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Building an Arcade Machine! (new updates!)

M

MRORANGE

Member
WYomHUW.png
Click to expand...

So I thought it would be interesting to write down my development of trying to create a arcade machine to play old console games. I'm not sure if this will come to fruition, but it's worth having this around to see my development and the mistakes I make as well as getting feedback from you guys as well.



EDIT: IT"s ALIVE!

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Intro:

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In this ambitious project I'm trying to make retropie arcade machine with arcade controls to run old game. I was going for a Neo-Geio feel with white and red as a main theme for the design. Similar to the CVS cabinets designs but more in the form as a slim bar top,, The three pictures above, give you a weird idea of what I want.... I hope.


I'll try and link most of the stuff back to the OP:



1. Raspberry Pi & Monitor
2. Panel Prototype
3. Arcade Parts
4. Cabinet Parts
5. Sound?
6. Finding a suitable power supply
7. Building it all

==========================================================


1. Raspberry Pi & Monitor

MQdjX9v.jpg


The Raspberry PI 2 is probally the smallest device that is capable of the job, if you haven checked out the raspberry Pi gaming thread, you will understand why many people choose it for retro gaming on thier TV's the only downsides if Nt64 and above is most likely a no-no. The device is fantastic once installed with Retropie with tons of emaultion features such as shaders and scan-line effects.

LK9QjiA.png
HJizhFT.png
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Another benefit is that RetroPie uses emulation station and it has a fantastic UI for scrolling games.

theming_system.png
theming_list.png
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The monitor is a 10" cctv monitor from Ebay, being compact and cheap enough it was worth a shot, it actually works amazingly well once you change the config.txt and it's nice being able to play all my games on a 4:3 screen, it has a vesa mount,
Games work well with its resolution (800x600) and response time is pretty good, only downside that audio out? doesn't seem to be working, not sure, it never stated on the website it could do audio.

Compared to a 9" 16:9 monitor it definitely has an advantage:

9-inch-16x9-vs-10-inch-4x3.png
Click to expand...

Some screnshots:
h1rKhBP.jpg


A82GYvL.jpg
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More updates coming soon!
 
I

itchyass86

Member
That is a pretty sweet project you got goin on. How much do you think everything will cost when it's all said and done?
 
M

MRORANGE

Member
itchyass86 said:
That is a pretty sweet project you got goin on. How much do you think everything will cost when it's all said and done?
Click to expand...

The main barrier for me is cost, I am going to CNC some parts, which is going to go through the roof most likely, I have a target of £200 but it will most likely go over.
 
M

MRORANGE

Member
Three said:
Is this going to be portable? As in do you need battery recommendations for powering it or plugs? As for sound you can always use one of these cheap mobile ones. Plugs into the pi.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/4006...%3D710-134428-41853-0%26rvr_id%3D869545678188
Click to expand...


Still trying to figure out power, from the looks of it, if I want it to be portable I would have to go to a 7" or smaller for this to work out. at the moment the power requirements are a 12v 4 AMP supply if I recall.

Heh I was thinking of gutting one of those spekares as well.
 
T

Three

Member
MRORANGE said:
Still trying to figure out power, from the looks of it, if I want it to be portable I would have to go to a 7" or smaller for this to work out. at the moment the power requirements are a 12v 4 AMP supply if I recall.

Heh I was thinking of gutting one of those spekares as well.
Click to expand...

Yeah, aiming for a portable makes it considerably more difficult. Would have to take everything into consideration then, even how you would convert 12v to 5v for the pi. How do you plan to do that currently? simple voltage regulator? Would put out some heat and be really inefficient.

There is a relatively cheap 12V 6 amp supply you can get from amazon

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0086DE6FI/

6amp would give you more room if you decide to add anything to it too.
 
M

MRORANGE

Member
Three said:
Yeah, aiming for a portable makes it considerably more difficult. Would have to take everything into consideration then, even how you would convert 12v to 5v for the pi. How do you plan to do that currently? simple voltage regulator? Would put out some heat and be really inefficient.

