My Rig from start to now.

I got Chris's drive almost a year ago. And started building my first multicade.

I had found 3 golden tee cabs on craigslist online, no boards 50 dollars each, what a deal! They already came with the trackball i needed






I found a template online for a Control panel, printed it all out to size, and put in on a piece of MDF. Modified the button layout to my liking, moved the buttons to where I wanted them then drill right through the paper. after that was done, I clamed a down a piece of plexi, I drilled 1/2 in holes slowly against a nother piece of mdf so the plex would not crack. I then ran a dremel side riding bit into the 1/2 incho hole to wide the button plexi hole.

this is what it looked like.





First video I made of it in progress:  




Finished project, then decided to setup LEDblinky for the first time.  This was a pain, and i had to make many setups for different systems.  I also added a middle monitor to show game names.





Decided to get wii working with a generic wireless bar and bluetooth adaptor. It was terrible!  Got a dolphin bar and got wii working correctly.  I moved the dolphinbar behind the glass screen and tinted the glass screen. in future videos, you see the led showing at the top of the screen.


I added 2 Aimtrack guns, but aimtrack has a different LED arrangment to wii bar. So I had an idea. Use LED blinky to turn on the extra LED's when you enter the wii menu.  Now I can use aimtrack games and a wii controller with the same bar.






Finished project!





Cherry on top, LED Marquee!




Current status, Removed the middle monitor and swapp it with an IPS panel with higher viewing angle and resolution. going to be using it for controller layout and game stats.

New additiona, Changed the middle monitor to display flyers and text descriptions and added Ambiant Joysticks!



Last edition. Added LED ambient cabinet glow based on the color of the game/system selected, this is the last update to the cab, I consider it finished and made a 20 minute video to show it off.

Marcux, I've actually watched your youtube videos a lot. I really love your setup it is so clean. I just have a few questions if you don't mind since I will have a similar setup to yours.

Could you please elaborate on your setup process for LEDblinky? I would just like to know what to expect when I plan to set up Chris' drive.

Also, how did you manage to get LEDblinky to change the IR bar LED's? My setup will involve a 65" wall mounted tv, would you recommend I use the regular wii bar or something larger? And would it be the same process?

I bought a dolphin bar and 2 IR led's off ebay, I took the front of the dolphin bar off, and drilled small holes in my bezel and pushed the led's through.  Then I added 2 more led's to the right side. these led's were 2.5 volts each, so when I added them together, they were 5 volts.  Button LED lights were 5 volts.  I added Wii to the led blinky config to turn on a particular button led (which was not a button but those 2 leds) thus, aimtrack when not on the wii menu, and wii bar when on the menu and running wii games

If you don't have an aimtrak you don't need to do this.

Normal LED blinky process, If your just using led blinky, you need to enable it in the settings.ini file of hyperspin scroll down tot he bottom and enable it, and point it to the executable. ledblinkyconfig will allow you to add colors to the menu's. there is something called rocketblinky that will add a ton of already configured default button colors to ledblinky. you really need to play around with it to get an idea how it works.

I will be using aintrack guns and Wii remotes so definitely need to do this.

So essentially you wired the IR LEDs to your led controller the same way you would any other led button? Then you used ledblinky to keep them on at all times when using wii menus and games? Just want to make sure I understand this properly.

I was originally going to buy what they call "super IR light bar" ( sorry can't post links yet) because it supports larger screen sizes and longer play distance. However I wasn't aware that the LEDs make a difference. Is this customization necessary for all light bars or are there options that cover both Wii and aimtrack?

I've watched some videos on setting up ledblinky but wasn't sure of there was anything specific to do for Chris' drive. Could you please give me some examples of rocketblinky configurations?

Thanks again for your help.

aimtrack guns led light bar has a chain of led's on the left and small one on the right usually 1 led. the wii has an even amount on the right and left. I used ledblinky to turn on the extra led's on the right when i load up wii games. normal button leds are 5 volts. the ir led's I picked up were 2.5 volts. so I had to put 2 together to equal the 5 v so they wouldn't burn out.

The "super IR" bar I'm looking to buy has 6 LEDs on one side and 2 on the other. This should work in theory, correct?

By the way, would love some new videos on your setup. The more the better!

I'm currently redoing a bunch of things on it to make it more refined, using different artwork, adding a few things swapping out parts for better. I just picked up 2 cheap 120gb adds, I'm going to raid them and put all the media in just those drives plus swap and temp directories. Super fast fetches. I wasn't very happy with the load times between wheel swaps

Oh just an F y I The super IR bar is only good for TV's bigger than 32" . I don't really see a need to get it if you have a smaller screen .

Hmm, I'm very interested in what you're doing for the media files. How much space does Chris' drive take up for just those files you're copying over? Be sure to include before and after pics!

As for the super IR bar, I will need that one specifically because my setup consists of a 65" wall mounted tv and 4 player pedestal.

I looked it up and the website does say it is designed for light guns and is compatible with Wii remotes. Great to know that's one less thing to customize.

Yeah, I'm sure you'll find it's great for light guns and poor tracking for Wii controllers, they will track, but it will be bad, let me know how it turns out.

Yup I'll let you know. Either way I need it for the light guns. Would I be able to use the wii bar from a distance of about 8-10ft? I wouldn't mind installing a wii bar under the tv as well if it means better tracking for wii games.

I have a similar setup with a big tv. Reason being is I started getting into this by hacking my wii. I like light gun games like you so been thinking of best way to do it because I can not play them on drive right now because I don't have proper bar. I have a wii bar for widescreen that works great with wii.

