The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Project Announcements => Topic started by: Stilfat on September 25, 2020, 02:40:08 pm
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GO BIG OR GO HOME! Right?
Hello all, My name is Joe. I have been researching this idea for years and have decided that I want a cabinet that does it all. 4 player controls, light guns (shotgun and pistol) and a rollerball. I want this to be an EPIC build. Several years ago I build a bartop arcade. It was more of a kit than a scratch build. It turned out nice enough to make me want something bigger and better. I am posting in this forum because I would like input as I build. I will post pics and update as i complete each step. Any and all advise would be great.
Let me explain my vision to you...
Although I do not have a name or theme yet, I'd like the cabinet to be dark. Maybe instead of a graphic wrap, a solid color laminent (I was thinking balck). Chrome trim and maybe a diamond cut kick plate on the bottom. 4 6-button w/8 way stick player controls, 1 4-way stick 2 button control, rollerball, and light guns. I do not remember if BuckHunter needed 2 shotguns. I was hoping for 1 shotgun and 2 pistols. 2 coin returns and maybe and all LED sign for the top. I have a 32 inch LED sitting around and an older PC to run the games. (I will be aksing lots of questions when I get to the PC part of the build lol) I'm gonna have volume controls on exterior as well.
Thank you all for redaing and I hope you enjoy this journey with me!!
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A cab that tries to do everything sucks at everything.
Come up with a more focused idea and you will have a much better chance of building a cab you will enjoy playing.
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Heed the pic in my signature.
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There are 2 games that i would really want for this build. Buck Hunter and Golden Tee. If I am going to put alot of time and money into this why not add them both to it? I wasn't 100% sold on doing a 4 player do to the fact that there are just a handful of games that can be played. Is the suggestion to build only for one game?
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You may want to work through the design process described in the "What type of build meets my needs?" section of the FAQ.
http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/FAQ#What_type_of_build_meets_my_needs.3F (http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/FAQ#What_type_of_build_meets_my_needs.3F)
Scott
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There are 2 games that i would really want for this build. Buck Hunter and Golden Tee. If I am going to put alot of time and money into this why not add them both to it? I wasn't 100% sold on doing a 4 player do to the fact that there are just a handful of games that can be played. Is the suggestion to build only for one game?
No, you can still play hundreds of games with relatively simple controls. It's when you build something with 40 buttons and 5 different types of controls that makes it... not great? I know it sounds counterintuitive.
If you ever have friends over, they will be asking you a lot of questions even after you've explained it 10 times. Which button do I use? Which joystick do I use? How do I start a game? Etc. You cannot make it simple enough.
Making it a 2 player cabinet is a good start. I don't think the added expense and size is worth 4 players. How often are you going to have 4 people around who all agree on what to play? Maybe the answer for you is all the time so it's worth it but it's something to think about. Everything you do is going to come down too personal preference though. If Golden Tee and Buck Hunter are your must-haves, start there.
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If you want a 4 player, build a 4 player. If you regularly have friends over who will play, the sports and hack n' slash games are fun with 4 people.
Only give player 3 & 4 four buttons however (as in the pic in my signature). Most 4 player games only use three. A few use 4. There is one 4 player guilty gear game on Demul emulator that uses five, but it's pretty much considered the worst game in the franchise and is not worth including the extra button for.
Build a pedestal cab and hang the monitor on the wall. This way nobody smashes their hand during aggressive golden tee play.
The only thing that concerns me is your expectations for big buck hunter.
I have been disappointed in every "light gun" available other than the old school ones that only work with CRT (tube type) monitors.
They are more like playing with a wii controller where you have to use the onscreen crosshairs instead of the sights on the gun.
If you are used to and ok with that, then you'll be happy. If not, then you might want to test out a light gun before investing in a shotgun shaped housing for it.
Guns aren't really going to affect much else in the build though, so it's not going to screw up the plan if they don't work out.
The newest entry is the Sinden light gun. In video it does appear to be more accurate than past offerings, but I have no experience with it. See the light gun subforum for more info.
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Thank you all for the input. I was not 100% sold on the 4 player pad. I knew there was only a hand full of games that can be played with 4 player.
I do have a small list of games that are must have. I grew up in the arcades in the 80's so I would like just the classics on there. (Golden Axe, Burgertime, Pacman, street fighter etc). I do hope that i can find a light gun that is worthy. Buck Hunter was one of the main reasons to build a full size arcade. I have a bartop (kit) that i built that gets lots of hours in the man cave. It has 1000's of games on it. And as you all have said, it grows old looking for a fun game to play. I think the limited options will beworth it in the end. It would be more imprtant to me to have a system that the lads would want to brig beers over and enjoy. Thank you for advise. I just picked up the lumber to start cutting out the sides, bottom and monitor housing. I'll post pics as it comes along.
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First of all, welcome to the forum! There's tons of great knowledge here and folks willing to help. You've already gotten responses from several folks who have been doing this stuff forever. It's pretty common for a lot of them to discourage 4 player frankenpanels. They mean well, but want you to really think first. I like Scott's reply better. ;) The wiki article helps you consider a lot. At the end of the day, you could always design your cab to have swappable control panels. If you decided to go 4 player with support for all kinds of games, then later decided to swap it for 2 player, it's all possible with good design.
