2011 BYOAC User Choice Awards needs your nominations!

[Le Chuck]

Welcome to the 2011 BYOAC User Choice Awards!

Before we get too deep into spring and everybody is in the garage working on their builds it's time to take a few minutes and identify some of our favorite, ground breaking, or all around well made builds of 2011.  Feel free to nominate more than one and don't feel obligated to nominate something for every category.    

Please take a look at the categories and their description.  To nominate please reply with this format:

Category: Name of Build or Project: Link
<optional description of why nominated for that category>

Any project nominated twice (by different users ) will make it to the vote thread which will open NLT 23 MARCH 2012.  This thread will close on 17 MARCH 2012 so make sure and scrub through this last year's builds then put up the links that you think progressed the hobby, just make sure whatever you're nominating was "complete" after 01 JAN 2011 and before 31 DEC 2011.  

Here's a list of this year's categories and a brief definition:

Fullsize cabs - Uprights, cockpits, V-Pins and showcase cabs that demonstrate outstanding theme, style, balance, and execution.

Small cabs and non standards - Bartops, Cocktails, and cabs more easily defined by what they aren't, cab in furniture, cab disguised as something else that demonstrate outstanding theme, style, balance, and execution.  Depending on quantity and type of submissions this may get split into two categories, but for now it's one.  

Hardware Contribution - minis, custom built or modified controls, lighting, or other physical cab elements that were new or improved this past year and advanced the hobby.  NOTE:  If the hack is a hacked or modified peice of software then that would be a Utility nom.  I apologize for mixing terms.  

Software Contribution - this can be a piece of code or specialty tool user written or created this past year that created or improved emulation capability or generally increased software flexibility to include software hacks.

Forum Contribution - helpful forum members recognized for their dedicated commitment to lending a hand, proffering sound advice, and going out of their way to ensure you can complete an awesome build (serious entries only here, if you have a beef take it elsewhere).


Thanks for taking the time to nominate your favorite(s) and help us document the best projects of 2011!  

<Edit:  As I have been nominated under two categories I have been advised by my team of lawyers to publicly recuse myself from the voting process as I am chairing this year's event.  I will not nominate or confirm nomination for my own builds.  I am infact rather partial to them but will not recommend them in any way for recognition.  Voting will be done via the forum's automated closed voting polls which I will post but I am subject to the same voting rules as everyone else.  I will have no hand in tabulating votes and will be unable to alter the results as all this is automated.  Hopefully this alleviates any concerns of partiallity from this process on my part.  I can upon request spout more legal sounding mumbo jumbo to the same aforementioned affect if it is deemed necessary.  >

[Le Chuck]

Confirmed Nominations by Category
These have the requisite two nominations to make the vote-off in late March    

Fullsize Cab: Pixel Hugger's Mission Control, Martijn's Marvel vs Capcom, Fearsomefearful's Pac-Man 30th Anniversary, Knievel's Kisskade, macattack's Big Bang Bar, Chris77's Big Bang Pin
 
Small Cab/Non Standard: Leedsfan's Mini Star Wars, Woodshop Flunky's American Ace, Unstupid's Neo-Geo, Shrunkenmaster's Star Wars Custom Caberet,  Le Chuck's Darkade, tom_g's A Cocktail Coffee Table Cab

Hardware Contribution: Bender's Mini DK, Le Chuck's Wireless Triggerstick Hotswap,

Software Contribution: JoyChoose, 720 Spinner Hack,

Forum Contribution: DaOld Man, Ken Layton, DrVenture, Calamity, Loadman, Andy Warne


Nominated Projects that need confirmation
These have the high honor of being nominated by one of our users as the best of 2011 but have not yet received a seconding vote.  Please give these some consideration, somebody thought they were good enough to nominate and perhaps you might agree and get them into the vote off.