In actulity I would just use this for mame if I could make it two player but there hasn't been an easy way. Some people have done it in a round about way on youtube but I don't understand it. I wish I could figure it out because it be better soultion for me. Aimtrack guns are okay but recoil is over rated. And from me plus I actually have a wii megatrice and a wii p99. I had to get them from oversees but they have been my favorite wii components. I still use y hacked wii but I am thinking of doing it all from emulation on a pc when I get chris 2nd drive. It save me from hacking a wii u if wii u games emulate well enough. I will have to see. Even in dolphin on normal wii games I get jumps sometimes where it slows down and speeds up. So, my hacked wii still works better for me for wii games. But, it is nice to play some wii games with an xbox controller instead of a regular.

Anyway, sorry to go on my point for all this was be nice if smarter people figured out a 2 gun wii optional setup that could be added to chris drive. It be useful for some of us with different or cheap setups.

So, as of right now, i'm looking at lighting up the joysticks, but not the top of them. I want a nice ambient glow coming from under the dust washer. I picked up 4 of these:
https://paradisearcadeshop.com/button-leds/517-uila-s-flash.html

They are going to go around the joystick, under the dust washer, they should light up the surrounding plexi under the controller any color I want. I didn't opt for the top of the controller because I want to keep my Bat-tops which they don't make in translucent and didn't want to go with clear ball-tops.

I needed to get a second led controller because I ran out of ports, and also wanted external ambiant lighting, the ledwiz will do 5v and 12v led's, so it was perfect.

Dope as hell! Where did you get that dynamic marquee from? I would love one of those!

from vitrolight, need to google their site and use their contact email, ask them about what sizes you are looking for, they will give you a list, and then later a estamated price.

Man last time I searched for some marquee/LCD's I almost had a heart attack from how expensive they were. At least the sizes I was looking for. What size did you buy and roughly how much was it?

Marcux wrote:from vitrolight, need to google their site and use their contact email, ask them about what sizes you are looking for, they will give you a list, and then later a estamated price.

Great I will check them out and see what they are asking for. Thank you.

Ok all after following up with them this is what I have:

Thanks for your email for inqury bar LCD, could you let me know your accurate active area, 697.68* ?mm

Normally for 32'' cutting bar LCD, if you need only LCM with LVDS cable and inverter PCB for backlight. The price is exwork USD370/PC.

Attached is the 32'' bar LCD, 697.68(H)*197(V)mm, for your reference first.

Any more information you need please inform me soon!

Marcux I know all sizes would differ however I am using a recommaster xtension 32' pro cab.  From End to end of the marque it is 32 1/2 inches wide. And in the inside of the Marquee is 31  inches. The height of the marquee is inside the marque is 6 inches and the overall height is 7 1/2 inches. I would assume the active area is the screen so to play it safe I would say possibly 29 to 30 inches??

Added ambiant joysticks and changed the middle monitor to higher resolution plus, not it displays fliers, and box art for consoles. and text description of the games (number of players/system/gametype)

Very nice addition. The cherry on top.

I have mixed feelings on what I should do. As of right now I have yet to order the sticks so I am debating ball top or bat top. Obviously was leaning towards ball top for the LED use but seeing there's other options now the question is which is better ball or bat. My experience is limited and only with American style bat tops.

I hate ball tops with a passion, I can't use them like bat top neo geo style. Fighting games especially need bat top style, have you ever played street fighter with a ball?

I can't say I have but I do watch a lot of competitive fighting tournaments and almost everyone uses ball tops. I know it's preference but I doubt it affects performance?

That's because sanwa and semetsu sticks come with balltop and they are what everyone uses in competitive matches. I still have the balls with mine, but swapped them out for bat. A real sf2 cab uses bats as well as tekken. Neo fighters, etc

I may just get both. I will also have a dedicated 4way stick so I'll get that one with bat top and test it out. I'll swap accordingly after that.

Marcux wrote:I got Chris's drive almost a year ago. And started building my first multicade.

I had found 3 golden tee cabs on craigslist online, no boards 50 dollars each, what a deal! They already came with the trackball i needed

I found a template online for a Control panel, printed it all out to size, and put in on a piece of MDF. Modified the button layout to my liking, moved the buttons to where I wanted them then drill right through the paper. after that was done, I clamed a down a piece of plexi, I drilled 1/2 in holes slowly against a nother piece of mdf so the plex would not crack. I then ran a dremel side riding bit into the 1/2 incho hole to wide the button plexi hole.

this is what it looked like.

I love what you have done, can you point me in the right direction. I would love to get the screen at the top of your system also along with the other mini screen and the button controlls. (Complete newbie here) Ordered my 16TB and downloading now. and want to start getting other things ordered and made.

Thanks,

This is a good place to start.

https://hyperarcades.forumotion.com/t38-the-where-to-buy-arcade-parts-thread

I use Ultimarc.com for trackball, spinner, buttons, encoders. The other websites listed in the other thread are good for pretty much everything.

I've tried both balltop and battop and actually like balltop for most things. I grew up with battop like everyone else in NA but the balls work pretty good for sensitive moves. For more basic old school games I like battop too. Luckily they are cheap and easy to swap anytime I might even end up doing p1 and p2 with balls and p3 and p4 with bats as those games are all more simple.

Same here except I was going with battops on just the 4way dedicated sticks like you said, for older simpler games. Games that require 8way config I thought would benefit more from a ball top handle.

I had to really search around for the top Bar LCD, I sent an email to sales@vitrolight.com and asked for a price sheet and bar lcd sizes they sell.

Amazing job!!! I just finished a similar 4 player cabinet and was following your build for help. Is there any way I could get your config files for led blink and hyperspeech as that must have taken forever to do. Great work!