First Cabinet project - Fortunes Whim

[Hammerfist]

Sheesh..I'm looking forward to tomorrow, since tomorrow I'll know the direction which my first cabinet project will take! Tomorrow I'll know If a local company has any older cabinets left, which I can buy/get for free..When I called them the first time, the guy told me, that I should have called two weeks earlier, since they had taken a huge amount of old cabinets to the recycling center to be destroyed!!! Well, they are moving their warehouse and he told me that they might still have something left. I'll make sure to rescue every one of them! Anyhoo, the result will determine if I'll construct the cabinet from ground up or if I'll use the exterior (and possibly interior, depening on the condition) as a starting point. Of course, if they have some cabinets that are either fully working or need some repairs to keep in their original condition, then that's what I'll do, and make a new one from ground up for emulator usage. Thumbs up..

[Noclass_Nick]

Well i surpose if you can pick em up for cheap and even if you dont use them you can resell them on for a bit of profit Keep em for the people who want them and save them from being destroyed.

[Hammerfist]

Yeah, was thinking those options, but I just called them and they told me that nothings going on now and I should call them august...yeah right. Well on upnote, now I know that I'll build it from scratch!

[Hammerfist]

Decided to mostly follow Onds instructions with the cabinet design and building. Now I'm waiting for the MDF and ordered some tools. We'll see where it goes from here. I'm really excited! Dunno which router bits I need though, so I need to do some searching around the forum/internet. I'll update this when I have some actual footage to share

[Hammerfist]

yeah true. I was just thinking how many joysticks and buttons and whatnot I could have salvaged..

Anyhoo, here is my current plan on my CP (updated 26.6.2012) The buttons at the bottom sides are for pinball. What do you think about the overall placement? Take note, that the placement is not precise, just an approximate to get the overall picture. It would need some action buttons, like a start button etc.  I'm trying to keep it tidy and looking good, so no Frankenpanels for me . I'm not sure about the spinner positioning yet. Should I have buttons with the spinner? The stick at the top left is for permanent 4-way, but since I'm most likely opting for magstik plusses, it might not be needed. This is also where I would like to hear user opinions (whether or not to have a dedicated 4-way when having magstik plusses, if it's worth it). Trackball of course needs to have enough room to go crazy with .

1. I have now added admin buttons, but I'm still wondering about the mouse buttons. Is there any other usage for a third button in the middle, other than as a third mouse button?
2. I'll be adding the 4/8-way servo switching system for player 1 and 2, so is there any good reason to still have a dedicated 4-way joystick as seen in the pic at top?

Older version with dedicated 4-way: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/541823/arcade/radcade_cp_pic_ver02.PNG

[Hammerfist]

Any comments on the questions? Thanks! 

[PL1]

The buttons at the bottom sides are for pinball. What do you think about the overall placement?

Try putting the flipper buttons about 4" from the front edge and 2" from the top edge.
This will allow your thumb and 1/2 of your palm to rest on the top and let your fingers reach the buttons. 

If you place the ball launch button 2 1/2" from the right and 1 1/2" from the top, you can launch the ball with your right thumb while keeping your fingers on the flippers.

Try this on a cardboard box first to fine tune the exact layout for your hands.

The only thing I would add is another flipper button on each side, located about 5 1/2" from the front edge and 2" from the top edge.  This second flipper button will be for upper flippers and Magnasave.  Some tables have separate upper flipper controls like the Family Guy table with Stewie's playfield, while others have Magnasave.  The good news is that I can't think of any tables that use both the upper flippers and Magnasave.  You can just wire left-upper-flipper and left-Magnasave together and trigger both keypresses ("A" and "L-Ctrl") with one button. Same on the right. (Apostrophe and "R-Ctrl")

Assuming that you're running Visual Pinball or Future Pinball:
Wire the left flipper in parallel with Player 1 Button 4. (L-Shift)
Wire ball launch in parallel with the Enter admin button. (Enter)
Wire the left Magnasave/upper flipper in parallel with Player 1 Button 1 and Player 2 Button 1(L-Ctrl and A)

1. I have now added admin buttons, but I'm still wondering about the mouse buttons. Is there any other usage for a third button in the middle, other than as a third mouse button?

Admin and mouse button choices look excellent as is.  No need for the middle mouse button.


Scott

EDIT: Just realized that when I posted in this thread, I forgot to attach the diagram for how to wire P1B1 and P2B1 in parallel to one button for left upper flipper/Magnasave while still allowing them to operate independently.



My apologies if this has caused any frustration or difficulties.   

[Hammerfist]

Thanks for the info Scott! Much appreciated.

I'm considering removing some of the admins since I'm gonna use an I-pac, but the current setup seems quite balanced.

Now if someone could collaborate on the need for the dedicated 4-way. Thanks!

