Scratch built cabinet with reversible control panel

[Scassidy24]

Here's my new cabinet in the works.



See that the control panel is a drawer.  double sided.  Here are the prototype CP's I will be using these layouts.  You can pull out the panel.  Flip it over and slide it back in.  Choose between trackball or spinner and driving games like sprint. Or flip the panel over for the classic fighters etc.




There will be a tinted glass overlay covering the lcd monitor and bezel.  Artwork for the contol panel still in the works.   No side artwork. Just going to finish outside of cabinet in black. The control panel artwork and marquee are going to be some sort of player 1 vs player 2 theme (red vs blue). 

I need ideas for a cabinet name people, and any ideas for artwork themes would be cool too ill post my CPO artwork so far in a couple hrs when I have time.




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[Scassidy24]

Artwork, needs something. I have limited skills in Photoshop/Gimp. I'm no artist but I'm ok with the very basics of getting around in these programs. 


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[Token]

I need ideas for a cabinet name people

Flip

+
Short
Works with retro styling
Doesn't have "Cade" in the name

-
People will think you are copying Blip

[markc74]

Cool idea - it seems a more practical idea than trying to do a rotating one. If you have a fold down panel in the front of the cab then you can cover the sticks/trackball when not being used.

Flip is what I'll be calling my just-about-to-begin virtual pincab but don't let that stop you!

[Scassidy24]

People will think you are copying Blip

Can you drop a link to Blips project? I'm curious


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[yamatetsu]

Can you drop a link to Blips project? I'm curious

The cab's name is 'Blip', it was markc74's project. Go to the I completed my project! I posted a pic and a link to my project thread sticky. Blip is the second post from the bottom.

[Token]

Just to clarify, your cab isn't similar to his, just the name I threw out is.


Looking forward to seeing this come to life, no matter the name. 

[Scassidy24]

Ok guys how's this.   "333 Half Evil"

The name came to me from a friend who saw it on a bumper sticker. 

I'm trying to decide on weather or not to do 2 Colors of T-moulding.    I am considering blue on the one side and red on the other.     For an all black cabinet except marquee and control panel art   I'm not sure. Maybe I should consider another color and the mouldings all one color.  I don't plan to have any runnin horizontal. Just up the sides, over and down the back.  The theme here is red blue and black so not sure maybe all white T-moulding or try the chrome? Or do red one side blue the other side to keep in line with the two player contol color scheme. I'm wondering if it'll get too busy or hard to look at with two. Colors.

Your input please


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[Scassidy24]

Also is there a moderator who can change the title of this thread from "scratch built panel..."  To "scratch build cabinet...."
Thanks.


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[vwalbridge]

Also is there a moderator who can change the title of this thread from "scratch built panel..."  To "scratch build cabinet...."
Thanks.


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You can change the title yourself. Just go back to your first post in this thread and click "modify"

[Scassidy24]

ahh, it seems i am a little less lost in a web browser vs tapatalk app.  thanks for the tip , got it done!

[Token]

Ok guys how's this.   "333 Half Evil"

I don't get it. Is this a Two-Face kinda thing?

Hey! How about "Two-Face"?

[yamatetsu]

The black / white one obviously would need white buttons / joysticks, the blue / red should have the blue buttons / joystick on the left side.

I would prefer the black & white version, simply because I am a sucker for simple black & white designs.

[Scassidy24]

Bravo!

That is inspirational work!

I think I'll try to work out some sort of art for the front of The CP as well that will also work upside down . Keeping in mind that the CP flips over.


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[yotsuya]

I would prefer the black & white version, simply because I am a sucker for simple black & white designs.

Agreed. I don't ever think I've seen a two-color t-molding cab that I thought looked right.

[DeLuSioNal29]

If you're a Batman fan, you can go all out and make it a 2 face theme.



DeL

[dmckean]

I think the black and white with red and blue buttons looks really sharp.

[stigzler]

Great idea on the pull n flip CP.

I quite like the simple lines of your cab. I'd keep the CP as the main feature and wouldn't bother with the two-tone t-molding. It'll detract from your unique design feature, being the CP.

Not sure on the name, either. Bumper sticker mottoes tend to tarnish with time. tbh, I wouldn't link the name to the feature - just pick something that's going to give you a color scheme and a theme for any graphics/artwork.

[reptileink]

Jekyll and Hyde 

One side CP art Jekyll face
Other side Hyde face

Marquee


Go with black cab, red t-molding, white buttons?

