads here, but a few years ago I argued that the slope of the Galaga kickplate area was correct. Wade and others checked their Galaga cabs and stated that they don't have any slope on their cabs. It just looks like that in the pictures because perspective and the dark upper part around the coin door suggests depth.

[coltchillin]

what about the angulation of the cp and monitor?
in this pic it looks like the galaga cp is tilted somewhat more than the ms pac one?
but pics can be deceiving, i know...

[patrickl]

Indeed it looks like that. Looks like the Galaga CP is angled up more than the screen too. Doubt in both cases that it actually is different though.

Actually the internals of the Galaga cab are different. IIRC they have some extra cunstruction for mounting the boards in which the ms Pacman doesn't have.

It doesn't make sense to have them rolling out two machines with an almost identical cabinet shape and then make slight differences in the design.

[coltchillin]

It doesn't make sense to have them rolling out two machines with an almost identical cabinet shape and then make slight differences in the design.

yeah that's what i was thinking too.

[spacies]

Hi,

Can someone tell me how far the kickplate is set back from the front as well as the marquee?
Also the size of the CP (front and top, not width)

Many thanks.

Just about finished my drawings.