Initial Planning of driving cabinet. Feedback requested

[mhermann]

Ok here is v.01 of my driving cabinet. Please keep in mind that this is my first attempt at using sketch up. Anyway, I know I have a couple of problems already, And I think the overall design is too 'boxy'. But I just want to see if anyone could point out any other big mistakes.



Obviously, it will be a 2-player cabinet using Xbox or PS2 or both. I am undecided about the wheel. Right now I have platform that I will use to mount the controls but I am not sure about that concept. Ideas are welcome.

I am going with 2x4 construction then using 3/4 MDF as panels. Not sure how to do the front. I think a nice fiberglass bezel would be nice but out of my area of expertice.

[KillerArcades]

I think that this is a great start for your initial plans. If you have the time/inclination, one way to get away from the "boxiness" would be to play around with ideas of how to make the seat area and the screen area be connected and all kinda "flow" together better. I'm just barely starting to plan out a driving cab of my own, and one thing that's been on my mind is the audio, I really love a cab that has speaks up behind me/on either side of my head, etc. So, it might be fun to experiment in sketch up with some different ways of adding more side panels, etc that go low along the bottom in the middle but then come back up behind/around the seats some to kinda enclose you a bit more....?

Of course, as soon as you start looking at that, then you must make a decision of whether or not you care to easily break down this cab for moving, and if so, then how you can try to create a few diff "modules" out of this that you can assemble/disassemble with relative ease. Adding some extra paneling up around the seats would definitely affect that.

One of the best ways to get ideas, for me at least, is to go to a local arcade that has similar type games and just look at them all really closely (though people might start to steer their kids away from you, if you stare at games that other people are playing, so go during the mid-morning when it's less crowded if you can ).

anyways, I've gotten lots of great ideas from my local "boondocks" fun-center in this regard.

just don't give up! And don't get started until you're 100% sure on your design, cuz otherwise, you'll cut something, lean it up next to the wall/another panel and have a brainstorm of how you "really" should  build it, but by then, you've got so much sawdust and sweat expended that you'll just begin to frustrate yourself.

Good luck, and I'd love to see the other ideas you come up with.

[leapinlew]

Are they going to have steering wheels and shifters? Curious if your going to build out the area where the steering wheel and shifters will be.

You know what else I think would be cool? Car doors. Maybe it's cooler in my head than in actual use, but I think it would be pretty nifty.

[Zeosstud]

Well,
         You could just build 2 like this and set them side by side.



I will be happy to provide the full size .dwg file I have for the sides if you like.  If your going with an xbox setup as I did, there is little argument that the Fanatec Speedster Force Shock wheel is about the best your gonna find.  The Seat part is not really attached to the cab part, so its realatively easy to move around if you have to.  There are a bunch of construction type pics at:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v214/Zeosstud/

if you wish to look, including some of WSOP Professional Poker Player Rusty "Dutch" Boyd from when he came over and hung out with his "crew" one night.

Zeosstud

Zeosstud

[mhermann]

Yes I will have a steering wheel still undecided as to which ones. I am debating on a form of removable ones but still playing with ideas. Zeosstud, I like yours alot, but would like to build it as one cabinet. However, if I went that way I could easily add a 3rd and 4th  .

As far as how to build out the steering wheel section I was thinking something like this:

http://www.nnmodels.com/breaktime/index.htm

[KillerArcades]

hey zeosstud, I noticed you're arcade in your images, do you mind if I ask you what balltop joystick you're using in that CP setup ?

I'm looking for a good pacman/donkey kong 4way dedicated stick...

[mhermann]

Need some more feedback. I am now debating on going with (2) 22" (20" viewable) NEC PC monitors instead of (2) 27" tvs.

My thought process is this. If I go the TV route I can't play any PC games and there are a ton of 2 player lan driving games, not to mention flight games and mech games that I could play and have alot of fun in a cabinet like this. My only concern is that 22" is too small for this. I read that MarkVP used a 19" in his pole position cab and thought it was plenty big.

What is the standard for driving cabinets, I thought I read that it was 25" but am not sure.

If I do go the PC monitor route I may consider getting that new wheel from logitech and not bother with XBox and just go with PC and PS2. But then I need 2 computers. Man, I thought this would be more straight forward then my upright.

I can get the 2 monitors on Ebay for $200 total which includes shipping. I think that is pretty good.

So anyone have any thoughts, suggestions?

[DigDreams]

How about this:

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=87&products_id=269

Or you could still use TV's and avoid the slow-down from TV-Out with this:

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=511185/search=focus+tview/skd=1

This is what the X-Box uses for TV-Out (but it's obviously integrated in the X-Box, not external).  Anyone tried one of these yet?

[mhermann]

But those won't work well for PC games as the resolution is not high enough. Thanks for the response though.

[DigDreams]

The T-View gold supports resolutions of up to 1600x1280, in 24-bit color.  Since it is external and has it's own CPU, it doesnt' slow you down either.  It won't be as crisp as a monitor, but it will look very good (much better than standard TV-Out).  It's certainly a lot less expensive than two 27"+ monitors (~ $900 each!  Ouch!).

X-Box uses an integrated version, and it's driving games look pretty good on a TV set.

Just an idea, take it or leave it. 

- DigDreams

[KillerArcades]

Have you used one of those tView thingers at all ? It seems like their website hasn't been updated for a while, I have to wonder how current their products are - too bad they only support 24-bit and not up to 32-bit color depth.

I'm tempted to get one and try it out, but for that much cash, I'm more tempted to try to find someone who's already tried one out, know what I mean?

[DigDreams]

I saw one that was something similar a few years ago, but I can't remember the brand.  I do remember it cost about $150.00 and it looked really good, but I'm not sure if it is the same one.

I agree, I'd like to talk to someone who has used one.  I found it listed on CompUSA's site:

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=50046403&pfp=BROWSE

I guess if they had it in the store you could get one, try it out, and return it if it was no good.  I was able to find this customer review after some digging:

"I went shopping for a scan converter and I was told by the computer store salesperson that these things do not work due to the loss of resolution even on a Hi-DEF TV.  I would like to thanks sspetter for his review because it convinced me to go ahead and purchase TView Gold and I have to say that it is awesome. I've had so much fun with my friends playing funny videos or flash files or even games on the big screen TV and the picture is fantastic. I was also able to switch between resolutions without a problem. "

I believe Radio-Shack has them as well.  I'll have to stop by my local store and see if they have one set up.

- DigDreams

[Zeosstud]

Hello,
            SKondris its just an older wico 4 way leaf switch, not one of the newer pac-man galaga sticks.

Zeosstud

[KillerArcades]

...its just an older wico 4 way leaf switch, not one of the newer pac-man galaga sticks....

Ah, ok thanks, just curious.

We now return you to your regular topic conversation.

[mhermann]

Ok. so after getting my 22" crt's I don't really like the way consoles show up via a vga box. So I am at the point where I need to decide to go with the TV's or the CRTs. The decision will determine if I use an XBOX and PS2 or a PC. Right now I think I am going with the TVs and the consoles. I like the bigger tvs and there are enough console games.

So I guess the decision was just made.

[KillerArcades]

yeah, that's what it came down to for me - will I be happy enough with just console games or do I want PC games playable as well. Once I decided that there were enough fun console games available for my driving cab, things got a lot simpler and cheaper for me.