Graphics

Marquee

Bezel

CPO #1

CPO #2

CPO #3 (pre-installation)

Side Arts are neon Spiders.

Subcompact Joystick

I took the beer faucet off of the 1st control panel. Looked and worked great for Tapper-like games, but it didn't justify the real estate it took up on the CP, and it gets in the way of my new leaf switches for my new leaf-switched pushbuttons :0)  I replaced it with a subcompact 4-way joystick from HAPP controls, mounted rotated 45 degrees for Q-bert-like games.  Works awesome!  I also bought a Turbo Sub Steering Yolk for the third CP, since RAM Controls still hasn't filled my back-order from over two years ago. I'm still hopeful... but I also want to get playing my driving and flying games on the new cab.

Take it or Leaf it.

Turns out leaf-switches BY FAR out-perform micro-switches for speed!  Who knew?  Case in point: no one in my household using micro-switched pushbuttons could beat some of the default world records from Track and Field like games, which depend upon how fast you can push the buttons. Someone at MAMEWorld (edit: Yaggy) told me that was because the original T&F cabinets had leaf switches, not microswitches, which are more responsive due to not having to overcome the micro-switch springs.  So I ordered some authentic leaf-switched pushbuttons  from LizardLick Amusements to test this out.  I installed just one of them on my "joystick and buttons" control panel, as pictured to the left.  OMG!  While playing on my very first quarter, using just that one button, I set the world record on the first three events in a row!  (Of course the fourth event, the hammer toss, doesn't depend upon rapid button pushing, so it made no difference there.)  Just to confirm I wasn't in some special spaz-trance mode, I replayed the next quarter using the old micro-switched pushbuttons, and it was my usual round of flubbed scores.  The difference IMO is the leaf-switch needs to travel only a mere fraction of a millimeter with near-zero pressure changes, and will respond simply as fast as you can vibrate your twitchy muscles.  The micro-switch has to travel its entire length to set, and then reset, requiring a larger fluctuation in pressure from resting to pressing, which simply limits how fast you can vibrate the button.

I will have to reconfigure my cabinet to include some leaf-switches for fast-twitch intensive games.  I had no idea.  They are quieter too, but who cares about that little "click" of the microswitch, it's performance that moves the game.

Just to educate the readers more, there are three varieties of leaf-switches that I was able to find:

These are what I call authentic leaf-switches and pushbuttons, since this is the design the arcades used to use.  These are the type I installed and tested.

This type I call adapted leaf switch buttons, since the leaf switch attaches to a microswitch- style pushbutton's microswitch holder.   It may perform similar to the authentic style, but having never tested one, I can't personally say.  My guess is they would, since there is no microswitch threshold to overcome.The only place I've found these is at Rollie Electronics

This is called a "microleaf."  First thing I notice is it has three prongs, meaning it can be wired as a normally closed switch, which can be "opened" by depressing the "leaf" switch.  I don't have one to actually test, but to me that means there is still a microswitch in there, with a leaf-styled button instead of a red little nub for a button.  The whole point of leaf switches is two leaves of conductive metal flex and touch each other, closing the circuit.  It may be posssible, but I can't imaging how two conductive pieces of metal coming together can OPEN a circuit.  I'd love to hear someone who has knowledge on this switch talk about it.  If it still has a microswitch in there, IMO it doesn't qualify as a true leaf switch, but it may still have advantages that I'm not aware of.  I'm open to being educated.  The only place I've seen these is at Groovy Game Gear.

One last point brought up by italie in the MAME World forums: leaf switches are prone to corrosion and need occasional maintenance, whereas micro-switches do not, and can be expected to give consistent performance over their life span.  Some are guaranteed for over a million clicks, and I have a little scratch pad by the CP to keep count.   :|

Front-end choice

I went with MaLa for my front end. I tried many others, and MaLa was by the far the most powerful and also the most inuitive to configure, especially if you get all thier plug-ins like GameList Editor, LEDwiz, Layout Editor, Mature Alarm ;) and others. Game list are edited with automated right-clicks, layouts can drag-and-drop, and it can be customized with multiple emulators (or any .exe), multiple layouts for different menus, sounds, movies, pictures, and 3D models.

