The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls

Main => Project Announcements => Topic started by: grippie on August 28, 2014, 08:58:09 pm

Title: Sega Genesis Bartop *** Complete - Now With Plans ***
Post by: grippie on August 28, 2014, 08:58:09 pm
Well I am marking this guy finished. It turned out way cooler than I ever thought and I want to thank all of the great comments and help over the last few months. Can't wait to get started on my next project, a 2-player stand up. More pics are located at the end of the thread.

***NEW ***
PDF plans are now available attached to this thread. They are all 1:1 so you can try to print them full scale for tracing, or use the plans to draw on the wood. They are dual dimensioned so that it includes both Inch and Millimeter. They are shown as     in [mm]

I also exported a DWG file from my cad system which is the only format that is compatible with sketchup. It's in the zip file below. It works but it's not perfect.

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=321128;image)


(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=321130;image)




(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=321132;image)





*** Start original post ***[Insert generic intro here. Long time listener, first time caller]

I'm excited to finally put saw to wood here soon and thought I could announce what I have going on. The wife, who is currently 4 months pregnant,  :cheers: put the stop to my man cave construction.  :banghead: So basically my full-size will have to wait. BUT I realized that a bartop will be just as fun to build, and since it's slightly portable, I can move it around for parties and play around with jukebox software. 

So here are my thoughts...

1. SEEEEEGAAAAA
   There have been a few classic Nintendo builds with the iconic coloring and themes, see http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,133712.0.html  (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,133712.0.html). for an amazing example, but there has been little done with my beloved SEGA (sans the current outrun driver by johnrt !).

2.Primary Focus is 80's & 90's (Genesis, Master System, NES,SNES,TG16,MAME) Consoles & Arcade games (Shinobi, Rastan, Strider etc.) Not a fan of 2 player co-op on bartops. I'll save that for my full size.

3. System Specs
   Motherboard:   ASUS M4A785-M. Has onboard HD4200 graphcis card which has rocked anything i've thrown at it. (again, I'm not looking to play street fighter or any dreamcast or newer games)
   Processor:   AMD Athlon II X2 245 Dual-Core 2.9GHz (old NAS server looks to be perfect for my bartop)
   Memory:       NAS had 4 GB. Overkill but you know...
   HDD:      1TB WD HDD
   OS:         Windows 7 x64
   Speakers:   Ripped apart an old gateway 2000  :laugh2: speaker set that had a built in amp and sounds pretty good. Not sure if i should spend the 25 bucks and upgrade this and/or get a small sub for some of those boomin soundtracks (golden axe titlescreen  8) )
   
4. Construction
   planning to use 1/2 inch MDF for most of the cabinet construction. Was worried that this would be too thin or light, but seems like a lot of people build their bartops out of 1/2". I started with the weecade design, which it seems that everyone does now days, but I wasn't feeling the giant curve in the front. I have a 19" monitor and when adjusting for the size, it became too deep when the curve and speaker panel met up. I like the understated lines of this design, but am open for suggestions. The marquee area can possibly get shorter, but i'll have to mock it up out of cardboard and see how much room the speakers take up.


(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=315384)
Mockup in my CAD system (I'm a cad admin, I used to do design work awhile back)

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=315386)
   So I was wondering if the slanted back that is usually found on the weecade (on the left) made it difficult to flush mount the power supply on the rear? I made a perpendicular back (on the right) but don't like it as much. I could just use an adapter like this http://www.amazon.com/Inlet-Module-Switch-Socket-IEC320/dp/B0050HH70E/ref=pd_cp_e_1 (http://www.amazon.com/Inlet-Module-Switch-Socket-IEC320/dp/B0050HH70E/ref=pd_cp_e_1)

5. Artwork
   The Sega Genesis is my inspiration for the artwork. I don't have any completed artwork, but I'm hoping that someone will throw some advice my way.

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=315382)
something along the lines of the classic controller for the cp graphics. (this one is very dark, i'll mock up a vector version in inkscape for the final)

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=315380)
a version of the genesis that is good for ideas on embellishments. (i'm not using this artwork as it is not mine, i'm just using it for examples)

6. Requirements to be met

   1 player bartop with a clean CP,
   needs to play most games from the SNES (4 buttons) and genesis era (3 and then 6 buttons). Since the 6 button controller was primarily for fighting games, i'm not sure that i need 6. I wish i could get away with the old genesis look of 3 buttons (see cp image above) but it won't due if i can't play 1/2 the SNES games. Also most arcade games form this time period rarely use more than 3 buttons. Jump, attack, magic or punch kick jump. I could marry the diamond shape of the SNES with the 3 button of the genesis, but I might just put 6 buttons on there in the curved street fighter style to give it the most flexibility. I'm really looking to make the theme as genesis as possible without frankenpaneling in nes/snes coloring or designs. The 6 player genesis controller isn't as sexy as the clean original, but I may try to merge the two.
   
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: TheDude on August 29, 2014, 03:36:46 am
Looks like you're off to a nice project !  :applaud:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: edekoning on August 29, 2014, 04:17:18 am
Whoohoo a Sega themed bartop  :applaud:

The Mega Drive (as it was called in Europe) is actually my favorite console. But I still went with a NES theme, because I wanted a whitish cab, and not another black one  ;D
   
1/2 inch MDF is fine, as a bartop is relatively small, and besides the screen all the internal components way next to nothing. I would go with 3/4" for the sides though, just because I looks better.

As far as the design goes, I think it looks a bit to thin near the top of the screen. Have you tried adding an inch or two to the depth? You probably will need the current marquee depth for your speakers. But if the overall depth of the cab is increased than it won't stand out as much.

If you were to flush mount the power supply to the rear, how will the screen get its power? Lots of builds have used a power inlet similar to the one you linked. They work great.

Artwork wise, I hope you will keep the style of the traditional 3-button controller. Some things to consider regarding the required number of buttons:
So the cleanest control panel will probably be when going for the 3-button genesis controller. But you will miss out on a lot of genesis games, not just the fighters. Most snes games will also not be playable. Unless you add some USB ports so you can hook up a pair of gamepads. I always find the CP layout to be among the hardest things you have to decide.

Looking forwards to your progress  :cheers:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: edekoning on August 29, 2014, 04:20:38 am
Ah I forgot to mention 'Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works' http://readonlymemory.vg/sega-mega-drive-genesis-collected-works (http://readonlymemory.vg/sega-mega-drive-genesis-collected-works). If you are a genesis fan, than you need to get this book!
Although its from a kickstarter project, you can also pre-order it from the website I just linked. Expected delivery next month :)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Malenko on August 29, 2014, 07:57:33 am
Id advise the "street fighter layout"   then you can have 2 "start buttons" up top in the middle, and one will function as the select button. That will cover all the early consoles with ease.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on August 29, 2014, 09:25:37 am
Thanks for the remarks guys.

@edekoning excellent! I'll have to check out that book. I saw this one and almost snatched it. http://www.amazon.com/Service-Games-Rise-Enhanced-Edition/dp/1494288354/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409317768&sr=8-1&keywords=history+of+sega (http://www.amazon.com/Service-Games-Rise-Enhanced-Edition/dp/1494288354/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409317768&sr=8-1&keywords=history+of+sega)

As far as the design goes, I think it looks a bit to thin near the top of the screen. Have you tried adding an inch or two to the depth? You probably will need the current marquee depth for your speakers. But if the overall depth of the cab is increased than it won't stand out as much.

I agree about the sidepanels being 3/4 inch. It will give them a bit more presence and make it beefier by the monitor. Since I removed the big curve of the weecade design I can see where it looks a bit thin. I'll play around with some things. (make the radius bigger, try a chamfer, increase the depth, etc)

I love the clean look of @edekoning's NES bartop design and wanted to originally do a complimentary sega master system theme (my favorite console with the best game ever PHANTASY STAR) I decided on Genesis because of the controller and the classic look. I'll try to mock something up to expand the 3 button classic controller to 6 buttons to see if i like it. (the 6 button controller is great but boring as hell from a design standpoint)

Id advise the "street fighter layout"   then you can have 2 "start buttons" up top in the middle, and one will function as the select button. That will cover all the early consoles with ease.

Exactly what I was thinking! I want noobs to be able to figure it out. basically start 1 and start 2/select keeps it clean and functional.

I've seen 100's of discussions on admin buttons, but i'll have to mock up a CP and get a feel for it. I'm ordering some push buttons today. I'm thinking the gloss black ones, but i'm not sure if they will get lost in a dark theme, or if that's maybe actually a good thing.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: edekoning on August 29, 2014, 09:44:47 am
I love the clean look of @edekoning's NES bartop design and wanted to originally do a complimentary sega master system theme (my favorite console with the best game ever PHANTASY STAR).
The North American Master System does look really good with all the angular cuts and black and red colors. Unfortunately the PAL version is just awful.

I'm ordering some push buttons today. I'm thinking the gloss black ones, but i'm not sure if they will get lost in a dark theme, or if that's maybe actually a good thing.

You could also go with smoke buttons, f.e. these seimitsu's which come in 30mm and 24mm:
(http://www.arcadeshop.de/images/arcade-pb-ps14kn-smoke.jpg)

Note that the plunger has a solid white cap inside. You can spray paint this to achieve a darker color of grey if needed. I did something similar with my Magneto build: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,119175.msg1324580.html#msg1324580 (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,119175.msg1324580.html#msg1324580)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: emphatic on August 30, 2014, 07:57:20 am
^^Or go with clear Seimitsus with coloured rims? This way, the buttons are visible, either by the graphic insert (optional) or with the rim colour.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Superfrog on August 30, 2014, 09:16:37 am
^^Or go with clear Seimitsus with coloured rims? This way, the buttons are visible, either by the graphic insert (optional) or with the rim colour.

I did use these smoke buttons on my MameCade 2.0 and with a graphic insert they look even better then the clear one I did use on my MameCade 1.

I like the cp mockup the best.. when you gonna use Mame and Genesis games, it will do the job just fine with 3 action buttons.
My first build had 4 buttons and worked fine for me.
My second had 6 buttons, and I never used them all... don't play fighters.

My Popeye had 3 action buttons and under the cp there was more, maybe you can hide those other buttons also to keep the cp very clean and NICE  :cheers:

Even better would be that you can find a small start button just like the cp mock-up  :dizzy:

Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on August 30, 2014, 10:11:04 am
I think I'll try out the 3 button layout first.  I like the idea of being able to put an insert in the button since the classic genesis controllers had red lettering on the buttons forA B C. I'll check out those smoked ones, they look cool.   I finished my cardboard mockup last night.  I need to order some actual arcade gear now!
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on September 01, 2014, 02:16:07 pm
Quick update while deciding on controls. It's a holiday weekend in the states and everything is closed. I'll place my order tonight. I might get standard buttons just to get the CP figured out and then try to see if i can sport it up. (like creating the genesis thin start button)

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=315582;image)
My beautiful mess. Cardboard mockup. It feels right, but i'll have to wait to get controls on the panel. I have the monitor placed in the mockup now by creating a small tripod out of wood to hold it at the right height and angle.

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=315584)
my SEGA street cred  :cheers:

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=315586;image)
laying out the side panels. I printed my cad drawing 1:1 scale to make it easy

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=315588;image)
I created some battens by doubling up some cardboard to hold the panels in place.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: ballboff on September 02, 2014, 05:19:56 am
Just a suggestion, but I would honestly go with the megadrive arcade stick design for your controller.  The one pictured here ... is as near to a genuine stick as you can get while still getting that megadrive styling you want for your themed cab.

http://www.genkivideogames.com/images/SJ6600shots.jpg (http://www.genkivideogames.com/images/SJ6600shots.jpg)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on September 09, 2014, 10:14:59 am
Just a suggestion, but I would honestly go with the megadrive arcade stick design for your controller.
I looked at doing that initially. I'm leaning more towards the 3 button US version here http://www.i64x.com/i6img/3btn02.jpg (http://www.i64x.com/i6img/3btn02.jpg) since I looked over almost every game I want to play on the bartop, and 95% of them were 3 buttons or less. The other 5% had an aux button that I can do without, or configure B+C to be button 4. When I build my standup I'll make it a 2 player fighter friendly cab.

I got my buttons and joystick in from GroovyGameGear (they came in pretty quickly too, even with a holiday Monday I got them on Friday!) unfortunately, the pregnant wife has lots of projects for me that I had to do over the weekend before I could "Play with my buttons" as she likes to say.

I wanted to get some inexpensive but quality buttons. I got the happ competition, because i like convex buttons for longer play periods. The microswitch's are a tad soft and the happ competition joystick I got has a short throw. I'm building a non-fighter cab and freakin bought all fighting game equipment. Anyways. I'll probably upgrade the buttons to what the other suggested but i wanted to get the spacing and feel sorted out so I could start cutting wood. I've always preferred bat top joysticks but I think I may have to go with a ball top after seeing the official sega stick. (Found them online for under 10 bucks, wonder if i could gut one and use some of it. The buttons with red ABC on it would be sweet ! plus it has the small buttons I'm looking for.)

I got the keywiz eco to save a few dollars, and since it's a bartop i only had to solder like 10 wires. I plugged that into a terminal block because I have no idea where my wires would need to go and this should help keep it tidy. The keywiz wasn't loading up the right profile and I fought with the software for about 30 minutes but I think it's loading OK now. It was 1 am on a work night so I had to stop.

My temporary mess below. I ran out of quick disconnects and bought the wrong wire (solid core) so it's not as nice as it could be. i just wanted to get something to work! I'll spend time when I can actually mount the stuff to wood to make it all clean and nice. Once I get a feel for the layout and figure out what other buttons I want ill start pulling out the wood tools!
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: a1pharm on September 09, 2014, 12:53:37 pm
Why not buy:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sega-Genesis-Controller-Adapter-USB-Cable-to-PC-Retro-Bit-New-Dual-Port-Cable-/351166934390?pt=US_Video_Game_Cables_Adapters&hash=item51c32e2d76 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sega-Genesis-Controller-Adapter-USB-Cable-to-PC-Retro-Bit-New-Dual-Port-Cable-/351166934390?pt=US_Video_Game_Cables_Adapters&hash=item51c32e2d76)

and make the female sega controller ports flush w/ the cab, and use real sega 3 button controller(s)?  Then you have a little more flexibility w/ your CP design.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: ballboff on September 10, 2014, 08:47:42 am
I'm leaning more towards the 3 button US version here http://www.i64x.com/i6img/3btn02.jpg (http://www.i64x.com/i6img/3btn02.jpg) since I looked over almost every game I want to play on the bartop, and 95% of them were 3 buttons or less. The other 5% had an aux button that I can do without, or configure B+C to be button 4. When I build my standup I'll make it a 2 player fighter friendly cab.


