Build or buy?

[kk99]

First post... hope I don't break any rules...

Been looking around at pre-built multi-game cabinets.  Admittedly, I haven't spent huge amounts of time looking at them, so I'm not sure yet what I gotta be careful about.

In any case, I've been debating between building it myself or just buy the thing.  Seems like when I do the quick math... It doesn't look like I'd be saving a whole lot for all the trouble.... The one I'm looking at is the X-Arcade one.  Seems pretty decent and a Lifetime Warranty (for all that's worth).

How significant would the savings be, considering all the trouble?  Don't get me wrong, it'd be kinda cool to build it and I'm quite confident I could... but it seems silly to do it if the savings are going to be marginal.

Any inputs on that? 

[BorgDog]

Considering where you are the correct answer is BUILD!   That and I'm pretty darn sure you can build it for a heck of a lot less than they are selling theirs for.

Oh, and welcome!

[berger]

Build one yourself

[Generic Eric]

I can tell you of 5 websites to buy parts from. A sixth that sells primarily encoders; kadevice.com.

therealbobroberts.com
groovygamegear.com
ultimarc.com
paradisearcadeshop.com
arcadeemulator.net


Consider building a fight stick.  8 way joy that you can have from 1 to 6 buttons for play, plus player 1, coin 1, shift and enter.  Pick you favorite games and config your stick and PC for your chosen emulator.  Once you've done that, you can build a pedestal or upright.

If you want an xarcade, get one.  But no one here is going to tell you that is the best choice.

Good luck.  Have fun.

[kk99]

Hello again,

Thanks for your replies!

I'm somewhat surprised about the answers (although, as BorgDog said... I should have expected it from this site)...

It just seems that by the time I factor in the CRT monitor at 500+... a base PC at another 500+... cabinet... paint... controllers.. wires and whatever else I'm not thinking about right now... I can't imagine I'll save much more than $500.  If it were less $500, I personally don't think it'd be worth all the effort... I just took forever to build my entire HT... months of work.  So for me to do this, I'd really have to be saving quite a lot... or, at least, get quite a bit more for the same price.

Now.. I sound like I've made up my mind already... but I haven't.  I'm not ignoring any of your comments... but guess I was hoping to hear from someone whose gone through the same decision process and hear what his(or her) pros/cons were... It's also possible that the people that HAVE gone through this same process and opted to buy one might just not be hanging around a site like this.

So Eric (the Generic)... when you say "But no one here is going to tell you that is the best choice."... Are you referring to the model itself, or just a purchased model in general?

Thanks again...

[horizon]

Being a newbie myself, where are you getting your figures for pricing?  What are you trying to emulate?

As far as XArcade goes, from my limited research, the biggest gripe is the lack of playability for fighting game of the tank stick. 

Good luck!

[mgb]

Hello and welcome go the forum.

Around here, its not really about what's the most practical for the money. Its more about the adventure.
After building your own, its something to be proud of.
And when a problem does arise, you know how to fix it.

Keep doing your homework and think hard about which route you wanna take.

A couple of questions to ask yourself:

1) what do I really hope to get out if this? Do I prefer old school early 80s games with vertical screens or did I primarily play in the 90s

2) do I have the work space and tools available.
   Some may also ask "do i have the skills?" But I think the better question is "do I want to learn the skills?"

You can always build a bartop or use a gutted upright.

You don't need to drop $500 on a pc and its getting harder and harder to find crts so you may wanna consider an lcd.

Hope you find your answer.

I suppose there are some good prebuilts out there but I'm sure there's a lot of crap

[Dawgz Rule]

Is it a matter of savings, effort required, or other things that are driving your decision?  Figure out what is important to you and go from there.  I chose to build because I wanted to create something unique....do something I have never done before.  I am slowly working on my second build and this is more of a hybrid build and restore.

[Typefighter01]

Look at it this way. Is part of the fun for you going to be the building of the cab itself (other than an argument to support a cost savings), or, will you see it as just another job? If you see the potential for cab building as a possible hobby, then the effort/the tools and experience will pay off down the road. If you are looking to throw something in the family games room to play the odd game of Pac-Man, then maybe the effort and cost for you are too high.