I liked "3D Arcade" in concept, but if you have 100's of games, who wants to spend 10 minutes "walking" around a three dimentional first-person arcade looking for the game cabinet you want to play, and if you set it to use lists or wheels instead of the 3D-Arcade, then what's the point of having "3D Arcade" if you disable the 3D part of it? Emulaxian was an awesome front-end in the making, but it's handicapped being merged with the very complex 3D Arcade.

Speaker Shelf

Black velour cloth covers the speaker shelf, which makes it impossible to see the speaker holes, and also appears so black there's no distracting glare at all like from formica or paint.

Speaker Holes

You read a lot about buying car speakers for the arcade cabinet, but I don't see why.  I used the PC's speakers, which are actually a high quality set with tweeters and midrange speakers.  I routered a recess in the speaker shelf to hold them in place, and routered the centers all the way through for the sound holes.  Here you can see the speaker off-set to show off the recess and speaker hole (which is covered with black cloth).

Neon Adapter

This image shows the "L" adapter plugged into the neon transformer from the outside.  This allows the "desktop" style transformer to be mounted inside the cabinet, and the neon light to plug in from the outside and rise up against the side of the cabinet.  It took some fancy router work and a whole Sunday's worth of cussing to get it right, but it looks fantastic and all those swear-words paid off.

Neon Transformer

When looking for side art, I thought neon would look cool, and after hunting on the net, I realized at $34.95 the sculptures from "I Love Neon" were even cheaper than printed vinyl! Here you can see one of the neon light transformers attached to the inside of the cabinet, with its socket pointing outward so the neon light can plug into it. I took the bottom off of the transformer (it was designed to sit on a table), drilled holes in its case and screwed it directly to the cabinet. This holds the transformer (and the neon sculpture on the other side) securely in place.

Coin Door

I used Happ's Coin Door for the Home Arcade Cabinet, (part #40-0713-00, $32.95) which looks great, but doesn't have any switch mechanism. The coin return buttons push in, but don't do anything, so I rigged up a piece of wood with two Cherry switches attached to it. Now the coin-return plungers activate the switches. Works and looks fantastic. The "Player 1" coin return is being depressed in this photo (the one pictured on the right), and you can see it activating the switch, which serves as my "coin" buttons.

Pinball Shooter

As part of my 3rd control panel, here is HAPP Controls' Pinball Universal Ball Shooter Assembly (part #95-0086-00 $13.99), seen here in resting position. At rest, it is pressing on a ‘normally closed’ push-button inside the control panel drum (thus opening the circuit). Pulling the assembly releases the button, thus closing the circuit and “charging” the shooter. Releasing the assembly then opens the circuit again, launching the emulated pinball with force equal to how long the assembly was held pulled out. An excellent simulation of the real thing, as players will pull the assembly out further (which takes longer) to fire the ball harder. It all looks and feels real. Yes, that plunger does bash the snot out of the push-button, and I'm sure it will break in a matter of time. And when the button breaks, a new pushbutton is about $2. In this photo you can also see the black flipper buttons, and white tilt buttons built into the sides of the third control panel. Notice the blue t-molding on the edge of the shot several inches away. On the third control panel, this gap between the cabinet outside (blue t-molding) and the control panel outside (where the buttons are) is large enough for the player to hold the machine like they are holding a pinball table, without having the buttons deface the clean outside of the cabinet itself.

