So you have decided you will be getting Arcade Artwork professionally printed from a company for your Home Built Arcade Machine? Many people use this method when they build their own Arcade Machine because of the professional quality results this type of Arcade Artwork brings to a project.

Prefab Arcade Art

The first thing you need to decide is will you be creating your own Custom Arcade Artwork for your cabinet, or will you be using templates offered from a company.

A lot of people tend to use the prefab MAME Artwork templates offered through these sites because they are making a “general” Arcade Machine that is designed to play numerous games. Because of this they usually don’t want Artwork associated with one game or another on the system.

If this is the case for your project you may want to consider using some of the prefab Arcade Artwork templates these sites offer.

Custom Arcade Artwork

On the other hand some people have created some really nice custom Arcade Artwork for their projects. This can range from one set theme based on a particular game or series, or incorporating several titles into the Artwork and theme for their Arcade Machine.

In my case, I will be creating most of my Artwork from scratch to give my Arcade Machine a very custom look and feel. To do this I will first need to create the custom Artwork designs.

Software to Design Arcade Artwork

As I mentioned in my previous article the first consideration you need to make for designing custom Arcade Artwork is a digital editing program. There are many options out there but the preferred choice of most commercial artists seems to be:

• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Illustrator

The thing to keep in mind is Adobe software is expensive if you do not have access to it. I am fortunate enough to work with Adobe Photoshop at work so I will be using that when I create my artwork.

You can always download a demo version of the software which gives you a trial period to play around with the program. For some people this may be enough time to finish your project.

My other recommendations for good free digital editing software are as follows:

• GIMP
• Sumo Paint

GIMP is a freeware digital editing program based on Adobe Photoshop. It was originally designed for Linux but you can also download a Windows version. GIMP is free to download and use. There is a slight learning curve but if you are not familiar with digital artwork software this is a given.

Sumo Paint is another free option. To use the software you need to go to the Sumo Paint website. (http://www.sumopaint.com/web/) From here you can launch the Sumo Paint program and create Arcade Artwork right through your browser. Sumo Paint is very robust for a web based program and offers many similar features to those found in Photoshop and GIMP.

Online Resources for Arcade Machine Artwork

Once you have designed the Arcade Artwork for your system you need to decide what company you will use for your project. There are several sites our there to help people with Artwork for home built Arcade Machines.

Keep in mind that many of the companies that will print custom Arcade Artwork you have created, need to receive the project file in a certain format designed to various specifications.

Standard printing companies require Artwork files to be created at 300ppi (pixels per inch) and tend to prefer the project as a PDF or PSD file. This is not always the case though so check with the company you plan to use prior to creating your artwork to ensure you do not need to recreate your Arcade Artwork in order to get it printed.

Some good resources for companies that print commercial Artwork for Arcade Machines are listed below.

Professional Artwork Printing for Arcade Machines

MAME Marquees

http://www.mamemarquees.com/

Arcade Controls.com – Artwork

http://arcadecontrols.com/artwork.shtml

Quarter Arcade

http://www.quarterarcade.com/Browse.aspx?c=All.Parts.ReproArt

If you are looking for something other than what is offered in the Arcade Artwork templates from these companies you may want to checkout some websites that offer commercial Arcade Machine Artwork.

This can be useful if you have a specific theme in mind for your Arcade Machine or if you are restoring an old Arcade Cabinet. Some great resources for Commercial Arcade Machine Artwork are listed below.

Commercial Arcade Machine Artwork Downloads

Local Arcade – Arcade Art

http://www.localarcade.com/

CAGA – Classic Arcade Game Art

http://www.arcadecollecting.com/caga/

I will be adding to the list as I come across more good resources.

Arcade Machine Artwork Summary

This article covers some of the basic considerations that need to be made when going the commercial route in creating Artwork for your Arcade Machine. Whether you are working off a commercial design, a MAME template or creating your own Artwork, the resources and information listed here should get off to the right start.

For even more great information on Arcade Artwork Considerations and Information checkout this great article from Jeff Rothe over at Rotheblog.com:

Arcade Artwork: Researching Past Arcade Reproductions

Jeff has a ton of great articles on all things Arcade Related. If you are looking for more information or just want to browse through some interesting Arcade Machine Articles give his site a read.

As always, thanks for checking out my site. In my next article I will follow up with some more information on Arcade Artwork and how to create your own digital Artwork to use with a commercial printing company, or to print yourself.

Keep checking back for all the latest updates.

Hey all! I have been taking a brief break with the birth of my friend’s son. I have had a bunch of stuff to do around the house so I have been playing handy man for the past week or so.

Coming back to my DIY Arcade Machine project we are going to be taking a look at how to handle the Artwork for the Arcade Cabinet.

When working on Arcade Machine Artwork there are several paths you can take.

• Commercial Artwork
• Digital Artwork
• Hand Crafted Artwork

Each of these methods has its Pros and Cons so whichever method you decide on will be dependant on factors like time, budget, materials, patience, & talent. These are generalizations but they are good to keep in mind as you approach this side of your Home Built Arcade Machine project.

Let’s take a look at each one and discuss how they might apply to your project along with the Pros and Cons of each. I have not implemented any of these methods into my DIY Arcade Machine yet, so at the moment I am just discussing considerations I have made regarding each one.

Commercial Artwork for a Home Built MAME Arcade Machine

The first common option a lot of people use as an approach is Commercial Arcade Machine artwork.

There are many companies online that specialize in crafting and printing original and custom Marquee Artwork, Side Panel Artwork, Controller Artwork and more.

The benefit of using a company like this is because they specialize in what they do they understand the nature of your project and are able to work with you to get the exact artwork you want for your home built Arcade Machine.

Another benefit of going this route is the companies can save you time and energy since you do not need to produce the artwork yourself. For a general MAME Arcade Machine they usually have several sample templates to choose from and in many cases you can provide your own artwork.

The one drawback of using a service like this is the cost. If you are building an Arcade Machine on budget using a commercial service might not be the best option as it will add on additional costs to your Arcade Machine.

