"NOSTROMO" - The Vigolix/Vewlix Inspired Hybrid

[SMEAR_FLA]

Hi Everyone,

Just recently I finally got the free time and access to the tools I need to make my own cab. I've been lurking the forums for awhile now checking out people's builds, getting ideas and learning alot.

I've had a Mame cab before; a giant 2-player beast with a 27 inch CRT TV inside and a giant control panel that didn't mesh well with normal sized door frames. I purchased the cabinet pre constructed for $300, but due to some "limitations" and not-so pleasing to the eye looks, I parted ways with it, almost breaking even after abusing it for a year. I was able to learn a lot from that cab, especially the intricies of MAME and other emulators and how control panels work, and I've been fighting the urge to build my own from scratch ever since.

Just recently, I laid eyes on the Vigolix and thought it was a great idea,constructing a cab from one piece of MDF. I went out the next day, purchased a new saw, and went to work.

I'm not too far in at this point, but though I would share my progress and keep new pictures coming in as it slowly becomes a working machine.

A few notes:

-The cab is made from one 4' x 8' sheet of 3/4" MDF.

-The plan is to have a 32" LED TV as the display

-I'm using a mini-pac, with Happs Super Joysticks and convex buttons (all black)

-I'll be cutting the trapezoid design out of the sides like the original Viglolix. They won't be solid triangles. 

-It's hard to tell in the pics, but the height of the cab is just under 6ft tall. My wife is 5"4 and can rest her hands confortably on the control panel and play standing up. I'm 5"10 and have to bend slightly to comfortably play standing up, but this is probably going to be play sitting on a stool most of the time.

-I'm undecided on a color scheme at the moment.

-I'll be putting PC inside, which I haven't purchased as of yet.


This little saw is amazing for 3/4 MDF. Cuts like butter



The first sketch/concept



Beginning Stages:





I'm going to close off the top of the base for the PC and subwoofer to sit on. Still undecided on how I'm going to close the back.





I've got quite a bit left to do as you can see, but I'll try to keep the pics coming in.

[Locke141]

Nice start.

The Vigolix is a great first build. Wish I did mine before the pedestal. Take you time and you should have something to be proud of.

Edit: It looks like your CP is below the lip of it's frame. It that so it will be even when you add plxi?   

[SMEAR_FLA]

Nice start.

The Vigolix is a great first build. Wish I did mine before the pedestal. Take you time and you should have something to be proud of.

Edit: It looks like your CP is below the lip of it's frame. It that so it will be even when you add plxi?

Thanks.

In regards to the CP, I'm torn between flush mounting it (no lip) or leaving the lip and adding plexi. I'm leaning plexi; I think it would look more slick.

[Locke141]

Plxi can be nice. If your using lit buttons you could easily add edge lit design, I did in my Beat'em up-X build with out even trying. Just make sure if you do there will be no lip when its installed.

[SMEAR_FLA]

I've been working on a color scheme while the weather gets less crappy and the owner of the tools I'm using has some availability. 

I didn't want to do a full fledged in-your-face "theme", but something more understated like the Vigolix and Vewlix cabs have. With the straight lines/angles of the cab, I thought about going with a theme based on an element from one of my favorite movies of all time, Alien. Instead of an Alien cab, which I've seen done around these parts (and very nicely I might add), I'm looking at going with something along the lines of the below:

Here are the colors:



Here's the idea for the marquee (not my original artwork - planning on modifying it slightly)



I plan on getting a vinyl decal cut for the logo and placing it on the front of the cab in the bottom left corner above the black bottom piece. It's not going to be large. Just something that might actually be stuck to the side of a piece of a ship. I also want to make a very simple and clean control panel overlay (in grey, since my controls are all black) and putting the logo in the bottom left of that as well.



Any opinions?

[otsep]

Love it.  Nice & clean.

