Welcome to Woodonics Arcade !    

This project is to create a Real Wood Arcade with an Intellivision theme with a Simple interface. Starting in 2003 it has slowly  progressed and continues to be tweaked and altered to meet these goals. June 2008 marks its 5th Birthday and it has started to  receive a major software/hardware overhaul. If you have any comments/questions please post in the Blog on the left or email me at woodonics@zoomshare.com.

These two pics are from its second configuration some time in early 2006. Note the cabinet doors where the Marquee should be and the nice unpainted pine interior.

The pic below taken in 2006 ( third configuration) after major alterations to the Marquee and  with the interior painted. Note the two players beta testing the Windows ME software setup and playing 1944.

More testing below, again in 2006 , but this time with Super Burgertime.

Picture below represents  the Coin-Ups newly installed in 2006. Note the Similac can to collect quarters and the large Windows ME computer which both have now been replaced. Also the speakers where soon moved from down below to behind the Marquee. The speakers produced a muffled sound in the original location due to the thickness of the wood.

The Pic below shows my first attempt at a Arcade Interface using Windows ME (altered with 98lite)and Mame32 . Effective and simple but uncool.

Pic below is my unique attempt at controls. Using the I-Pac from Ultrimarc I embedded the buttons/joysticks into solid wood. (2X4 pine glued together). This makes for a very rugged problem free control interface. Unless your 2 year child gets underneath a pulls at the wires. But I never thought of that at the time.  

 

Pic below:  More testing . This time its Burger Time.

Another shot below taken in 2006 (third configuration) but prior to the Coin-Ups being installed.  

Pac-Man ... Need I say More.

The screenshot below was taken when I was exploring my options. I complicated the Arcade by installing a TV card/ NES emulator /SNES emulator and a DVD player. All nice things but they didn't belong in Woodonics Arcade. They are more suitable for a desktop PC therefore I trimmed the fat in 2007 and they were the first to go.  

See Below: Another Unique way of hiding the keyboard and mouse by having the entire control panel on cabinet sliders. Note the hiden keyboard compartment.  

Testing Defender back in 2006 . What cool sounds.

This is my second software interface. Still using Windows ME and Mame 32  but with different font and color scheme. But it still didn't work for me.

 In Honor of Woodonics 5^th Birthday this this year (2008)  I decided to do a major software and hardware overhaul.  Although far from perfect , the physical cabinet and controls still look and play well, although unfinished details still remain on the marquee, I thought it best not to get out my skill saw.   

But the software on the other hand has been a bone on contention for  me from day one. Not being satisfied (& both tired and bored) with my clunky Windows ME and Mame 32 setup I decided to look for something more efficient and sleek. Something simple and single purpose. 

  And what could be more single purpose than DOS .

That’s right DOS.  So I explored my DOS options and did some experimenting which resulted in a DOS 7 Operating system, MAME .100, Game Launcher front end, and an old  Dell computer with an ISA slot (so I could use a DOS compatible ISA Sound Blaster Card).

 

   

Downgrading from Windows to DOS (as absurd as it sounds)  works well for an Arcade. DOS & GLauncher provides a quick seamless interface that allows one to more immerse themselves in game play and also adds to the illusion that this is an Arcade and not a computer.  DOS is both dated and timeless, just like the classic Arcade Games themselves.

 

 

But it was a lot of work and took a few weeks, researching DOS commands, setting up drivers, finding the right hardware, editing autoexec.bat/config.sys files, and configuring and tweaking the system/ MAME and Game Launcher to work with games.

 

 Here is a quick shot of the Game Launcher Front End. Note each game has a screenshot viewed in  the background as you scroll through the game titles. Also MP3’s are played in the background as you scroll through the game list.  I set it to play music from the 1980’s.

Here is a pic of LCARS24 running on Woodonics.  This is a unique piece of DOS software I found that is made in the style of the Library Control And Retrieval System as seen on the Star Trek the Next Generation. (It is still in active development) I  use this as a very cool screensaver when not using Mame.  Its default setting is a clock and calendar which  has a very nice appearance.  LCARS24 also contains a large collection of well designed applications, Word Processor, Editor, Chess Game, Viewer…  etc.    

                                                               


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