Arcade Game Project

[Mars]

Pinball build with plans:

http://www.vpforums.org/index.php?showtopic=8264

Just too expensive for me, don't have the money for all those screens.

WOW! that looks awesome! Out of my budget too tho.

My full size arcade is slowly taking shape - check out my blog below.

What did you guys use to cut out the slots for the t-molding. You need a 1/16" slot cutting routing bit which I can't seem to find anywhere!

I just had a look at the router bits I had and picked one I thought would work. Tested it out on an off-cut and away I went.
Honestly cutting the slot on the cabinet itself was a lot harder than I expected, and didn't come out as nice as I would have liked.
I'm looking for some kind of specialised tool for my next build. If I cant find anything I will make a jig to fit on my dremel.

 

[smb3]

the only part that interests me is the controller ... can you blog about how the controller is made and how it works with the pc please?

 

[gregmcc]

the only part that interests me is the controller ... can you blog about how the controller is made and how it works with the pc please?

will do - watch this space. I"m almost finished with the cabinet and will next commence on connecting up the buttons and controllers. should be interesting

I think your site is really cool,and I think it could become quite something if you continue after building this one and move onto a racing cabinet and things...anyway great work so far and its looking damn good

thanks. it sure is interesting work.

 

[Keeper]

the only part that interests me is the controller ... can you blog about how the controller is made and how it works with the pc please?

Same here - I have no idea how memory chip controllers and whatnot work...
I was thinking of buying an X-Arcade for R1000 and dismantling it, and sticking it back into my own arcade.


I don't even know how you get the TV to come on automatically when you switch the PC on

 

[Mars]

Same here - I have no idea how memory chip controllers and whatnot work...
I was thinking of buying an X-Arcade for R1000 and dismantling it, and sticking it back into my own arcade.


I don't even know how you get the TV to come on automatically when you switch the PC on

The utra sticks work with usb, so its really simple. The other controllers work via a control board that also plugs in via usb. Its actually simple too.

Getting the tv to switch on with the pc is easy. You fit a switch onto a multi plug and plug them both in there. Then you set the bios of the pc to boot on power restore. So when you flip the switch the tv comes on and the pc boots up. You would need to use autohotkey to make a macro to shut it down with the buttons on the cp if you weren't going to use a keyboard and mouse tho.

 

[Keeper]

ok cool - that does sound simple!

but the TV though - if you plug it in it will go ON, but "ON" as-in "Standby-mode", doesn't it?

usually you need to press a channel on the remote iirc...

 

[Mars]

ok cool - that does sound simple!

but the TV though - if you plug it in it will go ON, but "ON" as-in "Standby-mode", doesn't it?

usually you need to press a channel on the remote iirc...

That depends on the tv. My lcd's goes into standby, but both my old tube tv's switch on (usually with static and the sound blaring) when power is restored. I have woken up to the them blaring enough times after the whole load shedding thing.
However you could probably just fit the ir receiver somewhere inconspicuous on the cabinet and switch it on and off via that.

 

[gregmcc]

That depends on the tv. My lcd's goes into standby, but both my old tube tv's switch on (usually with static and the sound blaring) when power is restored. I have woken up to the them blaring enough times after the whole load shedding thing.
However you could probably just fit the ir receiver somewhere inconspicuous on the cabinet and switch it on and off via that.

Just checked my TV and it switches on when power is applied. Lucky - as its too late now! The TV is never coming out!

 

[D3x!]

OMG

I know this thread is old but oh my wow

I so want to build one of these now but just wouldn't know where to start

 

[ponder]

Some of the imageshack links no longer work?

 

[D3x!]

Some of the imageshack links no longer work?

all except 1 worked for me the other day, I would really like to speak to the OP RVZ, see he isn't often online much anymore, anyone else know the inner workings and setup quite well?

 

[RVZ]

all except 1 worked for me the other day, I would really like to speak to the OP RVZ, see he isn't often online much anymore, anyone else know the inner workings and setup quite well?

I'm not always logged in, but I browse the forums almost daily.

 

[D3x!]

I'm not always logged in, but I browse the forums almost daily.

do you still have your machine?

I am really keen to set one up, from what I understand I need:

A cabinet
A tv
A pc
The controllers

The cabinet I am sure I can manage, just need to work out dimensions. Do you have your dimensions still?
I luckily have a spare 74cm tv
A pc I can put together, specs surely don't have to be fantastic? Then Mame is loaded, I assume in something like windows xp?
The controllers is the part I am clueless about, I browsed the suppliers site but quite unsure all the components I would need.

I will appreciate any advice.

 

[RVZ]

do you still have your machine?

