The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Project Announcements => Topic started by: Ryglore on August 13, 2009, 03:12:34 pm
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Table of Contents:
These are the most important updates of the thread. I've added them to the first post for easy reference. Below is the original starting thread.
- The build begins. (8-17-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1004169#msg1004169)
- Cutting the sides. (8-22-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1006104#msg1006104)
- Primed and Painted CP Stand (8-25-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1006948#msg1006948)
- Fastening the sides and top (8-28-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1008833#msg1008833)
- Front Panel and Recessing the Coin Door (9-1-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1009667#msg1009667)
- Mock up and hidden buttons (9-3-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1010485#msg1010485)
- Fitting the Monitor and Cutting the Speakers in. (9-5-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1011039#msg1011039)
- Painting the Black sections (9-7-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1011541#msg1011541)
- Mounting the monitor and Coin Door (9-10-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1012696#msg1012696)
- Installing the back panels and testing the PC. (9-13-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1013662#msg1013662)
- Wiring the power switch (9-22-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1016655#msg1016655)
- Final Mala Layout (9-24-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1017877#msg1017877)
- Control Panel wired (10-1-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1020633#msg1020633)
- Wiring the cab (10-4-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1021312#msg1021312)
- Marble trackball installed (10-12-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1024222#msg1024222)
- Painting Side Art Begins! (10-15-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1025611#msg1025611)
- Light blue finished and Tinting the Monitor plexi (10-17-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1026339#msg1026339)
- Starting the dark blue lines. (10-18-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1026533#msg1026533)
- Side Art near finished, Boarding the PC and wiring the coin door (10-19-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1026989#msg1026989)
- PC installed in Cab (10-20-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1027387#msg1027387)
- Final Control Panel Art (10-25-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1028872#msg1028872)
- Side art complete! (10-26-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1029184#msg1029184)
- Final Intro video and Hiding Windows (10-26-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1029195#msg1029195)
- Moving Day! (10-29-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1030350#msg1030350)
- Marquee and balltops arrive, custom joysticks started. (10-30-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1030662#msg1030662)
- More work on the joysticks (10-31-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1030889#msg1030889)
- Completed Joysticks (11-2-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1031598#msg1031598)
- Minor Touch: Custom Dust Washers (11-3-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1031970#msg1031970)
- The SHMUP Arcade: 100% Complete! (11-4-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1032441#msg1032441)
- Organization Thanks to RomLister! (11-13-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1035357#msg1035357)
- Updated Coin Reject Buttons (Idea thanks to Gamester) (11-24-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1038490#msg1038490)
- New MaLa Layout (11-29-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1040005#msg1040005)
- Video Screensaver Thanks to DrVenture! (11-30-09) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1040311#msg1040311)
- Load up and Live gameplay video (1-8-10) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1049398#msg1049398)
- Quick Removable CP (1-22-10) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1052842#msg1052842)
- Upgrade Parts Coming & New Tokens (2-12-13) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,95293.msg1334064.html#msg1334064)
- Upgrade #1 New Joysticks Installed (2-19-13) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,95293.msg1336489.html#msg1336489)
-Upgrade #2 New New Dust Washers (2-23-13) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,95293.msg1337743.html#msg1337743)
- Upgrade #3 Nova Matrix Lynx Marquee Light (3-5-13) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,95293.msg1340414.html#msg1340414)
- Final Move (4-26-13) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,95293.msg1355333.html#msg1355333)
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Original Post
A buddy of mine has built two cabinets, the first was a Street Fighter themed Fighting game cabinet which he built before I met him and I've never seen in it person (He sold it, ha). Somewhere in 2006, he had completed work on his second MAME based stand up arcade unit... well.. got it working anyway (it is out of commission currently). About a year later I began toying with the idea of building one of my own but I shelved the idea... for the time being.
When Soul Calibur 4 released, I bought a Hori Fighting Stick. Then 1942: Joint Strike and Street Fighter IV came and I started getting the arcade bug again. Unable to get the arcade fix from the broken down cab of my friend's. I decided, since I now have my own place, perhaps it's time to build a cabinet geared to my preferred style of arcade games... such as 1942/43, Gunbird, Gunbird 2, Xevious and various other airplane/spaceship scrolling shooters.
So, I began surfing the web for ideas, and my buddy pointed me toward BYOAC. Which lead me to buy Saint's book and I have delved into research. Being a novice, I had originally decided to follow the plans on the CD for Lucid's arcade unit, but being an artist, I naturally couldn't restrict myself to completely follow an already established plan (Have to make things more complicated for myself it seems). So I have been working to modify the Lucid plans with some of my own design elements while paying attention to the structure in order to ensure stability.
Control-wise, the plan is to have two Happ Super 8 way joysticks with 6 buttons each to allow for fighting games, a trackball with 3 buttons for mouse functions as well as player 1 and 2 start buttons and a pause and exit game buttons. I'll be wiring up the coin door to allow for tokens rather than using coin buttons. I'll be using a 20 inch CRT monitor, oriented vertically to accommodate vertical shooters.
This weekend I plan to begin some of the the construction work. I'll be building what I call the "Control Panel Stand". Since the control panel isn't designed to rest on the sides of the cab, like in the original plans. I decided the best way to get the look I am going for was to build a separate section for the control panel and build the rest of the cab around it. Since the most heavily modified part of the unit is the CP, I decided to build this section first. That way I can take real world measurements off of it and design the rest of the case around it... namely the sides.
I have various drawings and plans done up on paper, Photoshop and Illustrator so I will post a few things as soon as I get them scaled down and organized. I'll also post some pictures of my progress after this weekend as well.
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will look forward to seeing it.
i like shooters but,unfortunately there are some realy good horizontal ones too.side arms,rypes etc.
was tinkering with the idea for my mame cab (still in progress) but,i dont want to comprise too much,i can live with the bezel that gameex will put on the sides of my vertical shooters so i am going to leave it horizontal as theres some decent neo geo ones that are vertical and run on horizontal monitor.
:)
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Ya, my buddy's 2nd cab has a vertical monitor on it and we ran all sorts of Horizontal games on it no problem. Basically my thinking is, I'll be playing mostly 1942/43 and Gunbird 2 etc on it, so I want to maximize that. If Horizontal games take a minor hit it's ok. They looked fine on the other cab. :)
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4-5th Revision of the control panel. Left red Button will be pause and right red button is exit game. The 3 Blue buttons are mouse buttons and then 6 buttons for each player.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CPlayout.jpg)
Rough idea of what I want the Cab to look like (The sides are totally a WIP)
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/cabsidetemplate.jpg)
Early version of a Marquee... also this will change as I work...
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/shmup.jpg)
Once I have the control panel stand built I can get a better idea of how I want the sides to come in. but for the moment I am just using the cab sides from the Lucid plans with a modified front edge. This will all get changed, just have to keep sitting at the drawing board...
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looks like you are off to a good start.
as for your control panel, you may want to rethink the trackball buttons. having them directly above the trackball is not really a comfortable place to use them. also, they are completely unnecessary. you can have any of your other buttons be mouse buttons. you can use your regular player 1 buttons for any trackball games.
for instance, my player 1 buttons 5 and 6 are wired up as left and right mouse buttons. they function just like regular buttons for any games that need that many buttons, and when playing a game in mame, they are mouse buttons. as for playing trackball games, i use the trackball with my right hand, and use my regular player 1 buttons with my left hand. this setup works great and doesnt require any extra buttons on the control panel
just a thought
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Thanks, I'll look into that for sure. Quick question though, when you wired up the buttons to the P1 5 and 6 did you run a lead from the trackball to those buttons and piggy back the line?
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Thanks, I'll look into that for sure. Quick question though, when you wired up the buttons to the P1 5 and 6 did you run a lead from the trackball to those buttons and piggy back the line?
my trackball is connected to an optiwiz. i ran buttons 5 and 6 to the optiwiz as mouse buttons. They are only wired up as mouse buttons, they are not connected to any other encoder. i just set mame up so that player 1 button 5 = mouse b0 and player 1 button 6 = mouse b1
then just make sure in your mame.ini under Core Input Options, Mouse is set to 1
and you are all set. as long as that is set in mame.ini any mame game can then use the mouse buttons.
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Cool I'll check that out. The reason I went with the 3 mouse buttons is because that's what Saint suggested in the book. really want to keep the CP and arcade as a whole looking as authentic as possible. Which means as few admin/system buttons as possible. Or at least hiding them from view.
I just got paid today, so tomorrow after work I'll be heading to get MDF and 2x2, drill bits and wood glue. Hopefully next week I can get all my figuring done and I can complete actual construction and move on to wiring and mounting the guts and monitor.
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4-5th Revision of the control panel. Left red Button will be pause and right red button is exit game. The 3 Blue buttons are mouse buttons and then 6 buttons for each player.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CPlayout.jpg)
Rough idea of what I want the Cab to look like (The sides are totally a WIP)
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/cabsidetemplate.jpg)
Early version of a Marquee... also this will change as I work...
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/shmup.jpg)
Once I have the control panel stand built I can get a better idea of how I want the sides to come in. but for the moment I am just using the cab sides from the Lucid plans with a modified front edge. This will all get changed, just have to keep sitting at the drawing board...
I can't quite tell because you've obviously modified the Lucid design, but it does look like you may have misinterpreted the dimensions as I almost did. I've since lent the book to a friend, so I don't remember which it was, but one of the dimensions on the layout looks like it represents one section, but it is really a larger section. The total height of the cabinet should be somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 feet tall. Just be careful, I remember someone made the mistake before and it made for a very tall bezel that looked awkward.
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thats a good point, looking at that diagram, the section between the control panel and the marquee looks really tall. way too tall for a 20" monitor. do you have the dimensions of that drawn up?
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I have some stuff drawn up on graphing paper. But I don't have accurate blueprints for where the monitor will sit and the top of the cab. I have the monitor at work, and haven't had a chance to drag it home yet to break it down and measure it either. ha
Actually when I look at my graph paper and that photoshop picture there it certainly something mismeasured. I'll look into it and fix that up.
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cool...it is easy to mess up stuff like that. just make sure you get it sorted out before you do the cutting. :)
judging by the proportions of that cabinet, if the control panel was at normal height, the cabinet would be nearly 8ft tall and need like 42" vertical monitor...
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Ya, the CP is roughly the same height as the Lucid plans I think it's sitting somewhere around 36" high to the top of the CP... Actually when I was doign that up in Photoshop last night I was like... this look oddly tall. Then I figured it was an optical illusion, but now that other people see it as a little off, I know I wasn't imagining things. :lol
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Yup... in my infinite wisdom, I misread the 74" on the rear of the Lucid plan as being the height of the back until the 45 degree section to the top.... wow I feel mildly idiotic.... I've got stuff going on tonight, but I now know where the mistake was made. Easy enough to fix.
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(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/cabsideproto.jpg)
Much better.
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that looks much better
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Construction started this afternoon! I built the Control Panel Box and the Base. I also cut the sides of the CP stand. Unfortunately I left my camera at my parent's house so I can't upload pics just yet, but I'll stop by there tomorrow and pick it up!
Also, I decided to go with Severedhed's suggestion of removing the mouse buttons from the CP and wiring them to player 1's controls instead. So I'm working on a new layout for the Control Panel too.
Today I also ordered the T-Molding for the CP stand, 12 Orange Happ horizontal M/S pushbuttons, a pushbutton wrench and 2 Happ Super joysticks. I still need to save up the money for a Happ Trackball and when I get ready for the trackball I'll order out the Optiwiz.
I am totally on a bit of an accomplishment high at the moment, haha!
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cool...get those pics posted!
i think you will be happy with your mouse button removal. it has been my experience that the less clutter on the control panel the better....especially when other people are using it....my panel is pretty streamlined at this point, and people still get confused.
If you havent yet picked up a trackball, may i suggest the U-Trak from ultimarc. it is an excellent product and it is so easy to mount in a 3/4" thick panel. they have a nice little LED lighting package for it too. the only thing i don't like abut the utrak is it's usb interface, it does not support mouse buttons. so when i got mine, i bought the utrak and lighting module, but bought an optiwiz from groovygamegear to interface it to the PC. the optiwiz is very cost effective and supports 3 mouse buttons.
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I'm also thinking of moving the Pause and exit buttons from the CP as well. Not sure yet though.
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i've seen some people put admin buttons like that on a separate panel below the monitor or something. I'd make sure that pause and exit are somewhere obvious for people. it has been my experience that guests don't want to bother remembering shifted key combos. You could probably get away without the pause button, but the exit button is used so heavily, i'd try to keep it simple for people to use.
that is just based on my personal experience with people using my cabinet, this is your cabinet so do what you want. Pause and Exit are the only two admin buttons i have...i can't imagine not having them
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I was also thinking of making them white buttons. so they kinda blend in with the background. Maybe that's what I'll do. They'll be there but blend in a little. hmm
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Alrighty, as promised! The first two progress pictures!
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/Arcade1.jpg)
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/Arcade2.jpg)
I didn't attach the sides to the stand yet because I need to get a 1/16" slot cutter. I may have tracked one down locally, so I won't need to order it online. I plan on painting this section Black and have ordered the black T-Molding for it as well. I have to wait to add the face plate to it until I get my hands on a coin door. Which maybe be a little while.
But, now I am in the process of designing the sides and the rest of the cab! More progress to come!
Updated CP layout and design
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/newlayoutTemplateColor.jpg)
Approx. Side Art Design
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/cabsideColor.jpg)
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cool. i'm liking the artwork.
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I am really liking the design of you cab. Looks like it will be perfect for shumps. I agree with severhed i'm liking the artwork a lot too, just wondering if you're going to paint it on by hand or have it made for u.. i think with some clever taping and a steady hand you could paint it on. The side art looks like something that actually came out of an arcade.. i think u nailed it on the firs try. just wondering about the white space at the bottom of the cab, if you're going to fill it up or leave it blank.. either way it balances the side art pretty good. But i was thinking you could ad "shumup!" like on your marquee to fill in that space, either way keep up the great work. So far it looks pretty spectacular. Can't wait to see it finished!
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Thanks guys. :cheers:
I plan on hand painting the side artwork on the cab with creative taping and a few techniques I've used with some actual paintings I've done. I would love to get some graphics made for the sides, but since it's a little odd shaped, I don't want to risk it. Plus I know I can paint it on with rollers or a sprayer and have it look clean.
The colors are actually Behr paint colors and I have the paint chips at my apartment for reference.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/Paints.jpg)
I may play with the white space on the bottom, but I think I may leave it blank. Also I am not sure if I want to use White T-molding on the cab sides or blue..
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Masking the side artwork and spraying is sooo old skool, and great! I love it :applaud:
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Masking the side artwork and spraying is sooo old skool, and great! I love it :applaud:
True! As much as I like the look of Vinyl. I would much rather take the time and paint the side art myself. I'm going for an old school, late 80's early 90's look, maybe with the right amount of finesse I can get it to almost look screen printed! ;)
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I think this would look good if the top, rather than the pinched look, was more lowboy-ish.
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While a lowboy would be nice for portability. I think I am going to still with a full cabinet sized arcade unit.
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Yeah, I just mean the topmost part; You've got a solid looking base, and the top most part looks disproportionately smaller. I think it's the pinch. Perhaps try toying with the idea of making the top right angle parallel with the internal angle (below the marquee). Or otherwise. It looks like it has a big body and a little head.
That's just as an opinion of course. It's your cabinet :)
Nice artwork by the way!
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Actually after I posted that I started toying with the idea of changing the top. I want to keep the angles and straight lines look and stay away from curves. But maybe I can work out some other ideas for the top marquee area. Since that is basically a copied section of the Lucid plans still.
For the sake of it being my first Cab attempt I may leave it as is. But I'm going to break out the graph paper and see if I can modify it a bit.
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Fair enough :)
Here's a quick and dirty pic of what I meant when I suggested a hybrid lowboy:
(http://jeef3.smugmug.com/photos/623866134_mhqAS-M.jpg)
I like that forward leany bit for the control panel that you've done too.
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Or maybe something like this? Keeps the marquee sticky-outy piece on the front of the top and keeps the Marquee vertical rather than on an angle. Then match the angle of the front edge of it with the front edge angle of the CP stand. Hmmmmmm I think I dig it.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/Roughy.jpg)
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Yeah, nice, now the top part matches the rest of the cab a bit better :)
Looking forward to seeing this one progress :)
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I was playing with that idea last night before I went to bed. I think this is the new side design. Just need to work out the dimensions and I'll be good to go.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/Roughy2.jpg)
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Nice. Are you modelling this up in 3D? Would be interested to see how it looks from half front on.
I don't want to dictate your entire design for you, the final decision is yours afterall ;) But if I may be so bold as to give my opinion once more; I preferred the lesser angle for the top right most - back of the cabinet - slope.
One point to note: I know you like the sharp corners, but I believe that for t-molding they will need a slight radius. I could be corrected here though because I have yet to get to the t-molding stage on my project.
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If I may suggest some more curves?
(http://www.pici.se/pictures/FxQzqzXJr.png)
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Looks like it has a beer belly :)
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Nice. Are you modelling this up in 3D? Would be interested to see how it looks from half front on.
I don't want to dictate your entire design for you, the final decision is yours afterall ;) But if I may be so bold as to give my opinion once more; I preferred the lesser angle for the top right most - back of the cabinet - slope.
One point to note: I know you like the sharp corners, but I believe that for t-molding they will need a slight radius. I could be corrected here though because I have yet to get to the t-molding stage on my project.
Nope I'm not actually modelling it in 3D. I was going to try to work something out in photoshop or illustrator, but I've not had a chance to do it.
I'm going to do some testing once I get my T-molding in hand (it's on order at the moment). Once I get it, I've got some scrap I can groove out and try either sharp corners or slight curves. Also I have another idea, which I need T-molding for. I'm keeping that one under my hat for the moment though. :)
If I may suggest some more curves?
(http://www.pici.se/pictures/FxQzqzXJr.png)
Ha, it does look like a beer belly. But I'll keep the lack of curves. ha
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I'm going to do some testing once I get my T-molding in hand
Awesome. Like I said, I haven't got to the t-molding part of mine yet. I've got two corners that I might need to round off a bit, not sure yet.
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Well if you have a sharp corner, you can always cut it and cut back the spine too. sorta like taking 2 45 degree sticks and forming a 90 degree corner out of it. And if done well you only have a minor seam.
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heh, mitred t-mold joint :)
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Actually we've done that at work before with bigger T-molding and I think if you put a dab of hot glue on the end you won't have to worry about it peeling either... dunno I'm still waiting on my order from GGG to get here. Then I can test all my theories out.
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here ya go Jeef. This is an extremely rough 3/4 view of what I am planning. Keep in mind that this is likely not scaled properly and maybe squaty/wide. I did it up in photoshop really quick and didn't do accurate measurements, etc.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/roughycabcopy-1.jpg)
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Looking good! I wont comment because as you say it may not be to scale etc. Looking forward to watching the progress!
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I really like the white with blue trim...simple yet stylish.
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Looking good! I wont comment because as you say it may not be to scale etc. Looking forward to watching the progress!
Ya it looks really wide. Dunno, I also shortened it up height wise to 70" rather than 74" in the original plans.
I really like the white with blue trim...simple yet stylish.
Ya I like the blue trim better now that I have a rough assembled look at it. I was on the fence between white and blue and now I am positive I am going with blue.
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I'm sold now that I've seen it in 3D. I really like what you did with the control panel area vs. the sides and how it looks like the CO area is leaning out a bit. Bust out those tools and get going!!! :cheers:
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I'm sold now that I've seen it in 3D. I really like what you did with the control panel area vs. the sides and how it looks like the CO area is leaning out a bit. Bust out those tools and get going!!! :cheers:
Awesome, thanks! I think I may do something along the lines of your monitor mount for the DK cab when I am ready to do mine. I'm still trying to figure out the monitor situation...
If I can get the stuff, I'll be working on this all weekend for sure. Sadly my GGG order hasn't shipped yet, so I'm not cutting the holes in the CP until I have pushbuttons in hand. But 1st thing on my list is the slot cutter bit. Then I can mount the CP stand to the base and move forward.
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Good news! I just got my confirmation regarding my GGG order being shipped! Hopefully it shows up soon! I plan on finishing the CP stand/base and painting it this weekend. I have some T-molding in that shipment, so I'll be able to experiment with it.
This guy is pumped. :laugh2:
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:lol Being an artist I can't help but play in photoshop and illustrator while I am in between working on my cab. This evening I redesigned my side art to fit the new dimensions and angles of the side as well as started work on a real marquee design. Tomorrow after I get home from work I will be cutting the sides and continuing construction through the weekend! Wee!
Here is the Final design for the Cab's side art.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CabSidecopy.jpg)
and the marquee
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/Marqueecopy.jpg)
As usual constructive criticism welcome. ;D
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Being an artist...
I thought that sideart and marquee looked quite professional. ;)
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Looks very good. the only problem i could see is that the location of the "!" in the marquee almost makes it look like it says" SHMUR" instead of "SHMUP"
otherwise it looks great
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Looks very good. the only problem i could see is that the location of the "!" in the marquee almost makes it look like it says" SHMUR" instead of "SHMUP"
otherwise it looks great
When it's full size you can see the black border around it much better. I think it may be mostly be because of the image being shrunk down. :)
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I think I'd lose the exclamation mark and the (IMO) the awful MAME logo. Maybe giving a slightly larger border to the letters or kerning them apart a bit more would help legibility?
I really like the overall design :applaud: It's got a great arcade 'brashness' about it.
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I think I'd lose the exclamation mark and the (IMO) the awful MAME logo. Maybe giving a slightly larger border to the letters or kerning them apart a bit more would help legibility?
I really like the overall design :applaud: It's got a great arcade 'brashness' about it.
Ya, the marquee is totally a work in progress. Mostly because I don't have actual measurements for the real area until I get the sides/ top mounted. :banghead:
I wasn't going to put the mame logo in there, but I wanted to see how it looked if I treated it like the Sega or Nintendo logo. I think I'm going to give it the boot eventually too.
On another note. Today was day one of a weekend long marathon of arcade building! And I've officially hit my first snag. I'm basing all my measurements off of the CP box which is 26" wide. Then the sides will go on the out side of it and the CP box will sit on top of the CP Stand which is also 26" wide.
The problem is, when I was figuring my measurements earlier and doing all my blueprints for the Base and CP Stand section. I accidentally made the base 24.5" wide instead of 26".... :angry: So tomorrow instead of painting a fully assembled CP stand and base I'll be building a new base and building it. Then hopefully slapping some primer on it... gah!
On the upside... I found a slot cutter in town, bought 2 more sheets of MDF, Primer and Black paint for the CP stand. My dad and I cut the sides out of the 2 new sheets. I sanded them to match and just have to slot cut them for T molding. So it wasn't a total waste of a day. I'll have some pics later this weekned.
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that sucks about the measurement...but live and learn. i did that recently when i built the new control panel for my cabinet. my last few panels were 12x30 and i though this time i would make it 12x32 to just give it a little more room, but when i cut it out, i cut it at 30. i didnt feel like buying any more wood, so i just kept it at 30. but i think next time i'll make it bigger.(if i remember)
get some of those pics posted :)
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I'm tired, someone else can continue... :P
TheShmupArcade-2009-08-22.zip (http://www.yvan256.net/arcadecontrols/TheShmupArcade-2009-08-22.zip) (Google Sketchup 7 model)
Some details might be off or even completely wrong, but overall I tried to base the model from the images and measurements posted.
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I'm tired, someone else can continue... :P
TheShmupArcade-2009-08-22.zip (http://www.yvan256.net/arcadecontrols/TheShmupArcade-2009-08-22.zip) (Google Sketchup 7 model)
Some details might be off or even completely wrong, but overall I tried to base the model from the images and measurements posted.
Oh sweet, that's awesome! thanks a lot. :applaud:
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I just thought about something... if you put the coin door at an angle (such as the front panel), the coin mechs will not work properly. I just did a few tests right here and as soon as I go past 90 degrees my tokens are being rejected.
You will need to make a cutout in the front angled panel so that you can mount the coin door vertically. And since the mechs are so finicky I would even build something that can be rotated (from the top) and then screw/fixed in place, so you can install the whole thing, test with coins/tokens and then set the whole thing in place.
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A lot of progress was made today and there where no setbacks! Yes! Today's work started with the rebuilding of the base to the correct width. After the base was completed i began mounting the CP stand sides and the CP box. After the CP box was mounted I realized that I had to remove a couple screws from the front corners of the CP box so I could slot it for T-molding.
After all was said and done I clamped one of the sides to the CP stand to see how it all looked.
I just thought about something... if you put the coin door at an angle (such as the front panel), the coin mechs will not work properly. I just did a few tests right here and as soon as I go past 90 degrees my tokens are being rejected.
Ya I was thinking the same thing, my buddy mentioned the angle to me earlier too. I do like the look of the vertical coin door vs the angled front piece. So inorder to get it right I'm not making the CP stand front piece until I actually have the door in hand. Even though Happ has diagrams for cut outs on the site.