Only suggestion I would have is, if you don't want to fool around with the woodworking portion of a cab (which I think is the most daunting task of a build IMO), then look at getting a pre-cut cab kit from one of the vendors on here:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,130522.0.html sold by HaRuMaN  in the US and,
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,133905.0.html sold by Rick in Canada, (sometime in the near future).

This way you are still saving some bucks and this gives you the ability to build the rest on your own  ...good luck.

[harveybirdman]

Most of the prefab kits I've seen are absolute rubbish. ( not talking about kits sourced from community more like the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- x arcade sells to hold tanksticks)

In my neck of the woods some ---uvula--- is always throwing a 60 in one board into an Ikea reject looking case and posting it on Craig's list for 1800 plus..... complete with non period authentic LED sticks

You won't be able to build a two player CP with a trackball for less thank you can buy a tankstick, but would you really want too?

Not everyone will agree with me,  and the two player 6ish button cp with trackball is very prevalent but if you spend 99% of your time playing one player two button games why go to all the trouble.

Always start with the question "what do I want to play the most with this?" Then make design choices.

[Slippyblade]

Not to mention you price estimates are waaaaaay off base.  If you insist on using an actual arcade monitor, I see 25" monitors on Craigslist routinely in the $100-150 range.  Or just use an LCD.  Unless you are wanting to run PC games as well as MAME and retro stuff, a PC from Goodwill will most likely do the job - $10-20.  Art will usually cost more than you anticipate though, printing is surprisingly expensive.

[kk99]

Ahh... these answers are more inline with what I was hoping for.  I guess it helped that I clarified a few things.

@horizon
Well, the CRT I was looking for was for a 29"... just like the one on the X-Arcade (for comparison).  As for the PC... That's usually what based PC's go for, as far as I can remember.  Of course, I could probably build a base one for less and slap my old XP copy on it... Or I might be able to get away with installing my Win7 since it's been a while since I've installed it on my current machine.  In any case, I'm not sure I'd get it much cheaper than $500.

I don't know if we can post other links here (I suspect not).... but I just read an article on the X-arcade tankstick (X-Arcade Tankstick Review) and they say pretty good things about it.

P.S. Your limited research is still better than mine

@Dawgz & Typefighter... your points do partially answer my questions.  Like I said in my previous message... I just took about 6 months to build my HT room (large room)... did everything myself... the carpet... ceiling LED strips.. all the wiring... acoustic panels.... that was a lot of effort.  So I have the tools. I'm also quite confident I could handle the technical part. I saw the series of videos here and the one on how to wire the buttons to that controller seem like pretty basic stuff... as the video said, visually overwhelming, but really not all that hard when you get down to it.  That WOULD be the fun part, however...

The part that LEAST appeals to me is precisely the cabinet!  Especially the paint job.  That's one thing I'm not equipped for and not usually all that good at... that is, to create a cabinet that looks and feels smooth and professional looking.

So I guess I've had my share of projects recently... I also have other programming projects on standby... So I'm not necessarily looking for a new "challenge".  I also don't like to get screwed by overpaying for something.  I'll look into these cabinet links Typefighter sent... that might be an option...

Thanks again...

[kk99]

I'm too slow to type... every time I start replying to others... by the time I'm done, there are a few more on the stack...

[gildahl]

I fully intended to buy a kit when I started, but the more I did my research the more I realized that there were literally no kits or pre-built cabs that gave me what I wanted.  So I ended up building.  Note that saving money was not an objective.  Getting exactly what I wanted was my objective.  If your goals are modest and you want acceptable quality at the cheapest price, you may actually be better off buying a pre-built kit.  On the other hand, if you want the best quality build and parts, building yourself may be your only option.  What I ended up building met all of my expectations, is unique, and has a value to me than any cab I believe I could have purchased pre-built.   

[Generic Eric]

So Eric (the Generic)... when you say "But no one here is going to tell you that is the best choice."... Are you referring to the model itself, or just a purchased model in general?

Thanks again...

There are so many sticks.  Enough that everyone could have favorite.  I forgot to add focusattack.com. Not to mention, you've got leaf sticks

As far as xarcade goes.  There are enough reviews for a person to make an informed decision.  It's not a build your own solution to me.

