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Author Topic: Centipede Bartop: Slow and Steady (5/3/14)  (Read 43666 times)

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Ryglore

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Centipede Bartop: Slow and Steady (5/3/14)
« on: November 06, 2009, 03:24:31 pm »
Table of Contents:
- Original Post Below
-A Little Prep Work (11-7-09)
-Woodwork and Test assembly w/ Pics! (11-9-09)
-Minor Update (11-11-09)
-Planning Continues (12-17-09)
-Real Life Mock Up (12-17-09)
-Mini-Update (9-17-10)
-Slowly Returning from Hiatus (9-20-10)
-Control Panel Artwork... Finished? (10-6-10)
-Pieces Parts... Arrived!! (10-8-10)
-What's this? a real update? pssh (7-10-11)
-Base problem solved, and Final CP artwork (7-11-11)
-Control Panel Woes (7-19-11)
-Control Panel Woes Continued (7-27-11)
-Control Panel Fixed, and New Cone Buttons (7-28-11)
-Side Art Complete & PC Acquired (4/23/14)
- PC Work Starts (4/26/14)
-Slow and Steady (5/3/14)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, it's not been a week since I have finished SHMUP and I am posting the official announcement of my new project. Following in the vein of Yvan's MVS mini and retrofuture's Xevious bartop, I am in the process of designing a Centipede mini-bartop. This cab will be a dedicated machine for running Centipede and Millipede. (Though I may sneak in a couple extra trackball games)

The cab will use a PSOne LCD screen, Mini-ITX motherboard with an IDE flash card for storage. 2 1/4" happ trackball, a single button and 2 player buttons. Much like the original Centipede cab, I will be using micro pushbuttons for the player buttons and a single pushbutton for firing. The main goal is to recreate the look and feel of the Centipede cabinet, while making it small and portable.

I'm also planning to take my time with this one and I am debating on painting or laminating. I'm planning on making a metal control panel which will wrap around the front. This will allow me to forgo a trackball mounting plate, thus saving me about an extra inch of depth on the control panel. I also plan on having the bolt heads showing on the trackball, much like the original.

Out of all the artwork, I'll have to modify the side art and control panel area, which you'll see in the mock up. I may push my Illustrator skills and vector the side art. The Bezel and Marquee will be staying the same, though, slightly modified with extra black space for the edges. I will also be hiding Windows like I did on SHMUP using Instant Sheller and will be using MaLa along with a custom layout for choosing games. Though, Centipede will be set to run by default when the PC loads.

The sides will be made of 1/2" MDF, while some of the other parts will be made up of my extra 1/4" and  3/4" MDF from making SHMUP. I want there to be a little bit of weight to the cab and the 3/4" should do the trick. I'll be using it for the base and some of the internal structure. This cab will also be constructed using glue only.

Here is a rough mock up of what I am planning. The control panel art is no where near a completed idea.

« Last Edit: May 03, 2014, 11:24:56 pm by Ryglore »

leapinlew

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Re: Centipede Bartop
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2009, 03:56:14 pm »
Well, it's not been a week since I have finished SHMUP and I am posting the official announcement of my new project. Following in the vein of Yvan's MVS mini and retrofuture's Xevious bartop, I am in the process of designing a Centipede mini-bartop. This cab will be a dedicated machine for running Centipede and Millipede. (Though I may sneak in a couple extra trackball games)

The cab will use a PSOne LCD screen, Mini-ITX motherboard with an IDE flash card for storage. 2 1/4" happ trackball, a single button and 2 player buttons. Much like the original Centipede cab, I will be using micro pushbuttons for the player buttons and a single pushbutton for firing. The main goal is to recreate the look and feel of the Centipede cabinet, while making it small and portable.

I'm also planning to take my time with this one and I am debating on painting or laminating. I'm planning on making a metal control panel which will wrap around the front. This will allow me to forgo a trackball mounting plate, thus saving me about an extra inch of depth on the control panel. I also plan on having the bolt heads showing on the trackball, much like the original.

