Welcome to the Sharkade! New Pics 5-31-2005

[JThw8]

Some of you may have been following my thread here http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,28472.0.html

I have this monster cab and Im building it to fit into a whole bar/gameroom Im building in the house.

The room has a Margaritaville/Fins bar theme ala Jimmy Buffet so the final decision was made today to make the cab shark themed so I present the new project "Sharkade"

Still sorting out alot of the theme details but I have decided instead of paint or traditional side art I will be getting these mural panels to be the side panels of the arcade.



The dimensions are almost perfect for the size of my side panels.  I still have to come up with a full name and marquee, I have a 4 ft marquee to fill so Im shooting for rediculously long names such as Kelley and Jims Margaritaville Bar and Grille Sharkade.  The marquee background will of course be an under sea theme with sharks and Im thinking about using some lighting tricks like on the cheesy waterfall clocks they sell at kiosks at the mall to make the water effect on the marquee shimmer.....so many ideas so little time

As of yet I dont have any real website up for the project...but Ive thrown the few photos I have up at www.misfittoysracing.com/cabinet

[MinerAl]

You know...

If you wanted to give up he whole arcade part, that thing would make a pretty good fishtank stand.  Leave the control panel on and do up the art, but have a 100 gallon fishtank where the monitors would be, with some little sharks in it.

Maybe not...

[JThw8]

very tempting   But with the space limitations in the room it would never fit with another arcade too.

[BobbyG66]

"Fins to the left, fins to the right"

Cool theme, can't wait to see some more pics and artwork!

[JThw8]

"Fins to the left, fins to the right"

Cool theme, can't wait to see some more pics and artwork!

Ask and you shall receive.  I just picked up a couple of these.  One may end up being the CP overlay, and the other may get cut down to make the marquee if the light shines through it properly.

[JThw8]

Played around in paintshop and came up with this for the marquee

[RayB]

eww...

 

You may want to learn a bit more Photoshop before you print that up. Turn on Anti-Aliasing on your text. And learn some of the effects like "glow".

[JThw8]

actually it looks much better full size but I scalled it down to post and the forum shrinks the image down even more and gave it the lovely blocky look.

Didnt think about using the glow effect, I will have to give that a shot, should be a nice touch,  Although I may run some quick paper copies to try with light behind them before I commit to a final product.  Effects like glow can kind of wash out with a bright light behind them, I'll have to trial it both ways and see how it  looks.

Its by no means a finished product, just a quick concept, but thanks for the input and advice

[Quarters]

No offense intended but it look kind of squashed. Maybe something more like this?

[JThw8]

No offense taken, thats why Im tossing my ideas out here to get input and feedback. 

I did have to squash them from the original art to make them fit the dimensions of the banner. 

I had originally added more black space like you did to the sides to keep from squashing them so much, but when I did my second resize I didnt do that.  I should have, you are right, I will play with that some more.

Thanks

[BobbyG66]

I like the work Quarters did.
I like the darkness around the sharks, a little more scary.
Maybe lose one of the Sharkade titles.

What size is the marquee? Hopefully it's not that long and thin.

BobbyG66

[JThw8]

I like the work Quarters did.
I like the darkness around the sharks, a little more scary.
Maybe lose one of the Sharkade titles.

What size is the marquee? Hopefully it's not that long and thin.

BobbyG66

Unfortunately it is, 48" long x 7.5" high viewable area
Id loose one of the titles but you see Ive got this problem with symmetry, Im obsessive about it.  Drives my wife nuts.  When we moved into the new house I actually measured everything out so all the furniture was placed symmetrical and equidistant on walls.  Yeah, Ive got issues

I've definitely got to play with it more and then make some full size prototypes just to see what looks best in the cab.  Things take on a different look when they are finally in place.
In the mean time it looks like my Tmolding is arriving today so Id better get cracking on finishing the sanding and painting of the cab.  Havent had much time to work on it at night and Ive been rather space limited too.  This weekend I will take one of the cars out of the shop so I have some room to work and I should be able to get the prep on the main cabinet finished.

