Author Topic: javeryh's Donkey Kong Plus [FINISHED] (Read 161829 times)

MaximRecoil · « **Reply #120 on:** August 11, 2009, 06:42:53 pm »

Quote from: severdhed on August 11, 2009, 01:46:15 pm

also, having both start buttons together function as Exit is just a horrible idea...two players hitting the start button at the same time is a pretty common occurance...i think that just about everyone here would agree that is a bad combo.

Why/how would there ever be two simultaneous players on a Donkey Kong machine with an original control panel layout?

severdhed · « **Reply #121 on:** August 11, 2009, 07:15:23 pm »

thats a good point, i just meant in general it is a horrible idea. in this situation, it wouldnt really be a problem.

Chicken McNobody · « **Reply #122 on:** August 11, 2009, 10:38:14 pm »

Quote from: severdhed on August 11, 2009, 04:12:30 pm

you would have to reprogram your ipac's shifted keystrokes.

I used the minipac, it was simple and easy for me. Can anything be done with that? How would you disable it?

severdhed · « **Reply #123 on:** August 11, 2009, 11:36:05 pm »

according to the ultimarc website, the minipac is functionally the same as the ipac2, which means it should be programmable using the winipac software...

http://www.ultimarc.com/ipac3.html

i am not real familiar with the process, i dont have an ipac product. i'm sure someone would be able to help you if you get stuck, but you should probably start your own thread about that so we don't take this one any farther off course than it already is.

Bender · « **Reply #124 on:** August 12, 2009, 02:31:16 am »

in Mame you can require more than one keystroke for a function so you can effectively create shifted keys even without an encoder's "shift function"

and yes the mini pac does have the shift function that is programable through winipac

Chicken McNobody · « **Reply #125 on:** August 12, 2009, 08:07:04 am »

Thanks for the help guys, I'm sorry to keep hijacking this thread, but it is relevant to the topic. . . right?

javeryh · « **Reply #126 on:** August 12, 2009, 08:54:52 am »

Time for the t-molding! I always think this stuff is kind of a pain but it is easy enough to install I guess. I used a rubber mallet to tap the t-molding into the slot. The only tricky part was going around the bends but all I had to do was use a razor to remove small sections of the spine of the t-molding so it had room to bend.

In order to finish the installation I tipped the cabinet on its back so I could wrap it underneath. It is a weird design but the original cabinets only wrap the t-molding about 1/3 of the way underneath the base. If I was the original designer of these things I would have gone all the way to the back but I guess it saves money in the long run when you build 65,000 of these things or whatever the number was.

It is amazing the difference that it makes. The clean lines around the outside of the cabinet really give it a factory-fresh appearance.

The entire installation took about an hour.

More later.

severdhed · « **Reply #127 on:** August 12, 2009, 10:03:33 am »

looking good. Did it feel a little weird swinging a hammer around a DK cabinet, without a giant gorilla throwing barrels at you?

javeryh · « **Reply #128 on:** August 12, 2009, 10:25:00 am »

Quote from: severdhed on August 12, 2009, 10:03:33 am

looking good. Did it feel a little weird swinging a hammer around a DK cabinet, without a giant gorilla throwing barrels at you?

yeah, I had my DK hammer all ready to smash some barrels and put out some random fires but nothing ever happened...

Chicken McNobody · « **Reply #129 on:** August 12, 2009, 12:06:27 pm »

Quote from: Brian Kuh

"The randomness went the opposite way that it usually goes.."

Kman-Sweden · « **Reply #130 on:** August 12, 2009, 04:24:12 pm »

Quote from: severdhed on August 12, 2009, 10:03:33 am

looking good. Did it feel a little weird swinging a hammer around a DK cabinet, without a giant gorilla throwing barrels at you?

The t-mold looks really nice.

javeryh · « **Reply #131 on:** August 13, 2009, 09:30:05 am »

Thanks guys. Next up - the Marquee. Now this was fun. I had the bottom marquee retainer and coin door professionally powdercoated which I'll go into later. After I picked those pieces up, I was able to install the marquee and marquee light. It looks great!

It was fairly easy - first, I secured the 18" light I bought from Home Depot ($10) in place.

Next, I screwed the bottom marquee retainer in place with the marquee in position. Finally, I screwed the top marquee retainer in place. The light will be in the "always on" position and plugged into a SmartStrip which will be activated when the computer powers up.

Taking pics of it lit is next to impossible but it looks GREAT in person.

