Defender cabinet cp layout for hyperspin

[jilted]

I got my hands on another Defender cabinet.  It was not even close to as nice as the one I restored a couple years ago.  Graphics painted over, wiring was a mess, was converted to Perfect Billiard (I have the board if anyone is interested), no marquee, no monitor, original panel hacked up for perfect billiard, etc.  Has some water damage on the bottom and top, but not real bad.

This one is going to be my Hyperspin machine and will probably live in my garage.
My restored defender is in my home office ()

I'm trying to decide what to do about the control panel.  I have been toying with the idea of multiple panels since the Defender panel is small but easy to duplicate.  Panels I would be making would include 2 player fighter, spinner trackball combo, and maybe a 2 player smash tv one with 4 sticks!  If I do that, i want to move all the "standard buttons" to the cabinet since I will always need those.  Buttons like credits, P1, P2, ESC, Pause, pinball flippers, etc.

I have been browsing ultimarc and for the main panel, the 2p fighter one, I was considering 2x Ultrastik360's and since they each support up to 8 buttons, I was going to put 8 Goldleaf pushbuttons.  I like the idea of just needed 2 USB connections for to connect that panel to the PC.  I also was thinking that since the sticks had no microswitches, I  may as well try the buttons without them as well.

The "standard buttons" that I am thinking about mounting to the main cabinet, I would get an ipac for those and also wire up the coin door since it's right there and I have traced out the wires for it.  Just so I can put a quarter in if I want to.

Anyway, I know this image isn't to scale, I am just trying to get an idea of what I am going to do.  The other reason is to get input from here.

thanks!
-stephen

[DaveMMR]

Swappable panels are a good idea; sticking some "all-in-one" on a Defender would not fit or play very well otherwise. Though reconsider the buttons on the front of the cab. It's going to look like the cab has "measles" (as one internet commentator described a cabinet with a similar front-buttons.) Maybe consider putting a strip above the control panel with the common buttons. It looks a heck of a lot better and you won't accidentally exit a game if you lean forward too much.

Next: you don't really need "coin" buttons - you have a decent coin door there. Rig the rejects with a micoswitch so you can just push it in. It'll look a heck of a lot nicer and it'll impress guests.

As an aside: In my "very early" planning stages I'm strongly considering swappable panels as well but I'm going the route of just repeating the start buttons on each panel for purely aesthetic reasons - I never liked the look of excessive "off-the-panel" buttons. Buttons are cheap anyway. But that's just me. 

[jilted]

thanks.

My main concern is the usable space on the panel.  There really isn't much vertical space when you look from underneath.  Not to mention the panel goes all the way up to the bezel so there is no area above the control panel.  Also, I should have mentioned that the colors I was using in the picture was just so you can see the locations.  Any buttons I put on the cabinet will be black.  I thought about the coin reject idea but I have only found one hack for that so far and it was pretty shotty.  I do plan to light them back up.  I was hoping to find an insert for them that says FREE instead of .25 hehe.

Also, the underneath buttons, my plan was to use the original Defender switch to kill power to an internal power strip for a "full shutdown" instead of always unplugging it.  Well, maybe update that to a DPST switch to totally kill AC power to the rest of the cab.  I am going to convert the coin door lights to 12v LEDs (like my Defender) and I was going to use LED strip light for behind the marquee so everything can be powered from the 12v rail from the PC's PSU.  I'm an LED strip light junky.  I have them all over!  :-)

For the marquee I think I am going with the Defender style one

I do need some input on speakers, but that really hijacks my own thread.

[mcseforsale]

Re-purposing stuff is excellent.  I love that.  Imagine all the other poor machines that got a ride to the landfill, never to be played again.   


AJ

[RetroACTIVE]

Hyperspin is great... you really don't need extra buttons for that front end.  It's well designed to use the standard joystick and it's associated buttons.

IMHO 2 sticks and 6 buttons each are the absolute max here... that is if you want to play beat-em-ups.  If you don't care about those then 3 buttons each.  I'm guessing by your pic you do want them

[jilted]

Hey there Retro!  My BYOAC mentor! 