[RayB]

Ugh. You know when I was in design school, they made it a point to teach us that symetrical is not a good design layout practice, even though it seems like it would be (and most newbies have a tendency towards it). Why make everything "mirrored"?

[JThw8]

I understand why its not good design practice....for me its really an obsessive compulsive thing though, it will forever drive me crazy if its "unbalanced"

Im having the hardest time reconciling myself to the fact the control panel will either have to have 2 left handed and 2 right handed setups or be asymmetrical, but I will in the end fight my symmetry addiction and make it functional rather than symmetrical, keeping the marquee symmetrical is my compensation for this

Its no fun being normal, I have lots of fun

[TOK]

I think the shark marquee is great. How about if you centered the Sharkade text where it said "Wanna Play?" in your one example and left the ends blank?
Personally, I wouldn't want a lot of text stealing the attention from that picture.

[krick]

I understand why its not good design practice....for me its really an obsessive compulsive thing though, it will forever drive me crazy if its "unbalanced"

Im having the hardest time reconciling myself to the fact the control panel will either have to have 2 left handed and 2 right handed setups or be asymmetrical, but I will in the end fight my symmetry addiction and make it functional rather than symmetrical, keeping the marquee symmetrical is my compensation for this

Its no fun being normal, I have lots of fun

I have symmetry issues as well.

[JThw8]

I think the shark marquee is great. How about if you centered the Sharkade text where it said "Wanna Play?" in your one example and left the ends blank?
Personally, I wouldn't want a lot of text stealing the attention from that picture.

Hey Tim!  Thanks for the input.  I've played with it some more, I have the files at home so I will have to upload them later, I think Ive reached a nice balance.  The Wanna Play?  was the wifes input since she thought it looked like the sharks were taunting, orignially she thought "Shall we play a game?"  But too war games which is not the theme here, wanna play works, bottom line is if she offers input I try to include it to make her feel "involved" and therefore gain her support

[JThw8]

I have symmetry issues as well.  I'll come out of the closet and admit it.

The way I get over it with control panels is to picture an imaginary rectangle around each player's joystick and its buttons.  In fact, I might make a control panel overlay with the rectangles printed on it.

+--------+  +--------+
|    ooo |  |    ooo |
| O  ooo |  | O  ooo |
|   o    |  |   o    |
+------ -+  +------ -+

As long as the rectangles are symmetrical, I'm ok with it.

But, like you, I'm obsessively symmetrical everywhere else.

Funny, I look at it the same way keeps me sane.  All my buttons and joysticks came in yesterday along with the IPAC-4 so I really need to get hopping on finishing up the cabinet repair.  Still waiting on my side panel graphics which should arrive this week, but Im not installing any finish work until its out of the garage and in the house, dont want to risk damage in moving.

I was looking at trackballs, my original plan was for a blue translucent, but then I saw a black one and it reminded me of a sharks eye, so Im contemplating doing the CP overlay with just a big sharks head with the black trackball as its eye.  I have to lay it out to see how it works, it will have to be a pretty big head to make the trackball look proportional, but I do have a 49x26 CP to work with.

[danny_galaga]

Played around in paintshop and came up with this for the marquee

im thinking for the marquee it might look good to have the title right in the middle and have the sharks (a bit smaller) around the edges. sort of lurking, looking towards the title...

[JThw8]

Hmm, thats an interesting concept too, I will have to play around with it when I get a chance and see what I come up with.

I got the side art murals today so I really have to get cracking on finishing the repairs to the cabinet.  I have most of the CP base cabinet sanded and primed and one side of the main cabinet, still have to strip and prime the second side. 

[JThw8]

Well I realize I havent posted any updates.  The cabinet is in the house although still in primer.  I have the basic CP done and wired, still need to order and add the trackball.

I wired everything up for a quick test run, it works great.  Hard to believe how big this thing is though and how small it makes a 27" TV look.  I really want to go ahead and just spring for a 32 or 35 in there, but the wife bought me the 27 just for this project for christmas and she was very hurt when I even suggested it....maybe down the road a bit.

It does make for a very roomy 4 player CP though with acres of space left for the trackball, spinner and a 4-way joy.

