Defender MAME Project

[leapinlew]

Good job.

Some artwork would push this cabinet over the top. Looks like you spent a bundle already, but any plans for art?

[martoon x]

Good job.

Some artwork would push this cabinet over the top. Looks like you spent a bundle already, but any plans for art?

Thanks! Like I mentioned, it's a bit raw right now. I still need to add all of the graphics. Side art, control panel and bezel. I tried stenciling the side art, but that turned out to be an epic fail. Stencil came out great, but my adhesion skills are lacking. Can anyone recommend a reputable vinyl graphics guy?  In the top of this post I have some samples of overlays and stuff I was designed up

[leapinlew]

Good job.

Some artwork would push this cabinet over the top. Looks like you spent a bundle already, but any plans for art?

Thanks! Like I mentioned, it's a bit raw right now. I still need to add all of the graphics. Side art, control panel and bezel. I tried stenciling the side art, but that turned out to be an epic fail. Stencil came out great, but my adhesion skills are lacking. Can anyone recommend a reputable vinyl graphics guy?  In the top of this post I have some samples of overlays and stuff I was designed up

You did mention that. I just assumed that since it's playable...

[rytel]

That is amazing. 

Love how the controls for Players 1 and 2 fold across the button pad.

[martoon x]

That is amazing. 

Love how the controls for Players 1 and 2 fold across the button pad.

Thanks! Modelling it out in 3d beforehand really helped ensure accuracy of the button placement. I also have more photos of the build I'll try to get uploaded by early next week. 

[ambush]

You noticed, good eye. The thing handles like it's own hand-truck due to the fact that the wheels are set so far back that they extend beyond the rear of the cab. When in it's resting position, the four rubber screw-in feet act as stabilizers. The cab wont move until you tilt it back about 5 degrees, then it's quite mobile afterwards. It's come in real handy since I'm building this on my own and I have to move it all over the garage every time my wife needs to park the car overnight.

Hi martoon x

I like your 45 degree wheel design. Do you happen to have any design plans you could share on how you attached and secured the wheels? Also, did you end up putting handles on the cabinet to help you lean it? If so, where?

[severdhed]

amazing.  i remember seeing this thread a long time ago when it was still in the 3d modeling stage, and then i forgot about it.  I just ran across it today and all I can say is WOW.  very impressive.  i can't wait to see this with the artwork in place.

[Rick]

Wow.  Just... Wow.

 

[martoon x]

You noticed, good eye. The thing handles like it's own hand-truck due to the fact that the wheels are set so far back that they extend beyond the rear of the cab. When in it's resting position, the four rubber screw-in feet act as stabilizers. The cab wont move until you tilt it back about 5 degrees, then it's quite mobile afterwards. It's come in real handy since I'm building this on my own and I have to move it all over the garage every time my wife needs to park the car overnight.

Hi martoon x

I like your 45 degree wheel design. Do you happen to have any design plans you could share on how you attached and secured the wheels? Also, did you end up putting handles on the cabinet to help you lean it? If so, where?

I unfortunately don't have any dimension for this part because I eyeballed most of it and measure on the fly for the rest. But these extra photos might help you see how i did it.

[ambush]

Awesome. Thanks! I will study these.

[skinz]

This really is looking great - Gratz - I'm gonna steal your "hand truck" style wheels for my next build.  Really like that a lot!!!

[DCsegaDH]

The base looks really strong, nice wheel design too!

[martoon x]

This really is looking great - Gratz - I'm gonna steal your "hand truck" style wheels for my next build.  Really like that a lot!!!

thanks

[martoon x]

The base looks really strong, nice wheel design too!

thanks! Yeah, it had to be strong back there since the front has no real support aside from shelving and the bezel

[martoon x]

Awesome. Thanks! I will study these.

good luck. i cant wait to see your mame completed!

[Yvan256]

Any update on this amazing project?

[RetroBorg]

Great engineering on this project, well done! 

[dextercf]

Amazing build!

[martoon x]

Any update on this amazing project?

I brought it to work back in the early spring to see what breaks. CoWorkers have been beating on it. Then I plan to take it home, fix everything. But so far, nothing major has failed. Mostly the PC resetting after an outage which happens a lot where it's plugged in, or someone accidentally remapping the controls.

After playing this one for a while and two arcade builds later, the next steps are going to be:
Stuff I definitely need to do:
   •   add stiffer joystick springs
   •   add external power button
   •   add external USB ports
   •   move internal sound board controls to external
   •   replace the wing latches
   •   replace front door wire stop
   •   clean up the wiring
   •   add the final paint and decals
My wish list
   •   get a faster PC
   •   install Maximus Arcade
   •   add pinball plunger
   •   add motion sensor
   •   replace marquees with lcd dipslay
   •   install Visual Pinball/PinMAME
   •   devise method for push button transformation from 1 to 4 player

[martoon x]

Great engineering on this project, well done! 

thanks 

[martoon x]

Amazing build!

i appreciate it

[martoon x]

Good job.

Some artwork would push this cabinet over the top. Looks like you spent a bundle already, but any plans for art?

Thanks! Like I mentioned, it's a bit raw right now. I still need to add all of the graphics. Side art, control panel and bezel. I tried stenciling the side art, but that turned out to be an epic fail. Stencil came out great, but my adhesion skills are lacking. Can anyone recommend a reputable vinyl graphics guy?  In the top of this post I have some samples of overlays and stuff I was designed up

You did mention that. I just assumed that since it's playable...

i hear ya

[Yvan256]

My wish list

• replace marquees with LCD display

The problem is finding an ultra-wide display with the width your cabinet requires. A few people already know about those "mirror LCDs". A lot of them are 800xRGBx240, but only 10.2" with composite video inputs.

They would be perfect for a small desktop cabinet (especially if someone could hack it to accept a DVI signal) but not for a cabinet like Defender.

[martoon x]

My wish list

• replace marquees with LCD display

The problem is finding an ultra-wide display with the width your cabinet requires. A few people already know about those "mirror LCDs". A lot of them are 800xRGBx240, but only 10.2" with composite video inputs.

They would be perfect for a small desktop cabinet (especially if someone could hack it to accept a DVI signal) but not for a cabinet like Defender.

Can multiple displays be hooked up at once? It would most lilely be expensive (additional  video cards) and there would be at least three verticlal lines visible from the bezels...

[Yvan256]

Can multiple displays be hooked up at once? It would most lilely be expensive (additional  video cards) and there would be at least three verticlal lines visible from the bezels...

Since it's only a marquee, even a low-bandwidth video card on an old 8-bit ISA bus would probably suffice.

The best solution for the multiple-LCDs-for-the-marquee idea is probably going to be a video splitter, which would appear as an ultra-wide videocard to the computer and split the image itself to the multiple monitors. I think ATI (ahem, AMD) has (had?) such products.