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Help the new guy plan his first cocktail cabinet
Marsupial:
I am looking about making my first cabinet; it would be a 3/4" MDF cocktail table. If the wife likes it, I am hoping to progress to the stand-up cabinet after that. lol.
I looked at the pacman and miss pacman tables, will likely make my own model inspired from these.
Any pointers of what I should be looking for in the planing stage? I did read around here quite a bit; but heading into a first project is always... hazardous.
At this point, I am hoping to just throw in the wife's old computer; its for our kids to play one-on-one some classic arcade games. I will want to make the layout to be adjusted in the event we change the computer and/or screen.
My first concerns will be about acquiring the proper sticks and buttons; I would like to avoid newbie mistakes and not order the crapiest things from ebay thinking I am making a sweet deal... what should I look for? how do I choose sticks and buttons? Every single ones I've saw seemed great, and I have read a lot of things on the forums...
Thanks for any upcoming tips.
NOP:
you can't really go wrong with the U360's for sticks. buttons are (to me) pretty much all the same, as long as they are arcade buttons anyway.
are you going to use a standard 19" arcade monitor, or are you putting an LCD or 19" computer monitor in? that could have an impact on the number of buttons and sticks you might want to have on your machine, as with the computer monitor, you could now play more games, which could require more controls.
javeryh:
I wouldn't try and reinvent the wheel - look HERE for the detailed cabinet plans and go from there unless you are a woodworking ninja and want to do something out of the box. :cheers:
Turnarcades:
--- Quote from: javeryh on April 26, 2010, 10:57:12 am ---I wouldn't try and reinvent the wheel - look HERE for the detailed cabinet plans and go from there unless you are a woodworking ninja and want to do something out of the box. :cheers:
--- End quote ---
Agreed. Cocktail builds can be a little trickier as you have to ensure cabinet balance, height, strength and more importantly, fit of your components.
You will also need to ensure mounting strength (if using a CRT monitor - using an LCD is not reccommended unless you can be sure of it's viewing angles first), the logistics of gameplay (ie. do you want the monitor to rotate and are you interested in simultaneous co-op play as the game choice will be limited depending on your design) and also the setup of the software (if building an 'end-to-end' design you need to set up the front-end and games to flip/rotate accordingly).
Good luck with the build and whatever you do, ensure you don't scrimp on the controls and interfaces. I've said it many times before but the controls and the way it plays will ultimately make or break a good cabinet build.
Marsupial:
Thanks for the reply guys.
I will need some help when it comes to controls, to ensure there's no blocks. I have seen a lot of posts talking about harnesses... and its making me confused :(
Where should I look to decide "where to buy" when it comes to the sticks and buttons? Also, what's with the 4 VS 8 directions sticks? I tought all we needed was a 4 direction stick.
You might be right, maybe I should just stick to the proven design of the Pac Man table; prevent bad surprises and all.
At this point I have an VGA monitor that I'll at least use for the testing phase, but would very much like a "real" monitor if I can get my hands on one. Is there any valid sources for those in the Montreal area? I have seen some auctions in Toronto, but that's not "close" for us; its as far as New York City.
I might be in for trying to locate an old cabinet for the next project...
Looking trough mikes arcade, the super joystick - reminds me of the joysticks we had when I played my Commodore 64; great times. :) is that a good choice?
http://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=SJOY
altough I might want my arcade cabinet to remind me the arcades, not the computer games. lol.
But seriously, I don't quite know what specs to look for the joystick. :(
Also, what's the pros and cons of getting pre-made CPs?
I feel like this set is an interesting deal:
http://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=CPCTSET12