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Rebuilding the Quad Laser
Topic Started: Wednesday Feb 8 2012, 11:40 AM (521 Views)
whoozwah
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The Quad Laser is out of commission. A testament to my newbish-ness when I first built it I'm sure. The wiring is about shot. The PC crashes when running lots of games. The sticks don't work right anymore. I don't really like the TV that I designed the whole thing around. I'm gonna rebuild it. I'm calling it the Quad Laser Mark II.

I'm not gonna build the cab myself though. I want to get either a kit or a salvage cab and put my own hardware inside it. That way it'll be more authentic and take up less space than the gargantuan cab I have now.

I'm considering getting a cab from here. I kinda like the look of the Ms. Pac Man/Galaga one but the last one supports vert or hori monitor mounts.

I'm looking at the 25" monitor. I thought about the 19 but it's only 15 bucks more for the 25" screen and looks like it can be more easily mounted hori or vert.

Still haven't decided on PC specs yet but I'd like it to be able to run CHDs like Blitz, Killer Instinct etc as well as newer PGM boards and SH3 boards and CPS3 for SFIII.
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famicommander
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Wipe that face off your head, bitch.
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Have you done anything with that Neo Geo board yet?
Denver Broncos: defending champs, 8-6, next game 12/25 @ Kansas City Chiefs
Colorado Rockies: 75-87, missed playoffs
Colorado Avalanche: 11-18-1, next game 12/20 @ Minnesota Wild
Denver Nuggets: 12-16, next game 12/20 @ Los Angeles Clippers
Colorado Mammoth: first game 12/30 @ Buffalo Bandits
Denver Outlaws: defending champs, first game 4/22 @ Charlotte Hounds
Colorado State Rams football: 7-5, next game Idaho Bowl 12/22 vs Idaho Vandals
Colorado State Rams basketball: 8-4, next game 12/22 vs Long Beach State 49ers
Winnipeg Blue Bombers: 11-7, lost West Division Semifinal
Denver Pioneers Lacrosse: first game 1/24 vs Johns Hopkins Blue Jays
#2 Denver Pioneers Hockey: 12-3-3, next game 12/30 @ Providence College Friars
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whoozwah
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No. Debating on building the supergun for myself or building one and selling it. I kinda wouldn't want to build this thing for myself and then not connect it to a legit arcade monitor that syncs to 15hz. Then again I don't really like a ton of the neo geo catalog so I might just build it and sell it.
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Frattracide's ghost
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I don't know about the hardware, but those cabs seem like they would be really easy to make yourself.
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whoozwah
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yeah. that's what I decided to do. I'm looking for some suitable plans. Should cost far less that way.
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whoozwah
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So I've gone through the list of games I have on the Quad Laser and looked at what's out there emulated in MAME since I built the thing. I've come up with a revised list of games that will be on it based on a few different things like how often each game was played, what the potential is for new games to be played how much fun each game is and personal preference. Then I had my roommate and other friends I see on the regular give their input on what games they thought were essentials for the Mark II. Here's the mostly final list of what will be on it. Keep in mind there were over 500 games on the Mark I and almost none of them got played except a select handful.

