An 80's Classic Convertible: I'm taking my cab and leaving!!!!

[Maximus]

An 80's Classic Convertible

Goal:
Create a dynamic art (Bezel & Marquee) 2-player full-size MAME cabinet with classic retro styling that looks at home alongside dedicated Williams machines of the 80's. The entire face of the top of the cabinet should be easily removable and transportable for use on it's own as a tabletop machine at parties and events.

Features:
- All-leaf 2-player fighter control panel layout with WICO Sticks
- 43" 4K LED screen masked to 23" x 23" @ 2160px2160p square for dynamic bezel art
- 25" ultrawide video marquee masked to 23" x 8" viewing area
- MAME catalog for games up to 2 players using 4/8 way sticks with up to 6 buttons per player and/or trackball
- PC based OS with 4GB RAM, i3 Processor and dedicated 2GB GDDR5 video card, wireless connectivity and 2TB HD
- Built in amplifier and speakers.
- Removable base unit with coin door and lighting
- Retro generic art styling for polycarb CPO and full vinyl sides on top and bottom enclosures
- Full size cab, when assembled, minimal weight and footprint when undocked.
- Hyperspin front end with HLSL filtering for game area.


Original concept sketch was for a small cabaret


Uncontrollable scope-creep sketch - full width cabinet approx 25" wide, Williams style profile.

[pixelObsession]

Subscribed!  Especially curious how the marquee area comes together on this as I have a very similar doodle here on another thread but no idea how to "push" that area of the display forward.


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[markc74]

I'm interested too. I have a similar(ish) design on my head for my next cab but I'm thinking of making the top more like a tempest cab so i can have the marquee on the same plane as the screen.

Looks good though

[Maximus]

Updated the sizes, I  figured I may as well go all out or go home, so I'm going for a build that matches the exact dimensions of a Williams cab but with the smallest detachable face possible.

[jmike]

Looking forward to seeing your progress Griff.
Nice to see you building again.
 

[BadMouth]

you're still here?

[leapinlew]

I thought about doing this a while back. http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,70626.msg723874.html#msg723874

Good luck! I'll keep an eye on this.

[Maximus]

you're still here?

Aye. Like a bad smell you can't get rid of me.

I've been spending a lot of time on my classic restores and building my collection out for a while now. This past weekend I was clearing out my shed and found a lot of parts and pieces which got my brain churning. I figured it would be fun to come back to my building roots and apply the things I have learned over the last few years to a new project.

[Aceldamor]

Cool to see you back....Pinballs getting boring?

Have you spoken to Haru? He recently did a pedestal for a bartop...I'm genuinely interested to see this one work out..you have very original ideas and come up with very cool ways to provide solutions for your designs.

Also, curious to know if some of your other "dead projects" will resurrect.

[pixelObsession]

... the top more like a tempest cab...

I walk by a Tempest cab every day (pains me to say it has a 30 in 1 with an 8-way joy) and the design would work quite well to split a single display, although not quite the first thing people picture when they think "arcade"


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[jdbailey1206]

you're still here?

Seriously.  Whos the new guy?

[Maximus]

I'm going to use the dimensions of my Williams Bubbles cab as the basis for the full size docked configuration. I've fallen in love with Williams design over the past few years, for me they represent the golden era the most.

[Slippyblade]

Love bubbles.  Cool that you have one.

[Maximus]

Ordered the 4K screen, the Ultrawide monitor and a GT730 DDR5 video card. I chose DDR5 to keep the wattage (and heat) down while hopefully maintaining enough grunt to drive all the pixels on these displays, with this card I should be able to stick with a basic small form factor 300w PSU. At first I was going to go with a regular 1080p panel for the main display like I did in Revolution V2.0 but I feel like the bezel artwork will look even better at the 4K resolution, plus the price difference was only about $40 for the same size screen so I figured I'd just go for it and see how it all works out.

I took all the measurements from my Bubbles cab this morning so I can start drawing out the templates in Illustrator and getting a feel for how everything is going to line up.

[Maximus]

Plugged in the first set of measurements for the cab and used the measurements from the spec sheets of the screens I purchased to get a basic idea of how things will line up. (I'll refine these more when I have decased the two screens and double checked all of the awkward angles on the cab).

The blue shows the glass/viewable area of each screen.

The traditional profile accommodates the screens pretty well for the most part but you can see where they fall outside of the shape in a couple of places.