I know what you mean.  My cab only has about 2 games that have 6 buttons, and they are fighting games.  There may be more but I've not come across them yet.  I couldn't load up the picture, but i'm at work so it's probably a firewall issue with the hosting site. 
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Malenko on September 10, 2014, 09:15:29 am
4th button makes all the neogeo games playable.   I only advocated 6 buttons since the OP explicitly stated SNES as a system he wanted to emulate.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on September 10, 2014, 03:20:33 pm
Thanks guys, i'm in the process of messing around with the button layout to see if it will play all or a great % of the games I want to play. Even most SNES games only used 3 or 4 buttons. I'll have to go through them and see. I might add a 2nd row of buttons and just add in the fighters in the end!.

I had planned to include some front panel USB ports for controllers so that a 2nd person could play. That old school hookup looks cool thought and old controllers are cheap (My old ones are pretty beat up at this point)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on September 20, 2014, 08:22:20 pm
So i'm playing around with some artwork for the CPO and I like where i'm going but i'm no artist. I might peruse the artist forums, but i didn't really budget an extra two hundred or so dollars to get something custom designed. Seems like artwork and printing it out are some of the major costs of a build. My CP has the keywiz shift button built in. this way i can have the two buttons in the middle (start / select) the wording is just temporary. I can use the shift for 2 player and 2 coin and use it for exiting. the back button is the mame pause (again wording was just thrown in there for an image.)

the horizontal lines are where the image will bend around the CP and to the front.

let me know what you think and where i'm headed. And please no bashing my skillz, i'm trying :dizzy:

Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Slippyblade on September 20, 2014, 08:36:35 pm
 :lame:

I'm joking, relax.

Though I'd really go with the six button genesis layout.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Malenko on September 20, 2014, 10:18:56 pm
Though I'd really go with the six button genesis layout.

Im with slippy
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on September 20, 2014, 11:16:07 pm
:lame:

Haha. It'd be easy to go with 6 but I figured a bartop would be good in a simpler is better way.   I'll play around with it though.   
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Slippyblade on September 21, 2014, 01:09:09 am
I was a total Genesis whore back in the day.  Used to play Aerobiz for days at a time with my friends.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: edekoning on September 21, 2014, 06:16:51 am
What's up with the coin button? Consoles did not have those :P might as well use shift+start for that. I am also not that fond of the gradient, I would just go with a solid color. What is the width of the CP, as those A,B,C buttons seem kinda small (are those outlines the holes or the actual buttons)?

Really like usb/headphone section. Would we really nice if you could insert a red led beneath the power indicator (see Blip for an example: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,137295.msg1451868.html#msg1451868 (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,137295.msg1451868.html#msg1451868)).
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on September 21, 2014, 10:40:57 am
What's up with the coin button? Consoles did not have those :P might as well use shift+start for that. I am also not that fond of the gradient, I would just go with a solid color. What is the width of the CP, as those A,B,C buttons seem kinda small (are those outlines the holes or the actual buttons)?
haha. Yea i just threw text in there for a visual. I realized that it should be more console-centric and then mame secondary. So it would be start select to be mroe console like, but maybe have the smaller coin or $ symbol below it. I wasn't sure about the gradients and did that part last. I def want to tighten that up or get some advice about it. Thanks.

What is the width of the CP, as those A,B,C buttons seem kinda small (are those outlines the holes or the actual buttons)?
16.5 inches wide. Yea those are the through holes for the buttons (1-1/8" diameter). I can put the 1.3 or whatever the diameter of the bezel is on the
 smoke buttons that you recommended. I love those and am going to use them. Not sure if i should use the 24 mm ones for the admin buttons on top and the 30 for the player buttons. thoughts on the 24mm ones?

Would we really nice if you could insert a red led beneath the power indicator (see Blip for an example: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,137295.msg1451868.html#msg1451868 (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,137295.msg1451868.html#msg1451868)).
when I was making the power button area i thought about doing the LED for that. i'll check that post out, thanks.

I was a total Genesis whore back in the day.  Used to play Aerobiz for days at a time with my friends.
Nice, it's one of the first games I tried when the test joystick and buttons were in place.  :cheers:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on September 22, 2014, 11:15:21 pm
Here's some updated artwork. I had to start over because the file i was working on was the wrong ratio :banghead:

I updated a few colors and made the bezels for the seimitsu smoke buttons that I think i'm going to order. Thought the LS-32 balltop would go nice with this too. They have a smoke ball with bubbles in it that should be sweet.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Superfrog on September 23, 2014, 01:30:46 am
Very nice artwork.
Smoke buttons YES, but the smoke ball NO  :dizzy:.

For me it's a classic black ball, the bubble ball will look to kiddy or silly with this classic sega look.  :cheers:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on September 23, 2014, 08:38:32 am
Thanks for the input. You just saved me 4 bucks  :woot

I wasn't sure about the bubble smoke balltop. This one looks cool but it may be too light colored for the CPO http://www.focusattack.com/sanwa-lb-35-translucent-smoke-balltop/ (http://www.focusattack.com/sanwa-lb-35-translucent-smoke-balltop/) I think i'll stick with the black one that comes with the LS-32 and can always upgrade to something later.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: edekoning on September 23, 2014, 09:01:47 am
Wow such a huge improvement :applaud:

I would also go with a pure black balltop, but hey you can always change that later.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on September 23, 2014, 11:52:10 am
OK just so I don't have to hear the "Go with 6-buttons" anymore, here is that version  :lol

I tried to emulate the oval pattern on the 6-button which is completely different from the classic 3. I can put the button letters inside of the seimitsu smoke buttons for the lettering, or leave it out and try to incorporate that into the CPO.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: edekoning on September 23, 2014, 12:06:28 pm
The 6-button controller had smaller buttons for X, Y, Z. So you could use the small 24mm Seimitsu buttons for those, and the regular 30mm ones for A, B, C.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on September 23, 2014, 12:15:09 pm
I was actually going to post that too but it's lunchtime and i forgot... I was wondering if that would make playing any games weird or not. I'll copy the smaller ones in there to see. I'd have to play with the spacing but here's an example
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Malenko on September 23, 2014, 12:28:41 pm
no, use the same sized buttons. Function over form.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on September 23, 2014, 01:30:05 pm
no, use the same sized buttons. Function over form.
I agree, after putting them up there I like the first 6 button layout.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: ballboff on September 24, 2014, 02:57:20 am
Being from the UK I let out a little tear every time I see the words sega and genesis together. 
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: edekoning on September 24, 2014, 04:35:10 am
Being from the UK I let out a little tear every time I see the words sega and genesis together.

Mega Drive FTW!
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on September 24, 2014, 10:27:34 am
Being from the UK I let out a little tear every time I see the words sega and genesis together. 
haha. To me, Mega Drive is just that thing that the genesis was called across the pond. ;D I do think they got a little lazy when adapting the Mega Drive. I mean there's hardly any color and it's a matte finish. This is a complete anomaly since they usually destroy everything before it reaches the US. Just look at all the failed box art we've had to endure  :dizzy: (Sadly I think EU did too for most of them, while Japan had amazing artwork) All I can say is Strider  :lame:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on September 24, 2014, 04:49:55 pm
Alright it's about to get real. I just placed my order with Focus Attack for

4 Seimitsu Smoke 24mm admin buttons
6 Seimitsu Smoke 30mm player buttons
1 Seimitsu LS-32 Joystick with the main round gate (Not sure if i'll like it over square stock, but i'm a big shump fan and there's only one way to find out)

I'm taking off my birthday week (early October) and I plan to do the build then. Hopefully I get the parts in time but since i'm only a few hours away from Focus Attack's store, I think i'll be alright.

i'll keep working on the artwork and tighten up the drawings now.

 :soapbox: I am switching to Seimitsu because I have been trying to test with the happ competition buttons and joystick I bought earlier and man do they suck. Playing a platformer, it seems impossible to get the twitch game play i'm looking for. For instance in a platforming game it's generally essential to hit an enemy to the right and then quickly turn and duck to go after guys coming up from the rear. (contra, shinobi, strider, rastan etc) The competition doesn't work at all for this. and forget about playing 1941 unless you want to just zig zag all over in sharp jerky angles.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: mgb on September 24, 2014, 05:24:18 pm
I like where this project is going.
I was a total Genesis guy in the 90s.
I missed many days of school and work in order to play Road Rash, Shadow of the Beast and The Imortal.

Just remember, no Genesis artwork is complete without "High Definition Graphics"
Man, Sega was ahead of their time (in buzzwords anyway)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on September 24, 2014, 10:00:43 pm
Quote from: mgb link=topic=141069.msg1465272#msg1465272
Just remember, no Genesis artwork is complete without "High Definition Graphics"
Man, Sega was ahead of their time (in buzzwords anyway)
Love it! I thought about putting that on the marquee or sidepanels.   Pics coming soon.   
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: AzureKnight on September 25, 2014, 10:30:07 am

You CP art is very well done.  You did a great job of capturing the look and feel of the SEGA Genesis.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on September 26, 2014, 02:00:10 pm
Thanks, it's nowhere near professional but this vector stuff is fun :laugh:


I'm playing around with side art. I started off real minimalist with just the box "grid" which is iconic. I didn't want to go full black because i thought it would all be too dark. Although I may go back and take everything down a few shades when I can see it all together. First one is very minimal with red brought in from the CPO. The other is more console-like tying into the CPO. it's only about 1/2 done but thoughts?


The first image is the super simple marquee I'm going for. don't want any cutesy names or anything like Super Segacade in this bartop!
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Vigo on September 26, 2014, 02:29:08 pm
I like this, very focused with the theme. Keep it coming.  :applaud:

BTW, everytime i look at your avatar, I hear the words "Power Up" in my mind.  :P
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: AzureKnight on September 26, 2014, 02:50:39 pm

Marquee is straightforward and nice looking.

For the side art I think I like the first one better.  The second one for some reason has a driving game feel to it...I don't know why, I just think of drivers when I see it.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: yamatetsu on September 26, 2014, 03:14:24 pm
Soo, just to give you an opposing opinion ... I think the second one is the way to go, it fits better to the theme. With the first one, you would have a CP that is looking console-like and the sides would be just flat. That does not fit so well.

I would use the second version, but ditch the logo. That (for me) somehow looks like it doesn't belong there. It's like you're looking at all those seamlessly integrated graphics, look at the the top and bam! there's this logo just floating there.

Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on September 26, 2014, 03:23:31 pm
ha, yea I threw that logo on there at the last second. The grid area was just way too bland without anything up there so i may keep adding a few more levels and see how it goes. Thanks for all of the feedback. My joystick and buttons ordered from FA shipped super fast and should be here by tomorrow I hope!!! Time to actually go buy some wood and figure out how i'm going to save up the $150 bucks to get all this stuff printed from GOG. The wife has a pretty tight stranglehold on the wallet.  :hissy:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: johnrt on September 26, 2014, 04:02:44 pm
I like this thread more and more!  :notworthy:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Superfrog on September 26, 2014, 04:20:08 pm
ha, yea I threw that logo on there at the last second. The grid area was just way too bland without anything up there so i may keep adding a few more levels and see how it goes. Thanks for all of the feedback. My joystick and buttons ordered from FA shipped super fast and should be here by tomorrow I hope!!! Time to actually go buy some wood and figure out how i'm going to save up the $150 bucks to get all this stuff printed from GOG. The wife has a pretty tight stranglehold on the wallet.  :hissy:

150 bucks for the printing?  :banghead: :dizzy:
My popeye stickers cost me 37 euro incl. shipping. and gloss laminated ..

Side v2 is also my go.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on September 26, 2014, 04:37:14 pm


150 bucks for the printing?  :banghead: :dizzy:
My popeye stickers cost me 37 euro incl. shipping. and gloss laminated ..



Yea I was looking at the costs and it adds up! I think the CPO will be the most important because GOG has a reputation for making clean and sturdy materials.

CPO   $33.99
Marquee $20.99 + $21.00 if I want it mounted on plexi
Side Panels  $63.99


and that's not including shipping...  :scared
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: mgb on September 26, 2014, 04:58:27 pm
I like the second one for side art.
Actually I think it'd look if you actually built the side with texture to match the artwork.
Marquee is perfect. Maybe add red to pop it a little more
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: mgb on September 26, 2014, 05:05:10 pm
I like the Sega logo up top.
There are cheaper sources than gog but you won't be disappointed with the quality.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: johnrt on September 26, 2014, 06:50:55 pm
150 bucks for the printing?  :banghead: :dizzy:
My popeye stickers cost me 37 euro incl. shipping. and gloss laminated ..

Side v2 is also my go.
Where did you get your artwork printed? .-)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Superfrog on September 27, 2014, 09:28:14 am
150 bucks for the printing?  :banghead: :dizzy:
My popeye stickers cost me 37 euro incl. shipping. and gloss laminated ..

Side v2 is also my go.
Where did you get your artwork printed? .-)

http://www.pixartprinting.co.uk/wide-format/printing-self-adhesive-pvc/car-motorcycle-adhesive/ (http://www.pixartprinting.co.uk/wide-format/printing-self-adhesive-pvc/car-motorcycle-adhesive/)

fill in the format and see how much it's cost for you.  :cheers:

Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: johnrt on September 27, 2014, 09:34:53 am
http://www.pixartprinting.co.uk/wide-format/printing-self-adhesive-pvc/car-motorcycle-adhesive/ (http://www.pixartprinting.co.uk/wide-format/printing-self-adhesive-pvc/car-motorcycle-adhesive/)
fill in the format and see how much it's cost for you.  :cheers:
Thanks! Will do that!  :applaud:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Superfrog on September 27, 2014, 02:58:33 pm
http://www.pixartprinting.co.uk/wide-format/printing-self-adhesive-pvc/car-motorcycle-adhesive/ (http://www.pixartprinting.co.uk/wide-format/printing-self-adhesive-pvc/car-motorcycle-adhesive/)
fill in the format and see how much it's cost for you.  :cheers:
Thanks! Will do that!  :applaud:

Did you order your Felix artwork stickers also at GoG?
And what did it cost there? because your bartop is the same size as me.

