My first build - The AL-CADE (WeeCade Clone - 100% complete)

[MrThunderwing]

Hi all, after a long time lurking on the forum I decided a little while back to have a go at a build of my own. I've actually been a member here for just over 2 years now, but I tend to mainly hang out around the Racing and Driving sub-forum which is what drew me to the forum in the first place (as a massive fan of old-skool arcade racers). I've always been in awe of some of the finished builds on the forum and when I first joined up here I couldn't see any feasible way I'd ever be able to create one myself as I live in a one bedroom apartment and don't have a garage, a shed, a garden or anywhere that I'd be able to operate and store the necessary woodworking equipment to cut large sheets of MDF to the right size. Plus, I couldn't have a full-size arcade machine in my front room, because it would just dominate it. So I never really gave making my own much further thought. Then I discovered the joy of the bartop machine and recently found a seller on eBay that sells the basic shell of a bartop arcade cut to size and sold flat-pack style like this:



And I ended up making a spur-of-the-moment purchase. So yeah, a bit of cheating in the initial stage of the build-your-own part, but it's up to me to sort all the rest out. First thing's first, which was to actually assemble the kit, which I did using plastic fixing blocks. There weren't any pre-drilled screw holes, so I had to do those first. As someone who hasn't had to so much as pick-up a spirit level in the last 10 or so years, just getting everything straight and parallel was a major challenge, but I got there in the end...





The physical assembly side of things had to go on hold for a little bit the next day, after I managed to very cleverly fall off my push bike when cycling home from work and completely ---smurfing--- up my left hand. As my mouse wielding hand was undamaged, I decided to press on ahead with some of the art side of things and created a mock-up marquee and control panel cover in Photoshop. I then printed them out on a couple of sheets of some ordinary A4 paper so I could get an idea if they had come out the right size. The original design was based fairly closely on the original WeeCade art style, again just to see what it would look like in place.



I was satisfied with size, so I decided to individualise it more and veer away from the original WeeCade design. This is the finished marquee design:



And here it is in place with the slightly re-designed and coloured control panel. Again these are just mock-ups printed on several sheets of A4 and stuck together, not the finished products.

[pbj]

Sigh. 

[MrThunderwing]

Sigh. 

Yeah, I know you're not a fan of WeeCade's, but see my above post re: lack of space for anything else.

Anyway, during this time my left hand was out of action, I also went ahead and ordered some joysticks and buttons and also got a light to use for the marquee.





I haven't fixed the marquee light in place yet, I need to get some speakers in there first and then see where the best place to put it will be.





This was just a test run on the player 1 controls to make sure everything worked OK. Just tested on my normal PC using Windows 7. Very helpfully no instructions were provided about how to wire and ground all the connections using the wires provided. Fortunately I was able to figure it out with a lot of help from Google and this forum. I'm using a Xin-Mo XM-02 encoder with 30 Inputs. I figured there's no point in wiring all the controls up until I've actually got my control panel artwork properly printed and fixed in place. Whilst disconnecting the cables I managed to pull one of the crimped ends off that connect to the terminal on the buttons. Bollocks.



Here's what the control panel looks like with mock-up artwork in place and joysticks and buttons.

[MrThunderwing]

I bought a second-hand monitor off eBay for the absolute bargain sum of £23 complete with free P&P. It was advertised as 17 inch, which I mistakenly thought meant it's lateral width, not it's diagonal corner-to-corner width. When it arrived I was a bit concerned that it might look a bit too small, but I mounted it yesterday and I think it looks fine. I've made a mock-up bezel out of some cardboard, again, just to give me a rough idea of what the finished design will look like





I've also bought a big sheet of plexiglass to cut down into a marquee cover, proper monitor bezel and control panel cover. Although I haven't really got a decent workspace to cut stuff I'll just have to try and adapt somehow.

