The Shmup! Arcade (Final Move 4-26-13)

[emphatic]

Here's some suggestions, hoping they're already on your list:

• Pulstar
• Raiden
• R-Type
• Slapshot / A.L.C.O.N.

I had R-type. But forgot Raiden and Pulstar... I've never heard of the Slapshot / A.L.C.O.N. though, I'll have to look into it.

That's because it's called Slap Fight. 

Here's some great shmups:

DoDonpachi
E.S.P. Ra.De.
Guwange
Twin Hawk
Twin Cobra
Flying Shark
Halley's Comet
Battle Garegga
Armed Police Batrider
Battle Bakraid
Strikers 1945
Strikers 1945 II
Strikers 1945 III
Dragon Blaze
Raiden Fighters 2

I'm only listing vertical games, as you have your screen this way already.

[Ryglore]

Today I picked up the acrylic sheet for my CPO, I also bought a switch to work around the problem I am having with my PC and the power strip. Then I started priming the cabinet. this next week I am hoping to start painting the sides and doing the MaLa Layout and finalizing my gamelist.

Ok, here is the list of games I plan on having. I'm still working on it, I've been flexing my gray matter trying to think of anything I can for it. Suggestions are welcome! I am looking for a bowling game and anything else I need for the trackball...

Suggested games are in bold.

Shooters

1941: Counter Attack
1942
1943: The Battle of Midway
1943: Kai
1944: The Loop Master
19XX: The War Against Destiny
Alcon
Darius
Darius 2
Darius Gaiden
Defender
Dragon Blaze
DoDonpachi
G-Darius
Galaxian
Galaga
Galaga 3
Galaga '88
Gradius
Gradius II
Gradius III
Gunbird
Gunbird 2
Guwange
Ikaruga
Pulsar
R-Type
R-Type II
Raiden
Raiden II
Radiant Silvergun
Salamander (Life Force)
Salamander 2
Solar Assualt
Space Harrier
Space Invaders
Strikers 1945
Strikers 1945 II
Truxton
Truxton II
Twin Hawk
Twin Cobra
Xevious
Super Xevious

Run n' Gun

Commando
Contra
Super Contra
Mercs
Metal Slug
Metal Slug 2
Metal Slug X
Metal Slug 3
Metal Slug 4
Metal Slug 5
Metal Slug 6

Beat em Up

Alien Vs Predator
Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom
Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara
Final Fight
Gauntlet
Gauntlet II
Gauntlet Legends
Gauntlet Dark Legacy
Golden Axe
The Punisher
The Simpsons
Spider-Man The Video Game
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time
X-Men: The Arcade Game

Fighting

Dead or Alive
Dead or Alive 2
King of Fighters (series)
Marvel Super Heroes
Marvel Vs Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes
Marvel Vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes
Mega Man: The Power Battle
Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat 2
Mortal Kombat 3
Mortal Kombat 4
Soul Calibur
Souledge
Street Fighter (series)
Street Fighter II (All Versions)
Street Fighter III (all versions)
Tekken
Tekken 2
Tekken 3
X-Men: Children of the Atom
X-Men Vs. Street Fighter

Puzzle / Platform

Burgertime
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Jr.
Donkey Kong 3
Haunted Castle
Mario Bros
Mr. Driller
Mr. Driller 2
Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man
Popeye
Rampage
Rampage: World Tour

Trackball Games

Atari Football
Centipede
Golden Tee (all versions)
Marble Madness
Millipede
Missle Command
SegaSonic The Hedgehog

Misc Sports

NeoGeo Super Dodgeball
Capcom Sports Club (love the tennis in this game)

[Epyx]

Truxton and Truxton II are fantastic shooters as well (If you like Raiden/Twin Cobra etc).

[Ryglore]

Ha I'll try anything I've not played. 

[Ryglore]

I started work on my layout for MaLa. Here it is! Critique away, I haven't really figured out how to set the screenshots up yet. I've been doing some digging, but any help with it is appreciated!