[reptileink]

Starting to feel like I killed the thread.....lol

[burn_654]

Very interesting idea! I like it.

Are you planning to have some kind of disconnect/harness plug for the control panel box or will it stay wired in while flipping it over? I'd make sure you have plenty of slack if the latter, considering you have to pull the panel all the way out and flip it, don't want to yank any control wires out.

[Scassidy24]

I'm leaning toward the black & white too.  I don't plan to have a disconnect, just lots of slack and Ideally I'll be around if people are flipping the control panel. It stays in my basement and so far the long time I've had other cabinets I've never not been there (double negative :p) when somebody's playing.

The glass for my bezel is finally ready for pickup at the local glass store.  I'm no farther ahead on artwork, and it'll take a week from the time I order it.

Hopefully some more progress to report soon!

 

[Scassidy24]

Just ordered white T moulding and all the remaining buttons I was missing also red and blue Happ sticks.

Hopefully I'll get the router out tonight.

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[vwalbridge]

I'm curious why all your pictures have an Instagram filter?

[Scassidy24]

I don't know, I've never used Instagram.  The Tapatalk app has  free image hosting maybe it has something to do with that. I've uploaded all these fro my phone through that app


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[reptileink]

So not even a mention of the theme I posted 

[Scassidy24]

I Do like the Jekyl and Hide Marquee alot well put together .  I like it more than the two-face / batman theme, but I want to keep my cabinet theme more general "mame" on the whole. I'm considering keeping it unnamed and no title at all, just some nice blue and red color here and there, maybe a custom mame logo on the marquee. and leave it at that. Will have to get it together really soon. I'll soon be at the point where my artwork is holding up the project.

[reptileink]

maybe a custom mame logo on the marquee.

 Sorry to hear that. 


But it's your cabinet.

[yamatetsu]

Will have to get it together really soon. I'll soon be at the point where my artwork is holding up the project.

My advice would be not to rush the artwork just because you want to finish the cab. The artwork is what makes or breaks the cab. IMHO it would be a waste of effort to build a nice cab and then just slap some generic artwork on it just to get it done.

Using the MAME logo seems a poor choice to me, insofar as you are building a cab to get the authentic look and feel of a real arcade cabinet and then give it a name that says 'Hey ! I'm a pretender !"

You don't have to do fancy artwork, a simple paint job, a nice color scheme, maybe some stripes, would go a long way towards making the cab looking good and unique.

A good example would be Rick's Titan XL build.



As for the artwork holding up the project : It took me more than 6 months of painting, sanding it down again, painting it again, etc. to get my cab's paintjob right. Was it worth it ? Absolutely.
You have a nice build going, with a little extra effort you can make it special.

[Scassidy24]

The project is in limbo but not forgotten. Just got a 1/16" slot cutter for my router for t mouldings.  Artwork still in limbo.

Hopefully will have some new progress to post soon.



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[Scassidy24]

Some progress!  Finished dickering with the mounting of the glass bezel and cut the panel that holds speakers in place.   More hardware to secure everything. I have the marquee light and I've got the drawer working.  It dawned on me recently that it might not be a bad idea to make a secondary drawer with a keyboard and mouse mounted on it too.  We'll see about that it's not a priority



 

Hopefully more to come soon

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[rablack97]

Keyboard and mouse drawer?  No sir, these go for 25.00 nowadays.

[Scassidy24]

What is that called!? I want one

[JDFan]

What is that called!? I want one

YOu mean the keyboard above your post ?

THat is a logitech k400+ $19.98 at Walmart ( http://www.walmart.com/ip/Logitech-Wireless-Touch-Keyboard-K400-with-Built-In-Multi-Touch-Touchpad-Black/17253322 )

[rablack97]

What is that called!? I want one

YOu mean the keyboard above your post ?