Build a fight stick to test. Bafuska has a link in his signature for some plans.

While I still have your attention, you can build a killer PC for $500.  I have a link in my sig. 

Make some choices you can afford and hit your milestones as consistently as possible, so that you don't suffer from analysis paralysis^{raises hand} You are going to change something.  Thats my opinion FWIW. 

[DietCoke]

I initially planned on buying one as well, but after going back and forth in email with a couple of vendors I realized I wasn't going to be getting what I wanted as much as I was getting something that the vendors really wanted to sell.   I am pretty sure I've spent more than I ever would have if I had bought one, but the learning has been the fun part - tinkering, trying different parts, redesigning and figuring out how to do things exactly as I want them done.

I also bought the Tankstick, and while it isn't as bad as some folks here imply, it isn't the same as a full-blown cabinet.  I considered the X-arcade cabinet that you could get for it, but I just couldn't justify it.  It doesn't "look" like an arcade cabinet in my view unless that control panel is smooth and built-in.

If you do go with building it, use this site as a resource.  The folks here can be really helpful and enjoy the challenges!

[Generic Eric]

Out of curiosity, do have Project Arcade?

[mgb]

As far as the cab goes, you can find an empty 90s cab like they used for Mortal Kombats, etc. Then you can build a control panel to go with it.

The paint part is super easy.......... don't paint it, laminate it

[harveybirdman]

As far as the cab goes, you can find an empty 90s cab like they used for Mortal Kombats, etc. Then you can build a control panel to go with it.

The paint part is super easy.......... don't paint it, laminate it

+1 on this I did it an couldn't be happier.

 Plus if you source one with issues from Craig's list from someone that has no desire to fix it you can get lots of value. I got a cab in decent shape with a fully functional monitor and happ over under coin door for a hundred even. The board was dead but you're going to use a pc anyway.

[kk99]

Lots of helpful info!

@Eric (the Generic)... no, I don't have the book (didn't even know about it)... just looking at it now...  I'm really just starting this whole process... I didn't want to "invest" too much time reading about all sorts of things before I knew which direction I was going to go.  I don't even know if I want to go CRT for sure... a vertical CRT would be pretty cool and give the retro look.  Can you do a vertical setup with an LCD with classic games looking good?? I'm thinking not, but I don't know for sure at this point...

The reality is that this machine would be for the HT room, in the back.  I plan on adding a pinball machine at some point and maybe 1 or 2 more things. I don't expect spending my entire evenings playing games.  Just kind of a fun area for my son and I to go chillax every now and then.  It'd probably be for older classic games since I can play the newer, more demanding games on my HTPC (although I haven't done much of it yet).

@mgb & harveybirdman
I actually did think about doing that a while ago with some local guy who was selling old machines... maybe I should check if he still has them...

Once again... thanks for all the feedback... I'll have to start "investing" that aforementioned time now.

[Generic Eric]

If you can find a Dell 1908 or similar 4:3 you can get a fair approximation for the price.  You can't convince a purist it's a suitable substitute, but for mame it should be sufficient.

[kk99]

Just ordered the book... a structured approach looked appealing.

[kk99]

Hello again,

So today, I went back and looked at all these machines a guy has here.  They've been sitting in a warehouse for a while and he doesn't seem to be doing much about it.  Attaches are all the machines he has.

In a previous post, someone had mentioned taking an old machine and converting it... Well, I'm thinking that Simpsons one would be great!  It's got the real state for plenty of controllers.... The screen is still fine (CRT, of course).  And I don't think I'd be offending anybody if I I stripped this machine away (I read the ethic code on stripping out old machines to create new ones).

But I'm also thinking about the pinball and the terminator ones.  Finally, don't know what those 2 racing ones look like but the Rush one could be pretty cool to have.  So maybe I'll make an offer of a lot.  I'm not too sure what to offer though, because of my limited experience...

Anybody cares to throw some numbers?  That'd be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks in advance... (and I'm not telling you where they are, so don't even try  )

[kk99]

I should mention that I would not know what I'd be getting into... as you can see from the pics... they are in a pretty humid area with lots of dust...

