Coming soon: The worlds first F.G. arcade machine build!!

[~SnApRoLl]

Sneak Peek

[wizard]

The scary part is I remember those games comming out and playing them.

[~SnApRoLl]

	Quote: Originally Posted by wizard
	The scary part is I remember those games comming out and playing them.

I spent many quarters playing those old classics when I was a kid. In fact, I remember when Dragon's Lair was first released back in mid 1983 and my local arcade got it in, there was a line half way around the building with people waiting to play that game and I was in that line. And the kicker of it was, I waited hours to play and when it was my turn, the game lasted all of a few minutes!!!! LOL

I will post some pre-build pics and a description of the build tomorrow night.



Shawn

[~SnApRoLl]

Hey guys,
I'd like to welcome everyone to my build of the worlds first Flying Giants themed Arcade machine!!

I was fortunate enough to be introduced at a very young age to the great world of model airplanes and it has been one of my favorite hobbies to this day! But, I have always enjoyed another childhood past time and now new hobby, classic arcade games like Dragon's Lair, Pacman, Moon Patrol, Galaga, and Space Invaders just to name a few.
A really good friend in my home state of Maryland called me one day and said he was collecting arcade machines,
I thought it was pretty cool! Then the Summer before last my oldest son started going to Maryland to stay with my mom and dad for the Summers. So my Wife and I decided to make those trips to drop my son off into vacations.
On the last Vacation trip to Maryland, my good friend invited my oldest son and I over to play some arcade games
and after playing some of my childhood favorites I got hooked!! I decided to give the hobby of building an arcade machine a try, and here I am posting my first arcade machine build!!

About a month ago, I was lucky enough to acquire a free gutted out Sega World Series 99 Baseball arcade cabinet from a local arcade machine vendor that was perfect for the build!

The reason I chose to base the theme of the arcade machine on Flying Giants is because I wanted to combine 2 great hobbies into one that can be enjoyed for many years to come and it would be totaly cool!!! And what better theme could there be than Flying Giants?

It will be powered by a pc with a Pentium 4 2.0ghz cpu, 1gb of DDR memory, 256mb GeForce graphics card and 2 160gb IDE hard drives. The platform for the games is a free command line software with a G.U.I. called M.A.M.E. which stands for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator which in turn uses ROM images of the games to trick the pc into thinking it is an actual arcade machine and the games were controlled using the keyboard. I had used that software back in the mid 90's and I was lucky enough to collect several cd's containing 100's of classic quarter arcade games that most of us grew up playing. Although it was cool to be able to play those old games again, it just didn't have that authentic feel! The machine that I am building will use a Control Panel with authentic arcade style joysticks and buttons as well as a 3" trackball that will be used to play games like Missle Command and Golden Tee Golf. I am also going to be incorporating a homemade optical spinner that I built using parts from an old hard drive to play games such as Tron, and Tempest and a homemade optical steering wheel for driving games like Pole Position as well.

As I go along in this build I will show you how I built my own spinner controls as well as show you how I used printed circuit boards of average USB ball mice to interface those optical controls and of course I will document and post lots of pictures of every step as I acquire all of the pieces along the way and try to document a little history behind some of the games that will be included in the Wolds First Flying Giants arcade machine!!

So sit back and relax and follow along with me as I bring back some cool childhood memories and show
every step of taking the cabinet from what it is now to a finished and playable machine!


Shawn

[~SnApRoLl]

Here are a few pics of the cabinet, some of the optical controls and the pc that will be used.

I will give an in depth explanation of some of the pictures after work.

Shawn

[~SnApRoLl]

Another update on the arcade build, I got an authentic arcade control kit that contains (2) 4 or 8 way switchable joysticks and 20 buttons with a 1 and 2 player button as well. Also I sent my homemade optical spinner to my good friend in Maryland to have a piece of 6061 aluminum solid stock machined into a spinner knob and should have it back in about 2 weeks and then I can get started on building the control panel!


Shawn

[FENWAYFLYER]

I remember those days too. I had a paper route 20 years ago i had something like 65 customers every week i used to spend like $20.00 at the arcade.

I even remember my first unit I think it is spelled Coleakco or something.

[~SnApRoLl]

	Quote: Originally Posted by FENWAYFLYER
	I remember those days too. I had a paper route 20 years ago i had something like 65 customers every week i used to spend like $20.00 at the arcade. I even remember my first unit I think it is spelled Coleakco or something.