And now.... PICTURES!
Updated Marquee
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/Marqueecopy2.jpg)
Cabinet sides cut!
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/Sides.jpg)
CP stand angled sides on screwed to the base.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/StandSideMounted.jpg)
Stand assembled!
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/StandAssembled.jpg)
Close up of T-molding slots
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/Slots.jpg)
Filling holes...
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/Woodfiller.jpg)
Test fitting a side.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/SideTestFit.jpg)
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have you just glued the side onto the base?
i only see 1 side there with a clamp,or are you preparing to fix it into place?
i like the design,i love the color,there was another cab i saw a while back that was white and another color and that was real nice.
i think i am going to do one of my projects white now after seeing that mockup you posted earlier,makes the white look nice when its rounded of with another color.
;)
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Oh I meant to headline each picture. I was just test fitting the side to the base. I'm going to paint the CP stand black first and then I'll mount the Cabinet sides to it and paint them white..
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I ran to lunch, and when I got back my parts order from GGG arrived! Woot. While looking through my order of pushbuttons, I noticed that all the microswitches are Cherrys and not the E-Switch brand. Pretty sweet, even though I doubt I would have noticed a differance. But I do know that a lot of people here have said good things about the Cherry switches.
I'm super excited now and can't wait to get home to work on things.
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After I got home last night I primed the CP stand. The first coat didn't cover that well, as I expected, so I put on two coats. While the primer was drying I spent about an hour measuring and laying out the buttons and joysticks on the CP top. Thanks to having mock ups in photoshop, it was pretty smooth sailing. Now as long as I didn't screw something up, my design for the overlay should line up perfectly.
Then tonight, I drilled all of the 1 1/8" holes for the buttons and joysticks and then used a 9/16 forstner to countersink the bolt heads, this way I don't have the bolt heads on top of the plexiglass. Also, I started coating the CP stand with black paint, I've done two coats so far and I think I will put at least one more coat on it before I move on to mounting the sides of the arcade.
Primed CP Stand
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CPStandPrimed.jpg)
CP Top drilled for main button and joystick holes
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CPDrilled.jpg)
Test mounting the buttons and sticks
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CPTestFit.jpg)
CP Stand after 2 coats of Behr Semi-Gloss Black
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CPStand2Coats.jpg)
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Coming along quickly!
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yes sir! I get more excited every day. :cheers:
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Its looking better with every update. i'm really anxious to see the final product!
keep up the great work. :applaud:
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Yep It's actually taking shape! Progress is slowing a little bit right now though, since I have to paint the stand black before I attach the sides. :hissy: But this weekend I should be ready to attach the sides and then start figuring out the monitor and speakers and marquee area.
Also I have something special planned for how to access the PC for maintenance. but I need to get my keyboard encoder before I can dismantle my PC. I'm aways away from that yet, but planning ahead is a really good thing right? =).
Tonight I am working on my old PC, wiping it clean and reinstalling Windows, choosing which components I need to put inside and then once I'm done with that I'll take my extra HDD and CD/Dvd burner out and install them on my newer PC. So it's not a totally wasted day.
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Today I ordered the coin door and a trackball mounting plate so I can continue work on the Control Panel Stand section. I have been looking at Yvan's skecthup of the front panel with the vertical coin door sticking out of the front piece and I've been sketching some ideas on paper.
I think I may try to recess the Coin Door into the front rather than have it sticking out. I'll post some roughies later, when I get the approx. measurements figured out. I really think that I'll like the look of a recessed vertical door rather than having it outside the front.
On another note, last night I wet sanded the CP Stand and put on another coat of paint. It's pretty smooth already, so perhaps I'll be able to call it good after I sand and paint it tonight. I'll post more boring painting pictures later.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CoinDoorLayoutcopy.jpg)
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Final Control Panel Design. I made an avatar out of the SHMUP logo w/ the crosshair behind it earlier. I loved the design so much I decided to see how it would look on the CP opposite the trackball. I'm totally digging it, of course now It has me wanting to modify my marquee design.... :laugh2:
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/FinalCPLayout.jpg)
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Awesome work! Really liking the graphics for this one too :)
And +1 on the recessed idea.
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I agree, awesome work indeed!
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very cool..i am really liking this project. the artwork is awesome. can't wait to see how this coin door area turns out.
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I've not posted any progress pics in a few days, but here we go! Since I last posted I was painting the CP Stand section. Originally my plan was to paint the insides of the cabinet sides and then attach them, but after talking to my dad, he talked me into working on construction first. So, I arrived at my parent's house around 1:30p and after a quick trip to Home Depot I started working.
I began by attaching the sides to the CP stand with clamps, then I cut the top of the Cab and matched the angle on the front of the board with the angle of the side. Then once the top was attached I double checked measurements and overall squareness and screwed the sides to the base and CP Stand.
After I attached the sides, I laid the Cab on it's back and mounted the wheels. I happened to have 4 wheels from a set of plastic drawers laying around and after consulting my dad about weight issues I cut 5/4 x 6 planking in 4 inch sections and drilled them out to accept the shank of the wheel.
Finally my main goal of the night was to figure out the monitor placement. After looking it over and taking more measurements, we decided to make a MDF bezel and attach strips to the sides. We then mounted another board underneath the bottom of the bezel to support downward pressure and once everything is in place the monitor won't be going anywhere. ;D
Tomorrow my Coin Door and Trackball mount will be here, so I'll be able to work on the CP Stand's front and the recessed coin door area.
and now the fun part! PICTURES!
Bottom corner of the CP Stand w/ T-Molding inserted.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/TMoldingBottomCorner.jpg)
Top edge of the CP Stand w/ T-Molding
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/TmoldingTopCorner.jpg)
Attaching the sides!
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/AttachingTheSides.jpg)
Wheels mounted! This baby rolls!
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/Wheels.jpg)
One of the monitor braces.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/MonitorBracing.jpg)
It's starting to look like an arcade machine!!!1!
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/MonitorPanelInPlace.jpg)
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that looks great...this is coming along nicely. i'd be a little concerned about those casters supporting the wieght of the cabinet though..they look a little wimpy
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I think they'll be fine I was inside the thing standing on the base and nothing went wrong and that's another 200lbs of weight added to what's already constructed. If it can hold me, It should be able to hold the monitor, computer and the rest of the wood, etc. ;)
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cool....they must be sturdier than they look.
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Lets hope so, but if not I have sources on more heavy duty wheels if need be.
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i never tried putting wheels on my cabinets. both of my cabs have wheels along the back edge so that you can tilt them back and they will roll, but they are on in contact with the ground when sitting upright. but i have found that on the carpeted floor, they just dont roll that well at all. i used some of those furniture slider things (http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=257954-255-4704095N&lpage=none) under my cabinet, so i can effortlessly slide it across the floor if i need to move it. I have some under my main mame cabinet, i need to pick up a few more for under my new DK cabinet. if you have your cabinet on carpet, they are awesome.
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Looking great! I'm going to go ahead and place my concerns for the wheels as well. But if it can hold your body weight then that's a good start. By the looks of it, worst case the wheel will break, but it doesn't look like anything would get damaged. At least not badly.
When getting my Castor's I did a couple of weight calculations:
A single 2440x1200x18mm sheet of MDF weighs approx 30-40kg. I bought 3 sheets, so at max, 120kg. (worst case of course, because there's a lot of scrap). And a TV weighs approx 40kg. So MDF + TV, worst case, is around 160kg. So I bought 4 Castor's rated at 80kg each.
Question. Are you gluing or just screwing? It's deceptive, but glue on bare MDF to bare MDF is way stronger than screws. I've gone overkill on screws only to find that the glue is stronger anyway. The only real plus for the screws is to help "clamp" whatever piece while the glue is drying.
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I am actually Gluing and Screwing. Almost all of my seams have glue on them, though I have some places where I have gone overkill on the screws too, but that was back when I first started. BUt ya MDF to MDF + glue is amazingly strong.... It's one of the reasons I didn't break down my old base, since it as all glued and screwed together.
Unfortunaly, since I made that mistake base, I may have to buy a 4th sheet of MDF inorder to build the back panel. But I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Since I have special plans for it that need diagramming and figuring yet.
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sweet :)
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i never tried putting wheels on my cabinets. both of my cabs have wheels along the back edge so that you can tilt them back and they will roll, but they are on in contact with the ground when sitting upright. but i have found that on the carpeted floor, they just dont roll that well at all. i used some of those furniture slider things (http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=257954-255-4704095N&lpage=none) under my cabinet, so i can effortlessly slide it across the floor if i need to move it. I have some under my main mame cabinet, i need to pick up a few more for under my new DK cabinet. if you have your cabinet on carpet, they are awesome.
Actually I was thinking about using those originally, but decided on wheels instead. I shouldn't have too much of a problem with moving it though, because it will be sitting on a smooth floor. My biggest concern is whether or not it will be rolling around while we are playing games on it.... we'll see.
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My biggest concern is whether or not it will be rolling around while we are playing games on it.... we'll see.
I dunno about yours, but my cabinet requires some encouragement to roll it. I don't see my cab moving too far due to tough play. Might be different on smooth floor?I'm having trouble on smooth concrete (garage floor).
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Ya in our garage it's seems to take a little bit of effort to move it around, my flooring in my place is that laminated flooring crap so it prolly isn't going to be that big of a deal either. We'll find out once the full weight of the cab is there, but the more I think about it, if yours isn't a problem, then mine shouldn't be either. If not I'll block it if need be. :)
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Yeah, worst case get some of those round disc things. With a hemispherical indentation. Another option is some of those adjustable feet things. Wheel the cab in place and then adjust the feet to take the weight off the front wheels. Might be more hassle than they're worth though.
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Ya I think the discs are the way to go. I actually have a set of them left over from when I was living at my parent's. I had to use them for my bed frame because it has wheels and they have pergo flooring throughout the house. :lol
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It's really coming along nicely now. Do you plan on putting black t-mold on the white sides as well, or white? Or perhaps some light blue to match the artwork?
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It's really coming along nicely now. Do you plan on putting black t-mold on the white sides as well, or white? Or perhaps some light blue to match the artwork?
Thanks! The T-Molding for the sides is either going to be Deep Space Blue (http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=75&products_id=220) or Cool Blue (http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=75&products_id=323) from GGG. Not sure which one yet. I also have another idea that I am holding on to, but I'll get to that once I get to the painting/graphics part of the project.
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Minor update. My Happ Over/Under coin door arrived today! So I began work on the Cabinet front and the mounting section for the coin door. Sadly, I didn't get much work done as I had hoped, because I had to get a 4th board to make up for the wood I wasted making the original base...
Most of the night was spent prototyping the mounting section. I went through a couple design revisions and pieces of wood trying to freaking cut the hole for the Coin Door to mount.... The first was a half inch short... and the second was 3/4" too long. So... I cut the second one in half, shortened it up and glued it back together. I'll then fill the seam with wood putty and sand it down and no one will ever be the wiser. :lol
Anyway the only pictures I have to share today are of the coin door and the mounting panel. Tomorrow I'll be able to knock out the rest of the recessed area and mount it all up on the front angled panel.
So will it all work out? Will Ry succeed in mounting the coin door properly? Tuned in next time folks for... The Case of the Wiley Woodworker... or... Complex Carpentry.
Happ Controls Over/Under Door.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/HappOverUnderDoor.jpg)
Mounting Plate for the Recessed Area.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CoinDoorWithBackPanel.jpg)
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The first was a half inch short
You do realsie that if a hole is too small you can make it bigger... ;)
Unfortunately the coin door is way down the list for me. I can't find anything local that I like, so will have to order from Happ... $$$
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Oh I ordered mine from Happ, but the way my cabinet is being built I started from the CP stand... so I decided to drop the $$ and get the door. lol
The problem with the original mount was it' was only 3/4s of an inch all the way around. If I had cut the extra out it would have been weak. So I remeasured and cut the new one 11" x 24" to give myself room and did some redesigning. All looked good, but when it was all cut out it was too long. :banghead:
Oh well, Sometimes measure twice still doesn't work out. But it'll be all good.
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Aaaah, I get ya!
For a moment I thought we had a:
Guy on beach digging a hole, lots of smaller holes around him. Another guy comes up to him:
"What you doing?"
"I'm diggin a hole", is the first guys reply
"What's with all the other holes then?"
"Oh, they wern't deep enough"
:P
Yeah, I had little startup $$. t'll get there. So has your coin door also got the coinc mech's? I'm a little lost in the options, it looks like you can buy the doors, with the coin slot bits, but with no actual mechinism in behind them?
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Yep I got http://www.happcontrols.com/coindoors/40003800.htm
It came with the mechs, the metal coin bin enclosure and a plastic coin basket. It's pretty much all set to go and get wired. I was also worried that when it was going to come it would have been just the door w/o the buttons, mechs, etc... but nope it came complete. The other options are just replacement parts. I agree, it would be nice if it was more clear.
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Ah sweet, so that link is the one you ordered? $135usd? Comes complete with mechs and everything. Not too bad. My other concern is: "Fitted with $.25 U.S. Coin Mech" and I'm in a different country (NZ). Wonder how that would go down. Ideally I'd like one that can accept multiple coins :)
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Ah sweet, so that link is the one you ordered? $135usd? Comes complete with mechs and everything. Not too bad. My other concern is: "Fitted with $.25 U.S. Coin Mech" and I'm in a different country (NZ). Wonder how that would go down. Ideally I'd like one that can accept multiple coins :)
Well, you'll just have to get yourself some tokens the same size as US Quarters. =)
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The front angled panel is now in place and the recess is completed. This was probably the hardest part of the build so far, mostly because of all of the angles involved. But, I think it turned out rather well. I do have to fill a couple seams with wood putty, but really like how it turned out. Check it out!
Note: I forgot to get a good shot of the whole cab. I'll post one tomorrow. :(
Front Angled Panel, Cutout for the recess.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/AngledFrontPanelCutout.jpg)
Side Support wall for rear panel.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/RecessSupport.jpg)
Clamping everything into place and checking level.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/ClampingTheRecess.jpg)
Completed Recessed area for the Over/Under door.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CoinDoorRecessComplete.jpg)
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awesome work, looks great! How is the side bits and the vertical coin door panel fixed in place? Just glue and nailed butt joints? No problems splitting the end of the MDF?
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The Side wall pieces of the recess are glued and screwed to the front angled panel. I predrilled all my holes to make sure I didn't split the wood. The rear panel is just screwed in place to the side wall supports.... but if need be I'll add additional support. I didn't mount the door into the panel tonight though, cause I wanted to make sure everything had time to set up.
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I didn't mount the door into the panel tonight though, cause I wanted to make sure everything had time to set up
Good idea. Must've been tempting to do so though! ;)
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Oh totally. If I hadn't spent a week figuring and 2 days building I would have. But after all that work I didn't want to ruin something.... :lol
Bad enough I realized that installing the T-molding on the CP Stand was a bad idea and now I have to tape around it so I don't get primer/paint on it when I go to paint the front panel... :angry:
I'm totally done rushing things that seem like good ideas at the time. :banghead:
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Haha yeah, take some time :)
I have no choice. Can't afford t-molding for a while yet. In some ways this is good, I feel no need to rush some descisions :)
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Ya. Originally I was going to paint the front panel and recess before installing it. But afterwards it was such a tight fit that I decided to leave in in place. :dunno
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I didn't work on the actual cabinet tonight. Rather I recruited a friend of mine to help w/ the PC end of things. But, While he was over we dropped in to my folk's place to look over the cabinet and I snapped some proper pictures of the coin door area. For full effect I even test fit the door on to the mounting area, and everything looks like it will work perfect.
Enjoy!
Full Cabinet shot
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CoinDoorTestMount.jpg)
Close up of the coin door recess.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CoinDoorCloseUp.jpg)
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Wow, I must say that this has shaped up to be one of my favorite scratch build works.
Fantastical!
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Thanks Chicken! :cheers:
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looking hot :)
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It's coming along nicely! :cheers:
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Thanks, the next step is going to be finishing off the monitor area and then the speaker panel/ marquee. After that I'll finish up the back side and then start sanding and painting, as well as putting the finishing touches on the CPO and Marquee so I can get them ordered and ready to go. :cheers:
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Aye coming along very nice. I really like the shape of the cab...remember controls without monitor or monitor without controls until are you are 99% done or it won't get done lol :)
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Ya I've already decided that the last step is going to be mounting the controls and doing all the wiring. After I figure out the marquee and speaker areas I'll paint the cab then mount the monitor. Then I'll be moving it from the garage at my folk's to my apartment where I will be doing the wiring, etc.
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Aye coming along very nice. I really like the shape of the cab...remember controls without monitor or monitor without controls until are you are 99% done or it won't get done lol :)
Haha, true!
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I didn't get much work done today, though I did fix the Monitor mount in place and then started work on the speaker panel. I also decided to hide the exit and pause buttons on the top of the recess area, recessing the buttons themselves a bit to hide them. I weighed the options of if people will understand it and what will look best and I decided to go with aesthetics. Plus once my circle of friend learns where they are then it's not going to be much of a problem, I don't think.
Now that I have the speaker panel in place I can now start work on the final design of my marquee, as I now know the true dimensions. I really like my previous design, so I don't foresee it changing much between revisions... but then again I do have a tendency to get into something and go at it.
Next up, mount test mounting the monitor. and readying that section for the screen to be fitted in place and then it's on to the back section!
Oh, I was playing last night in photoshop and I made this mock up.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/mockup.jpg)
Hidden Admin Buttons. Pause and Exit. They will be black to match the color of the CPS.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/HiddenButtons.jpg)
Interior of the CP Box
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/HiddenButtonsInterior.jpg)
Speaker Shelf!
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/SpeakPanel.jpg)
:cheers:
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Nice mockup on the graphics, they'll look pretty sweet when done! You going to get stickers done? Or you pretty good with the airbrush?
Just don't confuse the pause and exit buttons. Would be a shame to exit when you meant to pause ;)
I'm planning on having a "shift" button, so exit would be shift+pause (or something). So two buttons are required to exit.
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Oh I am going to tape off all the graphics and I have a 2 inch wide trim roller. I'm going to paint / sand / paint / sand. I own an airbrush, but I don't have much practice with it.... but I've used the tape and paint technique on some paintings I've done. So I think that will work out well. I just need to decide which layers to do in what order. ha
I may make small labels for them so I don't confuse them. Or maybe make the exit button red or something.... dunno yet.
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oh awesome! It does look like a design that would be quite possible with paint+maskin!g.
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that is looking great...this is coming along nicely.
Here is my thought on the pause and exit buttons. when we built the 4 player panel we have at work, we placed the pause and exit buttons near each other. but the exit was getting hit accidentally when trying to pause. to get around this, we actually set them up both as pause buttons. you can press either one to pause, or press them both to exit. this works out pretty well.
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lookin good, I really like the hidden buttons! :cheers:
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I love the way the art looks with the mock up, it's nice to see a scratch built MAME cabinet that isn't black or another dark color. Not that thse look bad, but it's nice to have variety.
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@severedhed Oh, sweet. I'll have to try setting that up. I think I'm going to go with the KeyWiz 40 encoder, so hopefully it'll be pretty simple to get it set up for a shift to exit. If not, I'll be picking your brain.
@Bender Thanks, I like the hidden buttons as well. I'd been thinking of a way to take them off of the CP and get it as close to authentic looking as possible. And when I had my buddy come over he suggested placing them there.
@Chicken McNobody Thanks! I basically decided that if I was going to do it. I was going full out and turning it into a huge art project, with the main goal being to make it as close to a real cab as possible. =)
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Might be easiest to go all white...then mask off the blue lines...then the bullet/target stencils last.
That will look wicked when done!
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Oh ya, I'm doing the White first. I'm just trying to decide to do the blue lines and then the black outlines or the black then the blue. Then I'll be stenciling the crosshairs. I may do the blue line and the orange crosshairs and then tape off all of the black and paint that last... :dunno
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Oh ya, I'm doing the White first. I'm just trying to decide to do the blue lines and then the black outlines or the black then the blue. Then I'll be stenciling the crosshairs. I may do the blue line and the orange crosshairs and then tape off all of the black and paint that last... :dunno
I would do the lighter colors first, overlapping the lines a bit to prevent gaps, darker colors over lighter colors is fine but the opposite will be trouble. They call that method "bleed" in print, though it is for the edges but I think the general idea applies here as well. It probably has another name though.
I would do white, then light blue, then dark blue, then orange and finally the black outlines.
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Agreed, I was thinking of going in that order as well. I may have to sand away the blue under the crosshairs or do a quick cover up of white to knock it down. I'll have to test it.... cause Orange and Blue make a really bad shade of brownish something... ha
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The trackball mount which Happ had put on backorder arrived today, and I got it all mounted up. Then I began work on getting the monitor situated. It wasn't until I got home tonight that I realized I moved the trackball up on the CP a quarter inch or so (which I decided on the fly when I was laying out my CP on the wood). This means I'll have to take some new measurements and do a minor redesign of the CP graphics to account for the trackball.
This is because of how the layout is set up. The lines all come in toward the trackball and since I'm so close to it I'll have to move everything up a little. :cry:
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/FinalCPLayout.jpg)
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(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/mockup.jpg)
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/SpeakPanel.jpg)
I liked your design when it was on paper and now that you've started building it... i like it even more.
I was wondering if u had any plans for any art around the area where the screen is located.
Having the artwork continuously drift from the outside of the side panel to the inside of the side panel and then move to around the screen could look pretty slick.
And on the flip side having a solid color is good too.. it attracts all attention to the screen, where all the actions happening.
I'm not sure if its the modified design, or the color scheme and the cool artwork, or both but this has evolved to be one of my favorite cabs.
you kind sir, have outdone yourself. good job.
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I liked your design when it was on paper and now that you've started building it... i like it even more.
I was wondering if u had any plans for any art around the area where the screen is located.
Having the artwork continuously drift from the outside of the side panel to the inside of the side panel and then move to around the screen could look pretty slick.
And on the flip side having a solid color is good too.. it attracts all attention to the screen, where all the actions happening.
I'm not sure if its the modified design, or the color scheme and the cool artwork, or both but this has evolved to be one of my favorite cabs.
you kind sir, have outdone yourself. good job.
Thanks! Everyone's kind words about the design as a whole are totally helping drive me as I work. Because it makes me want to create the best possible work I can do. As always outside input is always welcome. :applaud:
I've been thinking about the bezel area. I want to do some artwork for it. But at the same time I think it will look good black. I don't want to ruin the cab by over doing the graphics.... I'll more than likely play with some ideas for it. I want to keep that area black, I plan on painting the bezel area and the inside walls of the cab black to go with the CP stand, and from earlier design work, the Blue lines don't seem to fit with out the black border. I guess I could try a white border on it for that section...
So I guess to answer your question.... I don't really know! :laugh2:
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I think your current graphics theme would look awesome around the bezel, but, it might be overkill. You've got a great retro theme that really would look the part around the screen, but you've got pretty intense artwork on the marquee and cp.
I wonder if black might be too strong against all that white? It seems to be working for the base of the CP so might be okay. You'll have to do us another photoshop job :)
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Some progress was made today, I fit the monitor in place and test mounted it on the panel. Then I ran to Best Buy and bought a set of 2.1 Logitech speakers (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8294222&type=product&id=1172880155361) Which I got for half off, w00t. When I went up to pay for them the guy asked me if I wanted the warranty... I said "nope, I'm good. I'm probably going to void the warranty as soon as I open the box anyway." I think he thought I was being snide. :lol
When I got home, I started work on measuring out the placement of the speakers and then headed to my family's business to use our mill to cut the grooves for the them. It took a little bit of trial and error but with the panel in place, you can't really see any of the starting mistakes I made. And since I couldn't find the proper cutting bit, I ended up using a countersinking bit to mill the grooves. Which, turned out ok since if gave the grooves a bit of a bevel.
After I cut the grooves I went back to my work area and routed the inlay areas for the speakers to sit in, leaving roughly 1/4 of material where the grooves are.
Test fitting the monitor mount to the monitor.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/Monitor.jpg)
Another shot.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/TestFittingTheMonitor.jpg)
Speaker Inlays
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/SpeakerInlay.jpg)
Speaker Grooves.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/SpeakerShelfGrooves.jpg)
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On Jeef's suggestion I did another mock up in photoshop. This one complete with all pieces in place. I think it looks rather nice with the plain black bezel area... what do you guys think?
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/Mockup2.jpg)
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looking great....this is a very good design..it is refreshing to see cabinets that dont fit the standard black and blue mold
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On Jeef's suggestion I did another mock up in photoshop. This one complete with all pieces in place. I think it looks rather nice with the plain black bezel area... what do you guys think?
It makes the colors pop even more IMHO. Looks professional and I would go with the black bezel personally.