The layout is a fixed size layout for a 1024 x 768 resolution. I may use a little darker gray for the background, not sure yet. I do know that pure white was killing my eyes though. 

[emphatic]

If you really like 1943, you should try 1943 Kai as well, as it's a wholly different game.

[Honkyharris]

I think that layout looks really good. You may be right about the white being a bit overbearing after a while, but its not like people are going to sit and stare at that screen forever since they'll want to start playing something asap.

Honkyharris

[system01]

Just my opinions...

I like your logo, but it doesn't really stick out.  It gets lost.

I would change the background to black, or at least something a lot darker.  Maybe a starfield?

I would thin down all those blue lines.  It would give you more space for the objects as well as get rid of a lot of clutter.  I think it might also make your logo stand out a bit more.

I don't like the reticle in the bottom left.  Maybe replace it with a cache of bombs, like most shmups have the in the bottom left?

Also, if you get rid of the gray screenshot box, you won't have problems of pics/vids not filling that space.  Unless you're stretching them, that is.

Overall, I think you have a nice and unique design.  Keep it up!

[Ryglore]

Just my opinions...

I like your logo, but it doesn't really stick out.  It gets lost.

I would change the background to black, or at least something a lot darker.  Maybe a starfield?

I would thin down all those blue lines.  It would give you more space for the objects as well as get rid of a lot of clutter.  I think it might also make your logo stand out a bit more.

I don't like the reticle in the bottom left.  Maybe replace it with a cache of bombs, like most shmups have the in the bottom left?

Also, if you get rid of the gray screenshot box, you won't have problems of pics/vids not filling that space.  Unless you're stretching them, that is.

Overall, I think you have a nice and unique design.  Keep it up!

Mostly the grey screenshot box is only there as a place older until I actually figure out how to work snaps.

I've got the layout on my usb drive so I can test it out on my actual cab tonight, that way I can make notes on what needs to be modified and what works/ doesn't work on my actual monitor. I'm tempted to remove the logo from it and just leave the crosshair in place. Mostly because the logo is already on the marquee and the Control panel... we'll see.

This project has only grown because of everyone's suggestions. Thanks for the input!

[severdhed]

mala layout looks pretty good.  i'd definately get rid of the gray box for the snaps...if you want a box, make it black so that the snaps blend in.

you could place text fields on top of those blue lines, instead of trying to only use the blank space.

if you need help getting the snaps working let me know, it is easy

[Ryglore]

Ya I may need a little bit of a hand with it, but first I need the actual snaps. Which I am thinking of making my own for the game list. I think the list I've posted is pretty much final, unless I can the trackball bowling game I remember playing when I was little... I think it was by the Golden Tee guys.... not sure.

As for the text on the blue areas, I tried it and didn't really care for it. The only other stat I may want to add to the layout is # of plays for a given game. but I may leave it out and keep it as streamlined as possible. 

[system01]

I think I would also move the game mfg and year to a wide horiz box, maybe white text on a dark blue line?

This mfg's can get extremely long and don't serve much purpose in a small box like that.

...just something that gives it a little more polished look.

[severdhed]

I am not a big fan of alot of text in my layout.  all i have on my DK cab is game name and year, as well as number of plays.

as for bowling games, World Class Bowling is the best one i have found.

[Ryglore]

Thanks guys, I may play with things a bit more before I settle on something. ha, right now I have the arcade pc stacked on top of my regular XPS desktop and I have my laptop connected to the net next to me so I can check things and work on the actual arcade PC rather than jumping from the XPS to the arcade and then having to deal with missing files/ naming issues.

I'm actually in the middle of trimming the gameslist down too. Then after that, Photoshop gets installed on the arcade and I start making title screen snaps.