If I'm right, you from Europe, so it will cost you the same as I did spent for it.
The KISS artwork was 40 euro.. and TOP quality and fast delivery  :cheers:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: johnrt on September 27, 2014, 03:19:49 pm
Did you order your Felix artwork stickers also at GoG?
And what did it cost there? because your bartop is the same size as me.

If I'm right, you from Europe, so it will cost you the same as I did spent for it.
The KISS artwork was 40 euro.. and TOP quality and fast delivery  :cheers:
Yes, I did order the Felix art from GoG, and it did cost 198 USD (that is 156 euro) . And you're right, I'm european, norwegian.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: markc74 on September 27, 2014, 03:45:33 pm
hi. Not usually a fan of console based designs bit because its a bartop and has the proper name (genesis Pfft) then this is looking pretty good.

Because it's a slim can I don't think the sides need much embellishment so I prefer the first sideart. Control panel gets an a+ as it is :applaud:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on September 27, 2014, 06:02:24 pm
Awww yea!!! Really impressed with Focus Attack with this first order. There is a great incentive program and I already have a $20 coupon to order again. These buttons feel so nice and the LS-32 is so smooth. Can't wait to get this going!
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: mgb on September 28, 2014, 09:35:26 am
I have ordered twice from focus attack, they are great
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on October 01, 2014, 04:27:39 pm
I was playing around with the design and making some final tweaks before the construction begins next week. I pieced together a render to see how i liked the artwork and it's pretty cool i think. (the gap on the CP is just because I had to split the image. not sure how to wrap an image around a surface like that in my software.)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Superfrog on October 01, 2014, 05:23:35 pm
Go for it  :applaud:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: edekoning on October 02, 2014, 07:07:28 am
Looking good!

Seems like you are using sketchup. If so set the camera in perspective mode (looks like parallel projection to me). Adding a texture to a curved surface is surprisingly hard to do, as you have to apply it to a dummy plane, and then project it onto the final surface. See here for an excellent tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHsRRLCAOm8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHsRRLCAOm8)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on October 02, 2014, 11:01:11 am
Cool thanks. I've used sketchup a bit and it's really nice for what it is but i'm using my companies expensive CAD system (It's called NX from Siemens)  I had a perspective view attached previously, but it takes on the colors of the materials of the solid bodies. Thanks, i'll check out that tutorial and export a step or iges file into sketchup and see what I can do.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on October 02, 2014, 04:00:26 pm
hmmm T-molding question. I have 1/2" sidepanels right now and i've only seen black and white T-molding which is fine since I was planning on white. However T-molding.com is out of white right now. I thought about bumping my sidepanels up to 3/4" like originally mentioned by edekoning for a more stable and beefier look to the bartop. It also doesn't affect the design at all since it just becomes thicker towards the outside. This opens up other colors of molding, specifically light grey. http://www.t-molding.com/store/product.php?productid=25&cat=3&page=1 (http://www.t-molding.com/store/product.php?productid=25&cat=3&page=1) Should I stick with white to make the lettering pop, or maybe mute it down a little with this grey?


go up to 3/4 on the sides?
molding color: white? grey? black?
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Slippyblade on October 02, 2014, 04:32:26 pm
Honestly, with all the black and grays you've got going on I think chrome T-mold would just pop.  Or maybe the black w/chrome stripe?
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: stinkyrob on October 02, 2014, 04:42:16 pm
I really like the CP and overall theme.  Keep the updates coming, thanks! 
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: edekoning on October 03, 2014, 02:20:45 am
Copy paste your 3d model a few times and apply a different color t-molding to each of them. Seeing them all side by side, its far easier to make a decision. Furthermore, order a set of t-molding samples, to make sure the color is what you expect.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on October 07, 2014, 05:35:44 pm
OK, today's the big day. Not only is it my Birthday,  :gobama but I cut into my first piece of MDF this afternoon. I took my time in putting the lines down and trying to cut out all of the long edges first. I then used my jigsaw to cut out the rounded corners and then finish up the inside edge that is parallel to the monitor. This is where my jigsaw skills failed me. When i made the round from the top, the blade was at a slight angle and cut too much into the wood. After sanding for about 1/2 hour, I was able to get it all square so no harm done there. I did a much better job on rounding all of the edges. After some more finish sanding, i'll use the flush trim bit trick with the router to make the second sidepanel and then cut out all of the easier rectangular pieces tomorrow!


Oh yea I took the whole week off, so stay tuned for some updates :lol
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Slippyblade on October 07, 2014, 05:54:28 pm
I know it's a little late now, but NEVER cut to the line with a jig saw.  Always cut to the waste side and then sand back to the line. 
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on October 07, 2014, 06:26:49 pm
I figured doing a drop cut with my circ saw would have been trickier.  Makes sense to go wide and sand back to the line.  Thanks for the tip. 
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Slippyblade on October 07, 2014, 06:41:51 pm
Circular saw plunge cuts can be scary as hell.  Make good and sure you know what's under the wood and it's NOT your knee!   >:D  Good job on the panels though.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on October 07, 2014, 08:26:09 pm
Happy Birthday!
Thanks! It's been a good day and I just found a woodworking shop in Ohio less than an hour from me that has slot cutting router bits for 12 bucks. They look to be the same as the ones I found online so it's road trip time tomorrow morning. That takes care of one of my unknown problems for getting a lot of progress done this week. With the slots cut I can at least finish the construction and hopefully do some painting by the weekend. I'd like to have the artwork in before I finish the CP, but I have a lot to do before then. I bought some cabinet hinges so I can have a nice clean CP opening. We'll see how that all goes!
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on October 08, 2014, 11:36:40 pm
Spent a lot of today cutting out pieces of MDF. One thing I will tell anyone who is getting ready to do this is listen to everyone when they say WEAR A MASK. Holy crap this stuff is dusty. I covered as much as I could in the garage with painters drop cloths, but it is super dusty, especially when flush trimming with the router. I only had a few missteps that were remedied with some sand paper.  :gobama


1. Flush trimming the 2nd side panel. At first I had too much material still on the 2nd piece and it was too much work for the flush trim bit. I used my jigsaw to carefully trim back as close as I could to the template piece, being careful not to nick it or undercut.


2. Everything cut out!!!


3. While all this was going on I had these bad boys smoking out back. 5 hours of some apple and hickory made for an awesome turkey leg dinner! :cheers:


4. I was done cutting for the day so I decided to play with some of the electrical bits. I took the test cardboard model apart and unhooked the whole computer. I kept the on switch from the old PC and noticed that the hard disk access light was red!!! Unfortunately the hookup for the hard disk access and the on light were different, and the on light was blue... So I split them apart and wired the red LED to the power light connector. I'm going to try and put this down where the power light is on the front of the CPO. hopefully it looks cool.


5. Pic of the light after soldering them together. It's super bright red, but pictures don't really pick up LED color.


6. Well the wife is in bed so no more noise. I decided to play with where the battens will go and making sure all of my cuts look good.


More to follow tomorrow.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on October 09, 2014, 11:31:45 am
Decided against cutting the T-molding slot just yet. Since I don't have the T-molding in (just ordered it from T-molding.com) i'm unsure if i'm exactly in the middle with the slot. Even measuring is proving difficult because being off by a fraction of a millimeter will make it look off-center. I'l work on getting the battens installed and fitting everything together today. I'll then tear it down and wait for the t-molding. Then I can use a scrap piece to do a test fit. By that time i'll be ready for some painting :applaud:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on October 11, 2014, 04:56:26 pm

Some more progress photos.


1 - I created the angle between the top and upper part of the back. This allows the back panel to be nice and square and not have a big seam between it and the top.
2 - I bought a forstner bit set and mounted the hinges for the front panel. I got full overlay cabinet hinges so the CP can butt up against the bottom panel and then swing open.
3 - cleaning up the edges with the router
4 - I highly suggest one of these angle finder tools. Found it at Lowes for 5 bucks. so much better than trying to measure angles
5 - Here is the main cab before I installed the hinges.


I also mounted the monitor mount but that was a giant pain to line up. T-molding will be here Tuesday so i'll take it all apart and cut the slots, then get it sanded and ready for painting. I'm also trying to finish up the artwork to get printed, but I am unsure about the USB and volume section. I thought about putting a volume control knob down there but it isn't really needed. I can just do volume control with shift + up or shift + down.


For USB i was thinking something like this. It's a combo version of the normally single USB hookup. I need these things figured out to complete the artwork.

http://www.amazon.com/U3-103-combo-Female-Extension-Cable/dp/B00H94QGJO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1413060489&sr=8-2&keywords=usb+combo+panel (http://www.amazon.com/U3-103-combo-Female-Extension-Cable/dp/B00H94QGJO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1413060489&sr=8-2&keywords=usb+combo+panel)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: edekoning on October 12, 2014, 02:55:36 pm
Good progress -> looking good man  :applaud:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on October 13, 2014, 10:19:47 am
Good progress -> looking good man  :applaud:
Thanks! The hardest part so far has been figuring out the order of operations. Being a bartop, there's far less room to maneuver than a stand up. Figuring out the order of battens vs panels to go in has been a bit tough. I found out that the cabinet hinges for the CP will have to be put onto the base piece before the base is screwed into the battens. Otherwise I can't get them tight enough. It's impossible to adjust the screws when the CP is closed since it folds to cover the hinges.  :banghead: .
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on October 17, 2014, 07:04:50 pm
get a ratchet screwdriver, tighten it from the back.

like this one: http://www.zoro.com/i/G2284493/ (http://www.zoro.com/i/G2284493/)
Thanks, that looks useful! Figured out that i just had to reverse the order of the hinge being screwed in. I could easily get it from the back to screw into the front of the CP. Getting a little worried that i'm screwing and unscrewing the battens and everything too much for MDF. Now I can see why everyone test fits before glueing.


Small update.


1 - Got the T-molding slot cut and it fits pretty nicely in the test piece.
2 - had to rethink my rear hinge. got a non mortise type of cabinet hinge to make sure it opens properly. (the room inside this thing is shrinking quickly!!!)
3 - Shouldn't have trouble working on this guy when it's all said and done.


few things left to do before i start painting. Still working on a usb solution. Figure i'm going to just use some extensions and fit them into some clean slots. Really want to get the artwork finished. I'm also going to de-solder the pot on my amp so i can maybe put a volume knob up front. My buddy also found a broken genesis that we might also take apart and try and use the volume slider and reset button or power switch on it.


My buddy is also an electrical guy, which i am not, so he's going to help me do the cheap smart strip I saw on the forum to get the PSU all hooked up. pretty awesome.


also the marquee lighting. I know that some people just use cold cathode and others use inexpensive lighting from HD, but I haven't figure out what to get. I saw the one from GGG with the LED's but that may be a bit of overkill for a bartop...
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: rablack97 on October 18, 2014, 01:33:52 am
get a ratchet screwdriver, tighten it from the back.

like this one: http://www.zoro.com/i/G2284493/ (http://www.zoro.com/i/G2284493/)
Thanks, that looks useful! Figured out that i just had to reverse the order of the hinge being screwed in. I could easily get it from the back to screw into the front of the CP. Getting a little worried that i'm screwing and unscrewing the battens and everything too much for MDF. Now I can see why everyone test fits before glueing.

OR this thing, bartop builders best friend.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/916YogyuLTL._SL1500_.jpg)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: stavros693000 on October 20, 2014, 03:27:32 am
great progress so far mate, its coming along nicely. judging by your pics it looks very neat,...
you got skill friend :applaud:
looking foward to seeing more progress
cheers :cheers:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on October 20, 2014, 11:22:40 pm
Thanks stavros, appreciate it.


I was able to do some of the minor cleanup stuff today.


1 - I decided to make my own marquee out of the left over plexi. I broke the line about 1/8 inch larger than where i wanted my finish cut and used my router with a flush trim bit to clean it up. Came out really clean. (the jaggies in the pic are from the plastic protective layer), I cut the aluminum angle today using my miter saw with a 60T blade. Worked perfectly fine. I got the angle that is 3/4 x 1/2 so the part hanging over the marquee is smaller than where the screws will go.
2 - Found some USB panel mounts that i can use for the front of the CPO. I'll try some test fits to see if i can get a flush mount working.
3 - Finally got the monitor mounted, but it's about 2mm off center.  :banghead:  I wasn't really happy with the way the mount came out anyways, I'm going to redo it tomorrow and center it.
4 - My design called for a small rabbet cut with the router to slide the plexi up into the speaker mount. This keeps it in place and makes a really nice clean line. it looks like it's at an angle in the pic, but it actually looks really clean with the plexi in place. (besides everything being filthy from routing MDF :blah: I'm going to add in a stop at the bottom (under the control panel) for the plexi to rest on. It will be squeezed by the cpo and rabbet cutout at the top.


power switch will be here tomorrow, and lighting on thursday. My plan is to do some painting this weekend :applaud:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: stavros693000 on October 21, 2014, 05:19:00 am
did you say ur having trouble with the usb flush mount? if so these are what i usedhttp://www.ebay.com.au/itm/251172057353?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/251172057353?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649)

there excellent ....just throw away/dont use the car dash mounter...dont need it

i cant remember quite what size spade bit i used but i think it was 19mm
anyway i dont know why more peeps dont use these i think they look a lot cleaner finish the the chunky square ones most peeps use
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Locke141 on October 21, 2014, 02:21:49 pm
I am loving this build.

Sonic was so much cooler the Mario. 
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on October 23, 2014, 10:38:13 pm
Finishing up the details while i'm waiting for the marquee light to come in. I re-cut the monitor mount to fix my centering issue. I'm playing around with a 2.1 speaker system I bought. It has a small sub and it's the perfect amount of bass for this build. It enhances the sound so much that I can't imagine not having it. Problem is, I don't have room for a 7" x 4" x 4" box. I'm planning to make a smaller enclosure that is close to the same volume, but a different shape. It should be good enough to provide the level of "thickness" that I'm looking for. Just turning on the title screen for golden axe proves that I need to have the woofer integrated.


Also, I posted my artwork in the artwork forum and I think I've decided to ditch all the crazy stuff I was trying to do with the bottom left (power button and volume area) I redid the artwork using the actual genesis layout and have it just a a cool image and not functional. I can just put USB's in the back near the power connector. I have a wireless keyboard that will always be connected to the PC anyways so I don't need it for that.