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Agreed, I think putting the graphics on the bezel, as well as making a custom MaLa layout may be too much. But the black will help give that dark arcade room feeling while the MaLa layout will add that little bit extra to the design when not playing games.
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sold :)
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Disregard my .02 cents from before.. that updated mock up pic looks really slick.
You're going to have a really nice cab when it's all said and done.
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After completing the speaker panel and monitor mount, I placed the light mount for my marquee light to attach to. This completes construction of the front of the cab! Wee! I spent Sunday and today painting. I primed the CP/Coin/Monitor/Speaker areas, and had to let that sit for a day, then this afternoon I wet sanded it and applied the first coats of black. I am back in paint hell for the next couple of days. But once I am finished I'll mount the monitor and get to work on the back of the cab. Which will be my access point for the insides of it. So I'll be building a door and figuring out how I want to set up the PC.
I've already decided that I want to gut my tower and mount everything to a board. I plan on mounting the PC component's board to drawer slides so I can open the rear door and slide the PC right out when I need to work on it.... which I hope isn't very often. :)
As far as the PC goes, I've got it pretty much all set up. I actually was in my apartment playing around w/ MaLa and I played a little Gunbird 2 with the keyboard.... it was fun, but I can't wait to use actual controls... Never fear, installing the PC is my last possible step in the build, so when I am to that part I should be nearly finished.
The light mount for my florescent light.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/LightMount.jpg)
Primed!
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/PrimingTheCabForBlack.jpg)
1st few coats on the black areas.... many more to go...
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/PaintItBlack.jpg)
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More painting today. I decided to tape off the t-molding rather than pull it off. In hindsight putting it on was a bad move, and I was worried about ruining it if I peeled it off the cab, so tape it was! Well, today i pulled the tape from the T-molding.and 2 of my biggest concerns with taping it off came true....
Firstly, Some of the primer bled behind the tape onto the T-molding... no big deal, a little gentle backblade scraping with my pocket knife fixed that...
Secondly, when I was pulling the tape, it peeled back some of the paint on the face of the angled front panel... :cry: So in a bid to save my paint job and waste hours of work. I used the backside of my knife to pry the t-molding out slightly and then continued peeling it back slowly, making sure that my removing it wasn't going to mess up the groove in the MDF.
After the t-molding was removed I quickly rolled fresh paint on the edges that were slightly messed up and tomorrow I will do another sand job to smooth everything off and then repaint one more coat of black on the CP stand's front. but with this I have learned a valuable lesson on arcade building.... and that is if it seems like a good idea... stop, look at it and then change your mind and do it a different way... cause the best ideas at the time aren't always the right ideas.
And that includes mounting t-molding and taping off obstacles. :banghead:
Anyway, tomorrow before I do the next coat of paint I plan to mount the monitor! Once the monitor is mounted, then I can start work on the back of the cab.
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On Jeef's suggestion I did another mock up in photoshop. This one complete with all pieces in place. I think it looks rather nice with the plain black bezel area... what do you guys think?
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/Mockup2.jpg)
Man, that looks great! Ikaruga here we come...
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Man, that looks great! Ikaruga here we come...
Exactly what I was thinking! I need to go through the games I have an trim it down. It's way too many right now.... But I guess that's what the MaLa tree is for! :)
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Last night and today I made some decent headway on the cabinet. I started yesterday by mounting the monitor in place, then I put my final coat of paint on the cp stand. Then tonight, I mounted the light in place, and worked on mounting the sound system to it. I placed the subwoofer under the coin box to keep it close to the front of the cab and mounted the volume control unit to the top of the coin box. There is enough room above the bucket that I didn't have to worry about catching the lip of it w/ a screw. With the volume control in place and the subwoofer below the coin door, I can adjust the bass and the volume through the coin mech door rather easily.
Monitor mount. Yes that is a 1/2" Nut and 2 1/4" washers being used as spacers.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/MonitorMount.jpg)
Rear view of the monitor. It misses the back panel by about an 1 1/2" gap.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/RearOfMonitor.jpg)
Front view of monitor. The will be a piece of black matte board over the screen to cover the edges and the bolts.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/MonitorInPlace.jpg)
Official Coin-Door-Is-Mounted Picture
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CoinDoorMounted.jpg)
Volume and Power control for the speaker system.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/VolumeControl.jpg)
Sub mounted under the coin box.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/SubwooferMounted.jpg)
Progress as of 9-10-9
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/910Progress.jpg)
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Looking good! great progess! You've very quickly passed me :(
Looks like you've got a nice big garage to work in!
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Looking good! great progess! You've very quickly passed me :(
Looks like you've got a nice big garage to work in!
Ya, I've been working on it every chance I get. We have a nice 2 car garage at my folk's house so I have a lot of room to work in. Plus my dad has pretty much any tool I need right there, so it makes things a bit nicer. Plus that stack of wood is all scrap from shipments we get in at work, which means it's all free. :lol
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Today marks 1 month since I started posting my progress of the SHMUP arcade. :applaud:
Over the last couple days I've mounted the back panels and started working on the insides of the cabinet. Currently I have the 45 degree angle panel, the upper back panel and the lower panel completed. I still need to do the cabinet doors for the back, but I'll do that after I get the PC mounted on the slider board and the electronics and wires figured out.
Also I picked up a power strip and started testing out the monitor and PC. I played a little Gunbird 2 using the keyboard which helped me set up the sound system and adjust the color for the time being.
Angled back panel
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/45DegreePanel.jpg)
Sliders for the PC mounting board
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/SliderSlots.jpg)
Back panel
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/BackPanel.jpg)
Testing the PC and monitor w/ Gunbird 2
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/TestingThePC.jpg)
Close Up of the Monitor
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/ScreenCloseUp.jpg)
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nice, don't do do much testing! ;)
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Oh I wont. As fun as it is to play with a keyboard, I don't plan on playing it. I've got a lot to do yet, and I still need to do the real wiring. Not to mention that I need to trim the game list down.... do my mala layout...
Also, today I ordered 2 black push buttons, the rest of my t-molding and a key-wiz 40 encoder.
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So I have been testing things out and I picked up a Rocketfish 7 plug surge protector (http://www.rocketfishproducts.com/pc-184-12-rocketfish-7-outlet-homeoffice-surge-protector.aspx) with 1 master outlet and 4 slave outlets. The problem I am having with it is when I power down, it is not shutting off my monitor,speakers and marquee light.
After reading the little instruction paper they pack in with it, it says that the strip will power down when the PC goes into standby mode, but anything I've tried doesn't seem to work. The only thing that does work is physically flicking the power supply's power switch off after the PC is shut down. Which then turns off everything else like it is suppose to...
I know there has to be a way to get it to work properly as I don't want to have to extend a power switch to the cab along with the regular power button. :dizzy:
Any ideas on what I should be checking out?
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So I have been testing things out and I picked up a Rocketfish 7 plug surge protector (http://www.rocketfishproducts.com/pc-184-12-rocketfish-7-outlet-homeoffice-surge-protector.aspx) with 1 master outlet and 4 slave outlets. The problem I am having with it is when I power down, it is not shutting off my monitor,speakers and marquee light.
After reading the little instruction paper they pack in with it, it says that the strip will power down when the PC goes into standby mode, but anything I've tried doesn't seem to work. The only thing that does work is physically flicking the power supply's power switch off after the PC is shut down. Which then turns off everything else like it is suppose to...
I know there has to be a way to get it to work properly as I don't want to have to extend a power switch to the cab along with the regular power button. :dizzy:
Any ideas on what I should be checking out?
Does this not have a pot for setting the "startup" level? When I had a MAME cab, I had a similar product, and it had a little pot that you could calibrate with a screwdriver. Most computer draws a little power all the time as to be able to have network startup enabled etc, so if you have this setting, you'll have to set it to look for a surge way above that power level for it to do work it's magic.
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does it work if you choose SHUT DOWN instead of standby?
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Oh I thought I mentioned that. I does not power off the slave outlets if I select SHUT DOWN, like the power supply is still leeching power and telling the power strip that the PC is still on when it's not.
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thats weird. i know some of those strips do have a sensitivity adjustment, but not all of them. I used a craftsman auto switch for my cab...it had no adjustment, but works perfectly.
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Ya I'm gonna look into it and see if there is an adjustment. If not I'm going to hook that one up to another PC and see if it does the same thing. Worst case, I'll go looking at other strips.
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So I have been testing things out and I picked up a Rocketfish 7 plug surge protector (http://www.rocketfishproducts.com/pc-184-12-rocketfish-7-outlet-homeoffice-surge-protector.aspx) with 1 master outlet and 4 slave outlets. The problem I am having with it is when I power down, it is not shutting off my monitor,speakers and marquee light.
After reading the little instruction paper they pack in with it, it says that the strip will power down when the PC goes into standby mode, but anything I've tried doesn't seem to work. The only thing that does work is physically flicking the power supply's power switch off after the PC is shut down. Which then turns off everything else like it is suppose to...
I know there has to be a way to get it to work properly as I don't want to have to extend a power switch to the cab along with the regular power button. :dizzy:
Any ideas on what I should be checking out?
I have a Panasonic powerstip for my upcoming cab, and mine does the exact same thing as yours. It doesn't power up any of my peripherals unless the computer's power supply switch is turned to off. I haven't look for a pot to adjust it as emphatic suggested yet. (i will as soon as i get the chance to tho) I have noticed tho, that it will work if i left my computer off for long periods of time (matter of days) and then powered up... it's a complete mystery to me :dunno
There's got to be a way to get it to work properly. I know u can working something out and make it work.
And great progress on the cab btw. I really dig everything about it. :applaud:
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And great progress on the cab btw. I really dig everything about it. :applaud:
:cheers:
thats weird. i know some of those strips do have a sensitivity adjustment, but not all of them. I used a craftsman auto switch for my cab...it had no adjustment, but works perfectly.
I read about your auto switch, I looked into it, but I need 3 power outlets for the speakers, monitor and marquee light. Of course, I could use a splitter on one of the slave outlets I guess.
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yeah..i just plugged a cheap power strip into one of the outlets so I had enough.
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Not much progress-wise this week. I think I may have burned myself out a little with the pace I had been working, so I took a little break. But some things have happened this week regardless. I started planning of my MaLa layout, but I've not done any Photoshop/ Illustrator work yet. Mostly playing with the Layout editor and seeing what does what.
Sunday I ordered the rest of my T-Molding (40ft of Deep Space Blue, 6 ft of Black, 2 Black buttons for the hidden admin keys and a Key-Wiz 40 w/ screw terminals. Also I have my wire and am working on how I want to wire everything as neatly as possible. The CP top pops off the Cab, so I may mount the Key-Wiz and Opti-wiz to the bottom side of the CP. Then I'll run Grounds to junction blocks, also on the bottom side of the CP. This would make the only wires running from the CP stand the coin mechs and the 5v and ground to the power supply. This should give me the cleanest possible wiring I can think of.
Taking severedhed's suggestion, I'll be wiring P1's 5 and 6 buttons to the opti-wiz for mouse buttons. I looked into hacking a microswitch to the coin mechs, but decided against it. I think, I'll hide a Shazaam function so I can coin up. But my main goal is to get the mechs accepting tokens.... does anyone know if you have to tweak Happ $.25 coin mechs to accept Arcade Replay BOYAC tokens?
I've been slowly filling screw holes the last couple days too. Making sure the sides are as flush and smooth as possible. Since the artwork is going to betaped and painted, I need to have as nice a surface as possible to tape to and if it takes a boat load of wood putty, so be it. :lol
It looks like the only day I'll be working on the cab this weekend is Sunday. Which will prolly be a primer and sanding day if anything. Fun fun. But while I am doing that I can continue setting up the PC before I gut it and mount it in the cab. That way it's set to go after it's installed and I won't need to modify anything once it's in place... I grow tired of looking at windows sideways, haha.
I'm also going through my games list and deciding what I want to keep on the cab and what to pitch. I've got a decent list of games so far, mostly shoot em ups, of course. I'll write up a list of games once I've gotten it all decided.
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Here's some suggestions, hoping they're already on your list:
- Pulstar
- Raiden
- R-Type
- Slapshot / A.L.C.O.N.
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Here's some suggestions, hoping they're already on your list:
- Pulstar
- Raiden
- R-Type
- Slapshot / A.L.C.O.N.
I had R-type. But forgot Raiden and Pulstar... I've never heard of the Slapshot / A.L.C.O.N. though, I'll have to look into it.
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Here's some suggestions, hoping they're already on your list:
- Pulstar
- Raiden
- R-Type
- Slapshot / A.L.C.O.N.
I had R-type. But forgot Raiden and Pulstar... I've never heard of the Slapshot / A.L.C.O.N. though, I'll have to look into it.
Just for fun, you could post an up-to-date list of the games. It's easier to suggest games if we see the current list, otherwise you'll have people suggesting the same games over and over. ;)
Did I mention R-Type? ;D
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Ya, I totally agree. I'll post the games I have on my list when I get home from work.
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Here's some suggestions, hoping they're already on your list:
- Pulstar
- Raiden
- R-Type
- Slapshot / A.L.C.O.N.
I had R-type. But forgot Raiden and Pulstar... I've never heard of the Slapshot / A.L.C.O.N. though, I'll have to look into it.
That's because it's called Slap Fight. ;D
Here's some great shmups:
DoDonpachi
E.S.P. Ra.De.
Guwange
Twin Hawk
Twin Cobra
Flying Shark
Halley's Comet
Battle Garegga
Armed Police Batrider
Battle Bakraid
Strikers 1945
Strikers 1945 II
Strikers 1945 III
Dragon Blaze
Raiden Fighters 2
I'm only listing vertical games, as you have your screen this way already. :D
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Today I picked up the acrylic sheet for my CPO, I also bought a switch to work around the problem I am having with my PC and the power strip. Then I started priming the cabinet. this next week I am hoping to start painting the sides and doing the MaLa Layout and finalizing my gamelist.
Ok, here is the list of games I plan on having. I'm still working on it, I've been flexing my gray matter trying to think of anything I can for it. Suggestions are welcome! I am looking for a bowling game and anything else I need for the trackball...
Suggested games are in bold.
Shooters
1941: Counter Attack
1942
1943: The Battle of Midway
1943: Kai
1944: The Loop Master
19XX: The War Against Destiny
Alcon
Darius
Darius 2
Darius Gaiden
Defender
Dragon Blaze
DoDonpachi
G-Darius
Galaxian
Galaga
Galaga 3
Galaga '88
Gradius
Gradius II
Gradius III
Gunbird
Gunbird 2
Guwange
Ikaruga
Pulsar
R-Type
R-Type II
Raiden
Raiden II
Radiant Silvergun
Salamander (Life Force)
Salamander 2
Solar Assualt
Space Harrier
Space Invaders
Strikers 1945
Strikers 1945 II
Truxton
Truxton II
Twin Hawk
Twin Cobra
Xevious
Super Xevious
Run n' Gun
Commando
Contra
Super Contra
Mercs
Metal Slug
Metal Slug 2
Metal Slug X
Metal Slug 3
Metal Slug 4
Metal Slug 5
Metal Slug 6
Beat em Up
Alien Vs Predator
Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom
Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara
Final Fight
Gauntlet
Gauntlet II
Gauntlet Legends
Gauntlet Dark Legacy
Golden Axe
The Punisher
The Simpsons
Spider-Man The Video Game
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time
X-Men: The Arcade Game
Fighting
Dead or Alive
Dead or Alive 2
King of Fighters (series)
Marvel Super Heroes
Marvel Vs Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes
Marvel Vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes
Mega Man: The Power Battle
Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat 2
Mortal Kombat 3
Mortal Kombat 4
Soul Calibur
Souledge
Street Fighter (series)
Street Fighter II (All Versions)
Street Fighter III (all versions)
Tekken
Tekken 2
Tekken 3
X-Men: Children of the Atom
X-Men Vs. Street Fighter
Puzzle / Platform
Burgertime
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Jr.
Donkey Kong 3
Haunted Castle
Mario Bros
Mr. Driller
Mr. Driller 2
Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man
Popeye
Rampage
Rampage: World Tour
Trackball Games
Atari Football
Centipede
Golden Tee (all versions)
Marble Madness
Millipede
Missle Command
SegaSonic The Hedgehog
Misc Sports
NeoGeo Super Dodgeball
Capcom Sports Club (love the tennis in this game)
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Truxton and Truxton II are fantastic shooters as well (If you like Raiden/Twin Cobra etc).
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Ha I'll try anything I've not played. :)
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I started work on my layout for MaLa. Here it is! Critique away, I haven't really figured out how to set the screenshots up yet. I've been doing some digging, but any help with it is appreciated!
The layout is a fixed size layout for a 1024 x 768 resolution. I may use a little darker gray for the background, not sure yet. I do know that pure white was killing my eyes though. :lol
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/MaLaLayout-1.jpg)
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If you really like 1943, you should try 1943 Kai as well, as it's a wholly different game.
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I think that layout looks really good. You may be right about the white being a bit overbearing after a while, but its not like people are going to sit and stare at that screen forever since they'll want to start playing something asap.
Honkyharris
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Just my opinions...
I like your logo, but it doesn't really stick out. It gets lost.
I would change the background to black, or at least something a lot darker. Maybe a starfield?
I would thin down all those blue lines. It would give you more space for the objects as well as get rid of a lot of clutter. I think it might also make your logo stand out a bit more.
I don't like the reticle in the bottom left. Maybe replace it with a cache of bombs, like most shmups have the in the bottom left?
Also, if you get rid of the gray screenshot box, you won't have problems of pics/vids not filling that space. Unless you're stretching them, that is.
Overall, I think you have a nice and unique design. Keep it up!
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Just my opinions...
I like your logo, but it doesn't really stick out. It gets lost.
I would change the background to black, or at least something a lot darker. Maybe a starfield?
I would thin down all those blue lines. It would give you more space for the objects as well as get rid of a lot of clutter. I think it might also make your logo stand out a bit more.
I don't like the reticle in the bottom left. Maybe replace it with a cache of bombs, like most shmups have the in the bottom left?
Also, if you get rid of the gray screenshot box, you won't have problems of pics/vids not filling that space. Unless you're stretching them, that is.
Overall, I think you have a nice and unique design. Keep it up!
Mostly the grey screenshot box is only there as a place older until I actually figure out how to work snaps.
I've got the layout on my usb drive so I can test it out on my actual cab tonight, that way I can make notes on what needs to be modified and what works/ doesn't work on my actual monitor. I'm tempted to remove the logo from it and just leave the crosshair in place. Mostly because the logo is already on the marquee and the Control panel... we'll see.
This project has only grown because of everyone's suggestions. Thanks for the input!
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mala layout looks pretty good. i'd definately get rid of the gray box for the snaps...if you want a box, make it black so that the snaps blend in.
you could place text fields on top of those blue lines, instead of trying to only use the blank space.
if you need help getting the snaps working let me know, it is easy
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Ya I may need a little bit of a hand with it, but first I need the actual snaps. Which I am thinking of making my own for the game list. I think the list I've posted is pretty much final, unless I can the trackball bowling game I remember playing when I was little... I think it was by the Golden Tee guys.... not sure.
As for the text on the blue areas, I tried it and didn't really care for it. The only other stat I may want to add to the layout is # of plays for a given game. but I may leave it out and keep it as streamlined as possible. :)
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I think I would also move the game mfg and year to a wide horiz box, maybe white text on a dark blue line?
This mfg's can get extremely long and don't serve much purpose in a small box like that.
...just something that gives it a little more polished look.
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I am not a big fan of alot of text in my layout. all i have on my DK cab is game name and year, as well as number of plays.
as for bowling games, World Class Bowling is the best one i have found.
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Thanks guys, I may play with things a bit more before I settle on something. ha, right now I have the arcade pc stacked on top of my regular XPS desktop and I have my laptop connected to the net next to me so I can check things and work on the actual arcade PC rather than jumping from the XPS to the arcade and then having to deal with missing files/ naming issues.
I'm actually in the middle of trimming the gameslist down too. Then after that, Photoshop gets installed on the arcade and I start making title screen snaps. :D
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Last night, I mounted a switchbox for my main power switch. I decided that I had enough racking my brain trying to get the surge protector to work. So I am going to take one of my generic power strips and use that, and wire it in to an on/off switch. Now i just need to sand and reprime where my saber saw was sitting. I also drilled the holes in my acrylic sheet for the CP and got it sanded to match the CP top.
On / Off Switches. The light switch is the master power switch and the push button will Start and Shutdown the PC
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/OnOffSwitches.jpg)
The surge protector hardwired to the light switch
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/PowerCenter.jpg)
Control Panel Holes drilled and buttons/ Joys mounted
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/PlexiDrilled.jpg)
After I got home from working on the cab I set up the arcade pc at my desk and continued setting it up. I was up til 2am last night sifting through my list of games and sorting out what was what. Luckily I was smart enough to set up a layout in mala that showed the name of the rom folder on screen, so I could do things a bit faster.
I've got about 135 games in the list, and I moved the other games to another folder on my hdd so I can go through them later to see if I missed anything. I also tried my hand at making gamelists and a mala tree. But now I have to find a way to set up titles of each list in the layout so you can tell which list you are in, since I am using the same layout for everthing. I may make multiple copies of the same layout and just put a text box above the games list and change the title accordingly, it's prolly the easiest solution. :lol
Either way, I think my layout is almost completed and the PC is close to being ready. Once it's all set I can dismantle it and mount it on a board and slide it in place. Then all that's left to do is the interfacing and graphics! woot!
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You don't need to use tree if youre using strictly "horizontal" navigation. Tree is for Explorer-type "up-n-down" navigation, usually used for different emus. My layout has lists that are themed Racing. Fighting, Sports, Maze, etc, switching with left/right on the joystick. No tree needed. You will have to make a different layout set for each "page" though.
And you don't need to split up titles/snaps/roms into different folders. Just keep them all in one pile, the gamelist will match the images with the rom selected. Most users keep the entire downloaded folders intact, letting mala only show what the gamelist says to show. This also allows you to directly update your sets without rebuilding some funky folder structure.
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Ahh I was doing the same horizontal navigation last night, I just figured that's what the mala tree was. :lol
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Pictures added to my previous status update! And now I am off to put the shine to the MaLa Layout and finalize that. :cheers:
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Here is it, my (pretty much final) Mala layout for Shmup. I was going to get all fancy and do a scrolling marquee list for the games list, but I decided to go with text instead. But I was able to get snaps working no problem at all and snagged my snaps from emumovies. I also decided to keep it simple and just use a single games list for all the games on the cab, which is only like 130 total, much more manageable than the behemoth of a list I originally had to contend with.
Here we go! (sadly Ikaruga doesn't work) :(
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/ShmupMaLaLayout.jpg)
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cool, looking good. YOu can always split your game lists up later if you want....i have found that it is unnecessary. I went through and made about 6 or 7 different game lists on my mame cab, one for shmups, one for fighting games, etc. teh only one i ever use is called Favorites, and it just has all of the games i play. occasionally i'll switch to the all games list if someone requests a game i dont have on my favorites, but that doesnt happen too often.
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It looks good and will match your cabinet very well. The only thing I would change is to make an overlayed horizontal box across the game list where the selected game can get even wider space. This way, you could bump up the text size even more (if MALA lets you, I'm not familiar with it as an avid fan of GameEx). The background of this box could be semi-transparent, or have a shade of blue as the background, and with a white outline of the selected game text, this should give a boost to the presentation IMO.
Something like this:
(http://www.pici.se/pictures/wnlsAgcWX.jpg)
Or you could put a bit of shade over everything but the logo, the selected game and the screenshot (I forgot that in my mockup):
(http://www.pici.se/pictures/nQuepvIas.jpg)
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Something like this:
(http://www.pici.se/pictures/wnlsAgcWX.jpg)
Ooh me likey, ha. I'll have to play with that tonight and see what I can come up with for sure! Thanks for the ideas! :cheers:
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There is no transparency in Mala, but you can fake the dimming by applying a brightness effect to that layer in PS.
The text size and color is no problem, but you wont' get the outlines.
There is a gradient setting for the gamelist though. You could have it ascend from white to orange as it closes on the center "indicator".
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I'm not going to worry about dimming anything. I think just adding the indicator will make the list pop enough. I'm going to have to play around with the list though, I like the text gradient, but it seems like the size of the text and the size of the selected game text are relative. Which means I may have to go with a set size on the list text instead.... I'll figure it out.
Just a couple more tweaks to the PC and then I'll be ready to mount it in the cab! Wee! Plus this weekend I think I'll pick up my paint and start planning the graphics for the sides.
On another note, the wheels I mounted on the bottom broke. Which I had thought they were going to hold up. But after a month of rolling the cab from point a to point b they are no longer functional and slide rather than roll.
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I'm not going to worry about dimming anything. I think just adding the indicator will make the list pop enough. I'm going to have to play around with the list though, I like the text gradient, but it seems like the size of the text and the size of the selected game text are relative. Which means I may have to go with a set size on the list text instead.... I'll figure it out.