Overall this is a good method that yields professional quality results, but requires a larger budget for your project.

Digital Artwork for a DIY MAME Arcade Cabinet

Creating Digital Artwork for your MAME Arcade Machine is another option some people choose. It usually involves the use of a graphics or photo editing software.

This is a pretty common method people use at some point during the planning and design of the Artwork for their Arcade Machine. Even in cases where people are planning to purchase commercial Artwork for their Arcade Machine, they may custom design the Artwork in a digital editing program first.

The benefits of using this method are that you have a lot of control over the Artwork for the project itself. I am a control freak, and like to have a lot of control over the projects I do so it is hard to leave something in someone elses hands.

Another benefit is this method tends to be more cost effective than having Arcade Machine Artwork professionally printed by a company. If you are working on a budget this can be a good alternative that yields a good look for your Arcade Cabinet.

The draw backs to using this method are that you need good digital editing software to achieve high quality results. If you already have this software you are good to go, but if you do not the cost of the software itself may outweigh having the artwork printed by a company. (Unless you can get it at a discount or from a friend.)

Another factor to consider is the time involved. Custom designing your own artwork gives your Arcade Machine a more unique feel but at the same time takes a lot of time, especially if you are unfamiliar with digital editing software.

Overall this is a good method that generally saves you money, and yields quality results if you are patient and know how to work with digital editing software. This method also requires you to have access to some type of  digital editing software.

Hand Crafted Artwork for a Build it Yourself Arcade Machine

The last common method for Arcade Artwork is what I would refer to as “hand crafted” meaning any type of artwork that is done primarily by hand. This can consist of spray painting, hand painting, drawing, and even digitizing hand drawn artwork.

This is probably the most time consuming method that has the highest level of skill associated with it. The reason I say this is because some people are really good at producing hand made artwork, and I would consider that a talent that not everyone has. A person’s level of skill will directly affect the quality of the Arcade Artwork and the amount of time involved with this method.

The benefit of Hand Crafted Arcade Machine Artwork is it can be one of the cheapest methods possible for decorating your Arcade System. It also offers a good sense of satisfaction when you have created something entirely from scratch.

At the same time this can be one of the most difficult methods of doing Artwork for an Arcade Machine. This is mainly because this method requires the highest amount of skill and usually requires more time then the other two methods we have already discussed.

Overall I feel that Hand Crafted Artwork can be a good alternative if you have the skills to do it and are working on a budget. The supplies needed for most hand drawn or hand painted artwork are relatively cheap so you can save money on the overall project. The thing to keep in mind is that it requires artistic talent to create the type of results most people are shooting for with their Arcade Machine. It also requires the most time of all the methods I have discussed.

Arcade Machine Artwork Considerations Summary

So now that we have covered all of the common methods people use to create Artwork for their Arcade Machine we need to evaluate our project, our budget and our skill-set to determine which method/s will work best for our individual projects.

Since I am interested in exploring many different angels for building an Arcade Machine I am planning to incorporate each of these methods into the Artwork for my DIY MAME Arcade Machine.

At the moment I am thinking I will be creating Digital Artwork for the Marquee and Side Panels of my Arcade Machine and approaching two different companies to get the Artwork produced.

For the Arcade Controls I am going to try and use a combination of Digital Artwork and Hand Crafted Artwork to create the look I am going for.

This will allow me to experiment with each method to see what I like the best, and it will also allow me to provide readers with information on things I learn about each method.

Thanks for checking out the site. In the next several articles I will focus on each of the individual Arcade Machine Artwork methods we have discussed here and go into greater detail on each one. Keep checking back for the latest news on my DIY MAME Arcade Machine Project. ^-^

Hey guys. Sorry for the delay in my latest post. A lot has been happening in real life lately so I have been a little behind. We got some work done of the system this past Friday but then on Sunday my friend text messaged me with some big news…

His son was born!

I want to congratulate him on his first kid, and I know he’ll be a great dad. That kid is going to know how to build the hell outta stuff!

Anyway, because he is preoccupied with his first child, we are going to be taking a week or two off of building the Arcade Machine. It’s ironic because the timing couldn’t be better.

The last time we worked on the system we did surface work, priming and painting. Short of a little paint here and there, and a few small drill holes and additions that need to be added the system is almost completely done.

In the interim I will be using the extra time to start working on designing the Arcade Artwork for the system. I had been procrastinating about doing this, and now with the kid being born I will have some extra time to get this done right without feeling rushed.

With that being said I will be writing some follow-up articles soon about doing Artwork for an Arcade Machine from the Marquee and Side Panel Artwork to the Arcade Control panel artwork.

But before we do all that, let’s take another look at where we are with the Arcade Machine.

Below I have shots of a latest progress on my home made Arcade Machine along with captions for each picture with information and building tips I have been learning from the project. As always if you would like to see all my pictures for the project you can find them on my Flickr account here: DIY ROM Arcade on Flickr

[Sorry the latest pictures are a little grainy. I had to use my camera phone to take them.]

Home Built Arcade Machine Pictures & Guide – Part 6

We picked up where we left off last week and finished up Priming the system in any spots we are going to paint. We used Auto-body Primer and Filler since it goes on pretty thick and does a nice job of leveling any imperfections in the surface of your Arcade Machine.

You can see in the picture that we also started priming the Arcade Controls. Make sure you do surface work and sanding prior to priming and painting so that you get as smooth a surface as possible. 

While the Primer was drying we did some work on the Arcade Controls. In previous week we drilled out holes for where the Arcade Buttons and Joystick will go. Now we needed to start soldering the wires to the USB gamepad we are using so it can be connected to the Arcade Controls.

It helps to have a device like the one we are using in the picture. It holds your circuit board (PCB) in place and makes it easier for soldering connections to it.

We didn’t do the best job of sanding the Arcade Controls down before we Primed the piece and it showed. Once we noticed this we waited for the Primer to dry and went back and sanded down the Arcade Control panel.