Fullsize Cab: tommywright's Street Fighter Cab,

Small Cab/Non Standard: Evetsllub's Cafe au Cade, Mountain's Jukebox Kit, Jordancbr's Tron Cocktail, Shrunkenmaster's Burgertime Cabaret

Hardware Contribution: TerraHawk's Servo Joyswitch, Vcoleiro1's mini space invaders

Software Contribution: DrVenture's ControllerRemap Utility, Headkaze's Utilities, DaOld Man's Mrotate3

Forum Contribution: MKChamp, Saint,

After you get done checking out these head over to the Trophy Design Contest thread and get your entry in!

[TopJimmyCooks]

I second the nominations of Joychoose/Utility and DaOld Man/Contribution.  Hear hear!

[Nephasth]

Gotta throw the obvious hat into the ring for full sized... Mission Control

And American Ace for small cab.

[Green Giant]

We need to add oddball items like photo booths .


As for cabs, does Ond's count?  If I nominate him do you think he will finish faster?

[alfonzotan]

We need to add oddball items like photo booths .


As for cabs, does Ond's count?  If I nominate him do you think he will finish faster?

Yeah, that begs the question, is the voting limited to completed projects?

[Nephasth]

Yeah, that begs the question, is the voting limited to completed projects?

...just make sure whatever you're nominating was "complete" after 01 JAN 2011 and before 31 DEC 2011.

[alfonzotan]

Yeah, that begs the question, is the voting limited to completed projects?

...just make sure whatever you're nominating was "complete" after 01 JAN 2011 and before 31 DEC 2011.

 

Duh on me.  Thanks...

[yotsuya]

Would Derrick Renauld's "720 Spinner Hack" count as a hack? Or does it have to be actual hardware?

[alfonzotan]

Big time second on LeedsFan's Mini-Star Wars cab.  Outstanding project completed with style.

[Le Chuck]

Would Derrick Renauld's "720 Spinner Hack" count as a hack? Or does it have to be actual hardware?

Custom made controller is a definite hack. 

[yotsuya]

Would Derrick Renauld's "720 Spinner Hack" count as a hack? Or does it have to be actual hardware?

Custom made controller is a definite hack. 

Derrick's spinner hack wasn't a custom made controller but rather a MAME hack that allowed the game to be played with a spinner. I think it was later incorporated into MAME.

[Le Chuck]

I'm thinking of a different one then, drop in a link.  It is either going to be a hack or code, everything should be able to be crammed in one of the categories at least.  If it's a physical adapter it'd be a hack (mod) 

[Vigo]

I nominate the world's smallest Donkey Kong by Bender http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=111395.0

I believe this would be under the hack/mod category.

[CheffoJeffo]

Would Derrick Renauld's "720 Spinner Hack" count as a hack? Or does it have to be actual hardware?

Custom made controller is a definite hack. 

Derrick's spinner hack wasn't a custom made controller but rather a MAME hack that allowed the game to be played with a spinner. I think it was later incorporated into MAME.

Will be fun when arribiata (or whatever name he is going by now) finds this ... and  to Derrick.

[yotsuya]

Fullsize cabs - Mission Control

Small cabs and non standards Shrunkenmaster's Reimagined Star Wars Custom Caberet. I love what he did with the screen, buttons, and plexi (although I'm also cool with Leedsfans as well).  

Hack or Mod - Derrick Renauld's "720 Spinner Hack" - Made the game pretty playable, whereas before with a simple joystick it wasn't. I'm sure Driverman would agree.

Utility - DaOldMan's JoyChoose.

Contribution - I'd like to nominate DrVenture for this. He's positive, creative, and truly an asset to this board. I also think MKChamp deserves a lifetime achievement award for his "no nag" diffs.

[Le Chuck]

<This was a worthless post so I'm putting my noms here so I can use the second post to keep a running tally.>

Here are my picks for the best of 2011.  I may add some more later but if I had to just pick one each these would be they. 

Fullsize Cab: Martijn's Scratch Slim Marvel vs Capcom: Build thread.  Awesome cab, beautifully made, definitely worthy of emulation and has a lot of neat little hacks to boot.
 
Small Cab/Non Standard: LeedsFan's Mini Star Wars: Build thread.  So many to choose from but I am in love with the execution and attention to detail on this little build.

