Author Topic: My biggest arcade project so far: The building of gameroom "Level 42" (Read 90190 times)

Level42 · « **Reply #280 on:** February 10, 2009, 06:50:51 am »

Quote from: patrickl on February 10, 2009, 04:20:13 am

Ha, cool. It's a shame they put so many metal parts on it though.

Yeah, they're there to protect the neon tubes eh.... almost all of these kinds of neons have them. And it's not so noticeable in real circumstances, the flash brings it out much more than reality.

Blanka: The Centi's monitor (actually TV) is dead after it's time in storage. In the meantime (couple of months ago), I had found a G07 PCB set in Germany which I got for free (!) (OK, had to pick it up somewhere in the Ruhrgebiet, but I was very near the border for work anyway so could make a slight detour to pick it up

)

Anyway, plan is to re-fit the G07 monitor. I couldn't adjust the TV as good as I liked and I tested the "new" PCB-set and it works...at least it gave a bright white screen (which I turned down quickly). Haven't connected the video signal itself yet, will have to change the wiring a bit again, since it was now on a SCART connector. Anyway, that's the reason why it's backwards, and it's probably not going to stay on that spot anyway......

orion · « **Reply #281 on:** February 10, 2009, 04:06:30 pm »

Quote from: Level42 on February 09, 2009, 04:05:00 pm

Cheap ? Well the problem with those is that I would have to equip each game with a set.....I'd need at least thirteen sets which makes over 200 bucks.....

I'm sure they are a good solution though. Thanks for the suggestion and thinking with me !

That set of movers I showed are €5.99 next saturday at Aldi...and I only need one set

Well yea I suppose that would be rather costly.

Forgive me, for some reason I thought you were going to put those sliders you posted on all your cabs.... and to quote a line from Nacho Libre..... "They look...... expensive!" (at 6 euros though I guess not so bad for a set) I still can't get over how someone who claims to have such a hard time finding cabs in your country can have so many! Your game room has turned out GREAT!!!! I love it dude!!! Good choice with the tile floor, that ought to hold up for years to come.

Luigi · « **Reply #282 on:** February 11, 2009, 01:32:39 am »

Congrats André....your gameroom turned out very well

What about some blacklight? I just installed 4x2 tubes in our room. At first I installed them horizontal....the light was good but it looked boring. So I decided to hang them with an angle and it's far better

richms · « **Reply #283 on:** February 11, 2009, 06:19:46 am »

I had a similar one and it had a ugly piece of plexi on the front that attracted dust and smoke like a TVscreen so was always grotty - would be reluctant to modify it too much but I am sure come of that metal could be lost with no loss in its ability to hold the tubes.

Level42 · « **Reply #284 on:** February 11, 2009, 09:57:33 am »

Quote from: Luigi on February 11, 2009, 01:32:39 am

Congrats André....your gameroom turned out very well

What about some blacklight? I just installed 4x2 tubes in our room. At first I installed them horizontal....the light was good but it looked boring. So I decided to hang them with an angle and it's far better

Looks great Thorsten ! I thought about blacklight but I think I will have enough lighting with the 4 neon's, star-lights and halogen spots. But you never know, might add it later !

Orion, yeah sorry, I wasn't clear about that the sliders can be used for all cabs. About finding cabs: well, compared to the US it's a lot harder here, but sometimes it also has it's advantages. There are different cabs here and some are simply cheaper because there is less demand (like my SW cockpit

).

I'm _really_ happy with the tiles, espcecially now. There is still a lot of sand/dirt near the entry of the gameroom (will have to use the sand when we're going to work on the yard in spring) and it doesn't really matter now if I walk some sand in there. Simply brush it away are use some folding mob with a bit of soapy water. Even when it rains hard it's no problem to go in with wet shoes etc. When the DK stickers and neon are up there all (most) of the machines inside I will shoot a video and upload it. Thanks for the kind words and if you're ever in the area.....drop a message

orion · « **Reply #285 on:** February 11, 2009, 10:20:36 am »

Quote from: Level42 on February 11, 2009, 09:57:33 am

Orion, yeah sorry, I wasn't clear about that the sliders can be used for all cabs. About finding cabs: well, compared to the US it's a lot harder here, but sometimes it also has it's advantages. There are different cabs here and some are simply cheaper because there is less demand (like my SW cockpit ).