Hi FENWAYFLYER how are you?
I'm showing my age here, but I remember the ColecoVision as well!! I had one that I had hooked up to a little Black and White tv set LOL I played those games so much I wore out the controls, and then when I got my first Atari 2600, I forgot all about the Coleco set! In fact one of the emulators that will be installed on my arcade machine will for the Atari 2600 as well as a Commodore64 emulator. I'm trying to go as old school as I can with this build!
I can't wait to relive some childhood memories with this build but I think the best part about this is, I will get to introduce my kids to the old classics as well!

Shawn

[~SnApRoLl]

Here are some pictures of the Joystick and button kit I got for the control panel.
The kit is from X-Arcade and in my opinion from research and recommendations as well as playing them on my good friends arcade machines are (for lack of a better comparison) the D.A. of arcade parts as they are competition grade and can take pretty much any beating you can throw at them!! And as a bonus they have a life time warranty!!!! And their customer service staff members are very knowledgeable and very friendly and will answer any questions you have!
The joystcks are cool, in that they can be easily converted to 4 or 8 way control by simply removing an E clip and turning over a plastic step down lug. The set also comes with 1 and 2 player buttons and 18 game play buttons and micro switches and are held in place by a threaded plastic retaining nut. Also included in the pics is a another optical spinner that I started building and a piece of solid 6061 aluminum that a good friend will be machining into a cool spinner knob for me.

As you can see in the pictures, the joysticks need to be assembled after the bases are mounted to the control panel board. The way they go together is, You have a bevel shaped lug that sets the joy stick throw and that goes in through the top of the base with the widest part of the bevel facing down. Then a sleeve and a decorative disc go over the joystick shaft and is then inserted through the bevel shaped lug and through the base. Then you need to slide the 4 way / 8 way lug (it is molded with a step down) on the end of the shaft and you press down on the lug to compress a tension spring that was factory installed in the base and then it is held together with an E-clip. If you want to use the joystick as a 4 way you simple place the 4 way / 8 way lug over the shaft with the step down facing the micro switches or with the step up facing down for 8 way control.

The buttons don't need much explanation as the micro switch simply snaps in place.


Hope everyone is enjoying this so far, I know I am!!!

Shawn

[~SnApRoLl]

I was hoping this thread would get quite a few hits. Am I not making this interesting enough? I'm doing my best!

Anyway, I have another Update,
I un-soldered the PS2 mouse board from my Track Ball and re interfaced the Trackball to USB mouse board so it will be will match all the other USB controls and it just makes things easier because you have to restart the computer before it will recognize PS2 devices where as USB is recognized instantly. I took a few pictures and made some video and will post it tomorrow.

Shawn

[pitviper51]

cool, a guy in my club has been restoring old pin ball machines the past few months, 3 i think so far working as new,, so much fun!
mike

[~SnApRoLl]

Another Update,
I went out yesterday and got a half sheet of 1/2" MDF to start building the control panel and I ordered the interface board for my joysticks and buttons and should be here by this Friday. I will be on vacation next week so I will have quite a bit of build time!

Shawn

[pepatrick]

Thats pretty cool. Those were the good ole days. Galaga, Galaxian, Pac Man and the variations of it. Tron, Astroids, Afterburner, Donkey Kong...Tempest..oh yeah...those were the good old days...

[~SnApRoLl]

	Quote: Originally Posted by pepatrick
	Thats pretty cool. Those were the good ole days. Galaga, Galaxian, Pac Man and the variations of it. Tron, Astroids, Afterburner, Donkey Kong...Tempest..oh yeah...those were the good old days...

Yes they were!!! When I was a kid, I used to cut grass for people for a couple bucks a lawn in the Summer and in the winter time I used to shovel driveways for .50c each so I could go to the Local Arcade on Saturdays and spend my quarters. It was a great time! I will post more construction pics when I go on vacation next week.

Shawn

[~SnApRoLl]

Another small update, I went to Lowes tonight and got a piece of plexiglas cut for the monitor bezel and I drilled the mounting holes already and when I have the monitor set in it's final place, I will mask off the plexiglas to the outline of the screen and spray paint the outer edges of the bezel black on the back side of the plexiglas so it will have a nice gloss shine on the outside just like a painted r/c car body. Also, my good friend received the spinner that I sent him and he is machining the spinner knob as we speak and it should be on its way back to me in a few days.

Shawn