The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Project Announcements => Topic started by: zenmasterbooty on June 04, 2006, 11:20:22 am
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We are in the process of designing the second CP for our cabinet and a few questions came up... but before I get to those, I'd like to let everyone know a little bit about the design, and how it came to be. I had posted a few pictures in the past, but never got into an detail. So here it is...the "Deus Ex Machina Turbo"
My brother an I "finished" (thou as you know it's never really finished) building it last year. We constructed the cabinet from two 4'x8' sheets of 3/4" MDF,one sheet of perforated hardboard, and some 2"x4"s. It includes pull-out shelves for the keyboard/mouse and CPU. We used a 21" CRT Monitor for the display, and a wifi card for easy data transfer. Instead of speaker grills, we wrapped the panel in speaker cloth. This was a hard sell to my brother, but we are both satisfied we the results. All the art was done in AutoCAD and Photoshop. We ended up going with a "portal to hell opens up in a nuclear reactor" theme. The art was printed onto giant vinyl stickers and adhered to the cab. Each side is made with only one sticker. This gave us a very clean look. The only mistake we made on the printing was with bezel around the screen, but this needs to be replaced anyway for reasons I'll get to later. We designed the CP to be interchangeable, because we didn't want the giant mamezilla CP that could double as guest bed. The first (and so far only) CP built is a compact 4 player with rotary sticks on the 1 and 2 player spots. It's quite comfortable for four adults to play, and doesn't take up a lot of real-estate. As you can see in the pictures, we chose to separate each players area with a different theme (blood, slime, etc..). On the wings of the CP we hid the main power switch along with a power/reset button for the CPU and a power/volume knob for the speakers. We put a shared pause button in the middle of the CP and a hidden menu button under shelf. The decision was made to have each button a different color, so if one was to ask "what button punches?" you need only say "green" as opposed to "the second button from the left on the top row". We chose player buttons for the coins, but I will soon change them with rectangular lighted buttons. These buttons and the trackballs will most likely be the only locations where LEDs are used. Its a video game cab. It's not a pinball machine, and it's not disco. Now, as for the new CP....
Everyone has there own "classics". Our first CP allows us to play heavy barrel and quartet. The new CP will allow us to play Assault, Tron, Rampart, operation wolf, X-com, and a few classic FPS. The slots on the sides will be holsters. the sticks will be 8 ways with 2 button on each handle. Here are my questions...
We have just enough room between the monitor and the inside walls of the cabinet to fit the LED towers used by the light guns. I plan on replacing the glass covering the monitor with tinted glass and incorporating "windows" for the IR LEDs into a new bezel graphic. Has anyone attempted this before?
Also, can you hook up a Haps trackball to GGG's spinner?
What am I over looking?
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more pics
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yet more pics
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one more pic
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nice looking cab!!
where did you get those giant stickers printed at??
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Yes you can hook up a Happs Trackball w/harness (not the one with the Ps/2 and USB cable) to the Turbo Twist Spinner (have the spinner set up on the Z-axis) and it works great. here's a link to a panel I built using this method.
http://timoe.blogspot.com
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where did you get those giant stickers printed at??
My brother is the one who got the printing done. I'll give him a link to this tread and have him answer that
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Timoe,
I'm currently residing in Shanghai and find that 50% of forgin web sites are blocked. The link You have given me ( http://www.timoe.blogspot.com ) happens to be trapped behind the great firewall of China, and can not be viewed. Do you have any other links?
Note: If the word "blog" is in the URL, there is a good chance it's blocked.
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Here ya go
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=51579.0
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These buttons and the trackballs will most likely be the only locations where LEDs are used. Its a video game cab. It's not a pinball machine, and it's not disco. Now, as for the new CP....
Bah Humbug!!!
BTW, very nice job on the cab. The vinyl alone must have cost a small fortune. I did not understand the skittled buttons untill I read your description. Not a bad idea.
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"Secondary Input Access"!!! Great label for the keyboard tray! :laugh2:
I really like the functional thinking behind the cab. I've had similar thoughts with my cab. If I had the chance to go back...or have more time in the future, I would probably make switchable control panels as well. Dedicated controls seem more fun than a mame-zilla style conundrum.
