Candytop: Bartop Candy Cab

[XCVG]

It's official now. The cab will be called, at least for now, Micro-Candy or by its development codename Bushido. It is basically a bartop arcade, but made to look like a Japanese "candy cab". Controls will be all Japanese, configured for fighters. 17 inch LCD monitor and somewhat gutless P3 1GHz. Read on for the TL:DR description or scroll to the bottom for the drawing.

The inspiration came quite recently. I wanted to build a bartop that would be customized to my specifications, with Japanese controls and configured for fighters. It would be solely for emulation and not PC games. The original design was a standard bartop, but I decided I wanted to do something different. From the first time I've seen them, I always like the "candy cabs". There was a specific one that stood out as actually buildable- the Aero City Cab. So I copied it, even down to the blue stripe on the side.

Shortly after the first drawing of this project (before it became a candy) I received a PIII 1GHz computer. It sat in storage for a while as I was in the process of moving. Recently I found a nice 17" LCD monitor and some speakers at the thrift store. So I set up the computer, adding in a GeForce FX5200 videocard and bigger 80GB hard drive. So far I've installed XP and am fighting with emulators and GameEX.

Of course, I have some vague plans for the rest of it. Construction will be mainly of 1/2" MDF. No t-moulding, possibly beveled or rounded corners. All Japanese controls- Sanwa OBSF-24 buttons and Seimitsu LS-32 sticks with round restrictors. Grey(gray?)ish-white paint job with blue stripe. Small marquee flanked by speakers, just like a real candy. Large back door with PC mounted on it for easy access. Either one or two 120mm fans to keep the thing cool. Almost vertical monitor and CP slightly wider than the unit. The pedastal will house a small keyboard and the mouse. Instead of investing in an I-pac or KeyWiz, I plan to hack up two cheap PC game controllers, because that's the way I roll. No crimp connectors either, I'm not afraid to solder. If there's one thing I find odd about this place it's the phobia of soldering.

Anyway, going to order some stuff soon, and fight some more with software.

EDIT: Now called Candytop.

[emphatic]

No crimp connectors either, I'm not afraid to solder. If there's one thing I find odd about this place it's the phobia of soldering

Crimping is just much cleaner looking, and swapping out a worn button is a snap (especially if your panel is metal and the buttons are snap-ins. )
Use Akihabarashop.jp for parts unless you've already ordered, they're awesome. I'd suggest using a Sanwa or Seimitsu 5-pin harness for your joysticks as well instead of soldering. But hey, each to their own. 

[XCVG]

I've always found that crimp connectors like to fall off and I end up soldering them anyway. That, and I've desoldered so much I'm numb to the process. To each their own I guess. There's advantages and disadvantages to both methods.

And yeah, I'll probably buy from Lizardlick, but I've heard good things about Akihabarashop too. How long would it take to ship?

[XCVG]

Slight update time!

Ordered some Seimitsu buttons and sticks from Akihabarashop. About $80CAD in total. A total of 12 24mm screw in buttons and 2 LS-32 sticks, as well as circular restrictors.

As for the software, I have MAME and GameEX pretty much sorted out, but I don't have a lot of games. Any suggestions on good ones to *ahem* acquire?

[leapinlew]

cool.

I did a 2 player bartop, its in my signature. The size of the machine was 24" wide - how wide do you intend on making yours?

[apfelanni]

for a 2 player setup i would go with the ipac. it saves a lot of time, space and cable mess . i would consider using other button layout than urs. check slagcoin.com for proven japanese setups. 17 inch seems the minimum size for a 2 player minicab. guess i would go for a 19 oder better a 20 inch 4:3 like dell ultrasharp or hp 2035 with ips panel.

[XCVG]

I can see why you guys like encoders. Easy and quick with no fooling around. However, hacking controllers is cheaper, and it's not the first time I've done it (is that a good thing or a bad thing?). Plus, where's the satisfaction in plugging a few wires into a premade board? Also, I already have a monitor. I'm sure I mentioned that, though maybe not in this thread. And yeah, I know the layout looks odd, but there's a reason for it. Look closely at the colours. I plan to make a cardboard prototype and try playing; if it feels like crap I change it. Oh, and the machine itself will probably only be 17 or 18 inches wide, but the CP will be wider than the machine, which sounds odd but makes sense (in my mind anyway).

Anyway, how do you get rid of the "DVD" button in GameEX? It's disabled and it's a registered verision feature anyway, so why won't it go away?

And yeah, I realize I'm being argumentative. I come from a different viewpoint compared to most people here. I could go on and on about it, but I'd probably just get a bunch of "tl;dr" responses.

[emphatic]

Anyway, how do you get rid of the "DVD" button in GameEX? It's disabled and it's a registered verision feature anyway, so why won't it go away?

IIRC, I had to use the "Advanced Configuration" tool to get rid of that, even though I had already turned all of the Media Functions off (at least that's what I thought).

[XCVG]

No real progress, waiting on parts and need to get YAP64 finished first anyway.

But here's a teaser:

[XCVG]

Got my control parts today. Pics... tomorrow. (injoke right there)

Also, some other designs for the marquee. The first one is by Beta over at ModRetro.

Mine:


I need some responeses!

[XCVG]

More marquee designs from me and Antome at ModRetro, and I received my parts. All this is copied from ModRetro, as I am too lazy to rewrite it.

so, I had another go.. :tophat:
Again, if you want adjustments or something entirely different, ask again  :

Yeah, I'm always this OCD

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/499695

have fun :dahroll:

and as for the banner,


ta dah  :dah:

I didn't think you'd want the result to be too minimalist, so I added a line or two :dah:

same terms apply :pirate:
Wasn't sure if you wanted to glow the lines, but I thought it added to the feel of the thing  :tophat:

also, you can put paper under plexiglass, and if you want heat gun the sides. If you're really worried, laminate it first..

Because I don't have that kind of font, I ripped it from your banner..   :awesome:

Here you go.



Enjoy.

The mini-keyboard is from a different place. It doesn't work with the old computer I'm using, so I think I'm going to use a flexible one instead. If all else fails, I can hack up a normal one to allow it to boot and swap cables with a real one for actual use. The 1.5ft network cable and coupler is so I can put a network job on the back. Easier than my other plan, which was to hack up a cable and buy a jack to go with it.

I've screwed with the picture of the package so you can't read my address, but you can see that they used a lot of stamps. Yes, stamps. That's a bit odd. Anyway, it was well wrapped with pink bubble wrap and smelled Japanese. Inside there was a bag with the buttons in it, stuck upside-down onto two pieces of tape (presumably to protect them). They are small Seimitsu 24mm buttons (don't remember the part number). The sticks are LS-32s with white balltops. Both sticks were wrapped and the balls were wrapped separately. All of the parts feel good quality. The buttons are smaller than I expected but they will be fine. Much different than American buttons. These are really quiet with not a lot of travel. I haven't played enough in arcades to comment much on the stick; the differences are more subtle. I ordered circular restrictors but don't need them as the stick is already fairly circular.

I've also figured out the CP. The actual controls will be mounted on hardboard, with an MDF piece full of holes glued or otherwise attached to the back. The thing is that the buttons aren't that thick and the stick has a short shaft.