Modest adjustments to the marquee area and the front inset of the cabinet will address the screen sizes while maintaining the original Williams exterior lines, I really want this cab to look at home sitting in a line of original Williams machines, so I'm trying to stay as close as possible to that standard outer profile.

[Maximus]

Initial shape concept for the docked tabletop unit in the 'mothercab'

[yotsuya]

How often do you plan to make this mobile? Holidays and parties?

[Maximus]

How often do you plan to make this mobile? Holidays and parties?

Yeah it will be low use for these events I imagine, this is more about the challenge of making the idea work than having an urgent need to fill. I do however get quite a lot of requests to take my karaoke setup to people's houses but it is PC based and set up on my system in the arcade through the theater speakers and media PC etc etc so I can't really move it around very easily.

As this is a PC based unit, if I paid some extra attention to the built-in sound system it could easily double as a fun stand-alone karaoke machine running Ultrastar DX with wireless mics.

[rablack97]

SHHHHHH, don't you dare use more than 2 speakers or you will get reprimanded....and make sure it sounds like a phonograph.

Anything fancy or out of the ordinary you'll wake up the purist people, your doing something different, they dont like that.........SHHHHHHHHHHH

[Token]

Welcome back! I'm excited to see where this goes.

- 25" ultrawide video marquee masked to 23" x 8" viewing area

This is the best idea in your build. Dynamic marquees are nice. Dynamic marquees in an aspect ratio that looks like a classic cab are even better! 

Initial shape concept for the docked tabletop unit in the 'mothercab'

Why not put a few inches between the glass and the screen, like you did here?

[Maximus]

I'm trying to keep the daughter cab as small as possible . Adding extra inches behind the glass will add more depth to the cab.

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[Maximus]

Refined the Bubbles cab measurements and then factored them into the rest of the design, this is an acurate outer profile of the original Williams cab with the adjustments made to house the screens and daughter cab.

[Maximus]

ahhhhh the good old 'pile o' shiny new parts picture', what thread would be complete without one?

[DeLuSioNal29]

Wow, this new topic really surprised me Joel!  I had thought we had lost your forever once you started collecting actual machines!

Good to see you back at it!

D

[Maximus]

Wow, this new topic really surprised me Joel!  I had thought we had lost your forever once you started collecting actual machines!

Good to see you back at it!

D

I think we all go through cycles with this stuff, it will be nice to get back to building, this time with a bit more patience and dare i say more experience, I'm looking forward to getting this off the ground.

[Blackfoot]

ahhhhh the good old 'pile o' shiny new parts picture', what thread would be complete without one?

Where are the cupholders?

[jmike]

Cup holders? He sold them to me a while back.

Can't wait for this to come together. 
 

[yotsuya]

ahhhhh the good old 'pile o' shiny new parts picture', what thread would be complete without one?

Where are the cupholders?

Where they belong.... nowhere near a cab....

[Maximus]

Here's my first stab at some side art, trying to keep it in the style of an early eighties Williams game such as Bubbles or Joust but with a space theme

[Token]

What? No Dynamic side art?

I do really like what you've cooked up. Cool design.

[yotsuya]

The unfinished nature of the astronaut seems to clash with the detail on the other elements. But I like where this is going.

[Maximus]

The unfinished nature of the astronaut seems to clash with the detail on the other elements. But I like where this is going.

He is missing any black, I need to bring him in more with that

[markc74]

Liking it a lot. Love the Willian's shape. For some reason it's always the one i consider the true classic cab shape. Sideart looks really good and agreeing with Yot with the astronaut fixed it'll look amazing.

Are you planning on painting or printing sideart?

[Maximus]

Well I know I should paint it, but I'm not sure I want to subject myself to that much pain and cost, we will see.

Space dude brought into the design better with black and Williams logo added to sun shape

[Slippyblade]

Love the logo in the sun.  Nice homage there.

[Maximus]

If I decided to stencil then I could do a pretty neat silver version...

[vwalbridge]

Really great looking retro art. Don't see authentic retro art very often.

I have a minor suggestion:

The astronaut's right arm and leg look a little odd how/where they cut off. Maybe have them continue more to the edge of the cab and towards the sun?

[Maximus]

The astronaut's right arm and leg look a little odd how/where they cut off. Maybe have them continue more to the edge of the cab and towards the sun?

Yeah the design will need some finesse here and there.......OR MAYBE THEY WERE SEVERED IN A FREAK MICRO-ASTEROID ACCIDENT!!

[Slippyblade]

Yeah the design will need some finesse here and there.......OR MAYBE THEY WERE SEVERED IN A FREAK MICRO-ASTEROID ACCIDENT!!

