2 Player Cabinet - Planning stages
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Been trawling ebay trying to snag a bargain 19inch monitor, narrowly missed one over the weekend but I'll get there I'm sure.
In the mean time I'm turning my attention to the input side of things. My current plan is to buy a PowerBlock to simplify the on/off of the machine, and use USB encoders for the arcade buttons.
I've done a lot of looking about and found loads of different sellers offering all sorts of options but I'm not 100% sure on what I'm looking for in a USB encoder. They pretty much all claim to be zero delay which I believe is what I'm looking for but I've seen sets where two joysticks and sets of buttons hook up to one encoder board, and others with two encoder boards, one for each player. Which would be best to get? Also, how many buttons do these boards tend to support per player?
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It's been a while since I made any progress on my project due to gettign sidetracked with other things (mainly RC cars...:)). However last weekend I did move on a little.
I have now gotten hold of a 19inch 4:3 monitor which has a toggle power switch so it will power on when the cabinet is powered up! :)
Also, my brother has been clearing his loft as he's moving in a few weeks, in doing so he stumbled across an old pair of mains powered active computer speakers that he was just going to dump. Instead I have now stripped them down and tested them, they will work very nicely when I put my cabinet together!! :)
I've hooked up the pi 3 I have with my HDMI to VGA&3.5mm stereo adapter. All working very nicely.
My next step is to buy my buttons etc but I still don't know exactly what I'm looking for in terms of the USB encoders, does anyone have any advice on these?
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I'm going to recommend that you don't put anything except MAME on it.
Hear me out...
Do you want to stand up to play console games?
Arcade games were designed for a short fix, not protracted gaming sessions.
Console games were designed to be played seated comfortably in your sofa on a screen several feet away.The control schemes are different too, although your idea of usb ports for controllers addresses that problem.
What it doesn't address though is that console games weren't designed to be played on a small screen close to your face, even if you sit at the cabinet to play.I say build two systems. Put a Pi in a case and hook it up to your TV, and keep your arcade machine purely for arcade games.
I have an arcade cabinet (MAME only), a TV console (consoles only) and I am currently building a desktop machine with a monitor for my computer based emulators (Spectrum C64 etc) as these don't lend themselves well to being played on a distant TV with a controller - they need a monitor and a keyboard.
Just some food for thought from someone who has been in exactly your situation a couple of years ago.
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@valve90210 I used the Xin-Mo control board from eBay with 12 buttons and 2 joysticks as a pack. It works well
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@UP4IT said in 2 Player Cabinet - Planning stages:
@valve90210 I used the Xin-Mo control board from eBay with 12 buttons and 2 joysticks as a pack. It works well
Have they got the Xin Mo working ok with the Pi now?
It's what I use in my cabinet, but I built an upright, so I obviously used a PC.
My original cabinet was a bartop with a Pi in it, but I realized that an upright takes up exactly the same amount of space as a bartop and could easily house a PC (MUCH better for MAME).
Thing is, I used to bring my bartop to my Christmas party at work, and I can't do that with my cabinet.
I'm building a 'barstick', which is like a bartop but without a screen, so it will be portable for parties, barbecues etc.
I'm going to use a Pi for this, and I'd like to use a Xin Mo again, so I hope it's just plug & play nowadays.
My last bartop used hacked controllers, which is not something I'm in a hurry to repeat.
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@jamesbeat I configured it about 6 months ago. It took a little tweaking with USBQuirks I think it was called, other than that it worked great. And it only uses one USB port.
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@jamesbeat My cabinet is here https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/9980/my-upright-arcade-cabinet-build/9 :-)
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@UP4IT said in 2 Player Cabinet - Planning stages:
@jamesbeat My cabinet is here https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/9980/my-upright-arcade-cabinet-build/9 :-)
NICE build!
Here's a link to my build thread on the arcadecontrols forum.
It's actually finished now except for the glass. I really must get round to finishing it and update that thread...http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,150023.0.html
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@jamesbeat Very nice. It is great to see them complete (or almost) I still have to do the front vinyls. Nice job on doing the woodwork yourself. I got mine laser cut for me :-)
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Yeah, mine just needs tinted glass and speaker grills.
That's the problem with these things - once you get it into a playable state, there's less pressure to get it finished.
I'm planning on using tinted glass to get the effect of the screen 'floating'.
It will go well with the black and white finish when the machine is off.I think you have the same amp as me - it's perfect for this type of thing.
Mine is mounted inside the coin door on top of the coin box.The coin door is real and actually works - there are no buttons for adding coins, you have to drop in a token to get a credit.
