The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Project Announcements => Topic started by: edge on October 06, 2006, 04:07:18 pm
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This is my first project announcement, so please be gentle. Your comments are much appreciated. :)
I am working on converting a non-working Irritating Maze cabinet to a Golden Tee cabinet (dedicated to trackball games only).
To help you visualize where I am heading, attached are pictures of my original Irritating Maze cabinet and the Golden Tee cabinet (from KLOV) that inspired me.
Overall Look and Feel:
My Starting Point:
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=51525.0;attach=58872)
My Inspiration / Goal:
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=51525.0;attach=58870)
Cabinet Hardware:
- P4 2.6GHz PC w/1 GB Memory
- Windows XP Pro
- ArcadeVGA
- JPAC
- Utilize existing 25" arcade monitor
- Utilize existing cabinet speakers
- Mount motherboard/PSU/Hard Drive/etc directly into cabinet
Software:
- Not sure what version of MAME yet
- Used Budda's tool to extract trackball games only
- Front End Option #1: Mala w/Johnny5 to light up LED's
- Front End Option #2: The new Atomic with built-in LEDWiz support
Control Panel:
- Dedicated to trackball games
- 3" GGG Electric Ice Trackball
- 13 GGG Electric Ice RBG buttons
- 1 LEDWiz
- Utilize JPAC to control buttons
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Control Panel To Do:
Cut new control panel in 3/4" MDFPaint control panel blackInstall and wire buttons/trackball/RGB LEDsInstall new Golden Tee CP overlayCut and install 1/8" lexan overlay- Install panel clamps
- Install LED Discs from MikeDeuce for Admin buttons (Pause, Menu, Exit)
- Fix some small wiring issues (ie, swapped a R wire with G wire on an LED)
- Install 'C' bracket to hold control panel upright when I need to work on it
Cabinet To Do:
Purchase yellow t-molding (GGG)Purchase router bit for t-molding (MLCS)Speaker hack - PC Card to existing cabinet speakersInstall motherboard/psu/etc in cabinetMount JPAC in cabinetFix scratches / fill holes in cabinetSand & paint cabinet black (semi-gloss)Install yellow t-moldingInstall new marquee lightPurchase new Golden Tee marqueeReplace plexi over monitor with tempered, smoked glass- Fix monitor bezel - it covers too much of monitor
- Install new keylock at back of cab
Replace plexi over marqueeInstall Smart Strip surge protector inside cab- Paint poster board black (around marquee)
- Install power button (not sure where)
- Install USB CDRom, accessible via coin area
Updated January 5th, 2007.
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Nice choice of cabinet ... I've got my MultiJamma in one of those big Capcom beasts with GT2K and it is lovely to play on.
Cheers.
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Thanks, CheffoJeffo. I wanted to be sure there was a lot of room between the trackball and the monitor. Especially for those ambitious Golden Tee and Bowling players.
Which marquee do you have in your cabinet? The GT2k one?
Looking to cut up the control panel tonight.
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If you don't have a marquee yet?
I have purchased several GT marquess from this gentlemen on Ebay.
He has them all, Even if they are not listed.
Usually sells them for under $3.00
Also sells GT control panel overlays etc.
He has fast turnaround too !
Here is the link.
http://stores.ebay.com/Datascore-Darts-Music-And-Games
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You're going to paint the CP black? Have you thought about some cool artwork covered in Plexiglas?
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It's amazing how much you can get done when the wife & kids are away for the weekend. :)
I worked on my control panel last night & this morning. I cut all the holes, recessed the trackball mount and painted it all black.
theCoder - I painted the CP black but will cover it with a GT overlay. I figured that the overlay would stick better to paint than to bare MDF.
BucketHead - Thanks for the info. I contacted that ebay seller to see if he had any GT marquees.
Next steps:
- Cut holes in lexan
- Apply Golden Tee control panel overlay & stickers
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Here's a mockup of what the GT stickers would look like on my control panel.
I hope to have the real thing complete by end of day.
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Looks great !
Im looking forward to viewing more of your progress.
Keep up the great work !
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the intial cab has a gimungous trackball what size is that?
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Good eyes, nullb0y. The original CP has a 4 1/2" Happs trackball. A little too big for my purposes. I swapped it out for the GGG Electric Ice trackball.
