Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Project Announcements => Topic started by: leapinlew on October 14, 2018, 05:58:23 am
-
Defender was one of those games I didn't have the skill to play when I was younger. When it was released, I was 8. Combine the weird controls and my limited funds and it's easy to see how getting good at a game like Defender could be difficult, but the sounds and the exciting action really drew me to the game. I always wanted to be able to play Defender.
When I first started building cabinets, I built a multi-williams cabinet to start playing Defender, as well as other games. in 2006, I built this:
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=149895.0;attach=371937;image)
It used a Happ Super joystick and a multi-williams layout. I used this cabinet for a couple years before selling it in 2009. The joystick was more of a compromise than I thought it would be.
In 2012, I missed it and decided to build another bartop. This time, I used a NOS Defender joystick and dedicated the cabinet to Defender. I added the inviso button for Stargate, but I don't ever play it. The cabinet was a fixture in my game room until two years ago the PC died. It was corrupt from improper shut downs.
-
I've never posted a build log for this Defender bartop when I built it in 2012. The design is pretty straight forward, but if you have any questions please ask.
This weekend I decided to make some updates to the cabinet. The intention is to do the following:
- Replace the PC with a 19-n-1 horizontal arcade board and disable all games but Defender
- Replace the lightbulb lighting the marquee with a LED strip
- Remove the Piano hinge from the CP - I never liked the look of the exposed piano hinge
- Cleanup the back of the cabinet
Here she is with the old internals. It's more crowded in here than I remembered
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=149895.0;attach=371957;image)
And here she is with her new parts ready to be installed
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=149895.0;attach=371959;image)
I'm doing this on a fold out table in my game room. I suspect it'll take a couple hours. This is a "mini-project". I considered the Raspberry Pi path, but since the Pi also needs to be shut down properly, or risk corruption, I'm going with the multi-board. I already had a jamma harness and Arcade PSU.
-
I am looking for opinions on a scan line generator for this cabinet. Curious if it would be worthwhile.
-
Man that side art is sweet! Neat little cab. Let’s see some more pics and a video when you are finished...
-
That multiboard might have an IDE power connector. You can buy those for like $5. That switcher is overkill...
-
Your bartops always look great. I like the bigger size compared to the Weecade. :cheers:
I am looking for opinions on a scan line generator for this cabinet. Curious if it would be worthwhile.
I'm 50/50 on the scan line generator. I've used them on a couple of projects and setups. Sometimes it is real noticeable (and cool) and other's not. With my Fix it Felix cabinet I only really notice it when booted into Windows for some reason.
-
That multiboard might have an IDE power connector. You can buy those for like $5. That switcher is overkill...
Agreed. I have several arcade PSU's being unused. I'm only powering this multi-board and two LED's.
-
Your bartops always look great. I like the bigger size compared to the Weecade. :cheers:
I am looking for opinions on a scan line generator for this cabinet. Curious if it would be worthwhile.
I'm 50/50 on the scan line generator. I've used them on a couple of projects and setups. Sometimes it is real noticeable (and cool) and other's not. With my Fix it Felix cabinet I only really notice it when booted into Windows for some reason.
Thanks and thanks for the info on the scan line generator. I ordered one. Guess we'll see.
The total size on this is 24" tall, 19" wide, and 20" deep.
-
Mission 1 complete:
Replace the PC with a 19-n-1 horizontal arcade board and disable all games but Defender
Gutted the computer parts. Took way less time than I figured. Less than 10 minutes later, I had all the PC guts removed and the inside cleaned up. I mounted the multi-board in it's place.
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=149895.0;attach=371977;image)
I am using leaf switches and I previously had soldered the wires directly to the switch from the ipac. I didn't want to resolder everything to the switches, so I snipped the wires and did an inline splice, which I soldered and shrink tubed.
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=149895.0;attach=371975;image)
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=149895.0;attach=371979;image)
It's not perfect, but it's getting the job done.
I configured the board to only have defender. It's pretty awesome - it boots up in less than 10 seconds. The only bummer is it doesn't save high scores.
-
Mission 2:
Replace the lightbulb lighting the marquee with a LED strip
Nothing too fancy here. I used a piece of 1/4" hard board to attach these 2 LED strips.
