I have been bitten by the BYOAC bug for some years now, but just recently committed to actually DOING anything about it…much to the dismay of my wife. My kids are somewhat excited, but then they are young and only know the X-box, Wii, etc…they don’t understand just how much money I wasted at the Arcade when close to their age….
I have decided to build a version of Doc’s modular design…I like the small form factor, the modular functionality, and I am hoping to avoid the “Jack of all trades, master of none” Control Panel issue many have to contend with. Of course little things like button colors, spacing etc will still be an issue…but then I am color stupid so I will just have to make a choice and live with it.
Here is what I have right now:
Keyboard encoder, plus joysticks and variety of buttons (30 or so, some of each color, plus many black and red). Homemade spinner (there may be a build report on this coming, as it is an easily copyable design and cost less than $2 for stuff I didn’t have…$10 maybe for everything purchased). Budget for wood (either OSB or Furniture Grade Plywood). Plenty of tools (table saw, router, bandsaw, scrollsaw, jigsaw, skillsaw, etc)
I have a couple areas I am not sure of how to proceed, and could use some input:
#1. Basing my Cab design on something similar to the 24 hour build, or the classic arcade look, is fine, but I am totally stumped about what to do about artwork…or if I should do ANYTHING. I am not artistic…I can build anything, but my graphic design is non-existant…so I am going to have to “borrow” something else…is it more common to use an existing scheme, or make your own? I am totally blown away by the amount of talent I see on here, weeks spent designing CP artwork alone and it makes me feel inadequate.
#2. Computer System…how do I know what I need? I know this probably depends on what I want it to DO, but I am a bit clueless…I am doing this because I want to BUILD the Arcadet, since that is what I like...I am not aiming for a specific game really…I like the classics, but I can see my kids getting a bit older and wanting to play more involved games…plus maybe I add Jukebox functionality etc…
Here is what I have available for immediate use:
---Toshiba Laptop, 1.8 Ghz with 512MB ram. About 8 years old now, and the hinges are defunct so it has been relegated to garage use.
---Athalon 1.8GHZ desktop, closer to 10 years old maybe, with 1 GB ram, ATI Radeon 9250 256MB AGP Video card (could be upgraded), with 5.1 sound card (old), wireless USB adapter...nothing fancy, currently one of the kids computers. I am currently running Mame/Mala on this, playing Arkanoid and Centipede.
---Something I could build….if only I knew the specs I should aim for…I don’t want to build a supercomputer in this thing.
#3. Video….do I use a computer monitor? One with widescreen and able to rotate? 27” TV? Arcade monitor is basically out…not something I think I could dedicate to this project, and it might find a home in the house (fingers crossed) where it would be an “All in one” machine for the Wii, X-box and TV watching as well.
I welcome any input, and I am glad to be a member of this forum!