I'm mostly interested in the classic arcade games, but the last games I got into in the arcade were Killer Instinct and KI2.  I have to be able to play those properly.  I do enjoy most of the 2p fighter games though.  The initial layout was based off measuring the space needed on my x-arcade stick.  It has 8 buttons per stick.  Also because the u360's have 8 inputs.  Seems silly to waste 1 per stick!  The more I think about it, The more excited I get about making a 2 player Smash TV controller.  As far as the "other buttons" I just figured it would be handy to have an ESC if I am screwing around with random stuff, and I have been utilizing the pause feature for as long as I have been playing with mame.

[RetroACTIVE]

Well the U360 does support 8 buttons I think it's likely you would use at max 6 for play 1 for credit and 1 for start per player.  If you are going to add anymore buttons you may opt to throw an IPAC in there.

It's soooo tempting to fill it up but less is more...  one shift button can do wonders  if you have a nicely illustrated CPO. 

Use a wireless keyboard for all the other MAME dashboard stuff.

[jilted]

**  Long post, lots of info.  thanks in advance for any input!  **


OK!  So after a long delay, I finally scored a 19" CRT for the cabinet!  That (and work) were my holdups for this project.  I really didn't want to put an LCD in it.  I ended up finding a wells gardner d9500 series with no burn in.

SO...... back to the control panel.

I still want to take advantage of the ease of replacing the cp on a defender cab and be able to have multiple ones.  Even though I will probably only use the "fighter" setup and maybe for a second panel, a dual smash tv one!  A third would probably be a single stick/spinner/trackball one.

My mind still changes over and over but I keep coming back to putting the "default" buttons on the cab itself and not the panel to keep things uncluttered.  To do that I'm figuring I'll need a multi encoder setup.  one for the cabinet itself, and one for the panel (unless I use ultrastiks).

I'm still learning so feel free to call me out on anything or provide input because I don't know best!

For the cabinet buttons, I understand that if I use ipac's i can use shift functions for extra buttons but if I use ultrastiks, I won't necessarily have an ipac on the panel itself. Here's what I am thinking for cabinet buttons:
a.  P1 and P2
b.  coin1 and coin2 (is coin 2 really necessary?)  ((also I may do the coin return hack))  (((also the actual coin mechs work too so why not connect those also)))
c.  I like the idea of a dedicated esc and pause since for instance, I may not have any buttons on a dual smash tv stick.  (I'm still a newb on hyperspin but I believe it supports esc via certain button combinations right?)
d.  pinball flippers and bumps

For the first panel (fighter style)
a.  2 sticks
b.  at least 6 buttons for each player.
c.  maybe a spinner?  seems like one could fit.

I did find a fighter panel online (see attachment) that someone did on a defender cabinet that actually included a trackball.  So a dual fighter alone should fit fine and actually be fairly comfortable.  Keep in mind that most probably the only other player will be a 3 year old haha!  I doubt I will be having a anyone over that will care to play.


Ok now on to hardware... the panel is 3/4" think so I know that is something to take into consideration.

Since I was considering ultrastiks, I was also considering goldleaf buttons for a full no click experience.  also, since the ultrastiks support button inputs, no encoder required.  good/bad idea?

The other consideration so far is a mag stick plus so I can get the true 4 way feel also.  I am not a woodworker, is it easy to make these sticks work fine on a think panel?  If I go that route, standard microswitch buttons and an ipac on the panel for full click experience.

Feel free to make other recommendations as well thanks!

[PL1]

b.  coin1 and coin2 (is coin 2 really necessary?)  ((also I may do the coin return hack))  (((also the actual coin mechs work too so why not connect those also)))

There are a few games like Gauntlet and TMNT where the coin slot used determines which player receives the credit.

You can wire the original coin mech switch in parallel with a switch behind the coin reject.

That way, you can coin up by using a token or pressing the coin reject.

c.  I like the idea of a dedicated esc and pause since for instance, I may not have any buttons on a dual smash tv stick.  (I'm still a newb on hyperspin but I believe it supports esc via certain button combinations right?)
d.  pinball flippers and bumps

If you're using more than one encoder, you shouldn't need shifted functions unless you really want them.

For lots of good info on pinball flippers and nudge, Use BYOAC's search for posts with "flippers" or "MagnaSave" by author "PL1" -- lots of good info including wiring tips.

Don't forget to include a plunger/ball launch (enter) button as well.

+1 on the Goldleaf buttons, especially for the flippers.


Scott