Custom Wing Commander Arcade Controller

D

djfx

Petty Officer
A while back I had the idea to build an arcade cabinet version of Wing Commander.

After some initial work on the project, I realized I had no place to store such a large gadget in my small house, so I downsized the idea to just the control panel--I can upgrade this to a full cabinet later if I want.

Goals:
  • Able to play WC, WC2, and Privateer without a keyboard--luckily the control schemes of these games overlap.
  • All controls should be clearly labeled so people can play without instruction
  • "Space arcade" look

Here are the results: there are 32 buttons on the panel (most of them backlit), and a display that describes the button assignments on the flight stick--these can be updated by replacing the printed transparency. Flight stick is a CH fighter stick.

Full build blog at: http://danhenley.blogspot.com/p/wing-commander-mini-arcade-cab.html

20170618_111219-1_1497847539132_resized.jpg

20170618_111238-1_1497847539991_resized.jpg


My kids first time playing Wing Commander 1
20170618_171126_1497847548716_resized.jpg
 
Last edited:
Holy sh*t, that is a work of art.

Love that big, green JUMP buton.
 
Genius @djfx, sheer genius. I especially love the End Run cover art on the side.

How easy is it to maintain if say one of the bulbs went out?
 
Whistler said:
Genius @djfx, sheer genius. I especially love the End Run cover art on the side.

How easy is it to maintain if say one of the bulbs went out?
Click to expand...

Thanks, the top panel is easily removed for service, like any arcade machine. I plan on doing my own side art if I should ever scale this up to a full arcade machine, but this iteration just has art ripped from the web--all credit where credits due. ;)

After playing with it for a weekend, I feel it really needs some vibrating feedback on things like afterburner. I may add that next.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top