[Ryglore]

Last night, I mounted a switchbox for my main power switch. I decided that I had enough racking my brain trying to get the surge protector to work. So I am going to take one of my generic power strips and use that, and wire it in to an on/off switch. Now i just need to sand and reprime where my saber saw was sitting. I also drilled the holes in my acrylic sheet for the CP and got it sanded to match the CP top.

On / Off Switches. The light switch is the master power switch and the push button will Start and Shutdown the PC


The surge protector hardwired to the light switch


Control Panel Holes drilled and buttons/ Joys mounted


After I got home from working on the cab I set up the arcade pc at my desk and continued setting it up. I was up til 2am last night sifting through my list of games and sorting out what was what. Luckily I was smart enough to set up a layout in mala that showed the name of the rom folder on screen, so I could do things a bit faster.

I've got about 135 games in the list, and I moved the other games to another folder on my hdd so I can go through them later to see if I missed anything. I also tried my hand at making gamelists and a mala tree. But now I have to find a way to set up titles of each list in the layout so you can tell which list you are in, since I am using the same layout for everthing. I may make multiple copies of the same layout and just put a text box above the games list and change the title accordingly, it's prolly the easiest solution. 

Either way, I think my layout is almost completed and the PC is close to being ready. Once it's all set I can dismantle it and mount it on a board and slide it in place. Then all that's left to do is the interfacing and graphics! woot!

[system01]

You don't need to use tree if youre using strictly "horizontal" navigation.  Tree is for Explorer-type "up-n-down" navigation, usually used for different emus.  My layout has lists that are themed Racing. Fighting, Sports, Maze, etc, switching with left/right on the joystick.  No tree needed.  You will have to make a different layout set for each "page" though.

And you don't need to split up titles/snaps/roms into different folders.  Just keep them all in one pile, the gamelist will match the images with the rom selected.  Most users keep the entire downloaded folders intact, letting mala only show what the gamelist says to show.  This also allows you to directly update your sets without rebuilding some funky folder structure.

[Ryglore]

Ahh I was doing the same horizontal navigation last night, I just figured that's what the mala tree was. 

[Ryglore]

Pictures added to my previous status update! And now I am off to put the shine to the MaLa Layout and finalize that. 

[Ryglore]

Here is it, my (pretty much final) Mala layout for Shmup. I was going to get all fancy and do a scrolling marquee list for the games list, but I decided to go with text instead. But I was able to get snaps working no problem at all and snagged my snaps from emumovies. I also decided to keep it simple and just use a single games list for all the games on the cab, which is only like 130 total, much more manageable than the behemoth of a list I originally had to contend with.

Here we go! (sadly Ikaruga doesn't work)

[severdhed]

cool, looking good.  YOu can always split  your game lists up later if you want....i have found that it is unnecessary.  I went through and made about 6 or 7 different game lists on my mame cab, one for shmups, one for fighting games, etc.  teh only one i ever use is called Favorites, and it just has all of the games i play.  occasionally i'll switch to the all games list if someone requests a game i dont have on my favorites, but that doesnt happen too often. 

[emphatic]

It looks good and will match your cabinet very well. The only thing I would change is to make an overlayed horizontal box across the game list where the selected game can get even wider space. This way, you could bump up the text size even more (if MALA lets you, I'm not familiar with it as an avid fan of GameEx). The background of this box could be semi-transparent, or have a shade of blue as the background, and with a white outline of the selected game text, this should give a boost to the presentation IMO.

Something like this:


Or you could put a bit of shade over everything but the logo, the selected game and the screenshot (I forgot that in my mockup):

[Ryglore]

Something like this:

Ooh me likey, ha. I'll have to play with that tonight and see what I can come up with for sure! Thanks for the ideas! 

[system01]

There is no transparency in Mala, but you can fake the dimming by applying a brightness effect to that layer in PS.

The text size and color is no problem, but you wont' get the outlines.

There is a gradient setting for the gamelist though.  You could have it ascend from white to orange as it closes on the center "indicator".