Control Panel Parts List

ELECTRIC ICE push-button problem: As you can see in this photo, the Electric Ice Push-button cherry-switch holder protrudes too far laterally by only about 1/16 of an inch, and you can't screw your button-nut on as a result. It tips the nut as it's going on, and won't allow the threads to line up properly. I had to trim the cherry switch holders on every single one of them in order to use them. How that got past their production design folks I'll never know. They claim the switches are made from the same exact molds as Happ's buttons, but one obvious difference is Happ buttons don't have the LED lamp holder, so.... not sure what to make of that claim. Worse is all the parts are sold and packaged separately. After ordering all the various parts to get a working illuminated button, at over $7 a button, I wouldn't expect to have to do all my own soldering of resistors, bulb installation, and holder trimming. For less than $4 a button, I could have gotten a great looking illuminated button from Ultimarc that comes preassembled, resistored, and wired, with an optional chrome bezel at no extra charge! I wouldn't go with Electric Ice pushbuttons again.

Control Panel Details:

Rotating Drum:
1 of IPAC-2
--- Ultimarc $39.00
1 of A-PAC
--- Ultimarc $37.00
1 of LED controller
--- Ultimarc $29.00
(In retrospect, one U-HID board, $79.00, would do the work of all three)

Panel 1:
2 of 4-way/8-way Omnistick joystick
--- GroovyGameGear #A1OMNIPROD, $47.95
12 of Electric Ice illuminated pushbuttons with LEDs and Cherry switches
--- $7.43 each
1 of Subcompact 4-way joystick offset 45 degrees for Qbert-like games
--- HAPP Controls #50-2757-00, $35.60
1 of actual Beer Faucet (auto-shutoff type modified with cherry switch) for Tapper-like games

Panel2:
1 of Official Tron joystick
--- EBay $120
1 of Slickstik Tornado Spinner
--- HAPP part #95-2657-00, $71.00
1 of Happ 4” illuminated trackball
--- no longer available
6 of Ultimarc Illuminated Pushbuttons
--- $3.90 each


Panel 3:
1 of Starwars/Turbo Sub steering yoke*
--- EBays, $200
1 of 4-way shifter,
--- HAPP, $86.55
1 of “Weapons Van” button
--- HAPP custom pushbutton
2 of Ultimate pushbuttons
--- $2.05 each
1 of Pinball universal ball shooter assembly
--- HAPP #95-0086-00, $13.99

Sides of Panel 3:
4 of Ultimate pushbuttons for pinball flippers and tilts
--- HAPP $2.05 each

Door:
1 of Coin Mech Door
--- HAPP #40-0713-00, $32.95
1 of Lightgun, PC USB VGA box and holster
--- ACT Labs, $100.98
2 of Player Start button (P1 and P2)
--- $2.05 each

Kickplate:
1 of Analogue accelerator pedal, and digital brake pedal (home made)
1 of PC “On” button (concealed location)**

Exterior:
Black formica from Lowes $78 each
Light Blue T-molding from www.T-molding.com
2 of Spider Sculpture from www.ILoveNeon.com

* RAM Controls is supposedly still developing the Starwars yoke, and it's been on "pre-order" for over two years. That, or I paid for his pina coladas at Archie's Beachside Cabana that day. I'm keepign the faith and waiting this one out. I really think I'll get them some day.

** The PC is plugged into a Smart-Strip, which detects the PC drawing power when turned on. The Smart-Strip then powers on all other items of the cabinet, to include the marquee, monitor, speakers, and neon lights. When the PC is turned off, strip then powers off all other items of the cabinet too.

Wire Slot

The wires exit the axle through a hole drilled in the side of the cabinet, travel through a routered groove downward until they are beyond the radius of the rotating drum, then the wires go back into the cabinet. The unsightly groove full of wires was then covered with paper (so the wires wouldn’t stick to the tape), then wide masking tape, then the formica laminate was laid on the cabinet sides which hide the wire-groove entirely. I realize I’m screwed if I need to replace one of the wires, but they still pull back and forth, so I could thread a new wire in by pulling an old one out if I had to.

The Pivots

I made these pivots by using 1” floor flanges, fitted with a PVC threaded-to-fitted adapter, and inserting the PVC tubing. The fitting between the tubing and the adapter is lubricated with silicone oil so it rotates freely in the fitting. The crookedness of the panel you see in this photo was corrected after the picture was taken.

