PRIMAL RAGE... (er I mean primal rage) build

[HornheaDD]

Heard from Escape Pod, they said they screwed up and sent me a CP overlay for an actual full size Galaga lol. I'd be tarred and feathered if I did that to an OG Galaga lol.

So they said they are shipping out the updated one soonly, which is nice of em. I've heard bad things about Escape Pod from people on KLOV, but since this isn't like a real project that's going into an arcade to make money, I ain't too worried about the art not being exactly like the original. This is just a for-me project, and its not like I'm turning a 57 Chevy Nomad into an electric car with an air brushed paintjob with a pinup girl. (Ive seen those.. its a travesty).

At any rate, Im happy with the service and product so far. The guy's been attentive and owned up to the mistake so I'm good.

I decided to go ahead and install the credit button, and decided to add the test menu switch. I didn't realize PR had an ON or OFF BIOS menu. I know there's an actual two way switch on the board, but I thought the lines from the harness were one of those momentary types like a standard action button. It took me a few tries to realize that the switch had to remain 'on' to access the test menu.

Also - I swear to god I tried to be careful and make sure that the pattern on the panel matched the lower panel. The way it came in the mail was one solid sheet for the front kick panel and what is called the "J" panel (right under the control panel). So I had to separate them. I even drew on the back several obvious arrows pointing which way it needed to go.
Before I even took the backing off I checked like 5 times to make sure. For real, at least 5 times, I made sure it was oriented right.

And, naturally, I installed it upside down.

"But DD," you might say - "Just flip the J panel around and it will match!"

Yes, thats true - except the credit button and test switch were meant to go at the bottom of the player 1 side to make sure there is room for all the other hardware when the real control panel gets installed.

So its not reversible lol. Fucking idiot. I checked FIVE TIMES!! lol

Anyway, whatever, its fine. Maybe in the future I'll get another print for the J panel and kick panel. But its not the end of the world!

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/1LcCPO-0mtQ?feature=share

 

[HornheaDD]

Welp, its finished. This got sent to the backburner a bit because there were some issues with the CP overlay, so they sent me a new one. And then for some reason yet another new one came in.

So - I know the first thing people will notice is - whats up with the pattern on the control panel? Why is it off center?

Because there's not enough room. This is actually the 2nd CP Ive had to install. The first one I got all ready, centered real nice - but then the HAPP joysticks I went to install prevented the control panel from actually lining up. Player 2 would work fine, but Player 1 would not have enough room. The mount for the stick is too large. I even shaved some of it down to save space, still not enough. I even tried putting in a Sanwa stick to test and even it was too close to the edge to let the CP be mounted.

So I ended up getting a 2nd control panel, and used the 2nd overlay I got to install it. After humming and hawing about what I should do, I thought - well, its gonna look weird, but this is the best I can do with the Arcade1Up control panel's size. There is another option. One of the first people I was talking to about an art set told me there is a 3D printable mount you can put together that will allow a larger control panel to be installed, which would give the CP a bit more height, and room for the sticks to sit comfortably.

Overall, I'm happy with the outcome. Im a tiny bit bummed that the CP doesn't look centered, but if I had the art scaled down to actually have it nice and centered, the sticks and buttons would look really out of place, and would likely overlap the button labels.

At this point, I'm ok with it. Its not gonna be sold, its just gonna sit in my office and I'm probably the only one that will end up playing it so its not all bad. This was a bit of a headache having to deal with getting the artwork. Most if not all places will charge you for the design if its not something that is continually sold or in demand, which is understandable for sure. But even when I would reply and ask how much the charge was, the places would ghost me.

The only one that came through and had the design mostly set up and didn't charge to modify the CP overlay was EscapePod. I know some people have issues with them and their quality, but this works fine for me. I had a pleasant experience with them, and they came through and fixed an issue even though they messed up something.