Joel Builds An Arcade Machine

[Smoothandz]

On 12/6/2021 at 5:38 AM, Murdoch said:

This design came up on Pinterest. Thinking I might steal that Marque idea. I have less space to work with, but I like how the blue looks through the letter cut outs. Combine it with the blue edging proposed in my experiments above and I think it will look pretty neat.

 

https://makezine.com/2014/08/15/building-a-basic-arcade-cabinet/

I have to say this looks incredible. Would it be possible to use this same design technique on the sides as well? Like some simple designs or some classic game sprites? 

[Murdoch]

2 hours ago, Smoothandz said:

I have to say this looks incredible. Would it be possible to use this same design technique on the sides as well? Like some simple designs or some classic game sprites? 

 

It would be cool, but I would be fearful of making a mistake. Those sides represent about $150NZ of funds so I am taking great care with them. Definitely a good idea though and wish I had a bit more confidence in my abilities to do it.

[Smoothandz]

24 minutes ago, Murdoch said:

It would be cool, but I would be fearful of making a mistake. Those sides represent about $150NZ of funds so I am taking great care with them. Definitely a good idea though and wish I had a bit more confidence in my abilities to do it.

 

Ummm.... I see where you're coming from. Maybe you could try some ideas on some smaller and less expensive pieces of wood and then attach them to the side? That way if you mess up or are unhappy with the end result you could start over instead of buying and redoing half of the cabinet. 

 

Just tossing some ideas around. But nevertheless I have a feeling this is going to be awesome. I'm truly excited and can't wait for the final build. Keep up the good work there buddy! 

[Murdoch]

9 minutes ago, Smoothandz said:

 

Ummm.... I see where you're coming from. Maybe you could try some ideas on some smaller and less expensive pieces of wood and then attach them to the side? That way if you mess up or are unhappy with the end result you could start over instead of buying and redoing half of the cabinet. 

 

Just tossing some ideas around. But nevertheless I have a feeling this is going to be awesome. I'm truly excited and can't wait for the final build. Keep up the good work there buddy! 

 

Oh sure, ideas are good. In fact when I first read your post I was like "Dammit now I want to do that", it was only upon further reflection I thought "Eh, probably a bit risky." The marquee is the perfect spot to try something like this, as it's just a small bit of MDF, easily and cheaply replaced. Could not attach it to the sides, as the effect is achieved (I assume) by cutting holes, covering them with coloured perspex or similar, then backlighting it with some LEDs.

[Smoothandz]

Ah, I see. There's really not much you could do without cutting into and or through the side of the cabinet. Definitely agree with staying away from ideas that could end up hitting your pocket book. 

 

Now that you mention LEDs and such, I just had an idea for the marquee. LEDs have come a very long way and with the options out there, selective/programable sets are pretty much common place. Instead of perspex being a solid color, use a clear or "smoked" color perspex and program the LEDs behind it to be whatever color you want. You could keep it as a solid blue or flashing all different colors. The blue is by far the best looking color for your build, but this way would still give you that option with many more.

[Murdoch]

15 minutes ago, Smoothandz said:

Now that you mention LEDs and such, I just had an idea for the marquee. LEDs have come a very long way and with the options out there, selective/programable sets are pretty much common place. Instead of perspex being a solid color, use a clear or "smoked" color perspex and program the LEDs behind it to be whatever color you want. You could keep it as a solid blue or flashing all different colors. The blue is by far the best looking color for your build, but this way would still give you that option with many more.

 

Honestly I find flashing LEDs obnoxious. Subtle but strong blue suits me.

[Murdoch]

So I have been researching control layouts. I wanted space on the board to comfortably rest hands.  All the machines I saw divided the control panel evenly in half, the controls essentially centred. I did wonder if maybe some had player 1 controls more to the left and player 2 more to the right, but it appears not to be the case for the vast majority of cabinets. So using a bit of cardboard cut roughly to the size of what the actual control board will be, I roughly sketched out two different layouts - one with the buttons in straight lines, the other with them on an angle and offset to match where one's fingers naturally sit. I then proceeded to "press" the "buttons" to see how comfortable each layout felt. Somewhat counter-intuitively, I found myself favouring the straight button line up. I expected to like the curved and angled layout better but what I found was that it did not quite work for my third finger. It actually had bend on a somewhat uncomfortable angle in order to actually press the button.

 

I will do some more testing before making a final decision, then mount the buttons in the cardboard in the intended location as an absolute final test.

[Murdoch]

Welp, now my ideas for this thing just got way more complicated.

 

https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/442971313332441149/

[Murdoch]

OK so a busy start to the year has left precious little time for tinkering. I got the panel for the control board sorted and cut, and created a more precise layout for the buttons and sticks on the computer. But then I realised a problem that I should have spotted sooner. See the attached photo of the joystick for reference. Now, the MDF I am using is 18mm thick for strength and weight. Obviously, one cannot attach the mount plate to the bottom of the control panel. The screws would have to be too short, and would be unlikely to create a long term strong bond. And of course, you would lose 18mm off the height of the stick itself. Not ideal. Clearly it needs the plate on top of the control board, but this leaves the plate exposed.