As I mentioned before make sure you do a job of sanding and filling any gaps or cracks on the surface of your Arcade Machine before Priming. Using Grey Primer is good because it can be painted white, or black very easily but also does a great job of exposing areas that need work. These areas are much harder to spot if you are using a black primer.

Once the Primer has dried it gets pretty hard and can be sanded down to correct problems without gumming up your sandpaper. (Unlike paint, which is much more of a mess to sand.) 

Here my friend is filling some of the gaps and cracks we noticed on the Arcade Controls after we applied the primer. We had used Bondo to fill a lot of gaps on the surface prior to priming but there were still some spots that needed work.

We were trying a couple things out to see how different surface fillers would work on the system. Here we are using a very light weight spackle to fill in very small holes along the beveled edge. Adding the bevel to the MDF resulted in small holes along the rounded edge.

This is a shot of the rear grill we will be using on the system. We are adding a top or rear fan (Haven’t decided on placement yet.) to exhaust any heat that may build up in the Arcade Machine.

We cut this piece out of the PC Case we cut apart to use for mounts inside the system. As you can see we are priming and painting any parts that will be used on the outside of the system.

Here you can see we have Painted the outside of the system and I took a picture of some of the areas inside the Arcade Machine. Once the parts are reinstalled into the system many of the unpainted areas you can see in this picture will be covered.

Hey guys! If you have been following my “Build Your Own Arcade Machine” project, you will see that we are progressing nicely. I think in some ways this has become more of a fun thing to do on Friday nights than a rush to complete a Home Built Arcade Machine. For future projects I will be building on more of a consistent timeline, but for now I am using this as an opportunity to learn a lot from my friend about wood working, and carpentry.

This past Friday we got a lot done on the system. We started out by working on the Arcade Controls. A week or so ago we cut out our controller piece and fit it into the system, but this week we added the Arcade Joystick and Buttons to dry fit the pieces and establish the layout.

We also did some cosmetic work to the Arcade Cabinet like filling tack holes, using Bondo on some gaps, & sanding and smoothing some surfaces to get it ready for Priming.

I took apart the Trackball Mouse and Logitech Controller to get a look inside of them so we could get an idea for how we are going to wire them up, and how they will fit in the layout of our Arcade Controls.

Once that was done I installed Kubuntu Linux on the system. The Arcade Machine is now dual boot between Windows XP Home and Kubuntu Linux KDE 4. Working with Linux is mainly for my own personal learning experience on this project.

The next day we removed all the PC Hardware from the system and started filling, sanding and priming the Arcade Machine to get it ready for when we can finally paint it. We also installed the Trackball Mouse into the Arcade Controls.

I hope you enjoy the latest pictures. I will try to include a detailed summary of what is happening in each one along with any “Building Tips” I learned during the process. As always you can see the complete series of photos along with additional descriptions on my Flickr account here.

DIY ROM Arcade on Flickr

Home Built Arcade Machine DIY Pictures

The first thing we decided to work on this week was the Arcade Controls for the system. We wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to work on the layout and to dry-fit the Arcade Joystick and Buttons onto the panel. As mentioned in previous posts I am using a Arcade Joystick and Button layout from SlagCoin.com.

Here is a closer shot of the Arcade Button layout. Because we are working with limited space on the Arcade Controls I am using the “Sega layout for player 2” from SlagCoin’s “Panel Layout” page.  I will be removing the last set of buttons on the right for a total of 6 buttons on my small profile Arcade Machine.

We had to mount cleats and standoffs to the bottom of the Arcade Control panel so we could mount it into the system. We have designed the Controls so they can be removed from the Arcade Cabinet for upgrades or repairs down the road. The standoffs slide into our Controller area on the Arcade Machine and can then be screwed into place by two screws that go in through the sides of the Arcade System.

I started filling in the tack holes and doing some surface filling on the Arcade Machine to get it ready for painting and priming. We are going to be using a method someone mentioned on the Arcade Controls Forums for using an auto-body primer / filler and Bondo to get a very smooth surface prior to painting.

We checked out the layout for our Arcade Joystick and Buttons so we could get the placement and spacing perfect. We need to save space for the trackball mouse that will be mounted into the system. Here we have come up with an ideal placement for the controller and buttons that will still leave space for the mouse.

I took apart the Trackball Mouse so we could see what we are working with inside it. Because we will be mounting the mouse through the bottom of the Arcade Control panel we needed to create as much clearance over the top as possible. We will also be wiring in two buttons to the mouse so we wanted to make sure we had access to everything.

I also took apart the USB Gamepad we will be using to wire up the Arcade Controls. This one is slightly different than the original one I was doing tests with. The contacts are much closer together so it looks like we may need to solder directly onto the traces that are running off each of the button areas on the circuit board.

We dry fit the Arcade Joystick and Buttons into the Arcade Controls and I also laid the Trackball Mouse onto top of the controls to get an idea for layout and placement. When the mouse is actually installed it will be underneath the controller and you will barely see it except for the ball.

Here is a shot of the Arcade Machine with the Control Panel mounted into place. We are just fitting parts and doing layout so it will get removed later. In the background you can see Kubuntu Linux KDE 4 running. I installed Linux on the Arcade Machine to dual boot with Windows XP Home. This way I can learn a little about working with Emulators and ROMs on Linux. 

We also applied Bondo to fill a large gap below the Arcade Controls. We had extra Bondo mixed up so we applied it to the front panel of the Arcade Machine to test using it as surface filler. It worked really well!

The next step was removing all the PC Hardware from inside the Arcade Machine. As you can see we were working on it during the day on Saturday so we could do some painting and priming outside, without it being so cold. You need temperatures above 45 degrees (ideally) for paints and primers to work good. Also when working with paints, primers and fillers like Bondo it is crucial that you have plenty of ventilation and do not work in a closed garage or workshop.

