The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Project Announcements => Topic started by: Green Giant on June 13, 2007, 09:08:18 pm
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I started working on my arcade last summer, but time and more importantly graduation held me back. Bought all the parts and spent a long time planning thanks to Saints book. I spent a long time lurking and taking all the ideas from other peoples projects that I liked. Started and finished construction over two weekends last August.
Then I took it up to College Station and it just sat there while I was stuck with school. Graduated, got a job, and brought my cab back home. Wired up all the controls over the Christmas break since I had no room to work on the whole cab at my parents.
Finally moved out in Feb. and had more time to work on the cab. Some more work and tuning up the computer when my girlfriend had to work and I am done. Well, 95% done, still need to get some tinted glass to hid the tv.
Without further ado....
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Some more pics and explanation of what I am running.
Using an AMD64 pc with a video card I can't remember but it outputs really well to my tv.
I am using two GPWIZ49's and an optiwiz for the trackball. I have two LEDWIZ's running the seven buttons for each player and the trackball and two mouse buttons. The red ones on the top are exit and the yellow are pause. I have two on each side for pinball and two underneath for coin inputs. The coin door does work too. Eventually I am gonna add an override switch to disable the coin buttons forcing people to use quarters.
Running Mala on the cab. Works great and supports the ledwiz better than anything else I have seen. Many thanks to Arzoo.
For you that don't know, his plugin has a colors.ini file that works with controls.ini and lights up every game with the orignal colors from the arcade. It also flashes and speaks the action the button performs before the game starts. Looks pretty sweet since it demos the controls as you scroll. Mala and the ledwiz has made my arcade easy for anyone to use. I don't have to explain controls or navigation for different games to my friends when they come over.
Running mame .112 or something like that. Also a bunch of emulators such as Vpinball, genesis, nes, snes, gameboy, N64, and more to come when I take time to set them up.
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Really nice looking for your first project, I like the marquee with the alien.
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Some pics of the insides. I am impressed by all of you that take the time to neatly route your wires, but I got tired out escpecially with the led wires.
The buttons on the top are to power on the computer, the marquee light, and the tv. Some people have rewired the power switches on their tvs, but I chose a much easier method. I opened up a cheap universal remote and extended the power switche and ir led. Now when I hit the tv button, the remote turns it on. This will be necessary when I get tinted glass to cover everything.
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Thanks for the compliment, but I can't really take credit. Paid someone on the forum, don't remember who since it has been a year, to design it. I new I wanted a black and green cab; the blue and black are nice but green has always been my favorite color. Told him the plan and he made the marquee up and control panel design.
I will take credit for motivating him to design it with my money. :cheers:
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Wow! Really cool design - I love the green! You just don't see enough color variations on custom cabs these days... :applaud:
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Thanks, want to say I had to really think about being creative instead of the blue, but pretty much everyone I know has not been surprised by the color scheme. It matches my many green shirts and my green truck as well as the green giant.
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Went to college, graduated, got a job, moved out and finished your cab.
I am impressed. Good work on all counts. Nice cab now where is the girl friend? ;D
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She is watching scrubs. When I told her about the arcade idea, she couldn't complain. She new I was an electrical engineer when we met, so it wasn't a shocker. I just wasn't allowed to sacrifice time with her for my cab, so it took me a while to finish.
She also didn't care about the arcade as long as I promised to make her a jukebox.
So now I have a new project. :o
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You might want to paint the TV black. Just tape off the glass and hit the rest with some cheap black spray paint.
Regarding powering the TV, you can just glue the on button in. If power is on, it will be on. When power is off, it is off. You can test this out by holding the on button in, then plug in the TV. It should turn on. Much simpler (fewer points of failure, no batteries required) than your remote control solution.
Great job on the cab. Congrats on your degree.
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I plan on hiding the tv, probably with some black posterboard, but I like the way the greylite glass looks covering tvs.
