Horror FPS bartop

[GoPodular.com]

I always wondered if you could use your feet in an FPS. Like with a gas pedal for moving forwards.

Yes, Half-Life 2 Survivor does.  I don't know if it was ever released in the US or not?  It uses dual joys and foot controls.  Both sit-down and upright models.

http://hl2survivor.net/  <- in Japanese.

"It shoots with the cancer/gun type right stick, 360 degrees moves the 3D space freely with the left stick! It jumps with the pedal the right! With pedal the left squatting! Operation and 32 inch wide monitor and 5.1 ch サラウンド where you think thoroughly in the one for arcade and are proven, depend on the input device of the new design, used the entire body, offer large force and the appearance impression, retreat increase you to the unknown world!"

[clanggedin]

You need to add Phantasmagoria to your game list.

[btp2k2]

I always wondered if you could use your feet in an FPS. Like with a gas pedal for moving forwards.

Yes, Half-Life 2 Survivor does.  I don't know if it was ever released in the US or not?  It uses dual joys and foot controls.  Both sit-down and upright models.

http://hl2survivor.net/  <- in Japanese.

"It shoots with the cancer/gun type right stick, 360 degrees moves the 3D space freely with the left stick! It jumps with the pedal the right! With pedal the left squatting! Operation and 32 inch wide monitor and 5.1 ch サラウンド where you think thoroughly in the one for arcade and are proven, depend on the input device of the new design, used the entire body, offer large force and the appearance impression, retreat increase you to the unknown world!"

I love engrish

[leapinlew]

I love engrish

Oops! You're racist!

[patrickl]

I don't get the connection to racism or anything in that linked piece of text. BTW do you know what Engrish is?

[ChadTower]

You need to add Phantasmagoria to your game list.

Interesting game from the description.  I can't find anything yet that describes the control scheme.  That will be the biggest factor for this game as it's not an FPS.  If it causes anything other than a very minor change in CP design it can't go in.

[shardian]

This thing ain't built yet? What a slacker.

[ChadTower]

I have to bump down a substantial honeydo list before starting... so it's only in design for now.   

I'm going to probably make templates for it as well so I can build 3-4 bartops over the summer.  I'm also thinking of bartops for a Dreamcast and I'm still waffling on the others.

[leapinlew]

I played Phantasmagoria...

what a pain in the butt. It's like 9 cd's long. Somewhere around CD 6 - you have to choose all the right options and swap discs like 3 times. If you make a mistake - you go back to CD6.

As a bonus - nudity!

[ChadTower]

Yeah, Wikipedia says it is 7 CDs.  All of the games on this cab will run off the HD so I'd have to find a way to make that work as well.  Fortunately drive space is cheap.

[bfauska]

Any games that require CDs can be ripped to ISO and made to look like they are in a drive by using daemon tools to mount the file.  I don't remember exactly what all it involves, but I did it with some DVDs at one point and you can make the process invisible by using command line.  Here is the daemon tools site

The easiest way to make jigs for me, is to just make the original and use it to flush trim another piece to match.  It only takes about a couple minutes more than just making 1.  After you make the first copy set it aside to be the jig and assemble the first cabinet.

[ChadTower]

Any games that require CDs can be ripped to ISO and made to look like they are in a drive by using daemon tools to mount the file.  I don't remember exactly what all it involves, but I did it with some DVDs at one point and you can make the process invisible by using command line.  Here is the daemon tools site

I'll look at that, thanks.  I figured I'd have to do something like that since most of these games require the CDs.  The challenge may lie in the games that have multiple CDs and you have to swap them out during gameplay.

The easiest way to make jigs for me, is to just make the original and use it to flush trim another piece to match.  It only takes about a couple minutes more than just making 1.  After you make the first copy set it aside to be the jig and assemble the first cabinet.

Yep, that's the plan.  I may make the template out of something thinner just for easier storage.

[bfauska]

Some of the multi-disk games may allow you to put the disks into several "drives" if that is the case you can mount them all with Daemon tools when you start the game and then select the next drive when it's time to change disks.

[ChadTower]

Yep, though not sure if the game will know, since it will expect the new disc to be in the same drive as the previous one.

[leapinlew]

I'll look at that, thanks.  I figured I'd have to do something like that since most of these games require the CDs.  The challenge may lie in the games that have multiple CDs and you have to swap them out during gameplay.

I agree with you... having it swap out cd's during gameplay would be the part I anticipate will be difficult.

My dad had a quad cd reader. Silent Steel was this submarine game that had 4 discs. I tried loading all 4 discs in but the game didn't like it. It wanted all the discs to be in the same drive the game was installed from. 

[bfauska]

I bet you could set up some sort of shortcut key that would launch a batch file to switch which iso is mounted.  I don't know what the process would take but it seems like a path worth exploring.

[ChadTower]

Ack.  So when the game prompts for a swap, launch the batch file, which swaps the mounted ISO... not sure I see a way to make the game process, which is probably waiting on an OS eject event, to see that it happened.  Plus that's about as cab friendly as water.

[btp2k2]

Alcohol 120% is a good option too....

The trouble with making a ISO and storing it on the HD is not only do you have the game installed, but you also have a virtual CD on your HD too. What I would do is install the games, then go to gamecopyworld.com and find yourself some NO CD patches.

[Dervacumen]

I have to bump down a substantial honeydo list before starting

Seven years later when he has the itch... :laugh2:JK

[ChadTower]

 

Most of our waiting period was for the free cash... and less so for the skills.  Now they seem to be aligning.  The wife expects the payoff to the waiting.   