Pfft, jagged stumps then.

[BadMouth]

IMO, what's off with the astronaut is that the suit looks like 80s/90s reality while the ship looks like 40s/50s science fiction.
I also don't like the abruptly ending limbs.  For some reason I want a tether or air line floating around until it runs out of the picture.
 
Maybe just ditch him and replace him with a flying saucer.   

[Xiaou2]

Pretty good inking style.

 Some missing highlights and shadows..  but not too bad.

 I kinda liked the Astronaut in without the blacks,  as it made him more of a background object.

 - The sun ?  (williams logo on it)   would not have a  "dark side" to it... but in some ways, it works regardless.

 - The astro. leg snipe...  its best to use a featured line that exists,  to follow the cut-off.   For example, cut off his left side stump at the first line, that starts at his crotch.   Follow the same angle of the line all the way across the cut off.

 - Another method of cut-off,  is to use a jagged edge fade... much like Asian inked lettering.

 - Inked works, tend to work better, when there is a black outline on all objects.   It would help for example,  separating the moon from the rocket.   Other methods are to invert colors on the breakups... however, that would not work with this kind of piece.

 - Whatever method you use to shade... should be duplicated equally on all objects.  Except when depicting depth...   for example, objects in a distance should be less detailed, and have less shading contrast.   Where as objects nearest, should have greatest details, with highest contrast shading.

 - Use of a banner / logo .. or broad or pinstripe lines... could also act as a separation level for the astronaut cut-off.

 - If you are sticking with grayscale,  then space might be better kept pure black.

 - If you are using blues, maybe better to also use black as the color for space.. and the blue as a dark-highlight.   Use white or yellow for the light-highlights  (each on opposite sides of all objects)    This simulates dual lighting,  such as a sun on one side.. and a dimmer moon/planet-light ... on the other.     And or at least adds a "cool" color to represent the shadows, without going full black... and or an accent added as a step in between black.

 - The art does look a bit busy... and a little flat.   To help this... you might consider changing the various sizes of objects.   If the Rocket is in front... then leave that as the largest object, and shrink the moon a little... and make the full astronaut 1/3 rd in size.    Or reverse that... and make the moon 1/3rd its size... and just reduce the astronaut size to 3/4ths its current size ..   keeping the rocket as the main focus.

 - Remember, that the Rockets flame tail,  is a source of light.   It should be bright, and it should light up edges of the rocket that are near it.

[Xiaou2]

Just playing around with some sizes / colors ...

 

[Superfrog]

Just playing around with some sizes / colors ...

The silver one is really good now, and that for a little playing around 
The size of your design is now in balance

[yotsuya]

While I get what you're doing, I think it runs counter to what Griffin's designing. He's trying to make something that looks era authentic. You would only have used maybe 2-3 colors at the time. Look at any classic sprayed cab.

[Maximus]

Yep 3 to 4 colors max for a Williams style art scheme. Bubbles only had 3 while Joust had 4 for example.

[Xiaou2]

While I get what you're doing, I think it runs counter to what Griffin's designing. He's trying to make something that looks era authentic. You would only have used maybe 2-3 colors at the time. Look at any classic sprayed cab.

 Sure, I get it.   But the size changes, and composition still can apply.

 I changed the angles and positions as well... to form a back and forth snake from bottom to top, that your eye follows up the cabinet.

 The size changes also create more space, and less clutter..   and allow for a greater feeling of depth.   Also allowing the guy to have his legs and feet back

 The extra colors,  well,  I just figured it was close in approximation to the way I recall the williams games looks,colors, and bezels.

  Anyways, it was a fun little dabble. 

[Maximus]

You guys are funny

[Maximus]

Haven't forgotten about this, it's still on the radar with one adjustment, I will be using this cab as my "base-station" for a VR rig too, so it will have a much more powerful computer in it than first planned and inputs to plug in a VR headset.

I did a lot of work rearranging the game room to release a small amount of floor space so I can do room scale VR in there...



The space in front of the theater seats is now approx 13'x7' which is a pretty decent size for VR. So with the game in the lineup along the wall next to the open space the headset will just connect under the front of the control panel and the cables will run out into the open space.



I'm close to finishing the build for the VR rig, just waiting on the new Nvidia GTX 1080 to become available and it will be done


I haven't decided on which VR rig to go with yet, but it will most probably be the HTC Vive due to their ground-up implementation of hand tracking.

[Slippyblade]

Sooo pretty.  *drool*