Just a couple more tweaks to the PC and then I'll be ready to mount it in the cab! Wee! Plus this weekend I think I'll pick up my paint and start planning the graphics for the sides.
On another note, the wheels I mounted on the bottom broke. Which I had thought they were going to hold up. But after a month of rolling the cab from point a to point b they are no longer functional and slide rather than roll.
that sucks about the wheels, although i can't say i'm surprised. check your local harbor freight (if you have one). they have a decent selection of heavy duty casters that are reasonably priced.
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that sucks about the wheels, although i can't say i'm surprised. check your local harbor freight (if you have one). they have a decent selection of heavy duty casters that are reasonably priced.
Oh, I'm not surprised either. When my dad first suggested them I had my doubts. But he's a mechanic, so I figured I'd take his advice. ha
Ya we have a Harbor Frieght in town, which is actually the place I was goign to get my wheels in the first place. And that's where I got my slot cutter and forsner bits. =)
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Ha, the title says it all! I've been looking around online for a happ trackball, but I didn't want to pay the happ price on their retail site. After looking around Ebay I found a couple of different happ trackballs and was torn between translucent blue and solid blue....
Well, my mind was made up and I went with neither! Instead I noticed that twistedquarter was selling a Blue and White marbled happ 3" trackball. I had to have it, the thought of it spinning on the CP did me in and rather than order from ebay, I went to TQ's site found it and ordered it up. I expect it sometime next week.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/trackball.jpg)
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Heya, you mentioned you used Acrylic, did you have any problems cutting/drilling it etc? I'm about to order mine, and I'm weighing up acrylic or polycarbonate for the control panel.
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I didn't have much of a problem with the acrylic sheet. I scored both sides of it and had it clamped in our sheet metal break. So it was firmly in place and then I used the breaking edge to snap the extra pieces off. The main problem I had with it was my little angled sections on the front of the CP top, but I belt sanded all the edges after with it clamped to the CP so all the edges match perfectly.
If you don't have a break though, you can easily do it with 2 pieces of plywood clamped together to sandwich it in place and then just make sure you have a nice sharp razor to score it with. I maybe went over kill on my scoring, but the more you score it the better the edge will be. :)
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Haha, sounds simple, but I've got round corners... Am thinking polycarbonate because I hear it's a bit easier to attack with a router.
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Hmm yeah... I don't have to guts to test out my router on the scrap pieces I have. For you to see how it works either. :lol
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haha no worries, I'm thinking I'll stick with the polycarbonate ;) Will use Acrylic for the marquee etc though
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Earlier today I ordered my trackball from Twisted Quarter, it's up the page here. (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=95293.msg1017681#msg1017681) This is the last of the parts I need for the build and all that is left is the paint and some misc wiring pieces.
Working off of Emphatic's suggection on how to work the text and visability of the selected game in MaLa I took the ball and ran with it. I was able to keep the size gradient of the list while still being able to make the Selected game's text as large as possible. It took a lot of trial and error to get the list text the right size, so as it stayed in the white box of the list area, but I got it.
I also decided to add genre info in with the date and manufacturer information to help fill out that area. I also added number of times played to the snap area. It looks super tiny in the pic, but I assure you all, it's pretty much a perfect size on screen. :)
As for the layout, it's pretty much complete. I just need to work out the misc. window imagery to go with my theme and then work on hiding windows as much as possible.
As for Cab work today. I cut the board to mount the PC components to and drilled the holes to run my wiring. I also started planning of the doors for the back and wet sanded my primer coat. I'll be adding a few more primer coats before I paint the Pure White paint onto the side. I'm also planning the bezel area hopefully soon I can order out the Marquee and CPO. But I may wait to recoup some $$.
And here it is! The Final layout! Enjoy!
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/ShmupLayoutFinal-1.jpg)
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nice work man!
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Love that trackball!
@Jeef
Just rout the acrylic...you can flush trim the button holes after drilling just a pilot hole for the router bit to poke through...the sides just use a trim flush router bit.
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nice work man!
Thanks! I'm super proud and impressed with myself for figuring it out!
Love that trackball!
I KNOW! It's awesome, I totally pulled an Epyx and impulse bought it. But hell, it'll look so sick when it's spinning.
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About the acrylic vs, polycarb...
Drilling and shaping acrylic (Plexiglas) can be problematic if your'e not careful; it cracks and shatters. Polycarbonate (Lexan) is a lot more forgiving. If you're rough with it you will prolly melt or burn it first. That's what they make those break-proof windows out of. And if you're an RC car guy, you know how tough those bodies are.
I'm a polycarb guy myself. ;D
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Drilling and shaping acrylic (Plexiglas) can be problematic if your'e not careful; it cracks and shatters. Polycarbonate (Lexan) is a lot more forgiving.
I drilled my Acrylic sheets with forstner bits with a bit of pressure and decent speed. So rather than just cutting the edges of the holes I was shaving the surface away. The panel was sandwiched between the CP and a board, which helped. The trackball hole was cut using a 3" hole saw in a drill press with out the arbor bit in the center.
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Some progress has been made over the last few days. Mainly little things, such as fastening the cables and power cords to the side of the cabinet to keep them out of the way. I've decided to scrap the door idea for the back and go with a solid backer, this will allow me to carry the cab on a movers cart when needed and not have to use an extra board for support while moving. I'm also going to cut holes in the upper back panel and mount a pair of case fans to it for ventilation.
I've been working some more the PC end of things, buttoning up everything and getting it ready so I can mount it on the board later this week. But I've noticed I am now getting an error with some games when I go to play them. I'm not positive if it's exactly the same everytime, cause it only flashes on the screen for a second. I was able to snap a screen cap of it when trying to run Aero Fighters....
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/error-3.jpg)
I think I may need to find another batch and see if that fixes it. But I do know that Donkey Kong and a few other games that were working have stopped working. I took my folder and deleted everything and recopied them all back into place. But even fresh copies arent fixing it. :banghead:
On a little note. I picked up my paints! I decided to go with Semi-Gloss paint rather than High Gloss. And tonight I put the final coat of primer down. Tomorrow I will enter paint hell and begin putting the Pure White down. I plan on sanding and painting multiple coats, until I am almost completely out of White paint. This way I can give myself the nicest surface possible. But it also means I'll be slowing down considerably.
Here are the paint colors again:
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/Paints.jpg)
Other than painting, this week I am placing my order for the rest of my wiring supplies. And I'll start work on wiring in the control panel to the Key Wiz. as well as mounting the trackball and getting that ready.
...now back to this rom issue.... :dizzy:
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If you want to find out what the errors are just run mame command line style from a command prompt without your front end. That way the box will stay on the screen and you can see what the errors are.
Encryptor
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It seems that your ROM file for that game is no longer valid. Did you update your MAME.exe and not the rom set?
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It seems that your ROM file for that game is no longer valid. Did you update your MAME.exe and not the rom set?
Not that I know of. The only thing I've done is move the Mame and Mala folders to another location on the hard drive. Then after that I noticed games not working. I'm going to look into it some more tonight.
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Not that I know of. The only thing I've done is move the Mame and Mala folders to another location on the hard drive. Then after that I noticed games not working. I'm going to look into it some more tonight.
You say you moved them to another location on your hard drive. This may seem like a silly question but are the paths different now that you've moved things?
Encryptor
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Nope I changed all the paths, lol. I then moved them back to where they were originally and changed all the paths back again.
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I did some looking into it and I think it might be a parent/clone issue. I'll have to do some testing tonight.
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Progress as slowed a little bit, as a massive cold has taken hold of my family. I've been feeling a little under the weather because of it and not really felt like working on the cabinet. Also, I still have been having issues with games not working, and I'll be looking for another batch tonight to see if that fixes anything... all my versions are correct and the rom sets match my Mame version, so I am completely stumped....
On another note, as of this morning, I hadn't heard anything on the trackball i order from Twisted Quarter. It's been a week since I placed my order, so I figured I'd shoot off an email asking about it.
Apparently the blue marbled balls that they had received, where mostly all white and have little to no blue in them. As a result, they had to order out a new shipment and return the ones they had in stock. Which pushed back my order. Someone was supposed to let me know what was going on, but never did. But, Andrew emailed me back super quick to tell me what the deal was and even called my cell phone to talk to me personally about it to let me know.
All in all, a minor snafu. But great customer service from Twisted Quarter! :cheers:
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Late to the party, very nice, just thought it was strange nobody mentioned the 4-3 button set instead of the 6 button. Neo Geo has some of the best Shooting games, and the 4 then 3 rows work so well for it. And its the single thing that I really (no really, I wish i had done many things different on my cab, but its the single most annoying one) wish i had done that i didnt.
One of the best original artwork cabs I have seen..
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Late to the party, very nice, just thought it was strange nobody mentioned the 4-3 button set instead of the 6 button. Neo Geo has some of the best Shooting games, and the 4 then 3 rows work so well for it. And its the single thing that I really (no really, I wish i had done many things different on my cab, but its the single most annoying one) wish i had done that i didnt.
One of the best original artwork cabs I have seen..
Thanks!
I thought about the 7 button layout in the beginning, but opted to go with a more "standard arcade" 6 button look instead. Mostly because that is what I am more accustom to from using my Hori arcade stick for my Xbox 360.
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I also was very nearly going to go the 4&3. Was actually going to do 3&4, but I only found one game that used the 4 in a row. I know there's more, but it's down to what you play. Also, my partner told me she wouldn't use her pinky in a game. So I'm actually going to configure the whole top for to be button 4 when I play Metal Slug.
Gutted to hear about the progress slow down, looking forward to seeing this one finished :)
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Gutted to hear about the progress slow down, looking forward to seeing this one finished :)
Ya It was going to happen eventually... The worst part is I really wanted to get the White paint finished this week. But I guess I'll have to do it this weekend and next week before I take my mini-vacation the 9th - 12th. But I assure you it will get finished! I want to see how it turns out when it's complete as well.
My terminals all arrived today! So I am actually in the process of wiring the underside of the CP to the KeyWiz. The trackball I am getting is USB, so I am shelving my Optiwiz, and since the trackball harness has wiring on it for buttons I'll just run those wires to P1 B5 and B6. Can't wait to get that trackball in my hands and check it out in person!! :cheers:
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I recieved most of my wiring supplies today, The only things I am missing are the jumpers for the terminal blocks. Using the terminal blocks just seems to make more sense to me over daisy chaining. Plus I didn't want to solder the wires to the microswitches and i don't like the look of piggyback terminals.
I'll have to check the P1 Joystick's Left terminal, it seems to be really close to the side of the box, but it looks like there should be enough room. If not I'll just bend the tabs a bit to compensate. All the wires are hooked up, except for the P1 5 and 6 buttons. Which will be attached to the trackball's harness using the "mouse button" wires. I'm hoping that the trackball arrives Wednesday or Thursday next week, that way I can do a little testing on the cab and play with it all before I leave Friday.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CPwired.jpg)
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Hopefully the trackball will arrive...I really liked the colour on it. Just curious on how you have wired the ground...I see multiple ground wires going into the terminal strip but only one ground coming out?
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The ground wires go to the terminal blocks and there are supposed to be jumper straps connecting them together. But the straps were backordered, so I have to install them later. Once I get them I'll jump the terminals down to the bottom ground going to the key-wiz on either side and it'll work.
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Gotcha, that makes sense then. That would certainly cut back on some crimping :)
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Totally, and i don't care much for the look of soldered wire running everywhere.
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Today I got a ton of work done on the Cab. First of all, I double checked my coin mechs and adjusted them to accept tokens consistantly. After which, I wired the coin switches to the Keywiz along with the Pause and Shift buttons. But before I began work on the Control Panel, I wet sanded and painted another coat of White on the sides of the cab. I then took a damp cloth and wiped any saw dust from the black areas. Maybe this week I'll be able to start on the Blue stripes on the sides. I am tempted to forgo the Crosshairs on the sides, it depends on if I can find a way to make perfect circles and triangles for each of them... I really want to have them on there, so I'll be looking into ways to make some stencils, etc.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CPBoxWiring.jpg)
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CPWiring.jpg)
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CabWhite.jpg)
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Last night I recieved a FedEx tracking notification, telling me that my trackball has been shipped and should arrive on the 8th! This is pretty good news, since I'll be able to tinker with it before I leave for vacation on Friday.
Here is a picture of one like it.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/trackball.jpg)
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Hey all, my trackball arrived today and I was able to get it installed no problem! It looks awesome and I will get a picture of it in place as soon as possible... (I forgot my camera at my apartment) I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon for a little bit of a weekend getaway and so I won't be working on things at all this weekend...
Everything fit so nicely, but when I went to screw down the acrylic for the CPO.. I snapped it on the second to last screw. I even predrilled my holes, but I think that the screw threads actually caught on it and it cracked... so when I get back I'll have to get another sheet and this time, I'll just drill the holes over size.
Anyway, Hopefully I can get some decent progress done on the cab next week. This week was pretty much shot in the foot due to having to prep for a trip... I really hope I can get started on the stripes soon!
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Ouch man, gutted about the acrylic :(
But looking forward to the new photos, have a good holiday :)
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Why do you even need screws? You don't use the buttons to hold the acrylic in place already?
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Why do you even need screws? You don't use the buttons to hold the acrylic in place already?
The buttons hold most of it down, but when I was handling it, the corners would flop a bit. So I though I'd screw it all down. I think I may forgo the screws next time. Ha, oh well, this whole project is a learning process. :)
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Ya, I wouldn't bother with the screws. Have the t-molding and buttons hold it in place.
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Or if you really want to hold it down like that, I would suggest bolts instead.
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Ya, these are a nice smooth headed interior screw. Usually a button goes on top of the screw head. But I've decided to just use the T-molding and buttons to hold it down, since the idea is to keep it as clean and sleek as possible.
2 more hours of work! It can't go by fast enough. :cheers:
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2 more hours of work! It can't go by fast enough. :cheers:
:D I hear you on that! I typically go to home depot at lunch to buy whatever I need for the nights work, and now I just need the day to end so I can do some real 'work' !
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I hear you on that! I typically go to home depot at lunch to buy whatever I need for the nights work, and now I just need the day to end so I can do some real 'work' !
Double hear both of you on that. I just did my lunch break Home Depot trip ;) Long weekend and a lot planned, can't wait.
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i would like to triple hear you on that but,i am such a lazy t**t and we dont have home depot here in uk so i cant.
man,i am such a lazy person,my bartop has made no real progress and i am waiting on my control sticks for my fbot conversion so i can continue on the cp.
your cab looks soo good,be sure to give us some vids of her running when you finish it.
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I got back from my weekend trip a day early. So I decided to spend my day off from work tinkering in the garage.
First off, before I forget. Here is the picture of my 3" marble trackball mounted in the CP.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CPTrackballMounted.jpg)
Today I started drawing out the lines for the side art on the right panel of the cab and I will start drawing the same design on the other side tomorrow too. After which I will start painting the colors on the sides. I've decided to go to one of my local sign shops and get vinyl decals made up of the crosshairs rather than painting them on. There is no way I'll be able to make a decent stencil for them and make it look professional.
I ran to Home Depot and bought 2 pieces of acrylic. One to replace my CP and the other for the monitor. I also picked up a 1/4" panel of MDF and cut it to size and cut the monitor area out. I just need to get some more Black paint and paint it as well as touch up the CP stand, since I scuffed it on the sides when I was hammering down the T-molding on the side I have already drawn the graphics on.
Other minor details I took care of today were mounting the power button on top of the cab and the switch plate for the light switch I am using for the master power switch.
I am currently fighting my roms trying to figure out why they have all stopped working. I redownloaded mame v.134 thinking that may help. but I got nothing. So, I deleted all my rom files and am now in the process of replacing them.... Even games that were working like Gunbird, Gunbird 2, Mr. Driller, Contra, all the 1942 series of games, Donkey Kong and Frogger have all stopped working.... I'm getting a headache. :banghead:
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I got back from my weekend trip a day early. So I decided to spend my day off from work tinkering in the garage.
First off, before I forget. Here is the picture of my 3" marble trackball mounted in the CP.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CPTrackballMounted.jpg)
Today I started drawing out the lines for the side art on the right panel of the cab and I will start drawing the same design on the other side tomorrow too. After which I will start painting the colors on the sides. I've decided to go to one of my local sign shops and get vinyl decals made up of the crosshairs rather than painting them on. There is no way I'll be able to make a decent stencil for them and make it look professional.
I ran to Home Depot and bought 2 pieces of acrylic. One to replace my CP and the other for the monitor. I also picked up a 1/4" panel of MDF and cut it to size and cut the monitor area out. I just need to get some more Black paint and paint it as well as touch up the CP stand, since I scuffed it on the sides when I was hammering down the T-molding on the side I have already drawn the graphics on.
Other minor details I took care of today were mounting the power button on top of the cab and the switch plate for the light switch I am using for the master power switch.
I am currently fighting my roms trying to figure out why they have all stopped working. I redownloaded mame v.134 thinking that may help. but I got nothing. So, I deleted all my rom files and am now in the process of replacing them.... Even games that were working like Gunbird, Gunbird 2, Mr. Driller, Contra, all the 1942 series of games, Donkey Kong and Frogger have all stopped working.... I'm getting a headache. :banghead:
I'm just a new guy, but I finished (not really) my MAME cab. I was having issues with all kinds of roms and realized what version of MAME worked. First, I did what Saint used in his Project Arcade which is v.79, audit and saw that most of my roms worked ok, then I went to v.13x and everything went ca-blewy.
I recommend trying a older version of MAME, then work your way up.
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Thanks, actually I got it fixed a little bit ago. What happened was my roms were packed for .134 and originally I had Mame .134 installed, but somewhere along the line I accidentally replaced .134 with .133 and it totally jacked everything up. So now, all my games work and I can continue to set up the gameslist and PC...
Now I just need to figure out why my trackball isn't working in mame and why I can't seem to map mouse buttons 5 and 6 to my P1 control scheme.
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After a day of reworking Mame and reaquiring rom files, I finally was able to get the games to work properly. Also I played with the control panel to make sure all the player buttons and the trackball worked. I had a few minor problems getting the trackball to work in game, but after a little research on Mamedev.org I was able to pin point one of my problems. The mame.ini file had mouse set to 0 so I changed that to 1 and I also plugged the trackball into the PS/2 connector in the back, rather than the usb.
After i changed my connection from the USB to the PS/2 I was then able to map the P1 buttons 5 and 6 to the left and right mouse buttons. I was really getting frustrated with the trackball and it's buttons after all of it. But it all works now and tomorrow I can gut my PC case and mount the system to the board I have set aside for the PC.
Which means... I will have a working PC, and controls inside an unfinished cabinet. But really all that means is I can play arcade games while I am waiting for paint to dry between coats! Hooray!
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Today after work, I finished up drawing the lines on the cabinet. I also fit the plexiglass to the monitor area and primed the bezel. I cut the new plexi for the CP Overlay and just have to drill the button and trackball holes and that will be all set.
After I got home, I began tweaking a few things for MaLa. I decided to make an intro video as well as a full screen loading screen rather than the little loading dialog box that pops up.
I posted the intro video on my youtube account. Which you can all check out ShumpVid 0001 xvid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDfWlTmBiTc#) It basically a quick run though of various shooter game screenshots with the SHMUP logo at the end. The song that plays is called "A Cold Winter's Kiss" by a local band call Besieged.
Here is my loading screen, I rotated it vertical rather than how the original file was horizontal.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/SHMUPLoadingsmall.jpg)
Tomorrow I hope to begin taping and painting the stripes. And hopefully I'll get the PC completely buttoned up and mounted onto my board so I can install it too.
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I like the intro and loading screen. What is the voice you used? Sounds almost like Hal from 2001?
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Oh it's Sam Neil from Event Horizon. =)
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Doh...of course!
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Ya, actually Besieged already had it sampled in the song, so I just needed to fit enough screens in there before the singer starts growling into the mic. :)
I think it works perfectly. Now if I could only get it to be higher resolution... sigh. But! For now, Mala is done. And my PC is good to go. :cheers:
Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I am super proud of my work with MaLa, I would never have guessed a month ago that I would have made a custom layout like this one, complete with a video intro and a screensaver of snaps, etc. The program really did seem pretty intimidating at first glance.
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The video is down, and I'm uploading a new version, a little nicer quality.... and the right side up. Because, apparently when you set a video in MaLa it rotates it for the layout... so my video was playing upside down. :dunno
EDIT: And it's back up! :burgerking:
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Sweet stuff Ryglore. I'm just going to be getting into the mala stuff here soon so i'm hoping I can exceed my expectations as you did!
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Sweet stuff Ryglore. I'm just going to be getting into the mala stuff here soon so i'm hoping I can exceed my expectations as you did!
Thanks! It's not that hard at all, if you need help let me know for sure. Next up for me is a custom bootskin so I can hid windows almost completely. =D
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After doing more research, I found a program called Bootskin (http://www.stardock.com/products/bootskin/). Which will replace my Windows boot up screen with a customized screen, without having to go into the system and mess with the system files.
I found a sweet tutorial on how to make it over on the WinCustomize Forums (http://forums.wincustomize.com/97764) and started work on it. Here is a little .gif of how it should look like once I get it in place. I plan on making my desktop black and try to hide it as much as possible too. That way it seems like it boots up the cab, plays the intro video and jumps into MaLa.
Once i get the cab all set up and complete, I'll record a boot up video.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/shmup-2.gif)
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hey Ryglore, I've been following this thread with a lot of interest for a while now, not sure if I've posted yet so first I gotta say what a great job you've done so far! I love the artwork and custom mala/bootskin layouts you've made. You're putting so much effort into making this thing look good it's making me want to start again on my cab! (it's been functional for over 2 years now, straight black with a boring mamewah layout)
But anyway, on to my point, have you ever heard of instant sheller? http://www.gameex.net/Community/InstantShellerandshellingguide/tabid/73/Default.aspx (http://www.gameex.net/Community/InstantShellerandshellingguide/tabid/73/Default.aspx)
It practically completely hides windows yet it's easily reversible. You can set it to boot straight into mala instead of explorer and when you want to get windows back up, just CTRL+ALT+DEL and run explorer.exe
I apologize if you already know all of this, keep up the good work
Hewskie
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Oh, awesome. I'm going to have to look into this. I can't get bootskin to work at all.... And I would love to hid windows as much as possible.
If you love what I've gotten accomplished so far, wait til I get finished with what I am working on right now. :)
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Tonight I began by taping off the lines to the artwork on the sides, and painting them with Behr Costa Rica Blue. I also test fit the bezel and painted it Black... it may need another coat. After I got home, I began playing with BootSkin, but I am unable to make it work, so I'll be going with InstantSheller like Hewskie suggests. While I was working on the cab, I came up with a new idea for an intro video, and being myself.. I had to take up the creative challenge.
The new intro features a quote from Fallout 3 and starts like a credit roll for a console game. Complete with my DigitalSomething.com logo and the Mame logo. The screenshots still scroll through and it ends with the SHMUP logo. I also took the theme song "Super Shooter" by Rip Slyme from the anime Gantz and cut it apart and rearranged it to fit my needs.
All in all, a productive day.
Fitting the Bezel
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/BezelTest.jpg)
Painting the Bezel
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/bezel.jpg)
Taped off sides!
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/TapedOffBottom.jpg)
Painting the lines.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/PaintedBottom.jpg)
Updated Video Intro (The music may change)
ShmupIntro (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca_A4dloruY#)
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That side is going to look sweet. Costa Rica Blue eh? Very nice. I like the intro as well! :cheers:
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Hey. I don't pick the color names. :P
My main concern with the sides right now are having the edges peel up. But I plan on having a 1/4" overlay on the edges anyway. Which will make all the borders 3/4" wide total. So if they do peel a little, then I can just cover it with black and it should be ok.
Ya, that video turned out pretty good for my 2nd time ever using windows movie maker. 10x better than my first one, for sure.
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I like the video, I'd make it a little shorter if it were me, but it's a nice job for sure.
Anyway, don't give up on bootskin, are you using stardock's bootskin? the program really enhances your boot up and lends itself well to instant sheller. I use the wild blueberry one from here :http://www.xpthemes.com/skins.asp?searchtext=mame&sort=Name&order=Descending&library=32 (http://www.xpthemes.com/skins.asp?searchtext=mame&sort=Name&order=Descending&library=32)
some great info to setting up bootskin here: http://forums.wincustomize.com/97764 (http://forums.wincustomize.com/97764)
keep up the great work :applaud:
Hewskie
PS. can't wait to see those stripes
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Ya it's stardock's bootskin. I have my skin in the menu, but when I go to use it I was getting a "Windows did not start properly" error... I followed the tutorial on that link earlier and I dont know what happened.... I'd love to hide Windows behind a custom "SHMUP" logo start up screen. So I'll look into it some more for sure.
The plan is to make this things as "non-PC" as possible. I'm totally digging the instant sheller idea. I'll be looking up info on Instant Sheller and Bootskin more tomorrow as soon as I can.
