The Avrus Arcade Project "Conquest" [4 player, 3 TB, 2 spinner] (WiP)

[Avrus]

I settled on 4 x 1/2 inch bolts to secure the control panel box to the cabinet.


I couldn't find a 1/2" drill bit, then I remembered that I had the 1/2" spade bit that hadn't been used yet. I pre-drilled with the largest bit I had (3/8") and then used the spade bit.


Here all the joysticks and buttons are installed. I wasn't completely certain on the color scheme, but after seeing it assembled I'm very happy.


Once the artwork is in place, the joystick base will be hidden nicely.




Some of the internal wiring.

[Havok]

Looking good so far, any chance you're going to light up some of the controls, or perhaps the trackballs?

[Avrus]

Looking good so far, any chance you're going to light up some of the controls, or perhaps the trackballs?

Good question, I know the 3 trackballs certainly screams for a lighting kit.  Due to the project costs, I decided not to go lighting at this time, but it's certainly conceivable I'd go with an Electric Ice upgrade kit later on, something like that.

[ids]

So how are you finding the layout so far?  How is accessibility of the various controls, etc?  If all is well, then my next question: do you have detailed specs for the layout?  I'm currently playing with a 2P prototype, was thinking the traditional 4P, 1 trackball, 1 spinner, but I do have 4 betsons and could easily put 3 into one panel.

[Avrus]

So how are you finding the layout so far?  How is accessibility of the various controls, etc?  If all is well, then my next question: do you have detailed specs for the layout?  I'm currently playing with a 2P prototype, was thinking the traditional 4P, 1 trackball, 1 spinner, but I do have 4 betsons and could easily put 3 into one panel.

Keeping in mind the 4way isn't installed yet (might be in my mailbox right now) all of the controls work very well so far.  No one has complained about being cramped, or hitting other controls.

In fact one of the big comments from Sundays play session is how it's nice not to have to be shoulder to shoulder when playing Street Fighter.

I'm concerned about bumping P1 while playing the 4 way, so we'll see in a day or two when that's installed but everything else has worked out fantastic.

And yes I have a very detailed Corel Draw layout with exact measurements etc. 

[ids]

awsome - how about robotron, or two-player smash-tv, etc?  And where can I download (making some assumptions here) your plans?

[Avrus]

awsome - how about robotron, or two-player smash-tv, etc?  And where can I download (making some assumptions here) your plans?

Haven't had a chance to configure the two joystick thing, will tackle that this week.

I'm just double checking the control panel measurements because I did things backwards (and it's cost me).   I laid out the panel and then made the template afterwards, so it's taken 3 print jobs to get it exact.  Need to print one last one to ensure it's all within 1/16".

The cabinet itself is pretty much straight from Saint's book, just modified with a 2x4 frame on the inside.

[ids]

Thanks - most interested in CP layout, as I plan on basically following the UAII from saints book for the cab.  If all 3 TB's are accessible and easy to use, and its good for 2player smash-tv, then you've got a winner in my books (and a copy-cat in waiting here)

[Avrus]

Well I've been busy.    The cab has gone through some serious play testing, and it's clear that setting up all the games with all the controls is going to take some time.


The trackballs had to have the y wires reversed, as it was functioning like a flight stick.  Down was up and up was down.  Easily fixed by reversing the outside wires that plug into the Mini-PAC.


It's alive!   A beautiful sight indeed.


Here's Dragon7x playing some track and field.


Here's Canuckle playing some track and field.


The camera doesn't do justice showing off the greylite #14 glass.  It's dark.  Very very dark.


Had to load up joust, because it's a classic.


Here is the glass outside of the cabinet.


Spent 2 days applying bondo, priming, sanding and painting the control panel box.  It looks significantly better if you check out some of the older pictures.


Nice curves to it now.


The admin panel, waiting for the paint to try so I can install it.


The diamondplate came in, after I ended up going to the FedEx depot to pick it up.  FedEx claimed they attempted delivery, yet no truck appeared in my parking lot and no one rang the door bell.

Tomorrow I'll take pictures of the work I've done mounting the computer onto the wood panel.  I'll also take pictures of the admin panel mounted, with the cool illuminated Bulgin Vandal power switch.

Also, the cab has a name;

Conquest.

I've attached an image of my control panel layout.

[Avrus]

So I took the admin panel from J's garage and brought it home to mount the buttons. I originally went out looking for a 3/4" nut for the Bulgin Vandal power button. I should have been more observant, because it already comes with a half height 3/4" nut on it.

Lots of driving around wasted on that.


After mounting the admin buttons and the power button the paint ended up getting scuffed up, and the paint had some indents in it from behind handled.


Sanded it with a 120 grit sand paper, put a few more coats of enamel paint on it (after taping off the buttons. It's now nice and shiny.


Very difficult to get a good shot of the button. The button doesn't come with the 'power' symbol on it, I ended up getting a sheet of vinyl decals from Pondo in the BYOAC forums. I'm very happy with the results.


I had originally planned on 2 inch spacing between the buttons, but I was concerned about the vinyl labels overlapping. I increased it to 3 inches and I'm very happy with the results. All the buttons are vertically aligned and the net resulted is a very appealing look.


