SPACE WARS BARTOP, dedicated to vertical shmups

[Eldritch1969]

Hi everyone !
I have nearly finished to build my first attempt at a bartop. The sides are not like what you can see on the photo below, because I decided to do something completely different, which I will reveal later when it is completely finished.

I did not want to build a bartop with a marquee, so I tried to copy one quite famous 3D model, done by Kator/Legaz, which I have always found really neat. So no marquee, and just black and white, with a few colours for buttons.

Here it is :



I have used a spare Dell Optiplex GX 260 for the innards of this thing, along with an LG 15 in monitor. The controls on the photo are from an X-arcade Mame kit, but I think they are too "clicky" and not precise enough so I will change them to GrooveGameGear leafswitch buttons replicas and thier custom zippyy joystick, which are much smoother.

So bear with me a little longer so that I can present the finished build, which won't take too much time as I have received nearly all the replacements parts. Hope you like it as much as I do.

[Le Chuck]

That's a good looking first build.  The speakers out the top may cause you some issues later but overall great job for a first build and I must commend you on joining the forum with a [mostly] completed build. Keep it up and stick around, there's lots to see and do here.

[Unstupid]

Nice build for your first attempt....    How did you come up with that button layout/count for your vertical cab?  Also, not sure about the screws going through the bezel to hold it in place... kinda defeats the purpose eh?

[Eldritch1969]

Thanks for your kind comments 
As for the different comments :
For the moment, the speakers seem to work just fine. Could you be more precise about the possible issues in the future ?
@ Unstupid : I just wanted to have a menu extra button and some vertical shooters do have a 3rd action button Don't remember which one, but I know I add one in my 250+ games.

I know about the screws through the bezel  . Guess I didn't figure another way out.

The plans I followed had to be really modified, due to my inexperience, my total lack of electronics, soldering, and also woodworking skills.
It was a fun way of making my old brain deal with huge (for me) problems

Next I wanted to decorate the sides it using small ceramic tiles...
(To be continued)

[johnm]

Think i've seen this over at gamoover.net.

[Le Chuck]

For the moment, the speakers seem to work just fine. Could you be more precise about the possible issues in the future ?

Sure, I have found that speakers in the top will often get damaged or wear out due to dust collection or things placed on the top of the cabinet pressing down on them.  I also find that sound quality is better with the speakers pointed down or forward/back rather than straight up but that is more personal preference.  I also think that the speakers in the top distracts from the nice clean appearance you have with your design and look more like an afterthought than a conscientious design decision.  Again, that's personal preference so take it or leave it.  Overall great first outing!

[ChadTower]

I dig it.  Can you tell/show us more about the software?

[Eldritch1969]

Sure. As for the front-end, I use Mala, which is nice because it takes into account vertical games and rotates them accordingly.

I have also modified my theme by linking the game screenshot shown for each game with a video of said game, so that it starts a few seconds after the screenshot.

OS is a stripped-down XP, and I have also tweaked the boot process so that nothing appears before Mala itself. I had chosen to get rid of the pointer, but it proved a bit of a PITA when I had to reconfigure certain things, so I brought it back.

What else ? I have only Mame installed, version 0.145, because I like simplicity and functionality. Well, it is rather a no-nag version, made by a French guy and called EmuCR_Houba_0145. This is a dedicated bartop, so it will stay like that. Never noticed there were so many vertical shooters (installed around 250 of them). There are a few that are PCengine/Turbografx 16 that I will miss but heck, they're to be played on original hardware, which I have !

I will make a video of the fully-working and decorated thing later and link to it.
Thanks for your interest.

[Eldritch1969]

Update : went with carbon fiber sheet on the control panel and put really good leafswitch buttons from GGG. Plus a zippyy also with smooth switches :

[Eldritch1969]

Bartop nearly finished. I just have to add "cosmetic" touches to the sides, which means I will probably go with the router again and cut the space to put little ceramic tiles in the shape of the pixel-based bartop's name : Space Wars. This will done on the lower part of it.

Here goes one photo of the front. Bartop is now fully playable with some 250 vertical shooters (didn't think there were so many good ones).

Also added the T-SLG to add scanlines. It's really a big plus.