First Build - Man of Steel Bartop!

[Meph]

Its been quite a while since I posted a project here.  Since my Jukebox builds a few years back I moved onto restoring a couple Mortal Kombats.  I have been hit pretty hard by the bug and now have a garage full of parts and boards.  Picking up 2 more cabinets today to begin projects, but in the mean time I wanted to build a bartop for my kids to play.  They love playing my STTNG pin and have been asking to play my MK machines but at 4&5 years old, I would rather have some tamer games for them to play.  So on to the bartop..

I decided to make a Weecade clone since they have been done to death and I can find lots of ideas.  I got some plans but ultimately was too lazy to look at them so I decided to free hand this yesterday.  I have a bunch of 15" ELO touchscreens laying around and my kids love Angrybirds and my jukebox, so I figured this little box would fit the bill for all of the above.  So here is what I came up with yesterday.  I didn't actually plan for this at all so I used what I had on hand.  My next build will actually be planned out.

I used 1/2 MDF and assembled it with wood screws and some heavy duty L Brackets that I made at work.  I was going to use battens like most but I ran out of wood glue.  The L Brackets worked well and this thing is solid so I am not too worried about it.  I ended up going 18" wide.  So my only real area of concern so far is my control panel.  You can see what I have so far and to me that control panel looks huge.  I am going to hook it up today to make sure but the monitor angle looks good to me sitting in front of it.  There will be a piece of smoked plexi in front of the monitor so that will eat up another 1/2" maybe.

I have an Ipac 2, (2) ZD Encoders for the PS3, and (4) ZD Encoders for the PC.  I will probably use a couple of the ZD encoders for this project and save the Ipac for a full size cab.  I am going to use some Sanwa sticks and buttons in this for the lower profiles.  So any thoughts on the control panel?  It leaves me a lot of room if I want to do more than just the standard layout but is it going to look goofy in the end?  I am open to any advice.

[Meph]

I am hearing crickets in here!  I ended up trying one of the ZD Encoders and have a question for others that have used them?  I know the ZD stands for Zero Delay but I seem to get some button delay.  Not sure if its all in my imagination though.  Games like galaga seem to shoot pretty slow but to be honest, I don't know exactly how fast it should shoot.  I will test it well with Street Fighter since I am very familiar with the game play.

I was originally going to spray this cab and I did spray the CP and Bezel with Rustoleum Auto Gloss Black but I really don't like how it came out.  I ended up getting Valspar Duramax and rolled the cab with a foam roller.  I couldn't be happier and the Duramax lives up to its claim, it is definitely durable.









I have a lot of work to do still.  I need to find a small pair of speakers for it and make a back panel with all my cutouts for power and a fan.  I will probably put USB and a headphone jack in the front.  Want to have power and volume in the back where the kids wont mess with them much.  As for the artwork I am going with a Man of Steel theme for my Son.  I started with the Mala layout.



And lastly, I need to work on the artwork for the cab.  Not sure what I want to do yet.  I don't really have a name for the cab yet.  I printed a quick superman logo that I was thinking of using for the sides to keep it simple.  Not sure, I might still do a full art package.  Once again, any suggestions are welcome.

[Drnick]

Looks good to me. Haven't really got too many Ideas on the Theme.  I would probably have gone for Superman vs Batman. There are some nice High Res Images out there.

[Meph]

My son loves ALL super heroes so Superman vs Batman is definitely possible.  I will check out what's available.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

[Rick]

This is looking ...

(•_•)
( •_•)>⌐■-■
(⌐■_■)

... super!

[Monkeyvoodoo]

This is looking ...

(•_•)
( •_•)>⌐■-■
(⌐■_■)

... super!

Sent from where ever I happen to be.

[Meph]

Today I found these little 1.6w travel speakers.  They are really low profile and they sound surprisingly good for the $10 they cost.  They are usb powered.  I made up a little template and drilled the holes for the speakers.  Once it was done I sanded it down and repainted it.  Once the paint dries i'll see how these actually sound once mounted in the cab.

[yotsuya]

I'd stay with the Man of Steel concept. Vs. concepts have been done a lot.

[Vigo]

I cant see any pictures of your project here from work, but I will check it out at home. 

I ended up trying one of the ZD Encoders and have a question for others that have used them?  I know the ZD stands for Zero Delay but I seem to get some button delay.  Not sure if its all in my imagination though.  Games like galaga seem to shoot pretty slow but to be honest, I don't know exactly how fast it should shoot.  I will test it well with Street Fighter since I am very familiar with the game play.

Might be Galaga the game throwing you off. Might be a bad wire connection. Might be a processing/MAME issue.

The easiest way to check the encoder is to go into the control test screen in the device properties in windows. (Method to get there varies from the version OS you are using) You will see a layout of the buttons and joystick and when you push a button or move the joystick you will see the response pop up on the windows screen. If you see a delay there, check if it is consistent delay with all controls. If it is, try it on a different computer. If you don't see a delay in the controls on the test screen, try playing a different game or even try a different version of mame or a different emulator. Also try a different ZD encoder and a different set of wires, including the usb wires. Heck, try a different usb port. Hopefully you will be able to isolate exactly what the issue is. Bottom line is that you shouldn't be having any delay issues. 

Of course, it might just be that you are convincing yourself there is a delay. OK, maybe that is just me. I have done that multiple times.    One time I was testing a ZD encoder for about an hour convinced that there was an issue with it. Turns out, on my first initial test of the board, I used a button with a bum microswitch but didn't realize it, so the presses were flakey. When I put it in my test rig to properly check, I was so convinced that the encoder had an issue with it that I was trying to tell my wife that there was a slight delay on every 25th or so press. I had her staring at the test screen for me for 15 minutes trying to find this phantom delay.    There is also that time I put a ZD on a conductive surface (carpet) while testing it out. Ugh, I was sooo convinced that there was an issue with that one as well. My wife, with zero electronics experience, pointed that one out to me. 

[Meph]

Here they are mounted and a little video for your viewing pleasure