Out of all the artwork, I'll have to modify the side art and control panel area, which you'll see in the mock up. I may push my Illustrator skills and vector the side art. The Bezel and Marquee will be staying the same, though, slightly modified with extra black space for the edges. I will also be hiding Windows like I did on SHMUP using Instant Sheller and will be using MaLa along with a custom layout for choosing games. Though, Centipede will be set to run by default when the PC loads.

The sides will be made of 1/2" MDF, while some of the other parts will be made up of my extra 1/4" and  3/4" MDF from making SHMUP. I want there to be a little bit of weight to the cab and the 3/4" should do the trick. I'll be using it for the base and some of the internal structure. This cab will also be constructed using glue only.

Here is a rough mock up of what I am planning. The control panel art is no where near a completed idea.



This looks on par with my mini-galaga size was. What are you thinking the height will be? I built mine out of 1/2" MDF. Nasty stuff. I wouldn't use it again. Maybe 1/2" plywood, but I'd use 3/4". The bartop tempest I made was out of 3/4" and was 24" tall. It's much more playable.

It looks like you might have room for a 15 or 17" LCD?

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Re: Centipede Bartop
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2009, 03:59:35 pm »
One other thing - you might want to find Kaytrims centipede bartop he built for his dad. Might be some techniques you can "borrow"

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Re: Centipede Bartop
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2009, 04:02:18 pm »
This looks on par with my mini-galaga size was. What are you thinking the height will be? I built mine out of 1/2" MDF. Nasty stuff. I wouldn't use it again. Maybe 1/2" plywood, but I'd use 3/4". The bartop tempest I made was out of 3/4" and was 24" tall. It's much more playable.

It looks like you might have room for a 15 or 17" LCD?

Oh, it will be roughly 16 inches deep x 17" tall and 11" wide. The screen is a 5" PSOne screen, mounted vertically.  ;)

One other thing - you might want to find Kaytrims centipede bartop he built for his dad. Might be some techniques you can "borrow"

Oh cool, thanks! I'll look into it!

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Re: Centipede Bartop
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2009, 04:08:17 pm »
This looks on par with my mini-galaga size was. What are you thinking the height will be? I built mine out of 1/2" MDF. Nasty stuff. I wouldn't use it again. Maybe 1/2" plywood, but I'd use 3/4". The bartop tempest I made was out of 3/4" and was 24" tall. It's much more playable.

It looks like you might have room for a 15 or 17" LCD?

Oh, it will be roughly 16 inches deep x 17" tall and 11" wide. The screen is a 5" PSOne screen, mounted vertically.  ;)

One other thing - you might want to find Kaytrims centipede bartop he built for his dad. Might be some techniques you can "borrow"

Cool. I used a 10" CRT (same as the Xevious project). Good luck.

Oh cool, thanks! I'll look into it!

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Re: Centipede Bartop
« Reply #5 on: November 06, 2009, 05:21:20 pm »
Go for it! The Schmup was real nice. I've been thinking about a PS-One cab myself too, so I'll be following intently. Nice to see retrofuture's Xevious providing more inspiration - it's his fault my wife moaned at me for making my Dig Dug bartop.

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Re: Centipede Bartop
« Reply #6 on: November 06, 2009, 05:53:05 pm »
Lol, so that is where I knew the patter from you msg'd me but couldn't place...

That will be great...will make a great bartop for trackball games in general.   Crystal castles would be a blast on that!
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Ryglore

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Re: Centipede Bartop
« Reply #7 on: November 07, 2009, 12:20:10 am »
Go for it! The Schmup was real nice. I've been thinking about a PS-One cab myself too, so I'll be following intently. Nice to see retrofuture's Xevious providing more inspiration - it's his fault my wife moaned at me for making my Dig Dug bartop.

Thanks! I hope it doesn't disappoint! I have my PSOne screen on order and plan on tinkering with it for while. I'm hoping I can use the speakers that come with it and hack them into usable set of speaker for the system. Also, since it's a trackball and 3 buttons on the CP I think I should be able to get away with using a 2 1/4" Happ USB/ PS/2 trackball and the 3 button connectors it comes with. This would mean I don't need to buy a keyboard encoder either.