Hack: TerraHawk's 4way/8way servo controlled auto switch: Build post.  This got me rolling on my project, I owe a lot to it and it really opened up a new realm of customization.

Utility: DaOld Man's Joychoose: Release Thread.  This is pretty much the best thing since sliced bread, we can do all the cool hacks in the world but without code like this it wouldn't be fluidly functional.

Contribution: DaOld Man:  DaOld Man is an obvious choice for me based on his awesome attitude, willingness to help, and passion for pushing our hobby in new direction.  Take a trip over to MRotate/Automations and he'll go out of his way to help you out.

[yotsuya]

I'll take that as a second for Hack category but I still need a link

Linked it for you, bro!

[Le Chuck]

I'll take that as a second for Hack category but I still need a link

Linked it for you, bro!

You're the best.  I modified the category definitions slightly and registered it as a nominated Utility (which now includes software hacks).  Who let me name these things, honestly?

[JohnEDollar]

Category:  Utility drventure's "ControllerRemap Utility" - http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=108767.0

- John

[Louis Tully]

.

[DaveMMR]

Okay, I will probably do the rest of the categories when I fully check through all the projects.  Since I was concentrating on bartops these past couple of months through, I will start with that:

Small Cabs/Nonstandard Unstupid's Bartop Neo-Geo System: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=114435.0
The looks of the bartop(s) alone is outstanding, but read through the thread and you'll see not only did Unstupid use real Neo Geo hardware, but he has a second Neo-Geo bartop (sans hardware) that connects directly to the main one, giving player two his/her own screen and set of controls. It's ingenious and probably a blast to play.

Hack or Mod: Le Chuck's Barcade: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=116602.0
On the outside it looks like a well-designed "Weecade" style bartop with an eye-catching theme. But instead of throwing a "Frankenpanel" on it or swapping out controls, he designed his CPto maximize the game-selecting potential. His is the first (complete) cab I've seen that took the idea of automatic 4/8 way restrictor rotation and made it a reality, but the fact that his right joystick's ball top pops off effortlessly to replace with wireless Tron stick really raises the bar and gives builders less of excuse to try and fit tons of controls on one panel.

(I'll be back with my other picks later in the week.)

[wp34]

This is a great thread.  What about Artwork?

[Le Chuck]

This is a great thread.  What about Artwork?

Hmm, if it's on a cab then nom the cab based on art, if it's not on a cab then it's technically code, especially if it was released for community use.

If there is a buncha folks who wanna see a separate art category then let me know and it can be added. 

[GadgetGeek]

Contributions: Ken Layton for keeping everyone's old school monitors running

[jimmy2x2x]

Would the categories be clearer as follows?

Traditional Cabs Fullsize cabs

Other Cabs Small cabs and non standards include minis here too?

Hardware Contribution Hack or Mod

Software Contribution Utility

Forum Contribution Contribution

[Howard_Casto]

Would the categories be clearer as follows?

Traditional Cabs Fullsize cabs

Other Cabs Small cabs and non standards include minis here too?

Hardware Contribution Hack or Mod

Software Contribution Utility

Forum Contribution Contribution

+1  I haven't nominated anyone yet becuase the cats are just a little bit confusing.

How about   Upright, Cocktail, Mini, Non-Traditional, Software, Hardware and Forum?

That would break up things a little bit more and give attention to more cabs.

[Le Chuck]

Would the categories be clearer as follows?

Traditional Cabs Fullsize cabs

Other Cabs Small cabs and non standards include minis here too?

Hardware Contribution Hack or Mod

Software Contribution Utility

Forum Contribution Contribution

+1  I haven't nominated anyone yet becuase the cats are just a little bit confusing.

How about   Upright, Cocktail, Mini, Non-Traditional, Software, Hardware and Forum?

That would break up things a little bit more and give attention to more cabs.

Really wish I had posted this somewhere first for a community critique.   

