Pixel Art Themed Bartop Arcade
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@PatrickTee looks great! I like the logos across the top! Lots of good sprites on there that I didn’t even think to use! Post side 2 when you finish up, I’d like to see it all done.
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Thanks @Capeman ! Coming from you, that’s a massive compliment! I did have issues finding some characters at printing quality. Was there a specific place you found them, or did you just have to recreate some?
Also, I want to go with the Arcade Forge kit, however, once I take into account postage, it’s almost $500 AUD (which is a lot).
Do you know of any Australian kits, or actual finished files to get a CNC Router company in Australia to cut them?
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@PatrickTee search the character name and “sprite sheet” on google images. You’ll usually get native resolution pixel characters (TINY).
To make them large, open them in photoshop, crop down to the sprite you want to use and go to image size. Set the image size to like 800% or higher and the rendering mode to “nearest neighbor” (this is the most important part) and your sprite will bump up to high resolution and the hard pixel look will be preserved making it suitable for print.
Sorry I’m not sure what’s available in Australia, I’m from the US. But if you read all the info on the arcade forge page you’ll see the files they use are from an open source project, and I think they actually link to the downloadable files for CNC routing.
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@Capeman that is super helpful re pixel characters, thank you! I’ll use that process to fix up a few sprites that aren’t the best quality.
Last question, with your raspberry Pi, did you install games on to the SD card or did you make use of a USB stick?
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@PatrickTee I’ve never had a reason to use a usb stick, but I’m really well backed up. If you’re considering using lots of cd based games like psx, then you might wanna consider it, but I heard usb transfers slower since it’s only 2.0. It’s worth weighing the pros and cons.
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@PatrickTee I have to agree that the logos at the top look quite neat :).
I'm not too sure about the Marquee. I mean, it looks good, but it feels a bit "empty" (maybe because the characters have that imaginary "line" across the dark ground at the bottom?).
I'm also tempted to ask if you're willing to share your printing files. I'm no designer, and even though I can understand the pleasure of making it yourself, I have to "build" other things instead, and I would be satisfied by just having something that "works" (I'm on a rush to get the side art, and since I will have to get it online anyway, I might as well ask for one that looks amazing ;) ).
In any case, very nice work, and I hope you enjoy your bartop arcade :).
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@Chazzard thanks for the feedback! I think you may be right about the marquee, but I think I’ll print it out on paper @ 100% first to mock it up.
Unfortunately the design is nowhere near complete as there a now dozens of sprites I need to recreate at printing quality, and to complete the right panel. So there’s no way I could send the file to you anyway :(
Also, I’m inclined to agree with @Capeman about preferring not to share design files as I’ve designed something specific to my personal interests and likes (however, I did use his designs as an influence and inspiration for mine).
If you want something that’s print ready and looks great (also quickly), you should head to arcadeforge website and follow the links there to buying vinyl prints.
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@Capeman I found my way on here as was looking through bartop arcade designs and yours came up on a google search - Great work! Im interested in making my own one and have been researching into all the bits to get... I know nothing about these things! I am like yourself by day a designer and look forward to working on the outside. Im not a fan of anything overcomplicated and one element I wanted was to replicate the retro wood grain that I noticed on yours! I followed the link you gave someone to amazon and that might just be what Im after. Though in order to mock up designs Im really struggling to get the template for the cabinet. Now I completely respect you not wanting to share designs and Im not wanting to copy, Im just after the PSD file as a blank. Even if you could point me in the right direction Id really appreciate it... Cheers
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@jamietuley I’m always happy to help! I used the arcade forge kit in particular at this link... http://arcadeforge.net/Arcade-Bartop/Bartops-DIY-Kits/ArcadeForge-Bartop-DIY-Custom-Kit::239.html if you scroll half way down the description page of this kit, they provide full pdf based plans for design templates or CNC cutting. It’s based on an open source design plan and it’s very well documented. This should cover your needs If you go with this kit (I highly recommend it, I’m no wood worker haha)
Vector Artist, Designer and Maker of Stuff: Laser Cut Atari / Pixel Theme Bartop
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@PatrickTee Love the Design :) Can i ask did u design the Console manes part at top ? or did you download the image ? Thanks .
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@djsmooth75 not quite sure what you mean, but I think you’re asking about the logos/names? There are lots of sites dedicated to recreating vector logos for free. I found a few of them and then placed them together across multiple lines, and then rotated them about 45degrees and applied a gradient overlay to achieve the fade effect. Hope this helps! :)
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@Capeman did you know that your artwork is on eBay ?
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this is the nicest looking and well designed bartop I've seen in a dog's age, i really dig the wood grain applique accents on top and front, mixed with the black cpo, gives the illusion of mixed materials like a commercial arcade would have been, just wish the inside melamine was black instead of white.... great job, pixel art is fitting and not offensive whereas most peoples tastes are not appropriate with the rest of the theme, yours fits well! A++ for design and execution!
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@yarrick10120 Somebody must have copped the low res vesion and upscaled it. I didnt see it on a quick search, but I wouldn't doubt it. People are awful. Oh well...
@LinuxArcadeGuy Thanks lots! Always appreciate a compliment!
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@Capeman Sorry about the delay in response - I actually forgot what forum I had come on to ask you about this... only just today found my way back onto retropie! Cheers for that link you sent me.. lots of useful info. Actually recieved my bartop cabinet in the post yesterday so the long road starts now!! Probably gonna take me months to design/decide on a CPO! I'll try and post you pics when it starts to take shape. Thanks again!
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@Capeman are you going to offer the file I would like to use on a full arcade machine goldtee.
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sweet pixel art!
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@Capeman , It's been a while since my last post. I'm pretty tied up with work and family commitments at the moment, so it looks like my project will continue to be a slow burn. I hope you don't mind, but I used one of your product shots to overlay my design to get an idea of what the finished product will look like. Would love to get your feedback on if it is too dark/colours of buttons, etc.
.I had a couple of questions with relation to the build that I was hoping you could help me with. I'm happy to email you directly to discuss if you prefer, but the questions are:
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Where did you get the joystick and buttons from? I'm looking for suppliers online and finding it very difficult to locate one that provides the exact thing I'm looking for
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In terms of the internal build, I have no idea how I'm meant to do the strip lighting and speaker wiring, power socket with fuse + switch, etc. into a powerboard/Raspberry Pie. Do you have a wire diagram of how you went about yours, or any help/guidance you can give? Also, do I require a cooling fan to run this, or is it just a nice to have?
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What do your buttons do on the very front panel? I assume the black and white ones are the insert coins and 1 player/2 player, but what does the red button do?
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For the acrylic that covers the monitor, I've noticed that you have a black border that covers the edges. How did you achieve that, because my understanding is there is no surface below the acrylic to stick vinyl or paper to?
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For the back wire/cable panel, do you have any photos on how you've done that with any sort of USB/VGA ports you've connected and attached to the Raspberry Pie?
I know it's a lot of questions, but I appreciate any help or advice you can provide.
Thanks again!
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