That's as far as I've got presently. The next thing I need to do is figure out what I want to use as the actual 'brains' of the machine. My initial thought was to use a Raspberry PI because of it's size and low cost, but I'm thinking that a small form PC might be better. As as well as MAME it would be cool if I could get Model 2 Emulator and the PC version of Outrun 2006: Coast 2 Coast  working on it and networked in with my other two PCs for some three player arcade racey fun times. I'm planning on surreptitiously adding some additional USB ports somewhere around the back of the cabinet to allow me to plug in a steering wheel or a pad with analog controls. I'll continue to update as and when I make more progress.

[a1pharm]

Ignore PBJ, that guy's got a size complex   

Congrats on taking the plunge and making an arcade cab.  Even though it is not a full sized cab, you'll still have full sized fun with it.

Part of the fun of any hobby project is making do with what you have, working within your limitations, overcoming unanticipated problems with grace, and (eventually) producing something you both enjoy creating AND consuming.  Bonus points if you can invite others to consume it with you.

I like that you are taking your time testing your artwork and other design decisions.  I rushed through all 4 of my builds, and didn't spend enough time enjoying the act of building/planning as much as I could have.  I essentially screwed myself by doing that.

As for your plans, I would advise against spending too much time/planning on finding a way to turn this into another computer you can use to play a network game from 2006.  If you are looking for a challenge with your software/hardware - go with a Pi.  It will be slightly harder to set up, and you will be more limited in your front-end options (forcing you to create or mod existing front ends for that platform).  If you want the option of an "over the top" front end (Hyperspin decked out with all related Emumovies video files, etc.), then go the PC route.  You might even amp up your PC experience by adding functionality for Virtual Pinball (this would make the PC setup harder/more challenging).  All you would need to do for a more enthralling pinball experience is add 2 buttons to the side of the cab (one button on each side is enough, unless you want a "pure" experience for certain tables).

In summary, ignore bartop haters, enjoy the planning/building, take your time, and go the PC route if you want to have more front-end and emulator options.  Bonus points for adding additional ports on the back to support stand alone trackballs, gamepads, etc. and for pinball buttons on the sides.

Cheers!
 

[MrThunderwing]

Thanks for the words of encouragement 

I decided to go down the PC route in the end. There was a computer fair close to where I live last Sunday, so I decided to have a look around and see if I could pick up a bargain. I ended up picking up a secondhand Dell Optiplex 780 for £60.







I was hoping to try and fit the PC in as it was, but even though it was small form, with the control panel joysticks and buttons in place the PC case was too large. I had to completely gut the PC to put the motherboard directly into the arcade cabinet. I've now got the motherboard screwed onto a bit of scrap wood from IKEA and I've completely removed the DVD drive as it's never going to used. The initial boot up after disconnecting and re-connecting everything back up outside the case was a bit sphincter clenchingly tense, but it all worked, so Hurrah!









The PC hasn't got a graphics card (although there is a slot for one), but it seems to handle the basic stuff OK. I need to keep OR 2006 in low res mode to get it running full speed.





I've set-up the PC from the bios screen so it powers on when I turn it on at the mains, so I don't need to use the on/off button. I'm totally unfamiliar with front-ends, but I'm assuming I can somehow power off directly from a front-end without having to exit to Windows? Because I won't be able to get to the power button once it's finished - I had wanted to try and wire up the power on/off to an arcade button mounted on the back of the machine. In theory it sounds pretty simple, but the panel it's wired up to has 2 usb slots and the mic and headphone jacks attached and looks totally different compared to the couple of tutorials I've seen. It's also connected up to a fan that sits in front of the CPU heatsink and has what I think is a temperature sensor attached to it or something. I'm not sure what's what and hence don't want to just start cutting into wires willy-nilly. If anyone's familiar with this brand of Dell and can advise I'd be very grateful to receive your input. Alternatively if someone could confirm that I could simply assign a button in Hyperspin or Maximus Arcade to shut down the PC that would also be cool.

I made a tiny bit more progress when I got home from work today and installed the marquee light. I also added a couple of metal brackets behind that which are going to hold the speakers - I picked up some el cheapo USB powered ones from the same computer fair which are housed in a small single unit, which is why I'm placing them fairly centrally (you can see them in the year of the picture of the Outrun 2006 title screen). They aren't amazing, but they are adequate, and I can always swap them out at a later date if I feel I need some better ones.



