The trick is to use the ruler as a spacer – just draw the lines on both sides of the ruler.ġ.4. Leaving space for joystick from the left side (I left about 15cm), let’s draw a grid to place buttons at. This will be the baseline for the bottom set of player one buttons.ġ.3.
I’ve left 5cm from the bottom and drew a horizontal line. First of all, lets find the center of the box and draw a vertical line on the side where the buttons are going to be installed.ġ.2. Cost €8.Ī simple one, to connect it all inside the cabinet. Make sure these can be powered from an external power supply, not from USB. Pair of cheap speakers from a local computer store. Also it has dedicated Coin and Player buttons that just go good with a retro arcade machine. I’ve picked this one as it has fancy buttons that light up when you press them. There are dozens of different joystick sets available on AliExpress. Cost: €3.ĭepending on the number of ROMs you have, decide on the size of the SD card. In case you are using PI 4 you will also need to get a MicroHDMI to HDMI adapter. Cost: €76.ĭon’t forget to get a decent power supply for Raspberry.
#Build arcade control panel install#
I’d still recommend going with the 4th gen just in case you decide to install some additional console emulators and they may require extra CPU power to render smoothly. I’ve used Raspberry Pi 4 Model B with 4 GB of RAM, but probably PI 2/3 will also work just fine for FBA emulation. Most people are buying 4K monitors but those Full HD ones are still in stock and come at a good price. The reason I’ve picked this 27” (LG 27MK400H-B) is because they are extremely cheap nowadays. Make sure to pick a good one – some people are struggling at the flashing step due to low-quality SD card writers.Īctually you can use any monitor – even those with 4:3 ratio, which can even be flipped vertically, as many of the Final Burn Alpha games are actually meant to be played on a vertical monitor (just like on those old arcade machines). We will use a USB keyboard at the initial set up stage. Regular office stapler will work as well, I had a bigger one at home.Īny decent size screws are suitable, but the shorter the better. Standard 30 cm (12”) ruler will work just fine. The total budget in my case was about €270, but it could be about €140 if you find a used monitor with a box (I just bought a brand new one). Otherwise, you can easily drop any other platform ROMs to the according folders, and they will just work (probably 😉 ). The FBA games typically use 2 to 4 controller buttons, sometimes 6 (works for us!). While RetroPie can emulate 50 different gaming platforms (including PlayStation, PSP, Dreamcast, Nintendo, MSX, and others), I will focus on setting up controllers and games for an emulator called Final Burn Alpha (FBA) – basically a multiple retro arcade machine emulator.
#Build arcade control panel how to#
I will also explain how to add a nice cardboard-compatible theme, and fetch game video previews and info. The software part will run on RetroPie, an excellent image for Raspberry Pi micro computer. I’m going to use the box that came with the monitor as a cabinet, which means the final arcade machine will be a portable bar top version. So, here is my take on how to do it just using a pencil, a ruler, and a knife. Unfortunately (or luckily?), I don’t have a circular saw at home. However, the common problem is building the wooden cabinet – well, not a problem if you have a circular saw and some other professional tools available. There is quite a number of tutorials on the Internet on how to do that. Get control panel overlay, and new plywood board and hold them together with a big crocodile clip so that we can begin to make out where the controls need to be.I’ve been enjoying arcades in 90s that’s why I’ve decided to put one together at home. Thus I have hatched an evil plan to build a dual Defender AND Stargate compatible control panel to use while I do.Īs I have the original control panel overlay (that I replaced with a newer reproduction) I’m going to use that as my basis, and then build the rest as I go.ġ x Defender Control Panel Overlay (original with fag burns!)ġ x Plywood board 52cm x 20.5 x 2cm (cut to size of the marquee by my local DIY shop)ġ x 4 way switch joystick (stolen from an old MameP test board)ġ x Stargate Cocktail Control Panel wiring harness (bought ages ago from eBay US)ġ x Starrett Sh0118 High Speed Steel Bi Metal Holesaw 29mm to cut the holes (£6.79 .uk)ġ x Starrett A1 Arbor to Suit 14mm-30mm Holesaws (£7.74 .uk) So I’ve been meaning to build a replacement control panel in order that I can take off the main control panel and replace the leaf switches with new more responsive compatible pinball leaf switches.
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