My Supergun Box of Doom

[MottZilla]

So I made this Supergun awhile back, then I finally actually put it into a box. But not just any box, but a HUGE box. The reasoning behind this was that I wanted my PCB currently being played to be protected and enclosed due to idiots that roam around here who would possibly cause damage.

Pics:
http://ninjagaiden4.thegaminguniverse.com/SG/SG1.JPG
http://ninjagaiden4.thegaminguniverse.com/SG/SG2.JPG
http://ninjagaiden4.thegaminguniverse.com/SG/SG3.JPG
http://ninjagaiden4.thegaminguniverse.com/SG/SG4.JPG
http://ninjagaiden4.thegaminguniverse.com/SG/SG5.JPG
http://ninjagaiden4.thegaminguniverse.com/SG/SG6.JPG

So, it's pretty big taking up a good deal of floor space. But it's got 15pin d-sub connectors like the NeoGeo and the controllers are wired like the NeoGeo too. It outputs RGB through a VGA style 15pin d-sub for my Sony RGB monitor. There are two spaces on that plate in the back for S-Video and maybe Composite video from a JROK encoder if I ever bother with that. Seems silly since I got the monitor. The top as you can see is hinged to make putting in boards easily.

I had originally planned on having a shelf above the one you see to either have two boards at once or to more easily have games that have a seperate sound board like Mortal Kombat. But there isn't enough room to work with on the sides really, and I've figured I could mount the boards on their sides to fit more than one board or figure something else out since i have alot of room.

As you can also see I haven't gotten around to painting it black like the controller. I was going to but I was so happy and tired after getting everything put together I didn't really want to take it back out to paint. I will one of these days. I have to get some extra button harnesses and put them in the mix later anyway.

My collection hasn't changed lately. I have Marvel Vs Street Fighter, Street Fighter 2 CE, Mortal Kombat 2, a bootleg and no good Mortal Kombat 1, and a NeoGeo with KoF 99 and Metal Slug X.

[PhreQuencYViii]

Snazzy! I like the glow in the dark star by the TV, I have a few of those floating around my room too, lol.

[AnalogWinter]

Pretty cool. :thumbsup: You should put some casters on that thing, would make it much easier to move around.

I was thinking, you could cut the front and create a door that folds down. This would make it easier to remove the boards and hook up the jamma connector. Then like you said, mount the boards vertically. Make each board holder removable via rails. You could probably get 3 or 4 depending on the size of them.

If you really wanted to go crazy, you could get a jamma selector and leave a few boards hooked up at the same time.


^_^_^

[8bitplus]

Is it strong enough to sit on? Just add a cusion to the top to make it into the arcade chair.
Looks good. Are you going to paint it?

[graciano1337]

i would cover that in stickers. that's a pretty cool box i must say.

[3do]

That is a nice box but i think its a bit blank. A paint or something would make it look better.

[alphagamer]

OMG, whereas the G stands for GUN

nice one, looks sturdy :thumbsup:

[MottZilla]

I do have alot of glow in the dark things all over the walls. I don't remember where I got them or why but I had them so I put them all over. The only ones that make sense are the ones by the light switch.

Right now the top just swings open for changing the PCB board which is pretty nice I think. It would be harder if I had a door in the front because it would be a narrow opening unless I don't understand you right. I have thought about the rail idea and having many boards mounted in there at once vertically. Sometime I'll figure out the best way for me to do it as it would be nice if I could have more than one game ready to go at once.

Yes the box is probably strong enough for most people to sit ontop of it. And yes, I plan to paint it black to match the controller. It seems I'm not the only one that thinks it's plain/unfinished appearance means I should paint it someday.

I do have a second controller built too, but it's currently wired to a ps1 controller and through a usb adapter (so it could be used on PC) but that's going to change soon. Especially fast if I get any of the kick harnesses I need. I need CPS2, CPS1 SF2, and Mortal Kombat II. I also need to figure out a good way to connect button 4 to button 6 for NeoGeo as I hate the L layout with 1 and 4, KoF is better if you have 3 and 4 close together.