Ya I'm super geeked about seeing those lines too. It will finally stop looking like a giant white box! :D
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I did some research on Instant Sheller and Bootskin. I think I have bootskin figured out and why it wasn't working. I still have to read up a bit more on instant sheller to make sure I have everything I need before I begin. It should be no problem, but to make sure I'll be backing up my Mala and Mame folders to my external hard drive before I begin, which will most likely be Sundayish.
Thanks again Hewskie! This will really help set off my cab when it loads up and shut it down!
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Still can't get bootskin to work. I deleted the old file, and imported it via a .bootskin folder like it says. But when Windows loads it reverts right back to the default Windows XP boot screen. I tinkered with it for a while, but decided to set it aside for now while I compile mame .134 with the hi score and no nag screen add on. Since having a working copy of mame running is more important than the boot up process at the moment.
Any ideas on what to do with Bootskin will be helpful though!
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I kinda wondered I have seen many people here making intro movies for there arcade cab. How do you do that as in to what programs you use etc.
Nice cabinet btw, must be hard to paint that art work.
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I kinda wondered I have seen many people here making intro movies for there arcade cab. How do you do that as in to what programs you use etc.
Nice cabinet btw, must be hard to paint that art work.
For the logos and quote screens I used Illustrator to make 4 still images of the logos/quote. Then I imported them into Photoshop and saved them as PNG files at 640 x 480 resolution. Then to make the video, I just used Windows Movie Maker, it took a bit of getting used to, but it's pretty simple to use.
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Lots of interesting things to talk about tonight!
First of all,I was unable to do much work on the painting side of things tonight, since my Dad had to use the saws in the garage today, and you don't paint while someone is throwing saw dust everywhere... It's not pretty. But I did remove the tape from the light blue lines on the sides. The painted never pulled up once while I was peeling the tape off, though some of the paint did seep underneath. Though, it's not a big deal, since I will be putting black borders around everything.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/LightBlueLines.jpg)
Next, I compiled a custom version of Mame over the last couple days and I am now running Mame .134u3 with the no nag and hi scores add on. I launched it, and the high scores work! With little to no problems or multiple rebuilds! YES! ... I'm excited. Plus it is amazing not having to press left and right on the joystick or seeing the little "Loading %" box before every game.
And finally, today I picked up some light smoke window tint. I like the smoked glass look and it doesn't hinder the brightness of the screen at all. I used Gila window tinting for household windows. Having tinted my car windows myself, I felt that it wouldn't be a problem to tint a piece of plexiglass. So I hopped to it and spent a ton of time making sure there were no bubbles or dirt specks under the film. I left it on the kitchen table over night to let it dry and I will trim any excess material off tomorrow.
Window tinting package and tools
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/windowTint.jpg)
A test piece of plexi in front of my Mom's laptop. To test visability.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/tinttest.jpg)
The final tinted monitor plexi
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/TintedMonitorPlexi.jpg)
I think now that I have the hiscore.dat file working, Mame and Mala are officially finished. Next up on the PC side of things, I will be working on shelling windows and getting my bootskin to work. And beginning tomorrow I will be painting the dark blue sections of the lines. I've decided to forgo the Orange crosshairs, in favor of a vinyl decal of a crosshair and the SHMUP logo for the side, I think it will look more authentic that way. plus I couldn't manage to make a stencil that I was happy with for the crosshairs. But with the logo on the marquee and the sides, I am pretty sure I will be removing it from the control panel. It's not really needed and I think it may look better without it.
Monday, I have a little order coming in from Happcontrols.com. I ordered a set of blue coin reject buttons for my coin door and I also ordered out blue replacement LEDs for the coin lights. As well as 100 of their .984 brass tokens. Originally I wanted to go with the 2006 BYOAC tokens from Arcade Replay, but I needed to push my order over the $25 mark... so I bit the bullet and got happ's generic tokens for now. Hopefully I can get the coin door lights wired soon, but you can expect pictures of the blue buttons as soon as I get them. :)
That's it for now. More work tomorrow, I'm getting closer every day... :cheers:
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Today I mounted the plexi glass I tinted into the monitor area and secured it in place with a stick of 3/4 trim molding along the bottom. The way my cab is shaped the upper edge is held in place by the speaker panel and the angle is such that it pretty much sits in place on it's own. But to finish it off and keep it from sliding out, I added the molding on the bottom. It's nailed into place with 3/4" wire nails, which means a little crowbar action, if I ever need to detach the monitor.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/PlexiRetainer.jpg)
Also, today I taped off the dark blue sections of the side art and have started painting them. This color may take a while to get it fully coated though, which I knew would be the case with blue... it never wants to coat nicely. So I will be painting the dark blue sections again tomorrow night, and maybe the next day. I'm not sure, it depends on how it looks after the second day of painting.
After the dark blue lines are done, I will only need to paint the white stripes and the black borders around all of the edges! After that, the only thing left will be getting the marquee and CPO and the graphics will be complete. I am pretty sure I'll be using mamemarquees for the marquee and I may just go to to Kinkos and have them print off the control panel.
Speaking of the control panel, today I also drilled and refit my new plexi onto the control panel. I will not be screwing it into place this time, I'll just let the t-molding and the buttons keep it in place instead. :laugh2:
Taping off the top
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/TapingOffTheTop.jpg)
The 1st coat of Behr "Blue Ocean" Blue
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/DarkBlue1stCoat.jpg)
Progress as of today.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/ProgressAsOfOct18th.jpg)
I get super excited when I look at the cab, I almost can't believe that I've been working on this for 4 months.
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I get super excited when I look at the cab, I almost can't believe that I've been working on this for 4 months.
And rightfully so! It's an aesthetically pleasing cab and that sideart is going to look fantastic when done. Just think how close you are to actually playing on it!
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I get super excited when I look at the cab, I almost can't believe that I've been working on this for 4 months.
And rightfully so! It's an aesthetically pleasing cab and that sideart is going to look fantastic when done. Just think how close you are to actually playing on it!
Actually I am a step further back. To make the new CPO, I had to take the CP apart and I've decided to leave it disassembled until I get the artwork printed for it and put into place. I'm thinking I will be moving it into place and playing it in a week and a half, two weeks at most! :D
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Yes, it's 2 am. And yes I am still up, but I was working on something extremely important. I have successfully hidden windows! The only thing you see when it loads up now is the initial boot up code and that's it! Special thanks goes out to Hewskie for this one, without the suggestion of instantsheller I would still be only half hiding windows.
It took a little bit of work to figure it out, but after I downloaded the latest .NET framework, everything fell into place. Of course, this video is sideways, since it's hooked up to my 20" Widescreen LCD monitor... but you get the idea. So without further adieu... enjoy!
Shmup Loadup Test (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ77IWlMylU#)
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First off, the little stuff. Today, I got my shipment from Happ. In it were two blue coin return buttons, two blue LED replacement lights and.... 100 brass tokens! As soon as I got home from work, I tested the tokens for fit and they worked perfect. Then I dismantled the coin door and installed the blue buttons. Once they were in place, I mounted the LEDs and wired them for 12v power, I may have gone a bit overboard with the wires for the 12v. But because I wire trailers for work with 16 gauge wire, I decided to play it safe and wire the 12v in the Cab w/ 16 gauge as well.
Blue Buttons and LEDs
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/BlueCoinButtons.jpg)
Happ Brass Tokens (Not as cool as Arcade Replay Tokens... but they work.)
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/Tokens.jpg)
Coin Door w/ Blue Buttons
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/BlueButtonsInstalled.jpg)
Wiring the LEDs for power
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/LEDsWired.jpg)
Once the coin door was set and out of the way, I painted another coat of Blue on the dark sections of the lines. This covered any light areas and I let them sit for about an hour or so. After which, I peeled the tape away! The only thing that needs to be done with the sides are the Black outlines and the white stripe in the graphic. I also have a little bit of touch up to do on the sides where paint seeped under the tape on accident.
Behold! Near complete side art!
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/BeholdLines.jpg)
And another view
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/ProgressAsOfOct19th.jpg)
When I got back to my apartment tonight, I gathered my PC and began gutting it and mounting it to the PC board using PCB feet and corner brackets. I removed any wiring and pieces that were unneeded, such as the front USB ports, headphone and mic jacks. etc. After it was all said and done, I hooked the boarded PC back up to my desktop monitor to make sure everything loaded up correctly, which it did!
This means that all that is really left to do is finish painting the sides and to order out the graphics. I think I'll be heading to Kinkos sometime this week and ordering the CPO. But I am going to order my Marquee from mamemarquees, Ultimate finish, with two pieces of plexi. :)
A noble sacrifice.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/TheBrains.jpg)
The PC gutted, and ready for mounting.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/PCGutted.jpg)
All PC components mounted in place.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/PCMounted.jpg)
IT'S ALIIIIIVE! MWAHAHAHA
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/ItsAlive.jpg)
Tomorrow I will bring the PC to the garage and hook it up, wire the 12v and ground for the lights into the harness for the Power Supply and wire in the power switch to the pushbutton mounted on the top of the cab.
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awesome, nice paintjob!
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looking good, love the startup and paintjob!
Hewskie
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awesome, nice paintjob!
Thanks Jeef! Ha, It looks better than I thought it would actually. :)
looking good, love the startup and paintjob!
Hewskie
That start up wouldn't have been possible without you telling me about Instant Sheller. I'm sure eventually I would have stumbled onto it after it was all finished. But you suggested it at the right time, cause I was just buttoning up the PC and prepping to board it. :cheers:
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That paint job looks friggin awesome! Turned out fantastic...how long before the bullseye targets arrive? ;)
And don't get me started on the blue coin doors...damn nice. Hmm maybe I should look for some green ones! lol
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That paint job looks friggin awesome! Turned out fantastic...how long before the bullseye targets arrive? ;)
And don't get me started on the blue coin doors...damn nice. Hmm maybe I should look for some green ones! lol
Oh I'm not doing the targets as I originally planned. Instead, I am going to do the SHMUP crosshair logo on the sides. About upper mid-level. Maybe a bit higher than the hole in the side of your Aliens cab.... maybe I'll order those from mamemarquees too..
oh and you mean something like... These Green Buttons? (http://www.happcontrols.com/cc/420517xx.htm) hahaha and they have Green LED replacement bulbs too...
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oh and you mean something like... These Green Buttons? hahaha and they have Green LED replacement bulbs too...
Sigh...ya like those...ordered :(
And sorry meant cross hair logo...I remember saying you were going to get them from Mame Marquees possibly just curious if you have ordered them yet or waiting for paint to cure fully first...
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Oh, no I haven't ordered any of my graphics yet. I have to double check my measurements on the marquee so I can modify the Illustrator file, and I've been focused on all of the other things I have to do, that it kinda got put on the back burner. I really should hop on it, I know for sure I will be getting the CPO ordered so I can remount my buttons and joysticks. But I'm fine getting that from a place like Kinkos.
The Marquee on the other hand, I want it to be nice. So I'll go with mamemarquees, and from what I've read they do an awesome job. Javeryh's review of them from doing his Bella arcade sold me on it.
I know a guy in town, now that I think about it. And I may be able to swing a deal on vinyl graphics for the side art, since we use his company a lot when we need graphics done at work. So it seems I'll be going to three different places for my graphics. :dunno
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Looking better and better! :applaud: It would be interesting to see some close up shots of the side art.
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:applaud:
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Looking better and better! :applaud: It would be interesting to see some close up shots of the side art.
Ya I thought about that as well. I'll snap some close up pictures tonight while I am mounting the PC inside.
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This thing is great! As I stated before a bit back, I love the art, and the fact that it is a primarily white cabinet. It's refreshing to see a new take on a retro feel that isn't often done. Keep up the fantastical work!
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Thanks Chicken! :cheers:
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The things that I like the most about your cab are the shape, the fact that it's all custom yet looks authentic, you're painting the side artwork and it's non-classic white (very few white cabs) yet looks amazing!
I know it's not completely done yet, but you can already be proud of what you have done. Nice work, stand proud. :cheers:
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The things that I like the most about your cab are the shape, the fact that it's all custom yet looks authentic, you're painting the side artwork and it's non-classic white (very few white cabs) yet looks amazing!
I know it's not completely done yet, but you can already be proud of what you have done. Nice work, stand proud. :cheers:
Thanks man, I am ridiculously proud of my job so far. :cheers:
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Indeed a very smart looking cab you have there. :applaud:
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Well, first thing I did tonight was flip the cab on it's back and mount the new wheels. This was pretty easy with the help of my dad and a 2 wheel cart. I had a feeling that the original wheels wouldn't hold up, but since my dad is more of an engineer than I am I took his word for it... Here's how they looked when I pulled them off.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/JackedUpOldWheels.jpg)
and here are the new wheels mounted in place.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/NewWheels.jpg)
After I was done with the wheels, I began mounting and wiring the PC into the cab. All of it was pretty simple, and I had no problems hooking up the PC power button to my pushbutton on top of the cab, or wiring the coin door leds to the 12v power. Though, I did notice something when I powered the system on. First of all, I have strange static sound that I didn't have at my apartment when I was testing the PC after I boarded it. Secondly, Last night, Mala played the intro video just fine. But after installing the PC in the cab, the video doesn't play, it just skips it completely... I'll have to look into that a bit more.
Plus when I was testing the controls out, and making sure everything was working. The PC lost power in the middle of everything, and I couldn't get it to work for about half an hour. Finally I unplugged the power supply from the motherboard and plugged it back in and it worked... I'm hoping it was just a bad connection. But I'm going to keep an eye on that as well. I know it's not getting hot and that the power supply was cool to the touch, so I'm thinking overheating isn't a factor.
After I got the PC up and running again, I loaded up mala and played a bit of Gunbird 2 before I called it a night. Everything seems to work, Pause and Exit buttons under lip of the recessed area, tokens tripping the switches for credits in the coin door. all the buttons and the trackball.... pretty much all I need to figure out is where the static is coming from and why the load up video isn't working. I know that if you press a button while it's playing it cancels the video, so perhaps there is a button input that is being pressed somewhere. I'll have to bring my USB keyboard to the garage tomorrow and look into it.
But! For now, take a gander at these sweet pics of the cab in (mostly) working order!
Lit Coin Returns
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/LitCoinReturns.jpg)
Running MaLa on the cab
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CabRunningMala.jpg)
View of the screen (No Flash)
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CabRunningMala2.jpg)
Now, it's time for some much deserved "break time". Since I have no arcade things to work on around the apartment... time to load up some Galaga Legions on the ol' 360! :cheers:
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After a bit of brainstorming. I've decided that the problem with the load up video must be in my control panel. Considering I never had a problem with it loading up when it was a mouse and keyboard at home, there must be a crossed wired or something in the CP to cause that problem... must remember to look into that.
As for the static sound, I'm going to take another surge protector to the garage tomorrow and hook everything up to that. If that fixes it (Which it seems like a long shot at the moment) I'll be one happy panda.
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looking good, love the startup and paintjob!
Hewskie
+1 :applaud:
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I didn't make much headway on the cab today. I spent most of the night working out the bugs that popped up after installing the PC into the cab.
First of all, the PC never lost power tonight, so I'm guessing it was just a loose connection on the mobo and that it shouldn't be a problem again. I even beat the hell out of the CP playing World Championship Bowling, which was what I was playing when I lost power, and nothing funny happened. So yay to that! I'll still be keeping an eye on it though, just to be sure.
The bug I squashed tonight was the problem with the video loading. I knew an input was being pressed, but I didn't know which one it was. So, to fix the problem, I reverted the shell to standard Windows (mostly so I could see my pointer) and I loaded up Notepad. Once it was up and running the number "6" started scrolling across the screen and after checking the KeyWiz schematics, I saw it was the Player 2 coin button.
So, I checked the connection to the KeyWiz, nothing strange there. I then checked my terminal block where the coin door wires and the CP wires connect, nothing odd there either. So I went to the coin door. I disconnected the "power" wire from the switch and the 6s stopped scrolling. I reattached it, and they started again. So, I tried the other prong and they didn't scroll across the screen. I then pulled the lever on the switch and a single 6 popped up on the screen.
Turns out the switches on the coin door aren't set up like the pushbutton switches, and that the prong that I thought was Normally Open, was actually Normally Closed. Upon swapping the wires, that problem was solved. But I still have the issue with static.
When I load up my PC the speakers give off a really loud static sound. But I'm going to deal with that once I get the cabinet into my apartment. Mainly because it could be something out in the garage. I know that I never had a static issue when I was testing the PC at my apartment, but when I brought it to my folk's garage it started.
Also I made a set of new labels for my coin door buttons. Considering I am using tokens and not quarters, I decided to complete the authenticity of the project by making a new set of labels for the buttons. I printed them on cardstock, but I may reprint them on standard printer paper so the light shines though a little better.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/tokenlabel.jpg)
All in all, not much progress wise today. Tomorrow I hope to tape off the white areas of the side art and do a little touch up work. And I should be able to finish the painting section of the project this weekend if all goes well. :)
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Not that I'm know much about electronics or speakers, but I'll give my 2 cents on the static sound.
I remember one post with a similiar problem, that was because the grounding wasn't sufficient. He did some more grounding, and then the problem was gone.
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Not that I'm know much about electronics or speakers, but I'll give my 2 cents on the static sound.
I remember one post with a similiar problem, that was because the grounding wasn't sufficient. He did some more grounding, and then the problem was gone.
Hmm, I'll look into that. I'm not sure where I'd have lost a ground though. :(
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I decided to order out these Sanwa balltops for the joysticks.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/515VBvxHovL._SL500_AA280_.jpg)
I was going to wait on ordering them, but there were only 2 left in stock and I'd hate to miss out on them. So for the $20 + shipping, I figured it would be worth it to get them coming. Plus, once they are here I can start figuring out producing my own replacement shafts for the Happ Supers that I am using. It shouldn't be too big of a deal to lathe a couple sticks at work and custom fit these into place. I'm rather excited.
A couple months ago, I would never have thought that I'd have done as much custom work to this build as I have already. First, I completely redesigned the cab, instead of following the Lucid plans. Secondly I reworked the coin door and recessed it. And now I am building custom replacement joysticks.... What's next?! :D
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Not that I'm know much about electronics or speakers, but I'll give my 2 cents on the static sound.
I remember one post with a similiar problem, that was because the grounding wasn't sufficient. He did some more grounding, and then the problem was gone.
Hmm, I'll look into that. I'm not sure where I'd have lost a ground though. :(
Is your motherboard sufficiently grounded?
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Is your motherboard sufficiently grounded?
I was thinking about that. I'll have to look and see. I may cut the side out of my old PC case and mount the motherboard right to it. then screw that down to my board, just to be sure. The PC end of things is actually the most foreign part of the whole project for me. When it gets to PC wiring and components I don't know too much about what goes where, etc.
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Thanks to the amazing invention called the internets, I think I may have my static issue figured out. Apparently the holes on the Mobo with silver rings on them are for grounding to the case, but since I don't have the case attached, it's lacking those grounds. Now I just need to figure out a way to ground those. I think I'll just rip the side out of my old case and mount the mobo to that. then screw it to the wood and finally jump a wire from the metal casing to one of the screws attaching the power supply.
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I ordered my marquee tonight, I went with Mame Marquees, as I had stated earlier. The dimensions of the marquee ended up being 8 x 26, mostly because of the 3/4" MDF on the top and bottom of the retainer area. I went all out for this too... Ultimate finish, precut plexi, the whole bit. I even remembered to enter the BYOAC in the discount area too! Here is the final Marquee design... amazingly I never posted it in the thread and only in the artwork forum.
I can't wait to get this baby installed!!!
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/MarqueeFinalSmall.jpg)
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That Marquee is going to look great all lit up. Are you going to get the modded shafts for your balltops or just go with the unlit blue? Either way the whole lineup of these bubble balltops look great!
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Nah, nothing else on the CP is lit up. So I'm just going to make up some replacement shafts for them once they get here. I've been eyeballing those ball tops ever since I showed them to you. :lol
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Marquee art looks great Ryglore!! :applaud:
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Marquee art looks great Ryglore!! :applaud:
Thanks, I'm wondering if it's too much white. I may have to cut some extra paper to fit behind it to diffuse the light a bit more. But on the other hand the sample I printed on regular copy paper looks ok, so maybe not. :cheers:
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Marquee art looks great Ryglore!! :applaud:
Thanks, I'm wondering if it's too much white. I may have to cut some extra paper to fit behind it to diffuse the light a bit more. But on the other hand the sample I printed on regular copy paper looks ok, so maybe not. :cheers:
What I would do is print another sheet to put being the marquee. Make a copy of the marquee, delete everything that's not the white background, then reverse the whole thing (white where the logo is, black where the white background is).
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/MarqueeFinalSmall.jpg)
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=90051.0;attach=134638;image)
That way, the lighted part will be the logo, the white will not be backlit (or at least a lot less). It should make the marquee pop a lot more I think.
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Marquee art looks great Ryglore!! :applaud:
Thanks, I'm wondering if it's too much white. I may have to cut some extra paper to fit behind it to diffuse the light a bit more. But on the other hand the sample I printed on regular copy paper looks ok, so maybe not. :cheers:
What I would do is print another sheet to put being the marquee. Make a copy of the marquee, delete everything that's not the white background, then reverse the whole thing (white where the logo is, black where the white background is).
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/MarqueeFinalSmall.jpg)
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=90051.0;attach=134638;image)
That way, the lighted part will be the logo, the white will not be backlit (or at least a lot less). It should make the marquee pop a lot more I think.
Ha nice! I was actually goign to do this a bit later and test it But now I can just print it off and check it out! Thanks!
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Bah, as I thought. The black seems to show through too much. Perhaps a couple pages with lighter grey in the white areas instead. I'll have to play with it.
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Maybe you could do the same thing but with an opaque white. Like a paint that either will show no light or a very small amount. Then you can get the same pop effect, and only see white vs. a muddy color.
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Bah, as I thought. The black seems to show through too much. Perhaps a couple pages with lighter grey in the white areas instead. I'll have to play with it.
That's probably because your first layer (colored one) is too thin. Print the black on a thicker paper and put the black side toward the light source, so that the black behind the white areas of your marquee won't show through. You'll have to print the black mask flipped horizontally, of course.
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Maybe you could do the same thing but with an opaque white. Like a paint that either will show no light or a very small amount. Then you can get the same pop effect, and only see white vs. a muddy color.
That could be doable, but I don't want to attempt to tape off the borders of the marquee image.
Bah, as I thought. The black seems to show through too much. Perhaps a couple pages with lighter grey in the white areas instead. I'll have to play with it.
That's probably because your first layer (colored one) is too thin. Print the black on a thicker paper and put the black side toward the light source, so that the black behind the white areas of your marquee won't show through. You'll have to print the black mask flipped horizontally, of course.
I'll have to look into that as well. But I'll hold off on doing any actual "work" on it until the marquee shows up and I can check out the intensity of the white.
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Of course I couldn't leave well enough alone. I redesigned the load up video. I removed the music in the background and the flashing images. And shortened the whole thing to more of a "opening credits" type of feel with a special touch at the end. Check it out.
Final SHMUP Intro video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW5O4LYVbkw#)
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looking good man! I like this one much better, the first one was way too busy for my liking.
keep up the good work
Hewskie
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I like the new video a lot Ryglore. Would love hear some audio when the Shmup logo comes up, then when you do the TV turning off.
Maybe the audio of a bunch of shots being fired in the background could fade in, then out, then the sound of a tv turning off, like DICE does with their logo on all their game trailers.
Watch the first 20 seconds of this video, and you'll get a sense of what I'm talking about:
Battlefield 2142 - Launch Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CintJYMqCbU#)
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Very cool intro. I love the "opening credits" feel of it. Now you got me rethinking what I'm doing for an opening sequence :angry:
;)
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Thanks guys, I'm looking into these ideas right now. :applaud:
Very cool intro. I love the "opening credits" feel of it. Now you got me rethinking what I'm doing for an opening sequence :angry:
;)
Do you have it posted so I can check out what you have?
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How's something like this?
Final Shmup Intro w/ Sound (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPxUm98oaOw#)
*note. I am uploading another version with no laser blasts for comparison.*
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Or.... this
Final SHMUP Intro w/ Music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KByCM599eJw#)
Personally, I like the second one better.
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I kinda like the second one better too. Not a fan of the laser blasts on the other one... kind of annoying. :)
Not sure I like the particular TV sound you chose though. Sounds too much like static and not enough like a TV turning off. If you could steal the sound that was in the DICE video I posted above, or something similar to that, I think it would sound better. Just my $0.02 though... take it for what it's worth. The important thing is that YOU like it.
My only other comment is that the quote at the front may need to be extended for 2-3 more seconds. I try to read it as fast as I can and I only get about 2/3 of the way through it before it disappears.