Here we have removed the Arcade Joystick and Buttons from the Arcade Controls. You can see where we have traced the spot where we will be mounting the Trackball Mouse to the Arcade Controls. We pretty much figured out how we were going to do it on the fly so it took a little bit of brainstorming.

We added wood standoffs to the existing screw holes on the mouse so that we could screw it into the bottom on the Arcade Control panel. We also used a drill to router out some of the wood on the bottom of the Control Panel so we could get the mouse as far up through the controls as possible. This was important because a trackball does not rise up that much and we were working with ½ inch MDF.

In this picture we have mounted the Trackball Mouse into the Arcade Controls. The ball is perfectly accessible and sticks up just enough so that it is easy to access for game play. I am using the Kensington Orbit Optical Trackball Mouse in the Arcade Machine.

We also created a top plate for the Roller Ball out of some of the extra plexi glass we had from the display and marquee. It was cut out, the edges were sanded to give them a beveled look and feel, and then we taped off the front and spray painted the back of the plexiglass black.

This gave the top plate a really nice shiny black look. I am really happy with the way it came out, it looks great!

Next we had to get the Arcade Cabinet ready for Priming and Painting. The first thing we did was sand down all the wood filler we used to fill holes from the tacks. Once that was done we sanded down the sides entirely with an electric sander to get them as smooth as possible prior to filling, priming, and painting.

Before we started applying primer we used a dry cloth to wipe away any residue (and sawdust) from sanding down the existing primer. This is important because you don’t want anything that will keep the Paint and Primer from adhering to the surface of your Arcade Machine. 

Here is a shot of the Arcade Machine with a light coat of Krylon Primer applied to the side. After doing some test runs with Primer and Filler on some of the scrap MDF we had lying around we decided to try a few of the different methods we had come up with. 

For the first side we are just applying Krylon Primer to the side we used wood filler on and then sanded down.

Then we tested the Krylon Primer on the front panel where we had applied Bondo the night before.

We sanded down the area where we applied the Bondo and then applied the Krylon Primer in thicker coats than on the first side of the Arcade Machine. We wanted to see what the result would be when we applied the Primer in thicker coats.

(The gap underneath the controls was filled with Bondo to level it out. Here it stills needs a little more applied to totally smooth it out. We did this but you can’t see it in this picture.)

Hey all! We got a lot of work done on the Arcade Machine this weekend. We came up with a “To Do” list last week so we knew exactly what we needed to get started with this time around. This helped keep us on track and we got a lot of misc. additions installed.

During the construction we cut out the Arcade Controller panel piece, and created a nice beveled edge for it. We also did the modified wiring for the Power LEDs and Power Switch in the system. In addition to that we installed the plexiglass for the monitor and the Arcade Marquee, and also mounted the White Cold Cathode for the marquee into place.

Once all that was complete we installed the modified wiring, hooked up the light kit, uncovered the LCD display and POST tested the system for the first time. Everything went great with the exception of me forgetting to plug in the data cable for the SATA hard drive, and some problems with an inconsistent power supply (PSU).

So overall we got a lot done and we got the first look at the POST screen on the system. It was late but we wanted to see some semblance of an OS running on the system so we booted it with a Linux Live disk of Kubuntu Linux KDE 4. I will be installing Windows XP Home as the primary OS on the system, but I have set aside a 10gb partition for Kubuntu Linux so I can write up some articles on using Emulators in Linux and add them to the site.

As always, all of the pictures for the construction can be found on my Flickr account but I have featured the highlights of the construction here with details and tips for Building your own Arcade Machine.

Home Built Arcade Machine Images – Part 4

Here is a picture of where we finished up last time. As you can see we have most of the external parts of the Arcade Machine complete with the exception of Arcade Controller.

The first thing we did was cut out the Arcade Control Panel piece according to the PDF Arcade Machine Plans I have posted on the site.

Once we had the Arcade Control panel cut out we mounted it into the Arcade Machine to make sure everything fit correctly. It was a perfect fit. We went ahead and added a 45 degree cut sloping towards the monitor for aesthetics and so we would have access to the controls on the LCD monitor if needed.

Once we knew the Arcade Controller piece would fit into the system properly we added a second layer of MDF along the bottom so we could create a beveled front edge for the Control Panel. I traced a line along the bottom of where the Arcade Controller rested on the system so we would know where our second piece of MDF needed to stop.

We traced out the shapes we needed and got them as close to the right size as possible. You want a little bit of overlap on your original piece and then you can use a router to even up the edges.

Once this was done we used a beveled edge bit on the router to round the top and bottom edge on the front of the Arcade Control Panel. This gave the piece a very nice rounded look and feel.

Here is a close up shot of the beveled edge on the bottom of the Arcade Control panel. Once we were finished, both the top and the bottom of Arcade Controls had a nice beveled edge like this.

Next I prepped the wiring for the Arcade Cabinet. Because we are running the power switch to the top of the Arcade Machine (like you would find in many Commercial Arcade Machines) I needed to use the wiring from another power switch to create an extra long one.

I also needed to splice together two Red Power LEDs to illuminate the coin plate I will be crafting for the system. The red LEDs will provide the glow from behind the coin clot that is so trademark of most modern Arcade Machines.

Here you can see the dual red LEDs I have wired up. I spliced the two LEDs into one set of wires so both lights will be powered by the Power LED lead on the motherboard. This way I will have two constant red LEDs glowing in the system. I just need to solder the points where I connected the wires and they will be good to go.

Next we had to cut the plexiglass for our Arcade Machine. There are a lot of suggestions online on the proper way to do this. After reading some forum posts to get a little background we decided using the back of our razor blade (the dull side) to score the plexiglass was the best way to go. 

Once this line had been scored into the plexi we used the sharp side of the blade to create a nice line where we would break to the plexi-glass. After that was done you just give it a light whack and it should break perfectly along the line you have made. Worked like a charm!

Next I got the White Cold Cathode light kit ready to be installed into the Arcade Machine. This will be mounted behind the plexiglass for the marquee to provide illumination for the Arcade Marquee.

