Dragon's Lair Fans - Arcade Lifestyle

General Chat => Arcade Lifestyle => Topic started by: RetroBorg on September 20, 2012, 01:29:06 AM

Title: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: RetroBorg on September 20, 2012, 01:29:06 AM
Hi guys, I've been a long time lurker here but this is my first post.

I've recently purchased a reproduction Nintendo cabinet from Troy at http://www.arcadeworx.com.au/ in Australia.

Rather than do a Donkey Kong or Mario Bros or something I decided to go with Mario vs Donkey Kong as I really liked the artwork from the GBA game of the same name.

As I don't have lots of room at home for lots of cabs I'm going for a control panel that has two joysticks, 6 buttons each plus squeeze in a trackball and spinner.

Any way here some of the artwork I'm going to use.

Marquee

(http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/3949/mariovsdonkeymarqueegra.jpg)

Bezel

(http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/6598/mariovsdkbezel4.png)

Side Art

(http://imageshack.us/a/img401/7523/sideart.jpg)

Control Panel

(http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/2500/mariovsdonkeykongcpo800.png)

Render

(http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/8954/mariovsdonkeykong.jpg)

The cabinet arrived Ikea style.

(http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg593/scaled.php?server=593&filename=91049713.jpg&res=landing)

Putting it together.

(http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg31/scaled.php?server=31&filename=69055738.jpg&res=landing)

Half way there.

(http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg836/scaled.php?server=836&filename=95010218.jpg&res=landing)

Two hours later, finished.

(http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg267/scaled.php?server=267&filename=78815740.jpg&res=landing)

Once finished this is where it's going to sit.

(http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg513/scaled.php?server=513&filename=dscf0396n.jpg&res=landing)

Then I decided I would pull it apart to paint it, should have done this before I put it together the first time.

First coat of primer MDF primer going on.

(http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg201/scaled.php?server=201&filename=primerj.jpg&res=landing)
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: ataritoobin on September 20, 2012, 05:59:54 AM
Welcome over to the DLF :)

Great looking project!
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: level42 on September 20, 2012, 07:12:14 AM
Not to bomb your expectations but that left joystick is going to be unplayable. The left joystick on my Mario Bros. is already hard to play without hitting the left side of the cab, but yours seems to be extremely to the left.

I can see you want as many games playable as possible but I fear there is oo much stuff on that panel IMHO.

Still, welcome here and the cab looks very well repro'd.
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: slowcade on September 20, 2012, 08:00:13 AM
I love the artwork! :) Looking forward to seeing this all done and finished.
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: PunkRockCaveman on September 20, 2012, 08:04:25 AM
Hi and welcome!

The cab indeed looks very well made. The panel layout however is horrible. The button layout will make you hands itch n minutes, not to mention that it will be almost impossible to get the combos for the fighting games done with that spacing of the buttons. The trackball is way to much also on that panel. Most people who squeeze a trackball in, forget that you need a lot of space to operate it. In your layout you wont have much fun playing Centipede with hitting the right Stick and the spinner all the time. Same with the spinner. No space to rest your hand to get the full controll feeling.

But you are lucky. The panel is just a plank. It will be very easy to build separate panels for different kind of games. I would suggest three or four different panels. Trackball and maybe spinner need a separate one, one for old school arcade games with max. four buttons and a decent joystick for those classics and one extra panel for the fighting games with the right button layout and the new school Japan sticks. Then you are perfect.
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: RetroBorg on September 20, 2012, 08:49:10 AM
Thanks for warm everyone's welcome!  ;D

Welcome over to the DLF :)

Great looking project!

Thanks ataritoobin

Not to bomb your expectations but that left joystick is going to be unplayable. The left joystick on my Mario Bros. is already hard to play without hitting the left side of the cab, but yours seems to be extremely to the left.

I can see you want as many games playable as possible but I fear there is oo much stuff on that panel IMHO.

Still, welcome here and the cab looks very well repro'd.

Yeah I know what your saying but there's very few two player games I play, if the cab was all about me it would be just single player, it's more about my nieces and nephews they like to play games that are two play simultaneous.

