Arcade bartop suggestion.
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Hi just wanted someone's opinion on a project i plan on doing because i wanted to build a bartop arcade machine but to have it a little more unique wise and was thinking of having the controllers separated from the unit something like this (which i know it is poorly made looking) and just wanted your opinion if you think it would look cool and if i might need up apply something more in the front for the weight.
Also the other thing for this design like thing is because for the Pi i was thinking of having the access port on the front bottom area rather than everyone else doing it from behind and the other thing is the volume control being access in the front as well and also the controllers will look a little like this one as an example. -
Wish i could get some opinions on what others thinks of my thoughts.
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It's an old topic but, having the pic accessible from the front would be cool. I guess it depends on whether you decided to go with a pre-fab kit or start from scratch. I would personally suggest buying a pre-fab kit unless you already have decent woodworking skills and the time and tools to do it.
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@Ecks It's not a design that's to my taste I'm afraid.
I consider one of the main plus features of a bartop compared with just having a pi in a case with a controller attached, is that everything is self-contained in a single unit. Apart from the power supply, there's no external wires to worry about - everything is contained in the bartop.
Moving the control panel to a separate unit kind of defeats the point in my opinion.
Having said that, I do like the idea of swappable control panel, perhaps dropping into the bartop case and plugging in via USB - I know someone who has built something like this on a PC-based MAME cab, and has several different control panels - standard joystick and buttons, steering wheel, double joystick etc. I quite like the flexibility of allowing switchable control panels.
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@gtbfilms said in Arcade bartop suggestion.:
@Ecks It's not a design that's to my taste I'm afraid.
I agree on this. It seems like a mix og two worlds. I'd rather build the Pi into the Joycase and plug this into the tv then.
Having said that, I do like the idea of swappable control panel, perhaps dropping into the bartop case and plugging in via USB
Wow, this is a cool idea! I'd love to have a second controlpanel with 4-way joysticks and a spinner, for instance.
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To each their own and also the reason for my setup is where it would be placed since i live in an apartment not in a house to some people that does wood projects (from what i have seen as well) tends to have a den to easily put it.
So where i am placing it has some distance in which i have long arms and i would be able to reach it but most of my friends/cousins/nieces do not have long arms so really being able to have detectable controllers has its uses and the front panel is going to be sealed but with 4 usb ports 2 for the joysticks and 2 others for SNES controllers (because for certain games i prefer the SNES controller) and also i am still waiting on a friend for something else before i would try to finish the unit to make metallic hooks for the joysticks so all i have to do is just set it on top and it would look like a normal arcade unit.
Also the volume nob will be on the left side of the unit with the power button as well and going to buy something like this as well for the micro sd card because it is usually handy for in case you have another SD card for using the unit as a computer as well which is where the extra ports comes in handy for plugging in a keyboard and mouse. -
@gtbfilms said in Arcade bartop suggestion.:
Having said that, I do like the idea of swappable control panel
Like a smaller version of the old, but never stale Paul's Modular Control Panel.
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@ecks ah, if you are building specifically to meet space requirements that makes sense! I saw someone online had managed to build a perfect cube cabinet which would slot into a space on am IKEA kallax shelving unit - due to his wife applying the condition any cab had to be able to be stored away invisibly! It was a masterpiece of designing to precise requirements!
You might like to consider one of these for the 2 sd card option - you can have two plugged into the pi at once and switch between them. I have one for my cabinet and use it to switch between my gaming retropie install and my testing install.
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The volume controler a good option is the hotkey funtion in RetroArch no need extra hardware.
I have Select + joy UP (Volume UP) Select + Joy Down (Volume Down)
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