What do you guys think?
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: opt2not on October 24, 2014, 04:17:43 am
Like I said in the artwork post, it could still use some highlights and shadowing to make it look less flattened and more representative of the Genesis design.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on October 24, 2014, 09:03:02 am

Like I said in the artwork post, it could still use some highlights and shadowing to make it look less flattened and more representative of the Genesis design.
Oh yea it's not done... Just posting an update on what I was working on, posting a timeline of how my project went. (part of the fun of this forum is reading these announcement threads, even when they are long finished)


I'm really trying to get the complete construction done so that I can print out a test copy of the artwork and make sure it's all placed correctly. I am going to look at cleaning up the artwork as a whole, and seeing how nice I can make it. (Although I'm not real confident that I know exactly how just yet)


Thanks for the feedback.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Superfrog on October 24, 2014, 06:58:23 pm
Like I said in the artwork post, it could still use some highlights and shadowing to make it look less flattened and more representative of the Genesis design.

+2

And I would go for a transparent washer for the stick, so you can see the artwork better.
I use that one for my Popeye build and it looked great.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on October 27, 2014, 01:51:25 pm
 :badmood: OMFG, seriously just lost all of my update text because of my file being a few K too large. Excellent. Here's a brief summary of what I wrote.


Pic one shows the power inlet finally wired. Messed up on the connections because i was rushing to get back to work, but I will fix it when I do a test run. 2nd pic shows the sub box that I made. It sounds nice and I tried to seal all of the seams inside with glue. The three holes are for the speaker, port (original unmodified) and the cord outlet which has a nice rubber grommet to seal it up.


I'm spending time trying to make templates to cut the speaker holes and the power inlet hole. I really don't want to mess those pieces up, but i'm having trouble getting a nice enough template made for small square holes. Speaker holes are 2" x 3" with rounded corners.


I wanted to be farther along (how many times have you read those words on this site) but the combination of grad school and the wife wanting to take maternity pictures got in the way.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: PL1 on October 27, 2014, 02:55:34 pm
Maybe I'm missing something, but it looks like the QDs weren't crimped.  :dunno

Do you have good mechanical and electrical connections on all of them?

You may want to ohm out the wiring to ensure you don't have any high-resistance (>2 ohms) connections.

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=302824;image) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,119308.msg1414637.html#msg1414637)


Scott
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on October 27, 2014, 06:23:22 pm
Maybe I'm missing something, but it looks like the QDs weren't crimped.  :dunno
Oh yea, I soldered them together. I spent some time making sure to tin the wires and then solder them in place inside the QD. I ran out of time since I was doing this on my lunch break  :angel:  Should I go back and crimp them nice can tight as well and then make sure all of the connections are still soldered tight? Was thinking that soldering them was the better option since I've had connections come loose before on a joystick and definitely didn't want that happening when dealing with a hot wire.


I also bastardized an old power cord and used the wires from that to do the crossovers. I wanted to make sure they were up to carrying power.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: PL1 on October 27, 2014, 07:36:34 pm
You want a good mechanical connection as well as good electrical connection.

If you do both, I'd normally recommend crimping first then soldering, but it should work the other way, too.   ;D


Scott
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on October 28, 2014, 10:57:35 pm
Quick update. Over the last few nights I've been trying to clean up my work area. I've been going nuts with all of the clutter from this project and it's making it less fun that it should be. I still don't have the 'shop' area of my rather large garage set up completely and we just had a garage sale and the wife's junk is everywhere still. :banghead:


Anyways I've finished creating templates for the speaker holes and the inlet power plug hole for the back. luckily I already had a 2" hole saw, so i just made 2 holes and trimmed off the rest with the jigsaw. For the inlet plug i was having trouble getting the shapes right so I created a temporary template out of scrap 1 x 1 wood. I just made a corner and stapled them together. Then spaced another piece out and stapled that together. I then used that as a template to flush trim some 1/2"mdf. boom perfect hole. I can post a picture, I just realized how incoherent that sounds.


I got a chance to cut them out tonight and I rounded off the edge of the speaker holes with a .25" radius rounding bit. Next up is sanding and painting!!!



Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on October 30, 2014, 02:52:03 pm
So bartops don't really have a lot of room.  :cry:  It's very hard to account for all of the wires and connections that stick out, like the VGA plug when designing these things. After a few hours of test fitting, I think i have something that will work. I had to round off the corners of the sub box, which is on the right in the pic below. I started priming and hope to keep on painting through the weekend. :woot 
I'm excited to get it going but I'm going to try and take my time with many coats and some good sanding between. The routered edges just ate up the first coat, so i know i'll need a few of just primer.


In photo 2, I got sick of tripping over all of my tools and not being able to find anything. I created a cheap pegboard setup and a shelf below it. It's cheap but it really helps with the frustration level when I can't find a damn pencil or particular tool.

Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on October 31, 2014, 04:01:53 pm
Plugging away on the artwork whenever I get a chance. I'm adding things, but not sure that i'm helping or hurting. I think it's looking cool, but i'd like some feedback. I've only been working on the lower half, from the genesis logo down. I added in some shadowing and a shiny look to the 16-bit area. I attached the old flat artwork for reference.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: yamatetsu on October 31, 2014, 05:58:19 pm
The shading looks definitely better. However, I would exchange the yellow marked areas

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=318879;image)

with their counterparts from the old version.

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=318881;image)

I think the older joystick version looks a bit more retro (a case of 'less is more') and the watchamacallit-area on the left has more impact without the shading. On a real console, this would be a flat color, so that looks more natural to me.

One minor addition : How about an 'X' on the right loudspeaker of the slider, so that even an idiot who does not get on/off still can see how to mute the sound ?
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: UFO on October 31, 2014, 07:56:33 pm
Project looks good buddy.

I have to wire one of these power inlets soon, and couldn't find any diagrams.

Other than the wires you mentioned need swapping, is this all correct?
:badmood: OMFG, seriously just lost all of my update text because of my file being a few K too large. Excellent. Here's a brief summary of what I wrote.


Pic one shows the power inlet finally wired. Messed up on the connections because i was rushing to get back to work, but I will fix it when I do a test run. 2nd pic shows the sub box that I made. It sounds nice and I tried to seal all of the seams inside with glue. The three holes are for the speaker, port (original unmodified) and the cord outlet which has a nice rubber grommet to seal it up.


I'm spending time trying to make templates to cut the speaker holes and the power inlet hole. I really don't want to mess those pieces up, but i'm having trouble getting a nice enough template made for small square holes. Speaker holes are 2" x 3" with rounded corners.


I wanted to be farther along (how many times have you read those words on this site) but the combination of grad school and the wife wanting to take maternity pictures got in the way.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: PL1 on October 31, 2014, 09:08:05 pm
I have to wire one of these power inlets soon, and couldn't find any diagrams.
Diagrams and pics are here (http://newwiki.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?title=Wiring#IEC_Fused_Power_Inlet_with_a_Lighted_Switch).


Scott
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 01, 2014, 05:29:55 pm
Interesting. The diagram I found had the hot/neutral reversed from the wiki. Does this matter? I drew up a new diagram based on the one I found on the amazon.com review since it was garbage. Here is what I have.


Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: PL1 on November 01, 2014, 08:47:46 pm
Interesting. The diagram I found had the hot/neutral reversed from the wiki. Does this matter? I drew up a new diagram based on the one I found on the amazon.com review since it was garbage. Here is what I have.
The switch cutout is rectangular so the switch can be installed with the wider-spaced contacts (more room for the lamp) on the left like your diagram or on the right like below.

(http://newwiki.arcadecontrols.com/images/a/ad/IEC4PinSwitchRear.jpg)

From the wiki:
Quote
The lamp is between D and B and when wired as shown, it only lights when the switch is closed -- swap the wires connected to A + B and the wires connected to C + D for the lamp to be always-on.

It shouldn't matter if you use A+B or C+D for hot, as long as the fuse feeds the non-lamp side (A or C) for normal switched-light operation or the lamp side (B or D) for unswitched-light operation.

As long as you don't swap just A+C or just B+D, you won't end up with hot and neutral crossed.   ;D

Since the lamp is either incandescent, neon or an LED acting like a half-wave rectifier, it won't matter if hot is on B or D as long as neutral is on the other.


Scott
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 01, 2014, 10:29:16 pm
PL1, Great explanation. Thank you.  :cheers:


I've been painting ---my bottom--- off over the last few days. I have primed all panels at least 4 full times with sanding in between. Here is how I did the progression.


Initial sanding of the bare wood with 220. (i wanted 320 but couldn't find any)
Prime
Light sand with 220
Prime
Light sand with 220
Prime
Light sand with 400
Prime
Light sand with 400
Prime


(That's 3 cans of gray primer gone and looking to start on the dark gray paint. The gray primer should help with the color coats since i'm not trying to cover up another color.)


I just did a quick sand of 600 on a few of the display pieces (pieces not going to be covered with artwork like the top and back.) It's looking a lot nicer and already has a pretty nice and clean surface. Not finished quality but good and primed. A question as I go forward. Should I start wet sanding from here on out? or only do that at the very end? Also I plan to use 600 till it's gone and then switch to 800 grit. I also have some 1500 and 2000 for a final sand before polishing. I think that should be sufficient. I'm just trying to make something that is well done and worthy of the time I've put into making my first build. I think it's easy to get bogged down in perfection and lose the fun of it all.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 04, 2014, 02:23:31 pm
After just the first color coat and sanding with 600 grit it's already looking quite shiny. I plan to wet sand this with 800 and then finish it i with some auto paper, like 1500 or so and then swirl remover like in Ond's excellent videos. I might be done with the sides and bottom and all of that. i'm really only going to do the crazy extra mile on the show pieces that will not be covered by artwork like the top, back and speaker panel. The sides and CP are plenty smooth enough for adhering the artwork.


Check out Ond's tutorial part 1 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX4AaTQih6I (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX4AaTQih6I)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Slippyblade on November 04, 2014, 05:34:36 pm
Wow.  That's a sexy paint job!  Good work so far.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 05, 2014, 01:49:58 pm
Wow.  That's a sexy paint job!  Good work so far.
Thanks slippy, I've since wet sanded with 800 and put another coat on. It's looking pretty clean and I am happy with it so far.

Here is another artwork update. I remade the joystick and button area. I tried to add in some depth to the surrounds as well as enlarged the button area to house the buttons completely. I figured since i was adding a curve look that it wouldn't make sense to have the buttons overlapping the lines. Now i'm going to revisit the bottom area again to tighten that up, then i'm about ready to order the prints. I also tweaked the sidepanel to remove the cartoony HD badge and get rid of blast processing...
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Superfrog on November 05, 2014, 02:44:46 pm
Great paint job and a ACE on the artwork  :cheers:

I would say ..... Send it to the Printer  >:D
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: gbeef on November 05, 2014, 04:06:02 pm
CP looks GREAT!!!!… For the side art i would try a couple other options. Maybe look at the Old box art? itself? Or design the sides so looks like the CP with the Roundpart in the middle?
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 05, 2014, 04:09:15 pm
Thanks Guys!


CP looks GREAT!!!!… For the side art i would try a couple other options. Maybe look at the Old box art? itself? Or design the sides so looks like the CP with the Roundpart in the middle?
You know I was thinking about pulling the round piece from the CPO into the sides. Now that I test fit a printed copy on my actual build, It may be in a good spot to flow into the sidepanels. Thanks i'll see what I can come up with.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 10, 2014, 01:48:14 am
Today I started assembling the pieces. There is a lot of finishing to do when it comes to installing the mobo and PSU. Here is what I have so far.


1-  coming together
2- New sub box wired and completed with port and wire through the grommet.
3- found a place to mount the volume and power button for the speaker.
4 - I shortened the power cables because of the lack of space. They were soldered, taped, tested and heat-shrinked, for safety.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 10, 2014, 01:57:54 am
I'm not sure if this is the best way to do this, but through trial and error I found a good way to make a clearance hole, with a recessed pocket underneath. So it's using two forstner bits to make a clearance hole, in this case the power on button, and a recessed hole for a washer. See pics below. i'm using a 1 inch forstner bit and a 1/2 inch forstner bit.


1 - cut view of what i'm trying to accomplish
2 - I marked the placement of the hole on the outside of the top panel, then drilled a pilot hole so i can work form the inside.
3 - i used the large bit and drilled a shallow pilot hole
4 - I took the smaller bit and drilled a through hole, using the point from the larger bit. THis caused some bad edges on the inside of the large bit's cut.
5 - I went back to the larger it and now drilled down to the depth I wanted. This cleaned up any edges. Becasue I drilled a shallow hole in pic 3, my bit now has some edges to ride on. otherwise it will slip if i try to center it on the 1/2 inch hole.
6 - my power button installed. It's a large dia recess because i have to use pliers to tighten the hex nut. otherwise I can't get my fingers in there.



Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 10, 2014, 09:47:31 am
Just saw that there is a new rev of the raspberry Pi out now that's even smaller and only 20 bucks. Wish I would have known about it when starting this build. I could have saved myself a TON of space constraint headaches.  :banghead:  Meh, where's the fun in that I guess right?


Tonight i'm going to finish mounting the mobo and PSU and hopefully get everything wired up and working. I also have the artwork at 95% and i'm trying to find the smallest footprint that I can squeeze the side panels onto for printing. Here is the artwork where it is now. I'm pretty happy with this as it is now. I've made a ton of small tweaks to tighten it up and add the finishing touch. thanks for all of the suggestions.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Superfrog on November 10, 2014, 11:25:01 am
 :censored: :censored: I love your artwork  :censored: :censored:

That will be the top of the bill  :cheers:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 10, 2014, 02:03:20 pm
:censored: :censored: I love your artwork  :censored: :censored:

That will be the top of the bill  :cheers:
Thanks Superfrog  :cheers:  It's come a long way since I first started. I learned a lot about vectorizing so it should help me on my next build.


Speaking of artwork, I just place my order with GOG. I saw that we get a 10% discount using BYOAC coupon code so that saved me 15 bucks. :applaud:
I'm so nervous that I forgot to turn on a layer or something and will not notice till it comes in. I found so many little issues and holes that I just fixed. I've looked at it up close so much that i'm going cross-eyed so screw it. :dizzy: it is what it is.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: ChanceKJ on November 10, 2014, 03:07:14 pm
I hate that feeling.