I love the artwork! :) Looking forward to seeing this all done and finished.

Thanks slowcade.

Hi and welcome!

The cab indeed looks very well made. The panel layout however is horrible. The button layout will make you hands itch n minutes, not to mention that it will be almost impossible to get the combos for the fighting games done with that spacing of the buttons. The trackball is way to much also on that panel. Most people who squeeze a trackball in, forget that you need a lot of space to operate it. In your layout you wont have much fun playing Centipede with hitting the right Stick and the spinner all the time. Same with the spinner. No space to rest your hand to get the full controll feeling.

But you are lucky. The panel is just a plank. It will be very easy to build separate panels for different kind of games. I would suggest three or four different panels. Trackball and maybe spinner need a separate one, one for old school arcade games with max. four buttons and a decent joystick for those classics and one extra panel for the fighting games with the right button layout and the new school Japan sticks. Then you are perfect.

The cab is very well made, certainly recommend ArcadeWorx cabs to any Aussies out there.

I don't play fighting games, in fact I have never performed a combo so buttons won't be an issue for me.

The trackball does concern me, I'm hoping it will be okay for Centipede and Missile Command which is why it's there, I think it would be unplayable for golf and bowling games though.

The spinner also concerns me but I guess I'm about to find out the hard way.

I'm going to use the ServoSticks from Ultimarc.
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: McVenco on September 20, 2012, 09:24:15 AM
Welcome  ;)

Did you design that artwork yourself? That looks pretty awesome!
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: jinxz on September 20, 2012, 09:37:45 AM
Looks great!
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: RetroBorg on September 20, 2012, 10:54:23 AM
Welcome  ;)

Did you design that artwork yourself? That looks pretty awesome!

I cut and paste the artwork from the following games and the various promo wallpapers found on the net.

(http://www.emuparadise.org/GBA/boxart/1489.jpg)

(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mD5Xu-D8jWA/UCLJlJObmqI/AAAAAAAAPek/uzchMOxaA0M/s1600/mario%20vs.%20donkey%20kong%20mini-land%20mayhem%20box%20art.jpg)
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on September 20, 2012, 11:54:35 AM
Cool project !, and welcome

I would also create multiple CP's

And install ofcourse an emulator to actually play M vs DK

Its a great game, i bought my GBA for that  8)
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: gyruss on September 20, 2012, 01:00:02 PM
i agree with the other guys, the control panel is a bit too crowded for my taste..

but nice project, good luck and have fun!
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: Q*ris on September 20, 2012, 04:05:48 PM
Wouldn't these kits be perfect for your Walt Disney project (https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=3899.0), Jinxz? i guess shipping would probably kill the deal  ;D
...and welcome here by the way, RetroBorg !!!!!
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: jinxz on September 20, 2012, 07:31:50 PM
Wouldn't these kits be perfect for your Walt Disney project (https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=3899.0), Jinxz? i guess shipping would probably kill the deal  ;D
...and welcome here by the way, RetroBorg !!!!!

Yeah indeed :) Those kits are great. I mean building a DK cab like an Ikea would safe me hours of time. Although the wood that was CNC'd for me was primed in the factory. That also saves some time ;)

Great project RetroBorg!
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: DarthNuno on September 20, 2012, 09:40:52 PM
Great project! ...and great choice of color for this project : RED! The sexiest color for a Nintendo cabinet  :-*

Welcome to this board, RetroBorg!  :)
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: level42 on September 20, 2012, 09:51:39 PM
Since its a MAME cab I think it is great you went with a non-original, yet tastefully chosen theme. Really like what you did with the artwork. Maybe it will be a good idea to make the right joystick the P1 joystick. This way you will have plent of space when doing single player gaming.
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: RetroBorg on September 21, 2012, 03:20:27 PM
Great project! ...and great choice of color for this project : RED! The sexiest color for a Nintendo cabinet  :-*

Welcome to this board, RetroBorg!  :)

Glad you like the project DarthNuno, your Donkey Kong renovation and scr33n's scratch built build have been inspirational in my build!  ;D

Maybe you can help me out with the paint?