The Axle

Here you see the concept in place. I used a 1” PVC pipe for the axle. Being hollow it also allows for the wires to get outside of the rotating drum by passing them inside it. The wires travel loose in the pipe for 14 inches, being restricted only at either end, meaning the maximum twist of 120 degrees is distributed out over that length, bring the actual twist on the wires to a minor 8 degrees per inch, well within the wire’s tolerance. The only wires that had to pass through this conduit were:

1. PS2 extension.
2. USB extension.
3. 13 wires (1 ground, 2 ‘coin’ buttons, P1Start and P2Start, coin LED, 12 volt power, 5 volt power, extras for unforeseen whoknowswhat) which all need to get back to the IPAC2 inside the drum.

Basic cabinet is begun

I started with the “RKD Custom Classic” cabinet plans, which I purchased from arcadeengine.com (which sadly is no longer in service) for $15.00. I followed their plans only for the "box" itself. For the CP, monitor shelf, and bezel, I deviated from thier plans and started down unchartered waters. Also, unlike their plans which called for paint, I chose to use black formica laminate from Lowes to give it a more professional polished look. Now that I think about it, they also called for fixed-wheel casters. Considering this thing weights more than a refrigerator, I'm glad I spent the extra $2 for casters that steer, because this bus isn't easy to push around when assembled. What the RKD plans also didn’t have that I wanted was a rotating control panel. On the net I found many examples to inspire me: Frosty's Arcade,PacMamea, Mametrix, Rebirth, and Rototron among others. Worth noting is the first two both used PacMamea's plans, which used to be available online, but no more. The PacMamea had a clever animated .gif from a CG model of his cab with the control panel endlessly rotating in one direction, which of course it didn't do in real life.

You can also see, in this snapshot to the left, the steering yoke (and in other

 frames the Tron stick) is about to bash the bezel, then suddenly in the next frame, pop, it's gone and fits under! It's too bad he didn't make that animated .gif using his actual cab, not a CG version of it, so we could see what it really could do. While not accurate, the Pacmamea.gif is still a fun cartoon, and

 no doubt contributed to its fame. The Mametrix over-came some of Pacmamea's limitations by adding a flip-up portion to the bezel to let the taller Tron-sticks pass under without getting decapitated, and Rototron over came the same limitations by having his panel rotate sideways with flip-up panels as well. For my cab, I wanted to avoid the extra flip-up details, but I didn't want to omit tall items like Tron sticks and steering yokes either. I set to work planning, knowing there had to be a way to make this work in reality, not just in a cartoon .gif. The hardest part was the whole damn thing. I spent weeks on the concept alone (because I’m not 

an engineer and didn’t have design software). I used cardboard models to get the design right.

My biggest problems were:
1. The Tron stick stands up a mile, and so will the steering yoke.
2. I didn’t want to raise my monitor up to the heavens to make room for problem #1.
3. I still didn’t have my Starwars yoke yet, so I had no idea what its d

imension requirements were except based on estimates using my other cab's yolk.
4. You can’t let the wires inside get all twisted to shit and break. There has to be a rotational limit.

My first big breakthrough was abandoning the idea of perfect symmetry. Making the drum three sided but with an offset axis actually allowed me to raise the monitor only 3 inches to clear an 8 inch high Tron stick, because the Tron panel drops more quickly as it rotates out of position, compensated by the Starwars yoke panel which raises as it rotates into position. The Starwars yoke panel raising as it rotates causes it to definetly NOT clear under the monitor

 bezel, which turns out is a good thing. This requires that it only rotate the opposite direction to be stowed away, which limits the maximum rotation of the drum to 240 degrees; plenty of rotation to expose each of three panels, and also limits the wire twist to a maximum of 120 degrees one way or the other. This also solves the problem of not knowing the yoke dimensions yet, since that is essentially irrelevant now. It doesn’t need to clear anything except fit inside

 the cabinet, which I was confident it would. Happy with this plan I moved on to construction.

Some fun projects...