For the top of the marquee I used some marquee retainer screws from QuarterArcade and they look GREAT. Initially I had some plain silver ones that I was going to spraypaint but I decided to take the $3.50 plunge. They blend in perfectly. I'm really happy with how this is turning out.

Chicken McNobody · « **Reply #132 on:** August 13, 2009, 09:41:16 am »

Thats the exact same light I used! (I think)

I took off the plastic cover portion, to give a little more to the lighting. Did you try it both ways? I admittedly never tried with the plastic on, so it may diffuse better one way over the other.

Mine looks great to me though.

javeryh · « **Reply #133 on:** August 13, 2009, 09:53:08 am »

Quote from: Chicken McNobody on August 13, 2009, 09:41:16 am

Thats the exact same light I used! (I think)

I took off the plastic cover portion, to give a little more to the lighting. Did you try it both ways? I admittedly never tried with the plastic on, so it may diffuse better one way over the other.

Mine looks great to me though.

You know, that never even occurred to me... I think it looks really nice as-is so I'm going to leave it (I don't feel like unscrewing everything) but I will definitely consider it for my next cabinet.

I'm really hoping to finish this weekend - all that's left is the artwork and putting the computer inside (it is set up already) and wiring everything. It can probably be completed in an afternoon. I'm going to see if my dad wants to come over on Sunday to finish it up - I think he should be there for the first game of DK!

Epyx · « **Reply #134 on:** August 13, 2009, 10:48:29 am »

Looks great and the end is in sight...you must be excited/relieved...but what is next!?

severdhed · « **Reply #135 on:** August 13, 2009, 11:07:49 am »

this is turning out to be awesome. You've inspired me to start looking a little harder for a DK cabinet. there is an arcade in town here...the manager used to have his own amusements business, and that is where i got my first cabinet. i think i may go talk to him this afternoon to see if he happens to have a DK cabinet lying around anywhere he would part with for a little money. I had the talk with my wife the other day where i told her that i know she doesnt want anymore arcade cabinets in the house, but if i found a cheap DK cabinet, i am bringing it home. she didn't seem to thrilled, but told me that if i get one, it can go upstairs in the computer room/spare bedroom. it could be a pain in the butt to get it up the stairs, but it would be so worth it.

good luck with finishing this project this weekend..keep those pics coming.

oh, and just to satisfy my curiosity..what size of monitor does a DK cabinet have?

Yvan256 · « **Reply #136 on:** August 13, 2009, 11:22:00 am »

Adding artwork always bring you closer to the final look, it's always inspiring.

And damn you for making me want to do a desktop DK cab next.

Vebbo · « **Reply #137 on:** August 13, 2009, 06:35:08 pm »

Oh man ure so on track with this DK cab javeryh, looks really nice with that marquee and t-mold

Classic Arcade · « **Reply #138 on:** August 13, 2009, 08:15:27 pm »

I realy love the progress, keep the good work up !!

Ryglore · « **Reply #139 on:** August 14, 2009, 01:00:53 pm »

Really awesome job on the cab, I can't wait to see it completed! Especially being a huge DK fan from way back.

did you glue the T-molding? or just hammer it into place?

javeryh · « **Reply #140 on:** August 16, 2009, 09:39:08 pm »

Quote from: Epyx on August 13, 2009, 10:48:29 am

Looks great and the end is in sight...you must be excited/relieved...but what is next!?

Thanks! Next up is finishing my jukebox and then my Woody clone - no "new" projects for a while or my wife will probably kill me in my sleep.

Quote from: severdhed on August 13, 2009, 11:07:49 am

this is turning out to be awesome. You've inspired me to start looking a little harder for a DK cabinet. there is an arcade in town here...the manager used to have his own amusements business, and that is where i got my first cabinet. i think i may go talk to him this afternoon to see if he happens to have a DK cabinet lying around anywhere he would part with for a little money. I had the talk with my wife the other day where i told her that i know she doesnt want anymore arcade cabinets in the house, but if i found a cheap DK cabinet, i am bringing it home. she didn't seem to thrilled, but told me that if i get one, it can go upstairs in the computer room/spare bedroom. it could be a pain in the butt to get it up the stairs, but it would be so worth it.

good luck with finishing this project this weekend..keep those pics coming.

oh, and just to satisfy my curiosity..what size of monitor does a DK cabinet have?

