Not another Fix it Felix build!

[jay_red]

I recently realized that I never made a thread about my MAME build, and since I have been working on it recently to really add in the details, I figured I would show the history and progression of this poor old Donkey Kong Cab, and everything I learned along the way.

It started almost exactly 3 years ago, I got a wild hair and decided I wanted to build a MAME cabinet. A wanted ad on Craigslist got me a completely gutted DK cab for $60 delivered to my house.


It was pretty rough, but I was confident I could make it presentable again. It needed a little bit of wood work, it had a couple major chips on the front, and I just piled on the wood filler (years later, I would finally admit how bad I did, and fix it)




In what seemed like an endless search for the perfect monitor, I started with the laziest option ever. I found a cheap CRT TV at the thrift, and literally just set it in the cab...


Since I was using a PC in the beginning, video output options to a CRT TV were limited, but the video card on the PC I was using had s-video out, which I used for a good while. It looked pretty bad, but no one else ever seemed to notice...

Being that I enjoy fighting games, I knew the control panel had to have a 6 button layout, and I set off designing one. I ended up in the end pad hacking playstation controllers and using converters for the electronics.

My Paper Tempalte


I was not sure what do do about the actual control panel surface, apparently 3 years ago I had not heard of control panel artwork, because for some reason I thought it was the best idea in the world to make the surface out of a piece of wood laminate (this is the most embarrassing part of this cab, im surprised I didnt end up on crap mame with this...)





I am proud  of the actual  construction of the control panel, as I am terrible with wood working, and the fact that it worked, and fit well was amazing to me! The panel still is in use, though covered in some actual artwork now.

Looking at the pics, it would seem I was on to my 2nd "monitor" that was a better quality CRT TV, still hooked up with s-video . I did the classic matte black poster board bezel (looked terrible in person) The marquee was non lighted, because I was actually storing the keyboard and mouse behind it for easy access. Look at that marquee, it doesnt even fit right, it looks like it was bowing out in the middle!

This is the pic that I proudly showed one of my other forums, "showing off" my "complete" project


It stayed this way for a while, everyone that used it thought it was so cool (I dont know anyone else with an arcade cab) and I guess i thought it was pretty cool too. The only thing that bothered me was the monitor size/quality (I cant believe this was the "only thing") So I wanted the end all of monitors put in, but finding a CRT monitor over 19" was difficult, and I really didnt want to go with an LCD (pretty sure I had one in there at some point)

At some point around here I ended up with my 2nd cab, a Neo Geo 4 slot Big Red, which I did a full restore on in my garage. Once i got it in my house, and set it next to the MAME, it was painfully obvious how bad it really was:


After having the cabs next to each other, I had to get the final monitor in place. I ended up finding a Sony Wega 24" CRT on Craigslist for $20 bucks, took a chance on it fitting and managed it get it in there!




This screen looked great, and I would soon remedy the whole PC connected to a TV issue...

I cant believe I passed this thing off as complete! it was terrible, and the sweet Neo Geo made it all to obvious all the corners I cut. It was around this time that Wreck it Ralph had come out, my wife and I loved the movie, and had the awesome idea to "convert" the cab to a fix it felix clone. ( I swear this was when it was still a pretty original idea!)

Back in the garage the cab went to get the wood work redone, and a better paint job. I did a much cleaner job with the wood filler, going as far as to make templates from the good sides to make sure I got the angles right:



It needed some side art, while it looks good now, there was almost a disaster applying it that would have caused me to repaint the entire side!


Speakers mounted in the original location:


I needed to make some legit control panel artwork, so I used some existing assets online to create a template to match my existing control panel. I planed on covering it with an acrylic sheet, but learned quickly that it does not like to be drilled, let alone have 30mm holes cut. After cracking it to hell, and throwing things across the garage, I bought a Lexan sheet, and all was well:



At this point I was pretty happy with it, I had a new marquee made up which was just a PVC sheet with a full color print. I was still using the PC so I needed to still store the keyboard and mouse behind it.