I even considered dual trackballs for head to head marble madness since there is plenty of room, but a quick poll of all my friends shows Im the only one who even likes the game so it seemed like a waste of money.

[thrdbace]

holy crap...why so big?

[JThw8]

Its an old 6 player X-men cabinet.  I wasnt looking for something that big but for $5 it was a bargain

[Will]

That cabinet needs a 60 inch plasma screen or the worlds biggest bezzel.

[JThw8]

I will more than happily accept donations of 60" plasma screens

I have a full glass front for it which will get blacked out to mask the empty space.  Im playing with putting some graphics on the glass and back lighting it to make some artistic use of the dead space.  Lots of ideas, Im sure it will all progress over time.  Right now I just want to get the basic project done so I can get back to some other projects Ive let lag behind

[AGGIEZ]

The wife needs to take that TV back to the store and get a bigger one!

[JThw8]

She was so happy with herself for getting something I really wanted for christmas that I just cant do that too her right now.  We have a 35" in the living room right now that she keeps wanting to replace with a 60" so once I have the money I might just do that, toss the 35 in the cabinet and move the 27 into her "gym" to replace the little 15" that she watches her workout videos on.  If all else fails I can run cable into my workshop and use it out there.

[Will]

Any idea how heavy that beast is??You must need a forklift to move it.It is even  bigger than Kraw's.

[JThw8]

because its in 2 parts it can be moved by just 2 people if needed as long as the TV isnt in it.    But it is rather heavy.  The whole thing is on casters or it would never move again probably

[DarkSoul1]

Seeing those pics of the White Pointers (Great Whites) gives me the shivers.

Already had 1 fatal White Pointer attack here in South Australia this summer.

[RetroJames]

JThw8, where are you located?  I have a 32" CRT you might want.  I am in Atlanta.

[JThw8]

Ahhh, Atlanta...sorry about the game yesterday

If that didnt give away my location Im in NJ right outside Philly

Im going to press on with the 27 for now, I have some ideas which hopefully when complete wont look so bad.  And Im still scraping for the money to add the trackball which is a must for me.

I know some folks have kicked around (and even accomplished) adding second smaller screens which dynamically display the correct control layout for each game as it is selected.  I would really love to be able to mount something like that in the extra space, but Im nowhere near the electronics wiz some of these folks are to be able to accomplish that.

[brandon]

Too bad Mame doesnt support the 6 player dual screen version of X-men.. that would be impressive

[JThw8]

Latest updates, the trackball is installed, speakers mounted, and a base coat of paint is on.  Most of the paint will be covered by the final graphics.

Today I finished work on the bezel and installed the t-moulding.

The shark graphics on the bezel I got when I took my daughter to Disney on ice, the cotton candy came in plastic bags with the shark on them, I thought it looked cool so I cut them out and glued them behind the glass before painting.  I didnt paint the backside and hope to add some lights behind them when its all done to make the sharks glow.

[DreamWeb]

Hey there!

I only write this.. because I think you've got the starts (art/concept) of a really terrific cabinet.

It looks really, really odd (read: ugly?)

I think you'd be MUCH happier with finding (under $100) an empty cabinet somewhere.. or building you own.

But, if you like it..  keep going!!

David

[the3eyedblindman]

I agree, I just think its way too big, I think in the end youd be happier with it smaller, just pay the 60 dollars for 3 sheets of MDF, build a cab to accomodate a 27 inch screen... unless you really like it.  Other than the size of the cabinet, its looking nice.

[IG-88]

What the Hell you all talking about its AWESOME! Keep going! Something out of the norm finally!

[RetroJames]

What the Hell you all talking about its AWESOME! Keep going! Something out of the norm finally!

A HUGE ditto to that!  Bigger, Better,  More Outlandish, Awesome.

And if you ever lose your house you have somewhere to live

[GameOver]

What the Hell you all talking about its AWESOME! Keep going! Something out of the norm finally!

A HUGE ditto to that! Bigger, Better, More Outlandish, Awesome.

Double ditto.  I'm lovin' it!  Can't wait to see the CPO & Marquee put on lit up.  Great work.