For glueing the on button in, I would need a smartstrip, and I don't have one. I did wire a universal power control by adding a heavy duty switch to the extension cord powering my power strip. But I would still need to flip a switch. I figure with the proximity the remote is to the tv and the use of only the power button, it should last at least 5 years without needing new batteries.
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I plan on hiding the tv, probably with some black posterboard, but I like the way the greylite glass looks covering tvs.
For glueing the on button in, I would need a smartstrip, and I don't have one. I did wire a universal power control by adding a heavy duty switch to the extension cord powering my power strip. But I would still need to flip a switch. I figure with the proximity the remote is to the tv and the use of only the power button, it should last at least 5 years without needing new batteries.
What's funny is that you went all out on the cab & controls (LED stuff isn't cheap) and then scoff at purchasing a smartstrip for $30. ;) ;D :laugh2:
Just messin with ya. Great Cab! The LED stuff is always neat to see in operation. Any chance of making a small video to demo the capabilites of your controls?
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I might make up a video showing the led changes and audio.
By the time I thought about the smartstrip, all the other purchases were adding up in my head. And I wanted an option to power up the tv without the computer in case I wanted to hookup anything else to the tv like other games or dvd players.
I splurged on stuff that can be seen on the outside, and went as cheap as possible on the inside. Used the same philosophy on my wiring. It works, I just hope I never have to debug something.
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....
I have two LEDWIZ's running the seven buttons for each player and the trackball and two mouse buttons. The red ones on the top are exit and the yellow are pause. I have two on each side for pinball and two underneath for coin inputs. The coin door does work too. Eventually I am gonna add an override switch to disable the coin buttons forcing people to use quarters.
Running Mala on the cab. Works great and supports the ledwiz better than anything else I have seen. Many thanks to Arzoo.
For you that don't know, his plugin has a colors.ini file that works with controls.ini and lights up every game with the orignal colors from the arcade. It also flashes and speaks the action the button performs before the game starts. Looks pretty sweet since it demos the controls as you scroll. Mala and the ledwiz has made my arcade easy for anyone to use. I don't have to explain controls or navigation for different games to my friends when they come over.
Green Giant, Why are you using 2 ledwiz?? Isn't each ledwiz able to control up to 32 outputs? If I add up all your button, I think youre under 32...
As for Mala, this is the front end I'm configuring right now for my project. Can't wait to see it in action with the leds...
Nice cab, great color!!
Jay :cheers:
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I have two LEDWIZ's running the seven buttons for each player and the trackball and two mouse buttons.
Green Giant, Why are you using 2 ledwiz?? Isn't each ledwiz able to control up to 32 outputs? If I add up all your button, I think youre under 32...
He's using RGB-Drives for the buttons, which each take up three inputs on the LED-Wiz...
7 buttons
x 2 players
x 3 inputs
= 42 inputs
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Forgot three more there, the trackball and two mouse buttons have rgb as well for a grand total of 51 inputs to the ledwiz's.
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Was pretty sure there was more, but wanted to at least point out that on the buttons alone you'd need more than one LED-Wiz...
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Nice job, I like the colors and artwork!
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Was pretty sure there was more, but wanted to at least point out that on the buttons alone you'd need more than one LED-Wiz...
Thanks for the info, I forgot Green giant was using RGB...
The LED already add to the "bling" factor, can't imagine with all buttons supporting RGB
:)
Jay
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Alright, added some videos of my arcade running the led's.
This first one shows the mala interface and the mala scrolling colors. When I pause on a game, it lights the buttons for that game for a few seconds.
(http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa193/davidtrw/th_HPIM0103.jpg) (http://s197.photobucket.com/albums/aa193/davidtrw/?action=view¤t=HPIM0103.flv)
This next one has some audio showing what happens when you pick a game. This one and the next two have audio speaking the button controls.
(http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa193/davidtrw/th_HPIM0104.jpg) (http://s197.photobucket.com/albums/aa193/davidtrw/?action=view¤t=HPIM0104.flv)
A good old game of Golden Tee.
