Arcade Cabinet

faka

Hello, I am trying to build a custom bartop arcade cabinet using raspberry pi 4 but I am new to all this. I was wondering if there's a good, comprehensive DIY guide or place where I can get help on this project?

Few of the random questions I have are...:

What is the optimal monitor spec I need for 2 player arcade cabinet? (monitor size, aspect ratio, and other considerations)
What is a good SD card memory size to have a lot of the games?
Do I need a Raspberry pi 4 case?
is Raspberry pi 4, 4 GB enough or should I go with 8 GB?

Please let me know if there are other community or pages that I should refer to if this isn't the place to be. Thank you in advance.

mitu

Can't help much with the case design, but as far as the Pi is concerned:

What is the optimal monitor spec I need for 2 player arcade cabinet? (monitor size, aspect ratio, and other considerations)

Depends on what games you intend to play. If it's mostly old games, a 4:3 monitor with DVI/HDMI video input would be fine.

What is a good SD card memory size to have a lot of the games?

For 'a lot of games', I'd say use an USB stick and keep your ROMs there.

Do I need a Raspberry pi 4 case?

Not necessarily.

is Raspberry pi 4, 4 GB enough or should I go with 8 GB?

Any model will do fine, the RAM amount doesn't matter.

rbaker

@faka Yes there is and I followed this: https://www.instructables.com/id/2-Player-Bartop-Arcade-Machine-Powered-by-Pi/

It's a very rewarding project and you will learn a lot. The biggest thing to carefully consider are the power supply requirements especially as newer Pi boards need more. You need a setup that can power everything in one place so I went for a power brick in the cabinet where I plugged everything in so the monitor, the pi, the LEDs all had their own socket. Works well.

Darksavior

@faka

It's all a personal choice. For me, a 16:9 1080p monitor/tv will do since they're more widely available. Most games run at 4:3 so you'll need to adjust the aspect ratio if you don't want to hunt down a 4:3 monitor. Games don't need that resolution but shaders do. I use the crt-pi shader and it looks nice at 1080p.
Again, personal choice. The pi4 can now boot from usb (with beta firmware atm), which can be faster than microsd. Sizes? Prices for 128GB are cheap enough for it to be my bare minimum. Compress cd-based games to chd to save space. Most systems support it but double check the official wiki.
If the pi4 is going to be inside of a cabinet, a fan to cool it will be required. How that's achieved, it's up to you. A case/fan combo that might be noisy. Or wire up a large quiet pc fan.
From my brief testing, with a swap file, retropie can use around 1-1.2GB depending on what its doing. 2GB is my recommended. Anything more and it'll be a waste.

Lolonois

Welcome to Retropie forum, @faka.
You have reached the right place I guess.

For the monitor: It depends. I prefer a 4:3, 20 inch. You can find them on the 21st century craiglists without breaking the bank. Go for higher quality monitor or buy two of the same kind. Needless to say it has to have a wide viewing angle.

For the Rpi4: Yes you will need at least passive heatsinks (CPU, GPU) - for images see e.g. https://www.aliexpress.com/i/33055043355.html then you can fixate the Rpi with PCB stands. No case.

or

especially if overclocking is one of your use cases: read this thread. Personally I prefer passive cooling.

For the SD card: I went to put the bulk of data on a SSD drive, esp. with an Rpi4. One reason is speed, second is reliability - see also here for some hints.

While the guide from instructables is the genuine one I sticked to the guide from we build stuff, which is an evolution of the instructables guide:

They give you a lot of hints in the videos.
The provide also blueprints (but I stick to the 50cm width of the Arcade)
The recessed grip in the back acts also as vent. And makes it easier to carry around (if ~20kg are easy ;-) )
They use a modular approach (the t-nuts part), esp. for changing a monitor and the make the door fullsize.
They attach a reset button (IMHO very useful). With this button you can even restart your Arcade after shutting it down via Emulationstation menu. Put a push button on J2 between RUN_PG2 and GND. Bonus: You have all GPIO pins to attach 2x13 buttons (4 axis buttons, 9 push buttons).
Obviously I do use Retropie and not Recalbox (-:
If you want backlight in the marquee I use three LED stripes with 120 LED per meter, warm white.
These one make excellent feet when attached with a screw. The Arcade won't move even in the most challenging street fighter games.

Other things to consider (depending on location and your use cases) before you assemble your cabinet:

You may want to provide a hole to externalize the network socket (with an Cat5e coupler)
You may provide a hole to externalize the USB3 ports with an active USB3 switch. This one did not let me down and fits nicely into the back of my black coated Bartop.
If you are using 12mm (metric) MDF wood instead of 1/2 inch MDF (imperial) and want to use t-molding (which is only sold 1/2 inch) make sure to attach 1mm plywood on the sides.

