The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls

Main => Project Announcements => Topic started by: rball5 on September 10, 2015, 03:53:53 pm

Title: I started (and finished) a pedestal style build
Post by: rball5 on September 10, 2015, 03:53:53 pm
I finished this build before thinking of posting, but I've got a few pics I took along the way so here goes:

July 16, 2015: Somehow I stumbled upon arcade controls listed on eBay & remembered my childhood dream of owning an arcade.  If I had to pick any one game to own, it would have been Mortal Kombat II, but today I learn I can build something that'll play nearly every game I've ever played.  Order placed and research begins...  I ordered a two player setup with light-up buttons & a xin-mo usb controller.



July 18, 2015: Joysticks, buttons, usb controller are delivered & the wife is out of town for the day.  I built a control panel mostly as a proof of concept - if I can make this work with my PC then I'll move forward.  Spent most of the day drilling holes & installing /wiring buttons.  By the time my wife was home I'd got it up & running.  She laughed at first because it was a bit ghetto looking - I'd built the control panel box a bit too shallow & the bottoms of the joysticks would hit a table... so I supported it by both ends with chairs from the dining room - in the middle of the living room floor.  Wasn't long before she pressed the p2 start button  :p
(http://i.imgur.com/bXx3utS.jpg)

That night I ordered parts to build the PC.  I wanted to build this for $500 - this included the PC (all new components), wood, TV, sound bar, buttons, etc.  I was REALLY close to this number until a few things happened.
PC Specs:
Total cost for PC = $151 (home-made case using scrap wood & threaded rods)
(http://i.imgur.com/SImwiRf.jpg[)

Within one week of the PC's build - just after I'd got all of the windows updates installed - the cheap ram died.  I'd taken the next week off of work (had to burn some vacation time or I was going to lose it) & wanted the PC to be up & running before I started my build so I went to Fry's & bought Corsair 8gb ram & Evo 212 cooler (I'd removed the stock cooler during troubleshooting & didn't have more thermal paste to re-apply... a new cooler was only $10 more than the cheapest paste Fry's had in-stock).

Later, the hard drive (about 1 month old) developed bad sectors.  This was detected while I was backing up my system (I had everything running the way I wanted & wanted a backup).  Attempts to repair resulted in more bad sectors = time for more upgrades.  I bought a 120gb SSD for the OS & a 3tb hd for the arcade drive (I'd realized I could use up a lot of space with some of the extras I'd started to add & didn't want to have to upgrade this later).
New total cost for the PC = $400 ($500 budget is immediately blown away)



July 21, 2015: Found a deal on a 32" TV from Dell.  $248 gets you a TV + a $125 gift card - I used that card to buy a sound bar to go with the arcade.  A sound bar with a sub seemed like the best/easiest solution for what I wanted - it required no design work on the cabinet & would provide decent sound when I added jukebox functionality.

Now that everything has been ordered, I sketched out what I wanted my cabinet to look like, added dimensions, and created a cut-list.  I was able to fit this on one sheet of plywood using a little bit of scrap-wood I had in the garage.



July 28, 2015: I've got the day off work & head the the garage first thing in the morning to get the a/c going (it's HOT and HUMID in Galveston Texas - I don't work well in the heat.  A few hours later I'm cutting wood.  At the end of the day I've got something that looks like this:
(http://i.imgur.com/WYy2WZi.jpg)

I chose plywood over MDF for a few reasons:



July 29, 2015: More cutting & assembling.  By the end of the day I've got the base built & placed my 'proof of concept' control panel on top - it's not attached, just sitting there making this think look like something.  I was unhappy with the button layout for the test-panel, so I redesigned it.  My idea was to have a standard 6-button setup but add a 7th button to the top row so I could play 4-button neo geo games with the layout they were meant to have (I've yet to play a 4-button neo geo game since building this thing).  I'm happy with my new layout, but the 7th button seems useless.
(http://i.imgur.com/wuhu5lI.jpg)



August 2, 2015: Paint is finished (all black), t-molding is installed, and everything is together/working.  I originally built this without fans for cooling in an attempt to keep dust & pet hair away from the PC (made sure there was a path for air to get in/out & hoping rising heat would be enough - it wasn't.  I monitored temps because of my fairly aggressive overclock (3.2ghz -> 4.2ghz) & they went up substantially when I put the PC inside the cabinet (from a max of about 60 deg all the way up to average of about 75 while playing).  In the week or so after it was complete, I added two 140mm fans with filters to the back & a vent to the front (seen in these pics) & my temps are back down to about 60 max / 40 average.
(http://i.imgur.com/caFyBZU.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/xzJIQWe.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/jmBOg2m.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/BXoGbro.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/zG2aEZZ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/9oIiUzG.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/cV7c9eH.jpg)