You plan on playing X-com on your cab?? That's one of my all-time favorite PC games. :applaud:
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"Secondary Input Access"!!! Great label for the keyboard tray! :laugh2:
We put a number of "gags" in the graphics. Here is a detail of the bezel. It has a few good ones.
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me Bro registered for an account 2 days ago, but hasn't been "approved" by the admin yet. Whats up with that? Anyway, this is what he has to say about the stickers...
The vinyl alone must have cost a small fortune.
Yes, a small fortune was spent indeed. We printed all of the graphics on adhesive vinyl at a FedEx Kinko's. You can get this stuff at any sign shop, but you better know someone or you will spend between $500 - $1,000 on the prints alone. All the graphics were designed with the theory that each player would be a texture rather than a color: I.e. player one is a metal, player two is blood, player three is slime and goo, and player four is fire. Those themes are repeated all over the cab. The idea was that "green elf" has been done way to many times, so instead of a color for each player, we went with a texture.
Also each system background in Mamewah has been custom made to complement the over all look and feel. Let us know what you think...
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I love your theme. One constructive criticism. On the Mamewah screen, in the top left, you have transparent slime overlapping transparent slime. It does not look natural (as natural I guess nuclear slime should look??).
Great job
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It does not look natural (as natural I guess nuclear slime should look??).
Mr. theCoder,
It seems that you have mistaken our "liquid sodium cooled plasma fusion reactor slime" with the more traditional "heavy water fission reactor slime". This is a common mistake, and in no way should it tarnish your soul with shame and regret. Honestly, it happens all the time.
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Excellent ideas and great gags! :)
What is the switch on the back of the control panel near the Fire player's side?
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What is the switch on the back of the control panel near the Fire player's side?
That is the speaker power/volume knob. It has a little LED above it to indicate it is on/off. It's hidden from view, but convenient.
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I'm still wondering if anyone has used the Topgun with it's LED towers behind tinted glass. I really would like to know if it works before I go down to the computer district and spend an hour looking for them. Then spend another hour and a half haggling with the shop owner so I don't have to pay four times more than the locals and three times what they are worth because he thinks I'm a rich American....This would all be much easier to stomach it if I knew it was going to work.
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It does not look natural (as natural I guess nuclear slime should look??).
Mr. theCoder,
It seems that you have mistaken our "liquid sodium cooled plasma fusion reactor slime" with the more traditional "heavy water fission reactor slime". This is a common mistake, and in no way should it tarnish your soul with shame and regret. Honestly, it happens all the time.
I stand corrected. I was just thrown off by the shades of green. This must be coming from an East Coast reactor.
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All bow before the mighty DEUS EX MACHINA TURBO. You are nothing. You are dirt. Bow before it's might. For it may save you.
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I'm still wondering if anyone has used the Topgun with it's LED towers behind tinted glass. I really would like to know if it works before I go down to the computer district and spend an hour looking for them. Then spend another hour and a half haggling with the shop owner so I don't have to pay four times more than the locals and three times what they are worth because he thinks I'm a rich American....This would all be much easier to stomach it if I knew it was going to work.
Yes, it works-this was covered in the MASSIVE TopGun thread on the boards here-that was one of the things I made sure of before I bought mine, as well.
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Thank's for the info, my brother and I aperciate the help.
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Timoe,
I'm currently residing in Shanghai and find that 50% of forgin web sites are blocked. The link You have given me ( http://www.timoe.blogspot.com ) happens to be trapped behind the great firewall of China, and can not be viewed. Do you have any other links?
Note: If the word "blog" is in the URL, there is a good chance it's blocked.
Hey, question, did you get are the parts and build that in Shanghai? I might be moving to Asia in a couple years, and am worried that a project that is anything more than converting a candy cab would be near impossible.
Great cab, I can see a lot of effort put into it :cheers:
Don't let the internet Popo get ya :P
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You've been Retroblasted!
http://www.retroblast.com/index.php
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Timoe,
I'm currently residing in Shanghai and find that 50% of forgin web sites are blocked. The link You have given me ( http://www.timoe.blogspot.com ) happens to be trapped behind the great firewall of China, and can not be viewed. Do you have any other links?
Note: If the word "blog" is in the URL, there is a good chance it's blocked.
Hey, question, did you get are the parts and build that in Shanghai? I might be moving to Asia in a couple years, and am worried that a project that is anything more than converting a candy cab would be near impossible.