* = new addition
** = wasn't emulated yet/PC too weak to run it before

1943: The Battle of Midway
2 on 2 Open Ice Challenge
Aliens vs. Predator
Aliens
Altered Beast
Armed Police Batrider
Asteroids*
Batman
Battle Bakraid
Battle Toads
Berzerk
Captain America and the Avengers
Centipede
Columns
Contra
Dig Dug
DonPachi
DoDonPachi
DoDonPachi Daioujou**
Donkey Kong
ESP Ra.De.
Espgaluda**
Fever SOS
Final Fight
Frogger
Galaga*
Ghouls'n Ghosts
Giga Wing
Golden Axe
Guwange
Joust*
Karnov
Ketsui**
Killer Instinct
Killer Instinct 2
Mars Matrix
Marvel Super Heroes
Marvel vs. Capcom
Metal Slug
Metal Slug 2
Metal Slug 3
Metal Slug 4
Metal Slug 5
Metal Slug X
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat II
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
Mortal Kombat 4**
Ms. Pac-Man
NBA Jam Tournament Edition
NFL Blitz**
Progear
Pac-Man*
Rampage World Tour
Robocop
Robocop 2
The Simpsons
Soul Calibur**
Space Invaders
Splatter House*
Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Street Fighter III: Third Strike**
Streets of Rage 2
Strider
Sunset Riders
Super Contra
TMNT
TMNT: Turtles in Time
Tekken
Tekken 2
Tekken 3**
Tekken Tag Tournament**
Tempest*
Tetris
Vs. Super Mario Bros.
WWF Wrestlefest
WWF Wrestlemania
X-Men
Edited by whoozwah, Monday Feb 13 2012, 01:33 PM.
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famicommander
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Your old one didn't have Galaga, Joust, Asteroids, Tempest, or Pac-Man? How does that even happen?
Denver Broncos: defending champs, 8-6, next game 12/25 @ Kansas City Chiefs
Colorado Rockies: 75-87, missed playoffs
Colorado Avalanche: 11-18-1, next game 12/20 @ Minnesota Wild
Denver Nuggets: 12-16, next game 12/20 @ Los Angeles Clippers
Colorado Mammoth: first game 12/30 @ Buffalo Bandits
Denver Outlaws: defending champs, first game 4/22 @ Charlotte Hounds
Colorado State Rams football: 7-5, next game Idaho Bowl 12/22 vs Idaho Vandals
Colorado State Rams basketball: 8-4, next game 12/22 vs Long Beach State 49ers
Winnipeg Blue Bombers: 11-7, lost West Division Semifinal
Denver Pioneers Lacrosse: first game 1/24 vs Johns Hopkins Blue Jays
#2 Denver Pioneers Hockey: 12-3-3, next game 12/30 @ Providence College Friars
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whoozwah
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There was a weird glitch 3 years ago and I couldn't get Galaga to run at all with any version of MAME I tried.

I could never find a legit rom of Pac-man. It was always some sort of bootleg or hack and I figured I'd just go with Ms. Pac Man but I recently found one.

Tempest needs a spinner or something to that effect to be played properly and I wasn't prepared to buy one just for it.

Joust and Asteroids were legit oversights but were smartly requested by friends this time around.
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famicommander
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Wipe that face off your head, bitch.
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I would have burned the machine to the ground for lack of Tempest and Galaga.
Denver Broncos: defending champs, 8-6, next game 12/25 @ Kansas City Chiefs
Colorado Rockies: 75-87, missed playoffs
Colorado Avalanche: 11-18-1, next game 12/20 @ Minnesota Wild
Denver Nuggets: 12-16, next game 12/20 @ Los Angeles Clippers
Colorado Mammoth: first game 12/30 @ Buffalo Bandits
Denver Outlaws: defending champs, first game 4/22 @ Charlotte Hounds
Colorado State Rams football: 7-5, next game Idaho Bowl 12/22 vs Idaho Vandals
Colorado State Rams basketball: 8-4, next game 12/22 vs Long Beach State 49ers
Winnipeg Blue Bombers: 11-7, lost West Division Semifinal
Denver Pioneers Lacrosse: first game 1/24 vs Johns Hopkins Blue Jays
#2 Denver Pioneers Hockey: 12-3-3, next game 12/30 @ Providence College Friars
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whoozwah
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shit. I'm glad it wasn't your cabinet :P

Spinners are expensive though. Like 70 bucks.
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NamelessFragger
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That list could use more Avenging Spirit and Boogie Wings/The Great Ragtime Show. Maybe even The Outfoxies too, for extra good measure.
whoozwah
 
famicommander
 
Pokemans > some other thing that you ass ram
I don't ass ram anything so it's greater than nothing.

Jak
Thursday Aug 18 2011, 07:18 PM
I'm not posting in this thread. This seems ass ram a scam.
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whoozwah
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I think avenging spirit is on the original quad laser. It never got played.
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whoozwah
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So I'm more than a little bit sad. After many hours of searching, many emails sent and many phone calls made I've come to the inevitable truth of the matter: new CRT arcade monitors are extinct. I have 2 options. I can either try to find a used one and gamble on how much burn in the monitor has or do some serious research on how authentic of a picture I can get out of an LCD.

The downside of this is that IF I even decide to continue with this project it will never be as pristine as I wanted. I HATE making concessions if I can avoid it.

The upside is that in the event that I do decide to use an LCD screen and I can get it to look as close to authentic as would be satisfactory for my tastes, rotating the screen for vertically oriented games would become a feasible option whereas it wasn't before. I do enjoy entertaining the thought of playing my vertical games in their proper orientation.

