Dueling Bartop Arcades - Updated 2/10/12 99% Complete!!!

[Green Giant]

Yeah- I designed the cabinets so I could convert them to verticals if I ever decided I needed a switch- better to have options than to not. However with the monitor placed in horizontally there isn't to much wasted space and I don't feel it looks small/awkward. About 3 inches from the top/bottom to the display screen


I agree on the CP layout and I spaced it out a bit more- I'll need to test it out on some cardboard and see how it all feels.

Ahhhh, now I see it.

Looks much more reasonable with everything in there.

And yeah, cardboard is your friend.

[DaveMMR]

Since you're still in the planning stages of the CP layout, a suggestion, if I may. Try rotating the button layout counter clockwise to better match the angle your arm rests on the CP while playing. It can be a little uncomfortable with a straight-on button layout like that.

Definitely a YMMV situation there, I recommend testing it out before committing. Someone like me would hate them being rotated as I am used to playing SF2 and Neo Geo titles with the buttons predominately horizontal (except the A on the latter, obviously).

Since it's only a one-player panel, if you do go with Nephasth's suggestion you won't have to worry about elbowing other people. And some people do like them like that so, again, test it out. Just don't "over-angle" to the point of having them vertical. 

That said, I personally like the layout you have. Simple and versatile. And I never had any problems with them being uncomfortable (though my main buttons are the top row.)

[kb84]

After mocking up the control panels and trying it both angled and the way I had it- I am going to stick with my original plan. I feel the traditional way is more comfortable and will be easier for others that come over and play.

After going over artwork ideas and trying to plan everything out I am going to need to move away from the MVC idea and do something different. Due to the lack of t-molding options at the 1/2" diameter and not really liking how things were coming along on the artwork side I've decided its just not working for me.

I am instead going to go a different route and instead of trying to theme the cabinets together I am going to treat them separately in terms of artwork/design as they are 2 stand a lone units even though they can connect to each other. I know its been done before but I think a Street Fighter 2 cabinet and a Mortal Kombat is where I am going.

I haven't had much luck finding good CPO scans of either and being 1 player cabs I have some customizing to do.... but here is what I have so far. If anyone can help out with MK 1 CPO art that is vector friendly or Player 1 friendly I would appreciate it.

Cabinet 1


Cabinet 2

[Malenko]

I know its been done before but I think a Street Fighter 2 cabinet and a Mortal Kombat is where I am going.

I like it! I still have the art files from my "Mortal Kabinet" if you want it.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=69808.0

[kb84]

@ Malenko - Thank you for sharing your artwork as I hadn't seen that before. I used it as a bit of inspiration to jazz up what I had created.



Quick Update- not a lot to show but took some time doing. I drilled out the CPO holes and got the mounts setup. The speaker holes were also drilled and are resting on top in the pictures. I also got the back pieces to fit nice and did some finishing work. I am close to being ready to start priming- just have to tack in the monitor mount. drill out the back panel, and do a little more finish sanding.

[kb84]

Another update- I got everything primed and painted on both cabinets. I have also started putting everything together on one of them. I installed the t-molding, monitor,speakers, and one of the 2 fans/grills.




Monitor is mounted with a piece of wood screwed into the wall mount plate, some side bolts, and also mounted w/ bolts through the bottom base.


Going to need to dust these when I get done... 


I also received all of my computer components and the system specs for both are:

Motherboard- ASRock 2CORE1333-2.66G Intel 945
CPU - Intel Pentium 4 519K 3.06GHz 533MHz
RAM - 1 GB DDR2 (I may upgrade to 2GB)
Video -ZOTAC GeForce 8400GS 512MB DDR2 PC
HD - 120GB SATA Western Digital
15" LCD Monitor
Logitech S-120 Speakers

I think these specs should be sufficient for pretty much everything I want to run- and with these motherboards I always have the option of throwing in a dual-core CPU down the road if I feel the need.



I am hoping to get the other one caught up and install both PC's/plexiglass cut tomorrow. Then I am mostly waiting on artwork and my GGG order to arrive.

[dextercf]

cool project!

[kb84]

Small update- I got both monitors installed and t-molding installed on the other cabinet. I also cut some angle pieces for t-molding and am currently priming/painting those. I sent my artwork off to basement arcade grafx and am still waiting on my joysticks/buttons to come in.

I have been mostly working on PC stuff today and have got windows xp (lite version), drivers, and most of the emulators I will be using installed and have been configuring the frontend (Mala). I plan on just cloning this drive for the other computer as they are the exact same specs once everything is completely setup. Then I will have to just adjust the 2nd PC's bootscreens and some settings instead of redoing the whole process over.

Here is a look at how my MK Mala theme is going...



I still need to go and pickup some plexiglass and setup the marquees, monitor glass, and also for the CPO. Hoping to get those in the next couple of days.

[DaveMMR]

Looks cool but get rid of that stuff in the parenthesis for your list (you can do that in Mala with one click).  Unless you like it there - then ignore me.  But otherwise, great job!

[kb84]

Looks cool but get rid of that stuff in the parenthesis for your list (you can do that in Mala with one click).  Unless you like it there - then ignore me.  But otherwise, great job!

Yeah I normally remove all of those as well- I haven't really gone through an sorted anything yet but as soon as I do that will be one of the first things I check. 

[kb84]

Update:

Made some good progress today on one of the cabs. My artwork and joysticks/buttons all came in today which allowed me to really start putting this thing all together.

Here are some update pictures. (Still need to apply some more art) - John at Basement Arcade Grafx did an awesome job- I couldn't be any happier with the prints.

[kb84]

Sorry for the lack of updates- I was able to wrap up the street fighter cab during this week and am almost done with both builds outside of some minor software tweaks.

The KVM switch is working great and 2 player/2 cab mode seems to work flawless. The only difficulty I had came with the toggle button to switch the 2. I wasn't able to use the scroll lock key to switch the second cabinet to 2 player mode- but was able to map an ipac shift function that works great- 3 key strokes in stead of one but in reality probably better that way to avoid any accidental switching.

Here is a quick snap of the 2 cabinets- I will post a video later showing the details/switching/etc.

[Kangum]

they came out nice but the donkey kong in the background really has my attention