This adds an extra layerof realism, and it's fun to watch my wife desperately scrambling around for a token in the middle of a game of Ghosts ''n Goblins or Metal Slug :D
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@jamesbeat Lol I like it. I can still add a coin slot, but I would be the one having to find the coins for my kids (teenagers and older) and grandson (3). I suppose I could look at it as a piggy bank though lol. I am thinking of maybe doing another one at some point, but probably not this year.
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@valve90210 said in 2 Player Cabinet - Planning stages:
It's been a while since I made any progress on my project due to gettign sidetracked with other things (mainly RC cars...:)
That a funny - RC cars are exactly what got me sidetracked from my build too :D
I finally got my hands on a Mardave Meteor, which is a car I had wanted since I was 12.
This was no small feat, because I live in America now, and they were never sold here.
Unfortunately it has a missing rear wheel, and I haven't managed to track one down yet.
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@UP4IT said in 2 Player Cabinet - Planning stages:
@jamesbeat Lol I like it. I can still add a coin slot, but I would be the one having to find the coins for my kids (teenagers and older) and grandson (3). I suppose I could look at it as a piggy bank though lol. I am thinking of maybe doing another one at some point, but probably not this year.
I just bought a bunch of tokens (500 of them).
I wouldn't use real quarters because I have a feeling they would disappear gradually over time...One day I'd like to get my own custom tokens made.
They only cost about $0.05 each, but the catch is that there is usually a minimum order of 5,000 tokens. -
@valve90210 I use an IPAC4 in my 4-player roadcase cocktail cabinet. I like the IPAC but if I was going to make a two player, I would seriously consider just wiring sticks and buttons directly to GPIO and using a virtual keyboard script like Adafruit's Retrogame software, or mholgatem's GPIOneer--no USB controller needed!
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@jamesbeat said in 2 Player Cabinet - Planning stages:
I'm going to recommend that you don't put anything except MAME on it.
Hear me out...
Do you want to stand up to play console games?
Arcade games were designed for a short fix, not protracted gaming sessions.
Console games were designed to be played seated comfortably in your sofa on a screen several feet away.The control schemes are different too, although your idea of usb ports for controllers addresses that problem.
What it doesn't address though is that console games weren't designed to be played on a small screen close to your face, even if you sit at the cabinet to play.I say build two systems. Put a Pi in a case and hook it up to your TV, and keep your arcade machine purely for arcade games.
I have an arcade cabinet (MAME only), a TV console (consoles only) and I am currently building a desktop machine with a monitor for my computer based emulators (Spectrum C64 etc) as these don't lend themselves well to being played on a distant TV with a controller - they need a monitor and a keyboard.
Just some food for thought from someone who has been in exactly your situation a couple of years ago.
Thanks for the input, though I have been doing a lot of thinking about the cabinet and am sure that what I want the cabinet for it will be good to have Mame and consoles on it, with the usb controllers option for extended console gaming. My main reason being the lack of space in my house for somewhere to have multiple cabinets etc and where this will be housed it'll be fine for standing play, seated play or laying on bed with usb controller play.
@UP4IT said in 2 Player Cabinet - Planning stages:
@valve90210 I used the Xin-Mo control board from eBay with 12 buttons and 2 joysticks as a pack. It works well
I've ha a bit of a look and it does seem that using this is a bit of a chore to get working with retropie, ideally I'd like something slightly more simple which the USB decoders seem to be but I'm just not quite sure which of the many options of them is best to go for.
Should I go for a kit like this, which includes all the buttons etc and a single 2 player USB encoder
Or two of these single player encoders:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Zero-Delay-Arcade-Game-USB-Encoder-PC-Joystick-MAME-5Pin-Sanwa-Push-Button-AC550-/252737851006?hash=item3ad8598e7e:g:pKYAAOSw42dZEa4BOr two of these single player encoders and whatever buttons etc I decide to go for?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Zero-Delay-CY-822D-1-Player-Control-Arcade-Encoder-with-USB-Cable-Wiring-Kit-/112231582278?hash=item1a21860a46:g:QbsAAOSwImRYSqSb -
@valve90210 I think most of these all have similar issues setting them up. It's not too difficult when you read through some of the Xin-Mo threads. This one helped me a lot [https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/2127/xin-mo-instructions/16](link url)
if you go for the single player encoders you will have to use up 2 of your usb ports
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I used the Xin-Mo controller unit on my bartop build (see link in my signature.)
Works great once the usbhid.quirks line is added.
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