Project - Spyder's 1st Arcade

[Deacon Zebb]

Hello everyone!
I wanted to start a post about my first arcade project. I have been doing a lot of research but my head can only hold so much information.

First off, my cab idea. It started out just an idea of playing Gauntlet: Dark Legacy. I have honestly gotten away from playing video games in general, and this project for me is more of a proving I can do it kind of thing, as well as I love this game! (and a few others). If I simply wanted to play the game I could buy it for a console system.
So, I mentioned it to a co-worker and he said he would help, long story short now I have two friends, one that will help me with the hardware/backend/internals (MAME setup) and one I am designing the cabinet with.

I have been playing around with MALA for the front end as well as setting up other emulators simply to see how they run. I'll try to break this down into a list of things that I am currently working on.

1.) Games I would like to play, (...honestly this is everygrowing, I have little cousins who I am also trying to think about.)
        -Gauntlet: Dark Legacy
        -Street Fighter Alpha III
        -Splatter House II
        - Older games, like Pac-Man, Arkanoid,Golden Tee, etc.
        - Castlevania: SOTN! (I have this for my PS1 and really enjoyed it, back in the day.)
2.) I am thinking that I can make the cabinet out of 3/4 MDF board. (I would also like to place a Vinyl (or other type?) of Side Art on the cab.)
3.) The control panel layout is tricky. I don't know a lot about all the types of games, or arrangements, but here is what I was thinking. For Player 3 a size button layout, 1 and 2 would be 8 (for potentially other systems), and 4 would be 6 as well. Again I'm not sure how many 4 player arcade games need 6 buttons for 4 players. As well as a track ball with two buttons to act as a mouse, and player and coin buttons (8 total).
4.) I would also like the potential to play racing games (co-worker request) and pilot games. (I believe I have seem articles on attaching them to the CP which I would consider doing as I don't want the CP to be 'busy', no one wants to be in the hall of mame shame.
5.) I was also considering light guns as a part of the setup. I believe I could holster these on the sides of the cab so as not to add to the CP itself, these could be added later but holes drilled now for the potential.

My biggest hang up right now is the control panel and all of the options. As stated I would like to easliy expand the functionality of the cabinet, but enjoy the main games I've selected.
Here is some of the biggest questions in my mind currently: (I'm sure there are forums for these, but adding it here as its a summary of current status.)
1.) Joystick decision. Gauntlet: Dark Legacy is said to use a 49-Way joystick, but many other games use 8-ways, or 4. Will Dark Legacy work well with a 8-way, or would a fighter like SF Alpha work with a 49-way switched, and is it easy or even possible to switch. Does an iPac even work with a 49-way stick?

2.) I believe I an going to go with an 1/8th inch thick CP as snap in Sanwa buttons (which seem to come in a lot more options than screw ins) require this setup.

3.) What are the buttons on the side of the CP for? Pinball games, or coin buttons? Speaking of Admin controls, how many buttons should I have for those and how do I wire those into my PC? What links to info might there be for that setup?

Finally, here is a Spec list of my PC I am going to use for this Cabinet. Gives people an idea of what I have to work with. (Haven't bought anything else, except a Sanwa JF stick and a few buttons to get an idea for CP layout. I also plan to layout my CP on cardboard before actually cutting for it. Any suggestions or directions are appreciated. Thank you for the time!

Description
XPS 8910
6th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-6700 Processor (8M Cache, up to 4.0 GHz)
Windows 10 Home 64bit English
8GB, 2133MHz, DDR4 up to 64GB (Additional memory sold seperately)
1TB 7200 rpm Hard Drive
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 730 with 2GB DDR3 Graphics Memory
DVD-RW Drive (Reads and Writes to DVD/CD)
Dell KB216 Wired Keyboard English Black
802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.2
Integrated 7.1 with WAVE MAXXAudio Pro
Wireless 3165 driver
Dell Laser Mouse
US 125V Power Cord

[jmike]

Seems like you've got a lot planned for this build, (trackball, spinner, guns, steering wheel).
The control panel thickness "1/8th inch thick CP" would be too thin. Especially when people start smashing buttons. You can always use a router to make the thickness around the buttons smaller but definitely go thicker  for the cp.

 

[Mike A]

You are trying to cram way too much into one arcade cabinet. You will enjoy the games more if you pare down your list drastically.

[rablack97]

Agreed really think about what your gonna play over time, half of those peripherals will collect dust on your CP.

[Mike A]

They also get in the way, and really complicate the build.