My 2 cents is, do your homework and really consider what you want to build it for and how often things will be used. For me, I have 4 kids, so I anticipate a lot more use in my 4 player design for actual 4 player games. (at least that's my hope). But if you really don't anticipate it much, as others have suggested you can downsize to a 2 player panel that still can do all the games comfortably. External plugin in / wireless controls could allow the rare situations where you have more players. With my own 4 player CP design as my point of reference, accounting for all controls, you're maybe looking at a difference of 47" wide down to 30" wide going from 4 to 2 player support. If you plan on using a 32inch screen, you're probably sitting right around 31 inches for your minimum cab width if you go horizontally with the TV. You might also check out some other builds (like the X-Men 4 player build on the first page now, or Mimic) to see another approach of turning the TV vertical to get a true 4:3 aspect ratio that all the older games use. In that case, your cab could be less wide as well.
From your last post it doesn't sound like you necessarily need 4 players for your primary usage. Then I would think about the types of classic games you want vs the PROPER controls they require. If you're not into analog stick games (Tron, Star Wars, etc) then you don't need an analog flight stick for example. You've already indicated you only want to support a smaller list, so I would make that list and research the controls they need. You may find yourself needing a far less complex, and less expensive CP.
As far as light guns go, there's a separate category dedicated to them. Lots of options for using actual arcade guns or options like the Aimtrack that's designed for easy USB implementation. I haven't gotten to the point of fine tuning them yet, and it is a little scary because it seems people's mileage will vary with how well they perform. I recommend looking at the Extreme IR Sensor Bar V2 to help improve the response and accuracy. Don't know if it's the perfect solution but from what I've read it definitely seems to help.
Whatever you decide, there are a TON of great build threads on here to look at that can help you along the way and inspire you. Dig deep in those light gun forums and I'm sure you'll find others looking to support games like Buckhunter with advice. Good luck in your journey and be sure to post lots of pics of the design and progress along the way. :cheers:
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mounted the TV and audio controls today. This has been a great learning experience so far. Coin door and rollerball are en route, so I should be able to have this ready for primer soon.
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dont know what happened to the photo. seems like it squished it down.
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dont know what happened to the photo. seems like it squished it down.
Size matters
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I got this just about done. I will post what I can. having a rough go at resizing these pics
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After getting most of the woodworking done, I started to place Formica on the cabinet. It was a learning experience, to say the least.
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I found almost everything I needed to know about this build from this site. I cant thank all of you enough for the input in this thread and all others.
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Looks good to me - I think you made a good choice with the simpler controls setup. And you work quickly! If I were just starting a full-sized cabinet in late September I'd struggle to get it done by year's end. :laugh2:
Enjoy! :cheers:
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Thanks! just waiting on the micro SD from hyperspin to arrive
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Looking for help with the ultimarc trackball LED lights. I am using a raspberry pi 3 for the games (I'm not very computer savvy and my IT guy is very unreliable) and I do not know how to get them to turn on. After emailing the company they claim any 5V source can keep it powered on all the time. Has anyone come across this before?
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Looking for help with the ultimarc trackball LED lights. I am using a raspberry pi 3 for the games
If you're using this Ultimarc RGB LED board, DO NOT try to use 5v from the RasPi to power the trackball LEDs.
6 RGB LEDs ==> 18 channels @ 20ma each channel ==> 360mA (this greatly exceeds the current rating for the RasPi 5v pin)
(https://www.ultimarc.com/images/detailed/1/RGBkit_new[1]_ph2p-1y.jpg)
any 5V source can keep it powered on all the time.
I see that you have power to the other LEDs on your admin panel and coin door.
If you're powering them with a 12v power supply, you can use a voltage regulator to step the 12v down to 5v.
- Lots of options available on Amazon, search for "12v to 5v regulator"
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71LwwGdKLxL._AC_UY327_QL65_.jpg) (https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41ICf4Iy2rL._AC_UY327_QL65_.jpg)
You may also want to put a variable resistor (or potentiometer) inline with the Red, Green, and Blue channels so you can control the brightness and color balance. Assuming max 120mA and min 60mA per channel:
- Min Resistance 41.6 Ohms = 5v/120mA.
- Max Resistance 83.3 Ohms = 5v/60mA.
- Watts = Volts * Amps ==> 0.6 Watts = 5v * 0.120A
- Look for 100 Ohm, 1 Watt variable resistors. (or potentiometers)
Scott
EDIT: On second thought, that Wattage formula isn't correct because the potentiometer isn't dropping all 5v.
It should be Watts = (5v-LED voltage) * 0.120A
Not sure about the voltage drops on your LEDs, but typical LED voltage drops are 1.9v (red), 3.1v (green), 3.1v (blue)
If these values are accurate, you'll only need 1/2W for red and 1/4W for the green and blue channels. ;D
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Thanks Scott! I have been emailing Ultimatc for help and they were just repeating that I can use with any 5V supply. This is very helpful!
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Glad to assist. :cheers:
Fixed an error in the Wattage formula above -- the pot doesn't drop all 5v. :embarassed: :lol
Scott