[PL1]

I'm considering removing some of the admins since I'm gonna use an I-pac, but the current setup seems quite balanced.

If you like your current setup, you don't need to remove any admin buttons.

Don't let the admin-button-hating-Nazis  force you into doing something that's not what YOU want.  I have all the same buttons as your setup because I prefer not having to explain the P1 Start + joystick functions to guests.  They can look at my panel and see a quarter, a one player icon, a red octagon with "ESC", etc. and know how it works with not more than one less-than-5-second explaination.

If you want to add the 2nd flipper buttons with the I-PAC and keep all your current admin buttons, you can remap P1 Button 8 to Apostrophe and P2 Button 8 to "R-Ctrl". Then change your MAME default settings to reflect that.

Now if someone could collaborate on the need for the dedicated 4-way. Thanks!

Since you are doing auto-switching 4/8-ways, the only reason I can think of for having a dedicated 4-way is if you've GOT to have a physically restricted diagonal 4-way for Q-Bert because you can't hit the diagonals correctly.
In other words, not needed unless you REALLY want it.


Scott

[Hammerfist]

right on! Good point with the "explaining" part. Good stuff, thanks! Yeah, Q-Bert came to mind today earlier, but that's about it..I guess it would eventually be just a "fashion" statement . In the sketch it does balance the panel though. I have to give it some final thoughts..

Ok, now to thinking about the wiring..and the color/theme of the whole thing. Kind of difficult to order controls when you don't know the color of the theme yet .

Thanks!

[PL1]

Final thought: If you adjust the artwork/layout to get rid of the dedicated 4-way stick, consider putting the admin buttons on one line and grouping them similar to this. (Adjusted to reflect your specific choices, of course) Some people prefer to swap the P2 Coin and P2 Start locations.

This puts space between the player functions and the general admin buttons and reduces the chances of hitting the wrong button.


Scott

[shponglefan]

yeah true. I was just thinking how many joysticks and buttons and whatnot I could have salvaged..

Anyhoo, here is my current plan on my CP (updated 26.6.2012) The buttons at the bottom sides are for pinball. What do you think about the overall placement? Take note, that the placement is not precise, just an approximate to get the overall picture. It would need some action buttons, like a start button etc.  I'm trying to keep it tidy and looking good, so no Frankenpanels for me . I'm not sure about the spinner positioning yet. Should I have buttons with the spinner? The stick at the top left is for permanent 4-way, but since I'm most likely opting for magstik plusses, it might not be needed. This is also where I would like to hear user opinions (whether or not to have a dedicated 4-way when having magstik plusses, if it's worth it). Trackball of course needs to have enough room to go crazy with .

1. I have now added admin buttons, but I'm still wondering about the mouse buttons. Is there any other usage for a third button in the middle, other than as a third mouse button?
2. I'll be adding the 4/8-way servo switching system for player 1 and 2, so is there any good reason to still have a dedicated 4-way joystick as seen in the pic at top?

I'd move the admin buttons (mainly the exit button) away form the P2 coin/start buttons.  Too much chance someone will hit it by accident.

[Hammerfist]

New version with added and repositioned pinball buttons and reorganized admin, player and coin buttons:



I have a good feeling about this, after seeing that the admin buttons don't seem to bother the overall aesthetics of the CP, being where they now are . I might set the admins to be more in the middle of mouse and 1p coin/play buttons though. That will be easier to see when I've made the cardboard test. Big thanks for the all the input thus far!!!  Of course I'm more than willing to hear more suggestions and comments 

[PL1]

Looks like this is coming together quite nicely.

Are you sure that you will have enough clearance so the pinball buttons don't hit P1 joystick/P2 buttons?  Some wiggle room might be good in case the buttons you get are a little longer than your template.

Would you prefer the line of admin buttons (or maybe just the mouse buttons) to be in line with the center of the spinner?

Either way, the spinner and line of buttons looks just a little high on the panel IMHO.

Keep up the great work.


Scott

[Hammerfist]

New version:


I reorganized the player 1 and 2 buttons, since I had accidently used the template of player 2 config that I had printed out, instead of P1 (both have P1 config now). Also made sure the measurements are now correct.

Also moved the top row buttons lower (thanks for the tip Scott ). I'll check the final spinner positioning once I get the parts.

About the pinball buttons: Since there is now just the right amount of space between the trackball and P2 joystick (for going crazy), I can't move P1 or P2 any more to the center. BUT, it is very true that I need more room for the pinball buttons (thanks again Scott ). So I think I need to make the CP a bit wider. This I will also check once I've had my parts to try the cardboard mock up with.

Thanks for the help everyone! This is coming along nicely. Also had a nice idea to add to the 4/8 -way switching system, but that's a secret until I have something to show

Now if I just could make my mind on the colors/theme..