I'm _really_ happy with the tiles, espcecially now. There is still a lot of sand/dirt near the entry of the gameroom (will have to use the sand when we're going to work on the yard in spring) and it doesn't really matter now if I walk some sand in there. Simply brush it away are use some folding mob with a bit of soapy water. Even when it rains hard it's no problem to go in with wet shoes etc. When the DK stickers and neon are up there all (most) of the machines inside I will shoot a video and upload it. Thanks for the kind words and if you're ever in the area.....drop a message

You know I wish I had the money to tile my entire house. Thanks for the offer, I really appreciate that.

If I ever get the funds and the time and over my fear of flying I might just look you up. My wife lived in Germany for several years and she has informed me that she's going to get me on a plane one day and were going (guess I'll just have to turn to ye ol liquid courage when that day comes!

) My great grandfather was an Italian immigrant, and I think it would be fun to one day go to the town he was from and see if I can track down relatives that I have never met or even heard of. I look forward to seeing the video of your finished product.

Edit: Forgive my rudeness... if your ever in the Charlotte NC area feel free to drop me a line as well (I know where you can find a Discs of Tron environmental in my area... like to see how you would get that home from here!

)

Luigi · « **Reply #286 on:** February 20, 2009, 12:52:30 am »

No updates since nine days....André, I hope you're ok??

Level42 · « **Reply #287 on:** February 20, 2009, 01:52:41 am »

I'm fine Thorsten, just swamped in work. Was on stand-by duty last weekend (and week) and I actually had to go out and work friday night and a good part of the sunday. That's normally very rare to happen. Didn't feel much like working on the gameroom either this week...don't know. Small motivation dip I guess.....

Ah well, the weekend is coming up and I really must get going on....

Kevin Mullins · « **Reply #288 on:** February 20, 2009, 02:49:41 pm »

Yeah, yeah.... we all know it's just like building a cabinet... once it's playable you can almost forget about finishing it because you're too busy playing it.

Seriously, things look like you have it all about ready to tidy up and finish it off.
Now get to work....

Level42 · « **Reply #289 on:** February 22, 2009, 06:37:50 am »

OK did some usefull work. Moved the Joust outside of the "shed" area. Cleaned it a bit, drilled out the lock of the coin door, removed and examined the monitor and tried another Hantarex in it, but that one seems to be completely dead.

Did some investigation on the monitors look here if interested:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=89744.msg942048#msg942048

Anyway, the Joust is in the gameroom now so I could move some bikes into the shed part (wife happy).

Also re-installed the G07 in the Centipede and it looks nice. Was great to be able to play a couple of games on Centi again.

Lecithin · « **Reply #290 on:** February 22, 2009, 06:59:25 pm »

Woah, thats awesome. I just started collecting and I can already see myself drifting towards having a dedicated room/structure like that. Simply amazing!

Level42 · « **Reply #291 on:** February 26, 2009, 02:33:21 pm »

Thanks !

Ta-da !

Ginsu Victim · « **Reply #292 on:** February 26, 2009, 02:50:31 pm »

Reminds me of my addition to the gameroom.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=89006.msg937845#msg937845

Did you use photo paper? It looks like it.

Level42 · « **Reply #293 on:** February 26, 2009, 03:04:48 pm »

Actually I ordered them from an on-line photo printing company (from a drugstore chain overhere). I used them before with the SW poster and I really liked the quality. It's Kodak paper. The Meteor is the best looking since I kindly received the full size scan from the guy who submitted it to the Arcade flyer archive.

My printer at home is an oldie by now (HP930) and not capable of producing this quality, plus I guess it would cost more in ink costs.

patrickl · « **Reply #294 on:** February 26, 2009, 03:11:25 pm »

Wow that's cool. Invasion of the mini arcade posters

cmoses · « **Reply #295 on:** February 27, 2009, 12:06:05 pm »

Nice posters

Your son looks like "David" from "David after the dentist" youtube fame.

mrclean · « **Reply #296 on:** February 27, 2009, 01:34:43 pm »

"Is this real life" - David

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqiwrbYGrs[/youtube]

Ginsu Victim · « **Reply #297 on:** February 27, 2009, 02:24:50 pm »

Other than the moment when he gets up and screams, I'm not a big fan of this video. The kid's just putting on a show for the camera.