[danny_galaga]

Nice work (",)

Are you in the US? Would be nice if you were in Australia, because at least YOU would appreciate my USCSS NOSTROMO t-shirt if I came over to play that cab

[SMEAR_FLA]

Nice work (",)

Are you in the US? Would be nice if you were in Australia, because at least YOU would appreciate my USCSS NOSTROMO t-shirt if I came over to play that cab

Thanks.

I'm in the U.S. I have a Nostromo shirt as well. I get a few comments/nods every once in a while when I wear it.

I'm considering using this design (not mine, again I will be modifying slightly) for the control panel overlay. It's a little busy, but I think it will look good against my all black buttons and joysticks. I think it would be kind of cool, like the blueprints of the ship laying out on the panel.

[yotsuya]

I commend your design choices. The blueprints might work because you're not obscuring faces or putting joysticks into crotches or anything like that. 

[Admiral688]

That would look awesome with a weathered paint look....like something you'd find in cargo storage or a computer kiosk. I remember something similar in a custom pc build and it really looked bad ass.

[tkersting]

Very nice clean build.

[Vigo]

I am really looking forward to seeing where this one is going. I was wondering where I heard Nostramo before. I needed the visuals you posted. Man it has been years since I watched Alien. Great theme. This is looking like a real quality build. It seems you really know your stuff. 

[SMEAR_FLA]

Made some more progress after a putting in a few hours yesterday.

1. Got the cuts out of the side done.
2. Drilled the control panel (just waiting on my overlay from Game On Grafix to arrive to start wiring  )
3. Attached the piece for the monitor mount
4. Figured a way to secure the bezel

Please ignore the sloppy cut on the top side of the marquee piece, it will be fixed soon. I'm also debating on whether or not to stick with the Happs Supers I bought or buy some ball top 8-way joysticks from GGG.

[otsep]

Nice and Flo-Grown


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[otsep]

What button template did you use?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SMEAR_FLA]

What button template did you use?

I used this one from Slagcoin:



I dropped the two off the end of the top and bottom row (obviously) and played around with the 7th button position to fit my liking. I used a button template and moved it where it was most comfortable for me. I went with the 7 button layout because I mostly play fighters and wanted a more natural Neo Geo layout.

[BorgDog]

Looking nice, great to see the awesome vigolix scale from original mini sized to bartop to full size 2 player.

[otsep]

I used this one from Slagcoin:



I dropped the two off the end of the top and bottom row (obviously) and played around with the 7th button position to fit my liking. I used a button template and moved it where it was most comfortable for me. I went with the 7 button layout because I mostly play fighters and wanted a more natural Neo Geo layout.

Perfect.  I'm struggling with what layout to use and I may shamelessly steal this idea.   

[SMEAR_FLA]

Got my overlay from Game On Grafix. I'm pretty impressed. I vectorized the original image of the blueprints so I lost little details, but I actually like how it simplified the image and made it more subtle and artsy, rather than an exact perfect blueprint with tiny little words.

I'm still debating on whether or not I'll be using Happ Super black bat-top sticks or picking up some black ball-tops. I'll probably go with the Happ sticks because that's what I have at the moment and I can always change them out later if I don't like them.

The buttons in the pics aren't fully attached yet. I'll be tightening everything up when it comes time to do the wiring. I was just really anxious to get an idea of how the final product will look. 

[BorgDog]

   Nice.

[DeLuSioNal29]

I'd stick with all black for the buttons, personally.  GroovyGameGear.com sells them:
http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=73&products_id=387


DeLuSioNaL29

[otsep]

Looking great! 

[SMEAR_FLA]

I'd stick with all black for the buttons, personally.  GroovyGameGear.com sells them:
http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=73&products_id=387


DeLuSioNaL29

I agree. I ordered some last night.