I am really keen to set one up, from what I understand I need:

A cabinet
A tv
A pc
The controllers

The cabinet I am sure I can manage, just need to work out dimensions. Do you have your dimensions still?
I luckily have a spare 74cm tv
A pc I can put together, specs surely don't have to be fantastic? Then Mame is loaded, I assume in something like windows xp?
The controllers is the part I am clueless about, I browsed the suppliers site but quite unsure all the components I would need.

I will appreciate any advice.

Yup, still have mine.

I can take dimensions for you if you want to build one similar to mine. What worked the best for me, was starting with the tv dimensions. That will give you the depth and width of the cabinet. Then work out how high from the ground you want the controllers. After that everything kinda falls into place. I never work with a specific set of dimensions.

The spare tv will help a lot cost wise, that's the most expensive piece you need. PC can be low end. About 95% of the games will work on a low end P4. I have a dual core in mine, but it's really overkill for most of it. XP is fine, I installed Windows 7 so that I could go 64bit, but I don't notice a difference. Then you just need Mame and a frontend (nothing is better than HyperSpin FE).

Most of my controllers I ordered from Ultimarc. Shipping took less than a week. All depends on what you want, they have some entry level joysticks and the higher end ones as well. I went for the higher end ones, which have usb controllers build in, which you can also connect the buttons and coindoor to. Otherwise you need to buy that seperately as well.

Good luck.

 

[Ancalagon]

do you still have your machine?

I am really keen to set one up, from what I understand I need:

A cabinet
A tv
A pc
The controllers

The cabinet I am sure I can manage, just need to work out dimensions. Do you have your dimensions still?
I luckily have a spare 74cm tv
A pc I can put together, specs surely don't have to be fantastic? Then Mame is loaded, I assume in something like windows xp?
The controllers is the part I am clueless about, I browsed the suppliers site but quite unsure all the components I would need.

I will appreciate any advice.

Re: controllers. I've been doing some research on the subject, since I plan to build two controllers but not a full cabinet (dont really see the point).

Anyway, there are a few important components when building your own controller. You need a joystick, 6-10 pushbuttons, and a PCB (printed circuit board) of some kind. The point of the PCB is to interpret the signals coming from the buttons and joystick and pass these along USB to your PC or console. I think the Ultimarc stuff can connect directly via USB, so you might not need a PCB for that. But I'm not sure how its buttons would connect. RVZ would know!

The joystick you need is a 4 way joystick. There are lots of makes available, such as Ultimarc, Happ, Sanwa, and Seimitsu. You can probably get cheaper non brand name joysticks. The buttons you need are called pushbuttons, either 24mm or 30mm. I think 30mm is used for the actual gameplay buttons, and 24mm for the start etc buttons. But its doesnt matter really. Those come in two flavours - snap in and screw. Snap in is easier to mount, but cant be mounted in anything too deep.

As for PCBs - you have two options. Either harvest one for a real controller, like an Xbox controller, or buy a PCB specially designed for custom arcade sticks. I'd recommend that, since buying a controller just to rip out its PCB is probably as expensive if not more expensive than just being a custom PCB. Most PCBs will not be able to connect to an Xbox 360 - only a few, like the Shadaloo Triple Mode PCB and the Akhibara PS360+ can. PC, PS2 and PS3 is generally no problem. Also, if you go the ripping PCB out of controller route, some soldering is required. Not so with a custom PCB.

I recommend doing more reading before spending any money. places like Shoryuken.com offer good forums for discussing this sort of thing, and they have stickies with all sorts of good information.

 

[Mars]

Re: controllers. I've been doing some research on the subject, since I plan to build two controllers but not a full cabinet (dont really see the point).

Anyway, there are a few important components when building your own controller. You need a joystick, 6-10 pushbuttons, and a PCB (printed circuit board) of some kind. The point of the PCB is to interpret the signals coming from the buttons and joystick and pass these along USB to your PC or console. I think the Ultimarc stuff can connect directly via USB, so you might not need a PCB for that. But I'm not sure how its buttons would connect. RVZ would know!

The joystick you need is a 4 way joystick. There are lots of makes available, such as Ultimarc, Happ, Sanwa, and Seimitsu. You can probably get cheaper non brand name joysticks. The buttons you need are called pushbuttons, either 24mm or 30mm. I think 30mm is used for the actual gameplay buttons, and 24mm for the start etc buttons. But its doesnt matter really. Those come in two flavours - snap in and screw. Snap in is easier to mount, but cant be mounted in anything too deep.

As for PCBs - you have two options. Either harvest one for a real controller, like an Xbox controller, or buy a PCB specially designed for custom arcade sticks. I'd recommend that, since buying a controller just to rip out its PCB is probably as expensive if not more expensive than just being a custom PCB. Most PCBs will not be able to connect to an Xbox 360 - only a few, like the Shadaloo Triple Mode PCB and the Akhibara PS360+ can. PC, PS2 and PS3 is generally no problem. Also, if you go the ripping PCB out of controller route, some soldering is required. Not so with a custom PCB.