So that's it from the top of my head.
Whatever path you take, enjoy your journey on constructing your Bartop.

Cezar

Hi!

I've chosen 4:3 DVI
8GB card (but also depending on how much Themes you would like to keep as they are kept together with RetroPie, if you start from SD card) and HDD drive in the USB 3.0 case. As @Lolonois said - reliability of HDD/SSD is much better for your precious collection.
No, but depending on time you play, games you choose and air flow in your cabinet you could think of heatsinks at least.
4GB is enough

Don't know if it's allowed, but you can check my blog posts (excuse me, still in Polish :/) - http://cezarowy.blogspot.com/search/label/Arcade Bartop. Or initial part in English: http://blog.asobczak.pl/en/2019/05/07/arcade-bartop-my-current-opus-magnum-2/

faka

@mitu @rbaker @Darksavior @Lolonois @Cezar wow guys! Thank you for such a detailed response! I got my Raspberry Pi 4 4GB and playing with the software. I am ready to now go ahead and buy some parts! I have additional questions if anyone has further feedback for the questions below, that would be really helpful.

What is the optimal arcade cabinet button set up to play most (if not all) games? such as # of buttons, placement, etc. I see that most arcade bartop has 6 buttons, a joy stick, and 2 buttons per player on the bottom front panel. Is that the optimal setup ranging from Gameboy, N64, PS1, etc?
Is there some sort of repository / website to download the all ROMs/games at once? or do I have to google them and go through lists of gaming system and individually get them?
What speakers do you guys recommend and setup?
Are there any messaging platform (discord, slack, etc. ) community where I can freely ask question without bombarding posts and replies here? Or I would be happy with emails if you guys would like to see my progress and help me out :)

Thanks guys!

mitu

@faka said in Arcade Cabinet:

Is there some sort of repository / website to download the all ROMs/games at once? or do I have to google them and go through lists of gaming system and individually get them?

That's against the forum rules - please don't do that.

Are there any messaging platform (discord, slack, etc. ) community where I can freely ask question without bombarding posts and replies here? Or I would be happy with emails if you guys would like to see my progress and help me out :)

You can use the forum - that's what it is for. But you should start with the Docs, I think you'll find a lot of answers there.

steptoe

Arcade World is the best place for EVERYTHING arcade related based in UK but ship worldwide. I've bought all my arcade cabinet buttons and joysticks off them and the Ultimarc interface v4 I now use in my bartop cabinet

https://www.arcadeworlduk.com/

I started off with a Pi3B that did everything I needed, but I decided I wanted true pinball so had to go via a PC I built witha few spare bits laying around from various upgrades over the years and now use RetroFE on a Windows 10 based system, but RetropPie will easily run pretty much everything for 'classic' games and the Pi4 should run much more demanding emulation like N64 much better than the Pi3B

Personally, I used an SD card to simply boot the PI then everything else was stored on a portable USB hard drive to save wear on the SD card and boot/run much better, or run everything off the SD card but store all the ROMs and artwork on the portable USB hard drive. Makes updating much easier as you can they plug it into a PC and update that way

Make sure you use a GOOD genuine PI power supply. The PI4 NEEDS a good power supply. You will pay more but its worth it. A BIG heatsink on the chips on the PI makes a world of difference if you finally choose to overclock the PI. I used a custom heatsink by buying the tallest heatsink I could find and cutting it down to fit the chips on the PI3B and used heatsink glue (epoxy mixed with heatsink paste) that will never fall off and keep sthe PI running cool no matter what

Plenty of guides and suggestions, just search for PI Arcade Cabinet and you will have instant guides

rbaker

@faka said in Arcade Cabinet:

What is the optimal arcade cabinet button set up to play most (if not all) games? such as # of buttons, placement, etc. I see that most arcade bartop has 6 buttons, a joy stick, and 2 buttons per player on the bottom front panel. Is that the optimal setup ranging from Gameboy, N64, PS1, etc?

Visit http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade.htm for detailed suggestions and also http://slagcoin.com/joystick.html for some layout guidance. There is another good resource here:
http://www.rfgeneration.com/news/arcade/Arcade-Control-Panel-Design-Part-I-3122.php that I read through and a chat forum here: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/

Lolonois

@faka said in Arcade Cabinet:

What speakers do you guys recommend and setup?

Since this was unanswered yet: Most of the games don't need beefy 7.1 suround sound. My choice were used PC desktop speakers 1-2W per speaker is enough. Just disassemble them form the chassis. Round membrane not more than 50 mm diameter (larger ones won't fit into the marquee). Nylon socks make excellent screens for the speaker.

I use a USB audio card (make sure it is C-media compliant, so Retropie/Raspian will surely recognize it). You may find used one since some of them are not supported any longer by Windows 10. Any USB audio gives you better signal/noise ratio than the 3.5mm jack of the Rpi.

