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Building the masterpiece
dkersten:
In the past several months since I started really getting involved in this hobby, I have asked for a lot of feedback and ideas, and I am really happy to get unfettered opinions on various elements or ideas. I also see a surprising number of new people show up asking for the same sorts of advice or feedback. One thing I have noticed though is that everyone who has been doing this for a while is looking for the next masterpiece, the next "Blip" or "R-Pod" (or a dozen other insanely great cabinets I have had the honor to read about here). I suppose that after a while, seeing just "another mame cabinet" being built is kind of boring, and often the advice reflects this.
Don't get me wrong, I love the flow of ideas, and most of what I have read is being filed away for "some day"... The ideas presented, often when something fairly basic was asked to be critiqued or suggested, seem to me to be really advanced ideas, or at the least based on the fact that what is being asked for has already been "done to death". That is cool if it is the 14th cabinet the person is building and they are also tired of those things that were cool or unique last year or the year before and want something really new. But for most new people in this hobby, what was cool and new for the veteran 10 years ago is cool and new for us NOW. Heck, just having a cabinet of our own is pretty cool in our own worlds.
If I have any negative feedback about any advice given here it is that it is often given as if everyone asking has already "been there done that" and shouldn't be allowed to do something that has already been done. Kind of a hipster attitude that can be overwhelming in the beginning.
But that isn't really the reason I started this thread. I was thinking more along the lines of the idea that everyone seems to be expecting (or hoping anyway) for another masterpiece to blow them away. That got me thinking about why I didn't just sit down and spend a few months planning something out, perfecting the artwork, then deciding that perfect wasn't good enough and taking it to the next level. Why I don't spend months building a cab instead of only a few weeks. Why I don't mock things up a half dozen times as I go, just to see if I am perfectly satisfied with every minute detail. Why I don't spend months and months working to achieve the perfect finish, the perfect level of craftsmanship, etc.
The thing is, I am the kind of guy who WANTS to do that, at least some day. But that isn't why I am building cabinets, YET. That isn't why I build furniture, or write, or anything else I enjoy doing. Right now if I can do something and experience something I am interested in, and be reaping the benefits of it in a few weeks or a month or two, that works for me, even if it isn't groundbreaking or even up to the standards I would LIKE to push myself to achieve. I am satisfied enough with what I am cranking out that I don't really need anything cooler. (YET)
I guess I see myself as working on a dozen different masterpieces in my mind, none of which I will realize for quite some time. Some day I will sit down and start designing the perfect arcade cabinet. I don't mean conceptualize it and crank it out in a few months, I mean design it, with every tiny detail, exactly as I would like to have it, and dedicate all my free time to doing so before ever taking the next step. Then I will take that time to build one small part, mock it up, refine it, make adjustments, and perfect it. And while it might take 500+ hours, in the end I will have a finished product I will never be able to look at and say "Yeah, it's good but it could have been better."
But right now if I had the time and forbearance to do that, I would be putting it into other projects I have been working on in my head for much longer. I wrote a book about 6 years ago and I started a rewrite on it a couple years ago, and I have 99% of the rewrite done in my head, but it will take me at least 300 hours to complete it on paper. If I had that kind of time, it wouldn't be to build a perfect arcade cab, I already have one that is good enough for now, I would spend that time finishing the book.
Then there is the more pressing projects that I should be doing or need to get done (which is why I haven't finished the book, lol). Heck, I have 3 more cabs to build before the end of October. I have a bathroom that I want to renovate before Christmas as well as 3 bedrooms I want to get new windows in and repaint and do minor renovation to. I have one piece of furniture I really NEED to build soon for my theater, and a half dozen or more others that I have been meaning to get to for the last decade.
The bottom line is that for me anyway, my "masterpiece" will probably have to wait for a couple more decades when I finally retire and have the time and resources to do what I really want. Perhaps I will get to doing something a little more "out of the box" this winter, but it is doubtful with everything else I want to do. Until then, this is practice, and while I won't turn out a crappy product, I am not taking the time to create that new project that I and many others would like to see. To me, a masterpiece is the culmination of all your skill and ability, all your experience and trial and error. Some people can sit down at any point in their life and create their masterpiece, and some can create more than one and at the end of their life have a portfolio of masterpieces that ANYONE would have to respect. I have a TON of respect for those people. And I know that someday I can take a shot at building something that wows even those "masters", and maybe even succeed. It just won't be in those 3 cabs I have to build in the coming months, and once I build one that I can say is my best effort, I probably will never build another.