THat is a logitech k400+ $19.98 at Walmart ( http://www.walmart.com/ip/Logitech-Wireless-Touch-Keyboard-K400-with-Built-In-Multi-Touch-Touchpad-Black/17253322 )

Yepper that's it.  Keyboards drawers played out a few year ago, when bluetooth became affordable.  Now it's considered a cab ruin with un-needed drawers and storage for mouse and KB

[Scassidy24]

 Well then, that ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- is played out.  Well put lol I'll see if I can pick one up when the time comes. Thanks guys I didn't know such a handy interface existed.    In other news, in the name of progress I tore apart the cabinet and painted with a 2 in 1 primer+paint.  I realize that some of you are probably crying on the inside because I didn't prime and sand and paint and sand etc but too bad for you guys.  Vinyl for the back, sides and front below the cp anyway so that paint is just really a primer the only place it'll get seen is in the sides next to the bezel and on the speaker panel and it meets my standards for that purpose.  Next to route the slots for t mouldings and get back to work on CP and Marquee art


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[Scassidy24]

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[markc74]

Painting is for suckers. Get vinyl on the sides 

In praise of the Bluetooth keyboard - I've got the previous Logitech model and it's great. Used it a year and haven't had to change the batteries yet so no need to compromise the build.

Looking forward to seeing the rotating panel. I may have missed it but how are you securing it so it doesn't pull out during er... Furious joystick waggling...

[Scassidy24]

I never though of. Furious waggling. I mean outside of the bedroom anyway.   Uhhh.   No seriously the drawer slides in and then drops about 3/8" as it gets all the way in.  Just the design of the rails. I would never have considered it to be a working solution but i noticed how nicely it fit when I used the drawer rails on my last cab for .... A keyboard drawer.


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[Scassidy24]

Update pic speaker panel and marquee light installed




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[Scassidy24]

Routed slots for T mouldings today!


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[Scassidy24]

Coming along very nicely super happy with the covering material.  Yes it's wallpaper but it's nicely textured and it feels really cool almost like leather.





The drawer is pretty sticky now that there's paint and I'm worried it's going to rub on the t mouldings and wear them over time . I've got to work on making it a little smoother


Also I'm going to put a steel kick plate on so I left a portion of the bottom front unfinished.




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[wemr97dl]

Really like the look of the textured sides nice

[Scassidy24]

Learning to use Inkscape as I go.  I've switched from Gimp after learning the difference between raster and vector images, and gotta say If anyone out there wants to tackle doing their own art this is the program and it's totally free.  Going to put the space invaders ship on the right side of the marquee and try to squeeze an asteroids ship under "nostalgia" and a couple asteroids breaking apart dead centre under the title. And I want to get a bit of a Galaga pixelated star field background. We'll see what my noob art skills can produce. This marquee is going to work nicely with the red and blue too so super excited about that.

So obviously I've also have settled on the Name finally!   The "Nostalgia Machine" which actually came from a friend who said his build was basically a nostalgia machine and I Immediately had a light bulb moment. So its got a name and inspiration for marquee art which will inspire new CPO art as well.



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[yamatetsu]

Going to put the space invaders ship on the right side of the marquee and try to squeeze an asteroids ship under "nostalgia" and a couple asteroids breaking apart dead centre under the title. And I want to get a bit of a Galaga pixelated star field background.

+1 on the star field

-1000 on the asteroids ship + asteroids. Don't put that much stuff on it, it just will look crowded. If you have to squeeze something in, it probably is too much.

If you are going to use the red frame, you should keep in mind that the marquee retainers will cover parts of the marquee, so you have to place the frame accordingly.

If this was my marquee, I would have the 'Nostalgia' text follow the planet's shape. Something like this :

[Scassidy24]

If you are going to use the red frame, you should keep in mind that the marquee retainers will cover parts of the marquee, so you have to place the frame accordingly.

If this was my marquee, I would have the 'Nostalgia' text follow the planet's shape. Something like this

I Love it! That has a more natural midway/arcade feel to it.  Here's what I came up with last night but I'm sure I'll be changing it now.
And a big 10-4 on the marquee retainer remark.

[Scassidy24]

Ok here are the final (I hope) artworks for the Nostalgia Machine ......





I think I may take a few minutes to re-do the asteroids ship as this one is a little too soft around the edges. Anybody have an opinion on that?



The trackball & spinner control panel has a Breakout rendition on it.  Just to clarify its not a poor attempt at an Arkanoid rendition it's it's a throwback to an even more retro time

I don't intend to change much else but feel free to make suggestions.


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[yamatetsu]

Marquee : I would make both the Nostalgia text and the spaceships a bit smaller, it looks a bit crowded right now. I would leave some space between the ships and the text.
The starfield. Where is the starfield ? I can't see the starfield. Must be going blind or something.

CPs : I think that the graphic styles of the marquee and the CPs don't match. The marquee has a blocky pixel style while the CP's looks sharp and crisp.
Another issue (for me) is that you just use the middle third of the available space for the artwork. That leaves a lot of space on the sides.