[ChadTower]

I'm poking through various bartop plans to get a feel for depth requirements for the monitor.  I'm torn on whether or not to use a CRT or LCD... obviously, LCD costs more, but gives a lot more flexibility.  CRT costs almost nothing but really takes up most of the space.

I have to get some measurements on average depth of a 15" and a 17" CRT as well as good deal cost on LCDs of those same sizes.

In the meantime, I just sent an order for a 3" Betson Imperial trackball (from BST).  I'm considering using the upgrade and lighting kids from GGG to give it a deep red glow to go with blood red T Molding.

I have a NOS Satan's Hollow joystick housing that just screams to be illuminated for this project.  It doesn't have a thumb buttonhole, though, and I'm not sure I want to mod it.

The guy who won the Killing Time proto artwork on ebay says it never arrived.  I had been pissed that I forgot to bid but now maybe it is best that way since thus far he's beed ripped off.

I also picked up a Porter Cable 893 router so I can make a template kit and produce a few of these bartops with varying themes (plus a billion other projects you can do with a router).

[ChadTower]

Now that I think about it, maybe I won't have to mod the SH stick casing... the modern stick it still works with I think may have a thumb button.  I'll keep looking into that.

Plus, there is this.


EDIT:  some searching on RGVAC points to this as the stick that fits that casing.  Ouch on cost, maybe I can find one used.

[vrf]

I'm sitting in front of a 17" Viewsonic E70f CRT. Goes 17" deep if you give a little breathing room for the cords.

I'd use an LCD. Bartop cab + being able to easily carry it to another bar = awesome.

Two pages deep, this project needs some concept sketches. Get doodling! 

[ChadTower]

I'm not much of a doodler, but thus far, the shape of the cab is still dependent on the monitor decision.  I put out a WANTED to my Freecycle list for a 15" and a 17" monitor... I shouldn't have trouble getting them as that's a common Freecycle item.  Worst case, my son has a 15" on his PC, and I can yoink that to take measurements.

I'm heavily leaning CRT.  Cost of controls is adding up and FPS games have very high screen rate requirements.  The average CRT can do far better than the cost effective LCD in this situation.

[ChadTower]

Whoa.  It may be 15" CRT just because of how easy they are to get.  I put out a Freecycle request and within 10 minutes had been offered 6 15" monitors from 3 different people.  Since I hope to build a couple different bartops from the same design, this could be the decision maker.

[leapinlew]

I hear ya...

The availability of 17" CRT's has made me decide to use 17's for my bartops. The kicker is - in about 3 years we'll be looking very hard for CRT tubes.

[ChadTower]

Holy crap, the offers are still pouring in and it's only been an hour.  I have some people with 5-6 they want me to take. 

Anyone in MA/RI area need PC monitors?     

[Kaytrim]

There has been two 21" monitors offered this week alone on my local Freecycle.  I was too late on both of them.  I am gong to have to put out a request for one if I want one that size for my standing cab.

Holy crap, the offers are still pouring in and it's only been an hour.  I have some people with 5-6 they want me to take. 

Anyone in MA/RI area need PC monitors?     

Put out a request for old computers PIII or better and you can build tones of bartop cabs for sale. 

TTFN
Kaytrim

[ChadTower]

Computers themselves tend to be more useful longer and I prefer to leave the free ones, unless I have specific need, to people who need one but can't afford one.  I don't actually need a PC yet as I have a 600mhz range machine sitting here that I can use for my testing right now, and if it fits form factor, for this particular cab.

[rovingmind]

Then after testing you can order a nanoitx mb 

nano-itx and lcd leaves you lots of space

[ChadTower]

Drives the cost way up, though, and I'm trying to limit the cost for some things so I can add other things like the better trackball and lighting for it.

[rovingmind]

yeah, i know how that goes, I keep thinking about my empty wallet and the ram-controls new yoke.

[ChadTower]

Okay, I'm testing this old PC, and I can't even get a freakin' video signal from it with two different video cards.  Clearly I'm going to need a motherboard with video and sound built in anyway so I may as well start looking on ebay at mini boards.

I don't know a ton about mini pc specs, so any advice here would be helpful. 

Micro ATX or mini ITX?  I'm thinking we don't need to go higher than 1ghz at the most.

[rovingmind]

mini-atx

http://www.mini-itx.com/

for spec and general information


I've got a late 90s millenium falcon to put one in as a future project

[leapinlew]

Consider an older laptop.

They are finally starting to show up in decent numbers with decent specs, but can still be a bit difficult to find.

[rovingmind]

Computers themselves tend to be more useful longer and I prefer to leave the free ones, unless I have specific need, to people who need one but can't afford one.  I don't actually need a PC yet as I have a 600mhz range machine sitting here that I can use for my testing right now, and if it fits form factor, for this particular cab.

you could take the free ones sift through the pieces put together a couple and donate the ones you don't need for cabinets back into freecycle

[ChadTower]

I don't want to use a laptop screen, definitely.  If I could find a 750mhz or so laptop for cheap I'd use that but I can't see that happening.


rovingmind, that's a good idea, and there already a couple people who do that in my area.  What I can do, though, is head to the town recycling depot and keep an eye out for useful machines.  The old guy that runs it knows me and lets me take what I want.  I just wish it were a little easier to visually separate the reasonable MAME boxes from the ones that aren't any good since he doesn't let me open them, I have to take them whole just by looking at the case.

[ChadTower]

Or maybe something like this. 


I suppose it's too early to be trying to pick out a specific model, really, as I don't have the game requirements yet.

[ChadTower]

Looked up system requirements for each game... I think we can eliminate Starship Troopers right off the bat, it is too different than the rest.  Everything else we can get on a 98 box, I believe.

[rovingmind]

no, its gateway