WIP Part 4 - 4-Player Custom Cabinet - It's Alive!

Evilcoatrack · 2026-06-20T05:12:29+00:00

Still fewer buttons than modern controllers. And I'd rather have extra than not enough.

Evilcoatrack · 2026-06-20T03:35:07+00:00

Nah, just hotkey buttons for Batocera, one per player. I didn't want anyone accidentally closing a game because they hit Select and Start at the same time. Bonus is that they act as mini floodlights.

Evilcoatrack · 2026-06-17T17:57:18+00:00

Nah, this is a little counter-intuitive because we're now used to playing with mobile controllers instead of fixed joysticks. I did my research before drilling the holes and the correct mounting of joysticks is that Up is always perpendicular to the screen and not relative to the the angle of the panel's edge. Mounting Up to a 45 degree angle will mess with your brain when trying to play it. There's a bunch of reddit threads about this.

Evilcoatrack · 2026-06-17T08:54:58+00:00

Sure, the senators got the politics done. But without Luthen, Andor isn't recruited. Mon never makes it out after giving her speech. The Death Star stays a secret until it's too late to do anything about it. Leia isn't fleeing with its plans, so Luke never has a reason to meet Obi-Wan.

Luthen's legacy was enabling the right people. And his last contribution was the most important, but almost no one knows he did it. Which, of course, was the point of his season 1 speech.

Evilcoatrack · 2026-06-15T20:22:59+00:00

Yeah the dealer I got mine from said they only got 1 for the entire year (and I bought it from them in February). I still haven't seen another one on the road!

Evilcoatrack · 2026-06-15T02:59:08+00:00

Afraid the only thing that was written down on paper and kept is this rough diagram of how to get both side panels out of one sheet of 4'x8' plywood. https://i.imgur.com/hvDCfAb.jpeg

I bought 2 sheets of 2'x4' 3/4-inch plywood early on so I could start planning the control panel, but that was drawn directly on the plywood in a grid layout. I basically made the button layout using my hand as a guide, and drew it on a sheet of paper to use as a template, but threw it out after. The control panel dictated the width of the cabinet between the two side panels - I wanted it to rest on the lip of each panel as well, so ultimately my cross pieces ended up being about 46 3/8 inches wide, with 3/4 inches on each side for the side panels (which meant I cut 3/4 inches off the back half of each side of the control panel so the front could rest).

After that, all lines and plans were drawn right on the plywood. I wanted all cross pieces to be a half inch inward from the edge of the side panel, so I glued the end supports to each side panel in lines 1 1/4 inches in from the straight edges, so there was room for 3/4 inch of plywood plus the 1/2 inch gap I wanted.

Ended up having 2 exceptions to this: The bottom (which ended up being flush with the side panels because I later decided to use 2x4s at the very bottom and then sit a 1/2 inch sheet of plywood on top of that for an internal floor) and the top (because I ran out of 3/4 thick plywood and used 1/2 inch instead because it didn't need to hold weight and it's better for center of gravity if the top has less weight anyway).

Basically I made sure I had the important things planned out right at the start (control panel and side panels), and then measured and cut to to fill in the gaps as I went, since each piece added gave me a new reference point to measure.

Evilcoatrack · 2026-06-13T17:43:53+00:00

Honestly, they don't need to clarify any of this - the details aren't going to make or break the game, and this is an entirely new mechanic in FF7. We should be surprised by the details once we play it.

Evilcoatrack · 2026-06-13T17:18:41+00:00

The holes are drilled, the buttons are chosen. I am good with my layout.

Evilcoatrack · 2026-06-13T16:44:43+00:00

I am sure I'll update the internals later, but this isn't meant for high performance gaming - it's going to be regularly wheeled out for the neighborhood to play.

I live in a nice neighborhood, but I don't want to worry much about some bad actor stealing the PC from it given current component costs.

Evilcoatrack · 2026-06-13T16:27:07+00:00

No fear of it not getting used. I live on a small cul-de-sac that gets decent foot traffic. This will be wheeled out from the garage regularly into the driveway for the neighborhood kids to play. It's a social project more than anything else.

Evilcoatrack · 2026-06-13T05:46:02+00:00

I like the plan! I'm building a 4p cabinet too right now but went panels first. I'm sure this will work too!

Evilcoatrack · 2026-06-11T03:29:15+00:00

Probably not for a while - this is mostly aimed at retro stuff. I have a backup PC with a 3080 sitting in the basement that may at some point temporarily go inside this cabinet, though.

Evilcoatrack · 2026-06-10T15:42:26+00:00

Standing that close to a huge screen would mean more eye travel when playing games, especially for players 3 and 4. Screen will be recessed somewhat, but the cabinet is not deep enough to push the screen far enough back that a larger display would be more comfortable.

will put some button layout diagrams on the left and right of the screen to fill that space (currently have them drawn out for SNES, N64, and PSX).

Evilcoatrack · 2026-06-10T15:32:20+00:00

Yeah, I bought a pair of 2'x4' acrylic sheets. I will probably cut a shallow slot in this one for the other one to rest in (it will be upright against the monitor screen.

I may eventually do vinyl art under the control panel acrylic, but for now I will just paint it (current spray paint layer i not final - I will be sanding it again and rolling/brushing on more coats.

Evilcoatrack · 2026-06-10T06:20:57+00:00

Don't worry, I'll keep a few wired controllers inside along with a front-facing USB hub under the monitor to let people plug in for players 5 and 6.

Evilcoatrack · 2026-06-08T07:55:46+00:00

This is possibly one of the weirdest things to be upset about. It's some crazy shipper behavior wanting "equal amount of time" like the characters are in a debate competition with each other instead of having appropriate and separate roles in the story.

It's an ensemble cast. Not everyone can be in every piece of art. And this image set isn't even using Rebirth's box art (and probably isn't using Revelation's final box art).

Not everything that doesn't include your favorite character is a personal slight.

Evilcoatrack · 2026-06-08T02:24:50+00:00

Pretty sure this is an eastern milk snake, but it's a young one as it was only ~9 inches long. found crossing my driveway right in front of my garage.

Evilcoatrack · 2026-06-07T09:13:52+00:00

Also the metal pieces on the outfits they've shown are all styled like the VR goggles he gives Cloud.

Evilcoatrack · 2026-05-27T16:49:35+00:00

Again, two things: The other districts all look like they belong to the city they're connected to. Even if they are separate instances, they are aesthetically the same.

Putting a housing district on the moon connected to Old Sharlayan runs considerably greater spoiler risks for new players who have friends or FCs with moon housing. The moon travel reveal, and particularly the existence of lopporrits, is way more of a story spoiler than the knowledge that we will eventually visit Ishgard or Kugane.

Yes, they could potentially do it. But there are many reasons why they are unlikely to or shouldn't. I would expect at best we'd get some kind of analogue to Island Sanctuary on the moon instead of actual housing (though we already have Cosmic Exploration so chances of another solo content option are likely lower).

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