[mgb]

Id say either the simpsons or golden tee would be perfect for modding.
The only thing about the golden tee is what monitor it may have because golden tee can be set to either standard res or medium res. So its possible it could have a medium res monitor that may prove to be a pain for your purposes.

As far as buying the other machines, I'd be careful.
I mean! I don't know you or your situatiin but if you're just trying to get off the ground with your first build, fiddling around with a few dedicated machines may overwelm you.
Or maybe not. Do you have the space?

[kk99]

Hi mgb,

I was mostly going to mess around with the Simpsons one.  The pinball, Terminator, the Golden Tee and the Simpsons all were in working condition.  The res on both the Simpsons and the Golden Tee looked... well, medium... now keep in mind that I've never seen a high res vs a medium res monitor side-by-side for comparison. But I DID notice their average resolution when they were on. You could clearly see the "mesh".  I was thinking about cleaning up the Terminator and Pinball ones and pretty much keep them as is for now.  I might do some periodic maintenance on them as I'd go along, but for now... nada.

This would be for the back of my HT... I've got an opened area of about 18' x 11'.  I could easily fit the pinball and 2 machines in there.

So knowing that these machines work... how much should I offer?  I've seen a Terminator one on ebay for ~$600.  That's a clean machine for sale.  So I was thinking about $200 each for the Simpsons and Terminator.... then $400 for the pinball... something like that...

What do you think? Way off??

Thanks for your time.

[Generic Eric]

Shazzle

From the pics you shared they look in good shape.  Those would be OK prices in my area.  Hard to know about your area though.  Location³

[kk99]

This is a small town... everything is cheaper... So when you say "OK", that wouldn't be a great deal? Maybe I should offer to take the 3 for $650.  Don't want to reach a point where he'd be insulted.  On the other hand, if I'm clueless... chances are, he's pretty clueless as well.

[Generic Eric]

Well there was a Donkey kong cocktail that didn't sell at $250, but finally went a $180 I  think.

Its hard to say.  I think with those offers, you should get them.  Does the seller seem to be holding  out for a good deal?  Or does he want them out? 

[kk99]

It does seem like he wants them out.  I went there months ago and nothing has changed.  If fact, his place is even more loaded with crap.  The guy owns the building and there used to be some other guy there that had some sort of a play area, with bouncy houses for kids and arcades. That guy went down and he just left everything as his "last payment".  So the stars do seem the be aligned for a good deal...  But I'm a horrible negotiator...

[mgb]

$200 for the simpsons seems right about right to me. I've seen them sell from $150-$350

$200 may be a little low for the Terminator (if totally working) but I'd say go for it.

pinball machines are funny because they tend to go much higher. I've seen machines such as Adams Family go for $1500 with problems.
off the top of my head, I'd say $600-$800 would be more realistic for the pin but if he's just holding these games there because a tenant left them, he may really want to move them so stay low.

[kk99]

The other thing about the pinball is that I couldn't care less about its theme.  Street Fighter II ain't quite my cut of tea.  If only he had an Indiana Jones one   Still, the game was fun enough to play.  I've seen them for sale (refurbished) at $1600.  I've seen a T2 on ebay for $630.

Anyway... I think I'll send him a text tomorrow... might start $600 for the 3 and see what he says.  I'll write back for the results.

[kk99]

So I sent my text message today.... I decided I was going to reformat my offer...  I said that there were 4 machines I thought would be interesting. Then I asked him to tell me what he was willing to give me for $the 500 I was willing to spend total.  No news since...

I forgot to mention that he doesn't seem to have the keys for any of those coin locks.  I hope I can purchase keys online...

[Generic Eric]

So I sent my text message today.... I decided I was going to reformat my offer...  I said that there were 4 machines I thought would be interesting. Then I asked him to tell me what he was willing to give me for $the 500 I was willing to spend total.  No news since...

I forgot to mention that he doesn't seem to have the keys for any of those coin locks.  I hope I can purchase keys online...

Good luck!

just drill those out.

[yotsuya]

Eric's right.  You can get a new lock at Home Depot.

[kk99]

Good! Wasn't sure if this would damage the mechanisms.

More good info...