Here we have installed the plexiglass for the Display and Marquee in the Arcade Machine. We tacked in cleats on the side of the LCD monitor so we would have a place to attach the plexiglass.

In the top you can see the Marquee piece still has the protective film on it. If you look closely you can see the White Cold Cathode mounted inside the system behind the Marquee plexiglass.

Once we had the additional wiring in place we fired up the system to make sure everything was working properly.

Here you can see the White Cold Cathode behind the Marquee is turned on and working properly along with a faint POST screen that can be made out from behind the protective cover for the LCD Monitor in the Arcade Machine.

Since I opted not to install a CD/DVD ROM drive into the system (to save on space and budget) I am using an external DVD-RW drive that I borrowed from work to install Windows XP Home  and Kubuntu Linux KDE 4 onto the system.

This way I can just plug the drive into the USB ports on the motherboard, set the BIOS to boot from a USB device and I am ready to go.

This is the final shot from this week’s construction. It was about 1:30am and we had just POST tested the system for the first time. All the hardware worked great with the exception of the power supply which is experiencing an inconsistent POST on hard reboots (Shutdowns).

We used a Micro ATX 200w Power Supply to test the system and rule out problems with the one we had installed. (An AGI 350w PSU). This cleared up the problems with the inconsistent POST so I will need to exchange the PSU before next Friday so we can get this bad boy up and running.

Building Your Own Arcade Machine Follow-Up

Overall I am very happy with the way things are progressing. We have been taking our time and thinking things through while we construct the system. I think this is one of the most important pieces of advice I could offer to people who want to build their own Arcade Machine.

“Take your time. Plan things out. Have fun, and be Creative!”

After all that’s what makes a project like this worth doing. If you’re not having fun, or don’t like the way things are turning out, take a breather and come back with a fresh perspective on your project.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them below. I will respond to any and all comments people leave on the site regarding the project.

As always thanks for visiting my site and keep coming back to check for updates! Next week we will be working on the construction of the Arcade Controller so be sure to check back and see how things turn out!

Well it has been a long time since I have posted! Sorry for the delay in my updates. I actually had a pretty rough couple weeks. I don’t want to bore anyone with the details so a brief recap of what happened to me in the last 3 to 4 weeks.

02/23 – 02/27 – Got the Flu and a Fever of 102 degrees.
02/23 – 03/10 – Contracted a Bronchial infection and cough from a coworker.
03/05 – 03/08 – Stomach bug with flu like symptoms that I caught from my boss.
03/11                      – Had all four of my Wisdom Teeth removed.
03/11 – 03/18 – Contracted a case of “Persistent Hiccups” that lasted about 156 hours straight (almost 7 days) and ended up in the Emergency Room on Friday night and Urgent Care on Monday, and Tuesday. I was so doped up on Thorazine when they finally fixed me I couldn’t think straight until Friday. (03/20)

Needless to say, it has been an eventful month. >.<

Now that I have got all that off my chest (no pun intended.) I would like to give an update on the status of the project.

We finally had a chance to work more on the Arcade Machine I am building this weekend. Since our last round of work consisted of dry fitting all the parts into the system we needed to actually mount all the PC Hardware into place inside the Arcade Machine.

Below are pictures from the latest round of the construction of the DIY ROM Arcade Machine. Please feel free to ask questions or leave comments below if you are interested in the project.

DIY Arcade Machine Construction Pictures

Since we did a dry fit of all the PC Hardware inside the Arcade Machine last time we needed to finally mount all parts into place. We decided to glue in a layer of plywood over the MDF we built the system with so we would have a more solid surface that is better for holding screws.

We simply used wood glue to mount the plywood into the bottom of the system and let it set. We now had a great surface to screw into for mounting our PC hardware into the Arcade System.

Once the plywood was in place we started mounting the PC hardware into the system. Here is a shot of the motherboard mounting plate and hard drive mounting enclosure mounted into the system. We were able to screw directly into the plywood to hold all the parts in place.

To mount the Surge Protector and Speakers into the system we attached the hardware to smaller plywood panels we cut out. This way we could screw the panels directly into the plywood we installed into the bottom of the Arcade Machine. 

To determine where we need to install screws into the panel for the Surge Proctor we did a rubbing of the bottom to determine where the screw holes were. Once this was done we could cut out the paper and tape it down to our panel so we had a perfect template for where the screws needed to go.

Once we had the plywood panel mounted onto the Surge Protector we were able to mount it into the system. We are going to do the same thing with the speakers which will go on both sides of the hard drive enclosure we have installed into the Arcade Machine.

Once the Surge Protector was in place we mounted the speakers into the Arcade System. We did the same thing as before and mounted plywood panels to the bottom of the PC hardware so the panels could be screwed into the plywood base we installed in the Arcade Machine.

Next I mounted the Motherboard and Video Card onto the motherboard mounting plate we installed onto our wooden panel. We cut slots in the cleats on the back of the system so the wooden panel can be slid into place once the motherboard has been installed. This gives us easy access to the parts incase we need to modify or repair the Arcade Machine.

In this picture you can see that all the PC hardware has been installed into the system, and is mounted in place. Every has been securely screwed down so the system can be easily transported without having to worry about the hardware shifting back and forth inside the Arcade System. This is the lower level of the Arcade Machine that houses the Power Supply, Hard Disk Drive, Surge Protector and Speakers.

Here is the second level inside the Arcade Machine that houses the Motherboard and Video Card in the system. The plywood panel for this sits directly above the Power Supply and Surge protector giving me easy access for wiring up the system. At this point all the basic wiring has been done and I have started to zip tie cables to clean up the inside of the Arcade Machine and keep it nice and organized.

This is a shot of the Power Cable from the Surge Protector running out of the back of the system. The Surge Protector serves two main purposed in the Arcade Machine. First it protects all the computer hardware in the event of an electrical issue, and it makes it so we can plug in our monitor and PC and still utilize just one cable from the Arcade Machine.