Fami, Nameless, what would you do in my position?
Edited by whoozwah, Monday Mar 12 2012, 06:08 PM.
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famicommander
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Wipe that face off your head, bitch.
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I wouldn't bother going for authenticity if you're running on an emulator in the first place. Seems like buying expensive name brand accessories for a Chinese iPhone ripoff.
Denver Broncos: defending champs, 8-6, next game 12/25 @ Kansas City Chiefs
Colorado Rockies: 75-87, missed playoffs
Colorado Avalanche: 11-18-1, next game 12/20 @ Minnesota Wild
Denver Nuggets: 12-16, next game 12/20 @ Los Angeles Clippers
Colorado Mammoth: first game 12/30 @ Buffalo Bandits
Denver Outlaws: defending champs, first game 4/22 @ Charlotte Hounds
Colorado State Rams football: 7-5, next game Idaho Bowl 12/22 vs Idaho Vandals
Colorado State Rams basketball: 8-4, next game 12/22 vs Long Beach State 49ers
Winnipeg Blue Bombers: 11-7, lost West Division Semifinal
Denver Pioneers Lacrosse: first game 1/24 vs Johns Hopkins Blue Jays
#2 Denver Pioneers Hockey: 12-3-3, next game 12/30 @ Providence College Friars
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whoozwah
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and I thought about that. I've found some REALLY neat filters in mame that you can fidget with to get some damn near perfect CRT images out of it on an LCD. I'm gonna keep playing with it and see what kind of results I can get while looking for an LCD that will actually sync to the required refresh rates as to avoid screen tearing or choppiness.
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NamelessFragger
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Even the graphical filters wouldn't do it for me. It has to be a real CRT capable of running at the original resolutions, refresh rates, and timings that those original arcade boards used. Fixed-pixel displays can only do so much to replicate the distinct CRT look, especially ones without glowing phosphors.

But as famicommander pointed out, your use of emulators kills a lot of the authenticity aspect anyway...at least you won't have to pay up for an upscaler to get a VGA monitor to accept a 15/24 KHz RGB source, because the emulator can do that for you.

Also, if you do get an LCD and plan to rotate it to portrait/tate, DON'T GET A TN PANEL, because the shitty vertical viewing angles are now shitty horizontal viewing angles that are much easier to notice. Pay up for an IPS panel (PVA might work too, not as certain there) with low/no perceptible input lag (16ms or less at 60 Hz)-you'll thank me later.
Edited by NamelessFragger, Monday Mar 12 2012, 08:38 PM.
whoozwah
 
famicommander
 
Pokemans > some other thing that you ass ram
I don't ass ram anything so it's greater than nothing.

Jak
Thursday Aug 18 2011, 07:18 PM
I'm not posting in this thread. This seems ass ram a scam.
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whoozwah
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goddamn it. Why is everything widescreen?

yeah dude. a non widescreen IPS panel is just as hard to find as CRT arcade monitor...
Edited by whoozwah, Tuesday Mar 13 2012, 12:51 AM.
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NamelessFragger
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It has to be 4:3 or 5:4? Good luck with that...as it stands, it's difficult to find even 16:10 monitors.

The only good 4:3 LCDs I can immediately think of are meant for notebook use and are generally just 12" or so. Rather small for an arcade cabinet, plus you'd have to futz around with connecting it to an LVDS controller board.
whoozwah
 
famicommander
 
Pokemans > some other thing that you ass ram
I don't ass ram anything so it's greater than nothing.

Jak
Thursday Aug 18 2011, 07:18 PM
I'm not posting in this thread. This seems ass ram a scam.
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ronaldmonster
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If you have an Overclock.net account worthy of their market 9/10 you can and will find someone who has it willing to part with it.
-SG-
Sunday Jun 5 2011, 01:25 AM
Going way, way, way back I can remember playing with Legos cockgobbleing Star Trek TNG lolz

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whoozwah
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NamelessFragger
Tuesday Mar 13 2012, 09:45 AM
It has to be 4:3 or 5:4? Good luck with that...as it stands, it's difficult to find even 16:10 monitors.

The only good 4:3 LCDs I can immediately think of are meant for notebook use and are generally just 12" or so. Rather small for an arcade cabinet, plus you'd have to futz around with connecting it to an LVDS controller board.
yeah. Has to be 4:3 or 5:4. Also 19" if at all possible. Low response time and at least 170 degree viewing angle hori or vert.

How do TFT panels stack up vs. TN or IPS?
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