I would recommend to do the CP graphics in the same blocky pixel style as the marquee's, i.e. making the objects bigger and pixellating them. I would also suggest to fill the available space better so that you don't have the 'action' going on in the middle of the CP and a whole lot of nothing to the left and the right.
I would expand the breakout playfield to the spinners and make the objects bigger accordingly.

[Scassidy24]

A number of good points there, you've given me an idea, let's see what I can do about it tonight after work


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[Scassidy24]

Well I've tried a couple different takes on a star field and just haven't been satisfied with the results. end up being to busy for my taste and not authentic feeling so I've decided to pass on that.  This is the second time I've tried at it and I'm happier without any of my attempts being in the final cut.

I've shrunk the marquee text and ships down, good call Yamatetsu, looks much better .  and replaced the smoothed button border lines on the CPO's with pixellated looking blocky style button borders which definitely ties in the CPO's with the Marquee a bit better.  I can see a MaLa layout in my head that will tie them all together nicely too.

you'll just have to wait for the final product tho, not going to put any more pics up till after i get the prints. That'll take a couple weeks I'm sure. In the Interim period I've gotta do some other work on the cabinet, fix up the drawer which inst working nearly as well as I want and start laying out the guts.

[Scassidy24]

Kick plate and coin door installed


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[Scassidy24]

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[markc74]

Really liking the control panel artwork on this but not sold on the font for the marquee. As a pixel type font i think some embellishment could make it stand out a lot better. Maybe some perspective so it's leaning towards you or shadowing but keeping the plain colour could look good.

I'm not near my pc otherwise I'd mock something up for ya. If you're interested anyway 

[Scassidy24]

Really liking the control panel artwork on this but not sold on the font for the marquee. As a pixel type font i think some embellishment could make it stand out a lot better. Maybe some perspective so it's leaning towards you or shadowing but keeping the plain colour could look good.

I'm not near my pc otherwise I'd mock something up for ya. If you're interested anyway 

Man that's a great idea I wish I had thought of that.  It's already gone to print and too expensive to do again

[sabreerbasAlpha]

Some really nice work here mate  Could you not de-case those speakers? They look a tad on the large side!!

[harveybirdman]

I know you've already sent marquee to print, but it's too bad such a high quality build won't have better artwork.

[Scassidy24]

Picked these up today! Pictures don't do them justice


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[Scassidy24]

I must have mis-measures the plastic discs on the joysticks. I expected more of the white to be covered up, otherwise I love it and I'm really happy with how the installation of this CPO went.



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[Wyo]

Ok here are the final (I hope) artworks for the Nostalgia Machine ......





I think I may take a few minutes to re-do the asteroids ship as this one is a little too soft around the edges. Anybody have an opinion on that?



The trackball & spinner control panel has a Breakout rendition on it.  Just to clarify its not a poor attempt at an Arkanoid rendition it's it's a throwback to an even more retro time

I don't intend to change much else but feel free to make suggestions.


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I love that marquee. Looks great!

[Scassidy24]

Wiring next


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[n3wt0n]

The artwork came out really pixelated compared to what you had on screen. Did you change it to look like that or did you just send art to the printer that was incredibly low quality? 

[Scassidy24]

The artwork came out really pixelated compared to what you had on screen. Did you change it to look like that or did you just send art to the printer that was incredibly low quality?

I changed it to look like that to help tie it in with the pixelated text on the marquee.   It's 300dpi

[Scassidy24]

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[Scassidy24]

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[yamatetsu]

Looking good.

Another suggestion : How about painting the CP edges white and putting a white line between the upper CP edge and the screen ?



IMHO white CP edges would make the CP pop a but more when looking at the front. Adding a white divider between the CP and the screen would enclose the CP and make it looke like a playfield (see 3rd pic).

[Scassidy24]

Looking good.

Another suggestion : How about painting the CP edges white and putting a white line between the upper CP edge and the screen ?

Hah! I was out picking up some tidbits for electrical work and did have a look around for some white pin striping.   We're on the same page here. I actually was thinking more about above the glass doing it along all of the seams and down the edge of the glass


Man that glass is dirty. 

[Scassidy24]

Been working on wiring today here is how you make a nice raceway out of zip ties.




Got the opti wiz and turbo twist cards installed. Wiring on the most tedious level is done.