Before I start applying the first coat of MDF primer, I want to cut a small hole in the back panel to fit a small rectangular USB hub with about 4 sockets in that I want to try and get flush with the rear panel. I need to actually get one first though before I start cutting holes in stuff.

[pbj]

Once again, the problem with Weecades is that they look stupid, cost just as much to build as a regular size cabinet, are uncomfortable for two players, and take up just as much space as a real cabinet when they're set up to play.  People cannot give the things away on Craig's list or at shows.

I am just trying to protect people from unfortunate decisions.

 

[rablack97]

People cannot give the things away on Craig's list or at shows.

Well that would be because the probably sell them? 

[pbj]

Yes, they attempt to sell them. 

 

[rablack97]

Once again, the problem with Weecades is that they look stupid, cost just as much to build as a regular size cabinet, are uncomfortable for two players, and take up just as much space as a real cabinet when they're set up to play.  People cannot give the things away on Craig's list or at shows.

I am just trying to protect people from unfortunate decisions.

 

I know you hate bartops, butttttttttttt............

There are a few lies in here sir, if you spend 1500-2000 to build a bartop you're an idiot.  If your bartop takes up more space than a real cabinet, you're a poor building idiot.

If the build is done correctly they don't look bad, there have been some classy bartop builds.  Quality is the key.

I do agree 2plyr bartops don't make much sense to me either, just build a fullsize and be done with it....

Haruman has done well not selling these blasphemous things, so they can be sold, i've unloaded a few myself, so bartops don't sell, quality bartops sell. 

 

[dmckean]

I do agree 2plyr bartops don't make much sense to me either, just build a fullsize and be done with it....

I used to think the same way 15 years ago when I lived in the midwest and had a huge basement and empty rooms. Now that I've lived in San Diego in the typical 750 sq ft houses here for so long, I think about these things differently. It's always nice to save a little space or a little weight.

[RetroGreg]

I don't discriminate. I like full size cabs, bartops, cocktails, pedestals....  I like them all when they look nice. I like the weecades too. There's a reason they're so popular. This build is looking good so far 

[a1pharm]

I do agree 2plyr bartops don't make much sense to me either, just build a fullsize and be done with it....

I used to think the same way 15 years ago when I lived in the midwest and had a huge basement and empty rooms. Now that I've lived in San Diego in the typical 750 sq ft houses here for so long, I think about these things differently. It's always nice to save a little space or a little weight.

This is why you make a bartop - you have limited square footage.  Mr. Thunderwing appears to live in the UK, which historically is difficult to own significant square footage (unless you're stupid rich, which is always unlikely).  Moving a bartop into a closet when not in use (which is most days) is much easier than moving a full sized cab into a closet.  Also, wood and other raw materials are stupid expensive on islands (UK = island) and European countries in general have incredibly expensive tools and consumer taxes, which amp up the price of almost everything when compared to the heavily subsidized consumer culture of the US.

PBJ, saying bartops are stupid and you should just build a full size for the same price is like telling Western Sahara that importing food from Morocco is stupid and you should just grown your own.  It's ignorant


I do agree that the time and effort it takes to build a full size is essentially the same, but you need to also consider the other "cost" variables when making the comparison.  I also bet that Mr. Thunderwing could give 2 ---smurfs--- about a American arcade cabinet trade shows.

[a1pharm]

Move your power supply so it shares a "wall" with the rear of the cab - that thing gets very hot, and the heat may not dissipate easily where you have it placed now.  Bartops are more challenging to build from an engineering perspective if you consider the heat retention properties of the setup.  Take a look at the bartop build in my sig if you want a specific (and cheap) example of how to mitigate this problem.



Cheers!
 

[MrThunderwing]

This is why you make a bartop - you have limited square footage.  Mr. Thunderwing appears to live in the UK, which historically is difficult to own significant square footage (unless you're stupid rich, which is always unlikely).