Level42 · « **Reply #298 on:** February 28, 2009, 06:48:44 pm »

Quote from: Ginsu Victim on February 27, 2009, 02:24:50 pm

The kid's just putting on a show for the camera.

I don't think so. I've seen my son coming out of anaesthesia after surgery and I'm telling you it was _much_ worse than that.

I expected him to be sleepy and slowly waking. Instead he was full awake when we walked into the room and extremely angry at everything and everyone, I had to physically restrain him to keep him from throwing out his infusion and hurting himself. It was scary to see since he's normally a very steady and friendly little guy. It went away in about an hour but I hated to see him like that. He remembered nothing about it.

To get back on-topic: Today was the first day I had all the cabs that are now inside my room (and that work) powered up at once. Until now I had only one wall-out installed temporarely on the ground cable. Now installed a junction box and a 4-way wall-outlet so I could hook up all three power switches. It felt great to see and hear all the machines running at once

Already discovered that all the separate switches also have one disadvantage: it takes a while to switch them all on/off

Maybe I should have one master switch .....naaahhh don't think so, I can live with it.

Didn't have much time today (nice to have a kid who started to play soccer, but it costs half the saturday....)
Weather reports are great for tomorrow (finally spring knocking at the door) so I hope to do some good work !

Level42 · « **Reply #299 on:** March 02, 2009, 05:55:28 pm »

It's on like Donkey Kong !

Still had a number of decals left and I thought it was a shame to put these away:

Think I won't keep them on the red wall, doesn't really work. Will probably move to the blue wall.

The stuff really works easy. It feels sticky but you can get it off and on and off and on and....

One thing to not do: drop the decals on a dirty floor. Trust me.

The decals also sticked much better to the black wall (because it's a wall-paint) than on the red wall (which is latex-paint).

patrickl · « **Reply #300 on:** March 02, 2009, 06:11:39 pm »

Ha, that's cool. I like it on the red wall too. Maybe it doesn't stand out as much as on the black wall, but still.

Level42 · « **Reply #301 on:** March 03, 2009, 01:01:20 am »

Yeah...it's really sweet. Think I will move Mario a bit to the right. I had really wanted to use the jumping Mario, but he's jumping from left to right and that would look silly on the set-up I made. The switches are really a bit of a pain this time. I also wanted to keep the art up as much as possible because I'm planning to put some machines there of course....

The wall looks really grey because of the flash but it's much blacker in reality.

cmoses · « **Reply #302 on:** March 05, 2009, 12:13:20 pm »

Have you given any thought to putting a tinted piece of plexiglass over the switches with a hinge so that you can lift it to turn them on and off. With it down it would help it blend into the wall better.

Level42 · « **Reply #303 on:** March 05, 2009, 02:20:58 pm »

Hey that's a pretty good idea....got plenty of (used) tinted plexi around.....let's see if it's possible. Only problem is that it will require one extra hand to turn everything on/off.

I did think about painting black the fronts of the switches (the blue part). Still need to make a nice edge around it anyway...let's see what I can come up with.... thanks for the tip !

Luigi · « **Reply #304 on:** March 06, 2009, 03:18:35 am »

I don't know how many fuses you installed but if your power all cabs on at the same time they drag a lot of current and the fuses might blow. We installed 60 separate switches in our gameroom to be able to turn every cab on and off if it's needed (or not). I really enjoy switching them on when we have a party....I then feel like I'm preparing a huuuge weapon to be used

Maybe you can install a nice poster in a frame in front of the switches...with hinges so you can easily have access to the switches....so they would also be safe from unwanted fingers

Level42 · « **Reply #305 on:** March 06, 2009, 04:13:01 am »

Quote from: Luigi on March 06, 2009, 03:18:35 am

I don't know how many fuses you installed but if your power all cabs on at the same time they drag a lot of current and the fuses might blow. We installed 60 separate switches in our gameroom to be able to turn every cab on and off if it's needed (or not). I really enjoy switching them on when we have a party....I then feel like I'm preparing a huuuge weapon to be used

Maybe you can install a nice poster in a frame in front of the switches...with hinges so you can easily have access to the switches....so they would also be safe from unwanted fingers

Yeah it's like powering up the canon of the Death Star

(Actually, switching on the SW cockpit has the best surge sound effect, including the starting of the fans.)