DK has a 19" monitor (I think). That's the size of the one I put in there anyway... This is a tough hobby for us married guys (like most of this board it seems

). I guess arcade cabinets aren't as nice looking as 100 pairs of shoes. Let us know if you were able to score the empty cabinet! I'd love to follow another one of these restorations...

Quote from: Yvan256 on August 13, 2009, 11:22:00 am

Adding artwork always bring you closer to the final look, it's always inspiring.

And damn you for making me want to do a desktop DK cab next.

Thanks - the artwork really makes it pop. Go for that DK desktop!

Quote from: vebbomania on August 13, 2009, 06:35:08 pm

Oh man ure so on track with this DK cab javeryh, looks really nice with that marquee and t-mold

Thanks vebbomania! I'm really close now. I refuse to make it playable until I am completely finished with everything else or I'd never get it to 100%!

Quote from: Classic Arcade on August 13, 2009, 08:15:27 pm

I realy love the progress, keep the good work up !!

Thanks! I'm almost done now - I'll be updating/posting pictures soon!

Trebeck · « **Reply #141 on:** August 17, 2009, 03:13:33 pm »

Looking good! I hope to make this my next project so I'll be sure to read up and follow your wisdom.

javeryh · « **Reply #142 on:** August 17, 2009, 04:28:52 pm »

Thanks Trebeck - I'm really really happy with mine. I put the side art on yesterday and it looks unbelievable (other than the fact that it is peeling off already which I'm trying to figure out how to fix). Pictures can't possibly do it justice but I'll do my best.

Anyway, next up for this thread is the monitor mount - this was so difficult and I definitely could not have done it without the help of my dad (and mom!). From the start of this project I knew the monitor mount would be tricky because I was going to deviate a bit from the original design. I did not want to put bolts through the side of the cabinet in order to support the monitor.

I don't know why... maybe I just didn't like the thought of poking holes in the side art. The problem with wanting to do this is that the sides are only 9/16" thick which isn't nearly enough material to screw into to support a ~50 lb. monitor so I had to think of a way to get the monitor at the proper angle and supported from the bottom.

Another problem was that the monitor had triangular brackets on each side which supported the monitor in a horizontal position. When placing the monitor vertically in the Donkey Kong cabinet these brackets stuck out the back - this is obviously unacceptable so they had to be removed. Compounding the issue was that these brackets also held the electronics of the monitor in place! See:

The final problem was making a frame for the monitor. After removing the triangular brackets there was no way to actually mount the monitor!

javeryh · « **Reply #143 on:** August 17, 2009, 04:30:12 pm »

Bear with me on the next few posts - in all the excitement and since my dad was helping me out I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked but I will do my best to explain exactly what I did.

The first thing I had to do was cut a piece of MDF exactly the width of the inside of the cabinet with a hole in the middle for the monitor to poke through. Getting the dimensions of the hole was difficult because all of the sides are curved and I had to make sure not to remove too much material. I came up with a method that ended up working but took way longer than it should have. If I ever have to do this again I think I could make it pretty quick.

Anyway, I cut some poster board into some long strips and taped them together end to end. Then I wrapped the poster board around the outside of the monitor. This was done in order to trace the shape onto a piece of cardboard. I figured if I could make a hole in some cardboard that would fit exactly around the monitor I'd be able to use it as a pattern to place it in the MDF.

I ended up using a pizza box held up against the front of the monitor/blue poster board and traced the shape. Then I cut out the hole and tried fitting the frame around the monitor. It wasn't perfect on the first try but what this allowed me to do was refine the cutout. After fitting the pizza box around the monitor there were tons of gaps and nothing fit quite right so while the pizza box was in place I covered the gaps with strips of blue painter's tape. Once I was satisfied with the coverage I removed the pizza box (with the tape still in place) and had a template for the shape of the monitor which I traced onto pizza box #2.

Next I cut out the shape I just traced onto pizza box #2 and fit it around the monitor - much better! I ended up having to make a few tweaks with some more blue painter's tape because I was cutting the cardboard freehand but I eventually got a really nice pattern. Then I centered it onto the MDF panel that will hold the monitor and I cut it out (free hand with my router after rough cutting with my jigsaw). It worked!

The next thing I had to do was remove the triangular brackets from the sides of the monitor (remember, the whole point of this exercise is to remove those things because they stick out of the back of the cabinet). Once that was done, the monitor cannot be put down! I quickly positioned the MDF panel I had just cut out around the monitor and located the holes for the bolts in each corner. I drilled out the holes and bolted the monitor in place - success!

