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    Yet Another Bartop Arcade Cabinet

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Projects and Themes
    diybartop arcade
    23 Posts 12 Posters 8.5k Views
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    • caver01C
      caver01 @lilbud
      last edited by

      @lilbud Ok, thanks. I have not loaded that one.

      My 4-player cocktail style cabinet built as a custom "roadcase"

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      • G
        goyney @caver01
        last edited by goyney

        @caver01 Thank you!

        Yes, I removed the plastic casing of the monitor and snugly fit in the internals into the wood bezel. It is a 24" 16:9 monitor. I'm utilizing RetroArch's ability for overlays to make electronic bezels for all the games/systems running at 4:3, 3:4, 3:2, and 10:9. I've made custom art for every arcade game I've choose to include and generic ones for all the consoles systems (for now).

        Yes, those are speaker holes in the bottom of marquee. A small pair of USB power speakers are mounted in the marquee. The marquee looking evenly lit is likely a result of the awesome quality I got from the printer on the artwork. It's on a plastic-type paper that is made to diffuse light.

        I ended up using these for the controllers: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WDQWK5M/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1. They hook up via USB so it was super easy to work with. The side buttons are pretty much dormant for everything as of right now. I do have them mapped properly for use in the NES game "Pinball." Start and select (coin) are in the front. I guess they cannot be seen in the one picture I posted, but there is a link to the entire build gallery below the picture.

        The theme is a modified version of the Art Book theme to match my controller setup and cabinet theme.

        caver01C 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • caver01C
          caver01 @goyney
          last edited by

          @goyney I have always wanted to build a bartop and I think you nailed it. Mine would be 4:3, but with all of the great overlay bezels available now I am starting to rethink that. Nice work!

          My 4-player cocktail style cabinet built as a custom "roadcase"

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          • AndersHPA
            AndersHP
            last edited by AndersHP

            Wow, your build is awesome. Good job!

            I love the way the marquee, sideart, theme and bezels match the button colors.
            It's also hard to decide on a way to make a generic themed arcade work, but you totally did it.

            My "Bubble Bobble" Themed Bartop Arcade
            My Gameboy

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            • DorkVonWaterfallD
              DorkVonWaterfall
              last edited by

              Nice build....but those boltheads sticking out of the CP.....

              01001110 01101111 01100010 01101111 01100100 01111001 00100000 01101011 01101110 01101111 01110111 01110011 00100000 01101001 01100000 01101101 00100000 01100001 00100000 01101100 01100101 01110011 01100010 01101001 01100001 01101110 00100001

              G 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • D
                Domogram Rovers
                last edited by

                Looks great! I take my hat off to the guys who build completely from scratch. I bought a kit with all the wood cut to size, button holes predrilled, t-moulding slot cut, etc. I just don't have the skills or equipment to do it all.

                The King in King & Balloon is a dead ringer for Donald Trump!

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                • G
                  goyney @DorkVonWaterfall
                  last edited by

                  @dorkvonwaterfall Yeah, I know. It hurt me a little bit too. I had screws underneath holding them up, but just in the small playtest, I was able to strip the holes a little bit just from pushing down on the control stick. I didn't want to risk it popping out because, they way I built it, it is very hard to remove that panel to fix it. I found nice, coated black screws so it doesn't look as terrible and stays uniform.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • GreenHawk84G
                    GreenHawk84
                    last edited by

                    Very good for a ground-up build. I have done similar artwork with the button information displayed. I would like to know how you went about scraping with video preview. I cannot understand it. Did you make your own videos?

                    AndersHPA 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • AndersHPA
                      AndersHP @GreenHawk84
                      last edited by

                      @greenhawk84 video previews can be scraped with Universal XML Scraper. After you set it up, goto options -> visual -> video -> yes.

                      My "Bubble Bobble" Themed Bartop Arcade
                      My Gameboy

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                      • nanotoneN
                        nanotone
                        last edited by

                        Wow, what a nice cabinet. Congrats!

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • glennlakeG
                          glennlake
                          last edited by

                          You say this is you first wood working project? I must say it looks as good as any I've seen. Great Job!!

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • N
                            Newellj79
                            last edited by

                            I'm in the early stages of my first build. Was going to go 4:3, but I'm seriously considering 16:9 now.

                            G 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • glennlakeG
                              glennlake
                              last edited by

                              I've never tried it but maybe you could use overlays to fill in the sides when you run the narrower games?

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                              • G
                                goyney @Newellj79
                                last edited by goyney

                                @newellj79 Do it. The custom bezels add so much more charm to the build. I'm still going through and tweaking the ones I created. Like, here's my latest Donkey Kong.

                                0_1508782609676_dkong.png

                                caver01C 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • G
                                  goyney
                                  last edited by goyney

                                  Updated the first post to include a small video of the build in action!

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • SgtJimmyRustlesS
                                    SgtJimmyRustles
                                    last edited by

                                    I like the intro video and theme, and how it all ties in together. And also the overlays make everything look nicer. Very well done here.

                                    Check out /r/SBCGaming for Retropie, Recalbox, OGST (Odroid) talk and more!
                                    http://www.reddit.com/r/sbcgaming

                                    Hop on the Dicscord as well and chat about all things Retropie (or recalbox, lakka, etc)
                                    https://discord.gg/JdXc6nx

                                    Check out our Podcast!

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • caver01C
                                      caver01 @goyney
                                      last edited by caver01

                                      @goyney I really love your build, which is why I hope you can also hear some constructive criticism about the overlays. Perhaps you are aware of this and you are OK with it (which is fine—to each their own) but the Donkey Kong overlay example is the wrong aspect ratio. It is a vertical game (like Pac-Man, Dig Dug and a bunch of other classics). Consequently, it should be 3:4 not 4:3.

                                      May people are OK with that, so if that’s you, no biggie, but since you are already using bezel overlays, I figured you might want to explore the proper look for this and other vertical games.

                                      My 4-player cocktail style cabinet built as a custom "roadcase"

                                      G 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                      • G
                                        goyney @caver01
                                        last edited by goyney

                                        @caver01 Good catch. I actually have bezels made in the 3:4 ratio, I just messed up with Donkey Kong. Thanks for the find!

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • lilbudL
                                          lilbud
                                          last edited by

                                          Could you upload the background image you use in the theme/loading screen?

                                          Creator of the Radiocade: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/6077/radiocade

                                          Backlog: http://backloggery.com/lilbud

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                                          • L
                                            leoniom
                                            last edited by leoniom

                                            Hey @goyney if you don’t mind me asking what’s your config for the buttons?

                                            I’m trying to build a similar machine and just wondering how the 6 x Hori fighter buttons on the control panel are configured and the 2 on the front?

                                            Thanks!
                                            Leon

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