NEO GEO Evolution (EVS-1) - Experimenting with DIY trackball

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Gatsu:
Dude that is looking seriously awesome! Great work so far. Keep it up! :cheers:

Procyon:
This looks incredible, I'm really impressed. I'm also pleased to see someone else using the 4-3 button layout instead of the 3-3-1, which is what drew me to this thread. BadMouth, I'm curious about one thing.

You mentioned that you ultimately set your buttons up as:

--- Code: ---1 2 3 7
4 5 6
--- End code ---

Had you considered linking D and X to the same button? So that it would be:

--- Code: ---1 2 3 4
4 5 6
--- End code ---

In my experience, this requires no custom input mapping for either Capcom or Neo Geo games. If you considered this and decided against it, what were your reasons? What advantage does keeping them separate provide? Thanks very much.

BadMouth:

--- Quote from: Procyon on July 31, 2014, 12:11:33 pm ---You mentioned that you ultimately set your buttons up as:

--- Code: ---1 2 3 7
4 5 6
--- End code ---

Had you considered linking D and X to the same button? So that it would be:

--- Code: ---1 2 3 4
4 5 6
--- End code ---

In my experience, this requires no custom input mapping for either Capcom or Neo Geo games. If you considered this and decided against it, what were your reasons? What advantage does keeping them separate provide? Thanks very much.

--- End quote ---

Hadn't considered that, but you're right it wouldn't require remapping either Capcom or Neo Geo games in MAME. I don't see any reason not to do the default mappings that way. :cheers:
For Neo Geo games I actually did map both D and X to button #4 in game. I discovered that I like using my thumb for the fourth Neo Geo button instead.
I wouldn't actually wire the buttons together though because of PC/Steam games. Although you can get by with 6 buttons for the fighting games currently available, the 7th one does come in handy. I use D for "tag" consistently throughout games that allow you to switch characters while fighting.

BadMouth:
Had a rough evening yesterday and developed a "screw it, just get it together no matter how half-assed" attitude.
I was in a rush, trying to get done before I had to start mowing the yard in time to finish before dark.
(ended up finishing with some daylight to spare, but in the rain)

All issues were the result of a lack of planning, but when I try to plan out everything I never seem to make it out of the planning stage.

The biggest issue was that the area I routed out for the plastic JLF bodies wasn't deep enough. So I took to it with a dremel and cylinder shaped grinding stone. It worked, but somehow got sawdust between the artwork and plexi so I had to remove all the buttons, clean everything and reassemble. Next, it was discovered that the connectors on the end of the Spark CE PCBs would also need an area routed out, so the process was repeated again. This is stuff I should have tested before applying the artwork. I tested the mounting plates a half dozen times, but never with the joystick body in them. I had an oversized area routed out for the bodies, so I thought I was good. The depth being wrong never crossed my mind.

I was planning on having to rout a curve into the edge of the back CP to get the separate CPs as close together as possible, but it didn't cross my mind that I might also have to cut the curve into the side panel of the cab. I didn't want to do that, so just ended up with a slightly larger gap between them equal to the thickness of the t-molding. Another route would have been to square off the back corners of the CP and just have the t-molding stop at the back of the sides. I thought that would look odd though.

Nothing pretty here. I waited until just before applying the artwork to give in and go with a piano hinge. I wanted to do a completely removable, dowel aligned, lift out setup. Never seemed to find the time to work it out. In my mind, I thought wider piano hinges with two staggered rows of mounting holes were readily available. The selection at the local hardware stores would prove otherwise. To make matters worse, the hinge needed to extend past the edge of the sides, which stuck out farther than the board the hinge is mounted to. this put the mounting holes close to the edge of the piece of MDF they would be screwed into. I drilled new holes closer to the edge. I don't feel very warm and fuzzy about this mounting method, but it feels solid for now. We'll see after a few months of play. I plan to fill in the extra t-molding slot and paint the back edge, but I wanted it playable again first!

The wiring will look better once I throw on some zip ties. It would look a lot better if cut to length, but I'm not going to bother with it.
All the pcbs are screwed down to the bottom of the CP.

For all the things that were screwed up and feel half-assed, the end result when closed looks pretty finished. :)

back to playable! :lol
(not sure why my cell phone camera pics have looked so crappy lately)

Still to do:

> fix controls for all Taito Type X games since switching to xbox360 pcbs (versions I have only supports a controller for player 1 :-\ )
> design a logo for center of speaker shroud (may also end up on side)
> design a "The Future is Now." banner for the moves list holder that matches the rest of the cab artwork
> clean up transitions when launching/exiting some emulators

Cobrawolf:
Great work bud. I've been lurking these forums for a while, but am just starting to read through all builds that I can find. Especially the automated ones.

I love the motor system, as well as the audio design. I'll second or third the fact that I'm going to swipe that air vent idea however.

Can't wait to see the few details trimmed up, and maybe a reveal vid.

Thanks,
-Dave

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