First time cab build

[mlabrie]

Hi all,

Newbie here first time posting and fist arcade project started.

I have been lurking and ready here for about two months and started by project a couple of weeks ago.  I have some pictures to share, but I can't figure out how to add them to the post.  Maybe I have to post a few times before including pictures?

I have based my project on Knievel's woody cabinet, thank you Knievel for sharing you design.  I will be using pine plywood and staining it a brown-black to match the furniture in our play room.  Using Knievel's slim design and the brown-black staining, i was able to procure a spot in the house.

The computer:
     Dell optiplex 520 3.0Ghz, 8GB ram, 80GB hard drive - dug out from under a desk at work
     Maxtor 750GB usb drive - extra from work
     Dell 7001FP 20" 4:3 monitor - $50 from craigs list

Software
     Windows XP Pro
     Mame 0.148
     Stepmania - for the kids eventually after everything else is done


I am planning on a 2 player control panel with 8-way joysticks and 7 buttons each.  I will also be including a 4-way dedicated joystick, track ball and probably a spinner.  Eventually I will be adding a dance pad, but thats just an external usb plug in so I am not really addressing that now.

I am not big into the fighting games but I think my kids (10 years old) and the neighbor kids will get a kick out of them. My interest lie more in the classics: galaga, defender, centipede, missile command, pacman, digdug, etc.

After reading lots and lots about joysticks and who likes what and who doesn't like what, I originally thought I decided on Happ Competitions for the 8-ways and a zippyy short shaft for the 4-way.  My intention is to nestle a button close to the 4-way for a defender reverse.  I have checked the measurements on the zippyy against the defender panel and I think it works, or is close enough.

As I was looking around I ran across the GGG leaf-pro joystick.  I think this looks really promising for the dedicated 4-way.  Does anybody know the dimensions of the mounting plate for the leaf-pro? Can a button be nestled in close enough for defender?

I am also now thinking about zippyy long shafts for the two 8-ways.  I like the ball top better than the bat tops.  Any thoughts on the zippyys vs. the Happ competitions for the 8-ways?

I intend to use the GP Wiz 40 from GGG as the controller.  Can I wire the 8-way and the 4-way to player one on this controller? or do I need a separate controller to handle the 4-way?  Same question on buttons, if I want to have pinball buttons on the sides, can I wire the pinball buttons to the same place on the controller as some of the buttons on the top of the control panel?

I appreciate any comments, suggestions, critics and I sure I will have many more questions as I go.

Buy the way, this project is the most fun I have had with a hobby project in years.  I get to use my table saw, router, skill say, biscuit cutter, and drill press.  I get to work with computers, outside of work, and 5V, 12V and 120V electricity.

[Drnick]

Hi all,

Newbie here first time posting and fist arcade project started.

The computer:
     Dell optiplex 520 3.0Ghz, 8GB ram, 80GB hard drive - dug out from under a desk at work
     Maxtor 750GB usb drive - extra from work
     Dell 7001FP 20" 4:3 monitor - $50 from craigs list

Software
     Windows XP Pro
     Mame 0.148
     Stepmania - for the kids eventually after everything else is done


I am not big into the fighting games but I think my kids (10 years old) and the neighbor kids will get a kick out of them. My interest lie more in the classics: galaga, defender, centipede, missile command, pacman, digdug, etc.

After reading lots and lots about joysticks and who likes what and who doesn't like what, I originally thought I decided on Happ Competitions for the 8-ways and a zippyy short shaft for the 4-way.  My intention is to nestle a button close to the 4-way for a defender reverse.  I have checked the measurements on the zippyy against the defender panel and I think it works, or is close enough.

As I was looking around I ran across the GGG leaf-pro joystick.  I think this looks really promising for the dedicated 4-way.  Does anybody know the dimensions of the mounting plate for the leaf-pro? Can a button be nestled in close enough for defender?

I am also now thinking about zippyy long shafts for the two 8-ways.  I like the ball top better than the bat tops.  Any thoughts on the zippyys vs. the Happ competitions for the 8-ways?

I intend to use the GP Wiz 40 from GGG as the controller.  Can I wire the 8-way and the 4-way to player one on this controller? or do I need a separate controller to handle the 4-way?  Same question on buttons, if I want to have pinball buttons on the sides, can I wire the pinball buttons to the same place on the controller as some of the buttons on the top of the control panel?

I appreciate any comments, suggestions, critics and I sure I will have many more questions as I go.

The computer will be OK for the job if you are into the classics,  I would get hold of a VGA card for the computer if it doesn't already have one.  Zippy vs Competitions,  Can't comment on competitions but I found the zippys to have too long a throw for me (Worked fine in most classic games though). They just didn't feel right to me when playing shooters.  So I swapped them out for Magstick plus (Switchable 4/8 way from the top) and like these a lot more.  To be honest I would go with the zippy as a dedicated 4 way and something else for the 8 ways.  You can wire the 4 way and  8 way joystick together to the GP Wiz & you can run pinball buttons to buttons on the top basically they are just duplicating a function.   

If you are a true fan of the classics then I would advise getting a scanline generator or using HLSL for that slightly more authentic look.

[mlabrie]

Made some progress over the weekend, photos attached.

Decided to go with zippyy short shaft was the dedicated 4-way and zippyy long shafts as the 8-way.  I figured if anybody in the house became good a the fighters, I can change out to different joysticks later.

I am starting to look for the glass for the front.  Does anybody have any suggestions on tint percentage, color that works well with a lcd (Dell 7001FP) screen?  I am going to use glass as opposed to plexi.

On of the photos below shows the layout I am currently leaning toward.  I ordered my joysticks, buttons and trackball.  When they get here, I will play with the layout a bit more.

I have decided to do away with the keyboard tray as I don't see much use in it once the machine is setup.