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Building the masterpiece

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yotsuya:


--- Quote from: dkersten on August 25, 2014, 11:23:12 am ---And really, in the end that guy doesn't get what he wanted in the first place:  A back and blue cab with lightning bolts coming from the trackball and his own name on a cab. 

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Then if that's what they really want, then they should build it. But if they ask..."What do you think...", why not tell the honestly?

My first project, I built a frankenpanel. Thankfully, I didn't maim the cabinet it was going on to make it fit, but instead I changed my expectations to fit the cab I had. I made all the mistakes, and through experience I learned to correct them. And trust me, they ARE mistakes. Those of us that have been here HAVE made them, and that's why we share that wisdom.

I'm not a fan of the "Gee, you did a great job, gold star buddy" approach to this hobby. There's a lot of time, money, and other resources involved. If the lessons I've learned can save someone future grief, I'm happy to share. I would say 99% of us give that kind of feedback not to haze newbies, but to try and steer them in the best (notice I didn't say right) direction.

Having said that, if someone posts their project without a "What do you think?" attached to it, I've learned to just stay quiet. It avoids the inevitable butt-hurt. It's built already, what can you do?

SavannahLion:

dkersten, don't get the advice from morons who think that a driving cab isn't a driving cab unless it A: uses authentic arcade parts or B: uses authentic automotive parts or C: both (you morons know who you are) mixed up with the advice from people who are genuinely trying to offer help (even if it does feel like you're being slighted) in order to prevent you from making the same mistake they experienced.

If you get 30 people in a room, you'll get 31 ---uvulas--- opinions. It's just the way it is.

It's like what JDFan says, if you can filter out all the crap, you'll get nuggets of really good information.

If you don't want to read what people are saying that's not a problem. There are different ways to really get good information without all the fluff.

Look at some of the worst cabs imaginable (CrapMAME was really good for this until it got castrated) on what not to do. I do this a lot in everything I do. I look at other peoples mistakes and learn from them. I had a friend insist on adding a "flying wing" CP on my Hang-On until I told him to ---fudgesicle--- off, because I knew what one looked like from the Centipede conversion on CrapMAME. Interestingly, I tracked down about half of those cabs and those owners were very proud of their debaucheries, I believe one even won a MAMEY. So this goes back to the whole opinion thing.

Or... take a look at some of the God-like works like OND's. After you finish crying in the corner (as I most often do) I pull out little nuggets of good ideas from his (and others like him) logs. There's a lot of techniques I'll never do for a variety of reasons but every so often, there something good to be had.

Finally, look for similar projects. If you're doing a bartop, don't look at cocktails (unless yours is a bartop cocktail :dizzy: ) . One popped up not too long ago that had a few things I didn't particularly like, confirmed a few suspicions I had, and more importantly, solved a few things I've been trying to hammer out for months. I was sooooo close to the solutions but I couldn't hammer them out but there, in that thread, the solutions elegantly presented itself.

Oh.... and if you want to build a driving cab by chopping a car in half and using it, feel free. That's a project many of us wanted to see completed.


--- Quote from: Malenko on August 25, 2014, 11:45:31 am ---You seem to be saying "dont give newbs advice, they are building the cab they want!" which IS a valid statement, unless they are asking for advice.
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No it's not. Anytime you present your work, idea, whatever on a forum, you're automatically asking for advice. This is the same as publishing a work, or giving a speech or any media of choice. You will get advice, even if you don't explicitly ask for it. You will get criticism and if you're lucky, you might get praise. The problem is too may people (both newbs and the STFW/RTFM crowd) forget and get all butt hurt when the swarms come down.

I agree, compared to many forums, this one isn't all too bad. Try getting a question answered on a C or Linux mailing list. Yeesh...

Malenko:

Whats funny is I edited my post. Originally I had "You seem to be saying "dont give newbs advice, they are building the cab they want!" which IS a valid statement, unless they are asking for advice. By posting on here they are in a way asking for feedback and or advice"

but I made the edit thinking my point would be lost, since some people expect the "gold star for participating". But I completely agree with you.  :cheers:

yotsuya:

Oh, and I just have to address this quote in particular...


--- Quote from: dkersten on August 25, 2014, 11:23:12 am ---So that person starts asking for advice, and sooner or later you see someone telling this first timer that he should edge light his CP and have it laser etched on a CNC and control it with an arduino that is triggered off of mamehooker, but not until he has done his own custom build of mame and designed his own frontend from scratch.
--- End quote ---

I have NEVER seen anyone do this with a first timer. Most of the time, it's the first timer wanting to edge light his CP and have it laser etched on a CNC and control it with an arduino that is triggered off of mamehooker as well as wanting to design his own frontend from scratch. I agree that community feature creep is something that seems to occur here, but usually it's with an established person's project.

shponglefan:


--- Quote from: Le Chuck on August 25, 2014, 07:45:30 am ---I don't think the community pushes newer better on everybody.  I do think the community, especially a core set of regulars, doesn't like to see new users reinvent the wheel.  Building a nice cab or even a sufficient cab isn't reiventing the wheel - but doing it by making all the mistakes we've already made for "you" is.
--- End quote ---

In my experience, there are certain members that go beyond just trying to warn others of potential pitfalls.  They seem to have an ideological view of how arcade machines should be built and any deviation from that should not exist in their eyes.

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