Accessible from the front door (or by lifting the control panel):  USB hub, storage space, wireless microphones for karaoke (my wife loves karaoke & it's a big hit at parties).
In the 4th pic above, you can see my power switch - it's accessible with the control panel down & very convenient.
Also, notice the string on the rear handle + the hook below the middle hinge for the control panel.  I use the string/hook to keep the back door open when working on something & can open the control panel against the string/back door to keep it open while working underneath the panel (wasn't planned, but quite convenient).
The circles at the top of the control panel are cup holders - there's a kegerator on the wall opposite the arcade & I didn't want people trying to find their own not-so-creative place to set their beer while playing.



August 6, 2015: Control panel graphics are complete.  I've never designed graphics to scale, so I wasn't sure if I could get button placement, borders, etc in the right places.  I figured I'd start with the smallest/cheapest piece (also the most difficult piece) and go from there.  I know some people will not like my design (mix of PC, consoles, and arcade), but I built this for me & I'm happy with the result:
(http://i.imgur.com/K6ZD0Xj.jpg)



August 19, 2015: I tried to use a local print shop but gave up a week after they wouldn't respond to my questions.  I contacted Lucian045 from the hyperspin board (I now see he's here too) & had graphics in my hand a few days later - great service & fantastic product.
(http://i.imgur.com/f1tpl7P.jpg)

After seeing results, I went to work finishing up the artwork for my cabinet.  Life + work slowed my progress, so finishing up took much longer than expected.  I finally got the graphics finished up & sent off for printing before a long holiday weekend.



September 9, 2015: A few short days after sending off my file, graphics were delivered & installed:
(http://i.imgur.com/SKBocKH.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/oyGpI0D.jpg)

When I build another, I'll change a few small design things but overall I'm very happy with how this turned out. 
My biggest change will be control panel height.  I'm 6'3" & the control panel is 38" high...  I think 43" would be just about perfect for standing (and my stools are adjustable, so I could sit at any height).

As it stands, I've got these systems installed/running:

My next project will be a custom layout for Maximus Arcade - I want the cabinet on-screen to match my cabient.
Title: Re: I started (and finished) a pedestal style build
Post by: tigernut on September 10, 2015, 03:56:49 pm
Like the graphics on your control panel. I'm a huge Fallout fan.
Title: Re: I started (and finished) a pedestal style build
Post by: vwalbridge on September 10, 2015, 04:12:17 pm
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=335263;image)

I was about to tell you that you forgot to include Lion King characters on your control panel...nope, found 'em!   ;)

Title: Re: I started (and finished) a pedestal style build
Post by: rball5 on September 10, 2015, 04:24:45 pm
Quote from: tigernut on September 10, 2015, 03:56:49 pm
Like the graphics on your control panel. I'm a huge Fallout fan.

Thanks!  I've been wasting way more time than I should with Fallout Shelter (and I've got the Fallout 4 collector's edition on pre-order).

Quote from: vwalbridge on September 10, 2015, 04:12:17 pm
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=335263;image)

I was about to tell you that you forgot to include Lion King characters on your control panel...nope, found 'em!   ;)

:D  Added that for my daughter - as soon as she found out I was 'building something that can play anything' she wanted to know if she'd be able to play Lion King - Aladdin was the next request).
Title: Re: I started (and finished) a pedestal style build
Post by: pbj on September 10, 2015, 04:25:42 pm
TV is too little.
Title: Re: I started (and finished) a pedestal style build
Post by: vwalbridge on September 10, 2015, 04:27:13 pm
Quote from: rball5 on September 10, 2015, 04:24:45 pm
:D  Added that for my daughter - as soon as she found out I was 'building something that can play anything' she wanted to know if she'd be able to play Lion King - Aladdin was the next request).

I hear you and figured as much.  :) My daughter would probably want every Disney character and my son every Thomas the Train character.
Title: Re: I started (and finished) a pedestal style build
Post by: rball5 on September 10, 2015, 04:33:25 pm
Quote from: pbj on September 10, 2015, 04:25:42 pm
TV is too little.