Excellent work thus far! :cheers:
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Thanks, I looked all over for a decent TV sound. Finally I decided to go with this one because the sound seemed to fit the flickering player one icon and the length was almost perfect. :)
I'm a slower reader too, so I kept lengthening the quote more and more until I could reach the end before it faded out. I may add another second or two to it. But I'm not sure how often people will actually see the load up, cause the cab might be left on for hours on end, and prolly would already be on when people do come over. :dunno
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But I'm not sure how often people will actually see the load up, cause the cab might be left on for hours on end, and prolly would already be on when people do come over. :dunno
Heh, well that's a good point.
On this forum, we're all so homed in on every tiny detail it's hard to show anything around here without even the tiniest flaw being revealed. However, any average Joe that sees our work is going to see it as a whole, and will probably have to pick their jaw up off the floor. ;)
I think you've done a fine job, and honestly, even if you decide not to change the video anymore, it's all good. :cheers:
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Today was spent taping off all the lines for the black borders of the side art. I honestly took a couple hours to tape everything off, not to mention I had to run to the store midway because I ran out of 3/4" wide painters tape. And... I forgot to bring the camera with me today so I couldn't snap a picture of it after I was done taping and after I had applied the first coats of black. :cry: Oh well.
But, once I got home, I loaded up Illustrator to double check everything on the CPO and made a few minor modifications to the design. Originally, I was going to remove the SHMUP logo from the CPO, but after hiding it, I decided it looks much better with the logo and the small bit off orange, since the whole thing is blue and white. After deciding to keep the logo, I deleted the two small lines that were behind it, that way it stands out a bit better. I also enlarged the logo and moved it down the little on the CP, while still keeping it centered.
Here is a comparison of the old vs. the new
Original "Final" Layout
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/FinalCPLayout.jpg)
Final, Final Layout.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/FinalCPLayout-1.jpg)
Tomorrow I will be going back and putting another coat of black down, I think I may put 3 or 4 coats of black on the sides. Mostly so I know I have good coverage over the white background. Of course, I may only take 2 coats, but the control panel stand needed 3 coats, so that's my best bet.
All that remains is to print the CPO, finish the painting and install the marquee and this baby is done! :)
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Nice job on the final layout for the CP. I like your final final design best as well. Just seems cleaner.
No, don't have my opening video sequence up yet. OND said he'd take a look at putting something together for me, what he's done so far is up, I think on my thread, but I'll have to look.
I did post an MP3 I'm thinking of using for the "startup, startup". IE, while the cab itself is booting.
I've been playing with an old MP3 player that I think I can wire into the cab powerswitch. When you turn the cab on, the MP3 will start playing even while the machine is going through it's post, bios screens, and all of windows initial load stuff. Takes about 45 seconds for all that, though i can probably shave it done somewhat, just haven't worked on that yet.
Then mala loads and the video would take off.
That Mp3 is on my thread too, if you want to take a gander. Lots of machinery thunks, clanks, gears grinding, then so old time parlour music to play out on.
Pretty funny.
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Nice, I think I may have caught the video, I'll have to search the thread for the MP3. That sounds pretty awesome actually.
For my vid, I wish there was a way to hide the Mala splash screen There is a way to hide the splash screen, so I could can put the MaLa logo later in the video, and have it go powered by: then flash the mala logo followed by the mame logo. So when it loads up the quote pops up first, then DigitalSomething.com -> MaLa -> Mame -> SHMUP -> flicker off.
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Well, it took less paint than I figured. The black borders are now finished and the side art is pretty much complete. Though I did have the same problems I had earlier with it running under the tape. Though, my dad assures me that it's just minor and once it's completely dry I'll be able to rub the lines out. Worst case, I'll just tape off the artwork and paint the whole side of the cab white again, since the edge of the black works like a dam and keeps the paint from rolling under the tape.
Behold! Artwork!
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/PaintedCab.jpg)
Some spots aren't that bad
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/Runs2.jpg)
Others are pretty unsightly
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/Runs1.jpg)
I'm hoping that I can clean up the edges without taping off the artwork. Because I would have to peel all of the T-molding off the sides if I were to repaint the sides. Of course if I have to I will, since (unfortunately) I am a perfectionist when it comes to my artwork and if it's not "just right" it will bother me forever...
Another thing that is being done tonight is the remounting of the PC components. I cut the metal backer that the motherboard was originally mounted to inside the PC case and have screwed it to the motherboard. Now I just have to rearrange components a little bit to accommodate the metal section and I will jump a ground wire to the power supply and hopefully that solves my static issue.
I am also uploading the completley final version of the SHMUP Intro. I added the Mala Logo to the "credits" and also added a bit of static to the "turning off" sequence. I'll add it in a reply once it's uploaded and ready.
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And here it is, the Final and never to be modified ever again, intro video.
Final Shmup Intro (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XKvJ4e_bRU#)
Final SHMUP Loading Sequence (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzO341cuysQ#)
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Video looks great!
As long as you don't change FE's you shouldn't have to worry about editing it again. ;)
One trick I've heard to keep the paint from bleeding under the tape is to paint the edge of the tape with a thin coat of clear or the same color as the base color, let it dry, THEN paint your trim color. The clear/base color seals the seam between the tape and the material, which prevents any of the newly applied color from bleeding. Probably a little late now, but maybe it'll help you (or someone else) down the line...
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Video looks great!
As long as you don't change FE's you shouldn't have to worry about editing it again. ;)
Ha! Thanks, I don't think I'll be changing frontends any time soon. I'm digging MaLa, plus with the forum and wiki, there is so much info on it, it's pretty easy to get assistance when needed!
One trick I've heard to keep the paint from bleeding under the tape is to paint the edge of the tape with a thin coat of clear or the same color as the base color, let it dry, THEN paint your trim color. The clear/base color seals the seam between the tape and the material, which prevents any of the newly applied color from bleeding. Probably a little late now, but maybe it'll help you (or someone else) down the line...
Yeah, I did something like that before, but it was on canvas and when I went to pull the tape, it pulled up the paint at the edge along with it. So I was a bit worried about trying it on this. Though, now I see it wouldn't have been a bad idea. House paint is a totally different animal than regular acrylic... :dunno
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I always got bleed through when using that blue tape on my rc bodies. it seems like when the paint dries the tape tends to crinkle a bit allowing this bleed through. I wonder if the purple kind would work any better? It says low tack so I'm not so sure.
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I always got bleed through when using that blue tape on my rc bodies. it seems like when the paint dries the tape tends to crinkle a bit allowing this bleed through. I wonder if the purple kind would work any better? It says low tack so I'm not so sure.
Not sure, I've not done any work using the purple tape. But I would think it might actually be worse with a lower tack tape, since it would want to pull up easier... dunno, might be worth some testing for future reference.
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I like the intro video, I never felt the need to do anything like that, but it's pretty fun to see.
The art looks great from the distance, and unfortunately not so hot up close. When I do any kind of edging on the fly like that, I don't use tape, I have about a 12 inch long thin piece of metal, that I hold to the edge and do a vey light amount of paint to clean it up. Then there is no tape, and as long as you hold it flat, there is very little risk of error. When painting an entire room, I tape it up, but I use this method for tight and small areas. Oh, and I hate painting with a passion, painting of any kind, even fun painting like this.
Still, it looks disco. . .
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When I do any kind of edging on the fly like that, I don't use tape, I have about a 12 inch long thin piece of metal, that I hold to the edge and do a vey light amount of paint to clean it up. Then there is no tape, and as long as you hold it flat, there is very little risk of error.
Oh cool, I'll have to look into that. I have a 26" metal ruler, maybe that'll work.
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Tonight I reinstalled the PC into the cab. I was a little hesitant to start up the PC after I hooked everything up, I was worried "what if it didn't fix it". So I flicked the main power switch on... and pressed the PC power button.... nothing. What the? So I looked over everything and it was all hooked up properly.... And then I looked at the power supply and flicked it's power switch "On"... :lol The PC loaded up, and where there used to be horrible static coming from the speakers, there was nothing. The intro video loaded, music started and Mala loaded! Everything is A-ok and back to normal. It would seem that mounting the Mobo on the metal backer and running wires from it to each of the other components fixed the static problem I was having! w00t!
The new intro and load up work very nicely, I found myself getting extremely excited while watching it. It's not overpowering and loud, nor annoying. Mission accomplished. Of course, I had to "test" all of the controls to ensure they worked properly. So I played some Gunbird 2, Strikers 1945 II and a little bit of Street Fighter Alpha 2.
Thursday is the big moving day. Unfortunately, for everyone involved, I live in the second story of an apartment building and the only way up is a flight of stairs. So a friend of mine, my cousin and myself will be hefting this thing up said stairs on a 2 wheel movers cart. The PC and CP will not be attached, but the Monitor will be... yay.
There are still a few things that need to be done yet.
The first are the custom joysticks. My order is in the mail and once I get the balltops, I'll be making new shafts out of 1/2" aluminum round bar. I'll lathe the bottom down to 10mm so the sleeves and actuators for the Happ Supers slide on and I'll leave the top 1/2" so that the shoulder of the shaft holds it in place, rather than the long black plastic tube. I'll then lathe the other end down and thread it to accept the balltop. Finally I'll polish the aluminum and I'll have some nice shiny joysticks!
Secondly, installing the marquee. My order is "processing" right now over at Mame Marquees. The marquee is the Ultimate finish with 2 pieces of precut plexi According to their site it takes up to a week to print, laminate and pack the marquee for shipping, then there is the shipping time. So I'm thinking that should arrive next week at the latest.
And finally, The Control Panel Overlay. I've got to make time to burn my file to CD and take it over to Kinkos for printing. I should be able to do that within the next couple of days.
:cheers:
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...stairs, yikes! Good luck with the move, and remember lift with your legs, not with your back!! ;)
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...stairs, yikes! Good luck with the move, and remember lift with your legs, not with your back!! ;)
Well hopefully the cart will help with some of it. :-\
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About the bleeding under tape....
I've been thaught to paint over the edge of the tape with the paint I used as the background color.... Get it?
This way the "bleed" will be background color over background color.. Then you paint your second layer color and it can't bleed in under the tape since it's painted over with the background color. I'm at work now so I can't paint you a picture *phun intended*... ;D
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Good luck with the move Ryglore, she looks a beast to move, careful on those stairs!
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Good luck Ryglore. Tell your buddies if they do a good job that they get 1 free credit. After that its $0.25 a play. :)
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Good luck Ryglore. Tell your buddies if they do a good job that they get 1 free credit. After that its $0.25 a play. :)
I already bribed one of them with as much R-Type as he wants and beer. :lol
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Tomorrow is the last day I'll have access to my folk's digi cam, since they are taking it with them on vacation. :cry: But I'll be using it to document the move as much as possible. In total there will be 4 guys there and my dad is only driving the truck and (maybe) a trailer to move it in. So I'll see if I can get him to take pictures of us man handling the thing up the stairs.
I double checked everything today too. The door opening is your standard house door, and there is plenty of room for the 27.5" cab to fit. The troublesome part was the staircase, but I double checked the width tonight and it's 38 inches wide. So there should be no issues as far as maneuvering goes.
Tonight I also did some cleaning and rearranging of the apartment. I moved my bookcases around and got everything ready. So, once I get the cab into the apartment it's just a matter of moving it into place and I won't have to add rearranging to my list of things to do tomorrow.
I'm hoping this weekend I can get away and take my CPO to the printer... maybe a quick stop during lunch is in order.
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You have a lot of depth on that cab though...enough room to rotate at the top of the stairs into the door?
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You have a lot of depth on that cab though...enough room to rotate at the top of the stairs into the door?
Oh ya, I have a 6-7 foot patio balcony outside the door. So there should be no problem. Worst case, we tilt it inward and drop it on the front wheels inside then heft it into the doorway until it's back wheels are in. :)
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Nice :cheers:
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I'm really late in commenting on this.. but that side art looks damn good. And done with just paint and tape? I love it
Also, Ive seen several intro videos for cabs but yours has to be one of the better ones that I've seen.
It's the perfect amount of simplicity, but it still grabs your attention, and not to mention it looks like something you would really see in the arcades.
Ive been keeping tabs on this cab since it started and it has came a long way and i think its awesome.
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I'm really late in commenting on this.. but that side art looks damn good. And done with just paint and tape? I love it
Also, Ive seen several intro videos for cabs but yours has to be one of the better ones that I've seen.
It's the perfect amount of simplicity, but it still grabs your attention, and not to mention it looks like something you would really see in the arcades.
Ive been keeping tabs on this cab since it started and it has came a long way and i think its awesome.
Thanks! Yeah, painting the side art on is the only way I could guarantee that it would turn out exactly how I wanted it to look. Though, I'm leaving it as is and have decided I won't be putting the crosshairs or the logo on the sides.
I love how the video turned out and can finally leave it be, I especially dig the static and turning off section with the flickering P1 icon. The only odd thing is, the video is a lot louder than the sound of games in Mame. But really, it doesn't matter, since it'll only play once a day, lol. :)
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This morning I got an email notification from Mamemarquees that my marquee has been shipped! 20 minutes ago I recieved an email from UPS telling me the tracking number and that expected delivery is 10-30-09.... DANG! That's fast! I was really expecting to the the marquee sometime next week, but hey, I'll take tomorrow. :cheers:
Also, according to USPS tracking, the Sanwa balltops for my custom joysticks are in Detroit! So I'm hoping those arrive in the mail tomorrow too. Once they get here I can start working lathe magic and make up the custom shafts for them.
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Today we moved the SHMUP to it's place in my apartment. It was a bit heavier than I expected and getting it up the stairs was a treat in of it self. We met up at my place and drove over to my parents house. I then unhooked the Control Panel and the PC and put them in the trunk of my car and we laid the cab on it's back on a blanket in the back of my dad's truck.
I wanted to get a bunch of pictures of the move, but by the time we got over to pick it up it was already dark out (damn you Fall daylight!). So all I have is this single picture of the SHMUP in it's rightful place.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/SHMUPInPlace.jpg)
Also, It's a "for sure" that my marquee will be arriving tomorrow. Apparently Mame Marquees is in Detroit, and even with the standard UPS shipping it's almost like Next Day shipping, which is awesome. I had to turn my header light off while we were playing it tonight since it was so bright. I may look into adding some extra paper behind the marquee and sanding the rear piece of plexi to "frost" it if the light shines through too much. I'm also thinking I'll try Yvan's "Black backer" idea.
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Congrats on a successful move, I bet that is a sigh of relief...soon, very soon you will be getting hours of pleasure on that cab. Btw...have you got the PC version of Raiden IV? If not GET IT...fantastic shooter.
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soon, very soon you will be getting hours of pleasure on that cab.
Oh, I've been playing it all night! But I can't wait until it's 100%, then it will be amazing. And no I don't have the Raiden IV, I'm going to have to look into it for sure.
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Also I love not having an "insert coin" button. :lol
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Very nice. It's a lot bigger than I thought it was. Guess when you see it "in place", the scale is more evident.
Nice job, though. And fast too!
I'm building my cab like it did my degree, the 7 year plan :)
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I'm building my cab like it did my degree, the 7 year plan :)
Ha, ya. But your cab is way more intricate than this one. Doesn't help that I was using my folk's garage and I couldn't spend a year building it. :(
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It must feel great to finally have it home, I know it isn't done, but it will be easy to work on the fine details with more comfort and ease now.
I would do all the messy work in the basement, and when it was done enough, upstairs it went. The little things would get done after the cabinet was moved upstairs. It not only made the work go smoother, but it felt nice to be back amongst the living rather than in an unfinished mostly empty basement/work area.
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It must feel great to finally have it home, I know it isn't done, but it will be easy to work on the fine details with more comfort and ease now.
Yup, it's a great feeling! The only thing I need a workshop for now are the custom joystick shafts. Which I'll be doing that at work on our metal lathe. Hopefully when I go home for lunch the mail will be in and I can start working on the joysticks tonight. :)
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Congrats on a successful move, I bet that is a sigh of relief...soon, very soon you will be getting hours of pleasure on that cab. Btw...have you got the PC version of Raiden IV? If not GET IT...fantastic shooter.
Don't you mean Raiden III? AFAIK, IV is only ported to 360 as of now.
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IV is only ported to 360 as of now.
What? how did I miss this? Looks like I'm going to the games store!
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Today was a pretty exciting day, at lunch the mail came and the Sanwa balltops arrived! I took them back to work with me and since we were dead slow I started working on them. I tapped the screw holes in them to 1/4" and then cut my two new shafts for the Joysticks.
The balltops!
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/BlueBalls.jpg)
The shafts are 1/2" aluminum round bar and I cut them to 6" lengths, though I will likely make them a little shorter than the standard bat handles that are on the CP currently... but not by much. I lathed the end of the new sticks down to 1/4" and then used my die to thread them to 1/4-20. Next I have to lathe the other end down to 10mm, this will allow all the pieces for the actuator to fit the shaft. I am doing away with the black tube that is usually under the bat handle and will polish the sticks, though the top will be given a little bevel to make the join at the ball a little nicer looking, this will be done last, so I don't have to change tooling on the lathe multiple times.
The beginnings of the custom stick project.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/ThreadedStick.jpg)
While I was at work, I received a notification that my marquee had been delivered. So, on the way home I stopped to pick it up. I haven't got any retainer pieces yet, I was waiting to see how thick everything was going to be before I bent up the aluminum I will be using for it. I did hold it up to the light to see how bright it looked and I think I may either try Yvan's idea with the black background on thicker paper, or I may just cut a piece of my drawing paper and fit it behind the marquee to diffuse the light a little more.
Marquee fresh out of the packing
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/PrintedMarquee.jpg)
Testing it on the cab without the Flash. (It's way brighter in person)
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/TestingBrightness.jpg)
Tonight, the plan is to pull the P2 joystick from the CP and begin figuring where I need to start the 10mm section of the stick and where to put the slot for the E-clip. This should be pretty easy, since All I really need to do is figure out the length of the black tube and then add a bit extra for the bottom half of the bat handle. The E clip may be a bit trickier, as I need to figure out the placement of that and then the depth of the cut in order to get the clip to fit snuggly.
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Oh, I forgot to add. Given the quality of the marquee and how fast it got here, I'm totally going to be sending Mame Marquees my CPO artwork to print off. :cheers:
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Nice work on the joysticks. Do you work in brass? ;)
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Nice work on the joysticks. Do you work in brass? ;)
I could give it a shot. :D
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Don't you mean Raiden III? AFAIK, IV is only ported to 360 as of now.
Yep :) thanks.
And Ryglore :cheers:
That Marquee looks wicked! Damn nice! When you have it mounted with your retainer (when its done) I want pics!!!
Can't wait to see the balltop sticks done either!
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Oh and out of curiosity what are the dimensions of your Marquee?
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Don't you mean Raiden III? AFAIK, IV is only ported to 360 as of now.
Yep :) thanks.
And Ryglore :cheers:
That Marquee looks wicked! Damn nice! When you have it mounted with your retainer (when its done) I want pics!!!
Can't wait to see the balltop sticks done either!
You'll get pics! I'm super excited about it, tomorrow I'm going to bend up the aluminum for the retainer and install it. Actually about an hour ago I ordered up my CP art, just because I am so hyped about how the marquee turned out.
Oh and I plan on working on the sticks and making them as nice as possible. I just hope I can get them to look like I picture them in my head.
and :cheers:
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8" x 26" total, but w/ the 3/4 MDF on the top and bottom it's more like 6.5" x 26 visible area. ;D
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Ryglore,
Looking at your lighted marquee, am I seeing correctly that the marquee covers your wood edges, and they are casting a "shadow line" on the top and bottom?
I've been debating whether to size my marquee to fit in between the wood edges, or have it cover them. With the marquee covering the edges, I was concerned about shadows. I hoped maybe the marquee would diffuse the light enough that you wouldn't see the shadows across the top and bottom. Guess that's not the case (unless the photo makes it look worse than it really is).
I know some people use pretty wide marquee holders, which would probably cover most of that area anyway, but I was planning to use something fairly thin for mine. I may have to rethink my strategy.
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Oh, they really do look that dark, but for my plan it's not a problem. My retainers are going to be a full 3/4" wide for the top and bottom. Originally, my plan was to make the marquee fit over half of the top and bottom and hold it in with T-molding (hence the slotting in those boards). I decided against it, because I would have to pull that T mold off in order to change the bulb in the light when it came time to do that.
Another idea I had at one point was to slot the top and groove the bottom and drop the marquee into it. But I changed that idea because I didn't want to have light shining upwards out of the slot.
If I remember, marquee retainers on real cabs from when I was young were pretty wide. So since my cab is supposed to have the 80's, early 90's feel, I guess I figured a wider retainer isn't a big deal. :)
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So what are you using for your retainers?
I could probably do the same thing, but I will likely need to readjust my artwork to make sure it isn't covered by the retainers.
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Oh, I have some aluminum sheeting that's black. We have scraps laying around all over at work, so I'll just get a few pieces 26" long and cut them about 2" wide, then I'll bend it in the sheet metal break to get the proper angles. breaking it will likely scratch the aluminum, but I think I may get a flat black can of spray paint and paint it anyway so it's not shiny.
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My retainers are going to be a full 3/4" wide for the top and bottom
Ya same here, that's a good size, particularly for your cab imo.
So what are you using for your retainers?
Gamester, Home Depot has angled aluminum in black or chrome that is 3/4" and about $9 for a 10' long piece...you can almost cut 4 retainers from one piece.
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Gamester, Home Depot has angled aluminum in black or chrome that is 3/4" and about $9 for a 10' long piece...you can almost cut 4 retainers from one piece.
Thanks, that's good info. I'll look into that.
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Testing it on the cab without the Flash. (It's way brighter in person)
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/TestingBrightness.jpg)
throwin up the horns? .\m/ ?
lovin the build cant wait for the end results!
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throwin up the horns? .\m/ ?
lovin the build cant wait for the end results!
Thanks! It's very near complete!
Ha, not intentionally. It just happened to be the most comfortable way to hold the marquee and take the picture at the same time. :cheers:
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Today I spent most of the day lathing the shafts for the new joysticks. Unfortunately, Out of all the work that was done, I only ended up with one (near finished) stick. While working, i snapped 3 potential sticks in half by being out too far and trying to take bigger bites than I should have. Of course today is also the first time I've ever used the lathe in my life too, so I guess it's not so bad, it was a learning experience. ha
I broke the first one while I was trying to lathe down the 10mm section and I took too big of a bite on the bit... the shaft caught on the lathe tool and rolled up on it, snapping the aluminum. The second was broken in much the same manner as the first, and now I have learned from that mistake.
The third was a near complete stick and I broke that one while trying to cut the slot for the e-clip. The lathing tool caught on the higher shoulders of the cut and it too rolled up and snapped. The E-clip slot has me a bit perplexed... I called it quits on trying to cut that section until I can think of a better way to do it.
The last and only surviving stick is pretty much completely finished. I beveled the top where it joins with the ball top too. Though I need to sand it down a little on the bottom so it will slide into the Super's mounting. I think there is a burr or something keeping it from going into the actual joystick mech. but the shaft slides onto all the other pieces....
I still need to polish this stick as well, but I'll wait until after all the cuts are made. It would be super crappy if the thing looks amazing and then i also broke it while working on the E-clip.
Another idea I have is threading the end and putting a nut on the bottom. perhaps with a keeper pin to keep it from unscrewing... but the e-clip would look so much nicer.
Our ancient lathe at work. The thing is a beast and takes up a whole wall.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/ThisOldLathe.jpg)
Lathing the 10mm section
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/Lathing.jpg)
Before and after.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/BeforeAndAfter.jpg)
All that's missing is the e-clip slot and polishing.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/NearFinished.jpg)
Checking the beveled area w/ the Balltop
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/Bevel.jpg)
Not really sure when I'll be able to get back to work on it. Hopefully Monday. I can't wait to get these finished! :)
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I'm so jealous you have access to a lathe. When I get the space for a proper workshop, I definitely want to have one for future projects.
Just be careful with those things, they're no joke, make sure you roll up your sleeves nice and tight! I've seen accidents where the lathe ripped guy's shirts clean off their backs by getting it caught.
btw, love the marquee. You should throw some foil behind the lamp to get all the illumination pointing forward as much as possible. Keep up the good work!
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I'm so jealous you have access to a lathe. When I get the space for a proper workshop, I definitely want to have one for future projects.
Just be careful with those things, they're no joke, make sure you roll up your sleeves nice and tight! I've seen accidents where the lathe ripped guy's shirts clean off their backs by getting it caught.
Ya I used to run a printing press, so I make sure to keep any loose sleeves/ clothing away from all moving parts. At first the lathe was pretty intimidating, Ive never used it before and had only seen my brother and Dad use it. Niether of them were at work today, so I had to wing it. Which is prolly why I broke 3 shafts, but it's all practice, I suppose.
I love havign it, and I knew when I started that it would be cool to make up some custom joysticks. It wasn't until I found the green sanwa balltops and showed them to Epyx that I knew I was going to actually go ahead and add them to the design. :laugh:
btw, love the marquee. You should throw some foil behind the lamp to get all the illumination pointing forward as much as possible. Keep up the good work!