Won't be switching them all on/off at once, the power surge was one of the reasons to go with so many switches. I calculated that if I'd run ALL my games in the room at once, it's still only about 1800 watts, which is well below the allowed 3200 watts per group. The lighting is all very power friendly, neons and led's don't use much only the halogenes will consume a little more, but those will be mostly off.

I have installed a dedicated group for the gameroom that has it's own separate power cable running to it. And no need for fuses, got a switch with automatic circuit breaker (or whatever those are called) incl. ground-fault.

To prevent unwanted fingers I installed the switches up high enough for only adults to reach. Putting a poster right there would look a bit funny now since the DK artwork is now "around" it. Guess I'll look at the plexi option first.

Level42 · « **Reply #306 on:** March 11, 2009, 02:34:27 am »

Officialy DONE !

Installed the red neon tube yesterday, and that was the last thing to do really.

Apart from installing heating and hanging the "flyers" that is, but there's time for that later.

Currently working to get as many machines running as possible.

Exchanged the monitor on the Joust and that looks MUCH better now, although still have to adjust colors and degauss it manually.

So far the up and running machines are:
SW, Joust (Muti-Williams),MB,MC,Centi,Galaxian. Most of them still require some work, mostly cosmetic.

Not working are the Getaway pinball (completely dead now, except for some LED's on the backpanel), Meteor, Puckman and Playscene Mame.

I will try to hook up an Asterloids board that I know is working to the Meteor.

The Puckman will be 48-in-1'ed. Monitor needs to be replaced. Can't get the CP open because of the totally rusted bolts. Will have to dremel the tops off.

The Mame cab....well......I can't find the damn keys !

But I know there was a software problem when I last turned it on (which is VERY long ago).

The Power Drift and SI are still in Belgium and the Konami GT cockpit......well......I think I will have to get rid of that one.......it will take too much space

Tonight Polaris will be having a sneak-preview at the gameroom, as he's in the country for his work (doing the lighting for Il Divo concerts) so I'm really looking forward to meeting him ! If all is well he'll also have the Space Invaders doormat with him

It's a good thing he's coming over, since I will have to clean-up the room and make it presentable. There's lots of tools, spare parts etc. all over now. I will make a "walk-through" video when everything is in a presentable shape

patrickl · « **Reply #307 on:** March 11, 2009, 05:27:54 pm »

Ha, nice work. That went quite quickly. Can't wait for the "Gameroom warming" party

Kevin Mullins · « **Reply #308 on:** March 12, 2009, 01:45:00 am »

Quote from: Level42 on March 11, 2009, 02:34:27 am

Officialy DONE !

Ha, it'll never be "done" .... who you trying to kid?

Level42 · « **Reply #309 on:** March 12, 2009, 03:04:59 am »

Damn, got me !

Red light district:

Without flash, represents the atmosphere better:

Polaris couldn't make it yesterday but I hope to meet him this afternoon.

Level42 · « **Reply #310 on:** March 12, 2009, 07:24:33 pm »

Picked up Polaris at the Ahoy' Rotterdam where he was working on the lighting of the Il Divo gigs. Great guy, we had some great arcade talk (hope I didn't bore you James !).....

Spent some time at my home and of course the gameroom and there was enough time to have a couple of goes on all the working cabs....

Polaris also brought the Space Invaders doormat and he generously donated it as an extra decoration for the game room. Gotta find some batteries that fit for it....

Thank you very much James, as mentioned, you earned yourself a life-time of free-play

Couple of pics:

First play.....what else

Taught James all about The Force

James having a go at Robotron and learning how much wacky Zaccaria joysticks suck for that game !