I could keep saying thanks for your help... but at this point, just in case I forget... remember that it's always implied...

[Generic Eric]

Good! Wasn't sure if this would damage the mechanisms.

Get a metal bit and some sort of oil.  3in1?  . Olive would probably work in a pinch.

[bfauska]

Lock picking is also a fun thing to learn and easier than most people would think.

[kk99]

hmmm... I succeeded years ago on a small lock.  Might be worth trying on the big locks (the ones people usually put on the bar that goes across the coin slots - sorry, I don't know the proper terms).  But on the coin slots themselves... the circular ones?

Got an answer for the pinball... apparently, he's got another guy willing to pay more than $500 for it!! I felt like saying; just sell it before he changes his mind!  No way I'd pay that kinda of money for that one, under those conditions... and with no keys...

He's supposed to get back to me on the other ones.  Might not have a deal after all if he thinks he can have that sort of money for each machine.  Well, not from me anyway...

[bfauska]

hmmm... I succeeded years ago on a small lock.  Might be worth trying on the big locks (the ones people usually put on the bar that goes across the coin slots - sorry, I don't know the proper terms).  But on the coin slots themselves... the circular ones?

Got an answer for the pinball... apparently, he's got another guy willing to pay more than $500 for it!! I felt like saying; just sell it before he changes his mind!  No way I'd pay that kinda of money for that one, under those conditions... and with no keys...

He's supposed to get back to me on the other ones.  Might not have a deal after all if he thinks he can have that sort of money for each machine.  Well, not from me anyway...

If they're the one with a round key then I retract my suggestion, my coin door locks use normal flat keys so I think they'd be easy to pick.

[kk99]

yeah, from the pics... they look like they're the round ones.  Might still work on the bigger, traditional ones though found on all those machines above.

We'll see... at this point, I'm less optimistic about a worthwhile deal anyway.

[kk99]

Alright... Thinking about something like that... a little cheesy but my son loves it.

The monitor is a 20" 4:3 (there are a few still out there).  The dashed line on the left would be the actual angle of the monitor... more or less.  Speakers on each side.  I'm even thinking I could put the "head" on some sort of electrical actuators to adjust the height.  And those curved legs might be tight.  Of course, this would be laminated.  24" Wide x ~60" Height.  I still have to think about access... 

I've seen some pretty slick looking cabs on this site... This design would be a nice, fun theme... But I just bought a Terminator 3 pinball machine... which doesn't quite fit.  I also like the darker themes.

Still... thinking about it...

[Generic Eric]

Alright... Thinking about something like that... a little cheesy but my son loves it.

The monitor is a 20" 4:3 (there are a few still out there).  The dashed line on the left would be the actual angle of the monitor... more or less.  Speakers on each side.  I'm even thinking I could put the "head" on some sort of electrical actuators to adjust the height.  And those curved legs might be tight.  Of course, this would be laminated.  24" Wide x ~60" Height.  I still have to think about access... 

I've seen some pretty slick looking cabs on this site... This design would be a nice, fun theme... But I just bought a Terminator 3 pinball machine... which doesn't quite fit.  I also like the darker themes.

Still... thinking about it...

Here are some pics from a project another dude did.

[kk99]

Thanks Eric (The Generic),

Would you happen to have a link to big pacman?  I can probably learn something from him...

[Generic Eric]

Thanks Eric (The Generic),

Would you happen to have a link to big pacman?  I can probably learn something from him...

Well, that is the same unit.  Just big enough for the handheld unit and a small screen.  It was linked here as a finished project.   I had to use Internet archive to get the pics, so I just uploaded the pics to imgur.

[kk99]

Ohhhhh!  I never realized that they were both the same!  I thought the side-view was some sort of huge pacman "sitting" on the floor!  I thought it was odd that the controller was so huge...

It does provide some idea for the head part, now that I see properly.

P.S. My son immediately knew that they were the same... a little embarrassing...

[yotsuya]

Pac-Man seems a bit too far tilted back in your mockup. Look at his position in the other one.

[JDFan]

Alright... Thinking about something like that... a little cheesy but my son loves it.