Back on subject, I love Retrofuture's Xevious bartop. It's done so well, and I was actually debating on making Shmup a bartop before I went full Cab. But with the help of Yvan, I've been able to figure out a lot of the Mini cab stuff too. Originally I wanted to build a 1/4 scale replica of a Centipede cab, but after figuring what spaces I needed on the CP it wouldn't have worked at all.

Lol, so that is where I knew the patter from you msg'd me but couldn't place...

That will be great...will make a great bartop for trackball games in general.   Crystal castles would be a blast on that!
Yup! Honestly, I figured you would have figured it out off the bat. Ya I think if I make a mini games list. It may look something like this:

Centipede
Millipede
Crystal Castles
World Championship Bowling
Golden Tee 2k
SegaSonic the Hedgehog
Marble Madness

Of couse, the plan is to have it boot up to Centipede off the bat, so I'll have to find a way to stash an exit button somewhere on the cab.... Actually, part of the planning is deciding how I want to power on and power down too. But for now, I'm focused on designing the cab and dimensions. I'll work out admin buttons a bit further down the line.


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Re: Centipede Bartop
« Reply #8 on: November 07, 2009, 02:16:08 am »
Some of the games you mentioned will use a horizontal monitor orientation. That ought to be a sight on a 5" screen.  :o

Ryglore

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Re: Centipede Bartop
« Reply #9 on: November 07, 2009, 08:33:38 am »
Some of the games you mentioned will use a horizontal monitor orientation. That ought to be a sight on a 5" screen.  :o

Hahaha, True. I guess it would be like playing a Gameboy Advance with a trackball.  :D

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Re: Centipede Bartop
« Reply #10 on: November 07, 2009, 09:32:47 am »
Rotating screen in a mini bar top!  ;)

Nice project!

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Re: Centipede Bartop
« Reply #11 on: November 07, 2009, 10:05:44 am »
Ah, there it is! That's another project I'll be following closely! The electronics parts of MVS-99-6 slow me down so much (not to mention this other thing called life) that your mini-Centipede will probably be finished before mini-MVS!  :laugh:


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Re: Centipede Bartop
« Reply #12 on: November 07, 2009, 11:58:29 am »
Rotating screen in a mini bar top!  ;)

Nice project!

It's a thought, I know Yvan is planning a rotating screen in his MVS. I'll have to keep an eye out to see how he does it. Then again, I don't think I have to mechanical/programming know-how to make it auto rotate. But really I think I'll keep it to Centipede and Millipede. I have SHMUP for all of the other trackball games, and the way you beat up the trackball in Golden Tee and Bowling I'd hate to see the mini go flying across the room.  :-\

Ah, there it is! That's another project I'll be following closely! The electronics parts of MVS-99-6 slow me down so much (not to mention this other thing called life) that your mini-Centipede will probably be finished before mini-MVS!  :laugh:



I wish I could figure out all of the electronics that you do! As for the build, I'd like to take my time working on this one. But after looking over my parts lists and planning everything... It looks like it's mostly just the saving up $$ for the Trackball and PC Components that will slow me down. Plus if I decide to paint, I'll need a warmer area to paint it in. But I could totally get away with painting it in my apartment.  :laugh:

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Re: Centipede Bartop
« Reply #13 on: November 07, 2009, 01:26:45 pm »
I know Yvan is planning a rotating screen in his MVS. I'll have to keep an eye out to see how he does it. Then again, I don't think I have the mechanical/programming know-how to make it auto rotate.

I sure wish I knew how I'm going to rotate that screen too. I don't think I have the mechanical know-how to make it auto-rotate either!  :laugh:

Plus if I decide to paint, I'll need a warmer area to paint it in. But I could totally get away with painting it in my apartment.  :laugh:

That's one of the best aspect of the mini cabs... once the woodworking is done, you can simply work on it while sitting at a desk or the kitchen table.  :cheers:

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Re: Centipede Bartop
« Reply #14 on: November 07, 2009, 06:04:42 pm »
That's one of the best aspect of the mini cabs... once the woodworking is done, you can simply work on it while sitting at a desk or the kitchen table.  :cheers:

Yup, I hope to do most of the work in my apartment this time. I bought the 1/2" panel for the sides, I'm hoping I get a chance to layout my lines on it and perhaps cut the sides tomorrow. The awesome thing is I only had to buy a 2' x 4' panel, since I plan on using my left overs from the last build for the base and other sections. But I needed 1/2" so the side panels don't look odd.