Again, it was very nice meeting you, glad we could both find some free time to meet and enjoy ! Hope to see you at InserCoin '09 !

polaris · « **Reply #311 on:** March 13, 2009, 06:46:58 pm »

hey andre
thanks for the visit, you certainly didn't bore me, it was cool to hear someone with far greater knowledge than me talking about his projects, particularly as i followed them on the boards.
playing the grail really took me back and obviously i want one now

really great to meet you and sorry if you missed a nice dinner at your wifes sisters house , my colleagues were very jealous when they saw the star wars pics.
hope i come through rotterdam again soon

Level42 · « **Reply #312 on:** March 21, 2009, 07:33:30 pm »

Hah, don't worry about the "dinner".....nothing special at all

My son turned 7 the other day and of course he wanted to throw his "kids" party at the freshly built gameroom.

It was a good test-case for the machines, all went through it without any issue.

I instructed the guys very well (hit a machine and out you go ). There were no troubles at all.

It was extremely nice weather and very bright, which shows that I need some curtain before my entry door window.....

We held a small competition at the end, playing best scores for SW.

The least favorite game was Missile Command, which in a strange way would also be the one game of this selection that I would let go off IF I really needed to.

The most favorite game was......you guessed it, SW.

Funny trivia: the little fellows soon decided to play Robotron in co-op: one was running, the other shooting....

Regretfully I didn't get the Puckman 48in1 working in time (didn't start a game, I think it's a loose ground wire on the start buttons....duh !)

Meteor and Getaway not working yet either. Playscene (=Mame cab) ....lost keys....

I still have a number of games not in the room:
Power Drift (working) and SI (terrible state) are waiting to be picked up from storage in Belgium. I've got an Atari Dominos and a Pleiads cocktail in my attic. I think the SI and Power Drift will make it into the room, and then there's no more space

Here's some videos:

orion · « **Reply #313 on:** March 21, 2009, 08:17:48 pm »

Looks like everyone was having a great time at the Bday party! Were having my son's 7th Bday party this weekend and I DARE NOT show him this. Congrats on the game room, I know you are feeling a great since of accomplishment with it... as well you should be

cmoses · « **Reply #314 on:** March 23, 2009, 11:08:03 am »

Very nice looking, but it looks full, so how are you planning to put more games in there?

Ginsu Victim · « **Reply #315 on:** March 23, 2009, 11:48:56 am »

Awesome vid.

Quote

The least favorite game was Missile Command, which in a strange way would also be the one game of this selection that I would let go off IF I really needed to.

I feel the same way. Over the decades, this game, for me, has lost a lot of its original appeal.

Level42 · « **Reply #316 on:** March 23, 2009, 12:21:31 pm »

The thing is, there's not much to relate to. It's just a bunch of lines. Maybe it's because the everyday thread of "thermonuclear war" has long been gone since the 80's ?
But the "worst" thing is that it gets too hard too quickly IMHO. But don't get me wrong I still like it and my brother has had a look at it on how to install the new "formica" on the front. He will come over with his router to make this a very lovely little machine.

About the room for more games: Look at the video again, there's lots of room around the Joust. I can still move that towards the SW cockpit and shift all the other cabs towards it. There's also some space between all those cabs, and when you look to the right of the Meteor there is already space for one cab. I can also put one machine on the DK wall (although it will make the entry a bit tight). Anyway, I want at least the Power Drift in there and hopefully the SI too. Both are pretty big machines though....

Ummon · « **Reply #317 on:** March 23, 2009, 03:51:14 pm »

Looks good. Not dark enough, yeah curtain. Granted, the nuke theme isn't the same...although one wonders why it shouldn't be, actually, knowing certain things.....but I didn't really like the game play back then because it was just hard - and then it was too hard too quick. Still is, but I like to play it now and then.

Level42 · « **Reply #318 on:** March 23, 2009, 04:11:22 pm »

Will make a vid at night time, much better

MC: I played it only on the Atari 8 bit version, which is almost 100% identical except that you have only 1 firing tower. This makes things a _LOT_ easier in the higher levels, as you only have to defend 2 spots: 1 city, firing tower.
The arcade version requires you to defend 4 spots.....

Just played MC on my son's DS and it's reasonably funny to play with the touch screen, but the overall progress and randomness of the incoming missiles seems wrong. It's also stupid to not be able to do anything against them when they're still on the top screen.

BobA · « **Reply #319 on:** March 23, 2009, 10:40:00 pm »

Looks great. Must be nice to be finally finished.... Who are we kidding? Take a deep breath, enjoy the fruits of your labour and CARRY ON.


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