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15 Jan 07
Going off the lessons learned with my
first arcade cabinet attempt ->
cocktail
cabinet, I decided to make an upright cabinet. While it
will take some time to actually make this cabinet (we are moving
from Thailand to Japan this summer) I will eventually get around to
making it. So, since I have a few days off and nothing to do,
why not start with the drawings? The drawing cans be
downloaded here (when finished).
17 Apr 07
I recently sold my cocktail cabinet and now my wife has
given me the "okay" to build an upright arcade.
01 Jun 08 Yeah I know, it
has been a while. But moving and changing jobs does that...
So far this is what I have designed
(the different colors are to help me differentiate between the
different panels during the design process).
I have also decided to use joysticks and buttons from
Happ
Controls instead of the ones from Ultimarc as in
my last
cabinet. I wasn't too excited with the feel of
their joystick. The
buttons,
joysticks,
spinner,
trackball and
keyboard emulator
have been
ordered. The Control panel is the first to be built. First I began by
reading
Project Arcade.
Even though I have already built a cabinet, I thought it best to see
what other people have done. Also, it is a good reference for
some tricks and nuances I didn't incorporate in the first cabinet.
The included CD is also nice for color pictures of the B&W images in
the book.
04 Jun 08
I now live in Yokosuka, Japan so I had to go to the
local hardware store to see what they had in stock. I did find
what I was looking for, but the use the metric system here so the
largest sheet of cabinet grade plywood is 910mm x 1820 mm (3' x 6')
and is not 1/2" thick, but 15mm (close enough). So I had to
modify my drawings a bit to accommodate the overall size being
limited by my materials. Plexiglas is also in interesting
sizes, but I will find what I need. Also things are a bit
pricier here.
14 Jun 08
So I convinced a friend to build a cabinet too.
We have begun the first stages of the control console. Cutting
some of the angles are rather tricky. But we re getting the
hang of it. Also my order from Happ came in so things are
moving along nicely.
03 Jul 08
Finally got started on the control panel. I found
out that I will be moving back to the states in the immediate
future, so I need to use the tools at work while I can!.
Picture are below in the controls section.
06 Jul 08
Well the wife and kids are out of the picture today, so
I took advantage and spent the day working completing the control
panel. I admit a few mistakes, especially in the design as I
had to notch the back a bit for the spinner and 8-way joystick to
fit properly. But none of it will be visible to the user, so I
am okay with it. Pretty much finished the control panel to
day. I wasn't sure how to attach the top and still have access
to the interior but I came up with some cool hinges and a truck
opener that keep that top up when opened. I have to
still attach a magnetic latch and route the slot for the T-molding.
That is going to be tricky on most of the edges as they are at 70
degrees and the router cuts at 90. I guess I will have to make
a jig to get the right angle.
24 Jun 08
Just got the word that we are moving back to the US. so
it looks like this project will be on hold for a while.
I decided to use my old
Sony computer
for
this cabinet. As much as I don't want to get rid of this
computer, I think it has done more than it's fair share of computing
for me. It is a Pentium III 800 MHz with 512 MB RAM (that is
all the RAM it can handle). Currently it has Windows 2000 on it,
but I might try to upgrade it to XP if I can find the drivers on the
Sony Support site. (12June) Windows XP installed correctly...
The control panel will
each have, one 4 way and two 8 way joysticks, and six
action buttons, a track ball, a spinner, one/two player controls and
four misc buttons for controlling the MAME interface.
Lessons Learned:
After having
played the games for a few days, I would change the following if I
were to build another cabinet.
-
Increase the width of
the control panel. When I use the joy stick, my hand rests on
the edge of the control panel. After five minutes or so, my
hand begins to ache. Maybe in time I will build a callous?!?
-
RTFM -Read The
F%@king Manual. I figured out my issues mapping the buttons - I
forgot to change a jumper.
-
Make sure everything
works before you install it or make any cuts. My monitor, even
though it was new, tends to change aspect ratio on it's own. I
also installed a newer CD-ROM and my old PC does not "see" it.
Luckily the network card works and I can plug the game cabinet
into my Router and fix everything (so far).
-
Make the top panel 1"
thick. This way the joysticks will have plenty of clearance
between the top of the joystick and the bottom of the glass/plexi-glass.
I used 3/4" wood that was available and my joystick clears the
plexi-glass by 0.100". But if you lean on the plexi-glass, the
joysticks rub due to the flexing...
-
I think I would mount
the computer board and the coin assembly on the opposite sides
in which I mounted them. I think access to the computer board
is more important and since I have been having to plug a
keyboard in a few times a week, it would make it a lot easier to
do. All the examples I have seen did it the way I should have
done it, but my computer has an accessory board that is
perpendicular to the motherboard and had to be secured to the
cabinet. This precluded me from mounting it on the removable
panel.
-
I think my next
cabinet will be an upright. Some of the ROMS have issues with
Cocktail settings and switching to the other side when player 2
is up. Maybe I have bad ROMS?!?
I think that is it!!! Please
email me with
questions or comments and look for the upcoming
PC
Extreme 7, due in mid-July 2003 for
more on game cabinets!!!
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