So been meaning to do this for awhile and it took a pandemic to get my moving on this project. I started building a Retro Arcade cabient. Using a raspberry pi running retropie as the os. It is very easy to use, has a ton of emulators built-in and a nice themable interface that can be used with a joystick.
The cabinet I found on Etsy its pre-cut MDF that you just need to put together, paint and decorate as you see fit.
Current Status: I have it built and primed. Trying to decide on some vinyl and paint designs that I want to do. Also waiting on some mount screws for the monitor.
Super cool! Did any of the kits you get come with the buttons or joysticks? You using the standard buttons for it? What about power to the thing? Curious how you are wiring it all up. Will you out a trackball in at some time for the centipede style games?
This is super cool and I’ve been meaning to do something like that but never had the time. Maybe I can float it by the wife to approve. Would be a good project for the family as I could get the girl to put her artwork on the cab.
That cabinet is a little nicer than my test mock up. Also, those Zero delay USB encoders will probably be easier than my old IPAC keyboard emulator I used (although I got it to work).
It’s completely fine. I think it’s actually just a keyboard chip that you wire up the inputs, not really an emulator. The issue is it’s so old, it had a PS2 input. But I was able to get the software for it to program the inputs. If that failed I was going to get one of those zero delay USB encoders as they’re really cheap. Thankfully everything worked (all the parts were ordered forever ago but I never got around to messing with it).
Great job so far! I have a RasbPi4 that I intended to use for my ham radio stuff but bought a used rugged laptop for it instead. Maybe I should put it to use as an arcade emulator.
@Grex and @Lala_Calamari I expect regular detailed updates of each of your progress or I will withhold my check for the GRG dues!
As for the controls, it’s just a mock test made up of wood I had left over. I printed out a “Street Fighter” layout. Also, the center hole is for a Trackball. I bought all the parts like 10 years ago with the thought of making a cabinet. Life got in the way of that project. Now that things have stopped we have the time. The kid bought a Pi and wanted to mess around with it. Cool thing is, the buttons and joysticks are actual Arcade sticks. In fact the sticks are the same as what the Mortal Kombat machines shipped with.
That said, I was trying to talk him into something simpler. Just a basic box for one player. Buy a cheap $10 project box. Something like this.
My Vinyls finally came in and I was able to put some time into it. Got the control panel wired up and installed. Going to try and finish her up tonight.