It actually is... but only compared to the soundbar (didn't realize they didn't make sound bars for a 32" TV)  :P
Title: Re: I started (and finished) a pedestal style build
Post by: Green Giant on September 10, 2015, 07:42:51 pm
Quote from: rball5 on September 10, 2015, 04:33:25 pm
Quote from: pbj on September 10, 2015, 04:25:42 pm
TV is too little.

It actually is... but only compared to the soundbar (didn't realize they didn't make sound bars for a 32" TV)  :P
There's an easy fix for this.
Get a 60" tv.
Title: Re: I started (and finished) a pedestal style build
Post by: DGP on September 11, 2015, 03:26:25 am
Just get a mount that rotates for the 32" and you can have a good size screen for vertical games.

At that current location I cannot see going any bigger than about 40" due to view distance, it looks really close.

Budgets almost never work on these multi-cades unless you go used, I ended up with a $1k bartop when I planned on spending half that. :dunno

 :cheers:
Title: Re: I started (and finished) a pedestal style build
Post by: pbj on September 11, 2015, 09:42:05 am
42" at MINIMUM on a pedestal cabinet.  60" is too much but anywhere around 47-55" is probably ideal.  The entire point is looking like you have so much money to blow that you have a nicer TV than your friends and all you do with it is play Combatribes.



Title: Re: I started (and finished) a pedestal style build
Post by: yotsuya on September 11, 2015, 10:34:47 am
Quote from: DGP on September 11, 2015, 03:26:25 am
Budgets almost never work on these multi-cades unless you go used, I ended up with a $1k bartop when I planned on spending half that. :dunno
:cheers:

Damn. How does one spend $1K on a bartop?
Title: Re: I started (and finished) a pedestal style build
Post by: Green Giant on September 11, 2015, 01:01:44 pm
Quote from: pbj on September 11, 2015, 09:42:05 am
42" at MINIMUM on a pedestal cabinet.  60" is too much but anywhere around 47-55" is probably ideal.  The entire point is looking like you have so much money to blow that you have a nicer TV than your friends and all you do with it is play Combatribes.
WHAT?

Even a 100" is not too much.
Title: Re: I started (and finished) a pedestal style build
Post by: rball5 on September 11, 2015, 01:41:37 pm
Update:  New display is on the way - I felt inadequate with my tiny TV, so I found a great deal on a TV with free shipping.  105" of 4k UHD curved screen glory - be jealous guys... be jealous:
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-UN105S9-Curved-105-Inch-Ultra/dp/B00L403O8U (http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-UN105S9-Curved-105-Inch-Ultra/dp/B00L403O8U)
Title: Re: I started (and finished) a pedestal style build
Post by: blacketj on September 11, 2015, 01:56:36 pm
The reviews for that TV are pretty entertaining.
Title: Re: I started (and finished) a pedestal style build
Post by: DGP on September 11, 2015, 10:00:26 pm
Quote from: yotsuya on September 11, 2015, 10:34:47 am
Quote from: DGP on September 11, 2015, 03:26:25 am
Budgets almost never work on these multi-cades unless you go used, I ended up with a $1k bartop when I planned on spending half that. :dunno
:cheers:

Damn. How does one spend $1K on a bartop?

:dunno

Well... if you over pay for a completed bartop and then rip it apart and start over while going overkill on the PC it adds up real quick.  :banghead:
Title: Re: I started (and finished) a pedestal style build
Post by: Xerobull on September 22, 2015, 10:24:06 am
Nice quick turnaround on this cab! I'm sure you want to build something else already!

Small world, too- I lived in Galveston for 10 years, and my first MAME cab met it's untimely demise in the floodwaters of Hurricane Ike (pours one out for my dead homie).

Which printer didn't return your call?
Title: Re: I started (and finished) a pedestal style build
Post by: rball5 on September 27, 2015, 08:49:09 pm
Quote from: Xerobull on September 22, 2015, 10:24:06 am
Nice quick turnaround on this cab! I'm sure you want to build something else already!

Small world, too- I lived in Galveston for 10 years, and my first MAME cab met it's untimely demise in the floodwaters of Hurricane Ike (pours one out for my dead homie).

Which printer didn't return your call?

Thanks  :)
You're right - I didn't do a whole lot of research before building, so I've got a few things I'd like to change now that I've played mine a bit + looking at everyone's builds here gave me ideas I'd like to incorporate - definitely have the itch for another build (I've also got a line of people who played mine & want me to build them one).  Speedy's was the printer - recommended by a few friends, but zero response to my requests.