bult an arcade machine!

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carslayer
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Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:47 pm

bult an arcade machine!

Post by carslayer »

Hi

For our final project in Computer Sciences class, me 3 other guys decided to build an arcade machine in class. So far it's gone great, as we cut the wood on tuesday, built it on wednsday, and I did all the wiring thursday afternoon. it stull needs some paint and a wooden border around that computer monitor (we might get a bigger one first) as well as a lock on the coin door and rear maintenance door. when we planned it out we didnt realize how huge it would be! school finished friday and we have two weeks of classes left in january before the semester is over. because the thing is so big, within that time we have to unwire it (as this was our test), take it apart, rebuild it in the parking lot behind the art room, get the art class to paint it, dissasemble it and rebuild it in the school cafetiria, then rewire everything.

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The unpainted cabinet assembled in the computer lab for a test run.

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The control panel, with the layout designed after a Neo-Geo (order of colors subject to change, im not sure i got it right. shouldnt be too hard to switch though)

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The coin door hanging open, lockless

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Side view of cabinet

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The back door is on hinges. We bought one of those bolts like on a gate that you use with a padlock, but we have yet to install it.

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View from across the room (you can also see my guitar in there)

So, what do you guys think? any suggestions? ideas for the paint job? game suggestions? we are gonna put bomberman, street fighter 2 and metal slug in ther and rotate games every few days, any more ideas (I included a game select button just like a multi-slot neo-geo for that specific reasn). thanks in advance for any comments
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lordofduct
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Post by lordofduct »

Are there supposed to be images in this post? Cause I personally don't see them.
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metaleggman
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Post by metaleggman »

Is this a Jamma Cab? Is that what you meant buy "wiring" it? If so, good job! If it's just a computer, good job, just not as good as the other one :\

Still, nice shape of the cab and everything. I've always wanted to buy some tools and make a cab myself, as I love woodworking, but I could never figure out the right shape and dimensions and stuff...

And which bomberman? NeoGeo bomberman? That one is definately one of the best. btw, Saturn has an assload of nice arcade ports, you might want to get a modded one and use the RGB out! :wink:
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lordofduct
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Post by lordofduct »

Now I can see the images... and it seems to be a computer inside of it. Unless he used a computer case to set the jamma board in (which I would consider more tedious modifying then just mounting to the inside of the cabinet).


Now all you need is a nicer display that is built into the case! Personally I want to build a case with my cousin that has a wide screen LCD panel and mount it into a wooden circle on a pivot so that it can be easily rotated for games like ikaruga and other vertical shooters!
www.lordofduct.com - check out my blog

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carslayer
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Post by carslayer »

yeah, you were right, there is a computer in there. It's not jamma or anything, we'll be using emulators. What i meant by wiring was that we didnt know how to run arcade controllers on a computer, so we had to take apart a keyboard, wire up all the buttons and joysticks, then solder all of the wires coming off the microswitches onto each keyboard button. It was tricky because they kept coming loose. The biggest hassle out of all of that was getting the coin door to function properly and getting power to it. Anyways, hopefully we'll get a bigger monitor, or maybe a TV cause the video card supports it, and then build the frame.

But unfortunately we cant use any satur bombermans because it doesnt support a coin door. we need to use arcade roms for that reason, so that we can map the emulators "add coin" button to the key that is pressed when a quarter is inserted.

So, any ideas? suggestions for artwork/games?
metaleggman
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Post by metaleggman »

Dude, this place has SO much good stuff for making a PC arcade machine!
http://www.ultimarc.com/

Arcade VGA Card so you can play games on a REAL Arcade monitor
http://www.ultimarc.com/avgainf.html

USB Sticks
http://www.ultimarc.com/ultrastik_info.html

Buttons (Though you already have good enough ones I believe...
http://www.ultimarc.com/controls.html

This place has a buttload of reviews for everything from arcade monitors to other types of buttons and sticks!
http://www.retroblast.com/hardware.html

Hope this helps you make the ultimate arcade machine!

btw, you may want to buy a JAMMA harness and make a switch so you can play real arcade boards (they aren't all that cheap on eBay!!!!) and things on the computer! :wink:
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