Thanks! Right now I still have the white plastic diffuser on the fluorescent light inside the marquee area. I'm not sure if I'll keep it that way or not. I was so busy working on the joysticks that I forgot to bend up my marquee retainers.. So I guess I can still play with that a bit more. ha
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Today I spent most of the day working on the joysticks and lathing the second one. No potential sticks were broken today! Apparently I have actually learned proper lathing skills, ha.
After I was finished cutting the second joystick shaft, I took both sticks to the drill press and mounted each in the chuck. This allowed me to keep the stick spinning and get an even sanding job on them both. Sanding was done with a mix of dish soap and water with 100 grit black sandpaper, followed by 400 grit w/ water and finally a coat of Gel Gloss brand wax / cleaner. I repeated sanding and polishing three times on each stick and it came out to a really nice glossy metallic finish.
The stick after wet sanding with 100 grit paper.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/100grit.jpg)
The stick after wet sanding with 400 grit paper.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/400grit.jpg)
Polishing the shaft.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/PolishingTheShaft.jpg)
Before and after comparison of the sticks.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/BeforeAndAfterPolish.jpg)
Like I had mentioned the other day, it took a few tries to learn how to finesse cutting with the lathe. Unfortunately, what was meant to be a foot of material turned into 3 ft worth of material. But hey, I now have a new skill under my belt. Here is a pic of the finished sticks next to their fallen comrades....
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/FallenComrades.jpg)
And finally, I mounted one of the sticks into the player one side of the cab. I'm going to hold off on mounted the other one until after i get the CP art installed, just so I don't have to take it all apart again.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/JoystickMounted.jpg)
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Nice work on the handles!
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Thanks! The only real problem I had in making them was figuring out how to cut the slots in the bottom for the E-Clip. After testing and failing at rigging up a safe and decent cutter for the lathe, I just marked the location on the bottom of the stick and grabbed a fine cut jigsaw blade for metal and sawed them by hand. :lol
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wow! those look fantastic!
Everything's coming together, I hope you finish soon so we can all OOO and AAAAHHH at your handywork
Keep up the good work
Hewskie
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Soon! I should have the CPO by the end of the week. I have the marquee retainer made, but I need to trim the bottom piece since it's a hair too long.
I'm excited and sad at the same time. Because while it means I'll be gaming for hours on end on it, it also means that the project is winding down and will soon come to an end.... I guess that just means I have to start something else! :laugh:
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Ryglore those look friggin fantastic, great job! :cheers:
Not sure if you mentioned previously but what is the length of the shaft from top plate to bottom of ball?
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Ryglore those look friggin fantastic, great job! :cheers:
Not sure if you mentioned previously but what is the length of the shaft from top plate to bottom of ball?
Thanks! I am really happy with the way they turned out! ;D
I think I mentioned some of the measurements, but I may not have gone into detail.... ha... whoops! I started out w/ a piece of 1/2" aluminum round bar cut to 6" lengths. The standard Happ Super joystick is just over 6" long from the top of the Bat to the bottom of the shaft.
I cut the threaded end to 1/4" thickness and then threaded it, the length of the threads is 3/8". The 1/2" section from the bottom of the ball is 2 3/8" long and then the thinner 10mm wide section is 2 1/2" long. I cut the remaining 3/4 of an inch off of the bottom which makes the finished stick 5 1/4" long.
Also, I cut two different angled bevels into the threaded end. and when I sanded them it made a nice rounded top to the shaft.
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Nice shaft. ;D
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Nice shaft. ;D
:duckhunt
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Ryglore those look friggin fantastic, great job! :cheers:
Not sure if you mentioned previously but what is the length of the shaft from top plate to bottom of ball?
Thanks! I am really happy with the way they turned out! ;D
I think I mentioned some of the measurements, but I may not have gone into detail.... ha... whoops! I started out w/ a piece of 1/2" aluminum round bar cut to 6" lengths. The standard Happ Super joystick is just over 6" long from the top of the Bat to the bottom of the shaft.
I cut the threaded end to 1/4" thickness and then threaded it, the length of the threads is 3/8". The 1/2" section from the bottom of the ball is 2 3/8" long and then the thinner 10mm wide section is 2 1/2" long. I cut the remaining 3/4 of an inch off of the bottom which makes the finished stick 5 1/4" long.
Also, I cut two different angled bevels into the threaded end. and when I sanded them it made a nice rounded top to the shaft.
Oh and when mounted the joystick is roughly the same height as the original Happ Super stick.
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This is actually something I started after I was done working on the joysticks last night. Originally I wasn't going to use them, but I decided after mounting the P1 joystick, that I didn't like the look of the original dust washers, since the hole in it is too big.
I took the old blue plexi window that was in my PC case and using a 1/2" Forstner bit I drilled the center hole for the shaft to run through. After that was drilled I changed over to a holesaw and cut the disc. Since I wanted to cover the 1 1/8" hole for the joystick and the plexi is transparent. I sanded the crap out of both sides with the 100 and 400 grit sandpaper I was using for the joysticks.
This made the discs translucent and while you can still see the shadow of the hole, it's not as noticeable. Plus, it helps finish off the joysticks and look much better than the stock dust washer did.
The PC case, revisited.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/TheBrains.jpg)
Prepping the window.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/BluePlexiWindow.jpg)
Cutting the new discs
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CuttingTheDustWashers.jpg)
The Original Dust Washer and the new one.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/OldAndNewDustWashers.jpg)
The CP w/ Both sticks and new dustwashers.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/TestingTheSticksAndDustWashers.jpg)
Close up of the P1 Joystick with the new washer.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/DustWasherCloseUp.jpg)
I received a notice in my email today that the Control Panel Overlay has been shipped! So tomorrow I'll be installing the CPO and Marquee! I've been holding off on installing the marquee, mainly because I had to trim the aluminum I bent for the bottom retainer. Also I need to predrill the retainer pieces so I can do everything one handed. I really don't want to try drilling through the aluminum while also trying to hold the marquee, plexi and the retainer in place.
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Dude. That's awesome. :applaud:
Good recycling on the blue plexi! It's too bad the colour isn't exactly the same as the balltop, but it's close enough. It probably won't even matter when you have your balltops all lit up.
Dang, I think I'm going to have to copy this idea off you! :)
*edit: in fact, if you have some spare clear plexi material, how about making me some? ::)
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This made the discs translucent and while you can still see the shadow of the hole, it's not as noticeable. Plus, it helps finish off the joysticks and look much better than the stock dust washer did.
How about you make some white ones that sit right under the hole (in addition to the transparent ones on top). Perhaps lining the hole as well with some white paint?
I really like how far you take your customizing. :applaud:
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Dude. That's awesome. :applaud:
Good recycling on the blue plexi! It's too bad the colour isn't exactly the same as the balltop, but it's close enough. It probably won't even matter when you have your balltops all lit up.
Dang, I think I'm going to have to copy this idea off you! :)
*edit: in fact, if you have some spare clear plexi material, how about making me some? ::)
Thanks! Actually these balltops don't light up. But I think the color will be a bit closer once the CPO is on and its on top of a white background, rather than the wood. Unfortunately I don't have anything laying around that is close to the same thickness as the blue stuff that was on my case. Not too hard to make though, as long as you have access to a drill press.
How about you make some white ones that sit right under the hole (in addition to the transparent ones on top). Perhaps lining the hole as well with some white paint?
I really like how far you take your customizing. :applaud:
Thanks! I was thinking about putting white in the sides of the holes. I'll wait and see what it looks like when I get it all in place. As for the white disc, do you mean putting one right under the other disc? Or under the CP between it and the joystick body? That could look pretty neat actually. I'll have to look into that.
:cheers:
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Thanks! I was thinking about putting white in the sides of the holes. I'll wait and see what it looks like when I get it all in place. As for the white disc, do you mean putting one right under the other disc? Or under the CP between it and the joystick body? That could look pretty neat actually. I'll have to look into that.
:cheers:
I meant like this:
(http://www.pici.se/pictures/xARNqEnMi.gif)
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Thanks! I was thinking about putting white in the sides of the holes. I'll wait and see what it looks like when I get it all in place. As for the white disc, do you mean putting one right under the other disc? Or under the CP between it and the joystick body? That could look pretty neat actually. I'll have to look into that.
:cheers:
I meant like this:
(http://www.pici.se/pictures/xARNqEnMi.gif)
Ha, ya that's what I thought you meant. Perhaps I can try something using laminated paper.... hhhm
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Today is an exciting day, as it is the final day of construction on the SHMUP. Actually, I'm both happy and a little sad about it, which I think is kinda funny. I'm happy that it's done and that I can play any old arcade game I want to now and can officially relive my childhood while discovering games I've never even heard of. But at the same time, I'm a little sad because now the project is done and it was super fun working on it for the last 3-4 months. Before I get to the recap of today's work and the "unveil", I just wanna shout out to everyone on the boards for all the insight and help I've gotten while working on this. As well as creative suggestions that really pushed my work from just throwing something together, to working to make everything the best I could. :cheers: :cheers:
And now, the final construction update!
While I was at work today, I sanded the marquee retainers and painted them with black Rustoleum Satin finish spray paint. The screws that held the window in the side of my PC case have built in washers on them. So I recycled them and painted them black as well. These work nicely and give the retain a nicer finished look rather than just using plain wood screws. I also cut a few different types of paper to see how extra thickness would help on the brightness of the marquee. But after looking everything over, I decided that I like the look of the marquee without anything extra to diffuse the light more.
Here is a shot of the marquee mounted, without the light on and the camera flash.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/MarqueeMountedUnlit.jpg)
And another with the overhead light off and no flash.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/MarqueeMountedLit.jpg)
When I got home, I picked up the CPO and began prepping it for the plexiglass. I used my X-acto knife to cut all of the holes for it, rather than attempting to use a drill bit. I had to trim a little around the edges of the plexi as well, but everything lines up! Yay! I'm so glad I decided to go with Mame Marquees for my CPO as well. The finish turned out amazing! Oddly enough, I couldn't find my cutting mat anywhere... so I used a stack of posterboard as a makeshift cutting mat.
Prepping the CPO.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CPOPrinted.jpg)
All holes cut and ready for installing!
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CPOCut.jpg)
Completed control panel! I'm so glad I went with the marble trackball, it looks awesome!
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CPOMounted.jpg)
And now the moment of truth! The completed SHMUP arcade cabinet! Again, I don't think it would have turned out as nicely without everyone's input and motivation, thanks guys!
Front view.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/SHMUPComplete2.jpg)
3/4 Side view.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/SHMUPComplete1.jpg)
Now if you'll excuse me. I have a high score to beat in Centipede.... :applaud:
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Control panel looks great! Congrats on a fantastic build, you should have a ton of fun with this!
And don't be too sad, there's always the horizontal cab, cocktail, jukebox, dedicated light gun, racing, flight sim and ddr pad projects to keep you busy :laugh2:
but seriously, I'm sure this is just the start of your collection, you've got the build bug my friend!
Again, your cab looks great and I've really enjoyed following your work!
Hewskie
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I love the side art and CP. This thing looks great!
Looking forward to seeing your next project thread...my guess is it won't be too long before the next cab!
J
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Nice job! :applaud:
That CP and marquee really turned out nice!
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Control panel looks great! Congrats on a fantastic build, you should have a ton of fun with this!
And don't be too sad, there's always the horizontal cab, cocktail, jukebox, dedicated light gun, racing, flight sim and ddr pad projects to keep you busy :laugh2:
but seriously, I'm sure this is just the start of your collection, you've got the build bug my friend!
Again, your cab looks great and I've really enjoyed following your work!
Hewskie
Hahaha, thanks! I do have another project in mind. But... I don't have anymore space in my apartment for another cabinet.... Maybe I'll take a stab at a mini next!
I love the side art and CP. This thing looks great!
Looking forward to seeing your next project thread...my guess is it won't be too long before the next cab!
J
Thanks! What I need is a house with room for a real Game Room. Then I can start making dedicated units!
Nice job! :applaud:
That CP and marquee really turned out nice!
Oh I was super impressed when I unrolled the CP from the shipping tube. I think I know who has any future business I may need for new projects.
:cheers: guys!
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Sweet! Nice work Ryglore! You must have really been burning the midnight oil lately to get it finished. ;)
Okay, now back out to the garage I go... more... sanding... to... do... *ugh*
Play a round of Galaga for me. :cheers:
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Play a round of Galaga for me. :cheers:
Ha, thanks! Will do!
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Congrats Ryglore! The Shmup looks great! Looks like a bunch of late nights coming up in you future. :)
Have fun! You deserve it!
:applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
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Congrats Ryglore! The Shmup looks great! Looks like a bunch of late nights coming up in you future. :)
Have fun! You deserve it!
:applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
Thanks! We really need a bow emoticon. haha
just for grins... here is my mock up and the finished project side by side.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/Mockup2.jpg)(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/SHMUPComplete1.jpg)
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:cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
Woot! Amazing, finish and probably so much fun to finally be standing in front of it complete! Congrats! I love how the CP turned out, and ya that marble trackball looks sick.
Now only one question...100%? You still putting the target/bullseyes on the side?
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Well done seeing your design through to completion! Looks great too.
:cheers:
Ond
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Very nice work! Nice to see the progress from a Sketchup animation to the real thing! :cheers:
Now... get working on that other project of yours! ;D
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Oh, see, that's what you missed
Your mockup had all those cool, retro jaggies on the edges.
The real thing is way too smooth
;D
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:applaud:
I guess you will have a very nice weekend! When looking at this picture:
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/SHMUPComplete1.jpg)
I feel that your could totally "get away" with installing some car pimping lights under it without it looking at all cheesy. A light blue glow perhaps?
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Now only one question...100%? You still putting the target/bullseyes on the side?
Nope, I decided that I liked the look of that art on the sides without the crosshairs. I was going to put the logo on the side, but I decided that with the logo on the CP and the marquee, it might be overkill.
Well done seeing your design through to completion! Looks great too.
Thanks Ond! :cheers:
Now... get working on that other project of yours! ;D
:cheers: Oh the ball is already rolling. ;)
I feel that you could totally "get away" with installing some car pimping lights under it without it looking at all cheesy. A light blue glow perhaps?
It's possible. But I think I'll hold off on lighting effects for another project. I'd still like to borrow Ond's lighted button idea and work that into a design. And seeing Epyx's glowing balltops, I'm sure I can come up with something! :applaud:
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Great job, this looks hot. That CP really came out perfect, and yes MameMarquees is the only place I go. Scott does top notch work, and with the problems I have had, he has fixed without issue.
It's nice to see that the finished product came out just as you had planned (minus the bullseyes.)
Now sit back and enjoy this beauty, you deserve the break. . .
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Nope, I decided that I liked the look of that art on the sides without the crosshairs. I was going to put the logo on the side, but I decided that with the logo on the CP and the marquee, it might be overkill.
Ah, in that case 100% indeed, Enjoy! Not like you can't add them on if you change your mind.
:cheers:
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Great job Ryglore! This is certainly something that any person could strive to build. Great design and well executed.
Honkyharris
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Great job Ryglore! This is certainly something that any person could strive to build. Great design and well executed.
Thanks! :cheers:
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congrats on the finish!
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congrats on the finish!
Thanks man!
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Nice! Feel like building another one? ;D
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Nice! Feel like building another one? ;D
Sadly no, and even worse... I don't actually have real schematics to give out if people wanted to build one like it, since I built a lot of it on the fly from rough sketches. :(
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Congrats on completing this project :applaud: It looks great and I'm sure you are going to get lots of compliments and envy when people come over.
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I'd say the horns you threw up earlier were most appropriate :)
looks really good!
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Congrats on completing this project :applaud: It looks great and I'm sure you are going to get lots of compliments and envy when people come over.
Thanks! I'm actually having some friends over on this Saturday to check it out and give it a run through. ;D
I'd say the horns you threw up earlier were most appropriate :)
looks really good!
Ha thanks! I guess so! :cheers:
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Fantasic job Ryglore. :applaud:
I love to see a cab with full side art, it really does set it apart from the rest.
Everything else is damn sexy too :afro:
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Fantasic job Ryglore. :applaud:
I love to see a cab with full side art, it really does set it apart from the rest.
Everything else is damn sexy too :afro:
Thanks! Ya I like full side art too. It's one of the reasons I decided to paint it on instead, and I didn't want to worry about ordering vinyl out and then having it not fit correctly because of a mismeasure or miscommunication.
:cheers:
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After a week of prepping to "unveil" the Shmup tomorrow night for all my friends. I realized there still wasn't something right... Sure I have this huge gameslist, but it was a huge mess of mahjhong and clones, etc. So I downloaded romlister.
I tailored 3 games lists for the cabinet. The first is a list of games that are tailored toward the controls I have on the CP, 2 8 ways and 6 buttons and a trackball. So I set it to list only games that have 2 through 8 way joysticks and up to 6 buttons. As well as trackball and spinner support (since most spinner games you can play with the trackball just fine).
The next list is a list of all playable shooter games, vertical and horizontal. This is my main list that I'll prolly be playing the most often and it will give me all of my 1942s, Strikers, Gunbirds, Raidens etc as well as the R-types, Gradius and so on.
And finally I made a list of only Trackball games, this way we can quickly find trackball only games without scrolling through the main list of games.
:cheers:
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Hope you guys have a great time. I know anytime Ive had poker buddies over the breaks usually turn into the main event and overshadow the poker itself.
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I think that looks cool. I would've rounded all the corners.
If I may suggest some more curves?
(http://www.pici.se/pictures/FxQzqzXJr.png)
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I think he got it right. That looks like a melted Hershey Kiss.
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Agreed, for this cab the stronger lines add to the look.
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Agreed, for this cab the stronger lines add to the look.
Agreed, if the front of the CP stand wasn't angled I could have gotten away with some nice curves. But with the sharp line of the angled front, rounded corners or curved edges wouldn't have fit.
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This cabinet is amazing - you should be very proud! :cheers:
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This cabinet is amazing - you should be very proud! :cheers:
Thanks Javeryh! I am extremely happy with it. :cheers:
Though I've been sick as a dog since this weekend so it's sadly not seen much use lately. :angry:
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This cabinet is amazing - you should be very proud!
Agreed, what I love about Ryglore's cab is that it is a modern classic...modern but at the same time you can totally picture this rolling off the assembly line in the 80s.
Hopefully you get better...weekend deserves some playtime...nothing I like more than a couple of cold ones...a snack and some time in front of the cab, with Hockey in the background ;)
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Hopefully you get better...weekend deserves some playtime...nothing I like more than a couple of cold ones...a snack and some time in front of the cab ;)
Agreed.... Daioh is calling my name.. :laugh:
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I've been quietly working on the Coin Reject button labels, and since I was talking to Gamester about it on his thread, I figured I'd post what I was doing on mine. (Since I am borrowing his wife's idea about using vellum that is). I've been playing with various thicknesses of paper, trying to get the labels to look just right. The main problem I'm facing with it is the darkness of the blue in the reject buttons themselves. Unlike the stock Yellow buttons that came with the door, the blue knocks down the light quite a bit more that I anticipated.
Testing began while I was finishing up the cab late last month. Originally I used cardstock, figuring the blue buttons would allow nearly the same amount of light through as the yellow. Unfortunatly, the cardstock proved to thick and knocked the light down too much. I then tried regular office printer paper, but this also seemed to be only sub-par.
Fast forward to Gamester's post about his coin reject buttons and using vellum. His turned out really well, and he's using Red buttons. I happened to have some old vellum sheets still laying around from a previous project and decided to test that route. Seeing as I am also using LEDs for the lights which are a lot brighter than the #161 bulbs originally in the door, I decided to test the labels out as both a single label and a double ply label. Here are the results.
The label itself
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/token.jpg)
The reject button with a single vellum label.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/1ply.jpg)
The reject button with a doubled up vellum label.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/2ply.jpg)
Though the second one looks ok in the picture, in person you can tell that the extra thickness of the vellum "white" sections is knocking the light down a bit much and you can't really read the word "Only" on the bottom of the label. This being the case, I opted to go with the just a single thickness of Vellum inside each button and here is how they look mounted in the door with all the springs and eclips back in place.
Finished buttons
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CoinSlots1Ply.jpg)
Somehow I have a feeling that there are still a bunch of little touches that may end up still being tinkered with.... I guess a project is never really finished/
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Love the design, Ryglore! :applaud:
So, I know firsthand how hard it is to take a good picture of a lighted button, but is the bottom right corner as dark in person as it appears in the photo? If so, perhaps a slight relocation of the lights is in order?
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So, I know firsthand how hard it is to take a good picture of a lighted button, but is the bottom right corner as dark in person as it appears in the photo? If so, perhaps a slight relocation of the lights is in order?
Ya the bottom corner is dark like that, i think it may be because of the LEDs, I'm not sure. I'm going to do some testing tonight and see what I can do to fix it. I was playing with it a little last night, but it got to be almost 1:30a and I had already stay up too late working on it.
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I used red transparencies from Staples for my coin inserts...they allow the red( or blue, green, clear etc) light to come through while blocking with what you have printed in black:
(http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb312/epyx_photo/CoinRejectTransparency.jpg)
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Nice Epyx! I may look into that if I don't like how things are turning out when I get around to monkeying with the lights.
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After weeks of playing the SHMUP, I've decided that the MaLa layout that I had wasn't on par with what I was looking for in a GUI. So, I decided to craft a new layout using the same general set up as what I had before. Only now I have it so it shows the titles screen, a snapshot and the list name that I am currently viewing.
The list name was the big thing for me. Originally I thought it wasn't an option and decided to live with it. But, since I now know a lot more about the MaLa Layout program now than I did before, it was much easier to figure out everything. Plus I kept getting questions from friends that were playing it as to what list they were in... which I had memorized already.
Anyway, Here it is. I'll be installing it tomorrow night!
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/NewMalaLayoutSmall.jpg)
The tweaking continues...
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Looks great, you played the unification card very well on your cab. Menu looks nice and clean.
I envy you being done with your GUI, I am getting into my GameEx GUI and there is just so much info to process and align.
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Looks great, you played the unification card very well on your cab. Menu looks nice and clean.
Thanks!
I envy you being done with your GUI, I am getting into my GameEx GUI and there is just so much info to process and align.
I really like the ease of setting up the layouts in MaLa and am glad I went with that FE. But I'm still learning little details and I'm sure in a few months layout v3.0 will be getting worked on. I still want to change the snaps section to video, but for now I'll be sticking with a regular screenshot :lol
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Huge thanks to drventure on this one! I've been wanting to run videos on the cab for the screensaver rather than the snaps folder like I had been. DV helped out by sending me his videos from his cab for the following:
1943: Battle of Midway
1943: Kai
1944
19xx
Armed Police Batrider
Batsugun
Centipede
Daioh
DonPachi
Galaga
Gunbird 2
R-Type
R-Type 2
R-Type Leo
Skull Fang
Shienryu
Strikers 1945 II
U.N. Defense: Earth Joker
Xevious
For right now the videos are running just fine on my cab as if it were idling in attact mode at an arcade! But I can already tell that I'm going to need more than just these 19 videos. So eventually I'll sit through the download over at emumovies and then weed out all of the shooters.
Eitherway, Huge thanks again to drventure! This is frickin sweet!
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Huge thanks to drventure on this one! I've been wanting to run videos on the cab for the screensaver rather than the snaps folder like I had been. DV helped out by sending me his videos from his cab for the following:
1943: Battle of Midway
1943: Kai
1944
19xx
Armed Police Batrider
Batsugun
Centipede
Daioh
DonPachi
Galaga
Gunbird 2
R-Type
R-Type 2
R-Type Leo
Skull Fang
Shienryu
Strikers 1945 II
U.N. Defense: Earth Joker
Xevious
For right now the videos are running just fine on my cab as if it were idling in attact mode at an arcade! But I can already tell that I'm going to need more than just these 19 videos. So eventually I'll sit through the download over at emumovies and then weed out all of the shooters.
Eitherway, Huge thanks again to drventure! This is frickin sweet!
Here's a video I took of my cab last night:
XBox 360: Mushihime Futari 1.01 (360 mode) @ 24kHz pt1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtxoTdCwGxA#)
If you have an XBox 360, you really should get Mushihimesama Futari for it.
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Here's a video I took of my cab last night:
XBox 360: Mushihime Futari 1.01 (360 mode) @ 24kHz pt1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtxoTdCwGxA#)
If you have an XBox 360, you really should get Mushihimesama Futari for it.
Oh man, that game looks sick. But it looks like it's not available in the States... :hissy:
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Oh man, that game looks sick. But it looks like it's not available in the States... :hissy:
Don't worry mate, it's region free. I suggest you get it from www.videogameimports.com (http://www.videogameimports.com) or http://www.ncsx.com/ (http://www.ncsx.com/)
This game is just too awesome.