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Made a lot of progress this weekend. Here are a few pics of the control panel with the Golden Tee overlay.
(1) This was my first time cutting lexan. To be honest, that was the part I was dreading the most, but once I got over my fear and made the first cut, it was pretty easy. No cracks, no splints. The trickiest part was using the router (with laminate trimmer bit) to make the 3 inch trackball hole.
(2) As someone mentioned in these forums a while back, I used a brown rubber square to push out the air bubbles as I applied the grass overlay. The rubber square is what you put under your table legs to keep it from scratching your floors.
(3) I used an exacto knife (pen style) to cut out the holes in the grass sticker. To help me see the panel holes, I shined a work light from underneath the control panel.
(4) I then cut out the Golden Tee stickers and placed them on the grass overlay. Everything worked out great, except the last sticker -- the one that goes around the trackball (Forward Swing / Back Swing). As you can see in the last pic, my trackball hole is bigger than the hole in the sticker set. I am guessing the sticker set was made for a 2 1/4" trackball -- I am using a 3" trackball. I contacted ClassicArcadeGrafix (http://www.classicarcadegrafix.com/) and told him my problem. He is making a replacement sticker that should be able to accomodate a 3" hole. What a great vendor!!!
Next steps:
- Wire up the control panel (RGB buttons, LEDWiz, JPAC, etc)
- Apply new trackball sticker upon receipt
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I couldn't wait for the new GT sticker, so I decided to wire up my LEDWiz and a few RGB Electric Ice buttons.
I manually lit the buttons green (using RandyT's LumaControl app).
I love the way it looks. I can't wait to have it automated. Ahhh - to dream!
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Hey man,
That is looking really great !
Did you manage to pick up a Marquee from the gentleman i directed you too?
Keep posting more pictures as your progress continues !
Im a sucker for GT's !
Excellent work.
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Control Panel:
I received the updated GT trackball sticker from ClassicArcadeGrafix. The sticker hole can now accomodate my 3inch trackball (wow - that does not sound good). Unfortunately, the big yellow square background looked out of place on the grass overlay. It was too big! So I decided to cut out the individual forward/backswing/club arrows and place them directly on the grass. This got rid of that large yellow square. I think it rocks!
Painting:
I removed 3 bolts from the front of the cabinet (near the coin door) and filled those in. I was going to sand down the whole cab to wood, then prime and repaint... but I got pressed for time.... So I quick sanded the wounds/scars and painted it all black (semi-gloss). It came out pretty good, considering.
T-Molding:
I got my "Solar Yellow" tmolding from GroovyGameGear. Installed it after I painted. Makes a nice contrast with the fresh black paint.
Marquee:
Buckethead - Thanks. I did contact that ebay seller, but he did not have a GT2K at this time. I will keep my eyes open.
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wow! Looking great. Great work.
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I finally got Mala up and running with my LEDWiz this weekend.
My kids love the colors! :)
Click here (http://www.mailboxhead.com/edge/Edge_MalaAndLights.avi) for a video of the cab in action.
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Excellent cab!
Could you take some pictures of that 4 1/2 inch TB and add it to the Wiki trackball page?
Or, if you are going to set it aside, I'll be happy to take it off your hands and do the wikiing myself ;D
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Looks wonderful. Really like the lighting. I'm working on a small TB panel light theme also.
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Wow - been a while since I worked on this cabinet. Definitely slows progress down when you could actually play the cab. ;)
Last night I finally hooked up the cabinet speakers to my computer. I read up on all the options (see multiple threads here (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=37577.0)).
- I took a cheap set of speakers.
- Opened up the main speaker (the one with the power connector).
- Disconnected and removed the little speaker.
- Spliced the red and black wires and attached to one of my cabinet speakers. (I used the same female quick connect ends that I used with my push buttons.)
- Since my cab has 2 speakers, I spliced the second speaker in similar fashion.
- Instead of getting fancy and trying to mount the volume control in my control panel, I just put it behind my coin door.
Next up the marquee!
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Wow - this is a great looking project. I've always wanted a Golden Tee dedicated cab but I never really liked the design. I think the Irritating Maze cab works great - if I ever get around to it this is what I'll do.
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I finally got Mala up and running with my LEDWiz this weekend.