[brandon]

I like it too... and there are all kinds of possibilities to do something totally different.. like a dual monitor nintendo Vs. setup or maybe drop a 60" plasma in there at some point   and you can have every possible spinner, trackball, 4 way, 8-way, 49-way, lightguns and still only take up half of the control panel 

[JThw8]

Thanks for the encouragement.  Yes, it is huge, but it works well in the space its in and I havent had to face any of the usual issues about making things fit.  Also the lower portion doubles as storage for the room since there is so much extra space   (seriously, Im storing christmas decorations in there)

Also the size has made for one of the roomiest, most comfortable 4 player cps Ive ever played on.   And as noted I still have room to add a spinner and a 4 way (which I intend to do) and it still wont feel cramped.

Its definitely not for everyone, it didnt even start out as something I was sure I wanted, but it was the right cab at the right time and Im just not a fan of woodworking.

Im awaiting word from Scott at mamemarquees (has anyone heard from him lately?) on my marquee.  I sent him the final design about 2 weeks ago for his approval and printing.   Still deciding on a CPO...all in due time I guess.  The wife has been patient but if I dont stop to put a real floor in that room soon she's gonna kill me

[jagnogg]

I love this thing. In a few years this guy is going to be playing high definition games in wide screen on a playstation 3 or Xbox 2 in a cabinet and we're all going to be jealous.

[DrewKaree]

Hey, I'm thinking the color it's painted is to simulate water, yes?

Are you going to add in some light refraction-type stuff all over, perhaps?  You know, how you get light bouncing here, there, everywhere when you look at it, both on top of and below? 

'zat make sense, and if so, have you contemplated it?

[JThw8]

The color was really just a base of paint I already had.  Most of the art will be covered by the wall art mural shown in the first post. 

I did however contemplate something similar for the CPO.  I want to keep it fairly generic so the controls layout doesnt interfere with the graphic so I am thinking of an effect like you are looking up into the sunlight through the water.  I just need to find a good graphic to base it off of.

[brandon]

I know this is outlandish and considering that water and electronics dont mix.. but.. at some point you could build an aquarium in your cabinet  imagine having tropical fish swimming through your Mame marquee.. haha.. ok, thats about the craziest thing I've ever suggested what the heck I figured I'd throw it out there...

[DreamWeb]

Hey, JThw8

Let me know the dimensions you need.. and maybe I can whip something up for you (what you described..  looking up at the sun through water)

d.

[JThw8]

I know this is outlandish and considering that water and electronics dont mix.. but.. at some point you could build an aquarium in your cabinet  imagine having tropical fish swimming through your Mame marquee.. haha.. ok, thats about the craziest thing I've ever suggested what the heck I figured I'd throw it out there...

Actually if you look at the early part of this thread I think I had pondered that idea myself.  I was going to use some tall thin tanks to either side of the monitor, plenty of room for it   Sometime down the road I may still revisit the idea.

[JThw8]

Hey, JThw8

Let me know the dimensions you need.. and maybe I can whip something up for you (what you described..  looking up at the sun through water)

d.

Its 49"w x 22"d  It would be great if you could come up with something, thanks for the help!

[brandon]

I know this is outlandish and considering that water and electronics dont mix.. but.. at some point you could build an aquarium in your cabinet

[DrewKaree]

I know this is outlandish and considering that water and electronics dont mix.. but.. at some point you could build an aquarium in your cabinet  imagine having tropical fish swimming through your Mame marquee.. haha.. ok, thats about the craziest thing I've ever suggested what the heck I figured I'd throw it out there...

Actually if you look at the early part of this thread I think I had pondered that idea myself.  I was going to use some tall thin tanks to either side of the monitor, plenty of room for it   Sometime down the road I may still revisit the idea.

I'm about to go looking through my bookmarks for you.  I KNOW you can build a tank, and reading that "tank in the marquee" idea sounds AWESOME!  You could light it from below, and the top part of the cab could be hinged to allow for feeding/cleaning and whatnot.

My brother-in-law wanted a 55 gal tank for cheap, and I found a site that gives dimensions of materials needed to build a tank when you input the l x w x h of the size of tank you wish to build.

You could probably build the tank you were originally thinking, perhaps thinner, or whatever....hopefully I've still got that my bookmarks....back with that answer soon.

