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Retro Bartop Arcade


MiKro

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HI all,

Something a little different in the shop.

I am making a Retro Bartop Arcade from scratch. Using an older 5:4 ratio LCD 19" monitor, with Sanwa controls, an ATX PC type power supply and a 60 in 1 Jamma Board.

First test in demo mode with no controls look promising. :)

Next is to design and build the cabinet.. Still in rough design mode.

MK

bartopstuff.jpg

bartop1.jpg

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looks pretty interesting should be fun to see it come to life. 

what sort of construction are you doing?  The one my friend has it actually looks like they built it out of black malamine and then just do vinyl graphic over them.  seems like they used typical industrial edge-banding(nurse stations and lunch tables) to do the rubber/plastic edges.

what are you doing for front/top panel and light up? 

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6 minutes ago, mistermikev said:

looks pretty interesting should be fun to see it come to life. 

what sort of construction are you doing?  The one my friend has it actually looks like they built it out of black malamine and then just do vinyl graphic over them.  seems like they used typical industrial edge-banding(nurse stations and lunch tables) to do the rubber/plastic edges.

what are you doing for front/top panel and light up? 

Have not gotten that far yet. Most likely a clear plexi panel over the monitor with black paint on back side to cover all except the screen. The control panel will be most likely black plexi.and the rest I may do something like a weathered look with laser engraved stuff. :) 

I am not going to spend the $$$ for the Art /graphic wraps.  :)

 

MK

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22 minutes ago, MiKro said:

Have not gotten that far yet. Most likely a clear plexi panel over the monitor with black paint on back side to cover all except the screen. The control panel will be most likely black plexi.and the rest I may do something like a weathered look with laser engraved stuff. :) 

I am not going to spend the $$$ for the Art /graphic wraps.  :)

 

MK

right on... that sounds pretty cool esp black plexi.  My friend was asking me about one a while back and was thinking that with 8.5"x14" sheets of vinyl it'd be pretty easy/cheap to print out and do up some cool graphics at home.  He has a galaga game and the top has a light up banner that was pretty tore up.  He had looked into buying them and they are crazy spensive.

laser engraved sounds futuristic.  will watch!

 

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Now to decide the control layout? I am thinking Single player with 2 joysticks. a 4 way and an 8 way. Some of the games work better with the 4 way and others the 8 way.  I'm not going to spend the $$ for a servo based 4/8 way joysick.

Then comes the number of buttons as well? 4, 6 , 8 buttons? That does not include any admin types for start, test, coin? Pinball side buttons for simulated Pinball game?

I don't think I need a trackball or spinner? I can't think of any games on this that really need one? What a PITA to figure out.  I may need to allow for it later though?

MK

 

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1 minute ago, MiKro said:

Now to decide the control layout? I am thinking Single player with 2 joysticks. a 4 way and an 8 way. Some of the games work better with the 4 way and others the 8 way.

Then comes the number of buttons as well? 4, 6 , 8 buttons? That does not include any admin types for start, test, coin? Pinball side buttons for simulated Pinball game?

I don't think I need a trackball or spinner? I can't think of any games on this that really need one? What a PITA to figure out.  I may need to allow for it later though?

MK

 

There is only one thing a true child of the 80's would say to something like that... and that is "SKATE OR DIE"!!!  looks pretty cool so far bud.

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1 minute ago, mistermikev said:

There is only one thing a true child of the 80's would say to something like that... and that is "SKATE OR DIE"!!!  looks pretty cool so far bud.

Thanks Mike, I plan to get something on the CNC today for controls. Just not sure of the plan yet. LOL!!!

MK

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5 minutes ago, MiKro said:

Thanks Mike, I plan to get something on the CNC today for controls. Just not sure of the plan yet. LOL!!!

MK

right on.  not sure if you got my reference above... but skate or die was catchphrase from the 80's game "720" which was a skateboard came... and had an unusual rotating joystick.  

f5f0c88bffaf32b87cd6b11b2eae343d.jpg

obviously if you didn't play this one game... that controller wouldn't make sense... but if I ever build one... gonna have to figure that out!!  99% of games would be handled via 1 joystick and two buttons for me.  

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14 hours ago, MiKro said:

I don't think I need a trackball or spinner? I can't think of any games on this that really need one?

Back in the day I used to buy my daily frustration playing Rampart. It was controlled by a trackball.

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Well that layout sucks. LOL!!

Way to many buttons for what I plan to do. Also no manual for the wires to know what does what.

Yes there is a manual for the board and pins but they are not correct. So now to go through and figure out what 48 wires do since I only need 8 maybe 12 of them. LOL.

Fuck me. Even the joy stick pinouts are bassackwards top to bottom, right and left are correct. Jeeeze what a fucking nigthmare. On top of that a friend is all about what ART I am going to do on the damn thing? Fuck if I know? I need to make it work first.

Have a great weekend all.

MK

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10 minutes ago, mattharris75 said:

I had thought that a Jamma board would simplify things over a Raspberry Pi setup, but you're not giving me a lot of hope here...

I would rethink it now, I am not impressed so much with the Jamma board now. It would be nice if I could assign buttons with it but that is not the case so far and the available datasheets  suck, Small things like what they say is up and down on a joystick is wrong.Also you must use the player 2 start  location to start a game. The menu is bizzar to say the least.

MK.

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sorry to hear of wiring complications... never fun.  48wires sounds like a pita w/o an accurate diagram.  I would think - given that's such a popular item... someone on a forum somewhere has a corrected layout file.  idk if there's anything useful here but it was an interesting read anyway! https://www.instructables.com/install-a-JAMMA-harness-in-an-arcade-cabinet/

 

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11 hours ago, mistermikev said:

sorry to hear of wiring complications... never fun.  48wires sounds like a pita w/o an accurate diagram.  I would think - given that's such a popular item... someone on a forum somewhere has a corrected layout file.  idk if there's anything useful here but it was an interesting read anyway! https://www.instructables.com/install-a-JAMMA-harness-in-an-arcade-cabinet/

 

Yep I have seen that one. Some of it is correct others not?

MK

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3 hours ago, mistermikev said:

right on... i spose all you can do is start from one end and work to the other.

Yep, and now I am finding they just crimped some of the connectors on over the insulation as far as the cable goes. what a fucking mess.

Now I must check continuity on every one of those.

MK

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