The box is pretty sturdy, I've thought about putting handles on it to help move it around but the vent holes work almost as well. There are two circular holes on the PCB shelf's level mainly because the CPS2 has a fan and I wanted it to blow the air out rather than mindlessly around the case.

I appreciate the comments and suggestions. =) Vertical mounting like they do in cabinets is probably what I'll do eventually. The main thin holding back my will to work more on this now is the lack of the kick harnesses for my competitive games like KoF 99, MK II, SF2, and MshVsSF. As you see in the picture I have a hacked up floppy drive cable which did kinda work for CPS2. The problem is that I didn't really know what the real pinout was, and the connector had to be messed with alot to fit and so it's not very stable. I just wish kick harnesses didn't cost as much as they do.

[AnalogWinter]

Right now the top just swings open for changing the PCB board which is pretty nice I think. It would be harder if I had a door in the front because it would be a narrow opening unless I don't understand you right. I have thought about the rail idea and having many boards mounted in there at once vertically. Sometime I'll figure out the best way for me to do it as it would be nice if I could have more than one game ready to go at once.

You could add a hinged side, leaving the top hinged. This is the only pic I could find, but it explains my idea. The lid opens and then you can fold down the front panel.

Then make rails and slide the boards into the box, instead of having to put them in through the top. This would also make it much easier to access the connections and board options (DIPS, pots, etc).




^_^_^

[MottZilla]

Oh that makes much more sense with the picture. I'll keep that in mind if I need to create more access to the boards. Thanks.

[retro]

That's a huge beast!

Yeah, it would look good with some art. Maybe a cushion on top ;-) hehe.

When you said box of doom, I was expecting this:



Maybe you should paint it like that? ;-)

EDIT:

OK, so I got bored and came up with this:

click for pic

Now THAT is a Box of Doom!!!!! ;-)

[MottZilla]

Retro, you have no idea how funny it is to me that you used that picture because it's the same poster I have on my wall. =) And also that picture looks pretty good too. Unfortunately I don't think I could manage to put that picture on there that well. But seeing that does make me want to put art on it.

I thought when I designed it rather amusingly that it was so big I might be able to use the Marquees for arcade cabinets on it.

[retro]

Yeah, it's pretty damn big!!

Joking aside though, you might well find a poster that you could use. All you'd need to do is apply it with a spray-on glue (I use Spray Mount, I think its made by Scotch - expensive but very good stuff) - you can get it from an arts and crafts shop.

Yeah, you might well get away with using marquee art, too!

Of course, the easiest thing would be to paint it matt black, then apply some kind of vinyl stickers. You could even have those made up by a signwriter/printer.... and that would be another way of doing the Doom thing, perhaps ;-)

[graciano1337]

a cushion on top! that's genius!

[MottZilla]

Well it'll definitely be painted black like the joystick controller when I get around to it. Then after that I think you have a good idea with designing some art and having stuff printed out to decorate it rather than being a plain old black box. I still wish I could find Kick Harnesses cheaper than they are though. It would motivate me more if I knew I could hook up Msh Vs SF or MK2 for some competitive action. It's hard to play those games when buttons can't be pressed.

[graciano1337]

i just got a power supply for my supergun. i'm so excited. i just need to get some games now...

[MottZilla]

Make sure to find a relatively cheap but fun game for your first test! You don't wanna buy some 200$ game and plug it into an untested Supergun.

[graciano1337]

^^ good advice. thanks.

[retro]

I still wish I could find Kick Harnesses cheaper than they are though.

Make one, then!

They're not that expensive, though...

http://www.arcade-game-sales.com/pro...ss/5610-1.html

You can always ask Swallow, too. They're really good, quite accomodating to requests and have very reasonable prices.

Graciano, definately get a cheap board. Something like a bootleg SF2 board will only set you back about £10-15. That's probably more desirable than a god awful football game, but that's an alternative!! Look to spend £20 tops for a test board ($30).

[Borman]

An actual SF2 board can be had for 30 or 40$ :P