I will adjust the category names as those recommendations will help clarify things.  Thanks Jimmy!  For the Minis I recommend we leave them as Hardware contribution since they are all hacked Wizs or hacked GBAs.  If there is a huge flood of them that get nominated and confirmed we can address that.  I recommend we proceed with nominations under the two main cab categories and then if there is a huge number of competing cabs that get nominated from say bartops and nonstandards then we can split those out as required.  Having it as two groups now shouldn't restrict anything as everyone is free to nominate multiple builds for each category.  Thanks.

[jimmy2x2x]

Fullsize cabs:
Mission Control, for me this is probably the finest cab ever built, simply amazing.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=13118.0

Small cabs and non standards:
American Ace, this is what a small cab should be, quality design and execution - love it!
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=111377.0

Hardware Contribution:
still thinking about this one...

Software Contribution:
headkaze for countless utilities and allowing me to get my amiga collection cab friendly
http://www.headsoft.com.au/index.php?category=emulation

Forum Contribution:
Calamity for refining GroovyMAME and offering first class support for it.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?board=52.0

Saint for being well balanced, patient and committed to this forum. Oh and being forever virtuous fighting the good fight against spam bots!

[yotsuya]

I'd lke to nominate Driverman for Troll of the Year.

[CheffoJeffo]

I'd lke to nominate Driverman for Troll of the Year.

+1

[Pixelhugger]

Small cabs/mini/non standard:

Hands down.... American Ace. Absolutely nailed every aspect.

[Le Chuck]

Based on some good feedback from BobA I am cataloging links to all nominated projects as well.  Please take the time to check out the second post on the thread to see what's been confirmed and what has just been nominated.  

Hopefully this will make it a bit easier to browse through some of the nominated projects and get them a second nomination so they can make the next round.  

Thanks!

[BobA]

Here are my nominations.

Traditional      Pixelhugger      Mission Control
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=13118.0

Other Cabs      Mountain      Jukebox Kit
   http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=98274.0

Hardware      Bender         Smallest DK, MAME Cab
   http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=111395.0

Software      Howard_Casto      For his many programs

Forum         Ken Layton      For arcade help for all

[TopJimmyCooks]

I second Bender on the mini and would add Vcoleiro1's mini space invaders as another very strong mini.
I second DrVenture on forum contribution.

[jimmy2x2x]

Hardware Contribution:
RAM controls - Just focus on the products, not on the business model.  They have shown what is possible and how not to sell it!

Forum Contribution:
Andy Warne from Ultimarc - Andy stands by his products, no matter where you bought them from, always keen to resolve any issues -working with you to find a solution for your projects.  Other vendors do this, but they also hawk their products at every opportunity.

LoadMan for tireless devotion to MALA with amazing support.

[Le Chuck]

Hardware Contribution:
RAM controls - Just focus on the products, not on the business model.  They have shown what is possible and how not to sell it!

Forum Contribution:
Andy Warne from Ultimarc - Andy stands by his products, no matter where you bought them from, always keen to resolve any issues -working with you to find a solution for your projects.  Other vendors do this, but they also hawk their products at every opportunity.

LoadMan for tireless devotion to MALA with amazing support.

I think Ram's contributions to hardware predate 2011.  I'll get all the above folded in later today. 

[yotsuya]

Based on some good feedback from BobA I am cataloging links to all nominated projects as well.  Please take the time to check out the second post on the thread to see what's been confirmed and what has just been nominated.  

Hopefully this will make it a bit easier to browse through some of the nominated projects and get them a second nomination so they can make the next round.  

Thanks!

For the record, I nominated Shrunkenmaster's Reimagined Star Wars Custom Caberet, but it's not in the catalogue of links.

[Le Chuck]

For the record, I nominated Shrunkenmaster's Reimagined Star Wars Custom Caberet, but it's not in the catalogue of links.

Indeed you did, sorry I missed it.  Fixed.

[dandare]

Fullsize cabs
Scratch Slim Marvel vs Capcom http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=112721.0
Mission Control http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=13118.0

Small cabs and non standards
American Ace  http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=111377.0
Bartop Neo-Geo System http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=114435.0
Darkade http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=116602.0