My first build: "Mimic"

[Arroyo]

Always love this build, glad to see it getting bumped.  I reference this a lot as a good use of an LCD, personally I think it’s the best use case.  You get the full bezels and proper screen sizes for the games switching from 19” and 25”.

Cool use of the mirrors Laythe, very creative.

[javeryh]

Always love this build, glad to see it getting bumped.  I reference this a lot as a good use of an LCD, personally I think it’s the best use case.  You get the full bezels and proper screen sizes for the games switching from 19” and 25”.

Agreed.  I'm getting close to finally building a 2P upright and this project will be one that I reference when the time comes.  The creative use of the monitor is what really sets it apart, IMO.  I just need to figure out a side profile that isn't too big...

[circusfreak]

Wow! This is a really nice piece of work. Great thinking outside the box using a portion of the TV screen to fill the entire screen area. If you are the first to come up with that idea, then genius! If not, then at the very least it an awesome implementation of it!

I really like the mirrors idea making it look like a row of machines.Nice little play space there.

Cheers!

[Gilrock]

Yeah I've got a Mame cab that uses a vertical 50" TV and I created a 1080x1080 viewable profile in the Nvidia driver.  I started it in 2014 and I copied the design from someone else.  I never finished the artwork which has kept the project from finishing although the cab is playable.  It also has a 21:9 marquee monitor.  This one looks really nice though.  I like the thin profile.

[lomoverde]

Like most people here,i love reading build threads,and this one really has it all.
Really helpful forbeginners like myself.And what a great ending.

[Laythe]

Thanks, vertexguy, emphatic, markc74, javeryh, mgb, Mike A, XSFDriver, circusfreak, Gilrock and lomoverde! 

There were a couple things that I wanted to respond to in particular...

It also has a 21:9 marquee monitor.

I wanted to clarify here in case of confusion that mine isn't a 21:9 marquee.   It's a LG M2900S, and it's wider and shorter than that.  (It'd be a 25.6:9 if you were using that notation.)  So if you're eyeballing it and thinking of using a 21:9 in a design, be aware that it'll end up 21% taller than this marquee is. 

Great thinking outside the box using a portion of the TV screen to fill the entire screen area. If you are the first to come up with that idea, then genius!

This is an interesting question.

I think that Maximus's Marvel vs Capcom: Revolution v2 was the first build here to go oversize vertical - least, the first one I could find.  I thought that he didn't mask off the ends to show a square, and exposed the whole screen, but on review of the thread I see he went back and added masking later on.  I suspect this is the 2014 machine that Gilrock mentioned that he got the idea from, but please correct me if I'm mistaken.

I had thought that Token's Moonshot and I might have been the first to do masked portrait builds here that only show the center square...  Token's thread predates mine by a couple months because he was posting while he was building whereas I didn't want to post until I knew mine would get finished and work correctly, so I only started my thread at the very end of my build - but we were building at the same time, and had the idea independent of one another.

But, it looks to me like Maximus gets the credit for invention there. 

As a five year ownership update... I'm still made happy by Mimic every time I play with it, which I still do pretty frequently.  I wouldn't change much if I were building it over again - I might have gone with a real coin door converted to coin buttons like Shapeshifter has, which would require a slightly wider center column.  I also might have gone with a removable interior-latched control panel in addition to that removable access panel below it that I used - but those are pretty minor revisions.

The illuminated balltops have held up well.  If you use a wire slip ring under the sticks and high quality teflon insulated wires to the joystick tip LEDs, it seems to be a valid long term thing.  I've had to replace microswitches in the joysticks quite a few times, but that's been about it for stuff wearing out.

[LTC]

That is some outside the box thinking there. Looks amazing, but.....












ShapeShifter update?
 

[Gilrock]

No I was just stating what size monitor I used.  Yes my design came from Maximus.  I agree my marquee monitor looks slightly tall but I do have the option to mask it with trim.

[cuppm]

Was the software ever released for others to play with or customize? 

[Laythe]

If you're interested, I can send you a copy, but it's pretty special-cased to this machine.  For example, I alter the emulation options for specific games that need them by hacking on the source code directly.

It might be useful as an example if you also want to roll your own front-end software.  Let me know if you are still interested, knowing that caveat.   

[cuppm]

I would love a copy, if nothing else than for my personal knowledge and learning.  I'm still trying to figure out the whole front end software thing - what existing packages do and what/how they interface with the controls and displays. 

[Laythe]

PM sent, cuppm.  I don't know that you'll find it terribly useful, but it may be interesting to poke at, and there may possibly be some assets in there you can use.

[Malenko]

can't believe I never commented in this thread before, I was positive I did. This is one of my favorite cabs (markc74's OG is up there too) and I cant wait to see shapeshifter done too!

[Laythe]

Aw, thanks, Malenko!