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Re: Centipede Bartop
« Reply #15 on: November 07, 2009, 06:09:02 pm »
Yup, I hope to do most of the work in my apartment this time. I bought the 1/2" panel for the sides, I'm hoping I get a chance to layout my lines on it and perhaps cut the sides tomorrow. The awesome thing is I only had to buy a 2' x 4' panel, since I plan on using my left overs from the last build for the base and other sections. But I needed 1/2" so the side panels don't look odd.

You're going to have 1/2" sides? Sorry I missed that detail when you started the thread... do you have 1/2" T-molding in the right color?  ???

I wanted to use 1/2" sides too, but 5/8" isn't that bad after all. It makes it easier to find T-molding in the color you want. I needed black T-molding for mine, but all I had in 1/2" was white.  I see you're also going to need black T-molding. :P
« Last Edit: November 07, 2009, 06:11:26 pm by Yvan256 »

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Re: Centipede Bartop
« Reply #16 on: November 07, 2009, 06:18:01 pm »
You're going to have 1/2" sides? Sorry I missed that detail when you started the thread... do you have 1/2" T-molding in the right color?  ???

Ha yup it's right above the picture.

"The sides will be made of 1/2" MDF, while some of the other parts will be made up of my extra 1/4" and  3/4" MDF from making SHMUP. I want there to be a little bit of weight to the cab and the 3/4" should do the trick. I'll be using it for the base and some of the internal structure. This cab will also be constructed using glue only."  :D

Nope I don't have 1/2" black t-molding, but TwistedQuarter.com has some, and I'll be ordering my trackball from them anyway, so I'll get some 1/2" black t-molding from them too. I was going to use my 3/4" molding and trim it once it was in place, but decided that for the price of the t-molding, it's really not worth the extra work. Plus it would look like rubbish.  ;)

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Re: Centipede Bartop
« Reply #17 on: November 07, 2009, 07:34:28 pm »
why are you going with a mini-ITX???  i think this would be much better for your mini-cab...


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Re: Centipede Bartop
« Reply #18 on: November 07, 2009, 07:49:21 pm »
why are you going with a mini-ITX???  i think this would be much better for your mini-cab...



Depending on which mini-ITX board he chooses, the cost could be a lot lower (almost 50%). Why pay for a smaller computer if a mini-ITX board can fit in his cab? Not to mention that this thing only has HDMI/DVI for the video output, seriously limiting the options for the display. Unless you know of 100~200$ displays in the 6~8" size range with a 4:3 ratio with HDMI or DVI inputs, of course?


« Last Edit: November 08, 2009, 12:57:26 am by Yvan256 »

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Re: Centipede Bartop
« Reply #19 on: November 07, 2009, 07:59:36 pm »
Depending on which mini-ITX board he chooses, the cost could be a lot lower (almost 50%). Also, why pay for a smaller computer if mini-ITX can fit in his cab? Also, this thing only has HDMI/DVI for the video output, seriously limiting the options for the display. Unless you know of <100~200$ displays in the 6~8" size range with a 4:3 ratio with HDMI or DVI inputs, of course?

Exactly, The way this is being built I need a VGA connection and PS/2 ports. Plus with the configuration I am looking at I'll have a little PC built using a mini-ITX and IDE flash card, for less than $200. From what it looks like on the links from the fit-pc site, that looks to start around the $250 range and only has USB ports on it...

Nice suggestion, but I'll be sticking with the mini-ITX.  :)

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Re: Centipede Bartop: A Little Prep Work (11-7)
« Reply #20 on: November 07, 2009, 10:41:42 pm »
Not much of a progress update, but I bought my 1/2" MDF today and have the 1st side laid out on it. Thanks to my trusty graph paper and protractor everything turned out exactly as I had it drawn out. Tomorrow I'll cut this out and lay it on top of the MDF to cut the other side. While it was drawn out I also used the life-size drawing to figure out all of the spacings I had originally drawn out on graphing paper.