J came over to look at the progress I was making, and I managed to leverage him to help me install the glass. The L brackets I was using were too large, so we ended up putting a slight bend in them so they wouldn't cover the control box bolt holes.


I'm very pleased with the results. The glass, as you can see, is quite dark. It adds that missing element of 'arcade feel' to the cabinet.


The challenge with taking a picture with a dSLR is that it's constantly trying to increase the light levels. The net result is light reflections off the glass, when in reality there is very little reflection at all.


Here is the heart of the machine. Motherboard on a Lian-Li motherboard tray, with a Vantec hot swap drive case, and the power supply. I used some beefy panel clamps on the top and bottom and they hold very securely.


Another angle.


I need to practice taking more shots with my camera. This is with the ISO turned up and the flash turned off. The effect doesn't quite come out like I wanted, but you get the idea.


This is the back of the control box with the admin panel securely mounted. I used 4 x 1-1/2" L brackets.


A picture inside with the motherboard mounted securely. Looking much more tidy now.


The admin panel serves to fill the gap at the top of the control panel, and add that little bit of polish.


I can't wait to see the control panel with some artwork applied.


My Pac-Man 4-way reunion stick came in. Now I can mount it, and use it on the games I need to, rather than trying to struggle with an 8-way.


Unfortunately the mount is slightly different from what I had routed. As you can see there's some damage to the wood that requires some bondo to repair.


I finished the afternoon by taping the underside and applying bondo liberally to fill the holes and the notched areas. I'll drill new holes tomorrow, and securely mount the 4-way.

[Neverending Project]

Looking great! The question is, have you tried some 3-player rampart yet?

[Avrus]

Looking great! The question is, have you tried some 3-player rampart yet?

And it was awesome.  Also played some T2 using the trackballs and some marble madness.

[Avrus]

Making real progress now. I'm almost at the point where I can call the project 'done'. The only major thing that's left, is the artwork. My albatross. My white whale.


Here you can see the 25 cent stickers and the admin stickers applied. All of the admin buttons are wired and functioning now.


One of the things to be aware of with the small momentary contact buttons is that they're very shallow. I had to route out quite a bit of the backside of the 3/4" panel I had. Even then the nuts didn't seem to want to hold all the time.


Wider shot of the admin buttons.


The power button, when unlit, seems hardly noticeable with the labels in place.


This shot shows the labels reflecting off the glass. Again, the glass is so dark that you don't see these types of reflections unless you're hitting it with a camera flash.


Nice close up of the 25 cent vinyl. Looks much better than just a plain black button.


The more I look at the admin buttons, the more I'm glad I went with the smaller momentary contact buttons as opposed to a regular push button. They just look ... more admin.


What would any project be without some pimping here and there. I decided to spice up the inside with some cold cathode tubes. It also helps if I'm doing some work inside, as opposed to using a flexible work light.


The edges of the cabinet now have this eerie blue glow to them. It's also a nice effect when opening up the coin door.


Managed to take a stabilized shot without the flash so you have a better sense of the lighting.

[Avrus]

Monitor parts are back, cab needs reassembly which I should complete on Saturday.

[Spaced Ace]

Hey Avrus, looking sweet.  Did you ever find anyone to do your CPO artwork?  I remember I was going to give it a try, but it was way beyond my skill.  I was just wondering....

Spaced Ace

[Avrus]

Hey Avrus, looking sweet.  Did you ever find anyone to do your CPO artwork?  I remember I was going to give it a try, but it was way beyond my skill.  I was just wondering....

Spaced Ace

Nope, nothing in the pipe whatsoever for artwork.

[shilmover]

Quick question...

Where did you get the 25c sticker?

Barry

[Avrus]

Quick question...

Where did you get the 25c sticker?

Barry

Pongo.  He was awesome to deal with and has lots of great sets.  He also was nice enough to resize the power vinyl so it would fit on the cool power button I had.

[Avrus]

Been a long time since I've worked on the project have let other stuff get in the way.   Still really no further on artwork than when I started so I think the end result is I'm going to have to learn artwork and do it myself.

Also in the process of re-working the control panel in illustrator.  Currently 49" wide and 24" tall it's just too big for my tastes.  With some modifications I think I can get it down to 46/45" x 16". 

I did get the kickplate installed and the panel clamps.  Even on a control panel of this magnitude 2 clamps (1 on each side) hold firmly.

[Avrus]

Well I think I've decided to redo my control panel.  After countless hours in illustrator laying it out I can cut it down to 48" x 16".  Nothing can be done on the width, in retrospect had I gone with a high-lip trackball or a regular trackball setup I would have saved 1" in dimensions on the 3 mounting plates.  It would have allowed me to do the panel at 44" x 16".

The first file "control panel final" is the old layout.

The second file is the new layout optimized.  And I attached the illustrator layout file as well.

[Avrus]

Going to have to change my layout file.  Found a slightly more optimal way to layout the CP and still have the 4-way on the left hand side instead of the right.

Big change last night is I upgraded the main SSD drive in my gaming computer upstairs, so the old SSD drive goes into the cabinet.  Can you say 8 second boot times into Maximus Arcade? 8 seconds.  Totally worth it.

[Rick]

Can you say 8 second boot times into Maximus Arcade? 8 seconds.  Totally worth it.

That's sick.  Truly, truly sick.