The monitor is a 20" 4:3 (there are a few still out there).  The dashed line on the left would be the actual angle of the monitor... more or less.  Speakers on each side.  I'm even thinking I could put the "head" on some sort of electrical actuators to adjust the height.  And those curved legs might be tight.  Of course, this would be laminated.  24" Wide x ~60" Height.  I still have to think about access... 

I've seen some pretty slick looking cabs on this site... This design would be a nice, fun theme... But I just bought a Terminator 3 pinball machine... which doesn't quite fit.  I also like the darker themes.

Still... thinking about it...

Maybe add a rolling top so that when not in use it could be closed like a rolling top desk.

[kk99]

@yotsuya
The angle is somewhat in the same ballpark as regular vertical cabs, I think.  I tried to keep that angle more or less the same (although it varies quite a bit)... I haven't looked at desktop cabinets much... maybe the angles are more pronounced on those ones.  My original though was to have the head "swivel" a little to adjust that angle, actually.  But then I though adjusting the height through actuators would be "simpler" and still provide adjustment.  Still, I'll look at more vertical cabs and see if it should be tilted a little more.

@JDFan
You just want me to fail, don't you...   This WILL be my first machine, if I even go ahead with it...

Thanks for your inputs!

[Generic Eric]

are you committed to a vertical display?  What size?

[kk99]

Not necessarily... However, I've looked around a bit and there isn't much beyond 20" for a 4:3 ratio.  So if I stick with this ratio, then putting it vertically would look better I think.  I've been thinking about it and I don't think I'll go with super state-of-the-art games.  I think I'll be happy with just the conventional old classics.  I can use my HT projector for the newer ones.

Now, since I might be sticking to old classics... a vertical screen would look ok.  But I COULD flip it back to normal and use a widescreen.  Although a large 28" widescreen would still be shorter than a vertical 20" 4:3 by more than 2".  What did you have in mind?

Note that I've increased the cab width to 28" to get a little more room for the controls..

[kk99]

Also...

I was talking about this at work with a co-worker... (during breaks, of course )  He was saying that most games had the joystick on the left and the buttons on the right.  I was skeptical because when I play with the mouse/keyboard, I want the precise movements to be controlled by my "precise" hand (to use loosely).  So having the joystick on the left made no sense to me... but he was right!  Most cabs I've looked on the web had the stick on the left.  Then I though... what if I made my machine symmetrical.  It would look better, for one thing... but it would also give a single user the ability to chose which one he wants.  I don't know, however, if the different game emulators allow you to chose one side or the other.

Does anybody know?

[stavros693000]

First post... hope I don't break any rules...

Been looking around at pre-built multi-game cabinets.  Admittedly, I haven't spent huge amounts of time looking at them, so I'm not sure yet what I gotta be careful about.

In any case, I've been debating between building it myself or just buy the thing.  Seems like when I do the quick math... It doesn't look like I'd be saving a whole lot for all the trouble.... The one I'm looking at is the X-Arcade one.  Seems pretty decent and a Lifetime Warranty (for all that's worth).

How significant would the savings be, considering all the trouble?  Don't get me wrong, it'd be kinda cool to build it and I'm quite confident I could... but it seems silly to do it if the savings are going to be marginal.

Any inputs on that?

build one your self trust me you will save a small fortune. The xarcade cabinets are around $2,500 and you can build an awesome full size cab with custom artwork and 4 player control panel with track ball all with led buttons for around $1500

Or two player slim cab would be even cheaper.
in my sig ceck out my cab, it is my first build, id never built anything in my life so if I can do that then anyone can . it only cost me $1500 all up but only $1000 if you don't count the hyperspin HDD and desk top pc

So IMO its way cheaper do do it yourself and fun cause you can customise every thing just they way you like.

hope this helps, good luck which ever way you decide to go
 

[stavros693000]

Also...

I was talking about this at work with a co-worker... (during breaks, of course )  He was saying that most games had the joystick on the left and the buttons on the right.  I was skeptical because when I play with the mouse/keyboard, I want the precise movements to be controlled by my "precise" hand (to use loosely).  So having the joystick on the left made no sense to me... but he was right!  Most cabs I've looked on the web had the stick on the left.  Then I though... what if I made my machine symmetrical.  It would look better, for one thing... but it would also give a single user the ability to chose which one he wants.  I don't know, however, if the different game emulators allow you to chose one side or the other.