I know I should learn sketchup for all of this stuff. rather than using a mix of Photoshop and graphing paper. I have been playing with it a little bit. But, at the moment I can't wrap my head around working in it. While I know how to draw up things in Photoshop and paper.  :lol

Here is a picture of the sketch alongside my pad of paper.


The only part I have ordered so far is the PSOne screen. I decided that I need to have that in hand to tinker with and get proper measurements off of it. Since everything else in this project I can figure from online drawings, such as the trackball schematics on Happ's site, or The buttons and parts I already have on hand here at home.

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Re: Centipede Bartop: Woodwork (No pics yet) (11-9)
« Reply #21 on: November 09, 2009, 11:05:36 am »
Last night I cut most of the boards I need. Unfortunately, I left the camera at home. But I'll get some pictures tonight for sure. For the CP front, Top and the sides I am using 1/2" as planned. The base is a 10x 10 section of 3/4", The plan is to leave the section under the CP open to make it easy to access the control panel wiring. The front angled section, the Bezel and the back panel is made of left over 1/4". I've also decided that I will be using my 1/4" MDF for the CP, rather than a using metal. I should be able to route a inset for the trackball into the CP top and it should be strong enough for playing Centipede.

Also I've decided that this cab will be a dedicated Centipede cabinet, rather than having multiple games. Since I have any other trackball game I'd want to play on SHMUP already, I don't see a reason to load this one up with multiple games. And I'll set up Windows to shutdown when the power button is pressed. Thus hiding any PC aspects even more than Shmup does.

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Re: Centipede Bartop: Woodwork (No pics yet) (11-9)
« Reply #22 on: November 09, 2009, 11:25:23 am »
Also I've decided that this cab will be a dedicated Centipede cabinet, rather than having multiple games. Since I have any other trackball game I'd want to play on SHMUP already, I don't see a reason to load this one up with multiple games. And I'll set up Windows to shutdown when the power button is pressed. Thus hiding any PC aspects even more than Shmup does.

Since you're going to do a dedicated Centipede cabinet, why not use one of those 60-in-1 multigame board?

Or, since it's only Centipede, why not use the MS-DOS version of MAME? Would make the thing a whole lot faster to boot and shutdown.

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Re: Centipede Bartop: Woodwork (11-9)
« Reply #23 on: November 09, 2009, 11:27:03 am »
If you are going for a dedicated 'pede then have you considered booting right into it?
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Re: Centipede Bartop: Woodwork (11-9)
« Reply #24 on: November 09, 2009, 12:08:58 pm »
If you are going for a dedicated 'pede then have you considered booting right into it?

Of couse, the plan is to have it boot up to Centipede off the bat, so I'll have to find a way to stash an exit button somewhere on the cab....

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Re: Centipede Bartop: Woodwork (No pics yet) (11-9)
« Reply #25 on: November 09, 2009, 12:25:18 pm »
Since you're going to do a dedicated Centipede cabinet, why not use one of those 60-in-1 multigame board?

Or, since it's only Centipede, why not use the MS-DOS version of MAME? Would make the thing a whole lot faster to boot and shutdown.

I figure I'd go with a PC running mame, since I already know how to work that set up. Ha, the same with running MaLa to launch mame, since I know what I did to Shmup to make it load up off the bat.

If you are going for a dedicated 'pede then have you considered booting right into it?

Yup it'll boot straight into Centipede. :)

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Re: Centipede Bartop: Woodwork (No pics yet) (11-9)
« Reply #26 on: November 09, 2009, 01:58:53 pm »
Do you have all the measurements and the artwork for the cab?

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Re: Centipede Bartop: Woodwork (No pics yet) (11-9)
« Reply #27 on: November 09, 2009, 02:25:39 pm »
Do you have all the measurements and the artwork for the cab?