There is a relatively cheap 12V 6 amp supply you can get from amazon

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0086DE6FI/

6amp would give you more room if you decide to add anything to it too.
Click to expand...

The original idea was using a dc splitter, but it would run 12v trhough and fry the Raspberry Pi, you can most likely get a 12v USB hub and that could power the Pi as long as I could get 2A out of the Usb port, the 3rd option is to get a laptop charger with a built in USB hub..

I must admit this is one of the trickier problems I am going to face as well as cabinet designing.
 
S

Seishin

Member
Subscribed.

I've always wanted to make one of these myself but never got around to doing it.

Seeing your approach should be pretty informational.
 
Maiden Voyage

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
Awesome! I'd love to do this myself. I'll have to wait a year or so before beginning. I have too many projects as is. I can live vicariously through you!
 
M

MRORANGE

Member
2. Panel Prototype

I've never built a arcade panel stick before, so it was quite a learning curve, things such as spacing and layout were quite tricky to master as well as what buttons you wanted to have.

eS33hqU.jpg


I went for the standard 8 button layout. since I was using Happ style buttons the panel is raised a bit higher than normal, (I'll talk about some of the problems of this later.)

It's also a good idea to printe out a 1:! scale and map it on a table to give you an idea if it's too cramped or not. for me 280mm was bigger than I expected, but anything smaller would be a cramp-fest unless I downgraded to 6 buttons instead, which I wan't really keen on.

Eventually I chose this layout for the design, the general idea is to have a acrylic layer on top with mdf as a base with some matte paper for the decals.

Q9WNNsn.jpg
 
O

oneida

Cock Strain, Lifetime Warranty
MRORANGE said:
PS1 games if needs be.
Click to expand...
what PS1 game needs 8 buttons while not being better suited to a PSX pad? maybe you should consider dropping to 6 for the kinds of games that you'd use an arcade panel for while having a slot for a PS pad for games like MGS or whatever.
 
M

MRORANGE

Member
oneida said:
what PS1 game needs 8 buttons while not being better suited to a PSX pad? maybe you should consider dropping to 6 for the kinds of games that you'd use an arcade panel for while having a slot for a PS pad for games like MGS or whatever.
Click to expand...

oneida said:
consider putting start and select between P1/P2 or on the side of the cab if you're doing 1P only - wouldn't want to accidentally hit them!
Click to expand...

Very unlikely to fit a PS1 pad in there, but I'll have a go at using a different button format.another benefit was that the usb encoder worked as a PS3 gamepad so if I ever decided to remove the panel I could turn it into a fighting pad,
 
O

oneida

Cock Strain, Lifetime Warranty
MRORANGE said:
Very unlikely to fit a PS1 pad in there, but I'll have a go at using a different button format.another benefit was that the usb encoder worked as a PS3 gamepad so if I ever decided to remove the panel I could turn it into a fighting pad,
Click to expand...
I was thinking literally having a small hole beneath the control panel where you can plug in a pad. I've been contemplating housing a PS2 inside my cab for a while so these are questions I've asked myself.
 
M

MRORANGE

Member
oneida said:
I was thinking literally having a small hole beneath the control panel where you can plug in a pad. I've been contemplating housing a PS2 inside my cab for a while so these are questions I've asked myself.
Click to expand...

Oh like a usb port to connect a pad? that should be feasible, only downside is that RetroARCH may not play happy with the controls, will have to look to look into this.
 
suikodan

suikodan

Member
Hey there,

I'll cross-post my project from the RetroPie thread, maybe it'll give you some pointers to try (or adjust) on your project.

I am taking an iCade and converting it to a "PiCade", that means taking the controls from the iCade to play arcade games but I don't want the same controls for console games. On my current setup, I am able to program which controller will be assigned to the emulator selected. So I'll convert the iCade controls onto a USB controller and use a BT controller (NES30 Pro). So far it works with the right configuration.

I had also a challenge with the sound. I opted for a USB soundbar that's powered by the Pi. After finding the right file to edit, sound was coming out from it. It's awesome!

