Category: Video Games

Your kids and their friends want to play Minecraft together in their own world without strangers. Here’s what you do. Install – Choose a computer to run the server.  I don’t recommend running the server on the same computer as the Minecraft client. – Just like with the Minecraft client, you need the latest version […]

Future Work Obviously I need to integrate the control boxes better, but I have no immediate plans to do so. I can’t decide if I want to keep the boxes and make them blend better, or just build a new control panel and transfer the parts… I also want to figure out how to put […]

Cosmetics First, I painted the monitor housing and speakers black. I removed the case entirely from the monitor. On the speakers I just masked off parts I didn’t want to paint. I used gloss black spray paint designed for plastic. I used a couple of different brands (on accident) and it worked equally well on […]

Power and Volume Control I bought a “replacement power cord” that goes from the wall to some bare wires. I suppose one could cut up a regular extension cord for the same purpose but this was cheaper. This cord goes to an electrical box in the lower part of the cabinet that houses a dual […]

Fitting in the PC Just after getting the cabinet, I found a used 21″ SVGA monitor to contribute to the project. I put a shelf in the cabinet–I think I just reused the one the previous owner used for the TV. The PC sits on a shelf in the cabinet while the power strip and […]

Previously I built a set of arcade controls for playing arcade games on my PC. I intended to use them in front of a TV and so I hooked my PC up to the TV and stereo. I quickly realized this setup was uncomfortable on the floor and on the coffee table. Next I moved […]

Wiring took a LONG TIME. I cut and stripped a bunch of wires, then attached spade connectors to them (to connect to the terminals on the microswitches). The KE72-T didn’t come with a cable to attach the mouse buttons, so I made my own from crimp-fit female connectors and hot glue. I connected player 2′s […]

I learned a few things. (1) I suck at woodworking. (2) Plywood, even the fancy oak-veneer stuff, just doesn’t work well for this type of project. (3) Routers throw up enough sawdust to leave a 1/4″ layer on everything within a 15ft radius. I bought a cheap router, hoping I can build things with it […]

I never made a formal plan. I cut out pieces of paper with the same size and shape as the footprints of the controls, then moved them around a large piece of paper until I got what I wanted. I transferred this to a sheet of wood and started cutting! What I ended up with […]

My keyboard encoder is the Hagstrom KE72-T. It offers 72 “ghost proof” inputs and an interface that converts trackball signals into PS/2 mouse signals. It also offers keyboard pass-through and easy programming. The guys at Hagstrom are pretty helpful as well. They are starting production of the “IOX36″ terminal blocks for the KE72 and threw […]