The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Project Announcements => Topic started by: Apollo on July 16, 2004, 11:01:24 pm
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Well I'm finally finished, I was going to wait till my website was done to announce but hey I couldn't wait I'm sure you all understand, lol.
I started out over a year ago and had already decided that I wanted to make a cab that was different in some way from what I had already seen.
As a lot of you know I am no fan of big cluttered control panels and I wanted a really authentic arcade feel to the game play. When playing this cab you don't even realise that there are control panels on each side it just feels very arcade.
This is a fully rotatable 26" arcade monitor and rather than rotating from a horizontal to vertical position it rotates 360 degrees to a Street Fighter panel using 2XHapps comps and 7 buttons, a Defender/Stargate panel, a panel with Happs 3" trackball and Vortex spinner from Oscar and a panel with 2XHapp 4 way MsPac/Galag sticks with 2 buttons each.
The coin up, start buttons and monitor power button rotate with the monitor.
Inside is a 1.6GHz Duron processor with 256MB Ram, 40 GB HD, Arcade VGA, IPAC-2, Opti-Pac. I am running XP home with windows command line MAME and Mamewah as frontend. Sound is through a Happ kiosk amp and 2X10W shielded arcade speakers. Panels are powder coated 2mm mild steel.
I realise that a lot of you would have chosen different layouts for the control panels but for the games that me and my friends and family play this is perfect.
Thanks to everyone on the BYOAC forum for all the help and advice, special thanks to ROM for the awesome artwork.
It's been great putting this beast together now on to the next project, lol.
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Another pic ( sorry about the quality, disposable camera ).
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Last one!
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Apollo, that is a very interesting design you have. I think you did a great job and you will have lots of fun playing your Arcade 360 for a long time. I like your choice in layouts for each control panel and there all so roomy! I think gaming on that machine would be a very pleasant and satisfying experience knowing you dont have to sweat switching to another control panel when you ca just rotate the display to your control panel of choice.
Good job man!
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that is crazy as hell... Looks good though. Nice work
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:o
wow...that is pretty dang cool. I never would have thought of that. Really cool stuff. Powder coated panels! What are the 4 layouts?
again... :o....wow
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So only the top rotates then? Wow I definately would like to see some construction pictures on that baby! Where you gonna put it? I would think it can only be in the center of the room :-) Interesting design, nice Job.
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Believe it or not it takes up pretty much the same space a standard cocktail cabinet. It was designed basically straight out of my head so I designed as I built. 2X2" pine frame for the base with 16mm ply for the panels. It sits on 4 swivelling and locking 50Kg castors. The control panels are supported on 4 interlocking 5X1" pine planks. The monitor unit sits on a ply circle with 4 castors attached to the bottom and held centered by 4 L brackets.
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Hey, that puts a whole different "spin" on things...sorry, couldn't resist. Great job.
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very nice work apollo, as usual the new innovative designs keep this hobby rolling forward. Well Done.
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Thanks for all the great feedback folks, sorry about the rubbish pic quality. I'll get some better ones for the website when it's up and running.
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I'm not sure as to how you've got the controls all connected, but the first thing that comes to mind for me would be somone playing with the sticks/buttons on the other CPs and screwing you up. But... I've thought of a sollution (if you haven't already that is), you could have the ground wire automatically disconnect from the not-in-use panels when they are not in use.
I can't say I'm quite sure how to implement this, but I'm sure you can come up with something. ;)
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The way I do it is to say "hey anyone who messes with the controls is gonna get ****ed up!" that usually does the trick, lol.
Good idea though.
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That is the craziest :o but most original cab I've seen here. Are you going to get 4 coin doors too?
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Nah I have 1 but Im going to give it a miss. It's a bit too much of an over hang for a coin door and 4 would be kinda crazy, lol. Thanks for your comments.
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Yeah baby! This is why I love the board so much! Different, cool and very functional! Well done.
Did you think of making the panels rotate instead of the monitor so you don't have to walk all the way over to the next panel :P. "Well I'd love to play a different game but I don't want to walk all the way over there." LOL
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I guess you'll have to put that cab in the middle of the room instead of pushing it up against the wall. I can't say that I personally care for the design, but it is something original and different and that's always good. Breaks the monotony. Great work on the construction.
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It doesn't have to go in the middle of the room. I pretty much keep the Defender/Stargate right up against the wall so you have access to the other 3 and for playing Defender/Stargate I just either spin the whole game around on it's castors or pull it out from the wall. Works really well and as I say it takes up about the same space as a cocktail.
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Fantastic ...
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Yep, I think that's the first one of those!
Great job! I remember some people discussing this type of design a while back, but you actually did it!
Congratulations!