I also got my Happ sticks mounted and attempted to start wiring the Mini-Pac. Unfortunately, I was a little rough with the ground daisy chain that I ordered and broke a couple wires. And of course I had no disconnects on hand for repair, so hopefully I will be able to pick up some after work and get a few rounds of Street Fighter in on a working CP tonight 

[SMEAR_FLA]

It's been a while, but I finally got around to painting the cab (what a pain in the *** that was; it's still not perfect, but I can't and frankly, don't want to do too much more at this point  ).

I got the control panel wired up and fully functional. I've been doing little touch ups here and there, but I'm kind of stuck at the moment until I can order the monitor. Speakers are currently on the way (a little Logitech 2.1 system) and should be here this week. My next pics should come after I get the monitor mounted, the bezel up and the speakers situated. After that, it should just be a matter of plugging in a PC and figuring out the best solution to close off the back. Which is good news because I just recently found out that the wife and I are expecting our first kid at the end of November. 

[Vigo]

Wow, that metal gray really looks slick on there. 

[deadlast]

Smear,
What are the dimensions of your vigolix? I want to build one that would house a two player setup.

[botossi]

It's been a while, but I finally got around to painting the cab (what a pain in the *** that was; it's still not perfect, but I can't and frankly, don't want to do too much more at this point  ).

I got the control panel wired up and fully functional. I've been doing little touch ups here and there, but I'm kind of stuck at the moment until I can order the monitor. Speakers are currently on the way (a little Logitech 2.1 system) and should be here this week. My next pics should come after I get the monitor mounted, the bezel up and the speakers situated. After that, it should just be a matter of plugging in a PC and figuring out the best solution to close off the back. Which is good news because I just recently found out that the wife and I are expecting our first kid at the end of November. 

Congrats man! Be a father is really something! We just found out that our second will be coming by November also!

Smear, could you share your dimmensions with us?

Best

[lacanian]

Cool. Nicer than a Vewlix. Do you have enough room for people with long legs and big feet? As it slants I guess that distance is dependant on the control panel.

Can't wait to see the sound setup.

[SMEAR_FLA]

Cool. Nicer than a Vewlix. Do you have enough room for people with long legs and big feet? As it slants I guess that distance is dependant on the control panel.

Can't wait to see the sound setup.

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

As far as foot room, I'm 5'10" and have plenty of room to fit my legs underneath while sitting on a stool. My wife is 5' 5" and can comfortably play standing up. I have to hunch a little. I'm going to try to get pics with me sitting at it once it's completed.

The sound set up is really nothing special. I'm just mounting the left and right speaker on the inside of the cab, facing out underneath the control panel. The bottom of my CP is opened with a little gap in the back and in another spot underneath towards the front for the speaker volume control. It's kind of hard to explain, and a little messy, but I'll get some pics of it from underneath when it's done.

As for dimensions, I'll measure everything up really soon. I started just by scaling up the original Vigolix plans for a 4' x 8' sheet of MDF, however I made a few adjustments the further into the build I got, including getting creative with a few scrap pieces of wood I had laying around The good news is that it's solid. I got the 32" LED monitor over the weekend and set it on a card box to play a few games and it feels great.

The big things I have left are:

- Mounting the monitor
- Getting a piece of glass cut and painted for the bezel
- Printing the marquee and getting it mounted
- Closing off the majority of the back

More pics soon.

EDIT:

Here's a pic of the monitor in it's place for reference. Excuse the blurry phone pic and the horrible lighting of the room (It's my projector room where I watch movies).

[Locke141]

It's looking good.

I think the speakers may work better if you mounted them side by side instead of back to back. What I mean is speakers should not point away from each other. Perhaps side by side facing forward under the CP.

[taxidriver6]

Sorry to dig an old topic up, but wondering if SMEAR_FLA finished this cab? If so, can you share the dimensions, please? Think I'm gonna build a Vigolix 2 player for my son instead of a bartop.

Thanks in advance.

[acme64]

I'd like to know what the height of the CP is from the ground. I was modeling a similar one in sketchup and realized i don't have the measurement for that.