Need Help Deciding on Control Panel

[mytymaus007]

Im ready for my Next Cabinet I Already have a midsize Horizontal monitor Cabinet with hot swapable panels. i have no problem playing mostly every game the correct way Except vertical games. So i decided to make a midsize/mini vertical cabinet. Something along the lines of Ms. Pacman/Galaga Midway Mini Cabinet

http://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=CABMWMINI

I wish I can come to my sense and believe in a 4/8 switchable joystick like the Ultimarc ServoStik. 4-8 way joystick but there is no comparison to the original Ms pacman Leaf switch stick no pun intended Andy. So with that said im thinking Ms pac leaf in the middle and and 8 way for shmups as far to the left as i can place it with buttons on the right side of the 4 way stick. The control panel is less then 24 inches wide roughly. So basically ill be running 4 way vertical games plus pacmame which has alot of pacman hacks over (250) and 8 way verticals. As for the buttons on the right side not sure how many is sufficent for shmups. Also whats a good stick for shmups, i love competions for most but not sure for this cab. What everyones opinon? I would rather not build 2 vertical cabinets or have swap panels for this cab!

[shponglefan]

While I haven't tried them yet, Seimitsu sticks tend to get recommended a lot for schmups.  There's a few different models, but based on my research there doesn't seem to be a clear winner as to which individual model is best.

As for number of buttons, I can't think of any schmups that I've played that use more than 2.  Maybe go with 3 to be on the safe side?

[mytymaus007]

thanks any shmup experts out there how many buttons do i need to play all

[mgb]

Nice decision on going with a vertical, most of my favorites are verticals. I would love to build a dedicated vertical cabinet with just one 4-way leaf switch joy and 2 buttons each side.

3 buttons for each player will take care of like all shmups out there.
I believe there is only one that uses 6 buttons.

I know a lot guys reccomend the Seimitsu for shmups, I have never tried them but do plan to. I love my Sanwa JLW with round restrictor and cherry switches from a happ super. its very quiet and handles great. I love it for gyruss

[Well Fed Games]

thanks any shmup experts out there how many buttons do i need to play all

I am sure if you looked hard enough you might find one that requires 4, but 3 will be more than enough for most SHMUPS. For sticks, I am pretty sure I am going to go with Seimitsu LS-56s for my Raiden cab based on the recommendation from someone doing a similar project. LS-32s get a lot of love, too, and I like playing Raiden IV with the one in my HRAP SE for Xbox 360.

[DeLuSioNal29]

You need 3 for shmups. Most use two (shoot and bomb) but some use 3 (ESP Ra.De. comes to mind).

Also classics like Punch Out (GREAT for a vertical machine) uses 3 buttons (left punch, right punch and uppercut)

D

[Unstupid]

Paradise Arcade as a silent (leaf like) JLF stick for sale.... Not sure if it worth the $50 they are asking as I haven't actually tried it yet.

[mytymaus007]

Nice decision on going with a vertical, most of my favorites are verticals. I would love to build a dedicated vertical cabinet with just one 4-way leaf switch joy and 2 buttons each side.

3 buttons for each player will take care of like all shmups out there.
I believe there is only one that uses 6 buttons.

I know a lot guys reccomend the Seimitsu for shmups, I have never tried them but do plan to. I love my Sanwa JLW with round restrictor and cherry switches from a happ super. its very quiet and handles great. I love it for gyruss

Yeh I might just go with 2 hot swap panels then, a 4 way and a 8 way. I dont think ill be able to deal with looking at 2 different ball top on the same panel

[mgb]

Personally, I like how my layout works. I have 2 Sanwa JLWs, with 4 buttons each (because I still play Neo Geos).
My left joy is dedicated 8 way with round gate and my right Joy has a regular square gate from an omni 2. I keep my right joy normally in 4-way mode and I kick it into 8-way mode as needed.

[mytymaus007]

Personally, I like how my layout works. I have 2 Sanwa JLWs, with 4 buttons each (because I still play Neo Geos).
My left joy is dedicated 8 way with round gate and my right Joy has a regular square gate from an omni 2. I keep my right joy normally in 4-way mode and I kick it into 8-way mode as needed.

No Doubt your cab looks good, how wide is your control panel!

[mgb]

its a whopping 23 3/4" wide.
but it works well for all my needs.

[mytymaus007]

its a whopping 23 3/4" wide.
but it works well for all my needs.

Thats great news it actually looks bigger then it is. The cab i want Midway Mini Cabinet is about the same size. Well I can now Put in a pac stik in middle an 8 way on the left and plenty of buttons on both sides of the 4 way plus a spinner, heck maybe ill put in a rotary 8 way for some ikari warriors Nice!

[lettuce]

I believe the Servostik is basically a J-stik which is more or less a Sanwa JLW

[paigeoliver]

Try instead putting both joysticks next to each other and sharing the same button bank. You can install a Ms. Pac-Reunion 4-way and a Wico 8 way on the same panel with the bases actually touching, provided they are set up to play with the left hand and the reunion stick is the leftmost of the pair.

its a whopping 23 3/4" wide.
but it works well for all my needs.

Thats great news it actually looks bigger then it is. The cab i want Midway Mini Cabinet is about the same size. Well I can now Put in a pac stik in middle an 8 way on the left and plenty of buttons on both sides of the 4 way plus a spinner, heck maybe ill put in a rotary 8 way for some ikari warriors Nice!

[rCadeGaming]

Sorry if I'm late to the party here, but this could have helped you out. 

From the shmups forum, 3 pages about how many buttons a vertical cab should have for shmups:

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=43016

Are you still working on this?  Order parts yet?

If you're serious about shmups, an American stick isn't going to cut it.

Here is a mod I made for the Sanwa JLF to make it excellent for shmups:

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=41451

To play shmups properly, you're going to need that or a Seimitsu.

Ok, so the above will work pretty well 4-way games, but if you're that nuts about Pac-Man, you're going to want a dedicated 4-way stick seperate from your shmup stick.  You can fit them on the same panel, as a lot of 4-way games only use one stick for both players.

For a 4-way stick I'd recommend either an authentic 4-way WICO leaf switch stick, or a Seimitsu using a 4-way gate.  The JLF has a 4-way option, but it's not very good.  Someone ought to make a better 4-way restrictor for it...