These aren't the best pictures of the panel but you get the idea - the pizza box pattern was for placing the monitor in the MDF and then I had to drill a hole in each corner for the bolts - I had to be precise with everything because the bolt holes are so close to the monitor cutout but you can see on the bottom that my freehand skills with the router aren't the best.

Whew! This was the easy part...

More later.

Yvan256 · « **Reply #144 on:** August 17, 2009, 04:46:55 pm »

Quote from: javeryh on August 17, 2009, 04:30:12 pm

[...]

Whew! This was the easy part...

Wait, what? THAT was the easy part?

Epyx · « **Reply #145 on:** August 17, 2009, 05:00:00 pm »

Sure leave us hanging for the hard part!

/shakesfist

javeryh · « **Reply #146 on:** August 17, 2009, 05:10:18 pm »

Haha yeah, I don't even know how to explain what I ended up doing.

Anyone have any tips re: peeling side art? It's just not staying down and I'm thinking I got a bad set. I don't want to remove it since the middle is on there quite good but the edges are peeling up like crazy. I'm really disappointed. $:-\$

severdhed · « **Reply #147 on:** August 17, 2009, 05:14:58 pm »

that sucks about the art work...but i'm sure you'll figure it out. the monitor mount looks good...i'm assuming you are going to show us how you secured the monitor electronics and such?

Vebbo · « **Reply #148 on:** August 17, 2009, 06:27:41 pm »

Sorry to hear that the sideart didn't stick

ooh clever monitor mounting

LeedsFan · « **Reply #149 on:** August 18, 2009, 08:59:59 am »

Quote from: javeryh on August 17, 2009, 05:10:18 pm

Haha yeah, I don't even know how to explain what I ended up doing.

Anyone have any tips re: peeling side art? It's just not staying down and I'm thinking I got a bad set. I don't want to remove it since the middle is on there quite good but the edges are peeling up like crazy. I'm really disappointed. $:-\$

If the middle is stuck OK is there no way to use any adhesive for the rest of it? Of course I'm pretty sure you've thought of this already but I agree... trying to remove it now the centre is stuck could end up in disaster.

Nice work with the monitor mount. I see what you mean about the mounting holes being very close to the cutout. I would suggest using some repair washers there just to add some extra strength. Not sure is you've done that already actually, but the washer in the bottom right looks like it could be a bit bigger to help spread the load, if you know what I mean.

Octo · « **Reply #150 on:** August 18, 2009, 09:15:56 am »

Just a thought:
Lay the edges down and go around the outside with blue masking tape to mark where they hit the cab. Mask off everything that won't be under the sideart. Use a little bit of clear spray adhesive (can find it at Autozone or Home Depot) and roll outwards like your laminating. The adhesive I use for stuff like this is meant to hold car headliners in place, so it's pretty strong and tacky.

javeryh · « **Reply #151 on:** August 18, 2009, 10:47:53 am »

Thanks guys. I think the masking suggestion is the way to go but I'm sure it will be a pain to mask off the outside of the decal since it is an odd shape. I actually reapplied the decal yesterday morning before work and when I got home it hadn't really come off - just a little around the edges. So I reattached it and went to bed and this morning it seems to have held - I don't know what the deal is but I'm going to live with it like this for a while - if it starts peeling again I'm definitely going to mask and use spray adhesive. I'm really puzzled as to what is going on... $:-\$

javeryh · « **Reply #152 on:** August 18, 2009, 11:11:17 am »

More monitor mounting fun!

After getting the monitor into the frame I had to figure out a way to support the frame from the inside of the cabinet at the proper angle and not drill into the side panels. I had my dad slide the MDF panel with the monitor into place (the Donkey Kong cabinet had a mounting bracket for the original monitor still in there so he rested it on there):

Once I thought it was at a good viewing angle we drew a line underneath the panel on both sides which represented the spot where we wanted the panel to sit. All we had to do was build some legs for it. We ended up using some 2x4s to build a frame - imagine a table with 4 legs and cross braces except the table top is set at a sever angle. That's all there was to it but coming up with the design was far easier than actually building it. I don't know why but getting all of the measurements just right really took a long time. This is what we ended up with:

The MDF panel holding the monitor would sit on top of the 2x4 frame - all done! Well, not quite... In our infinite wisdom, we didn't take into consideration the weight of the monitor. We lifted the monitor and slid it in place expecting everything to be perfect (tight fit, eh?):

The problem was since there was nothing actually holding the frame to the cabinet, gravity wanted to force the entire structure, monitor and all, out the back of the cabinet. We felt like idiots for not thinking of this sooner. We were running out of time in the day (a Sunday) and we couldn't leave the exposed monitor in the MDF - we had to figure this out!