I took an extra week before sending my art just because i'm picky and wanted to go over it like a dozen times with a fine tooth comb.  I feel your pain.  :lol
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 11, 2014, 09:28:22 am
I hate that feeling.

I took an extra week before sending my art just because i'm picky and wanted to go over it like a dozen times with a fine tooth comb.  I feel your pain.  :lol
I had to go back just now and look it over again to relieve some anxiety about it  :lol . I should have used a mac mini like you did Chance, it would have been a lot easier time with the spacing in this bartop.


Attached some pics of how it's all going together. First one is how i had to de-case the speakers, but i kept the mesh on it and it looks pretty good. (i'll have other side pics when it's all together)


The 2nd pic is of the paint job, but lighting wasn't great and i still need to clean up the swirl remover from the holes.


Lastly is most of the internals installed. I had to mount the power strip vertically because the speaker plug ran into the mobo. I was excited when I was building the mounting part for the subwoofer, but the vga cable runs into it and its' too close to the PS/2 plug for the keywiz. I wonder if I can use a PS/2 to USB adapter for the keywiz? I'll have to try that and get me another few centimeters to work with, otherwise i'll have to make another sub box, or scrap it. I really want it in there because it literally doubles the sound quality of the small speakers.



Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 11, 2014, 09:48:14 am
Maybe this can give me enough room to get that sub in there :cheers:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-your-own-VGA-cord-of-CAT5-cable/ (http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-your-own-VGA-cord-of-CAT5-cable/)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 13, 2014, 11:05:43 am
OK, so I found some of these bad boys at radio shack. With the lower profile I can route them around the sub box without losing any space. I'm using a Cat5e cable to connect them. Included the diagram for reference.


Problem is that my soldering iron is way past it's prime and the tip is the size of a dull pencil  :cry:  I literally soldered 4 of the pins together. I'll have to upgrade my iron and get one with a much smaller tip.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: ChanceKJ on November 13, 2014, 09:35:05 pm
Can't you replace just the tip?

(Haha, "just the tip")
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Vigo on November 14, 2014, 12:23:21 am
(Haha, "just the tip")

I take my machine here, I take your little thing, I put it through this hole, and then...I nip the tip!

Who's first?


(http://www.deathisbadblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/men-in-tights.png)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: mgb on November 14, 2014, 07:05:46 am
Radio shack has a little 15 watt iron for like 10 bucks. its great for tight soldering like that
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 14, 2014, 09:41:09 am

(Haha, "just the tip")

I laughed when I read the first part,  cause you know we are a bunch grown men (and ladies) building 1980's arcade machines who are essentially a bunch of 6 year olds. :laugh2:



I take my machine here, I take your little thing, I put it through this hole, and then...I nip the tip!

Who's first?


(http://www.deathisbadblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/men-in-tights.png)
Classic!  :cheers:


Radio shack has a little 15 watt iron for like 10 bucks. its great for tight soldering like that
I picked up a 40W one from Home Depot. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Weller-40-Watt-LED-Soldering-Iron-Kit-SP40NKUS/204195330 (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Weller-40-Watt-LED-Soldering-Iron-Kit-SP40NKUS/204195330)
It worked fine, but I now can't get the solder to tin the tip  :laugh:  and it won't melt the solder off of the spool anymore. I guess I've basically learned that I have no solder skills. I think I have to get a sponge and keep it cleaner so it won't oxidize, then keep the tip tinned. I was able to get one side of the vga cable soldered cleanly, but burned teh hell out of the plastic on the other one trying to get solder out from between some of the pins. Guess i'm heading to radio shack to get another one of the vga connectors. Good thing they are only $2.49.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Louis Tully on November 14, 2014, 09:48:15 am
.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 14, 2014, 04:56:03 pm
Bought another vga connector from radio shack and tried soldering again. went much better this time since I found a sponge in the kitchen that looks like a soldering sponge (don't tell the wife). Keeping  the tip cleaned  ;D I was able to get the solder to flow better.


Pic 1 shows my soldering, this was tough since it's like 26awg wire. Luckily i bought the helping hands with a magnifying glass and light.
Take that and test it, BOOM IT'S ALIVE. Still can't believe I got all of the wires soldered in without any shorts. No distortion or anything bad happening here.Lastly add glorious amounts of hot glue to keep it all together and safe.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: PL1 on November 14, 2014, 05:12:32 pm
Keeping  the tip cleaned  ;D I was able to get the solder to flow better.
Just remember when you're done soldering to sponge-clean the tip and re-tin it so it won't oxidize.   ;D


Scott
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 15, 2014, 09:32:19 pm
So I did a lot of detail work over the last day or two. I wired up that VGA connector and tried to turn a PS/2 into a USB, but it didn't recognize the keywiz. I knew this might happen. I found that the mounting of the sub allowed me to get the PS/2 plugged in, but there is some tension on it. I de-cased it afterwards and it fits fine now without the plastic housing.

I then mounted the top panel and the marquee. I used comic book backer board because... comics! Then I lined it with reflective tape.
Last pic shows the sub mounted. I wanted something better but had 2 small L brackets that fit fine.


Lesson learned is that I should have figured out where the power plug was going to mount before I cut the back. I could have made a much nicer run on the other side. Oh well, you'll have that. Maybe I can add in an Ethernet port and switch it over some day.


I might inquire to GOG to see if they have my artwork. It's only been 5 days, but I had some questions about the cost and what I've uploaded...
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 15, 2014, 09:36:33 pm
Just remember when you're done soldering to sponge-clean the tip and re-tin it so it won't oxidize.   ;D
Scott
Thanks for the Tip :cheers:  The sponge changed my whole world when it comes to soldering. Keeping the tip cleaned allowed the solder to work so much better.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 17, 2014, 09:52:45 am
Got an update from GOG. They are laying out my artwork now. (I got a refund too because I didn't understand their sideart pricing, even after asking) The end is so close I can taste it.  :o


This week I will probably figure out how exactly i'm going to mount the LS-32 joystick. I have looked up countless threads on mounting (top/bottom) and I plan on bottom mounting it for the simple fact that I will have the option of fixing or replacing it without destroying the artwork. I have some T-nuts that I plan to use. The material for the CP is thin at 1/2 inch so I think the T-nuts will give enough room and only lose a mm or two on the shaft height. I have the S-plate so it will be mounted like the picture below. Concerns?
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 17, 2014, 10:09:59 am
Just got a shipping notification from GOG  :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: ChanceKJ on November 17, 2014, 02:41:34 pm
test mount the stick on a scrap bit of wood before you commit it to your panel. T-nuts are cheap, but I wouldn't waste them on the test.  I personally hate the idea of ever milling out a section of the CP bottom for a stick, but that's just me.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 17, 2014, 02:59:30 pm
test mount the stick on a scrap bit of wood before you commit it to your panel.
Yea definitely going to create a routing frame and test this out first. Since I switched to the seimitsu stick, there just isn't room even with 1/2" MDF. On my next build I might try out using a metal control panel so I don't have to worry about this. We have a laser cutter here at work and it would be super easy to get one made up.


There will be lots of things I would have done differently by the end, but if it was too easy, this hobby wouldn't be as rewarding right?
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: ChanceKJ on November 17, 2014, 03:08:31 pm
Exactly.  :laugh:

I'm reminded of all the ambitious plans I had that got scrapped on my FLYNNS build.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: PL1 on November 17, 2014, 03:27:57 pm
I have some T-nuts that I plan to use. The material for the CP is thin at 1/2 inch
T-nuts are not designed to be undermounted.

(http://newwiki.arcadecontrols.com/images/thumb/f/f9/TeeNuts.jpg/120px-TeeNuts.jpg)

The brads/prongs will eventually work loose and the stick will fall out, especially on such a thin CP.

You need threaded inserts like the ones from GGG or Ultimarc.

(http://newwiki.arcadecontrols.com/images/thumb/0/0b/GGGThreadedInserts.jpg/120px-GGGThreadedInserts.jpg)  (http://newwiki.arcadecontrols.com/images/thumb/9/96/UltimarcThreadedInserts.jpg/120px-UltimarcThreadedInserts.jpg)

The "Under rmount (support blocks)" method here (http://newwiki.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?title=FAQ#Joysticks) is the best way to shallow mount a stick IMHO.


Scott
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 17, 2014, 05:08:32 pm

As usual PL1 steps in with some wiki knowledge to show me what I'm doing wrong. :cheers:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 19, 2014, 11:03:19 pm
Oh Happy Day. Artwork arrived today. Here is my artwork laying experience.


Picture 1: Got the artwork in. It's a little darker than what I was seeing on my monitor, but a little color differentiation is normal.
Picture 2: Sidepanels lookin good!


so installing the side art was a lot harder than I thought it'd be. First of all my dumb ass put vertical lines on it so I had to make sure that they weren't crooked. With the 1/2" of bleed I added in it was difficult to line up but I got it and clamped the artwork down. I peeled 1/2 of the backing and laid it down. I didn't do this very well on the first try. luckily I peeled it back a few times and got rid of most of the bubbles. Then came the T-Molding. oh man. I decided to fold over the artwork to get a nice clean edge. It worked awesome... mostly. Some of the corners buckled ever so slightly which leads me to...

Picture 3: one of my lessons learned. I found that I had to fan cut the corners or they would bunch up.
Picture 4: once fanned (or cut a bunch of times to make small sections) it folded down nice and smooth.


Finished that all up on the other side and...


Picture 5: lookin pretty solid. (not sure what the corner up top is showing. looks fine in real life)
Picture 6: Right side was much easier once I learned how to slowly scrub along the art to avoid getting bubbles.


Picutre 7: Marquee looks awesome! It looks off against the white t-molding, but when the monitor is in there with the black bezel it will look sweet.
Picture 8: ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---. :banghead:  Stupid cold cathodes don't light up the entire box very well. I thought they might not be super bright, but full. We'll i'll have to see about adding some larger ones, or something different. I don't have much room in there, so hopefully I can add some smaller ones on the side, or find 16" or so ones instead of the 12" ones.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: ChanceKJ on November 20, 2014, 09:53:02 am
Keep a close eye on your artwork around the edge of the t-moulding. If your going to fold it over like that and not trim it to the edge you may get some bubbling.


(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3902/14555831372_0d4e8a11ba_c.jpg)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: ChanceKJ on November 20, 2014, 09:57:16 am
A good way to fix this if it does is to use a fresh exacto knife blade with a sharp point and slice around the edge. That way you won't need to remove the moulding. BE CAREFUL and go slow.  I did my CP similar and started to notice the pressure from the moulding pushed up the vinyl like this in a ton of spots. When I went to do my side panels I trimmed everything right down and touched up with a black sharpie before adding the moulding.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 20, 2014, 10:32:12 am
Yea, I actually remembered that from reading your build. I saw the same thing and tried to use my knife to cut and tuck the edges in in the one bad area. (I have a leather-working scalpel that will cut through anything). When I did the fan technique the results were much better. I'd give one of my side installs a b- and the second one an A+. I'll try to go back and clean up the edge like you suggested.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: mvolke1 on November 20, 2014, 01:01:06 pm
Looking really good! Very cool build. Been enjoying the process  :applaud:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 20, 2014, 01:30:12 pm

Looking really good! Very cool build. Been enjoying the process  :applaud:
Thanks. I'm excited to show my best friend soon. I've been keeping it a secret this whole time and he should think it's cool. I'm working on a design for my next project which is helping him build a 2 player upright cab.


Found some insert nuts at Home Depot that will work. My local one didn't have them, but i found one that had the inserts with the larger threads that work with MDF. (PL1 approved!  :cheers: )Hopefully I can do a test this evening to see how best to mount the joystick.

This website was helpful to see the different thread types. http://www.jetpress.com/Products.aspx/14408/InsertNuts/ (http://www.jetpress.com/Products.aspx/14408/InsertNuts/)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: DeLuSioNal29 on November 20, 2014, 08:48:49 pm
Even if the cold cathode tubes were longer, you would still see each tube through the marquee since they are so bright.  You probably just need to diffuse the light to give it a more even spread.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 20, 2014, 09:15:12 pm
Even if the cold cathode tubes were longer, you would still see each tube through the marquee since they are so bright.  You probably just need to diffuse the light to give it a more even spread.
I'll have to start looking around for some frosted plastic or maybe i can rough sand the back of the plexi? I have some scrap left over that I can try it out on, just not sure if anyone has done that. Usually I see people painting, or adding in some form of frosted plastic material.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: ChanceKJ on November 20, 2014, 11:50:52 pm
 :laugh: I just kept the one side of protective plastic on my marquee plastic.

I had played with using a sheet of vellum from my drafting supplies. Adding layers to adjust. Mind you I combined the plastic layer with localized LED lights and then also adjusted the hue with lighting gel samples.

...just use paper.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Malenko on November 21, 2014, 07:43:09 am
just put 2 pieces of blank printer paper  between the lights and the maquee
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 22, 2014, 08:35:41 pm
Damn japanese buttons.  Got the pilot holes drilled for location but 30 and 24 mm buttons are just slightly oversized for 7/8 and 1 inch.    I'll have to head to lowes in the morning for a 15/16 and hope to find a 1-3/16 bit. :banghead: a dremel might help bore the holes but sadly I don't have one.   
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 24, 2014, 09:28:05 am
Damn Japanese buttons. I cut the 24mm button holes with a 15/16 spade with the screw tip and it made short work of the MDF. The 24mm seimitsu buttons fit perfectly. The problem is that they are too short, even for 1/2" MDF, so I had to drill out a recess in the back of the CP. Doing this on one of my previous posts worked great, but... :cry:  The player buttons overlapped on the bottom and I  just made a big mess so I'm going to take my router with the plunge base and clean it all up later. It doesn't need to be 6 closely spaced holes, I should have just routed out a big square section for them in the first place. Also I have a call in to santa to get me the Milwaukee rotary tool so I didn't want to buy anything expensive just yet. I picked up the $8 tool at harbor freight and used the drum sand bit to open up the 1-1/8" holes to fit the 30mm buttons. worked great for what it is, but definitely lacking in power.


Then I have to route out the recess for the joystick and since my cp is already glued and screwed, I don't have enough room for a template. It's freehand router time!!! I scribed a square where the joystick base will rest and practiced on a piece of scrap wood. The key part is the edges where the screws will go. They are very close to the edge of the S-Plate so that width has to be pretty close. I can set up guides on the side to make them clean.