Yep, right on all fronts there. I'm very limited space-wise, which is why a bartop is ideal so I can easily get it out of the way when I have friends and family over for a sit down meal. Just the actual process of putting it all together is taking up massive amounts of space in my front room presently. If I had a spare room, or even just a bigger front room, I would've happily gone for a full sized cab. Hell, I would've taken a crack at actually cutting out the design myself. As it is, if I put a full size cab in my front room it would look incredibly incongruous with the surroundings and would stick out like a sore thumb. Fortuitously though, I don't actually give a ---fudgesicle--- about any pf PBJs opinions and do in fact really like the look and design of bartop arcade machines. And as you rightly say, I couldn't give 2 ---smurfs--- about American arcade cabinet trade shows

I might have to have a little think about the best place to position the motherboard to get the PSU in a good position (nice bartop of your own BTW). The cable attaching it to the main board is incredibly short, so there isn't really any leeway for positioning it independently of the motherboard. I think when I tried positioning it the other way around the hard drive was getting in the way of the joysticks. I can't do any positioning checks at the moment though as I currently have my first coat of primer drying. I haven't painted the rear panel yet though, as I'm still awaiting a mini 4 port USB hub to arrive in the post, which I want to jigsaw a small rectangular hole in the back panel for. I still haven't decided what to do about a power on/off switch. As I mentioned above, I've set the bios so the PC automatically boots up when it's powered on at the mains.

Can somebody please confirm for me if there's a way to power off your PC from a frontend? If so I could probably get away get away without a power on/off button altogether...

[Frank Drebin]

You definitely can set the PC to poweroff on Hyperspin exit.  Just not sure how but I've seen tons of videos with it done.  Power buttons are nice and easy too though.

[a1pharm]

Shutdown solution:

I see you're using Xin-Mo adapters, so you can use JoyToKey in order to "program" the adapter to act like a keyboard for MAME

Program a button (or shifted button combo) for the following sequence:

WIN + D
(wait)
Alt + F4
(wait)
Enter

WIN + D = shows desktop
Alt + F4 = brings up shutdown prompt
Enter = selects shutdown

It's been over a year since I've done any JoyToKey configuration, so if you have anymore questions, you'll have to blaze your own trail (I won't be helpful).

Cheers!
 

[pbj]

I don't think anyone on this forum has ever once made an analogy that makes a lick of sense.

Boards are the cheapest part of these builds.  With a bartop, congrats you've saved $20.

If you can't fire it up and play it at will, it's not worth owning.  Dragging it out of the closet, clearing off a table, etc = Zzzz

Anyway, enjoy your cabinet.  Onwards and upwards with the next one.

 

[MrThunderwing]

Shutdown solution:

I see you're using Xin-Mo adapters, so you can use JoyToKey in order to "program" the adapter to act like a keyboard for MAME

Program a button (or shifted button combo) for the following sequence:

WIN + D
(wait)
Alt + F4
(wait)
Enter

WIN + D = shows desktop
Alt + F4 = brings up shutdown prompt
Enter = selects shutdown

It's been over a year since I've done any JoyToKey configuration, so if you have anymore questions, you'll have to blaze your own trail (I won't be helpful).

Cheers!
 

Thanks dude, that's awesome. I'm familiar with Joy2key so this sounds like a good solution. Frank D - thanks for the confirmation about Hyperspin.

[Nephasth]

...if you spend 1500-2000 to build a bartop you're an idiot.

Same could be said about full size uprights.

[Frank Drebin]

...if you spend 1500-2000 to build a bartop you're an idiot.

Same could be said about full size uprights.

Really?  PC with specs to run Naomi/Demul, Speakers, monitor, side art, controls, incidentals (wiring, etc), CNC...you can hit 2k easily.

[Nephasth]

Yeah, you can throw money at the thing all day... Or you could actually do some work.

[MrThunderwing]

Two coats of primer done and sanded down. First coat of paint applied. It's looking pretty chuffin' awesome now. The primer looked pretty streaky when I first painted it on, I knew I was going to need to sand it down anyway, but wow, my hand sanding was doing absolutely nothing. I had to dig my power sander out of the cupboard in the end and even that didn't get rid of the streaks as quickly as I though it would (but it did eventually). I made a tactical change to spray paint for the first bout of painting and on top of the sanding it's, so far, left a really nice even finish. I'm super pleased with how it's turned out.