These are the buttons and joysticks I ordered from Xgaming.com. I decided to bring them even though we were not working on the Arcade Controller this time so that we could experiment with the idea I have for the controller. We will be using a USB controller and soldering on to the existing points in the controller to add the Arcade Sticks and Buttons.

Here you can see the first Button for the Arcade Controller attached to the USB joystick. The USB joystick in the picture is one that I had from a while back that was just being used for testing purposes incase we messed something up.

You can see in the picture the wires have been connected to the controller and the button has been wired up. The initial tests worked great with good response from the button in an NES Emulator.

I will be posting more information on this topic once we move into the construction phase of the Arcade Controller for the system.

Build Your Own Arcade Machine “To Do” List

So there you have it. That’s the third week’s progress on our Home Built Arcade Machine. As you probably guessed from my health update above things have been going a little slow but now that I am feeling better I want to get back to more regular updates on the side which means more regular work on the Arcade Machine.

The pictures above of just a few of the massive stockpile I have been adding to my Flickr account along with extended details on each picture and the project. If you are interested in more information or would like to see more of what’s going on with my DIY Arcade Machine check my Flickr profile at the link below.

DIY ROM Arcade Flickr Profile

Due to the fact that I was unable to drink beer during our last construction phase we actually got a lot more done than normal so I was looking the system over and planning out what needs to be done next time we have a chance to work on it.

TO DO

1. We need to install cleats on the sides of the display so we can attach a piece of plexi glass over the monitor to protect it from finger prints and dust.
2. Attach a cleat in the top of the system behind where the marquee will go. Drill holes in the sides of the cleat so we can mount the White cold cathode into the system.
3. Run a power button up the side of the system into the top so we can install the power switch into the top of the system like in many authentic Arcade Machines.
4. Splice together two Red LEDs for the PWR Lead on the motherboard. (Power Light) so they can be installed behind the faux coin plate I will be building for the system.
5. Build a faux coin plate for the system.
6. Drill holes in front of the speakers to improve system sound. These holes will need to be covered by some sort of front plate for aesthetic purposes.
7. Get front plates for the speakers.
8. Cut the plexi glass for in front of the display and the marquee section of the Arcade Machine.
9. Come up with a way to mount the Marquee into the system.
10. Cut the panel for the Arcade Controller.
11. Bring a keyboard, mouse, and CD-Rom to start installing the operating system onto the Arcade Machine.

These are just a few of things that come to mind for next week’s project. As always I expect some things will come up as we go, but we have been taking our time with things and I am very happy with how the system is turning out.

I will post more updates next week after we have another chance to work on the system. As always Thanks for checking out my site, and please feel free to leave and comments or feedback on the article below.

So I am finally getting close to building my Arcade Controls for my DIY Arcade Machine. I have been sick over the past week so we missed a weekend of working on the Arcade Machine.

There are still some finishing touches that need to be done in the third phase of the build. We still need to mount all the hardware now that we have confirmed it fits into the system. We also need to do some small touches like finishing the area around the display, and adding the light for the marquee.

While I plan on completing these things in the next phase of the project I wanted to share my plans for the Arcade Controller we will be building. The first part of the controller construction will consist of mounting the joystick and buttons into the panel along with the trackball mouse that I purchased for games like “Breakout”.

The plans outline the size and shape of the Arcade Controls along with the measurements to help you determine the angles of the cuts. The button placement I have laid out in the plans was from the resources at:

http://www.slagcoin.com/

Slag Coin is an excellent website with everything you ever needed to know about Arcade Controls including the button layouts and measurements. I highly recommend reading through his site for more information on building your Arcade Controller.

I also purchased my Arcade Joysticks and Buttons. I picked them up from XGaming.com

I picked up the “Arcade Bundle” for my first project which includes two Arcade Joysticks, and 20 buttons including a one or two player select button. There may be more premium brands out there but I figured this would be a good place to start for my first project.

For now I am posting my plans for the Arcade Control Panel. The plans are in PDF format and will outline:

1. The measurements and size of the Arcade Machine Control Panel.
2. The measurements of the angles and shape of the Arcade Machine Controls.
3. The Joystick and Button Layout on the Arcade Machine Controller.

You will need Adobe Acrobat to print the latest Arcade Machine plans in PDF format. You can download Adobe Acrobat Reader here.

Click Here to Download the Arcade Machine Controller Plans in PDF Format

Once we finish the third phase of the Arcade Machine construction and my parts arrive we will begin working on the Arcade Controller itself. Most people are very particular about the layout and construction of their Arcade Controller. Because of this it is a good idea to look at the construction of the controller as a sub project to your Arcade Machine.

This way you can design something really nice that you will be happy with and install it into your system. Working on the controller by itself also allows you to install the finished product into your Arcade Machine, which also means you can uninstall it if you decide to change or improve it.

Thanks for checking out the site. I hope you enjoyed this article!

Hey guys! I have been really busy this week but I have finally got around to posting the next series of pictures from the Arcade Machine construction.

We did more work on the Arcade System last Friday including creating internal mounts for all of our PC hardware, and dry fitting the parts in the system to make sure everything would fit properly.

We used an old PC case that we cut apart with an angle grinder so we could utilize the mounts on the metal plates. One thing to be aware of when constructing your own Arcade Machine is that MDF does not hold well for screwing PC hardware directly into it. Keeping this in mind we used the inside of the computer case to avoid any issues.

Below are the pictures of the next phase of the construction with a brief description of what is going on in each. If you would like to see all the pictures check my set on Flickr here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/diyromarcade/sets/72157614491536643/

Here is a picture of the computer case we are using to mount the PC hardware into the Arcade Machine. It is from a Foxconn 626 PC case, a relatively basic and inexpensive case. I found a few out by a dumpster and kept them for this project. If you do need to buy a case you can get a cheap one in the range of 20-30$ usually.

We cut the case apart with an angle grinder so we could use the piece from the case for securing the PC hardware into the Arcade System. Here we are cutting out the top piece and top rear piece so we can use the mounts for the power supply in our Arcade Cabinet.