After brainstorming for about an hour the solution finally presented itself. I had some spare angle brackets lying around from when I mounted the new base to the bottom of the cabinet. The support pieces we cut for the top of the frame just happened to be long enough to almost touch the plywood where the original mounting bracket was located. We installed a bunch of angle brackets using bolts (not screws) which prevented the frame from tipping backwards and moving at all. Purists, cover your eyes...

We were so happy this ended up working without seriously modifying the back of the cabinet (which is what most of our ideas centered around).

More later.

Epyx · « **Reply #153 on:** August 18, 2009, 11:30:20 am »

Very nice! But I can see how it was really a case of measuring multiple times to ensure a good fit. I love how the monitor set in panel can "just" fit overtop

I have to say it..."angle brackets" are right up there in my books with a good router bit.

Now did you purposely tease us with no shot of the monitor in place!?

javeryh · « **Reply #154 on:** August 18, 2009, 12:04:45 pm »

Quote from: Epyx on August 18, 2009, 11:30:20 am

Very nice! But I can see how it was really a case of measuring multiple times to ensure a good fit. I love how the monitor set in panel can "just" fit overtop

I have to say it..."angle brackets" are right up there in my books with a good router bit.

Now did you purposely tease us with no shot of the monitor in place!?

yeah - those angle brackets were a life saver. It is really really secure. I think part of the problem was I was working in my living room but all of my tools are out in the detached garage - I must have made 100+ trips back and forth over the course of the weekend to make a cut or go get a drill bit, etc. It was just way too hot to leave the painted cabinet out there.

I have a couple of pics of the monitor in place which I'll post shortly.

Bender · « **Reply #155 on:** August 18, 2009, 12:53:57 pm »

Hey Jav,

sorry to hear about the side art

I would try the iron route first

but a thin piece of material between (the backing material form the sticker would work well actually) the Iron and the sticker( to protect the art) and start on a medium temp slowly working your way from the center outward

oh, and I would clean under where the sticker that's peeling up as much as you can reach with alcohol, before the iron trick

javeryh · « **Reply #156 on:** August 18, 2009, 01:08:28 pm »

Thanks Bender - really good idea. Maybe I can reactivate the glue somehow. It was on there pretty good this morning though so hopefully there won't be any more major problems with it.

Kman-Sweden · « **Reply #157 on:** August 19, 2009, 01:59:19 am »

Good job! But why not glue the frame to the insides of the cab? Or bolt it to the bottom of the cab to save the sides?

javeryh · « **Reply #158 on:** August 19, 2009, 09:46:09 am »

Quote from: Kman_Sweden on August 19, 2009, 01:59:19 am

Good job! But why not glue the frame to the insides of the cab? Or bolt it to the bottom of the cab to save the sides?

Thanks!

The monitor is very heavy and I do not trust the glue to hold up over time. If it was MDF to MDF I'd probably be OK with it but I just didn't want to take the chance. We thought about bolting the legs in place to the floor using the l-brackets but there would still be a ton of force exerted there. By placing the screws up front they had to support way less weight.

javeryh · « **Reply #159 on:** August 19, 2009, 10:37:45 am »

The monitor is mounted (well, it's actually been mounted for a week and a half but here are some more pics):

There was one more small problem after getting everything ready for the monitor - since we removed those triangular mounting brackets that came with the monitor, the electronics which operate everything were loose and hanging by the connecting wires - not good. This is actually where my mother came in very handy. Every time my father and I lifted the monitor to move it around she had to hold the electronics so there was no tension on any wires - not easy - it was like a game of Twister or something. Thanks mom!

Once the frame was ready, we slid the monitor into its final resting position and stood there holding the electronics. We were tired at this point and I made the executive decision to just screw the panel into the 2x4s with two 3" screws. It worked great. The electronics are at an angle inside of the cabinet but there is no tension in any of the wires:

You can see the screw in the upper corner going right through the metal - there is another on the opposite corner and it is very secure. Here are some more shots from behind showing how the monitor is mounted inside of the cabinet:

I don't know if you can tell but getting the monitor in the cabinet was by far the toughest part of the project. We spent 2 full days getting this thing in place just right. I'm glad that's over!


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