We have Dulux in Australia, is there some sort of code I can give the paint shop to mix up the right shade of red?
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: RetroBorg on September 21, 2012, 03:23:23 PM
Wouldn't these kits be perfect for your Walt Disney project (https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=3899.0), Jinxz? i guess shipping would probably kill the deal  ;D
...and welcome here by the way, RetroBorg !!!!!

Yeah indeed :) Those kits are great. I mean building a DK cab like an Ikea would safe me hours of time. Although the wood that was CNC'd for me was primed in the factory. That also saves some time ;)

Great project RetroBorg!

Good luck on your Fix it Felix Jr builds, I was thinking about doing this project as a Fix it Felix Jr project but ended up going for a Nintendo theme.
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: RetroBorg on September 21, 2012, 03:31:49 PM
Cool project !, and welcome

I would also create multiple CP's

And install ofcourse an emulator to actually play M vs DK

Its a great game, i bought my GBA for that  8)

Hi Etienne, I've enjoyed reading your threads on the forum, love your vectorizing of various artwork, wish I could vector stuff.

I have HyperSpin setup with lot of emulators so I'll have to check out both the MArio vs Donkey Kong games, I've never played them either of them.

Troy who made my cabinet was kind enough to send a blank control panel along with kit so I can always make another control panel if I find issues with my crowded frankenpanel.
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: RetroBorg on September 21, 2012, 03:57:06 PM
Since its a MAME cab I think it is great you went with a non-original, yet tastefully chosen theme. Really like what you did with the artwork.

Thanks, at first I was thinking of going with Donkey Kong but I wanted 2 lots of controls so then I was thinking going with Mario Bros, then when googling artwork on the net I stumbled across Mario vs Donkey Kong.

Nintendo were well known also for their versus cabs and Mario and Donkey Kong are the oldest adversaries off all time in the video world.

I really liked the usage of the two different fonts used in the title and preferred the artwork over the original and also over the more modern 3D artwork.

I'm pretty handy and cutting and pasting in Photoshop and have made quite a few different themes for HyperSpin so I thought I'd give this a go as a theme for the cabinet.

Marquee - I'm really happy with.

Side Art - I like the side art but it kind of looks like Mario is on cloud or something, need to put him on something to make him look like he's on the ground.

Bezel - I need to find another picture of Pauline, the one on the left is too low in resolution, it will look a bit shabby when it larger, also would like include some love hearts like the original Donkey Kong but need to find a love sick Donkey Kong picture to make it work.

(http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/4784/bezelcomparison.jpg)

Control Panel - I'll probably redo this, the only thing I'm really happy with is the arrows and the Mario and Donkey Kong logos, perhaps I need to make the two different sides of the control panel different colours or something.

Maybe it will be a good idea to make the right joystick the P1 joystick. This way you will have plenty of space when doing single player gaming.

I'm thinking in games where you alternate between players one and two to have both joysticks mapped to player one, then you have a choice of which one you prefer to use.
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on September 21, 2012, 04:01:25 PM
I like the GBA version, the DS versions (march of the mini's and miniland mayhem) i dont really like.

thats because in the GBA version you play as mario, and the DS versions is more like a puzzle and the minis walk like lemmings..

So the GBA version has a much more simular gameplay as the classic DK (and so does the DK for gameboy)

Talking about DK for gameboy, i saw you also posted in this klov thread  ;)

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=207483


Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: polaris on September 21, 2012, 04:47:29 PM
Great project! ...and great choice of color for this project : RED! The sexiest color for a Nintendo cabinet  :-*

Welcome to this board, RetroBorg!  :)

Glad you like the project DarthNuno, your Donkey Kong renovation and scr33n's scratch built build have been inspirational in my build!  ;D

Maybe you can help me out with the paint?


We have Dulux in Australia, is there some sort of code I can give the paint shop to mix up the right shade of red?

On Byoac forum in the miscellaneous arcade section there should be a post stickied at the top on paint codes, lots of info and links in it, I'll provide a link later when I'm not on my phone if you can't find it, it may be linked to on this site somewhere, seem to remember it being discussed here  :)
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: RetroBorg on September 22, 2012, 05:02:50 AM
I like the GBA version, the DS versions (march of the mini's and miniland mayhem) i dont really like.

thats because in the GBA version you play as mario, and the DS versions is more like a puzzle and the minis walk like lemmings..

