Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Project Announcements => Topic started by: shanki on December 05, 2014, 01:12:05 pm
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During the last months I've been involved with my final paper for the subject "General Education" as part of my vocational education to become an IT professional. Being able to pic the topic myself and the fact I always wanted to build an arcade cabinet. I thought I would like to show you what I was able to achieve with the help of mainly this forum, the main page, the wiki and various other sites.
First off I had to get a pc, luckily my friend was willing to give me his old microATX motherboard, cpu and ram as well his old monitor, which ended up replacing the monitor I was using on my pc, because it would have problems with new generation grahpics cards.
So I bought the rest I would need for the computer and ordered arcade parts from arcadeshop.de, a great source for arcade parts in Europe.
Parts List:
PC:
Mobo: Foxconn G33M02
CPU: Core2Duo
RAM: 4 GB DDR2
VGA: ASUS Radeon R7 240, 2GB
HDD: WD Caviar Green 3.5", 3TB
SSD: SanDisk Ultra+ 128GB
Monitor: ASUS VH242H 24" Wide LCD TFT FullHD, 16:9
Case: SilverStone SST-ML03B
Controls
2x ILSA Competition Joystick
20x ILSA Pushbutton SL
2x 1P/2P Start Button CV
1xI-Pac ve
(http://i59.tinypic.com/a5klxu.jpg)
So after that I was off to build the cabinet. First thing I had to do was to make the holes in the CP, I didn't have a layout so I cut out little cardboard shapes to arrange on the wood and "testplay".
(http://i61.tinypic.com/o50y92.jpg)
Once I was happy with it I drilled the necessary holes. Afterwards me and my father attached the CP to the kick plate. We then attached the whole front part to the floor plate with piano hinges.
(http://i62.tinypic.com/2f0d5cn.jpg)
Next we had to build the frame, this took a very long time.
(http://i58.tinypic.com/m9p0nc.jpg)
Now all we had to do was attach the side panels, backplate and roof, then install all the hardware and plexis. Because this project was getting expensive and settled for a cheap solution regarding the artwork. I just bought some sticker paper and made myself some sideart stickers. The marquee was printed on some special adhisive printable foil on my brothers LaserJet.
(http://i57.tinypic.com/3534o03.jpg)
(http://i62.tinypic.com/qqajrr.jpg)
And so the cab was done.
Now what was left to do was the whole software part, for which I want to thank you all for the great info and software provided at this forum.
TL;DR I built an arcade cabinet for school
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Um...
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That was an interesting CP layout...
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(http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2wbwkc84x1ru37dno1_500.gif)
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As we were shifting around the little cutouts on the board the joysticks did end up crooked. But of course I didn't install them that way :D
I do realise it's quite crap compared to what people are doing on this forum but hey, it's a cab and I'm glad I have it (even if it is dusting away at school until March :badmood:)
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As we were shifting around the little cutouts on the board the joysticks did end up crooked. But of course I didn't install them that way :D
WHEW.
I do realise it's quite crap compared to what people are doing on this forum but hey, it's a cab and I'm glad I have it (even if it is dusting away at school until March :badmood:)
It's your school project, your first one, and a learning process. Kudos to you! :cheers: <------- Root Beer
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As we were shifting around the little cutouts on the board the joysticks did end up crooked. But of course I didn't install them that way :D
I do realise it's quite crap compared to what people are doing on this forum but hey, it's a cab and I'm glad I have it (even if it is dusting away at school until March :badmood:)
As long as you're happy. it's fine! It's an original idea making a wooden frame for a bartop. Everybody else make side panels out of thick MDF or plywood. I'm guessing your cab is much lighter weightwise than the average bartop presented here. What did you use for side panels and so on?
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For the sidepanels we used very thin wood my dad had laying around, it was probably the back of an old wardrobe or something. As for the floor, the backplate and the whole front side we used 20mm cheapo chipboard. I think I payed 6-7 bucks for wood on this
(http://i61.tinypic.com/20ftic3.jpg)
As for the weight I haven't weighed it,but all I can say that it's best transported with 2 people, but i guess if you really had to you could lift it alone.
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I love those original ideas making use of anything one have laying around. And this is what it's all about: making fun with the least amount of money! Good work! :applaud:
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As we were shifting around the little cutouts on the board the joysticks did end up crooked. But of course I didn't install them that way :D
I demand pics of the underside of your CP!
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As we were shifting around the little cutouts on the board the joysticks did end up crooked. But of course I didn't install them that way :D
I demand pics of the underside of your CP!
I can delivar on wednesday, because the cab is at school which I won't have access too until then.
But I can tell you that they are installed correctly, since the cab has been in a pub for a week as a test run and to measure current demand (my final paper demanded that I do this).
Also don't you think i would have figured something was wrong during testing?
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Also don't you think i would have figured something was wrong during testing?
Sure, but not if you don't know what's right to start with...
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As we were shifting around the little cutouts on the board the joysticks did end up crooked. But of course I didn't install them that way :D
I demand pics of the underside of your CP!
:laugh: I just KNEW that was going to be said by someone. Haha.
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Here's the picture of the underside of my CP. As you can see the joysticks are oriented straight, not crooked.
(http://i61.tinypic.com/2nqwg78.jpg)
(http://i57.tinypic.com/2vb0l7a.jpg)
I wouldn't deem this project finished yet, as I'm not happy with the artwork yet. I basically just slapped a few stickers on there to make it look better. So if I can find a good and cheap printing place around where I live, I will improve it. I think it will look a lot better with proper artwork. But first I will embark on another mini-project
Also I might be reunited with my cab next week, my teacher said she'd try to make the expert who grades my paper look at the cab and then I could have the cab until February, when I will have to give a presentation about it.