I am not here to say anything in particular, just some reflection really. Like I said, I love the free flow of ideas, and while some here are more critical of the efforts of those still practicing, I think anyone who has the balls to come here and post their projects for people who have been doing it far longer than they have to critique deserves my respect just as much as those who have the perseverance, skill, and experience to create those masterpieces.
:cheers:
Ond:
I’m going to get in early on this thread before all the ‘usuals’ do. Heh, they’re all getting their beauty sleep anyway. I sense some frustration and maybe a bit of defensiveness in what you say, and that’s ok, no criticism on my part, but it did make me think a bit as well.
It’s good to have new keen blood in the forum , it drives discussion, ideas and attracts others including some like me who are more like ghosts, floating around, or maybe vampires feeding and….., anyway, I digress. If you’re new and keen and fairly verbose you’re bound to attract veterans and experts. That’s why we are here, the constructive feedback and all that. It can very useful and a great source of knowledge and inspiration. Other times it can feel a bit like you've joined the committee that came up with the camel, when you wanted a racehorse.
I think the reality is it’s all practise for all of us, even those on the so-called quest for a masterpiece. If you get too caught up in planning and analysis the fun goes out of it and it becomes more like a job, ugh!
I was also reminded of something I read recently called The Dude and the Zen Master, which is a series of conversations between Jeff Bridges and his (Zen Master) friend Bernie Glassman. They basically philosophize about life, Zen and relate it back to the movie the Big Lebowski.
There’s a discussion where Bridges talks about learning to bowl for the movie, about being a perfectionist and concentrating so hard on the act of bowling, the approach, the grip, the stance, the swing that he could get all twisted up and not bowl at all (Ironic since you never see him bowl in the movie anyhow). In the end on expert advice, he was told to just “throw the ---smurfing--- ball” by relaxing and just throwing the ball everything in bowling gets better especially the enjoyment levels!
So, as to the masterpiece – phooey, just throw the ---smurfing--- ball! The idea is of course more broadly applicable to life in general, throw yourself into whatever it is you want to do with passion, expect to make a shitload of mistakes and persevere anyway. If along the way you get some grand design inspiration, your opus, your masterpiece, then great, go with that too!
Some of the most popular builds on here have been simple classic designs, cleanly built, capturing all that great arcade energy that many of us remember with ne’re a glowing LED, rotating watchamjigit or swivelling thingamabob to be seen.
The wheels are turning in my head Dave, a voice is whispering, "not nylon gears, straight cut alloy, faster, smoother, stronger mmmmm". ;D
yotsuya:
I dunno, speaking for myself, and just myself, the machines that blow me away are the ones that look like they could be sitting in a classic arcade in 1982 next to a Pac-Man or Space Invaders and not something that was made for the Dave & Busters crowd. I'm more into cabs with great functionality than flashy form. There are many, many projects that people love that quite honestly do nothing for me because of the attachment and view of these machines I have growing up with them- I would never say anything because that's my taste and I don't want to rain on anyone's parade. Also, I really do admire the craftsmanship on a lot of these projects even if, in my opinion, i can't warm up to it as an arcade cabinet.
Like Ond said - don't worry about it being perceived as a Masterpiece. That shouldn't be your incentive. Can it play Galaga? That's what you should strive for.
jennifer:
I build some seriously distressed cabs, things most wouldn't even recognize as games.... And its taken everything from me, up to and including family and friends, Ive been burnt, shocked, flat out electrocuted, Ive gone for days on the road chasing parts with nothing more than popcorn and diet soda, Ive got metal shavings embedded in my feet, Cut, bruised, and lungs full of paint, even had a game fall on me once, and pretty much left for dead....Why?, Because when that "Masterpiece" gets loaded for its new home I know in my heart it will outlive us ALL, and be there for the future generations.
JDFan:
The thing with the "Masterpiece" build is whose masterpiece is it ?? Just like artists in real life many times their "masterpiece" works are never considered that until several decades after their death and the artist that made it was never appreciated during his lifetime and other artists living at the time usually ridiculed his work. It's just the way things go when Human opinions are involved - As the old saying goes "One mans trash is anothers Treasure"
For the most part the feedback given is given in the hope of being helpful or trying to help avoid doing something that they have seen or done that didn't work out for them but you still have to be able to take all of those opinions offered, the praise and criticism, and filter out the nuggets that will help you build the "Masterpiece" you want. Use the responses to help along the way and filter out which you follow and which you store away for the next project but in the end only you know your vision and only you can follow the path that gets you there. In the end the one's that do build their "Masterpiece" all do one thing - as Ond pointed out - They Build the F'ing thing.
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