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=149895.0;attach=371981;image)
After mounting, I found 2 strips to be too bright. I disabled one of them.
-
Mission 3:
Remove the Piano hinge from the CP
Done. I moved the piano hinge to the back. I also created a simple light leak bezel. I use smoked plexi, so I don't have to be too fancy with the bezel. Getting rid of the piano hinge really makes the cabinet look more streamlined.
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=149895.0;attach=371973;image)
-
Mission 4:
Cleanup the back of the cabinet
I put the piano hinge from the front on the back, and when I did that, it didn't want to close as well as it had been. So, I had to do some work on the door so it would close properly. I used a belt sander in a few key locations. I also bought some black molding which I cut down to size to cover some of the exposed wood.
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=149895.0;attach=371985;image)
-
All done!
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=149895.0;attach=371983;image)
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=149895.0;attach=371987;image)
It was a minor update, but it was nice to take another swing at some of the design aspects that had annoyed me over the years. Not being a hardcore Defender player, this plays great. It plays as well as the computer I had in it. I really hate the game selection screens so I would hate for that to be my interface, but for a single game bartop - I'm pleased.
Anyhow - maybe this will be useful to someone else later. Thanks for reading!
-
That is a cool bartop. Great job on the update. :applaud:
-
Fantastic update lew! :applaud:
I've been, and still am a fan of your bartops. This one's good, though it doesn't compare to your awesome Galaga bartop from BITD. That one is still my all-time favourite. But still, it's really cool to see a dedicated bartop for a single game. IMO bartops should be focused like this.
:cheers:
-
Good choice of game for a dedicated bartop. Nice execution. Have you considered getting the multi Williams board to stick in there?
-
I didn't want the multi-williams because I'm not using a control scheme that would work for anything but Defender and Stargate. The JROK boards cost quite a bit more too.
-
I couldn't take the Defender cabinet sitting on this table any longer. I considered painting the table, or perhaps putting a front on it, but I ended up building it out to a cabaret sized cabinet
-
I extended the sides, built a front plate to install a coin door and put in a giant sound system, cause Defender is a badass bass heavy game. Sounds awesome.
-
All done! Seriously this time... I'm done updating this cabinet. Looks and plays great. I removed the smoked plexi and went for clear and I really like it more with the light levels I'm playing in.
-
This looks incredible. Nice job.
How did you get the art to look so smooth across that joint? I mean, I know you probably used bondo or whatever and sanded but you really can't tell at all. I really like its final form.
-
This looks incredible. Nice job.
How did you get the art to look so smooth across that joint? I mean, I know you probably used bondo or whatever and sanded but you really can't tell at all. I really like its final form.
Thanks. It's not perfect. I didn't spend much time making that seam perfect. It does a convincing job being an illusion of a cabaret-ish style cabinet, but it's not something I would resell because it's kind of a janky build.
I once had a good number of bartops, and this was my last one. The end of an era for me.
-
That turned out nice and looks much better than the bartop on a stand. :cheers:
Is that vinyl on the sides?
-
This looks incredible. Nice job.
How did you get the art to look so smooth across that joint? I mean, I know you probably used bondo or whatever and sanded but you really can't tell at all. I really like its final form.
Thanks. It's not perfect. I didn't spend much time making that seam perfect. It does a convincing job being an illusion of a cabaret-ish style cabinet, but it's not something I would resell because it's kind of a janky build.
I once had a good number of bartops, and this was my last one. The end of an era for me.
Looks awesome to me!
Was very cool as a bartop anyway and made the transition to cabaret like it was meant to be that to begin with.
Definitely inspiring.
Thanks for posting this.
Bobby
Thanks for posting.
-
Yeah - it's rolled black matte vinyl on the front and printed vinyl on the sides. I tried ordering local, you know support the local small business and all that? So I got a quote. $185 delivered for 2 pieces of sideart. $55 delivered for 6 prints (I like to have backups) and a bunch of stickers I made for my kids Youtube channel on the slowest slow boat from China. That's crazy. I'm almost embarrassed about buying from China because I had a local option, but damn....
It looks ok, it plays great, and sounds awesome. I'm not a Defender expert. I'm not real good at the game, so I don't know how much worse the emulation is to real hardware. If I ever see a defender out in the wild, I'll check it out to compare.