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Thanks for the great comments folks. I played it last night with the house lights off. It rocks!
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WoW!!!
If you build a Driving cab that rotates like the one that been done in the past.. You'll have a full arcade in 2 machines!
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That's an excellent an original design. It is very cool and looks nice and neat. Is the top section easy to move - does it wobble around at all during a vigorous game?
Again - sweet idea and job well done
-cdbrown
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Wow, awesome job. I'm still getting my head around your turning cabinet. An ingenious way of doing things.
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No wobble and all in all, very solid. The bottom castors lock and the top unit is heavy enough that it pretty much just sits there even during a full on 2 player Street Fighter session. I appreciate everyones positive comments. Thankyou all and ROM thanks again for the excellent artwork.
Cheers all.
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Holy (explitive deleted) Hand Grenades! That is the coolest (explitive deleted) thing I have ever (explitive deleted) seen! (explitive deleted) (explitive deleted) with (explitive deleted) and (explitive deleted) with a little bit of (explitive deleted) for good measure!
That's the (explitive deleted)!!!
Heh heh, always wanted to (explitive deleted) do that... :P . Excuse my potty mouth but that's pretty cool man!
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Wow that is crazy, seems to take up a lot of space. That idea wouldn't "fly" in my house.
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Thats funky
good show
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"EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE"
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Yeah I never noticed the Dalek thing before, lmao.
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Man that is one awesome and excellent piece of arcade machine!
Oooops is that mine?
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Yeah I never noticed the Dalek thing before, lmao.
Yeah this design is well ace, we could use it in the new Doctor Who series...oh blast that's right, No Daleks in the new series - It's all the 'Nation' estate's fault...B******s!
Craig
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Thanks dude, yeah shame about the Daleks.
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Mad!!! :o
Cool idea, it's amazing how people keep coming up with such original stuff :)
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Thats Insane! :o
Very good job...
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The new series will have the Daleks... http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/08/04/2218216&tid=214&tid=1
By the way Apollo - holy cow, wow! Heck of a cabinet - kudos!
--- saint
Yeah I never noticed the Dalek thing before, lmao.
Yeah this design is well ace, we could use it in the new Doctor Who series...oh blast that's right, No Daleks in the new series - It's all the 'Nation' estate's fault...B******s!
Craig
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As you seem to be into Dr Who, perhaps you should have done a single octagonal shaped control panel instead of 4 separate panels. The cab would then end up looking a bit like the Tardis' central console.
You could then have 8 different playing positions, that would be the ultimate frankenpanel!
I've just done a google search of Tardis and console, and guess what, it appears there are a whole bunch of people out there who have built replicas!
http://my.ohio.voyager.net/~abartmes/console.htm
And I thought us BYOAC people were nuts!!
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You know what would be cooler and maybe a bit more space saveing, if the control panels on this thing folded down like the leafs on a leaf table.
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Somebody else is working on something similar to that. Can't remember who though.
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Yeah the folding down thing did cross my mind but the space it would save vs the technical problems of doing it wasn't worth the hassle. It actually doesn't take up much room believe it or not. Like I said about the same ( or less ) as a cocktail.
Been playing it for about 6 weeks now and had some mates round last night playing Street Fighter, Simpsons, TMNT and Bomberman and it rocked!
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That is one sweet beast. I thought about trying to do modular control panels, but I'm too freaking lazy. I hope the 360 rotation is motorized! hahaha.
Joseph Elwell.
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hehe...
I just spent the day with my two cousins (boys). They are about 6 and 8 I think. I can only imagine them each at a different cp violently trying to gain control of the monitor.
MINE! *TWIST* *GRIND* *SNAP* MINE! IWANNA!.....MY TURN!! *WHACK* *SMASH* MINEMINEMINEMINE! *TUMBLE TUMBLE* MOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Too cool, very original!
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This a shameless bump just for all those new members who have never seen this awesome mame machine. Please forgive me.
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Good work on the bump, this is my first read of this thread. If not I may have missed it :)
Love the idea and nice to see something new, very impressive
Im interested in the winding of the cabinet, Im guessing there is at least wires going from the rotating CP to the fixed Monitor, how do you stop these from twisting up etc?
Or is it rotating monitor fixed CP? Now im confused, either way does the winding action cause problems?
Cheers buddy!
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Excellent job. One of the most original projects out there.
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ginno. Yes there are wires going from the monitor to the base unit. Power supply, wires for the video amp, illuminated marquee etc.
The solution was just to build in a stop to halt the rotation of the top unit after 360 degrees and then it would rotate back the other way. It never turns more than 360 degrees.
The whole machine takes up less space than you would think and works very well. I love playing at the uncluttered control panels it gives a really authentic feel.
Thanks for the comments guys.