So the GBA version has a much more simular gameplay as the classic DK (and so does the DK for gameboy)

I'll check them all out.


Talking about DK for gameboy, i saw you also posted in this klov thread  ;)

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=207483

You get around, yeah I like that cab too!

Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: RetroBorg on September 22, 2012, 05:04:13 AM
Great project! ...and great choice of color for this project : RED! The sexiest color for a Nintendo cabinet  :-*

Welcome to this board, RetroBorg!  :)

Glad you like the project DarthNuno, your Donkey Kong renovation and scr33n's scratch built build have been inspirational in my build!  ;D

Maybe you can help me out with the paint?


We have Dulux in Australia, is there some sort of code I can give the paint shop to mix up the right shade of red?

On Byoac forum in the miscellaneous arcade section there should be a post stickied at the top on paint codes, lots of info and links in it, I'll provide a link later when I'm not on my phone if you can't find it, it may be linked to on this site somewhere, seem to remember it being discussed here  :)

I'll have a look, thanks polaris.
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: RetroBorg on September 23, 2012, 06:57:52 AM
On goes the first coats of black for the insides, top and back.

(http://imageshack.us/a/img109/100/blackzd.jpg)
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: bencao74 on September 24, 2012, 11:16:45 AM
looks well planned. Ql nick, welcome here. I recommend also to reduce the panel. One Player Layout with just two buttons, max. three would end in much more better game play feeling.
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: RetroBorg on October 02, 2012, 04:53:40 AM
Time to paint the red, I decided to paint it with spray cans as my roller work sucks!

I guess rolling is okay for the primer and the black inside the cabinet but I wanted a much better finish for the red.

I ended up going with Dulux Wildfire Red Quick Dry Spraypak, it has a real glossy finish.

My only problem has been these little flys that keep landing on my panels as I'm spraying, if it wasn't for that I would be 100% happy.

(http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/4195/redgsw.jpg)
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on October 02, 2012, 08:56:02 AM
Create a mini spraybooth, and spray first some bugkiller inside  ;)

the red looks very nice !
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: RetroBorg on October 07, 2012, 08:32:10 AM
More red pictures, finally coming up nice and glossy after a lot of work fixing up my stuff ups from taking short cuts.

(http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/231/red2fe.jpg)
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: RetroBorg on October 21, 2012, 05:20:20 AM
Well painting was a real learning curve and the red probably turned out better that I had hoped for but now that I have some painting experience, I know I can do better next time.

(http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/5981/redleft.jpg)

(http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/7245/redcentre.jpg)

(http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/2513/redright.jpg)
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: level42 on October 21, 2012, 02:52:30 PM
Wow that looks perfect ! Can you do mine too ?  :D
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: RetroBorg on October 22, 2012, 03:46:24 AM
Wow that looks perfect ! Can you do mine too ?  :D

Far from perfect, the camera is hiding the flaws.  ;)
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: RetroBorg on October 22, 2012, 03:48:23 AM
I bought one of these 50cm 5050 30 LED Rigid Strip Light Pure White Bar Cabinet Lamp DC12V from eBay for just $14.49 to light up my marquee.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/130671880083?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/130671880083?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649)

(http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/1613/ledmarqueelight.jpg)
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: RetroBorg on May 22, 2013, 03:09:29 PM
A tiny bit of progress, it's a repro coin door.

(http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/834/nintendodoor.jpg)
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: joeks on May 22, 2013, 04:31:11 PM
Nice! Are those the reproduction coin doors that are sold on KLOV?


A tiny bit of progress, it's a repro coin door.

(http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/834/nintendodoor.jpg)
Title: Re: Mario vs Donkey Kong MAME Cabinet (Nintendo Reproduction Cabinet)
Post by: RetroBorg on May 23, 2013, 10:55:56 AM
Nice! Are those the reproduction coin doors that are sold on KLOV?

Sure are!

They are excellent quality.