Zak-Man v2.0

[severdhed]

well, it has been a while since i made any changes to my zakman cabinet, but between wanting some new controls, and having some hardware problems, i ended up making quite a few changes recently, so i figured i'd post them.

i was using x-arcade controls that i had transplanted into a panel that i built, i also installed a betson 4way stick, that sucked.  this worked fine for years, but i really wanted to be able to play centipede, and didnt want a frankenpanel...so some changes were in order.  just about the time i was ready to get new parts...my monitor died, so i had to get a new monitor also..so i figured while i was at it, i'd upgrade the PC as well.

here is the cabinet before this project started:

 

it is hard to see due to the blackness of the cabinet, and poor lighting..but the control panel box was particularly ugly, lots of rough edges and such.  the control panel is OK, but i hated the 4way stick.

so first of all, i bought a 19" HannsG LCD pc monitor to replace the 19" LCD that had died...this thing has a nice picture to it..i am very pleased with it.

i replaced the computer as well, since i had one sitting in the basement just collecting dust...so i went from:

athlon xp 2500+, 1gb ram, 20gb hd, geforce 4 mx440

to

pentium 4 3.0ghz, 2gb ram, 80gb hd, radeon 9600xt

not a huge step up..but it made a difference in the performance of some games..(mk3, killer instinct)

i also updated the controls, and built a new control panel and box.  i finally have tools to use this time, so it ended up looking a little more finished.  i finally used T Molding, and i am very happy with the way that stuff turned out. i got enough to replace the old molding on the rest of the cabinet as well, but now i think i may hold off and get some bright yellow molding instead.

i bought two U360 sticks, with the longer handes (bat top).  new happ concave pushbuttons, Utrak trackball with LED kit, OptiWiz interface for the trackball, and two novagem buttons with the label inserts.

the top is covered in plexiglass, which was spray painted black on the back side...it makes it nice and glossy looking.

[severdhed]

here are pics of the novagem buttons.  i installed a white LED in the yellow button, because the yellow LED made it look orange when lit up...





another shot of the panel...i just couldnt resist having Sub-Zero vs Scorpion up on the screen, since it worked so well with my color scheme.


here is the new MaLa layout that i made to go along with the new cabinet

[severdhed]

and best of all, here is my oldest son Zakary trying out the new controls. (he just turned two years old on the 15th of feb)

testing out the U360 stick


pressing the pause button


trying out the new trackball


i had a bad PCB in the trackball when it arrived, which caused it to not move left and right properly..but Andy at ultimarc was quick to help me out, he sent out a replacement, which arrived this afternoon...now it works perfectly and i can finally play some centipede.