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javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"]
javeryh:
Current Status:
To Do:
* Get ServoStik working using RGB Commander
* Paint dustwasher (white?)
* Finalize game lists
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For my first arcade project in 9(!) years I've decided to make a small custom bartop cabinet for my son. I am pretty much out of space at home for full-sized cabs but the itch to build something just won't go away. Since I last finished my DK+ I have put an addition on my house and put a movie theater in my basement - those projects took a ton of time (and money) but were well worth it. The movie theater means I don't have as much space for upright cabinets as I'd like so my solution is to build a bartop that my son can play in his room and easily move around the house if he wants.
Goals:
- Small footprint. I do not really like the hulking 2P bartops that I see all over the place. They look huge and at that point you might as well build a full sized cab, IMO.
- Intuitive functionality. I want it to be obvious to users how to operate the cabinet. Power on, boot straight to game list, select and exit games at touch of a button, power off.
- Focused gamelist. I do not need to be able to play 5000 games - just the classics and maybe a few lesser-known gems. Arcade only (no console games).
- Focused theme. I want this to look like it's own thing so no marquee that says "Mamecade" or "Arcade Classics" or whatever other generic thing people do.
Expanding on the focused theme, I'm leaning towards calling it "Jack Attack!" because my son's name is Jack. The font for the marquee will be similar to the "Mars Attack!" movie poster.
The side art and CP art will hopefully match the font - retro style I guess - with some 50s looking UFOs and maybe an alien with a ray gun or something. Not sure yet. I don't have any photoshop or inkscape skills so I'll need to commission someone to do this for me.
The guts of this thing will probably be a Raspberry Pi 3 B+ but I really need to do some research and learn how it works. I am somewhat familiar with Retropie (the basics) but I will need to customize the theme and everything to get it to where I like. I already have a 10" 4:3 monitor that I plan to mount horizontally and the control panel will likely be 6-button set up (because my son like Street Fighter) with a ServoStik joystick. I just don't think I can fit a computer inside or I'd go that route.
After reading a TON of build threads I settled on three projects that inspired mine:
- grippie's Sega Genesis Bartop
- edekoning's NES Bartop
- Vidiot's Centipede Bartop
I started off using grippie's plans but shrunk them down to 60% (because my monitor is about 60% the size of the one he used) and then added a 1/2" to the bottom, back and top edges to make room for the controls and to make the marquee area bigger so that it could be seen.
Work began on it last week and have the side panels cut and I'm hoping to assemble it this weekend. The final pattern I cut out of cardboard is attached to this post - more pics to follow.
Mike A:
I must say that I strongly disapprove of this build.
-You need it to play a minimum of 10,000 games.
-The name should be "MAMEcade Classic Arcadecade"
-You didn't even mention a steering wheel and light guns.
I hope you at least plan on adding 732 RGB LED buttons.
javeryh:
--- Quote from: Mike A on May 30, 2018, 11:22:52 am ---I must say that I strongly disapprove of this build.
-You need it to play a minimum of 10,000 games.
-The name should be "MAMEcade Classic Arcadecade"
-You didn't even mention a steering wheel and light guns.
I hope you at least plan on adding 732 RGB LED buttons.
--- End quote ---
I knew I went wrong somewhere... if I widen the bartop by 48" I think I'll be able to get the light guns and steering wheels in there and I'll be able to play TMNT with 3 buddies once every 3 years. Actually, if I go that far I might as well set it up for 6P X-Men! Back to the drawing board...
javeryh:
After settling on the profile, I decided to mock up the cab with cardboard to get a feel for the size. The Monster is for scale:
I thought about it for a while and although I was very happy with the shape, I was not happy with the overall size - still too big - so I shrunk it down and the result was the "Minicade". The "Arcade" design is 65% of grippie's Sega cab (for the most part) and the "Minicade" design is 60%, which I was happy with. I also printed out the CP layout and decided on the interior width of the cab 9-5/8". The monitor I have is 9-1/2" wide (with the case) so it just fits.
In case anyone looks back on this and wonders what exactly I did to grippie's design here you go. I wanted more surface area for the marquee and some additional room inside to fit everything so I added a little to the back and top of the design.
krangbrain:
"arcadecade" lol!!!
Just imagine, a bartop that's actually going to be small enough to fit properly on a... bar top lol. Looking forward to the progress! :)
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