The cab is 10" wide inside to inside of the side panels and it's a total of 16" deep. The marquee area is 2 1/2" x 10". The Control Panel area is 5" x 10", but that's not counting the front panel. I'll have to wait to see what the total size is once I add the rounded edge and front panel.

I'm working on the artwork. I'm working in Illustrator on the control panel overlay. Which I'm basically making my own design, while keeping it as close to authentic looking as possible. The marquee is a little small, it's around 2.5" x 10" which when you take the original and shrink it down to 10" wide, it's actually not that far off. The side art I will be printing off and seeing how it looks, if it doesn't look good, I'll take the challenge and vector it by hand in Illustrator.

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Re: Centipede Bartop: Woodwork and Test assembly w/ Pics! (11-9)
« Reply #28 on: November 09, 2009, 10:28:21 pm »
Today I ran to the store and picked up a set of rounding bits for the router. I ended up getting a 3 pack, with a 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 radius in it, I was amazed that it was actually cheaper for the 3 pack than it was for a single router bit. They wanted up to $40 for one and I got the 3 pack for $19.99 at Home Depot. After the trip to Home Depot, I got to work.

First, test fitted the cab together and decided which rounded edge would work best. I decided on the 3/8" radius. Next, I glued a pair of blocks to the Top panel to mount the 8" Fluorescent light to. While this was drying, I headed to the garage and after gauging depth I made a test cut to see if the depth of the bit was correct and amazingly I got it right on the first shot. So, since the board that I tested on was over 10" wide rather than make another routed cut I cut the board down to 3" x 10" for the CP front panel.

Ye Ol' Wood Pile


Rounded CP panel (With my Chihuahua, Brutus, making a guest appearance).


The 8" Fluorescent light fixture mounted on the top panel


Test marquee, it's 2.5" x 10" and while I had to stink it down a little it was almost completely proportional.


Front shot of the cab test assembled using clamps


And an angled side view


The screen should be arriving soon and then I may order out my T-molding and trackball in order to do the CP. But other than that, I'll be slowly picking away and getting the rest of the parts. Mostly because I need to save up money for parts, and I think I'll be doing most of the graphics in Illustrator. Mostly since I cut the side art in half and merged the top and bottom into one. And I have to do a custom CPO.

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Re: Centipede Bartop: Woodwork and Test assembly w/ Pics! (11-9)
« Reply #29 on: November 09, 2009, 11:15:53 pm »
Woah, you move fast!  Looking good so far, I like how the proportions look overall. What's your plan for the bottom?  Rubber casters?

I always wanted to do a bartop with a stiff turning lazy-susan, like in mountain's jukebox. Something that's stiff enough not to move around on you when you play, but able to turn when you want. Could be be pretty cool, especially if two people were passing the game back and forth for alternating play.

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Re: Centipede Bartop: Woodwork and Test assembly w/ Pics! (11-9)
« Reply #30 on: November 09, 2009, 11:18:13 pm »
Woah, you move fast!  Looking good so far, I like how the proportions look overall. What's your plan for the bottom?  Rubber casters?

Nah I'm just gonna put some plastic or rubber feet on it. Ha, the last thing I want is someone to get crazy and whack the trackball and send it flying off of the counter. :)

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Re: Centipede Bartop: Woodwork and Test assembly w/ Pics! (11-9)
« Reply #31 on: November 09, 2009, 11:51:58 pm »
Dang Ryglore, you gotta slow down a bit!  You're going to have two projects finished in the time it's taking me to do one!  ;)  

This is really a blow to my self esteem.    :P

Btw, nice work, and looking great so far!  :cheers:
Current Project:                                                       First Project:
  

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Re: Centipede Bartop: Woodwork and Test assembly w/ Pics! (11-9)
« Reply #32 on: November 09, 2009, 11:57:04 pm »
Dang Ryglore, you gotta slow down a bit!  You're going to have two projects finished in the time it's taking me to do one!  ;)  

This is really a blow to my self esteem.    :P

Btw, nice work, and looking great so far!  :cheers:

I excel at awesome. :D (I kid)