I recommend doing more reading before spending any money. places like Shoryuken.com offer good forums for discussing this sort of thing, and they have stickies with all sorts of good information.

The ultrastick from ultimarc cuts out all that hassle. Its a usb analog joystick that can be programmed to be 2 way/4 way/8 way or true analog depending on the game. You can also get a hardware thing that limits it, but its not easy to change.
The buttons wire directly into the joystick with a supplied harness (tho you can make your own like me if you forget to order them ) saving you the trouble of using an I-Pac or similar interface board. Each joystick takes 8 buttons but one of them acts like a shift key giving you an effective 15 unique buttons.

If you want to do it the hard way you can get an I-Pac and use switches and actually manufacture your own joystick. Sounds like alot of pain for poor performance.

I'm planning on making a new cabinet for my machine in the next few months. MiniMame is still going strong, but the mistakes I have made are starting to irk me. Specifically the very little space I left between the controls and the edge of the panel. The edge of the panel is right in your palm and that gets uncomfortable after a bit. I also want to put two buttons on the sides to use in the pinball games (as suggested by keeper).

I have also been eyeing out a new tv, so that I can take my existing 42" lcd and use it as a flat pinball machine.. I'm having difficulty getting it past my wife tho

 

[Ancalagon]

The ultrastick from ultimarc cuts out all that hassle. Its a usb analog joystick that can be programmed to be 2 way/4 way/8 way or true analog depending on the game. You can also get a hardware thing that limits it, but its not easy to change.
The buttons wire directly into the joystick with a supplied harness (tho you can make your own like me if you forget to order them ) saving you the trouble of using an I-Pac or similar interface board. Each joystick takes 8 buttons but one of them acts like a shift key giving you an effective 15 unique buttons.

If you want to do it the hard way you can get an I-Pac and use switches and actually manufacture your own joystick. Sounds like alot of pain for poor performance.

I'm planning on making a new cabinet for my machine in the next few months. MiniMame is still going strong, but the mistakes I have made are starting to irk me. Specifically the very little space I left between the controls and the edge of the panel. The edge of the panel is right in your palm and that gets uncomfortable after a bit. I also want to put two buttons on the sides to use in the pinball games (as suggested by keeper).

I have also been eyeing out a new tv, so that I can take my existing 42" lcd and use it as a flat pinball machine.. I'm having difficulty getting it past my wife tho

True, but thats no good if you want to connect your arcade controller to an Xbox, like me. Ultimarc parts would never work for that.

 

[gregmcc]

The ultrastick from ultimarc cuts out all that hassle. Its a usb analog joystick that can be programmed to be 2 way/4 way/8 way or true analog depending on the game. You can also get a hardware thing that limits it, but its not easy to change.

They're definitely worth it. Makes life much easier. Just plug it in and go

 

[Ancalagon]

Well, I opted for the even easier route - no building required. I'm getting someone else to build it for me!

I had a look at importing the parts I need, but when you factor in the special PCB needed for Xbox support, joysticks, buttons, wood, shipping, etc, it gets to about R2000. Not counting the fact that I dont have the tools or skills needed to actually do a good job.

Anyway, so there is this guy called twobop, who makes and sells arcade sticks, using Sanwa parts, for R1500 a pop, including shipping, and they work with all major consoles including the 360. Sorted! Ordered two of them with white buttons and joystick, and a dark wooden finish.

 

[Mars]

Well, I opted for the even easier route - no building required. I'm getting someone else to build it for me!

I had a look at importing the parts I need, but when you factor in the special PCB needed for Xbox support, joysticks, buttons, wood, shipping, etc, it gets to about R2000. Not counting the fact that I dont have the tools or skills needed to actually do a good job.

Anyway, so there is this guy called twobop, who makes and sells arcade sticks, using Sanwa parts, for R1500 a pop, including shipping, and they work with all major consoles including the 360. Sorted! Ordered two of them with white buttons and joystick, and a dark wooden finish.

Wow R3k for two joysticks! And I thought over a grand for the two Utrastiks was hectic! What joysticks is he using? eg, Analogue, 4 way or 8 way?

Had a quick look at the ultimark site, they have xbox adapters for their i-pac and all the hardware you would need for a two player panel with 8 way sticks comes in at just over a grand..
They also have a ps3 adapter tho if I where to do this I would just bang my utrastiks onto the i-pac.

So I recon if I where to build this thing with analogue sticks it would probably come close to R2k, tho I wouldn't sell it for that.
R3k sounds reasonable. <edit> IF they're analogue.