Here we are dry fitting the power supply mount into the Arcade System. You can see the power supply has been mounted into the section we cut out of the PC case. You can also see a picture of the motherboard mounting plate we will be using in the system. Once the side and the back of the case had been cut it was very easy to slide this motherboard try out of the enclosure.

In the next picture we have cut out a rear fan grate from the case to use as an exhaust cover for our power supply. Because the Arcade Machine we are building is smaller than normal I have designed spots for rear exhaust to blow heat out of the system. This piece will eventually be painted black when we paint the system. The system is currently covered in a black primer for when we do get to the painting stage.

Here we are creating a mount for the LCD monitor in the Arcade System. I am using an ACER LCD monitor for the project. One nice thing about Acer monitors is they all have 4 screws hole in the back for mounting the LCD. Because the standard placement and easy access to these screw holes you are able to mount the LCD to almost anything without the need for a mounting kit. Here we are mounting the LCD to a pre-cut panel we made that will be mounted in the system to some cleats we will install for the display.

Now we are installing the cleats that the monitor mount panel will rest on in the system. Once the panel has been dry fitted into place and we know everything fits we will secure it into place with screws so it does not fall out of the system. We pre-measured the placement of these cleats during a dry fit of the LCD earlier.

The LCD Monitor has now been mounted into the system and fits perfectly. After doing this dry-fit we will screw the mounting panel into the cleats to hold the monitor in place inside our Arcade Cabinet.

Here you can see the inside of the system with the cleats we have installed for the LCD monitor and the motherboard mounting place. You can also see a cross section we installed where the controller will be in the system. The Arcade Controls will slightly overlap this piece and rest on top of it. It is there to provide more stability and strength for the controller and also to stagger the controller away from the display slightly so I will still have access to the buttons on the LCD monitor.

We have now mounted the motherboard mounting place and power supply mounting plate into the system. I realized as we were doing this that the motherboard plate was oriented in the wrong direction and would case the I/O ports to be pushed up against the wall. We will need to cut this piece down and rotate it in the system so the motherboard is facing the correct way for easy access to the cables.

In this picture we have cut down the motherboard mounting plate and aligned it so it is facing the correct way. You can see now that the I/O ports are accessible from the left side of the panel. We have also cut out the PCI slot mounts from the PC case. This way when we install the video card into the system this will keep the card from falling out of place.

We cut out the 3.5″ metal mounting bays from the PC case and will be installing it into the front of the system. There is room on each side of the mounting cage for the speakers in the system. Having the hard drive mounting cage in the system will allow me to easily change or add a hard drive down the road if I run out of room in the system. I am currently using a 500gb SATA hard drive for storage.

Finally we have all the hardware and mounts dry fit into our Arcade Machine. In this picture you can see the power supply on the bottom which has been mounted into the top section from the PC case. In front of that is the hard drive mounting enclosure we installed into the front of the Arcade Cabinet. The gap to the right of the power supply, is where we will be installing the power strip which will power and protect all the hardware we are installing into the system. Above the power supply you can see the motherboard mounting plate along with the video card mounting piece (PCI plate) that we installed. The I/O ports will be accessible from the right in this picture. Above that the LCD has been mounted into place and fits perfectly. 

We did this to check where all the connections, cables, edges, and tabs will line up. Dry fitting your parts is very important because it is easy to overlook something as simple as a cable being blocked, or screw getting in the way of something. Things never look quite like they do on paper in real life so we felt this was a very important step.

A final picture of the system with all the PC hardware installed (Dry fit into the system). The next time we work on the Arcade Machine we will be securing all the loose parts into place since we now know they fit into the system without issues. In the next phase of the build we will:

1. Permanently install all the hardware into the Arcade System.
2. Install the speakers and surge protector in the Arcade Machine.
3. Finish up the mount area around the LCD monitor.
4. Install the Cold Cathode light kit where the marquee will go.
5. Create a plexi glass cover the LCD monitor.
6. And start working on the Arcade Controls.

I hope you enjoyed the latest article. If you have any questions or feedback please feel free to comment below. Thanks for all the suggestions and thanks for checking out my site!

Hey all. As I mentioned in my previous plans post I had a feeling some things would change in the design of the Arcade Machine as the project went along. Well I am pleased to say that because of the initial planning phase, and my friend’s talents as a carpenter, the arcade system is almost 99% to spec.

So I will be keeping the original plans on the site for anyone that wants to take a look at them. The original plans can be found here:

Build Your Own Arcade Machine – Plans, Designs & Guide

I am however updating the plans for the layout of the internal components as this has changed. I will also be adding a more legible plan for the side panels of the Arcade machine.

Updated DIY Arcade Machine Designs

The first download below is for the improved side panel plans. My friend recommended to me, that I remake the side panel plans so they are easier for people to read without the need for a compass, or protractor. In the revised version of the plans we’ve marked that the back of the system and the bottom of the system are a 90 degree angle. You can match the side of your wood with this for a starting point. From here we have measured the length up the wood and the distance out for each angle in the side panel. Using this plan you should easily be able to determine the shape of the side panel without the need for a protractor.

Download (Arcade Cabinet Plans – Side Panel)

In the next two images I have shown the slightly revised layout of the parts inside the system.

We decided against the fold out keyboard in the first Arcade Machine as it just seemed to be unneeded. (Maybe in a future project) This space is now being utilized for the hard drive mounting area. The next change we made was moving the speakers down to the lower section of the Arcade Machine. This was for two reasons. First there was not enough room for them up top, and second I did not want them blocking the light for the marquee.

Download (Arcade Machine PC Hardware Layout – Side)

Download (Arcade System PC Hardware Setup – Top)

These are the most noted changes in the layout. If you have any comments or suggestions please feel free to leave a comment! Thanks for checking out the site!

Behold the first shots of the DIY ROM Arcade Machine! With the help of a friend I was finally able to start on the construction of the Arcade System this weekend.