I've contacted a local print shop today for a quote on getting the marquee and control panel artwork printed up. This is the finished design on both (not really massively different to what I showed before - I had to re-size the AL-CADE part of the marquee to take account of the plastic thingamabobs I've bought to hold it and the plexi in place once it's mounted)

[MrThunderwing]

More progress: I've cut the plexiglass down to size using a mini-rotary saw attachment for my Dremel. These are the marquee cover, monitor bezel and control panel cover. The black things are what's going to hold the marquee in place (some curtain rail cover things I've Dremmeled to the right size).



It took me two attempts to drill the holes correctly for the control panel because my old drill was so ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- and wouldn't cut through the plexi properly, which resulted in it cracking when I started on the player 2 controls (2nd and 3rd pictures). I bought a new (corded) drill today and it made short work of the drilling. Because of how you drill the plexi with a bit if wood behind it, I've now got some scrap wood with a perfect set of holes for a joystick and arcade buttons and a sheet of scrap plexiglass with 1 player controls that came out OK. I hate to waste stuff, so I could see this becoming a standalone joystick project...





A crazy thought occurred to me a day or so ago: Why am I thinking of paying to get my designs printed if I can could just do it myself? I've printed the marquee and control panel on two bits of photo paper stuck together and printed on a custom setting so the printer fed it through as if it were one big piece. I've spayed them both with some clear coat to stop the ink running. You can barely see the paper join. I think these'll do!



Although the marquee one isn't on a piece of transparent stuff, it seems to look adequately illuminated with a light behind it. I've also just modified the marquee artwork a tiny bit to get the AL-CADE lettering a bit better centred and the swirl bits positioned closer to the letters.

[Nephasth]

The Urkel-cade has got some competition...

[zinger]

I never drilled plexi but will need to for the alternative DK CP. Does it help to sandwich the plexi in-between two pieces of plywood when cutting it? The top piece of plywood would serve as a template and have the holes drilled perfectly in the right places. Or is it fairly easy to drill the plexi directly?

[MrThunderwing]

I had it sandwiched between the original control panel, which also acted as the template, and a bit of scrap wood underneath so the plexi wouldn't crack. On the second attempt, using a decent drill, I didn't run into any difficulties.

[a1pharm]

Yeah, you can throw money at the thing all day... Or you could actually do some work.

+1

[harveybirdman]

The Urkel-cade has got some competition...

 

By the way OP,  including "cade" aside, this isn't really a dig at your build rather a long running forum inside joke. 

[rablack97]

I never drilled plexi but will need to for the alternative DK CP. Does it help to sandwich the plexi in-between two pieces of plywood when cutting it? The top piece of plywood would serve as a template and have the holes drilled perfectly in the right places. Or is it fairly easy to drill the plexi directly?

Multi step drill bit, for the starter holes in the plexi.



you wanna cut the holes into the CP first using a 1 1/8" forstner bit.

Lay plexi on top, use the step drill bit to drill the starter holes in the plexi, then take a router with a flush cut bit and clear out the rest of the plexi in the holes. done

[MrThunderwing]

The Urkel-cade has got some competition...

 

By the way OP,  including "cade" aside, this isn't really a dig at your build rather a long running forum inside joke.

Thanks for the heads up. What's wrong with including "cade" though? It is meant to be a Wee-Cade clone.

[harveybirdman]

There's nothing "wrong" with it persay, it's just pretty basic...  Sort of the same thing as putting a MAME logo on your build.

[MrThunderwing]

Control panel finished! I realised my original plan to use a sealant spray on the control panel art I'd printed at home wasn't going to work as the glue was still making the photo paper go all wrinkled and weird no matter how thinly I put it on. I came up with a plan B which was to use some home laminating sheets and they worked an absolute treat.