Ha, oh this project will slow down soon. I only have most of the woodworking done because a 2' x 4' sheet of 1/2" MDF was only $8. I'm looking to see if I can afford to buy the trackball and t-molding from Twisted Quarter so I can work on my CP.  But after that I'll be most likely saving for the Holidays and such. ;) Luckily I have some Primer, Black and White left from Shmup though.  :lol

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Re: Centipede Bartop: Woodwork and Test assembly w/ Pics! (11-9)
« Reply #33 on: November 09, 2009, 11:57:35 pm »
Dang Ryglore, you gotta slow down a bit!  You're going to have two projects finished in the time it's taking me to do one!  ;)  

This is really a blow to my self esteem.    :P

Btw, nice work, and looking great so far!  :cheers:

I'm starting to think that Ryglore is actually building a real arcade, i.e. an army of cabinets to fill a small room.  :lol

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Re: Centipede Bartop: Woodwork and Test assembly w/ Pics! (11-9)
« Reply #34 on: November 10, 2009, 12:02:29 am »
I'm starting to think that Ryglore is actually building a real arcade, i.e. an army of cabinets to fill a small room.  :lol

Think the film Toys.

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Re: Centipede Bartop: Woodwork and Test assembly w/ Pics! (11-9)
« Reply #35 on: November 10, 2009, 04:25:29 am »
There's no stopping you now is there! :D
Current Project: Mortal Arcade

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Re: Centipede Bartop: Woodwork and Test assembly w/ Pics! (11-9)
« Reply #36 on: November 10, 2009, 08:54:37 am »
There's no stopping you now is there! :D

 Well, considering I have a small loft apartment. The only thing holding me back is space.   :lol

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Re: Centipede Bartop: Minor Update (11-11)
« Reply #37 on: November 11, 2009, 10:08:26 am »
Yesterday the PSOne screen arrived. I ordered it used from Amazon and the seller had said in the description that it was "near mint with all packaging and booklets". Well, when I opened the box up, it had everything still in the original plastic bags and the screen still had the factory screen protector sheet on it! That's awesome, even though the plan is to gut it, it's nice that the screen is in pretty much perfect shape.  :applaud:

I also printed off a test of the bezel art, which I had added a rectangle in the center to act as the screen. Everything looks like it lines up nicely. But other than that not much work was done on this project last night, as  Iwas playing with RomLister on SHMUP finishing up a couple odds and ends with the game lists before my party on Saturday.  :)
« Last Edit: November 11, 2009, 10:14:08 am by Ryglore »

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Re: Centipede Bartop: Minor Update (11-11)
« Reply #38 on: November 11, 2009, 03:09:04 pm »
PSOne screens are so cool! Not a bad idea to use as well, since you can probably get it for cheap now. I notice on ebay it ranges from $20-60...pretty good deal for a 5" LCD screen!
One thing I wanted to mention for your party: Try to make your FE for SHMUP as easy as possible, with accompanying instructions. I know that whenever I have a party and the mame machine is going, I tend to have to babysit it for my friends who somehow can't figure out how to get their game running, or know what buttons to use. I know, DUH! :dizzy:
I ended up putting an instructions card into the CP ("use this button to start game", "use this button to exit", etc...) as well as some custom loading screens through the FE with game instructions, just so people can figure it out on their own and I can enjoy getting drunk... :laugh:

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Re: Centipede Bartop: Minor Update (11-11)
« Reply #39 on: November 11, 2009, 05:18:53 pm »
Yeah, I originally got the idea for using it from the book "Hacking Video Game Consoles" and they use it for making portable gaming systems. I also found a tutorial on how to hack the video into a VGA cable end and using it as a small secondary monitor on a PC. In my research I also found another thread on modding the screen for a PC Using S-Video and connecting the screen to the PC's power supply.

So I think the route I am going to go is S-Video for sure. Since that will save me from accidentally frying something. Plus if I can connect the power to the 12v on the power supply, I won't need to stuff the case with the power cord. This also makes me want to rethink my marquee light using 12v lighting, thus running everything off of the power supply, rather than having a bunch of power connectors and surge protector/ smart strip..... Hmmmm.

I do believe it's time to get technical!