design

What am I going to build?

Before I start buying parts and hacking into pieces of MDF I wanted to create a 3D mock up of the cabinet I intended to build. I have access to 3D Studio Max through work and this is perfect for this sort of thing.

Over the course of a couple of weeks I worked on my design, I first fed in the measurements taken from Lusids design and I then adapted them to suit my needs.

During this time I was also able to decide on how many buttons and such I required and their layout. The following couple of images show what I came up with.

click to enlarge

The cabinet

As you can see this is a simple upright based on Lusids design, I have modified a few things such as the width of the control panel, mine is slightly narrower.

I have also created an instep at the rear bottom, this will allow me to place the cabinet closer to the wall without hitting the skirting-board or plug sockets.

This design also allows me to house either a 21 or 25 inch display by only changing the width of the centre pieces of MDF panelling.

The Control Panel

I've ended up with quite a complex control panel but whilst I have a lot of controls I believe my layout is well spaced out and not muddled.

So what have I got on there then?

3 Happs Super joysticks, 2 setup for 8-way action and an additional player 1 stick set for 4-way.

click to enlarge

Six Happs Horizontal push buttons for each player, with an additional button 4 for a neo-geo layout.

A 3" High lipped Happs trackball, with two sets of mouse buttons on either side; this is for both left and right-handed players and it also aids symmetry for the control panel design.

Start/Credit push buttons for each player plus another four separate push buttons for emulation controls.

And lastly a 360 degree spinner for all those old classics!

Now I suppose I better start my build and make use of this design.