Main > Main Forum
Control panel review - 4 player with spinner
Zebidee:
Your keyboard is cool - I can see that it is designed to be out of sight when not in use, and it is handy. I think that the draw really does need to be well hidden. But when you weigh up the effort of making a tidy keyboard drawer and hiding it, vs the effort involved for a USB port/hub, it doesn't make so much sense.
keyboards are a "messy" aspect of Mame cabs - they are incongruous with a traditional arcade cab, and they yell "Hey, I'm really a PC!" to any observer. And it wasn't practical for me. So I figured why not make a "feature" out of a USB port instead. Changes a person's first thought from "errrr, it has a keyboard?" to "Wow, it even has USB ports!"
Often the simplest thing is what looks best.
BTW, I love your marquee.
vidmouse:
The keydrawer photo isn't showing the front panel or hardware... in the final version it will look more like a drawer that you may not even notice until you pull it out. With the amount of different emulators/pc games I'm running (and special keys, etc) needed, it made some sense.
I agree that I would hate a "visible" keyboard because of how it would take away from the look-and-feel of a real arcade machine. As it is, I'm regretting not doing a coin door right now, but I think that'll be a next-year project add-on.
Thanks, I agree the marquee does look cool but there's something about getting exactly what you orderred. I'm assuming Scott won't want it back (don't know what he'd use it for) so hopefully I can keep both and mix n'match. The wallpaper on-screen is actually my own mock-up that I sent to clarify the order.
Zebidee:
Vidmouse, I don't regret pulling two coin mechs out so far. One got me $20 on ebay. Look at what I did with this lovely pre-cut space in a cab door after I pulled the coin mech out.
I blacked the exposed edge near the panel after the photo was taken, and a few other tidy-ups, but this is basically how it looks and works. The panel is at knee level, and the DVD drive is very handy for turning the cab into a media centre. Ripping has never been easier or more fun!
vidmouse:
What are the three buttons/dials for?
Having an exposed rom drive would go a long way to extending my software playability (given some of my games require the CD to be in the drive). Check out the post I made today on Star Wars Racer -- can't believe how well that worked.
I'm wondering what other games would be good on a 640x480 tv screen on my cab.
I'm probably going to try Mechwarrior 3 or Crimson Skies next... (saw these in an arcade
too)
Zebidee:
Controls:
- the left, black button is an admin button (=shift + enter);
- the central knob is a volume control (potentiometer); and
- the right, blue button is for pause.
When I originally designed this so I could put a headphone jack where the blue button is, but it proved to be too complicated at the time so I replaced it with a pause button.
In terms of pure PC games, so far I have put on Doom, virtua tennis, and a couple of flight simulators. I could put on many more if I had the time. Alone in the Dark is a good candidate, I think. So are all the DooM-ish games like Heretic, Duke 3D etc.
My kids play all those 90's kids games (eg Grandma & Me, etc etc) that run under 640x480. I run a cable from the back of the PC in the cab to a spare 27" Sony PVM. They love it!
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version