As for the power, I was able to find a on/off switch where I plugged a multiple plug on it to power the Pi and the screen. Since the Pi doesn't have a Power button, I wanted a off/on switch solution without having to unplug and plug something.

The only reason why I'm not progressing further with this is because the screen that I ordered arrived DOA. These screens don't come cheap so I want to arrange this with the shop first without having to buy another one on the side. Exciting stuff.

I'll keep an eye on your progress!
 
M

MRORANGE

Member
suikodan said:
Hey there,

I'll cross-post my project from the RetroPie thread, maybe it'll give you some pointers to try (or adjust) on your project.

I am taking an iCade and converting it to a "PiCade", that means taking the controls from the iCade to play arcade games but I don't want the same controls for console games. On my current setup, I am able to program which controller will be assigned to the emulator selected. So I'll convert the iCade controls onto a USB controller and use a BT controller (NES30 Pro). So far it works with the right configuration.

I had also a challenge with the sound. I opted for a USB soundbar that's powered by the Pi. After finding the right file to edit, sound was coming out from it. It's awesome!

As for the power, I was able to find a on/off switch where I plugged a multiple plug on it to power the Pi and the screen. Since the Pi doesn't have a Power button, I wanted a off/on switch solution without having to unplug and plug something.

The only reason why I'm not progressing further with this is because the screen that I ordered arrived DOA. These screens don't come cheap so I want to arrange this with the shop first without having to buy another one on the side. Exciting stuff.

I'll keep an eye on your progress!
Click to expand...

Nice, my other option was to get a cigar lighter with usb as I think that could be a option to split the 12V as well.
 
M

MRORANGE

Member
looking into the power solution, a two way socket would most likely fit,.It's a lazy solution, but it would work.

L2S1qM2.png
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One of the main problems with cabinet design is trying to maintain a compact factor. At the moment I'm trying to find a speaker to accommodate at the top.
 
M

MRORANGE

Member
Spent some time doing pieces for CNC cutting, I've managed to find a place but it's still amazinlg expensive in the UK. At least the place accepts SVG files so all I have to do is draw the cuts.Using the CNC services from RazorLabs, if anyone knows a cheaper place then give a shout.

WWdJQNc.jpg
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I honestly will have to do this again, and try and cost factor the usage of acrylic, so it's only the screen bezel, stick pad and the marqee at the top. the sides of the cabinets will be 12mm mdf but I have to take into consideration into painting it.
 
M

MRORANGE

Member
3. Arcade Parts

Got the arcade parts today, got them from this seller on ebay. Got a full arcade set for £22 including encoder. The guy is also reasonable if you want want to swap parts or colours and will adjust the cost to your order, in the end I paid only £2 extra for Happ buttons., encode uses a USB port and is for only 1 player, however it instantly works with the RetroPie and I had no problems using the stick with games. There was no delay and the constols are super responsive, good news all round!.

IWYRWA3.jpg


I still haven't plunged on buying mdf/acrylic boards for the panels yet, at the moment the best thing to do at this stage was to see if the design I made previously was going to be comfortable enough to use, printed off my 1:1 scale SVG file and just stuck it on a shoebox and cut some hole, dropped the buttons in and connected it all up

qPkcrhF.jpg


Overall it worked amazingly well, I'm going to keep the 8 button layout., one problem I may have later is cable management, it was the first time connecting crimp wires and it was a complete mess under the box lol..

kxCF2TJ.jpg
 
M

MRORANGE

Member
The next step is cabinet makingthe cabinet , unfortunately this is taking longer than expected.Every time getting a new part I have to reconsider dimensions of the device, at the moment I think I don't have enough space for the buttons.

I've found a person on ebay who might be able to make the cuts, so I won't have to do the woodwork myself.

Hopefully I can wrap up the design by the end of this week, place an order and get the stick panel ordered as well. I just don't want to screw up the design the first time round lol.

q1LYCxU.jpg
 
M

MikeDip

God bless all my old friends/And god bless me too, why pretend?
Yo Orange I like watching this progress, best of luck mate.
 