The shots below are of us building the Arcade System based on the designs I posted in my previous article:

Build Your Own Arcade Machine – Plans, Designs & Guide

My friend is a commercial carpenter and really helped me out a lot because I don’t have the best wood working skills in the world. He also gave me a lot of great tips that I will share below. For extended details about the pictures checkout my Flickr account here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/diyromarcade/

I started taking pictures from the beginning of the construction process so I have quite a few from the first part of the build so far. My friend started cutting some of the pieces ahead of time, but waited to do the side panels so we could take some pictures of how that was done.

(NOTE: I have only featured key photos from the construction in this article. To see all the pictures with extended details and tips checkout my Flickr account at the link listed above.)

 01. We started out by getting the building materials. In this case we are using MDF, and PBR. The MDF was on sale at $12.50 for a 8 ft’. by 4 ft’ sheet and the PBR was regular price, $15 for a 30 pack. ^_^

 02. My friend pre-cut many of the standard shaped pieces. We figured most people wouldn’t have any trouble cutting out a square. The two tips he gave me here are that if you are using an 8’ ft. by 4’ ft. piece of MDF you can cut all the square pieces in my design out from one strip of wood off the side. This leaves you with a large piece that you can cut the two side panels out of and still have some left over for a controller and misc purposes. Also when you measure your pieces take into account that your saw blade is usually about 1/8 of an inch thick. That means you need to add an eighth of an inch onto each piece you draw (measure) out onto your MDF, otherwise once you cut 8 pieces out the final piece will be almost an inch too short.

03. To transfer the side panels to MDF as accurately as possible we used protractors, and a compass to get the angles correct. My initial plans are a little rough and do not include these angles. I will be adding an updated set of plans to the site that include this information.

 04. Once the first side panel was cut out we used it as a stencil for the second side panel. When you trace your initial side panel the second panel will be slightly larger because it was traced from the original. This is to be expected and can be fixed with a router to make the pieces match perfectly.

 05. Once both the side panels have been cut out we clamped them together so we could router the edges to get both pieces to be a perfect match. It is crucial that the two pieces do not move when you are using the router to get the most even edge possible.

 06. We used a table saw to cut a bunch of small strips of wood to be used as cleats in the construction of the Arcade Machine. These are extremely useful for anchoring your panels together to get really clean seams between the wood. It also helps you avoid splitting the MDF by trying to screw directly into a piece of half inch board.

 07. Using a piece of scrap wood we drew guidelines for the cleats. Use a piece of wood as thick as your panels and line it up as close to flush as possible with your side panel. Then trace a line so you know the width of the panel. Once you have guidelines for all the sides you will be attaching panels to you will know exactly where your cleats need to go.

 08. Measure your side panels so you know how long the cleats will need to be. They do not need to run the full length of the panel. It is a good idea to leave an inch off of the ends for installing the other cleats and in areas that you think may be a tight fit for other parts of your Arcade Machine. Once you have them measured, cut the pieces to size and fit them into place.

09. Here we have measured and fitted the cleats into place. We cut them down to size and then used wood glue to attach them to the side panels. Once they had been attached we stapled them in place to ensure a solid construction. If you do not have access to a pneumatic staple gun you should be able to use standard screws to attach your cleats. Make sure you drill holes before attempting to screw into your MDF.

10. The controller area on the system was pretty tight so we had to make a mount for the panels out of scrap MDF. My friend showed me a good way to do this.

To make a piece that will fit perfectly cover the area you need to make the piece for in masking tape. Overlay the tape slightly on the edges to create a piece of paper. Since masking tape is thin you should be able to see the lines you traced through the tape. Use a ruler to trace the shape onto the tape. Take your scrap wood and then line up a straight edge on the tape to the straight edge on the wood. You can now use a saw to cut out a perfectly sized piece. Checkout my Flickr pictures for more shots of this.

11. Once all the cleats are in place on the side panels the front, bottom, top, and back panels can all be fixed into place fairly easily. We wood glued all the pieces and then used the staple gun to fix them into place.

12. Once the rear panel was in place we moved onto the front panels and the controller section.

13. Doing some small touches like rear mounted screws for easy access to the inside of the Arcade System. We also took the router and rounded the corners in the shape of the side panel to give the system a more authentic look.

14. A shot looking into the front of the Arcade Machine. Here the side panels, top and bottom are all in place. Now we need to focus on the controller area and bottom front panels.

 15. We dry fit the front panels into place and because of the angles on the controller section we had to re-cut some of the edges on the pieces to get them nice and flush. All the pieces fit together tightly because of the angled edges which allowed for a very snug fit in the controller section.

Here’s my friends business card. He’s a really talented builder who does beautiful carpentry work. If you are in Dane County, Wisconsin or surrounding areas and need a professional for the job, Clayton is the guy to call.

Arcade System Construction Progress – Phase One

Above is the partially finished cabinet after phase one of the construction process. So far the build has taken about 4 hours and we still have more work we need to do.

We left the front open because next time we will be adding in the monitor and internal parts. The back panel on the system comes off so we can easily access the inside and install the PC hardware into the Arcade System.

The wood panel in place on the controller section is a place holder as the controller is being redesigned to give the system a more interesting look. One other thing that changed is I scrapped the fold out keyboard idea from the system. It was an unneeded feature for the first system as I can just plug in a keyboard when I need one. As someone on the Arcade Controls forum mentioned to me “KISS – Keep it Simple Stupid”. This is always great advice, especially for a project like this.

The next time we build we will be adding the internal mounts for the computer hardware. I will add updated plans to the site once we determine were the mounts will be inside the system.

Tomorrow I will be ordering the remaining parts from Amazon.com and checking some reviews on Arcade Parts vendors to find the best place for my controller hardware. If you know of any good resources please feel free to share them with me in the comments.

Keep checking back for updates on the progress of the system. I will be posting updated designs to highlight changes, and additional details to the existing plans. I will also be posting my controller designs in the next few posts on the blog. Thanks for checking out my site!