[DreamWeb]

Hey there.

This thing took forever to build.. not because it was overly complicated but because your CP is sooooo dang huge.  The actual uncompressed TIF (this is only 7% of the actual size) is massive.. if you want it, I'll probably have to CD it to you.  49x22 at 300dpi is a hog.

Anyhow.. is this what you had in mind?  Complete with lens flair pr0n.

Let me know.



David

[DrewKaree]

Alright, here's the MAIN site www.garf.org

To find this on the main site, in the left-hand frame, under the "How-To Pages" there's "Aquarium Construction and Tips"

Here's the "build a tank" part: http://www.garf.org/tank/buildtank.asp

Enter in the dimensions you want, and whether you want to use Acrylic or Glass, and you'll be presented with the materials and all the descriptions you'll need, in addition to pictures and directions on how to assemble your very own tank! 

In case you're wondering - click here for a SUPER nice write-up including pictures of how to build one SUPER-SWEET aquarium and everyone here might be interested in how he finishes off the acrylic edges (on page 2).

Some other sites, in case you just have NOTHING to do and need more projects to fill your day, or ideas on other stuff you never knew you wanted to do until you looked at these sites (I KNOW I can't be the only guy who enjoys fish and fish tanks here):

www.aquariumadvice.com
www.aquariumhobbyist.com
Another U-build-it tank site with directions


That should have you off and running....OH, and the type of acrylic suggested to use when building a tank is termed "continuous cast acrylic"..."cast acrylic" is the strongest, "extruded acrylic" is the stuff we normally use for marquees and CP coverings.  Look under the Yellow pages for Plastics, Plastic manufacturers, and sign shops. Most will carry acrylic sheets cheaper than Lowes and HD. Just be advised while these places have extensive knowledge of thier plastics, seldom are they up to speed for water uses.

[JThw8]

Hey there.

This thing took forever to build.. not because it was overly complicated but because your CP is sooooo dang huge.  The actual uncompressed TIF (this is only 7% of the actual size) is massive.. if you want it, I'll probably have to CD it to you.  49x22 at 300dpi is a hog.

Anyhow.. is this what you had in mind?  Complete with lens flair pr0n.

Let me know.



David

That is sweet....better than I could have hoped.  Im going to PM you with upload info for my FTP site, we can try that first to save you the time of having to burn it.  Truly wonderful work!

[JThw8]

Alright, here's the MAIN site www.garf.org

I will definitely check all this out.  I had done the byoa (build your own aquarium) thing quite a few years back, its alot of fun.  I definitely want to get this finished in its first iteration before I tackle it.  Im so far behind on my "honey do" list right now that if I bring it up I may have to live in the arcade

[DrewKaree]

And you thought all that space of the SIX player version wouldn't come in handy! 

[JThw8]

And you thought all that space of the SIX player version wouldn't come in handy! 

If nothing else Im really enjoying how easy it has made fitting everything.  And the comfort of the control panel with only 4 players now.

[quadmasta]

You could cut out one of the coin door holes a little bigger and put an aquarium on one of the sides of the front.

[Gunstar Hero]

Yeah man, that cab screams for a widescreen monitor. 

[JThw8]

Just got the marquee and CPO from scott at mamemarquees.  The work is fabulous (and very quick!)  The CPO that DreamWeb designed is gorgeous.

Of course all that being said I screwed up big time.  I have my little not pad of measurments and stuff that I carry around, and I used that to send Scott and DreamWeb the CP measurements, somehow I told them both 49x22 when it was 49x26.25  so I have 4.25 inches of uncovered space.  If I align the CPO at the bottom edge it leaves the 4 player start buttons uncovered in a clean straight line so Im thinking about just doing something different with them.   I had the idea to maybe make a filler strip of engine turned aluminum but Im really looking for something that follows the theme a bit more.

Im open to ideas....toss them at me

[RetroJames]

pics...pics...pics....