Still rocking the plain black bezel...


My next hang up was using the PC for the emulation, I hated dealing with the front end, I hated setting things up, and most of all I hated the image quality.

I had always considered the original Xbox as an emulation box, but had been talked out of it early on in my build. After checking out both Coinops and Visionary, I was sold on ditching the PC and going full Xbox, and that was one of the best decisions I made with this cab. Once I got the Xbox up and running with Visionary 3 it was heaven, great interface, all the games I cared to play, no need for keyboard or mouse. Just turn it on and play.

The cab stayed that way for a while after that, wasnt really worried about anything else (I still didnt have a coin door though ) Then just a couple weeks ago, the bug to work on it hit me again... I was in Reno, NV for work, and the Hotel I was staying at just installed 20+ classic cabs! They had a DK cab, and after looking it over, I realized what my cab was in dire need of, a Bezel with artwork, and light up marquee!

I designed a Bezel that would work with my larger monitor, and got a marquee printed on backlit film. I still need to order the proper brackets, but my Home Depot DIY holds it all in place at the moment. I can actually say I am happy with the cab right now, I have a coin door on the way also!

Camera could not pick up the marquee lit up very well:


So there it is, this poor cab's journey to become something I can be proud to say I made. I skipped over a bunch of stuff, but if you have any questions about what I did, feel free to ask!

[Nephasth]

This could've been something badass...

[jdbailey1206]

 

[Cobolisdead]

Neat job man! I think that this is the first time that I have seen a two player 6 button FIFJR cabinet.

[DeLuSioNal29]

I like the color scheme shown below for the buttons better.  Why did you change it?


D

[jay_red]

I think i was randomly changing buttons for another project, and just put what I had at the time back into the panel. I probably have enough buttons to put it back to the original configuration.

[opt2not]

This could've been something badass...

Yeah, I got excited to see another FiF cab, but then I saw the CP. 

Nice job on restoring/repairing it, I'll give you that.

But as for critical feedback goes, here's a suggestion:  make multiple CP's.  One for classic FiF/DK play, the other for silly "SF2 on a Nintendo cab play".
Not trying to hate (too much), but believe me, having more dedicated controls makes the gameplay experience more authentic.

[jdbailey1206]

Yeah.  Trying to play Centipede with a joystick is not fun.  At all.

[pbj]

BYOAC naysayers in full swing

 

[yotsuya]

BYOAC naysayers in full swing

 

BYOAC gotta BYOAC.

[Nephasth]

BYOAC naysayers in full swing

 

When you look out, you don't see in...

[jay_red]

I can honestly say I didnt expect to get flack for my control panel  I have seen some amazing builds on here, all equipped to play many types of games, I had no clue I would get purist responses because I have too many buttons and an 8 way stick.

[ChanceKJ]

Honestly, I thought about giving you flack too, but i wasn't sure why. I did a little thinking and maybe its because it's marketed as a FixItFelix then built from an original Nintendo cab.  Really at the end of the day it's not my cab, It's yours. You do with it as you like.  Some people would rather see a piece of history restored to its original glory. These Nintendo cabs are in a special place for some.

I want to thank you for making something that resembles an original Nintendo cab, and not painting over it with thick black paint. It's more of a FixIt Felix themed MAME then FixItFelix build. I get it.

I'd go with the previous advice of making a second CP that has more of a traditional Felix layout. The design critic in me also says do something about where the display sits now compared to where it should be in that cab.

[EMDB]

I don't really get the "Oh no don't change the original CP" when building a cab based on an original one. It still is a MAME cab and you don't want it to have a 4-way stick and one or two buttons. Not everybody can afford or place multiple dedicated cabs.

I really liked the attempt to keep the CP as original as could be but still make a 2 player - 6 buttons out of it. I agree the initially used button color made the difference in this.