[rablack97]

3.) What are the buttons on the side of the CP for? Pinball games, or coin buttons? Speaking of Admin controls, how many buttons should I have for those and how do I wire those into my PC? What links to info might there be for that setup?

Yes those are for pinball controls, but don't do it, playing pinball on an upright truly sucks.

Admin buttons, overrated, once you get your games setup admin buttons wont be needed.   Only true (Admin buttons) you will need is exit, enter, and pause, I'd put a small button underneath the CP to get to the mame menu (tab).  Less is better sir, take our word for it.

You wire them the same as your game and jstick controls, and assign them to the keystrokes that activate whatever it is your trying to do, if EXIT = ESC on your frontend, then you would map your IPAC accordingly to that keystroke and button.

[PL1]

To expand on Rodney's comments about admin buttons, here's what the FAQ says about them.

Number of admin buttons

Commonly used admin buttons/function include P1/P2 Start (1/2), P1/P2 Coin (5/6), Pause (P) and Exit. (ESC)

To keep guests or children from accidently messing up their cab configuration, many individuals choose to not include a Menu (Tab) button and disable the shifted function for Menu. (P1 Start + joystick right on I-Pac)

There are several schools of thought concerning admin buttons -- some people prefer dedicated admin buttons, while others prefer using "shifted functions".


Dedicated admin buttons:

    PRO + Button functions can be clearly labeled on the panel art or using inserts in translucent buttons.
    CON - Too many buttons can be confusing and make a panel look cluttered.

Commonly used dedicated admin buttons include P1/P2 Start, P1/P2 Coin, ESC (exit), Pause, and others. Some console emulators may also require additional functions so be sure to install and configure desired emulators before building your panel.


"Shifted functions":

    PRO + Can make the panel look less cluttered.
    CON - When the "shift" button is pressed, any button pressed at the same time will output the associated shifted function. This may trigger an unintended function (exit, pause, menu, etc.) during a multi-player co-op game when one player performs a shifted function and the other player continues playing.

"Shifted functions" require a button/input to act as the "shift" button -- P1 Start on the IPac, HWB on the KADE, and Shazaaam! on the KeyWiz.

Pressing P1 Start and P2 Start will cause an IPac to output ESC. (exit)

Include an instruction card on the control panel overlay or screen bezel so family members and guests can figure out how to operate the cab.

Scott

[Deacon Zebb]

But I want to play all the games!

Seriously though, I'll try and scale back on my inner child's hopes and dreams for an Ever-all arcade machine.

I believe that I can get away with having 3 buttons on player 3 and 4. Get rid of the spinner(Could use a track ball, although possibly touchy in some situations.) Also take out the idea of a Wheel and flight stick. Crazy. The 3 buttons on the 3 and 4 player still allow for a wide range of games, but narrow out a few like Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara and the like.

I would like to Play Gauntlet Dark Legacy, as well as some cool fighter games for my cousins. This would make the 1 and second player have a 6 button layout. With the 'Shift' button I could have the potential for more. This could allow me to play Castlevania :SOTN.

I currently have a 46 inch LCD I could use, although I don't know if that's overkill. With the 4 player CP it might look okay. I know I need to align the four joy sticks and not angle them. I found player space information here http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=77537.0

Currently I have made a rough drawing in Sketch up, but am having trouble getting the CP faces to generate. I have also found this http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=37786.0 that has the MameRoom CPD although I only see Happ controls available to pick from and was going to go with sanwa controls. Although the Gauntlet: Dark Legacy uses a 49-way joystick and fighters are using an 8-way. I hear there is a way to change the 49-way to an 8, but I don't know if I can use an 8 way or not.

I will post again when I check out other advice as well as make progress on this project. Thank you all for the time and information!

[rablack97]

46" is way too big for an upright you'll blind yourself. 32 is about max that makes sense.  Plus that wont fit in your front door, so unless you plan on building it where its gonna be permanent, scale down your tv size too.

[Mike A]

Find someone with a 46 inch tv. Load up something with lots of bright colors like cartoons. Stand 2 away from it and concentrate on the screen. That will give you a good idea of what you will be dealing with.

[Deacon Zebb]

Checking out other projects on the site. This guy gives a lot of progress. I suppose I could try a design such as this to allow for the wider screen. Just thinking. It would also allow for easier mobility.  http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=134038.0

[Mike A]

You also stand further away from the screen with a pedestal. That allows you to use a bigger display with searing your retinas.