[GameOver]

I think you're on the right track with the metal/steel - how about this - I used some perforated steel (I think that's what it's called) to build my son a gun case last summer.  Got it at Lowes or Home Depot.  It looks something like these pics.  It was pretty easy to cut straight across, but I'm not sure how you'd cut holes for the buttons.  You could even slant it up, maybe at 45 deg angle so the buttons would face the players (glowing buttons!) or even lay it flat like the rest of the CP, then put some blue lights inside the cab to give a water effect.  The light would glow through the metal screen.  Just a thought...trying to get those BYOAC creative juices flowin'!

[GameOver]

I guess it would help if I attached the pics....another thought, but for some reason I can't see the artwork Dreamweb did for you so I'm not sure if this would work or not, but I know they make those laminated 'underwater scenes' you can get at pet stores to put in your fishtank.  Pick one that matches the artwork & cut to size.  Just an idea.

Here's the steel stuff...

[RayB]

HEY, I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to re-start your cabinet.
THIS is what it should look like:
http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=8611

[brandon]

HEY, I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to re-start your cabinet.
THIS is what it should look like:
http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=8611

haha.. that's great.. yeah, you definitely need some teeth on the control panel to poke you in the forearms.. I just might add that to mine

[DreamWeb]

Wow!  That Maneater cabinet is the best cabinet I've ever seen!!

d.

[dek]

I prefer the Taitans

[RayB]

What game is that. "Taitans" is not in KLOV.

[quarterback]

Whoa!

[Flack]

[brandon]

I think a backlit aquarium marquee would be the coolest! and you could use a cool Mame marquee for backing sort of like this stuff..

[GameOver]

What happened to Sharkade?

[oldsage]

What happened to Sharkade?

[DrewKaree]

He probably wired it up, tried the fishtank ideas, and shorted out all the electrical components when he spilled on 'em!

[rchadd]

the shark is Bruce from the movie Finding Nemo

make it a Nemo themed cab!

[JThw8]

What happened to Sharkade?  SHARKBAIT?!

Any updates?

Ahh sorry folks, just life and work getting in the way.  The room it was housed in was mid renovation and before I did all the artwork then risked destroying it while moving around I stopped to finish work on the room.  I'm getting back to it as time permits but summer is here which means more time devoted to maintaining/upgrading the race car (another sickness)

The Sharkade is definitely not gone or forgotten, my daughter was visiting this weekend and is still addicted to it.

I finally finished the major work in the room and the car is ready to go until I break something at the next race so Im going to try to get some of the finishing work done shortly.

[JThw8]

Ok, I got a little inspired and got the side art and marquee installed.  Still need to get my lights working but you get the idea





And yes I plan to get that marquee straightened out a bit more before the final install, I have to pull it out again to work on the lights

[JThw8]

And finally the CPO installed.  I must say many thanks again to Dream Web for the great design and Mamemarqees for the wonderful printing work.   And I say DOH again for my crappy measurment mistake but I have some plans to fix it soon.

[AmericanDemon]

Looking good....but man what a HUGE cab.

[DreamWeb]

Yes.. it can also double as a summer home.

But, seriously.. lookin' good!  Keep goin'!

d.

[Joystick Jerk]

Please tell me you're going to mount an actual pair of shark's jaws somwhere on this cab.

EDIT: I just saw that last pic of yours. You could pick up two pairs of juvenile great white shark jaws fairly inexpensively, and then mount them on each side of the marquee so that the words "Sharkade" showed through the jaws inbtween the teeth.

[JThw8]

Please tell me you're going to mount an actual pair of shark's jaws somwhere on this cab.

I was thinking dead center in the front of the CP box between the coin doors, maybe hide the coin up buttons up under the teeth

[JThw8]

More work completed.  I wired up a new marquee light and got that all squared away.  Installed the coin doors with some small black micro buttons between the coin slots for P1 - P4 coin ups.  They arent even visible and blend in very well.   I also wired in a remote on button for the PC to the side of the cabinet and made up a little LED array to light the trackball.  I have to thank all the great advice on this board for that one.  It seems somewhere in the early 90s I drank away the part of my brain holding all the stuff I learned in high school electronics shop about resistors and such, but I did get it to work with the help of info found here.

No new photos right now but I will get some soon.

Also tryin to decide on placement of some small control buttons, see thread here http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,37866.0.html