Great cab, I can see a lot of effort put into it :cheers:
Don't let the internet Popo get ya :P
No It was built here in the states, but some of the componets were aquired in China. I supose you could build one, but getting the building materials would be difficult, at best.
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that is a very cool design :cheers:
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Timoe,
I'm currently residing in Shanghai and find that 50% of forgin web sites are blocked. The link You have given me ( http://www.timoe.blogspot.com ) happens to be trapped behind the great firewall of China, and can not be viewed. Do you have any other links?
Note: If the word "blog" is in the URL, there is a good chance it's blocked.
Hey, question, did you get are the parts and build that in Shanghai? I might be moving to Asia in a couple years, and am worried that a project that is anything more than converting a candy cab would be near impossible.
Great cab, I can see a lot of effort put into it :cheers:
Don't let the internet Popo get ya :P
No It was built here in the states, but some of the componets were aquired in China. I supose you could build one, but getting the building materials would be difficult, at best.
Oh well, thanks tho. I guess its candy cab for vigo.
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I'm just coming back from a week long trip to a steel mill town in the middle of shandong. I finally find place to get on-line. Retroblast.com comes up and our cab being praised. I feel like I just won something. Now I feel obligated to say more about the art, design, and build. I'll write more when I get back to Shanghai in a few days.
PS thanks NightGod I've been waiting for that one
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Wow great job on the theme. I really like the gags as well. It's just so cool seeing something as creative as this, you and your brother should get a mamey or some other type of special recognition!
:notworthy:
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You said Shandong.
It's funny everyone talks about the art, for it was probably the most difficult part. It took some time to find the right sub-straight to print on. Adhesive vinyl was the best way to go. You can lay it down on the MDF with little to no problems; due mostly to the fact the MDF is so porous. Printed with UV photo inks, it will last almost forever, and shouldn't fade. It's also water resistant, or splash proof. So a beer spill here or there is not an issue. Not that I advocate drinking and gaming or anything. As long as you overprint laying the vinyl down is not too terribly difficult. I say this for it was by far the largest "sticker" I have ever put down; the side panels are 1 piece each and are about 4 feet wide and just over 6 feet tall.
Most of it was made sending files back and forth from The Peoples Republic of China to The Republic of Texas. (The size of some of the files is a bit nutty, and the amount of layers in Photoshop got to the point that it was almost un-manageable) My brother made and rendered all of the "3d" elements in a number of programs, and we would shoot ideas back and forth.
What you don't see from any of the pictures is that every system select screen in MameWah is custom, made too match the overall look and feel of the Machine. The best part that we haven
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Ok,
I
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I noticed that animated GIF may be a bit confusing, so I
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I was with ya until the spinning Max Headroom animation. Great job on the cab, I dig the nuclear logo bleeding onto the CP from the bezel, good call. I do have a huge complaint about this cab.. you have blood and slime but, no vomit or steaming piles??? :angry:
ps. I think it's only fair to include some Mutant League Football characters on the Genesis section.
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I was with ya until the spinning Max Headroom animation.
Well, I
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I noticed that animated GIF may be a bit confusing, so I
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Ok I pluged the VB in and damn, I wish I was in that board room when they gave it the ok to produce. That must have been one hell of a sales pitch...
That floating head is just wrong.
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That floating head is making just wrong.
[quote author=MameMaster
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:blah: :blah: :blah:
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I am shamed. I'm about half way through with my Ultimate Arcade II project, but after seeing this one, I feel like giving up.
Nice job.
Jason
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Jason,
There ain't nothing wrong with an Ultimate arcade II. I believe it's one of the most time tested and proven designs that allows for a great deal of personalization and creativity......Unless you go and paint it black. If you just paint it black, you should feel some degree of shame.
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Here are a few picks of the build...
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That is beautiful stuff :applaud: I love your machine, prime DIY material!
oh, and I like the fish tank AT walker in the last photo :laugh:
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I noticed a lot of people are using google's sketchup... so I uploaded a model of the DEMturbo so that it may provide ideas to future designers/builders. If you want a copy of it, just do a 3d warehouse search for "DEM". Here's a pic of what you'll get....
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Long time no type....Can anyone point me to someone who sells the LCD TopGun? Or is there something better on the market now?