Main > Main Forum

Building the masterpiece

Pages: << < (2/13) > >>

Le Chuck:

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.  I don't really have a lot of interest in watching somebody stumble through a build because they didn't take the time to look left and right but I have a lot of interest in watching somebody stumble through a build because these things are tricky and they're trying to do a good job.  I've been doing this for more than a decade and a lot of others are much longer in the tooth than me.  They're bound to get a little crusty, that's part of the charm. 

I also can't do walls of text anymore.  If it's more than a paragraph without pictures I usually keep moving.  God bless those that don't tho.  If I missed the mark on the topic it's because I didn't read much beyond the first line of each para. 

Malenko:

Im putting an altered button layout on an NBA Jam CP and bolting it to an MK4 cab, and Ive been on this site for over 15 years. There is no ultimate masterpiece, there is no perfect cab.  There are tons of great cabs , from the large ones like Nephasth's Two Headed Beast ( http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,108719.msg1313058.html ) to the tiny ones like LeChuck's Star Wars micro ( http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,117874.0.html ). Every cabs has its positives and negatives, and no two people have the exact same idea of what a cab should be.

More often than not, the advice given here is just to keep "newbs" from making costly mistakes that could make them give up on the cab they started. CoryBee is a shining example of someone who came into the hobby pretty clueless, listened to advice, and became one of the most prolific builders this place has ever seen.


All that being said, if planning a cab for 6 months before you build it makes you happy and gives you the confidence to get the build just right, then GO FOR IT! I'll be here following along and trying to help when I can  :cheers:

dkersten:

I admittedly do sometimes feel initially defensive with criticism but I try to stop myself and step back and look at it from their perspective, which is really what the feedback is good for, and afterwards I appreciate it a lot more.  I was trying hard not to be defensive here though, I am quite happy with the feedback I get, but I do start to wonder about how some other newbies take it when they throw out an idea and it gets jumped on for being too generic. 

I guess I look at it this way:  A black cab with blue trim, blue lightning on the CP, random characters spread throughout or grouped together to show how the cab will play it all, a frankenpanel with everything but the kitchen sink, their last name with "cade" at the end for a name, and at least two cupholders is, to someone who just discovered this hobby, pretty damn awesome.  In their world, it makes them incredibly unique, and they will enjoy every aspect of it.  But to most of the veterans here, it's a joke, and not just a joke, but the worst kind of joke.  But the thing is, most people who are veterans used to look at that as pretty awesome and most of them built something like that at one point.  Sure, looking back is like a Lamborghini owner looking at some kid with his Honda with the fart can and park bench on the trunk lid, but to that kid, he has the coolest car in the world.

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.  I am just waiting for the suggestion of a robot arm to come out of the top of the cab to play the second player when nobody else is around.  I realize that it gets old telling each and every noob to make sure his joysticks are straight and to use a slagcoin layout, but it is what it is.

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. 

Maybe that guy needs to build one of those so he can decide for himself if he likes that style or not.  Maybe to him it isn't a mistake.. Just sayin..

Anyway, I thought it was good food for thought, not so much as a criticism to the advice that is given here (which is mostly really good advice), but more to think about the perspective of the noob in the hobby.   If that noob ends up sticking around after building their first 7 joystick control panel, they will likely settle into a style all their own and someday be posting a thread about their first "masterpiece".

Malenko:

Blue lightning, its the new white marble contact paper. My first MAME cab had white marble contact paper, my first CP had purple lightning.  The general consensus is to theme your cab, or keep it super generic. I always hated that white marble contact paper, but I didn't know any better at the time. After getting more comfortable with Photoshop and the like, I actually made some fairly neat ones. Mortal Kabinet (MKII theme) and my fave, the ShoRyuKade (Street Fighter theme).  Keeping newbs from using the lightning is just keeping them from having to spend even more money in the future to reskin the cab.

There is no reason to have an orgy of clip art on a control panel or marquee. Not knowing you have bad taste is no excuse to have bad taste =)

Frankenpanels....... loaded topic.  More often than not, a newb will design a huge expensive panel with all the control they can think of. After a few months they realize they really only use, say the Street Fighter layout and the track ball. So then, they have to make a new panel, and try to either sell off the remaining controls, or make swappable panels, or put em in a box never to be seen again. Advice against a frankenpanel is usually along the lines of "what will you actually play VS what you think you will play" Technically speaking, my latest panel is a frankenpanel:



But its 100% functional and works for me. I know that the majority of the time only 1 player will be utilized, but I wanted to have the rest there for some 2 player SMASH TV and some 4 player ninja turtles (and Open Ice!).  So while I'm making the cab for me, I still listen to what other builders have done and what pitfalls to avoid.

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. A lot of forums out there are particularly harsh to newbs, and I don't think this forum fits that modus operandi

keilmillerjr:

I have multiple projects, and a budget. My projects usually take a few years to complete. Nothing wrong with that. Currently my rx7 turbo and zx7 ninja comes before my arcade project. It's just how life is.

Pages: << < (2/13) > >>

Go to full version