 

The control board needs to be two piece - a thicker underside piece, probably 12mm, the joysticks mounted on top, then another piece on top say 5 - 7mm thick to cover the plates. I will also need to add additional wooden rails to the underside of the panel for strength. I cannot rely upon the MDF alone to provide the necessary strength at that thinness. It might seem OK at first, but after a couple of years of use there's a risk the MDF might start to sag. The two pieces need to be easily separated for future maintenance as well so will probably rely upon the buttons and joystick to hold it all together, then pass the mounting screws through both. I debated using plywood instead of MDF for the top panel, either totally or as raised "islands" where the joystick and buttons are, but based on my layouts on the computer the natural wood just doesn't suit the colours of the joystick and buttons. I love natural wood but in this case I think we are going to keep it simple.

 

Going to try and get the new panels this coming week, and get some moulding to cover the gap at the front.

Edited February 12, 2022 by Murdoch

[Murdoch]

Panels bar the ones covering the monitor are now cut including the new "two layer" control board. Had an idea to ensure precise positioning of the panels using clamps and an MDF offcut. This will let me precisely position the rails before screwing them in place.

[Smoothandz]

Always good to see you making progress. Keep up the work buddy!

[Murdoch]

 Progress. First shot is the almost final button layout. The top button on the left was going to be game exit with middle being coin and start for each player but it immediately triggered my ocd. I remembered that Big Box can assign functions to dual button presses so going to make exit game both start buttons. Next shots are of mounting rails.

[Cheesebone]

This stuff is awesome. I have a pretty enormous Hyperspin and CoinOps setup all set up in a PC and someday I'll shove it in a cabinet like this..

 

For people curious, here's a really quick run-down of what my front-end looks like:

 

 

[Murdoch]

On 3/29/2022 at 1:37 AM, Cheesebone said:

This stuff is awesome. I have a pretty enormous Hyperspin and CoinOps setup all set up in a PC and someday I'll shove it in a cabinet like this..

 

For people curious, here's a really quick run-down of what my front-end looks like:

 

 

Software setup looks great. You downloaded virtual boy games? I had no idea you were into masochism. Don't worry i won't judge.

 

Ok maybe a little.

 

Progress for me. I modified how i am mounting the control board. Realized i was underestimating the strength of those thinner pine rails. Works well. So long as no one sits on it at high speed should be fine. Picking up some clear acrylic to protect the screen tomorrow. Booted up the computer to make sure it still worked. Cleaned up the windows installation and disabled all the needless services to improve particularly boot time. Installed the latest launchbox which helped speed too.

 

Have given much thought as to how to mount the computer itself into the cabinet. Finally got an idea and have cut the rails to suit. 

 

[Murdoch]

Acrylic cut and looking good. Does not really show on the photo but in person the image now looks a bit shinier. It also looks a bit more like a real machine now as of course old school machines had thick glass over the crt.

[Murdoch]

My lady is away for work and it's bucketing down with rain so time to do some tinkering.

 

Measured, built and fitted the frame to support the computer inside the frame. Unfortunately the metal frame from inside the all-in-one I am still using to mount everything on is not 100% square so I am going to have to use something like rubber stoppers or thin strips of rubber to set the perspex on flat and even. Using my paper mockup to get some reference measurements to begin cutting the holes for the controls.

[Murdoch]

I have never been more excited by two buttons. 

[Murdoch]

 

 

Button layout test successful.

[Murdoch]

Time for another update. After measuring and cutting the whole for the joysticks, I realised that there were bits of the joystick assembly that were extending past the metal mount plate that were not immediately obvious, hence the uneven gash on the right hand side. I figured since another piece was going to be laid over top of it, there was no need to be neat. Now sitting here using the buttons and joystick together, I am happy with the relative positions of everything... but I think I screwed up and the buttons are too far apart. I am finding myself uncomfortably stretching my fingers on any one given row. They are spaced 5mm apart relative to each other. That they are circular makes the gap look bigger than it actually is. So I am going to get a new control board cut and start afresh, but before I do so I am going to use another bit on this board to do a test with a couple of buttons to make sure I get it right. I am thinking of dropping the gap down to 2mm.

[Murdoch]

So close and yet so far. Top left button on player one (blue) got off by about 1mm somehow and it sticks out like a sore thumb. Hoping i can expand the hole to the left a fraction then fill the gap rather than having to redo the entire panel again. 

Edited September 25, 2022 by Murdoch

[Dravencour]

Slowly and surely taking shape. I love this kind of project!

[Murdoch]

Before doing anything more including correcting the badly positioned button, I decided to assemble it loosely and do a test. All worked brilliantly, very pleased with how it feels. Playing Final Fight with an actual arcade joystick made the whole thing suddenly seem so real and not an abstract idea.

 

 

[Murdoch]

Dremel adjustment worked a treat. Now everything looks basically right. Not perfect, but nothing egregious that's going to stick out. I can now assemble and test before moving on to finishing. 

[Murdoch]

Final control board test with all buttons and sticks connected successful.

 

 

[Murdoch]

It lives!

[Biodegradable]

Awesome job, man!

[Smoothandz]

Looking good! Great to see it coming together.

[Doomkid]

So entertaining reading this thread all after the fact.. Definitely some trials and tribulations getting this going but the results speak for themselves, it's coming together incredibly!

[Daytime Waitress]

Test shots with both Final Fight and SoR2 gave me the warm and fuzzies.

You off to the paint shop, yet?

[Murdoch]

1 hour ago, Daytime Waitress said:

Test shots with both Final Fight and SoR2 gave me the warm and fuzzies.

You off to the paint shop, yet?

 

Not yet. Few other things to fine tune like how to mount the speakers.