Can't believe I didn't use our CNC shop to just create a metal CP. Oh well that's for my next build. Live and learn.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 24, 2014, 03:03:23 pm
Went home at lunch and quickly routered out the joystick recess as well as cleaned up the button recess. I did the joystick recess freehand, but took my time and it came out pretty nice. I used the small dremel tool to make the corners sharper (since the router bit is round...) and everything fit nicely. i'll wait till i get the CPO installed before I put the joystick screws in. Since my CPO has a round graphic, i want to make sure that the joystick is absolutely centered, or it will look terrible.

I should be able to get the CPO install and most, hopefully all, of the wiring done tonight.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Slippyblade on November 24, 2014, 05:19:41 pm
You routed joystick recesses on your lunch break?  Impressive!  I tend to eat on my break...  when I get one that is.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 24, 2014, 06:57:57 pm
You routed joystick recesses on your lunch break?  Impressive!  I tend to eat on my break...  when I get one that is.
Haha.  Yea I may have skipped out a little early and had to eat gas station food but it was worth it so I can start the electrical stuff tonight. 
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 24, 2014, 11:58:09 pm
Got the CPO installed and the buttons and joystick mounted. The wife, who is now 8 months pregnant (which means I've been working on this  for 4 months although that's a blink of the eye on this forum)  :laugh2: , had me doing crazy husband stuff. Like making her waffles at 10pm... :dizzy:


Anyways it looks like i'm going to hold off on the electrical because I don't want to rush the process. I want a good amount of time without a lot of distractions so that I can take my time and not make any crazy mistakes. Imma channel my inner ChanceKJ to see if i can make some pretty wiring. We are going out of town for the holiday so I probably wont get a chance to finish it up for a week or so, but i'm very happy that I finally got the CPO put on and it turned out nice. (picture quality sucks, i'll get some good quality pics when I get it all finished)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Superfrog on November 25, 2014, 12:33:31 am
Looks VERY sharp  :cheers:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: opt2not on November 25, 2014, 12:42:32 am
I agree. I really like how the hardware colours goes really well with the CPO.   :applaud:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: ChanceKJ on November 25, 2014, 01:19:34 am
Imma channel my inner ChanceKJ to see if i can make some pretty wiring. We are going out of town for the holiday so I probably wont get a chance to finish it up for a week or so, but i'm very happy that I finally got the CPO put on and it turned out nice. (picture quality sucks, i'll get some good quality pics when I get it all finished)

Patience is a virtue. So is being able to convince your wife that you being up for a couple hours each night at 3am is practice for when the kids born. But what your really doing is crimping wires and stapling little strips of Velcro tape to the inside of your cab.

I was a SNES guy myself (if you couldn't tell by my build history). But I'm loving this design. I like how it's a standard bartop, but the art is selling me on a sweet evolution from just slapping PNG files of Sonic and other random SEGA characters all over the place. Controls looks sweet too, well thought out for sure. Take your time and plan out that wire, you'll be glad you did.

Oh, and this thing begs to have a SNES counterpart.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: arcadeswede on November 25, 2014, 05:36:22 am
Looks really good but don't rush it! It's all about patience and planning when having a baby and being a family. Family first. Always!
Take you're time and I'm sure this will end up looking really really good.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: AzureKnight on November 25, 2014, 09:55:05 am

Your CP came out very nice!   :applaud:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 25, 2014, 11:00:06 am

Thanks everyone!


So is being able to convince your wife that you being up for a couple hours each night at 3am is practice for when the kids born. But what your really doing is crimping wires and stapling little strips of Velcro tape to the inside of your cab.
Awesome! She's a teacher and works almost an hour away so she goes to bed pretty early. Around 9 or 10pm is my time to get some work done, and sometimes I look up and it's quarter to 2:00 in the morning.  ;D


Looks really good but don't rush it! It's all about patience and planning when having a baby and being a family. Family first. Always!
Take you're time and I'm sure this will end up looking really really good.
Well said. I've wanted to build an arcade machine ever since I watched silver spoons back in the day. It will be cool when my boy is old enough to play with some of these old games.



Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: gbeef on November 25, 2014, 12:15:03 pm
CP came out awesome man. looking SLICK!.... Time for a Nintendo one. HAHAHA
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 25, 2014, 01:29:18 pm
Time for a Nintendo one. HAHAHA
Oh, and this thing begs to have a SNES counterpart.
I'm catching a theme here haha. I think a Nintendo cab would rock, but maybe I can just visit edekoning for some sega vs nintendo action (The Netherlands isn't really that far from Ohio...)


On a sad note, I'm pretty sure I screwed up my Keywiz.  :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:


It won't recognize it at all on any computer. I must have crossed something up or got too aggressive when de-soldering the old solid core wires I had on there. Not excited about spending another 30 or so bucks on the same item, but I really worked the whole shazam! key into my layout. I still need to buy the mini SLG to polish off the cab, but we'll see.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: severdhed on November 25, 2014, 03:49:14 pm
awesome build..the artwork is really sharp looking.   good job :applaud:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on November 30, 2014, 12:05:01 pm
I heard back from Randy at GGG and it seems like a bunch of dumbasses like myself have messed up the ECO boards. I should have left the solid core wire in there instead of desoldering them. Another lesson learned. The biggest lesson is to get the controller with screw terminals. I could have been done by now and saved me the 45 bucks it costs to order the new one.  :banghead:

Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: markc74 on November 30, 2014, 02:31:03 pm
Looking pretty sweet chap. Always preferred the megadrive name to genesis (as it was in the UK) but this captures it perfectly.

Every interesting build has a few hiccups.  :cheers:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on December 01, 2014, 09:56:02 am
Always preferred the megadrive name to genesis (as it was in the UK)
Mega Drive actually does go more in line with the way Sega named the old carts by memory. SMS 2 mega cartridges, then phantasy star (best game ever made) came out at 4, then strider hit 8 on the genesis and everyone lost their minds.


I love the global nature of this forum and seeing all the others that have the same love for these old games. Still..."Mega Drive Does What Nintendon't" doesn't have the same ring to it.  ;D
 
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Malenko on December 01, 2014, 10:00:13 am
yeah Im from the states and I think MegaDrive / MegaCD sound cooler, but if I did a cab based on the system I'd have to call it a genesis too.

I just love the final artwork on this build, its very classy yet true to the original.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on December 01, 2014, 10:10:30 am
Thanks.


Once I get my new keywiz in and the CP all wired up i'll post some high-quality pics. I'm working on a Maximus Arcade theme using the same artwork style. I have hyperspin set up fully, but i'm not sure I like all the sprites dancing in your face. It covers up too much of the screen. It looks fancy, but too busy. Until I can try and slim it down and make a new theme, i'll stick with the simplicity and clean interface of MA.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Demon-Seed on December 01, 2014, 02:26:36 pm
this project is awesome.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: DeLuSioNal29 on December 01, 2014, 06:56:40 pm

this project is awesome.
I sooooooo agree.  Nice work.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on December 02, 2014, 04:31:10 pm

this project is awesome.

I sooooooo agree.  Nice work.

Thanks guys, appreciate it.


Small update. It's a great day when you see the subject line of an email reading "Your GroovyGameGear.com order has been shipped". Should be here Friday! :applaud:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on December 05, 2014, 04:58:19 pm
Back in Business!!!
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on December 05, 2014, 08:51:57 pm
Yea. um. So I found out that i'm not exactly great at wiring. If it was a larger project with a full board it might be easier, but yea. It's not something i'm super proud of.


Also, I have an issue where the keywiz is just pressing px1px1px1px1px1 when I turn on the PC and open notepad. I even unplugged all of the disconnects for the buttons and still happening. I'll have to take out the joystick too and add them in one by one to see what's up.


I probably can't do it tonight, i'm supposed to be studying for finals tomorrow.  :cry:  If I can't get it tonight before bed, i'll work on it tomorrow evening and finish this bad boy. The only thing left will be to black out the plexi to hide the monitor.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Superfrog on December 06, 2014, 04:50:08 am
Back in Business!!!

Just what I see on a snippet pictures ;) It looks GREAT  :cheers: 
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: emphatic on December 06, 2014, 05:12:43 pm
The control panel looks great! :cheers:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on December 07, 2014, 09:49:18 am
Got the encoder figured out by taking all of the connections off and putting them on one at a time. Just need to move my media over that I've been setting up on another computer, and get the plexi bezel painted. Also am going to play with diffusing the marquee light (which is off in this picture)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Malenko on December 07, 2014, 09:51:39 am
Turned out incredibly well, you should be proud!
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: johnrt on December 07, 2014, 10:00:30 am
A incredible nice build!  :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: DeLuSioNal29 on December 07, 2014, 11:42:51 am
Nice work!  Epic for sure!
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on December 07, 2014, 11:50:29 am
Thanks guys, i'm stoked to finally get to play some games, although I think the journey is probably more fun than the payoff in the end  :cheers:


I'll post some better pics soon. I usually do work late at night and my phone isn't the best in low light. This is the coolest hobby ever. I'm officially addicted. My next build will be a full size cab for sure. (Definitely need the mini SLG, can't wait to get that)



Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: brucelee00 on December 07, 2014, 01:49:07 pm
Looks great love the CP artwork  :applaud:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: ChanceKJ on December 07, 2014, 02:02:57 pm
 :applaud: Home stretch.

Oh, bonus points for a matching plugin fight stick for P2 controls.  :laugh:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Superfrog on December 07, 2014, 05:01:37 pm
Every details fits like a glove  :notworthy: :dizzy: :dizzy: :cheers:

Great one .. that's the bartop of the year
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Frank Drebin on December 07, 2014, 05:11:34 pm
Been following this thread but never commenting.  Great idea and fantastic execution!

What do we do with these machines after we build them?  They are so much fun to build but you only really need 1 in the house...
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: SpaceHedgehog on December 07, 2014, 05:19:49 pm
She's an absolute beauty. An idea superbly executed. Artwork is fantastic. Stunning work.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: ChanceKJ on December 07, 2014, 06:44:05 pm
...What do we do with these machines after we build them?  They are so much fun to build but you only really need 1 in the house...

(http://www.quickmeme.com/img/77/7773af9770acea44e2c046c6284ec7d1533d53c8d4091919f012c3f1a9d9adc9.jpg)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Frank Drebin on December 07, 2014, 06:52:08 pm
...What do we do with these machines after we build them?  They are so much fun to build but you only really need 1 in the house...

(http://www.quickmeme.com/img/77/7773af9770acea44e2c046c6284ec7d1533d53c8d4091919f012c3f1a9d9adc9.jpg)
ha ha, maybe I should have taken out "need" and replace with "are allowed".

1 was a stretch. ;)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: ChanceKJ on December 07, 2014, 07:03:20 pm
ha ha, maybe I should have taken out "need" and replace with "are allowed".

1 was a stretch. ;)

I keep telling you people, you married the wrong women if this is the case.  :laugh:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on December 07, 2014, 07:15:26 pm
Thanks for all the compliments and help throughout this build!


I take back my comment. I really like how it turned out and other than a few finishing touches this week I can't wait to actually play some games. In the end if it collects dust, then you should build furniture and not arcade machines  :cheers:


Chance, since my wife is literally gonna pop out a child any week now, i'm not going to push it, but she already knows a full size cab is next. I already have my man cave (Arcade) marked out in the garage to build in the spring.


Oh, bonus points for a matching plugin fight stick for P2 controls.  :laugh:
LOVE this idea. Matching artwork and hardware that will accompany this for some fighting game action. I just have enough wood to do this. Looks like I have a quick Christmas project ahead of me gents!!!!!
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: ChanceKJ on December 07, 2014, 07:51:27 pm
Chance, since my wife is literally gonna pop out a child any week now, i'm not going to push it, but she already knows a full size cab is next. I already have my man cave (Arcade) marked out in the garage to build in the spring.

Oh, bonus points for a matching plugin fight stick for P2 controls.  :laugh:
LOVE this idea. Matching artwork and hardware that will accompany this for some fighting game action. I just have enough wood to do this. Looks like I have a quick Christmas project ahead of me gents!!!!!

well looks like you married the right kind.   ...just don't tell her the addition was my idea...  ;D ;D
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: AzureKnight on December 08, 2014, 10:36:10 am
ha ha, maybe I should have taken out "need" and replace with "are allowed".

1 was a stretch. ;)

I keep telling you people, you married the wrong women if this is the case.  :laugh:

Yes, in this regard....so much yes.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on December 08, 2014, 11:18:28 am
Just placed my order with CraftyMech for the MINI SLG.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Dance Commander on December 08, 2014, 02:48:45 pm
I was a huge Sega fanboy growing up. This project is awesome. The artwork, hardware, build etc, all excellent. Really excited to see it finished.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: rablack97 on December 08, 2014, 03:50:13 pm
Got the encoder figured out by taking all of the connections off and putting them on one at a time. Just need to move my media over that I've been setting up on another computer, and get the plexi bezel painted. Also am going to play with diffusing the marquee light (which is off in this picture)

um unless i'm missing something, why are you using cold cathodes, those things are notorious for burning out.

get you a roll of this (cheap via ebay), which can be used for tons of other builds....and dim it with (pic2) if it's too bright, its runs off 12v.

also, i just sand the back plexi piece to diffuse, i normally use 1 strip of this for all of my bartop builds and its plenty of light if you want it really lit up use 2, and adjust it with the dimmers to get it perfect.

(http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/ODAwWDgwMA==/z/S94AAOSwZkJURgLu/$_57.JPG)

(http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAwMVgxMDAx/z/ZbMAAOSwwNVTtPGe/$_57.JPG)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: ChanceKJ on December 08, 2014, 06:33:29 pm
Maybe he's partial to that nostalgic hum and glow? LED's are best left for them new fandangled, multi console, 64bit+ cabs.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on December 08, 2014, 09:08:53 pm

um unless i'm missing something, why are you using cold cathodes, those things are notorious for burning out.
1. Stupidity
2. Figured I wouldn't need the same amount of brightness since bartop marquees are smaller and in your face.
3. Didn't realize that it would be as hard to diffuse the CC but they are so close to the plexi.  :blah:


I checked those led rolls out on ebay and they are under 10 bucks shipped. didn't think they were that cheap thanks. I tried masking the area around the genesis logo with paper to diffuse it and it worked ok for now. I was thinking of just blacking out the plexi that surrounds the genesis logo. That's the only thing that really needs to pop and it looks great because it's directly in front of the lights.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: ChanceKJ on December 08, 2014, 09:12:17 pm
I got a pretty decent effect with the groovy game gear marquee LEDs. Mounting them on the bottom rather then the back and lining the area with reflective tape. It kinda shoots the light strait up with the way the LEDs are shaped like little bricks. Then the tape just evenly bounces it around. On top of that I just kept one of the protective layers on the plexi, and added a couple theatre lighting gel swatches for colour.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: opt2not on December 08, 2014, 09:28:01 pm
That is indeed a sexy looking bartop.  :applaud:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: yamatetsu on December 09, 2014, 06:18:51 am
Niiice !