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Oh sweet. When I get some extra cash I'll have to look into it!
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Holy! That game looks awesome! I might have to look into it as well.
...and woah, you guys are up early :)
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...and woah, you guys are up early :)
Ha, I'm at work. =P
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Thanks to the videos that DrVenture gave me and the testing of the video screensaver, I decided that I needed as many videos of shooting games as possible. So I downloaded the torrent of EmuMovies complete collection and went to work.
After spending a little over an hour moving the video files to my external HDD and then sifting through them. I trimmed the video list down to 265 videos of any type of shooting game available. including Contra's, Metal Slugs, Mercs, Commando and a few others. I'm still debating on whether or not I want to keep the sound on while the screensaver is running though.
I will say that having videos of games running when the cabinet is idle not only looks way better. But it also allows me to see games in action and make note of them for later. :cheers:
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Like I said earlier in my Centipede cab project thread, I am moving within a few days (Starting tomorrow). In the process I decided I need a better way to quickly remove the CP from the cab, since currently I need access to the rear of the machine to get to the USB ports for the trackball unit. So I decided to install a 4 port USB hub into the CP box for when I am in need of either removing the CP or adding files and have to attach my Keyboard and external HDD.
Also, I got a sweet new digi cam for Christmas and decided to mount it up on my tri-pod and record a little video treat for everyone that followed my progress throughout the build. The video goes through the entire load up, from completely off to load up and then I took some video of myself playing Strikers 1945 II and Centipede.
Also, this new digi has a super macro setting, and I was able to get a really good picture of the coin reject button finally.
Enjoy!
The 4 port Dynex USB hub. Fittingly the logo glows blue when turned on.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/USBHub.jpg)
The new coin reject picture in Super Macro mode
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/MacroCoinButton.jpg)
And now the icing of the cake, the SHMUP live and alive!
SHMUPLoadUp.wmv (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mas7iPXS_yQ#)
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Is there any special reason your video is sideways?
Encryptor
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Is there any special reason your video is sideways?
Encryptor
Ya. I couldn't figure out how to rotate it vertical in Window Movie Maker.... =(
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I'm having the same problem with DirectShow :)
Nice cab! I see these and am really wishing i'd put a coin slot or two someplace... Just not sure where!
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I'm having the same problem with DirectShow :)
Nice cab! I see these and am really wishing i'd put a coin slot or two someplace... Just not sure where!
Thanks! You could put some of these Happ metal coin drops (http://www.happcontrols.com/cc/42135000.htm) some place on the CP. Or maybe some of these Roll down coin acceptors (http://www.happcontrols.com/coindoors/40001200.htm), but those would need a vertical surface to mount to... and you don't want to put it on the front of the buffet... I'm having the same problem with my Centipede bartop. I'm really thinking I'll just be using a coin button for that.
:cheers:
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When I moved to the new house, I realized a couple things about the SHMUP. The CP isn't a easily removable as I would like. I fixed part of the problem when I installed the USB hub in the CP Box earlier, but I still wasn't happy with it. I plan on eventually making a second CP top for use w/ Dual joysticks for 2 players and a 4 way Joystick w/ 2 buttons. But in order to make things as nice as possible, I needed to rework the way my control panel is wired.
So, with nothing but free time and nothing else to keep me occupied at the house (No TV or net at the moment), I decided to take up the soldering iron and get to work. (This is my first real soldering job)
First things first I removed all of the wiring from the CP top and removed the Key-Wiz40-ST.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/GuttedCP.jpg)
The plan was to wire the Key-Wiz into a a 25 pin D-sub connector and that way I can easily unplug the CP and remove it when I need to. Though, I also had to wire in a 9 pin D-sub connector for the coin switches and the pause and exit buttons.
Side View
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/KeyWizRewired.jpg)
Plug View
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/25and9Pins.jpg)
Once the Key-Wiz was wired, I rewired the control panel top to clean it up a bit and wire in the 25 pin D-sub. I ran all of the button wires to the terminal blocks that I had originally used for grounds and I daisy chained the ground wires together.
Here is the original wiring job
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/CPwired.jpg)
and the new wiring.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/InsideTheCP.jpg)
Once everything was wired, I mounted the Key-Wiz into place and now everything is all set to go!
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/KeyWizInPlace.jpg)
I'd like to make the CPs hot swappable, and I'm not sure if I can do that w/ the 25 pin on the Key-Wiz. So at some point I may change the Key-Wiz out to a GPWiz... I've not decided.
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Nice work. Too bad it took two cables. I once thought of doing something similiar using one of those old key style phone system cables from way WAY back (like a db50 cable or maybe an 80 wire EIDE cable)
But DB9 and 25 are sure easy to work with!
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Ya it was a fun little project. With all the tweaking I've been doing to the cab, I'm a little embarrassed that I announced the Shmup as 100% finished... :embarassed:
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Great, now you can make:
a 1 player panel with 1 joystick and four buttons (for shmups)
a 2 player panel with 2 joysticks and four buttons (for 2 player shmups)
a 1 player panel with a 4 way joystick
a 1 player panel with a spinner
a 1 player panel with a trackball
a shed to store your panels. :cheers: ;D
Having a dedicated 1 player panel for the games you play the most though is great. I enjoy games way more that way, as it's just more comfortable.
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I'm a little embarrassed that I announced the Shmup as 100% finished
They're never finished ;)
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Great, now you can make:
a 1 player panel with 1 joystick and four buttons (for shmups)
a 2 player panel with 2 joysticks and four buttons (for 2 player shmups)
a 1 player panel with a 4 way joystick
a 1 player panel with a spinner
a 1 player panel with a trackball
a shed to store your panels. :cheers: ;D
I should have all the bases covered w/ the removable CP that I am planning. :)
Having a dedicated 1 player panel for the games you play the most though is great. I enjoy games way more that way, as it's just more comfortable.
I actually prefer playing in the player one position... now all I need are some barstools and I can sit down and play for more than a few minutes at a time. :cheers:
I'm a little embarrassed that I announced the Shmup as 100% finished
They're never finished ;)
Agreed, I usually compare it to being a "car guy". Car guys are constantly spending spare time tweaking and shining and buffing their "babies". And I am constantly tweaking and modding and playing my arcade. :D
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Hey all, been gone for a bit, but I just wanted to post a little update. Everything is working wonderfully and the new CP wiring works great without any bugs. But I am in the middle of changing the load up movie to make it even more authentic arcadey. Think Rom checks and scrambled screens when you load up a game. :cheers:
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Hey all, been gone for a bit, but I just wanted to post a little update. Everything is working wonderfully and the new CP wiring works great without any bugs. But I am in the middle of changing the load up movie to make it even more authentic arcadey. Think Rom checks and scrambled screens when you load up a game. :cheers:
Welcome back! Nice to see you're still tinkering on Shmup, but uhmmm...how's the bartop coming!? >:D
I'm eagerly awaiting an update on that one! :lol
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Yeah, I got the bug again. I'm planning to change the video (possibly the frontend graphics again as well) and I want to change the marquee light from fluorescent to LED.
As for the Bartop. I think it's in a holding pattern for now. I've gotta look into monitor options some more and I need enough money to get all the components. Though... I will say, I am working on something that will tame the bug for the time being... More news on that later though. >:D
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does this monitor rotate back to horizontal orientation? If not then I am wondering why you have a 6 button layout for a dedicated vertical SHMUP cab?
Other than that it looks sweet. You should see about putting a 360 in there. It has some AMAZING shmups, and even a couple are region free (mushi futari, espgaluda II), although you would still have to import them.
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But I am in the middle of changing the load up movie to make it even more authentic arcadey. Think Rom checks and scrambled screens when you load up a game. :cheers:
Don't you bogart my idea now... Of course, I haven't said anything about it yet, but I will say this - I love your idea, and have been working on something similar now for a bit. Oh, hell. I'll just go post it over in my thread and stop ruining yours with my words.
/threadjack
I love your cab - the Schmup is one of my all-time favs and definitely an original. It's one of the reasons I wanted to branch out to something original, and an inspiration.
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does this monitor rotate back to horizontal orientation? If not then I am wondering why you have a 6 button layout for a dedicated vertical SHMUP cab?
Nope, the monitor doesn't rotate at all. And while the image is a bit smaller than if I would have rotated the screen. It's still pretty big, I've not had complaints from friends about playing horizontally oriented titles on it. While the SHMUP is "dedicated" to vertical shooters, Since that's the genre I prefer, the plan was always to have as many games on it as I could, regardless of type. So, the 6 button layout is there for versatility, mostly. On my friends cab, that inspired me, he only had 4 buttons and a vertical screen, I didn't care much for that set up, especially when we did decide to play fighters. So when I built mine, I went with the 6 buttons.
Actually, I have 4-5 lists organized by genre thanks to romlister, Shooters, Sports, Fighters, Trackball and All Games. And if we want to play some SF2 or Mortal Kombat, the extra buttons are available. If not, that's fine too, they are there when I need them. Luckily, the 6 button layout isn't completely wasted on my shmup playing. I play a lot of Daioh, and it uses 6 buttons, interestingly enough.
Other than that it looks sweet. You should see about putting a 360 in there. It has some AMAZING shmups, and even a couple are region free (mushi futari, espgaluda II), although you would still have to import them.
Ya I've been looking into importing some of those region free games for my 360 for sure. I doubt I'd ever put a 360 in the cab though. Since I have an arcade stick for my 360 already. ha :cheers:
But I am in the middle of changing the load up movie to make it even more authentic arcadey. Think Rom checks and scrambled screens when you load up a game. :cheers:
Don't you bogart my idea now... Of course, I haven't said anything about it yet, but I will say this - I love your idea, and have been working on something similar now for a bit. Oh, hell. I'll just go post it over in my thread and stop ruining yours with my words.
Ya I never got around to working on this idea. I was actually thinking of just having it load up without the intro video instead. I'm still debating it. If I do make up another video, I may just do something akin to a DOS Prompt. Simple, straight forward. On the other hand, I do like the load up of the old games like Robotron 2084. hmm.
I love your cab - the Schmup is one of my all-time favs and definitely an original. It's one of the reasons I wanted to branch out to something original, and an inspiration.
Thanks! I'm super happy to see my work has been inspirational. I'm digging your DOOM cab idea for sure too. Makes me want to load up my Xbox copy and play again. Or even just play the XBLA version of DOOM II. :cheers:
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Hey all. Just thought I'd toss out a quick mention that I'm gearing up to do some little tweaks to the SHMUP!
After playing on the Retrotron: 1984 for a bit at my buddy's house. I've come to realize that I really want a good, solid way to play 4 way games. Currently, my Happ Super 8 way sticks don't really do the job and can be really picky when playing 4 way games. Pretty much to the point of making them unplayable. So I'm missing out on some of my favorites, like Frogger, Donkey Kong and BurgerTime. Plus, my girlfriend really would like a reliable way to play Dig Dug.
After paying off bills w/ my Tax Return (man it disappeared quick!), I had just enough left for the upgrades. I decided to go with Omni2 4/8way Switchable Sticks from GGG with the UV Reactor clear light blue ball tops. Since they are the closest tops to the bubble tops I have on my current sticks. It might have been possible to use my original tops over, but I did retap them to 1/4" thread when I made my original shafts. Plus they are super glued into place, so I figured I'd play it safe. That way I didn't regret it later.
When I ordered the Orange Acrylic sample from Tap Plastics for Opt2Not's Alpha One's dust washers, I also ordered a sample of Dark Blue acrylic for use as new dust washers for the SHMUP's new sticks. I'm going to try to make a set of clear and a set of clouded washers so I can see which ones I like better. But if it works like it did for Opt2Not, the 4th one might not turn out. But currently I'm leaning more toward sticking with the clouded/translucent washers, rather than crystal clear.
On top of the Joysticks, I'm also going to replace my Fluorescent marquee light with the Nova Matrix Lynx LED Marquee Light from GGG. I really liked how it turned out w/ the Retrotron's marquee and it's something I've wanted to do on the SHMUP for awhile now. Plus with the LED light in there, I won't need to worry about replacing the light in there. And it'll draw even less power when it's on. Win/Win.
Now, here's a little update that's already happened: When I was building the Retrotron: 1984 I needed to buy tokens for it to run on. Well I decided to give my buddy my old tokens and ordered a set of BYOAC tokens from Santoro. I'm really very happy with these babies. They are really well made and some how he even managed to get them shipped out in the midst of Hurricane Sandy. Thanks man, I love these.
2005 BYOAC Tokens
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/IMG_20121113_123415_zps6f50b6fc.jpg)
Anyway. Kinda long winded. RandyT is currently gathering up all my parts order and should hopefully be shipping them out soon. And once they get here I'll be posting up some more pics of the new set up. I really can't wait, it's gonna be super sweet.
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Alrighty. My 1st major upgrade to the SHMUP since I finished building it is under way!
My GGG order came in today and as soon as I got home I started tearing down the control panel. Luckily thanks to the removable control panel upgrade I did to it awhile back, it made it really easy and I didn't have to do any major wiring jobs. So I popped the control panel off and unplugged it from the cab and took it to the kitchen table.
Omni2 Joysticks and the Nova Lynx Marquee Light
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/IMG_20130219_183151_zpsc75c9b50.jpg)
Original Wiring Job w/ the Happ Supers Installed
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/IMG_20130219_183223_zps2add1d84.jpg)
When I originally installed the Happ Supers, I used bolts and nuts. Which meant I needed to tear it down to bare wood in order to reach the bolt heads. If I had known what I know now thanks to the Retrotron build, I would have used T-nuts recessed into the panel instead. But, these are what we learn after the 1st go around. It didn't really take that long to pull apart either.
Stripped down control panel.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/IMG_20130219_191811_zpse58036f2.jpg)
Once the panel was naked, I started the process of mounting the Omni2s. But hit a minor snag in that the mounting holes were too small for my bolts. The bolt pattern was correct though, I just needed to drill out the bolt holes in order to reuse my bolts. So down into the basement I went to do a little hole enlarging.
1/4" Bolts don't fit!
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/IMG_20130219_192613_zpsc111ead7.jpg)
After a quick run with the drill, which amazingly had some charge left in it for the job, I went back to work mounting the panel together. And about a half hour to 45 minutes later, the new sticks were in place and the rest of the panel was ready to go! But I noticed that the new sticks are a tad shorter than my originals... this concerned me a little bit. But I compared them to my Hori SoulCalibur IV Fight Stick for my Xbox 360 and the height was about the same and I never had a problem with that set up. So, I went with it. Plus I don't own a router and the bolt heads are already recessed into the wood, so I don't really have much room available for recessing the housing into the wood.
Omni2 Joysticks in Place and read for the cab!
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/IMG_20130219_203454_zps8e39b629.jpg)
Control Panel Remounted into the Cab.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/IMG_20130219_204002_zpsdaa851f9.jpg)
Close Up of the P1 Side
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/IMG_20130219_204008_zps39d1cb47.jpg)
Now, I still have to replace the dust washers. I couldn't use my original ones because the shaft on these sticks is 9mm and my original aluminum shafts were 1/2". So the dust washer's center hole was waaaay to big. But, I ordered a sample of dark blue acrylic sheet when I ordered the orange stuff for Opt2Not's Alpha One cab. And I'm going to take it to work tomorrow and make a new set for these sticks.
Also I still need to install the marquee light. But I am out of wire, so I'm going to pick up some at work too and then I can get that switched out soon. I'm hoping to have the light installed before the end of the week, but I'm not sure what the plans are for the next couple days.
After I got the panel in place I did a bunch of test runs to make sure everything worked and I didn't have any loose connections. Man these sticks are a major upgrade compared to my homemade sticks and everything is buttery. The shorter throw on them is going to take a little getting used to, but I've noticed a not more response in them. The 8 way is solid, the 4 way is top notch and they seem a lot quieter than the Happ Supers.
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Well done, but what is that white stuff directly below the ball of the left joystick?
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You're talking in the close up shot of it? I think its just a weird reflection off of the shaft. Cause there isn't anything there that I can see.
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Well done, but what is that white stuff directly below the ball of the left joystick?
It looks like the reflection of the ball itself.
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Well done, but what is that white stuff directly below the ball of the left joystick?
It looks like the reflection of the ball itself.
I'm thinking it's the reflection of the dust washer and the white of the control panel overlay.
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Well done, but what is that white stuff directly below the ball of the left joystick?
It looks like the reflection of the ball itself.
I'm thinking it's the reflection of the dust washer and the white of the control panel overlay.
^this
Looks fantastic bro
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Great job Ryglore! I have considered a similar 'upgrade' for my cab as well. I find that I am compromising the gameplay of the games that I enjoy most by not having a dedicated 4/8 way joystick. The U360s I have are a great solution for flexibility in being able to play a lot of different types of games, but definitely not ideal for all of them.
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Thanks guys!
Ya this seemed to be the best route for me. I could have made a different panel w/ a 4 way on it, or dual 4 ways. But decided that the best solution was upgrading the Supers to the Omni2s and flipping them back and forth.
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I ordered some acrylic test samples from Tap Plastics a while back to help Opt2Not out with his Alpha One project. While I was at it, I ordered up some blue for myself, knowing that I'd need it for the upcoming joystick swap.
A few days ago, I cut the blue acrylic and made the washers. I decided to go with 2" washers, since they were close to the size of my originals if not a bit smaller. So, following the same steps I used to make my original washers, I drilled the center hole w/ a 3/8 Fortsner bit and then cut the washer out with a 2 1/8" hole saw.
New Dust Washers next to my Originals
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/IMG_20130222_133857_zps3127c40d.jpg)
Well, when I got home I went to test install them... and the center hole was too small. Oh well, I then took a 13/32" drill bit and made the hole slightly bigger. Problem solved.
Once that was done, I busted out the wet sanding paper and started the process of making them translucent. A little elbow grease and some 500, 1000 and 1200 sand paper later, the washers were no longer crystal clear. Now they are like my originals were and you can't see down into the joystick hole.
Translucent New New Dust Washers!
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/IMG_20130223_202036_zps9abd9b6d.jpg)
Dust Washers Installed.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/IMG_20130223_201449_zps86959a91.jpg)
Close Up of the P1 Joystick.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/IMG_20130223_201456_zps16894534.jpg)
I'm really happy with these Dust Washers. And it wasn't until I started working on them that I noticed how purple the old ones are. Now they fit with the rest of the color scheme much better.
I still need to do the marquee light yet, but forgot the wire at work. So that'll have to wait until Monday night. We're almost done with the upgrades!
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any chance of getting you to make me a pink washer?
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They have a color called "transparent red" I think that's the closest to Pink we'll get from them.
http://www.tapplastics.com/product/plastics/cut_to_size_plastic/acrylic_sheets_transparent_colors/519 (http://www.tapplastics.com/product/plastics/cut_to_size_plastic/acrylic_sheets_transparent_colors/519)
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They have a color called "transparent red" I think that's the closest to Pink we'll get from them.
http://www.tapplastics.com/product/plastics/cut_to_size_plastic/acrylic_sheets_transparent_colors/519 (http://www.tapplastics.com/product/plastics/cut_to_size_plastic/acrylic_sheets_transparent_colors/519)
looks good to me, send me a paypal invoice my username at gmail.com
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K, I'll order up some and let you know when it's done. :)
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K, I'll order up some and let you know when it's done. :)
Fantastic! I love that balltop too, wonder if I can get a pinkish one of those.....
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Ok, between packing to move into a new house (!) and other things taking up all of my time, I've finally been able to knock out the marquee light! It was a pretty easy upgrade and I'm glad I finally was able to knock it out. And now that I have the fluorescent light out of the SHMUP I am going to build a light desk out of it, for other art projects. Interestingly enough, I have MDF left over from the SHMUP still in my garage and it should be plenty to make the table out of.
Anyway, on to pictures!
Removing the the original light.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/IMG_20130305_184602_zps02c6ddd6.jpg)
Testing w/ the Marquee Off.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/IMG_20130305_195915_zps7fef27c5.jpg)
Marquee Back on and Ready for Action.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/IMG_20130305_200536_zpsec3cabab.jpg)
I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I was wondering if it was going to cause dark spots, cause of the way I mounted them in there and I can't really tell if there are or not. But now the marquee will turn off when the PC shuts down, just like the lights on the coin door, so it added a bit more polish to the ol' cab.
And now it's ready to be moved one more time, into the house I am buying and it will finally be back out in view. Not hidden away in a side room for no one to see. I can't wait.
:cheers:
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The Shmup! is looking better than ever! Nice additions! :cheers:
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looks amazeballs.
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Marquee looks great.
I love your trackball as well. Looks awesome with your artwork. :cheers:
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(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/IMG_20130305_195915_zps7fef27c5.jpg)
(http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8hnufvpqR1qd1mkvo7_1280.jpg)
That's a great idea you came up with for mounting those novamatrixes! Much better than how I did it (pictured above). I may take that idea and run with it so that I can bring my lights back some (my concern is they are too close to the marquee and will result in dark spots in areas, but I don't have a marquee to test with yet, but I can't move them back mounted how they are right now as the speakers are taking up the real estate behind the board).
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The Shmup! is looking better than ever! Nice additions! :cheers:
looks amazeballs.
Thanks guys! With these upgrades, the SHMUP should be all set for a long time. :cheers:
Marquee looks great.
I love your trackball as well. Looks awesome with your artwork. :cheers:
Thanks! Ya when I saw that trackball I fell in love with it and decided then and there that I had to have it for my trackball in the cab. If I remember, the original one I ordered ended up backordered because it lacked enough marbleing. So it took a bit longer to get it, but totally worth it.
That's a great idea you came up with for mounting those novamatrixes! Much better than how I did it (pictured above). I may take that idea and run with it so that I can bring my lights back some (my concern is they are too close to the marquee and will result in dark spots in areas, but I don't have a marquee to test with yet, but I can't move them back mounted how they are right now as the speakers are taking up the real estate behind the board).
Thanks! I actually installed the Nova Matrix Lynx in the Retrotron: 1984, like you have in that pic and it works nicely. Really the only reason I went this way was because of the panel I have inside being short. You should be ok, but a good way to test it would be to print up your marquee in regular printer paper and tape it into place. Then with the light on, it should give you an idea as to if you're gonna have dark spots.
After I had my Nova installed. I though I should have staggered them to keep it all even. But after I turned it on, they didn't seem to have a problem lighting the marquee, so I left it as is.
Also, another thing about mounting them horizontially. The way those hooks work for screwing them down, you have ot make sure you make them tight as hell, or the up facing hook will slide off the screw. I debated on gluing mine in place, but I'll see if they jar loose during transport to the new house first.
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Also, another thing about mounting them horizontially. The way those hooks work for screwing them down, you have ot make sure you make them tight as hell, or the up facing hook will slide off the screw. I debated on gluing mine in place, but I'll see if they jar loose during transport to the new house first.
Good point, even vertically I found I had to screw them kinda tightly.
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So over the last few months I ended up buying a house! Which meant the SHMUP got moved once again and this time should be the final time for a very long time.
Everything that I've done to make things easier on myself for transport worked wonderfully. The quick removed CP worked like a champ and the easy slide out PC proved to be the most solid design decision I've made on this thing.
Of course, that meant that we also had to transport it again and man was I dreading that. Last time we moved it, it seemed to be the heaviest thing I've ever moved in my life. But some how we ended up with no issues and it didn't seem that bad at all.
So here it is, in the living room of my house! Which is awesome, because now folks can actually gather around it while people are playing. I can't wait to have all my buddies over for the house warming, once I get things all settled in.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/IMG_20130426_202443_zps13f9611a.jpg)
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Again, congrats on the house! Glad the move worked out well, and the cabinet looks like it's in a really great spot! :applaud:
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So over the last few months I ended up buying a house! Which meant the SHMUP got moved once again and this time should be the final time for a very long time.
Everything that I've done to make things easier on myself for transport worked wonderfully. The quick removed CP worked like a champ and the easy slide out PC proved to be the most solid design decision I've made on this thing.
Of course, that meant that we also had to transport it again and man was I dreading that. Last time we moved it, it seemed to be the heaviest thing I've ever moved in my life. But some how we ended up with no issues and it didn't seem that bad at all.
So here it is, in the living room of my house! Which is awesome, because now folks can actually gather around it while people are playing. I can't wait to have all my buddies over for the house warming, once I get things all settled in.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/LOPWyrm/IMG_20130426_202443_zps13f9611a.jpg)
Congrats on the move.
That's kinda neat, when building my vertical cabinet, your cab was an inspiration to me and I see the corner of your room is much like mine, kitty cornered cab with the bass rig right next door.
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Nice! I'm always happy to hear that my cab was inspiration toward another person's work too. But that there, that is a neat coincidence!
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@Ryglore
Just catching up on this thread...congrats on the place and move! Looking like an awesome spot to play games!!! :cheers:
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Any chance you can share you Mala SHUMPS theme and .xml (list of games)
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Ya. I'll have to pull them off of the cab itself. Cause I don't think it's on my portable hard drive.