stratosgear / stac3k Goto Github PK

Basically we need to find some lockable caster wheels.

Obviously something linux based but we must make sure we have all software components available. I'm thinking flexibility on a selection of wifi cards and monitor manipulation (rotated monitors etc).

After some research I come to the following conclusions:

• For arcade usage, 16:9 monitors/TVs SUCK! In a horizontally placed monitor, games with vertical orientation (eg. shoot'em ups) utilize only ~42% of the available screen (same thing on vertically placed monitors and horizontally orientated games). That's less than half the actual available screen size.
• Depending on the width of the cabinet, we have a limitation on the size of the rotating monitor. Anything larger than 24" cannot be rotated because the required diagonal size will exceed 80 cm.
• Realistically we cannot use anything larger than 32" (it's just too big). At that size and placed vertically (too wide to be placed horizontally) we are getting:
  • size for horizontal games: 40 x 30 cm (width x height)
  • for vertical games: 40 x 53 cm
• With a rotating 24" monitor we have very similar dimensions (39 x 29) and all games (horizontal and vertical) have the same screen area.

So I declare the sweet spot to be a rotating 24" monitor requiring ~68cm for rotation (that's the diagonal of the monitor and not including cabinet walls and clearing space around the monitor)

Some ideas for monitor mounts:

• http://users.rcn.com/jenison/mars/games/Freak/ (look for the "Head Piece")
• http://www.russprince.com/cabinet/ (look in the Monitor section)

More will be posted as they are found.

This is similar to issue #2 but has to do with the front of the monitor. Issue #2 has to do on how to mount the monitor on the cabinet.

This deals with the front of the monitor and how it looks from the perspective of the player.

Should we mount it behind a glass pane?
What should we use to mask the area around the monitor display?
Is it extensible if we switch monitors around?

The monitor mount should be modular. We might start with a 22" monitor but maybe we want to mount a 27" later on. Or even more important, if the original 22" burns out and we want to replace it with another brand (different bezel, different monitor geometry etc) it should be easy to switch them around.

What would be the design of the cabinet?

Some place to keep other attempts to build an Arcade Cabinet. Updated as the projects are found...

http://www.mamedvds.com/