The agonizing over the art really paid off.

Please consider immortalizing this cab in the I completed my project! I posted a pic and a link to my project thread (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,142020.0.html) sticky !
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on December 09, 2014, 09:03:32 am
Thanks!

Please consider immortalizing this cab in the [/size]I completed my project! I posted a pic and a link to my project thread[size=78%] (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,142020.0.html) sticky !
I definitely will when it's done.  :lol
Still have some details to finish up (Mainly getting the bezel plexi painted, Hopefully tonight)


I copied over the 50 GB of artwork and videos to the bartop and got all the inputs mapped with every emulator. Home stretch indeed.  :cheers:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: yamatetsu on December 09, 2014, 09:34:08 am
I definitely will when it's done.  :lol

So hurry up already  ;D
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Locke141 on December 09, 2014, 01:23:36 pm
I super want one.

I loved me some SEGA back in the day.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: yotsuya on December 09, 2014, 01:40:08 pm
Niiice !

The agonizing over the art really paid off.

Please consider immortalizing this cab in the I completed my project! I posted a pic and a link to my project thread (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,142020.0.html) sticky !

Dude, do you work on commission?  :dizzy:  >:D
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: yamatetsu on December 09, 2014, 02:09:35 pm
Yes !!! I will be rich ! RICH, I tell you !!!

Nope, since the sticky was my idea I try to keep it alive. The goal is to have every completed build in there (at least since the sticky started). I figure that most people will not notice the sticky and so I keep reminding them.
This also does wonders for my post counter  ::)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Louis Tully on December 09, 2014, 04:46:07 pm
.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Malenko on December 09, 2014, 06:02:07 pm
If only there was a wiki you could edit with that info
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: yamatetsu on December 09, 2014, 06:24:46 pm
You should build something.

I would love to, but I've got the slight problem of having no money and no space to do that. So I do the next best thing, which is harrassing other builders  ;D

If only there was a wiki you could edit with that info

Are you serious or doing a pbj ?
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Malenko on December 09, 2014, 08:10:42 pm
Are you serious or doing a pbj ?
Little bit of column a, little bit of column b
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Deadpool on December 09, 2014, 08:19:16 pm
[Insert generic intro here. Long time listener, first time caller]

I'm excited to finally put saw to wood here soon and thought I could announce what I have going on. The wife, who is currently 4 months pregnant,  :cheers: put the stop to my man cave construction.  :banghead: So basically my full-size will have to wait. BUT I realized that a bartop will be just as fun to build, and since it's slightly portable, I can move it around for parties and play around with jukebox software. 

So here are my thoughts...

1. SEEEEEGAAAAA
   There have been a few classic Nintendo builds with the iconic coloring and themes, see http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,133712.0.html  (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,133712.0.html). for an amazing example, but there has been little done with my beloved SEGA (sans the current outrun driver by johnrt !).

2.Primary Focus is 80's & 90's (Genesis, Master System, NES,SNES,TG16,MAME) Consoles & Arcade games (Shinobi, Rastan, Strider etc.) Not a fan of 2 player co-op on bartops. I'll save that for my full size.

3. System Specs
   Motherboard:   ASUS M4A785-M. Has onboard HD4200 graphcis card which has rocked anything i've thrown at it. (again, I'm not looking to play street fighter or any dreamcast or newer games)
   Processor:   AMD Athlon II X2 245 Dual-Core 2.9GHz (old NAS server looks to be perfect for my bartop)
   Memory:       NAS had 4 GB. Overkill but you know...
   HDD:      1TB WD HDD
   OS:         Windows 7 x64
   Speakers:   Ripped apart an old gateway 2000  :laugh2: speaker set that had a built in amp and sounds pretty good. Not sure if i should spend the 25 bucks and upgrade this and/or get a small sub for some of those boomin soundtracks (golden axe titlescreen  8))
   
4. Construction
   planning to use 1/2 inch MDF for most of the cabinet construction. Was worried that this would be too thin or light, but seems like a lot of people build their bartops out of 1/2". I started with the weecade design, which it seems that everyone does now days, but I wasn't feeling the giant curve in the front. I have a 19" monitor and when adjusting for the size, it became too deep when the curve and speaker panel met up. I like the understated lines of this design, but am open for suggestions. The marquee area can possibly get shorter, but i'll have to mock it up out of cardboard and see how much room the speakers take up.


(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=315384)
Mockup in my CAD system (I'm a cad admin, I used to do design work awhile back)

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=315386)
   So I was wondering if the slanted back that is usually found on the weecade (on the left) made it difficult to flush mount the power supply on the rear? I made a perpendicular back (on the right) but don't like it as much. I could just use an adapter like this http://www.amazon.com/Inlet-Module-Switch-Socket-IEC320/dp/B0050HH70E/ref=pd_cp_e_1 (http://www.amazon.com/Inlet-Module-Switch-Socket-IEC320/dp/B0050HH70E/ref=pd_cp_e_1)

5. Artwork
   The Sega Genesis is my inspiration for the artwork. I don't have any completed artwork, but I'm hoping that someone will throw some advice my way.

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=315382)
something along the lines of the classic controller for the cp graphics. (this one is very dark, i'll mock up a vector version in inkscape for the final)

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=315380)
a version of the genesis that is good for ideas on embellishments. (i'm not using this artwork as it is not mine, i'm just using it for examples)

6. Requirements to be met

   1 player bartop with a clean CP,
   needs to play most games from the SNES (4 buttons) and genesis era (3 and then 6 buttons). Since the 6 button controller was primarily for fighting games, i'm not sure that i need 6. I wish i could get away with the old genesis look of 3 buttons (see cp image above) but it won't due if i can't play 1/2 the SNES games. Also most arcade games form this time period rarely use more than 3 buttons. Jump, attack, magic or punch kick jump. I could marry the diamond shape of the SNES with the 3 button of the genesis, but I might just put 6 buttons on there in the curved street fighter style to give it the most flexibility. I'm really looking to make the theme as genesis as possible without frankenpaneling in nes/snes coloring or designs. The 6 player genesis controller isn't as sexy as the clean original, but I may try to merge the two.

I have to say, to the right eyes, this could be a sexy piece of work.  Us nerds get a hard on for stuff like this..lol
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: ChanceKJ on December 09, 2014, 08:20:50 pm
Holy crap thread hijack and Quote Wall of Death batman....


Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Deadpool on December 09, 2014, 08:23:06 pm
Holy crap thread hijack and Quote Wall of Death batman....

lol
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: opt2not on December 09, 2014, 09:07:10 pm
Holy crap thread hijack and Quote Wall of Death batman....

lol
For real, what is this the Neo-geo forum? At least edit the photos out of the quote.  :whap
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: yamatetsu on December 10, 2014, 12:44:13 am
Are you serious or doing a pbj ?
Little bit of column a, little bit of column b

Regarding column a have a look at this thread : this thread (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,142009.0.html). That should make the difference between the wiki and the sticky clear.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Malenko on December 10, 2014, 07:35:19 am
You are spamming the boards. 19 of your 33 posts since the idea's inception has been begging people to use the thread. You did good work with Clint, and I'm not saying the completed thread is a bad idea, I'm saying that you are becoming an annoying spammer by only posting about it.  Put a link to the thread in your signature, and start PMing people to use it.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: yamatetsu on December 10, 2014, 10:16:05 am
Ok, putting a link in the sig won't do much good because I don't post that much, but PMs can and will be done.

So, what do I do ? Is posting something like 'PM sent' also considered spamming ? I'm asking because I never have sent or received a PM and don't know if someone receiving a PM is somehow notified about it.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Malenko on December 10, 2014, 11:20:45 am
I'll PM you :)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Louis Tully on December 10, 2014, 11:21:42 am
.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: yamatetsu on December 10, 2014, 11:53:29 am
I got PM'd !

Malenko, you didn't come off too strong. Sometimes it's better to be a bit blunt than leaving subtle clues that might get missed  :) I'm fairly new to this and didn't realize that I'm annoying people. So, now I've got a cool new signature and will stop the posts.

When a user logs in, they'll see that they have a new message waiting to be read. "My Messages"

Ah, I don't get to see that one that much because I'm automatically logged in when I start the browser and it also remembers the last position on the page which is set to the upper edge of sticky section. I guess I'll set it a bit higher now. Thanks !
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Louis Tully on December 10, 2014, 11:58:28 am
.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Deadpool on December 10, 2014, 12:23:25 pm
Holy crap thread hijack and Quote Wall of Death batman....

lol
For real, what is this the Neo-geo forum? At least edit the photos out of the quote.  :whap

Sorry still new to this..lol as you can see I only have like 50 posts or something around that..lol
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Malenko on December 10, 2014, 12:26:52 pm
hit edit, then delete everything before [/quote]

Start hitting reply, and stop hitting quote to reply.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Deadpool on December 10, 2014, 01:26:11 pm
Roger Doger!
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: opt2not on December 10, 2014, 03:39:34 pm
Sorry still new to this..lol as you can see I only have like 50 posts or something around that..lol
Well from the slew of new posts today, looks like you're getting the hang of it.  ;)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on December 12, 2014, 09:19:58 am
What in the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- happened to page #6 of my build thread? :laugh2:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: yamatetsu on December 12, 2014, 09:30:04 am
Who are you ? Stop hijacking this multi-topic discussion thread ! ;D
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Malenko on December 12, 2014, 09:32:00 am
What in the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- happened to page #6 of my build thread? :laugh2:

That's what you get for not posting in it every day.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on December 12, 2014, 09:56:57 am
lol It's because I've been slogging through all of my games to make category lists.


Here's an actual update: My mini SLG was shipped, thanks Aaron! It will be here Monday. I also put a few coats of black paint on the bezel. It's gonna take some more coats before it's nice and opaque.


Now, proceed with the derailment.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: ChanceKJ on December 12, 2014, 10:18:26 am
You heard the man, derail the thread!
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on December 14, 2014, 10:38:16 pm
So.... I was packing up the bartop to take to my buddies house for some awesomeness. And I decided to keep the usb extension cord plugged in and just tuck it inside. So when you touch metal to an uncased power supply, that is runnning, generally creates a spark  :banghead:


So long story short I replaced the power supply and now i'm getting a lot of interference. See pictures 1 and 2. It's fuzzy and blanks out and comes back about once every five seconds. I tried moving the vga cable away from the power supply but it's still fuzzy.


I may be able to fix my old power supply as it looks like the fuse on it just blew. look at pics 3 and 4. If that's the case can i just get a new fuse and solder it on there?
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on December 15, 2014, 01:43:50 pm
OK I was able to snip off the fuse since it was wired onto the board with wire leads. Now I have some nice exposed wires that are already cleanly soldered to the board. I can then solder on some extension wires and put a fuse holder on it. I found some info about it here http://www.techrepublic.com/article/learn-to-re-fuse-a-power-supply/ (http://www.techrepublic.com/article/learn-to-re-fuse-a-power-supply/)


The fuse is definitely dead, I checked it with a meter and it doesn't show any throughput. I found the 5A 250V fuses at home depot and will try and get them soldered and back up and running tonight. The info is really hard to read on the fuse itself, even with a magnifying glass, but it's clearly printed on the circuit board.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Slippyblade on December 15, 2014, 05:04:36 pm
I'd spend the $1.50 and buy a fuse holder to solder onto the board.  I hate hard mounted fuses!
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on December 15, 2014, 09:56:46 pm
Crisis averted.


1 - pic of the blown fuse that I snipped off.
I'd spend the $1.50 and buy a fuse holder to solder onto the board.  I hate hard mounted fuses!

Indeed Slippy. See Pic #2.  :cheers:
3 - Mini SLG in da house. It looks better at 1024 x 768 for some reason on my monitor but it looks awesome. I'm trying to configure mame to use this resolution too, but i'll play with that tomorrow.
4 - Soldered the fuse holder onto the PSU and put her back in. Now she's back in business. (Flash made the artwork look like garbage, but it's just the shine)


Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Slippyblade on December 16, 2014, 01:55:58 am
It lives!!!!

Anyway, it looks better at that resolution due to how it figures what lines to blank.  At that resolution the blank line is falling on an integer line number so there is no funky anti-aliasing going on.  Just a clean line blank.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on December 16, 2014, 10:10:22 am
Makes sense.


I've been downloading what seems like the entire emumovies database (the $30 bucks for that was probably the best money spent so far). I also figured out how to make category lists in Maximus Arcade. I might mess around with a utility to allow people to create these lists easier. Editing that bulky text file isn't ideal.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: edekoning on December 16, 2014, 03:13:47 pm
Jeez man I've been away for a month or two and you are suddenly finished. Now I really feel like I am slacking ;D
Looks really good though, something to be proud off :applaud: I smell a nomination for best bartop of 2014 :cheers:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: yotsuya on December 16, 2014, 03:15:21 pm
I smell a nomination for best bartop of 2014 :cheers:

Really? What does that smell like? Cherries?
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: edekoning on December 16, 2014, 03:20:53 pm
Really? What does that smell like? Cherries?

No like burned electronics ... oh ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- that's my comp
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: yotsuya on December 16, 2014, 03:54:49 pm
Really? What does that smell like? Cherries?