Shapeshifter has been sitting at "effectively done, save for a few small details that could still be chased" for quite some time - but if you want to see it done, then I guess I had better properly finish it and post some glamour shots.  That sounds fun again, come to think of it. 

So hey, thanks for the motivation.   

[zeorangr]

Despite having been one of the direct inspirations for my build, I don't think I've ever posted here either... so here goes:

1.  Mimic is truly an awesome build - well done!  Everything about this cabinet is quality, from the control layout and control panel detailing to the custom frontend / menu and dynamic bezels and marquees.  This build / this thread is one of the main contributing factors toward my decision to try building my own cabinet, and all the build pictures and diagrams really helped me when trying to figure out what I was doing, so again, thank you Laythe!

2.  ShapeShifter is simply incredible, and updates are very welcome. 

3.  The level of precise detail and engineering in your builds still makes me feel like (to borrow a minecraft reference) I'm just over here getting started punching trees and banging rocks together.   I'm still in awe of the amount of engineering that's gone in to ShapeShifter - custom angle on the screen, with a precise offset to move from pinball orientation to 'cockpit' - and THEN having the whole thing automated...  Truly amazing work.     

[Zebidee]

Cannot believe it has taken me 6 years to stumble across your build thread!

Impressive work. Innovative ideas. Practical. Love it.

The active bezel, marquee, RGB lighting for controls, servostick to change 4/8 way automatically, all very nice.

Makes me like non-CRTs more. I think I'll stick with CRTs and traditional marquees for now, but reading through the 4 pages of your build thread is certainly inspirational.

Will have to look at your shapeshifter project next!

Cheers 

[javeryh]

Will have to look at your shapeshifter project next!

It’s completely mental.  Probably the coolest and most ridiculously complex project to ever grace these forums.  It’s mind boggling to me that Laythe carried it through from crazy idea to reality when 99.9% of people would have probably stopped at the “sketch it out on scrap paper” phase.

[SCrandom]

Hello all,
I haven't posted here in so long (about 20 years  ) that I had to create a new account.
Inspired by this build, and a couple others I have seen, I went ahead and built a cabinet with an oled in the vertical position.  All of the bezel art I can find is created for 16:9 monitors...I was wondering if the bezel art created for this build is available anywhere? Thanks.

[markc74]

Hello all,
I haven't posted here in so long (about 20 years  ) that I had to create a new account.
Inspired by this build, and a couple others I have seen, I went ahead and built a cabinet with an oled in the vertical position.  All of the bezel art I can find is created for 16:9 monitors...I was wondering if the bezel art created for this build is available anywhere? Thanks.

I'd love to see some pics of that as it's something I'm considering for a next project. Bearing in mind how long it took me to get half decent marquees for my last one I'm not sure how much I want to get sucked down the hole of doing the same for bezel art though!

[bobbyb13]

If you are going to be inspired by a build then this one certainly qualifies as an excellent candidate!

Hello all,
I haven't posted here in so long (about 20 years  ) that I had to create a new account.
Inspired by this build, and a couple others I have seen, I went ahead and built a cabinet with an oled in the vertical position.  All of the bezel art I can find is created for 16:9 monitors...I was wondering if the bezel art created for this build is available anywhere? Thanks.

And if you think THIS one is good then you need to have a read through this gent's Shapeshifter thread.
 

[SCrandom]

I'd love to see some pics of that as it's something I'm considering for a next project. Bearing in mind how long it took me to get half decent marquees for my last one I'm not sure how much I want to get sucked down the hole of doing the same for bezel art though!

Really coincidental that you were the first to reply, as Blip was my primary inspiration for this project.  It is still the first bookmark in my arcade project folder  The attention to detail, color scheme, multiple control panels and dynamic marquee provided the motivation I needed to get started.  I will absolutely get some pics to post.

And if you think THIS one is good then you need to have a read through this gent's Shapeshifter thread.

I read the Shapeshifter thread as well.  Very impressive indeed.  Makes me want to build a virtual pinball cabinet next 


 I have only just completed the construction of the cabinet and am just starting to work on bezel art.  Unfortunately, I am lacking in the Photoshop skills department, so I pretty much have to make do with what I can find online.

[SCrandom]

I'd love to see some pics of that as it's something I'm considering for a next project. Bearing in mind how long it took me to get half decent marquees for my last one I'm not sure how much I want to get sucked down the hole of doing the same for bezel art though!

Rather than hijack this thread, I went ahead posted pics here:
https://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,168854.0.html

[ArtistTheGeek]

This is absolutely beautiful. I've been collecting inspiration and reference pics from this forum and the internet in general for close to 25 years now. I was away for a long time though (work, life etc) but came back about a month ago. I found this and.. wow. This is the first non-CRT project that made me think I could accept a flat screen cabinet. Just stunning. Everything about it.

I've bookmarked this and saved every picture into my inspiration folder for the eventual day I build my own. I've got the bug again now. Large part thanks to you and this project. Well done sir!