My kids love the colors! :)
Click here (http://www.mailboxhead.com/edge/Edge_MalaAndLights.avi) for a video of the cab in action.
i love that picture :o great project :cheers:
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Thanks, guys, for the positive reinforcement. Definitely helps give me the bug to push through my punch list.
javeryh - I think my Irritating Maze was a conversion. Looking at klov.com, the real Irritiating Maze cabinet looks much different (see below) with special blowers and such. Not sure what was in mine originally.
My kids played on it alot this weekend. World Class Bowling was the favorite - even my 2 year old got some strikes. hehe.
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I found some time this weekend to work on the marquee.
Because the cabinet has a very large marquee area (27.5 inches wide x 16 inches high), I needed to figure out a way to mount a normal sized Golden Tee marquee.
Here's what I did:
- I ended up using black poster board (foam board) from Staples.
- Using an exacto knife, I sliced out a rectangle in the middle of the poster board. I made it a little bit smaller than the Golden Tee marquee... about 1/4 inch less around.
- I used a little double faced Scotch tape on the sides to help keep the marquee in place.
- I bought a new peice of plexi to replace my old, scratched up one. I have a new found hatred for plexi - it scratches way to easy. :(
- I replaced the light fixture that was in the cab with a new flourescent light fixture (I think 18 inches wide). Picked it up at Home Depot for cheap.
I think it came out OK - looks better in person - flash makes it look weird. I wish the poster board was a darker black, but once I fix the lighting in the basement, I think it won't bother me as much... I can only hope... ;)
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A couple people have PM'ed me about the grass overlay. I originally got the grass overlay and stickers from Classic Arcade Graphix, but unfortunately, they are now out of business now. :cry:
But, I also found them at www.arcadeoverlays.com (http://www.arcadeoverlays.com). Looks like they still have them here (http://arcadeoverlays.com/storefrontprofiles/DeluxeSFItemDetail.aspx?sid=1&sfid=17232&c=0&i=11008401).
Gatorcade (www.gatorcade.com (http://www.gatorcade.com)) also stocks the new overlay (ie, blue & red), and they may also have the older grass overlay. Worth a shot.
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Thanks to a day at home with no kids, I was actually able to get some work done on my cab. :)
I worked on mounting my pc into the cab. Since there's not alot of room in the cab because of the way it is shaped, I could not just drop in my PC (in its case). I had to take my PC guts out of the PC case and mount the motherboard, HD, PSU, etc directly into the cabinet.
Here's the area I had to work with:
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=51525.0;attach=63813)
To make it easier to remove the PC parts in the future, I mounted all the pc parts to a spare piece of MDF first. Then I mounted the MDF to the inside of the cab.
I used L brackets for the CD drive and PSU.
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=51525.0;attach=63815)
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=51525.0;attach=63819)
Luckily, I was able to rip out the HD drive cage from an old PC case.
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=51525.0;attach=63817)
Here it is ready to go into the cab.
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=51525.0;attach=63823)
Now hopefully I can mount this baby today!
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... I wish the poster board was a darker black
Why not take it out and hit it with a coat of flat black spray paint?
Great progress.
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... I wish the poster board was a darker black
Why not take it out and hit it with a coat of flat black spray paint?
Great progress.
Doh! Great idea. I will add it to the list of to do's. Thanks.
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There is no drool with envy smiley. One would be very appropriate here. It is looking very good and I am very jealous.
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johnperkins - thanks for the compliment.
Here's an update on the PC mounting.
When I tried to mount the board I made in the previous pictures, it was too big. It fit in the cabinet, but the components were too close to the edges. It was a tight squeeze.
So I decided to remove the CDROM from the board and I jigsawed off about 4 or 5 inches from the side. Mounting this new, slimer board was much easier. I used 2 screws to mount it to the cabinet.
I mounted my SmartStrip on the right as well. Only one power cord comes out of the cabinet now. Nice!
I also mounted the JPAC right under the control panel in the front of the cabinet. This minimized the amount of wires in the back of the cabinet, making it easier to tidy it up back there.
Next up: wireless keyboard/mouse, power button, control panel clamps, USB CDRom.
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Sorry to revive an incredibly old thread, but I was wondering how you got golden tee to run. I have not been able to get it running correctly. It has very bad stuttering, but the video looks ok.
Any help from you or the other great builders in these forums would be great.
Thanks
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I tried GT on my mame setup and couldn't get it working either. Any suggestions would be appreciated.