No like burned electronics ... oh ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- that's my comp

 :cheers: :cheers:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on December 17, 2014, 09:17:31 am
Jeez man I've been away for a month or two and you are suddenly finished. Now I really feel like I am slacking ;D
That's right edekoning! Now get on that NES bartop man.  :cheers:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: TheDude on December 19, 2014, 11:44:44 am
Really impressive !
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: markc74 on December 19, 2014, 12:04:16 pm
Very very very cool.  :applaud:

You have to put a red LED in the front where the power indicator goes though...  :)
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on December 19, 2014, 03:13:02 pm
Very very very cool.  :applaud: You have to put a red LED in the front where the power indicator goes though...  :)

I'm putting the finishing touches on it now so that I can officially announce that it's completed and that's one of the things I was hoping to steal from your blip build. I already put the artwork on, but i could probably drill it out carefully from behind.  :angel:


The software is taking a lot of time to config (Even though I worked on setting up the emulators for months beforehand), mostly because the wife won't let me work on it till she goes to bed.  :hissy:  Something about not spending time with her.  :blah:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Frank Drebin on December 19, 2014, 04:28:50 pm
Very very very cool.  :applaud: You have to put a red LED in the front where the power indicator goes though...  :)

I'm putting the finishing touches on it now so that I can officially announce that it's completed and that's one of the things I was hoping to steal from your blip build. I already put the artwork on, but i could probably drill it out carefully from behind.  :angel:


The software is taking a lot of time to config (Even though I worked on setting up the emulators for months beforehand), mostly because the wife won't let me work on it till she goes to bed.  :hissy:  Something about not spending time with her.  :blah:

Hyperspin (I'm assuming) can be a beyotch to setup.  I'm not a pro so I put a lot of unnecessary hours behind a computer trying to figure easy stuff out. 
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: EMDB on December 19, 2014, 05:14:21 pm
...
Hyperspin (I'm assuming) can be a beyotch to setup.  I'm not a pro so I put a lot of unnecessary hours behind a computer trying to figure easy stuff out.
I don't understand why people keep saying this... Hyperspin isn't that hard. I admit you have to spend some time to get to know the structure but after spending all those hours building a nice cab this time is really peanuts. I wrote a little 'Getting started with Hyperspin - the Basics' once : http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,135694.msg1473193.html#msg1473193 (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,135694.msg1473193.html#msg1473193)

If there is interest I could finish it with some screenshots and make it a sticky. Although I think we need a separate forum for Hyperspin as it is one of the most used frontends and there are a lot of people struggling with it.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: ChanceKJ on December 19, 2014, 05:50:01 pm
If you made it "paint by numbers" simple with a logical workflow then we'd have less people having issues. I'd vote to have that as a sticky.

Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Frank Drebin on December 19, 2014, 05:54:46 pm
...
Hyperspin (I'm assuming) can be a beyotch to setup.  I'm not a pro so I put a lot of unnecessary hours behind a computer trying to figure easy stuff out.
I don't understand why people keep saying this... Hyperspin isn't that hard. I admit you have to spend some time to get to know the structure but after spending all those hours building a nice cab this time is really peanuts. I wrote a little 'Getting started with Hyperspin - the Basics' once : http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,135694.msg1473193.html#msg1473193 (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,135694.msg1473193.html#msg1473193)

If there is interest I could finish it with some screenshots and make it a sticky. Although I think we need a separate forum for Hyperspin as it is one of the most used frontends and there are a lot of people struggling with it.
Its totally not hard once you have it figured out.  An example of something that held me up was certain emulators in hyperlaunch only support certain game types. for example a nes emulator might only recognize .zip and not .nes.   So you could have an emulator working perfectly outside of hyperspin but when you do the game audit it all shows up red.  Easy to fix now...but for a guy like me who doesn't know the first thing about programming and programs it can hold you up for a long time.

There are .ini files, .ahk files, .xml files, I had no idea what they were before I started toying around with H.S.  Really still don't know what they are now.

I still don't know how to use daemon tools with certain emulators either.

A separate sticky in the front end thread would be great.  A tutorial would be great.
You know what else would be great?  Common problems and solutions like the one I explained above.  "Mame Error - Failed validity"  Another one that held me out for a long time.

Grippie, thanks for hosting an off topic chat thread.  ;D Thats what you get for having such a cool and original build.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Fursphere on December 20, 2014, 12:59:07 am
If you made it "paint by numbers" simple with a logical workflow then we'd have less people having issues. I'd vote to have that as a sticky.

I actually did this if you recall...  and it didn't help that much.  People open the doc and see the wall of text and go "omg screw that".
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: EMDB on December 20, 2014, 07:42:16 am
If you made it "paint by numbers" simple with a logical workflow then we'd have less people having issues. I'd vote to have that as a sticky.

I actually did this if you recall...  and it didn't help that much.  People open the doc and see the wall of text and go "omg screw that".
I know but I think the doc was too advanced and detailed to start learning HyperSpin and a doc with only text is hard to read. HyperLaunch should be left out and have a separate advanced chapter.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Frank Drebin on December 20, 2014, 09:15:49 am
If you made it "paint by numbers" simple with a logical workflow then we'd have less people having issues. I'd vote to have that as a sticky.

I actually did this if you recall...  and it didn't help that much.  People open the doc and see the wall of text and go "omg screw that".
I know but I think the doc was too advanced and detailed to start learning HyperSpin and a doc with only text is hard to read. HyperLaunch should be left out and have a separate advanced chapter.

If there is a will there is a way.  I don't think you can learn hyperspin without a lot of reading.  And it seems to require "maintenance" here and there so if you want to have it you should know how to use it.

Here is a guide from the HS forums that worked for me, and I had a buddy who wanted to install it as well, but like Fursphere said, he took one look at the guide and said "Eff that!  Thats too much work"
http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?29481-How-to-install-HyperSpin (http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?29481-How-to-install-HyperSpin)

So in conclusion, you can make a detailed guide, you can make an easy to follow guide, but it'll never be a simple guide.

But if someone is willing to take the bull by the horns I'd be more than happy to add my 2 cents to that thread and answer questions if/when I can.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: PL1 on December 20, 2014, 09:44:44 am
This guide sounds like a good candidate for adding it to the wiki like the MaLa Config (http://newwiki.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?title=Mala_Config) guide.

The current HyperSpin entry is here (http://newwiki.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?title=HyperSpin).


Scott
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: rablack97 on December 20, 2014, 10:54:22 am
Yeah when they upgraded it, they made is 10X harder to install.

The older version was way eaiser, although as stated you have to do your research and be patient to get it all to work and you have to have a working knowledge of auto hotkey scripting.

I have the new version sitting on my desktop, i plan on attempting an install one of these days on a new rig.  However there is no way i'm erasing my older version that is running just fine right now, i really dont see any real imporvements to even bother with the upgrade.

Knowing that the released version wasn't completely finished and still has glitches.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: grippie on December 20, 2014, 02:10:06 pm
I'm an IT developer by trade so i'm very comfortable working with dozens of config files that must work in complete harmony for my software to work. I understand what hyperspin wants and how to get there, but I agree that it's WAY too involved for this type of hobby. People are learning so much to do this that they shouldn't require an IT degree to put the finishing touch on their CAB. How many threads start with OMG I have never used a router before! The amount of work that went into HS is phenomenal and I applaud the devs, but downloading multiple config editors (HQ) is a little cumbersome. I get that they added those as a way to help out people who didn't want to modify .ini files but I hope if HS 2.0 ever comes out that they will have an all encompassing configuration utility and more detailed documentation aimed at the average user.


I have been spending a ton of time downloading movies and screenshots, making a custom theme, plus also making genre lists for the roms I have so that people won't have to scroll through 200 roms to get to Shinobi.


I think i'm going to officially label this guy complete. I don't plan to do any more woodworking or major tasks and my custom MA theme is finished and working. I still want to move the power inlet over to the other side and add some cooling in it's place, but those are enhancements and not required. I'll update the first post to signify this. I can't wait to post my  next project and to see what everyone else comes up with :applaud:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: johnrt on December 20, 2014, 02:18:26 pm
I'm an IT developer by trade so i'm very comfortable working with dozens of config files that must work in complete harmony for my software to work. I understand what hyperspin wants and how to get there, but I agree that it's WAY too involved for this type of hobby. People are learning so much to do this that they shouldn't require an IT degree to put the finishing touch on their CAB. How many threads start with OMG I have never used a router before! The amount of work that went into HS is phenomenal and I applaud the devs, but downloading multiple config editors (HQ) is a little cumbersome. I get that they added those as a way to help out people who didn't want to modify .ini files but I hope if HS 2.0 ever comes out that they will have an all encompassing configuration utility and more detailed documentation aimed at the average user.
And do I agree!!! I myself are an IT consultant. Hyperspin is the modern way to go. But the software and the ways to get things done with all the config-files and whatnot... That's not something for a normal person to be able to do. That's also why there's a market for HS configured harddrives. And that's why I also made this video: http://captiongenerator.com/26985/Hitler-rants-about-johnrts-bartop-and-HyperSpin (http://captiongenerator.com/26985/Hitler-rants-about-johnrts-bartop-and-HyperSpin)


Edit: But your build man!!! That looks smashing!!!  :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop *** Complete ***
Post by: grippie on December 20, 2014, 02:55:39 pm
But your build man!!! That looks smashing!!!  :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
Thanks!  :cheers:
I never expected all of the great feedback for this build but i'm glad others think it's cool too.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: EMDB on December 20, 2014, 04:28:35 pm
...And that's why I also made this video: http://captiongenerator.com/26985/Hitler-rants-about-johnrts-bartop-and-HyperSpin (http://captiongenerator.com/26985/Hitler-rants-about-johnrts-bartop-and-HyperSpin)
That is freaking funny man!  :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop *** Complete ***
Post by: ChanceKJ on December 20, 2014, 05:19:14 pm
Without a doubt this is one of the coolest bar tops I've ever seen, and im a devote Nintendo guy. Love the FE skin, I'd ditch the Maximus Arcade logo tho, just a personal preference.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: yotsuya on December 20, 2014, 05:39:04 pm
...
Hyperspin (I'm assuming) can be a beyotch to setup.  I'm not a pro so I put a lot of unnecessary hours behind a computer trying to figure easy stuff out.
I don't understand why people keep saying this... Hyperspin isn't that hard. I admit you have to spend some time to get to know the structure but after spending all those hours building a nice cab this time is really peanuts. I wrote a little 'Getting started with Hyperspin - the Basics' once : http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,135694.msg1473193.html#msg1473193 (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,135694.msg1473193.html#msg1473193)

If there is interest I could finish it with some screenshots and make it a sticky. Although I think we need a separate forum for Hyperspin as it is one of the most used frontends and there are a lot of people struggling with it.

There IS a separate forum for Hyperspin. It's at www.hyperspin-fe.com (http://www.hyperspin-fe.com).  >:D
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop *** Complete ***
Post by: ChanceKJ on December 20, 2014, 05:49:30 pm
**90's Guy slightly slower clap**
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop *** Complete ***
Post by: grippie on December 20, 2014, 05:56:49 pm
Without a doubt this is one of the coolest bar tops I've ever seen, and im a devote Nintendo guy. Love the FE skin, I'd ditch the Maximus Arcade logo tho, just a personal preference.
Yea I agree about the logo but I thought I'd show some love to the creator by representing the software.  I'll post more pics of the FE skin later.   Wish I would have remembered "welcome to the next level" sooner.   :lol
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop *** Complete ***
Post by: Louis Tully on December 21, 2014, 08:57:51 am
.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop
Post by: Deadpool on December 21, 2014, 12:02:41 pm

Well from the slew of new posts today, looks like you're getting the hang of it.  ;)
[/quote]

Yea im getting there! lol :applaud: :cheers:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop *** Complete ***
Post by: grippie on December 21, 2014, 02:56:46 pm
Gotta work on that quote tag though  :lol
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop *** Complete ***
Post by: GnobarEl on March 23, 2015, 05:59:41 pm
Hi,
this bartop is great! congratulations!

I'm sorry if this had been alread asked but I didn't find it. Can you share your planes? Do you agree if I use your plans to make one too?
The theme will be different, but I would like to use your bartop layout.

Thanks!
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop *** Complete ***
Post by: grippie on March 23, 2015, 07:08:10 pm
Sure thing. Sent you an pm too.  I'll put the plans on the front page in the morning as well as some cad files for anyone to use. 
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop *** Complete ***
Post by: GnobarEl on March 23, 2015, 07:20:20 pm
Thats perfect! Thank you so much!

Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop *** Complete ***
Post by: TheDude on March 24, 2015, 03:09:15 am
This bartop looks great !  :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop *** Complete - Now With Plans ***
Post by: GnobarEl on March 24, 2015, 05:53:42 pm
Hi!
Thanks for sharing the plans!

Great build!
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop *** Complete - Now With Plans ***
Post by: skottles on March 25, 2015, 10:48:26 pm
Great build. This turned out awesome.  :applaud:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop *** Complete - Now With Plans ***
Post by: BAMBOO on November 10, 2015, 07:12:55 pm
Yes this is an old post, but I missed this one.  Being a huge Genesis fan, I have to chime in and say I absolutely love this cade man!  Love it, love it, love it.   :notworthy: :applaud:
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop *** Complete - Now With Plans ***
Post by: superhippieman on April 04, 2018, 01:16:34 pm
I am so Jelous of this thing!!!

May I ask if it's still up an running?
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop *** Complete - Now With Plans ***
Post by: Malenko on April 04, 2018, 02:56:40 pm
That's the kinda post that you PM, Grippie hasn't logged in for about 5 months.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop *** Complete - Now With Plans ***
Post by: Ian on April 04, 2018, 06:04:13 pm
Thanks for bumping this one.... I missed it. But being a Sega fanboy I love this thing!!!! Oh man... it's cool.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop *** Complete - Now With Plans ***
Post by: Vigo on April 04, 2018, 06:05:15 pm
That's the kinda post that you PM, Grippie hasn't logged in for about 5 months.

But Grippie's avatar is very appropriate right now.

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/avatars/user/avatar_38433_1411739093.gif)

I command this thread, RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop *** Complete - Now With Plans ***
Post by: javeryh on April 28, 2018, 04:37:45 pm
This is hands down one of the best bartops I've ever seen.  Amazing work.
Title: Re: Sega Genesis Bartop *** Complete - Now With Plans ***
Post by: SegaDude on November 22, 2020, 11:14:32 am
Hey grippie,

I loved this thread. Sure it's older now but man I soaked up everything I could.

You said you're not much of an artist but you really knocked it out of the park with your control panel and cabinet artwork. Well done!

Your Sega bartop is gorgeous.

Have you shared your full res artwork or is it available to purchase?

I purchased a MegaKiosk DS-18 and it has inspired me to put a Genesis into an arcade cabinet. I've gone as far as ordering a joystick and buttons. Once I have the hardware working I then worry about the actual cabinet.