M

MRORANGE

Member
picked some 3w speakers for cheap, decent volume once you increase it on the Raspberrry Pi so these should be okay for now, build quality is quite shoddy so not going to tamper with them too much

i259Ppe.jpg
 
J

japtor

Member
For speakers, well looks like you got some already, but if you want to save space in the speaker area you can get bare speaker components, or if you want to get creative, surface transducers. Course the issue with either one is that you need a separate amp to drive them, but there's tiny bare amp kits or other small amps that should fit.

I've been thinking about messing with a Pi for emulation too, but I've had one main concern, how's the latency?
 
F

Freedom = $1.05

Banned
after struggling and ridding myself of an old arcade mame machine, the idea of a small arcade like this is really appealing. Subscribed.

I was thinking of going with an X-arcade stick again because they have a two player version. is there a better two player alternative for a stick?
 
M

MRORANGE

Member
baconcow said:
Are you drawing your own components? If so, what program are you using? The images at the top look nice.
Click to expand...

Using Adobe Illustrator, Inkskape is also quite good from what I heard.

cRIPticon said:
Don't make this difficult on yourself. Go get one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JP4PX5O/?tag=neogaf0e-20

The just use the power supply:

[IM]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61s-BfBcH6L._SL1001_.jpg[/IMG]

This will let you use the included power supply to drive a 12v screen and the 5v RP2. Super simple to hook up.
Click to expand...


Alas I already bought the parts :(

japtor said:
I've been thinking about messing with a Pi for emulation too, but I've had one main concern, how's the latency?
Click to expand...

I didn't notice any latency while playing fighting games.

Freedom = $1.05 said:
after struggling and ridding myself of an old arcade mame machine, the idea of a small arcade like this is really appealing. Subscribed.

I was thinking of going with an X-arcade stick again because they have a two player version. is there a better two player alternative for a stick?
Click to expand...

x-arcades might be the best bet, unless you get someone to custom cut a board for you.
 
J

japtor

Member
Freedom = $1.05 said:
after struggling and ridding myself of an old arcade mame machine, the idea of a small arcade like this is really appealing. Subscribed.

I was thinking of going with an X-arcade stick again because they have a two player version. is there a better two player alternative for a stick?
Click to expand...
Depends what you want and budget and ability/willingness to build and what not. Like if you got a good chunk of change and like Japanese controls, Sega HSS-0130:

MSpPWbpl.jpg


Alternatively since that might be hard to find you can just get the straight up arcade panels (the top piece, comes with all the controls and wiring harness), but you need to mount that in a custom box or surface mount of some sort like right into a table.

Or build/buy/find a really basic box and just drill holes. I used to have a wooden desk and keyboard tray, drilled some holes in the keyboard tray and bam, retractable desk mounted joystick.
 
F

Freedom = $1.05

Banned
Bought a Pi 2 and some usb arcade stick cables to get started. I'm going to have to spread my parts purchases over a few paychecks because I can't just throw +300 at something like this all at once. I think i'll just get a 2 player cabinet already done online since I have zero woodcrafting skills and then some buttons.

Anyone know of a cheap 4:3 19 inch monitor? I see a few Dells on amazon but i wonder what my best option is if I want to pay <100
 
Ecto311

Ecto311

Member
Been stocking up on parts for this project for a while also. Going to be for my daughter and wondering: are there a lot of older games that are 2 player or would I be better off building it with a single joystick? Looking to install games from Snes and back for her to see.
 
F

Freedom = $1.05

Banned
Ecto311 said:
Been stocking up on parts for this project for a while also. Going to be for my daughter and wondering: are there a lot of older games that are 2 player or would I be better off building it with a single joystick? Looking to install games from Snes and back for her to see.
Click to expand...

If youre thinking "i might play 2 players" then youre better off doing a two player bartop. Might as well avoid being regretful later down the line and the difference in cost is negligible given how much youre already spending on this.
 
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