The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls

Main => Project Announcements => Topic started by: ArcadeDunce on January 09, 2011, 04:46:45 pm

Title: New Project for 2011 - Mini Star Wars Cabinet
Post by: ArcadeDunce on January 09, 2011, 04:46:45 pm
OK all,  Here's the idea..

On youtube, I saw something really cool.  A Reduced version of a full sized Pac-Man cabinet.  It was basically about 3 or 4 feet tall and had inside it one of those 'plug and play' pac man things you can buy at K-Mart. 

What I'd like to do, is create a mini version of the Star Wars Cabinet from 1983.  Have it include Star Wars, ROTJ, and Star Wars Arcade(Sega)...although it'll probably have to be rom enabled.     

Has anyone attempted a mini cabinet build before?  Looking for opinions on the project.  This would be my second custom cabinet build, and will have to wait for the middle of the year for funds to build back up before it can get started...
Title: Re: New Project for 2011 - Mini Star Wars Cabinet
Post by: jfunk on January 09, 2011, 05:47:38 pm
Is there a Jakks Star Wars game that will do that?  Are you going to put a full-sized yoke on it?
Title: Re: New Project for 2011 - Mini Star Wars Cabinet
Post by: ArcadeDunce on January 09, 2011, 08:37:45 pm
yep, they make a USB replica of the one from the original game
Title: Re: New Project for 2011 - Mini Star Wars Cabinet
Post by: opt2not on January 09, 2011, 08:56:20 pm
This sounds like an interesting, (and ambitious) undertaking.

I had a similar plan to this, but my project was going to be more of a cabaret machine rather than a miniaturized version of the stand-up. In the end it didn't seem possible.

My main concern was getting the game to look right. I'm not sure what monitor you're planning on having in there...but SW games on non-vector display's just hurts my soul. First, finding a working colour vector monitor is tough, and secondly, you're limited in screen sizes. I can't think of any colour vector in less than a 19" display (can someone prove me wrong on this?). So your two options would be LCD or CRT.
I wouldn't throw an LCD in it, so the next best thing would to go with a smaller sized CRT (14"?) running Mame internals.  Also, people have had lots of troubles actually receiving a yoke from RamControls (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=106037.0;all), if that's where you're planning on ordering from. It's a gamble on that one for sure.

Another concern is getting the bezel to look right, that'll be a lot of work. Hopefully your craftsmanship skills are top notch, as I'd love to see this thing completed!
Good luck in any case.
Title: Re: New Project for 2011 - Mini Star Wars Cabinet
Post by: Encryptor on January 09, 2011, 09:06:16 pm
yep, they make a USB replica of the one from the original game

Do you have a link for it? All the ones I could find have 4 or 5 games but none of them looked like the original cabinet game.

Encryptor
Title: Re: New Project for 2011 - Mini Star Wars Cabinet
Post by: ArcadeDunce on January 09, 2011, 10:01:43 pm
It was posted above.. Ram Controls makes one....

That's sad to see that they are not very reliable... has ANYONE received there's in a timely fashion, or is it a fly by night operation?
Title: Re: New Project for 2011 - Mini Star Wars Cabinet
Post by: Encryptor on January 09, 2011, 11:01:35 pm
Sorry for the bit of confusion about the posts. You were talking about the usb yoke being like the original. I thought you were talking about the Jakks game being like the original. I couldn't find one that played the original game.

Encryptor
Title: Re: New Project for 2011 - Mini Star Wars Cabinet
Post by: matsadona on January 10, 2011, 07:54:46 am
Building down scaled cabinets is fun, but quite a challenge since it tends to always be some kind of compromise needed to finalize.

I have a thread regarding my build (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=105790.0 (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=105790.0)), and there are several others who can provide you experience made through there projects.

And yes, color vector tubes are really rare and hard to find, so that is probably the first compromise you have to face. If I did it myself I would probably go for a 10"-14" CRT to be "as close as possible" since LCD's doesn't do it right at all...

The controller is the next issue. RAM controls make wonderful replicas, but sadly I have seen all the problems other members have with their orders, so that is most probably not an option any longer. I really hope he gets his act on track again and start deliver what he has received money for.

Anyway. I'm exited about your idea and will follow this project with great interest.
Please let us know if we can assist in anyway.
Title: Re: New Project for 2011 - Mini Star Wars Cabinet
Post by: taylormadelv on January 22, 2011, 01:21:58 pm
This is a very neat and expensive idea! The SW artwork would seem to be a good place to start IMO. You could take all the artwork files and scale them down and then reverse-engineer a cabinet to fit. A vector monitor for a SW multi would be very complicated, impractical and almost impossible.
I'd go with the ram-control SW yoke/USB interface and the brightest version of mame you prefer. In my experience, I have found Gateway VXxxx CRT monitors to be the very brightest I've used, particularly for emulating vector games. macmame OS 9 will be the brightest emulator but the front end part will be lacking for a multi...