[Ryglore]

I'm not going to worry about dimming anything. I think just adding the indicator will make the list pop enough. I'm going to have to play around with the list though, I like the text gradient, but it seems like the size of the text and the size of the selected game text are relative. Which means I may have to go with a set size on the list text instead.... I'll figure it out.

Just a couple more tweaks to the PC and then I'll be ready to mount it in the cab! Wee! Plus this weekend I think I'll pick up my paint and start planning the graphics for the sides.

On another note, the wheels I mounted on the bottom broke. Which I had thought they were going to hold up. But after a month of rolling the cab from point a to point b they are no longer functional and slide rather than roll.

[severdhed]

I'm not going to worry about dimming anything. I think just adding the indicator will make the list pop enough. I'm going to have to play around with the list though, I like the text gradient, but it seems like the size of the text and the size of the selected game text are relative. Which means I may have to go with a set size on the list text instead.... I'll figure it out.

Just a couple more tweaks to the PC and then I'll be ready to mount it in the cab! Wee! Plus this weekend I think I'll pick up my paint and start planning the graphics for the sides.

On another note, the wheels I mounted on the bottom broke. Which I had thought they were going to hold up. But after a month of rolling the cab from point a to point b they are no longer functional and slide rather than roll.

that sucks about the wheels, although i can't say i'm surprised.  check your local harbor freight (if you have one).  they have a decent selection of heavy duty casters that are reasonably priced.

[Ryglore]

that sucks about the wheels, although i can't say i'm surprised.  check your local harbor freight (if you have one).  they have a decent selection of heavy duty casters that are reasonably priced.

Oh, I'm not surprised either. When my dad first suggested them I had my doubts. But he's a mechanic, so I figured I'd take his advice. ha

Ya we have a Harbor Frieght in town, which is actually the place I was goign to get my wheels in the first place. And that's where I got my slot cutter and forsner bits. =)

[Ryglore]

Ha, the title says it all! I've been looking around online for a happ trackball, but I didn't want to pay the happ price on their retail site. After looking around Ebay I found a couple of different happ trackballs and was torn between translucent blue and solid blue....

Well, my mind was made up and I went with neither! Instead I noticed that twistedquarter was selling a Blue and White marbled happ 3" trackball. I had to have it, the thought of it spinning on the CP did me in and rather than order from ebay, I went to TQ's site found it and ordered it up. I expect it sometime next week.

[jeef]

Heya, you mentioned you used Acrylic, did you have any problems cutting/drilling it etc? I'm about to order mine, and I'm weighing up acrylic or polycarbonate for the control panel.

[Ryglore]

I didn't have much of a problem with the acrylic sheet. I scored both sides of it and had it clamped in our sheet metal break. So it was firmly in place and then I used the breaking edge to snap the extra pieces off. The main problem I had with it was my little angled sections on the front of the CP top, but I belt sanded all the edges after with it clamped to the CP so all the edges match perfectly.

If you don't have a break though, you can easily do it with 2 pieces of plywood clamped together to sandwich it in place and then just make sure you have a nice sharp razor to score it with. I maybe went over kill on my scoring, but the more you score it the better the edge will be.

[jeef]

Haha, sounds simple, but I've got round corners... Am thinking polycarbonate because I hear it's a bit easier to attack with a router.

[Ryglore]

Hmm yeah... I don't have to guts to test out my router on the scrap pieces I have. For you to see how it works either. 

[jeef]

haha no worries, I'm thinking I'll stick with the polycarbonate Will use Acrylic for the marquee etc though

[Ryglore]

Earlier today I ordered my trackball from Twisted Quarter, it's up the page here. This is the last of the parts I need for the build and all that is left is the paint and some misc wiring pieces.