Again the choice is yours to either use the arcade buttons (keyword: triggerhappy) to control volume or use the potentiometer from the disassembled speaker amp.

And yes, the power supply should be decent. With an official Rpi power supply you are on the safe side. While the Rpi and the peripherals can do well with less than 5V the SD card can not. Regarding electronics and powering options you will find a well of information at raspberrypi.stackexchange.com and electronics.stackexchange.com and of course by digging this forum for former threads on those topics. Or start a new thread if your question is not answered.

I had mixed experiences with Arcadeworld.co.uk. My favorite one stop shop is focusattack.com but also arcadewinkel.nl did not let me down.

Button setup

I prefer to have 6+3 pushbuttons (which includes hotkey). Why? It leaves you more options to put actions (with triggerhappy) on the second set of buttons (perceive hotkey like Alt on your physical keyboard).

Cheers

ClassicGMR

@faka @Lolonois said in Arcade Cabinet:

What speakers do you guys recommend and setup?

Actually I've used these for almost 8 years now:

Cyber Acoustics CA-3602FFP 2.1 Speaker Sound System with Subwoofer and Control Pod

alt text

They sound amazing. I have the speakers firing down from behind the marquee and the sub in the cabinet. I also love that the volume control pod can be placed right in reach to allow for headphone use and volume control.

EDIT - The tv I use for the monitor in my arcade cabinet has 3.5mm audio out so they plug in from the tv. Also nice when watching Netflix or using my Switch on HDMI2. Since everything goes through the tv everything goes through these speakers!

steptoe

I used these guides to decide my layout, started simple but managed to squeeze a mouse based trackball in the middle after moving things around. Still doesn't look cluttered

Standard six button layout, plus two extra per player for 'shoulder' buttons ZL/ZR so I don't also have joypads laying around so ended up with 8 buttons per player that wasn't my original plan

https://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/layout.html

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/5220/arcade-buttons-how-many-layout

This was my original layout, but as I also wanted true pinball emulation (the PI simply can't handle anything like Future Pinball or Visual Pinball) I also added two buttons on the cabinet sides for pinball flipper and also load/save states for emulators that support it

Hence finally going down the IPac4 route. Worth the extra effort as its a true keyboard interface that supports multiple buttons and upto 4 players or in my bartop with lots of buttons and two players. BIG improvement over the Chinese USB interface that the kit I bought came with

https://www.arcadeworlduk.com/products/I-PAC-4-Keyboard-Encoder.html

This is basically the joystick/button set I used, but had to rewire the joysticks to fit the I-Pac interface. Not difficult

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-LED-Arcade-Mame-DIY-Kit-2-Joystick-20-LED-Illuminated-Button-Encoder-Set/143568782687?hash=item216d5dc55f:g:dM8AAOSwKtVegyuu

Speakers were taken from a dead 2.1 PC speaker set and bought a cheap 2.1 amplifier that runs off 12v from China. Its rubbish and needs changing for a better quality 2.1 amplifier but it was a start

I'll post a picture of my bartop later today sometime. The vinyls and edging need adding but this is the case I used for my PI bartop, I just squeezed a PC motherboard and power supply inside when I decided I wanted pinball emulation and more intensive emulation the PI will never be able to manage such as PS2/Wii/Wii U/Xbox

This is the original layout I used, but added a trackball mouse. The PI can easily support USB hubs but make sure its a powered one and one that doesn't reverse power. A lot of cheaper ones do so send power back to the PI, Buying one from the PI HUT will guarantee it works as it should

!(https://retropie.org.uk/forum/uploads/files/1484412665733-img_2320-resized.jpg)

This is the trackball I used, but for the PI you will need a PS2 to USB adaptor. It works exactly as it should so I can also play trackball games as they should be played such as Centipede and also it functions perfectly well as a mouse, but I had to add yet two more buttons to my cabinet panel to use it as a mouse when needed. Amiga games need a mouse and this works perfectly for them such as Cannon Fodder. Amiga emulation will be no problems with a PI4 as it worked on a Pi3B easily

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-Illuminated-50mm-PS-2-Trackball/184018227197?hash=item2ad8574ffd:g:Ky4AAOSwqCtdwdFv

Also found a few things you might find interesting. The passive aluminium heatsink case for the PI4 looks interesting. I would consider adding a standard PC case fan on top as the guide says the casing WILL get hot and make it run even cooler with an extra fan. Should easily power the fan off the PI itself

https://thepihut.com/collections/all/products/aluminium-armour-heatsink-case-for-raspberry-pi-4

https://thepihut.com/products/usb-2-0-powered-hub-7-ports-with-5v-2a-power-supply

https://thepihut.com/products/4-port-usb-hub-usb-2-0