(http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa193/davidtrw/th_HPIM0105.jpg) (http://s197.photobucket.com/albums/aa193/davidtrw/?action=view¤t=HPIM0105.flv)
And lastly, a fighter game showing both players.
(http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa193/davidtrw/th_HPIM0107.jpg) (http://s197.photobucket.com/albums/aa193/davidtrw/?action=view¤t=HPIM0107.flv)
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Thanks for the compliment, but I can't really take credit. Paid someone on the forum, don't remember who
me :cheers:
cabinet looks great btw
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I knew you were on here somewhere, now you got some free advertisement. ;)
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Woooo!!! :woot
I need to download the videos snap shot... Way cooler than the regular snap shots I have right now!!!!
I have to complete my CP now and try out the LEDs.....
Jay :cheers:
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I am looking for some advice or possibly ideas on side art. :dunno I attached some examples of what I was thinking about. The second one would be from an aliens poster wallpapered up. Then add the green and use some black spray paint to add some shading from dark to light.
I am not looking to purchase a huge sideart piece as they cost a fortune and I don't think any would match my theme that well. Feel free to take the blank one and sketch up any ideas. I know many of you are good at photoshop, and are probably more creative than myself.
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It would be really cool if you cut a hole in the side and then cut out the shape in your marquee to go in the hole and lit it up with green neon or something.
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That sounds like a pretty sweet idea. I assume you are talking about the center area with the toxic symbol.
Any ideas what would be best to produce a design like this. Who to make a template or something like that?
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Gee why does the word toxic just bring something else to mind for sideart?
edit: Picture edited
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how about some good ol' Toxic Avenger?
(http://www.infinitybeyond.com/nowtoxie.jpg)
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Bob... just saw your pic... I feel dumb.
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Now the only question is where do I get a full size toxic avenger pic? :dunno
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Now the only question is where do I get a full size toxic avenger pic? :dunno
Tromaville... duh.
Or you could try Chiller Theater...
http://www.chillertheatre.com
On a side note, I used to work with one of the guys who played Toxie. One day my boss said to me, "Hey... look at "Toxie"... doesn't he look like he should be in the back of Penthouse with a caption that says 'Curios?' "
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The biohazard symbol is available in many sizes and even some resizable formats. Search for biohazard symbol and I am sure you can find one suitable for your side art. You can even get chrome grills with the symbol in different sizes that may look good over a cutout with a circular light.
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I am thinking I might try to cutout the biohazard symbol on the side of the cab and putting a green light behind it. I have two options I am thinking about. The black portion on the images are the cab and the green would be the light coming through.
I figure I would need a dremel rotary tool for this. Has anybody done this kind of work with a dremel? Is it easy to do?
Basically it seems like it would just be a sequence of circles. Since it is MDF, a dremel should be able to slice through it, but what type of bit do you use?
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Option 1 would more than likely be the one to use for a cutout.
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Thats the one I was thinking. It would hold up better to any beating the cab takes. So is it easy cutting something like this out. Dremel rotary tools easier than routers for precision cuts?
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Thats the one I was thinking. It would hold up better to any beating the cab takes. So is it easy cutting something like this out. Dremel rotary tools easier than routers for precision cuts?
I would use a jig saw in this case. You will get a more precise cut. Draw your outline on the wood and drill a hole larger than the blade so you have a place to start. Go slow and let the saw do the work.
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How about just getting a vinyl biohazard sticker made, and putting it on a piece of dark plexi? You can get it done at Kinkos, and you'll have it the next day. If you want to be really fancy, have them special order some glow in the dark or reflective. You'd be amazed at the stuff you can get at Kinkos, but sadly, most of the customers just want stupid crap done in Comic Sans, and most of the employees agree that that is the most bestest font ever.
The trick to getting cool stuff made there is finding a dedicated sign+banner shop, and bringing Dunkin Donuts Coffee to the chick that is all tatted up.