Working off of Emphatic's suggection on how to work the text and visability of the selected game in MaLa I took the ball and ran with it. I was able to keep the size gradient of the list while still being able to make the Selected game's text as large as possible. It took a lot of trial and error to get the list text the right size, so as it stayed in the white box of the list area, but I got it.

I also decided to add genre info in with the date and manufacturer information to help fill out that area. I also added number of times played to the snap area. It looks super tiny in the pic, but I assure you all, it's pretty much a perfect size on screen.

As for the layout, it's pretty much complete. I just need to work out the misc. window imagery to go with my theme and then work on hiding windows as much as possible.

As for Cab work today. I cut the board to mount the PC components to and drilled the holes to run my wiring. I also started planning of the doors for the back and wet sanded my primer coat. I'll be adding a few more primer coats before I paint the Pure White paint onto the side. I'm also planning the bezel area hopefully soon I can order out the Marquee and CPO. But I may wait to recoup some $$.

And here it is! The Final layout! Enjoy!

[jeef]

nice work man!

[Epyx]

Love that trackball!

@Jeef

Just rout the acrylic...you can flush trim the button holes after drilling just a pilot hole for the router bit to poke through...the sides just use a trim flush router bit.

[Ryglore]

nice work man!

Thanks! I'm super proud and impressed with myself for figuring it out!

Love that trackball!

I KNOW! It's awesome, I totally pulled an Epyx and impulse bought it. But hell, it'll look so sick when it's spinning.

[system01]

About the acrylic vs, polycarb...

Drilling and shaping acrylic (Plexiglas) can be problematic if your'e not careful; it cracks and shatters.  Polycarbonate (Lexan) is a lot more forgiving.  If you're rough with it you will prolly melt or burn it first.  That's what they make those break-proof windows out of.  And if you're an RC car guy, you know how tough those bodies are.

I'm a polycarb guy myself.

[Ryglore]

Drilling and shaping acrylic (Plexiglas) can be problematic if your'e not careful; it cracks and shatters.  Polycarbonate (Lexan) is a lot more forgiving. 

I drilled my Acrylic sheets with forstner bits with a bit of pressure and decent speed. So rather than just cutting the edges of the holes I was shaving the surface away. The panel was sandwiched between the CP and a board, which helped. The trackball hole was cut using a 3" hole saw in a drill press with out the arbor bit in the center.

[Ryglore]

Some progress has been made over the last few days. Mainly little things, such as fastening the cables and power cords to the side of the cabinet to keep them out of the way. I've decided to scrap the door idea for the back and go with a solid backer, this will allow me to carry the cab on a movers cart when needed and not have to use an extra board for support while moving. I'm also going to cut holes in the upper back panel and mount a pair of case fans to it for ventilation.

I've been working some more the PC end of things, buttoning up everything and getting it ready so I can mount it on the board later this week. But I've noticed I am now getting an error with some games when I go to play them. I'm not positive if it's exactly the same everytime, cause it only flashes on the screen for a second. I was able to snap a screen cap of it when trying to run Aero Fighters....



I think I may need to find another batch and see if that fixes it. But I do know that Donkey Kong and a few other games that were working have stopped working. I took my folder and deleted everything and recopied them all back into place. But even fresh copies arent fixing it. 

On a little note. I picked up my paints! I decided to go with Semi-Gloss paint rather than High Gloss. And tonight I put the final coat of primer down. Tomorrow I will enter paint hell and begin putting the Pure White down. I plan on sanding and painting multiple coats, until I am almost completely out of White paint. This way I can give myself the nicest surface possible. But it also means I'll be slowing down considerably.

Here are the paint colors again:



Other than painting, this week I am placing my order for the rest of my wiring supplies. And I'll start work on wiring in the control panel to the Key Wiz. as well as mounting the trackball and getting that ready.

...now back to this rom issue.... 

[Encryptor]

If you want to find out what the errors are just run mame command line style from a command prompt without your front end. That way the box will stay on the screen and you can see what the errors are.

Encryptor