Here it is with the plexiglass cover and both joysticks and buttons all wired up and working. Feels like things are getting that bit nearer to completion (finally). I still need to do a bit more sanding and painting on the case before I start adding the PC and monitor in permanently. I managed to find a seller on eBay as well who was selling an identical cable to the one the Dell has running from it's power switch and USB slot mini control panel, so I can have a bit of an experiment at wiring an arcade button in as the on/off switch without fear of ruining the original cable.

[MrThunderwing]

Since getting the control panel done it feels like progress has been a bit on the slow side and it feels like I've been in an endless cycle of sanding and re-spraying, with real life things like my job getting in the way. Feels like a bit more progress today though as i finally got around to installing the marguee.

[Slippyblade]

paint...
sand...
paint...
sand...
paint...
sand...
slit wrists...
paint...
sand...
paint...
sand...

Welcome to arcade building!

[MrThunderwing]

Yeah dude, I've been at that slit wrists part a few times now...

[MrThunderwing]

Nearly finished! I re-mounted the monitor, finished the bezel and added some fixing blocks to keep it in the correct place. The PC has now been screwed in place within and I've wired up the remaining buttons on the front and sides of the machine and it's now all fully functional.







I just need to do a bit more work on the back panel (cutting the hole for a small 4 port USB hub to sit discretely in, cutting a small hole for the power cord and a further re-spray of paint). I'm still unsure about whether to try and wire an arcade button to use as an on/off switch (not as straight forward with a Dell as other PCs apparently - I'm a bit worried about cutting through something vital) or whether I can just get by with software to shut the PC down once I'm no longer using a keyboard and mouse (as previously mentioned, turning on is no problem as I've configured the BIOS to automatically turn the PC on when it's plugged into the mains). Once all these bits are done I'll need to start thinking about what front-end I want use.

I also got the Al-Cade hooked up with a wireless Wi-FI dongle today and connected up to the home network I've already got set-up between my 2 existing PCs (I needed to make an ISO image of the dongle installation CD on one of my other PCs and then transfer that across to the Al-Cade along with a copy of Virtual CloneDrive as I no longer have an actual optical drive attached to it anymore).

This means it can be player 3 in my network for OutRun2 SP





(I think I might need to re-print the marquee artwork on a single continuous sheet, the join on the two separate bits of photo paper looks more pronounced with the light behind it, although I think these photos are making it seem more noticeable than it actually is in-the-flesh, so-to-speak).



Daytona USA



and Virtua Racing fun times

.

Oh, and Sega Rally of course, but I didn't get around to getting everything configured for it yet. Whilst the goal of the project was always to play the more traditional sort of arcade games you'd get in an upright cabinet (your Golden Axe's, Bubble Bobble's, Shinobi's R-Type's etc etc) the ability to add a third PC into my network was really just a fun little bonus, and also the reason why I want to add some easily accessible USB ports to the back of the machine, so I could plug in some conventional joypads for more modern racers (so I'm not steering with digital controls).

[MrThunderwing]

Shutdown solution:

I see you're using Xin-Mo adapters, so you can use JoyToKey in order to "program" the adapter to act like a keyboard for MAME

Program a button (or shifted button combo) for the following sequence:

WIN + D
(wait)
Alt + F4
(wait)
Enter

WIN + D = shows desktop
Alt + F4 = brings up shutdown prompt
Enter = selects shutdown

It's been over a year since I've done any JoyToKey configuration, so if you have anymore questions, you'll have to blaze your own trail (I won't be helpful).

Cheers!
 

This was really good advice, cheers! I've got a spare button which I've extended the wiring on so I can attach it to the rear panel. I've set joy2key to auto start-up when the PC powers on and I've set it to follow the key pressing sequence you suggested above, so I can close the PC down with three clicks of the button. I haven't had any thought yet about what frontend to use, but I have been experimenting with Xpadder so I can use the joysticks and buttons like a mouse.

[Slippyblade]

Why 3 clicks?  Just have it fire the script when pressed. 

[MrThunderwing]

Why 3 clicks?  Just have it fire the script when pressed.

I didn't need to do that in the end. I decided to go with Maximus Arcade as a Frontend and it's got an option to shut the PC down with a single button press.