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[Scassidy24]

All buttons on both panels are wired and "on" all the time

I just took leads from the 4 buttons each player has on the spinner/trackball control panel and tied them in to the leads on the corresponding buttons fighter stick control panel



In hindsight I have close to 20 wires in total so if I were doing this on another build I would just make a 24pin connector to make any future disassembly much easier to do

[Vidiot]

That is some beautiful wiring! Good job!  Love the ziptie "raceway". I'm gonna remember that for future projects.

[Scassidy24]

Really really busy in there now. Including a USB hub to minimize the wiring leaving the control panel

Got it down to a single USB cable and wiring for the coin door.


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[Scassidy24]

Getting soooo close



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[fablog]

Like it a lot. Good job!

[Scassidy24]

Marquee!!!!!!

Cabinet still needs a back but I have to find some chassis fans that come with guards before I close it in.  Also I have some various electrical ease of use type things to do like wire in a hidden power button for the system as well as a few cosmetic touches.

And a lot of work on the front end for aesthetics and ease of use. Game lists and artwork for the games etc.











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[Vidiot]

Nice job! The marquee looks really good all lit up. 

[Scassidy24]

Just an update on things,
New MaLa layouts done with tree setup and I've tweaked configurations with MaLa and project 64 and Zsnes for seamless integration into the front end in and out of game.  Still working on a way to get n64 USB controllers to work for 3rd and 4th player although they're not always plugged in so mame seems to forget about them. Gonna try binding the joystick button presses to key presses to circumvent that issue but will need to see how that effects the way the console emulators work. It would be best if it only had to be done that way for Mame if the software that does it can be turned on when just mame games are run and not used  for other console setups like PJ64 because of the need for analog input on the stick

Lots of tweaking on the software end. Have enjoyed some gaming too of course

Took a while but I've got trackball and spinners working well for any game we might play. From golden tee to centipede to sprint and everything in between. Had a hard time at first with lag Turned off all of the nice cosmetic features.  Waitvsync triple buffer, HLSL and couldn't figure out how to get things working but then realized enabling auto frame skip in mame was the solution. Turned back on HLSL and all works great.

Also did some patching up behind the scenes to keep light from the marquee from shining thru around the speakers etc.  Still need to put a back on the cabinet and if I do that will need some fans mounted somewhere to help keep the pc cool. 


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[yamatetsu]

Still working on a way to get n64 USB controllers to work for 3rd and 4th player although they're not always plugged in so mame seems to forget about them.

Setting the rom's .cfg file's attributes to 'read only' seems to do the trick.
Let's say you want to play 'simpsons' with four players. Plug the N64 controllers in. Start the game, hit 'TAB' to open up the menu, go to 'Input (this machine)', configure players 3 and 4.
Exit mame.

Go to your mame directory. There should be a subfolder called 'cfg'. Open it. There should be a file called 'simpsons.cfg'. Set this file's attributes to 'read only'.
You now should be able to play the game properly with and without the N64 controllers (although without them players 3 and 4 will probably be configured to the mame default).

[Scassidy24]

Still working on a way to get n64 USB controllers to work for 3rd and 4th player although they're not always plugged in so mame seems to forget about them.

Setting the rom's .cfg file's attributes to 'read only' seems to do the trick.
Let's say you want to play 'simpsons' with four players. Plug the N64 controllers in. Start the game, hit 'TAB' to open up the menu, go to 'Input (this machine)', configure players 3 and 4.
Exit mame.

Go to your mame directory. There should be a subfolder called 'cfg'. Open it. There should be a file called 'simpsons.cfg'. Set this file's attributes to 'read only'.
You now should be able to play the game properly with and without the N64 controllers (although without them players 3 and 4 will probably be configured to the mame default).

Excellent,  that was my next idea.  Thanks!

[Scassidy24]

It worked thanks


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[yotsuya]

That raceway is pretty tight, bro.

[n3wt0n]

Everything came together well. The build looks real nice. Congrats.



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[Scassidy24]

Just realized I never put any picks of my front end up. This was done with MaLa using a tree.  Don't think I would use MaLa again but it's done now as much as I am willing to work on the front end anyway.

I am still thinning out the rom lists and tweaking game settings and gathering any snaps/previews that are missing from games. 

A really cool bonus. The Pc goes to sleep and all I have to do to bring it back in is give the cab a nudge because the trackball will register movement and wake it up.  Right back into MaLa. I like that.  It's fun.   I have the lights for the coin door wired to the pc as well so when the machine wakes up those turn back on too!


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