Does anybody know?

if you find it more comfortable to play games that way then go for it, but just keep in mind you will be the only one who finds it comfortable, any one else who comes over to play will not like the set up.
its your build so do what you want but I would put the joystick on the left and buttons on the right, it just feels natural that way.

Im guessing you didn't go to the arcades much as a kid, did you? cause every arcade from back in the day were set up like that, I say that because you find it comfortable to play left handed but to my knowledge there were no left handed arcade machines in the 80s-90s

ps imo I don't think it looks semetrical, I think it looks odd. But hey that's just me

[kk99]

Hi stavros,

Looked at your cab... that is one huge thing!  But it looks great.

As for the "left handed"... I don't get it... to me, having the joystick on the right is RIGHT handed... I don't quite get why would people want to use their left hand for the precision movements and the right hand for pushing buttons.  Maybe it depends on the type of games... I've never been a Street Fighter kinda player and maybe for those, you need rapid pushing of the buttons... which may be easier with the right hand.  Don't know...

In any case... If I go with the symmetrical option and *IF* emulators allow me to use one side or the other, then it won't matter too much. 

"ps imo I don't think it looks semetrical, I think it looks odd. But hey that's just me"

Not sure I understand what you mean by this... I was saying this in the context of having a left-handed AND right-handed setup on a 2-players CP.  If that was the case, the panel would be symmetrical.

[kk99]

oh... and you're right... I didn't play too many arcade games as a kid... mostly the home stuff.... was it THAT obvious

[stavros693000]

it is one huge thing,lol....I got a bit carried away I liked the look of one of the dream home arcades so I kinda based it on that. But that's how big full size arcades were when I was a kid, except for the 4 player CP....... I didn't have any plans just had some hand tools + jigsaw a started building and hoped it would turn out ok, pics really don't do it justice ....every time someone comes over and sees it for the first time there eyes light up and I get a lot of compliments and request to build one for them lol

........back to the subject at hand, I see what you mean about it looking semetrical its just odd to me cause ive never seen or played a set up like that.....but like I said before its your cabinet and if its comfortable for you than that's what you should build and it will look great (semetrical)

[stavros693000]

oh... and you're right... I didn't play too many arcade games as a kid... mostly the home stuff.... was it THAT obvious

na not at all just a wild guess

[yotsuya]

Dude, if you're just going to play the classics, put the joystick in the center, and put a pair of buttons on each side. That way, it doesn't matter what hand you use.

[kk99]

Dude... I like it... Sold!

[JDFan]

Here I thought it was going to be a dual joystick no button CPO for Pacman type games and Dual Joystick games like Robotron, Smash TV, Crazy Climber, etc. ! 

[Generic Eric]

Here I thought it was going to be a dual joystick no button CPO for Pacman type games and Dual Joystick games like Robotron, Smash TV, Crazy Climber, etc. ! 

Joystick Dual Fan


@kk99

I don't know if you are still considering going in the direction of the pacman shaped pacman game.

I think the key challenge is getting finding the correct perspective:



Finding an acceptable compromise is what is frustrating.  Good luck.

[mgb]

Where's the other 1%?

[Generic Eric]

Where's the other 1%?

haha.  In the kerf I guess.

[mgb]

Where's the other 1%?

haha.  In the kerf I guess.

oh yeah of course, the kerf. 

@kk99
 I'm not sure if you worked out your cp layout idea or not yet but Yotsuya's idea would make the most sense. just go with a centered joystick and two buttons.
its important to have a clear idea of what games you intend to play with this cab.

[kk99]

One thing should be clear to everybody, at this point... it's that nothing is clear to me yet...

I haven't done any "research" into the CP yet... I just slapped a couple of sticks on the pics I posted, but I was more concerned about the shape.. So the pics were just a quick thing I put together to see if the proportions would work.

******** WARNING WARNING WARNING ********
DON'T LAUGH at my taste buds detaching from poor little pacman!
I haven't decided on the colors, the position or the number of buttons yet.  What this does show, however, is the dual-player layout and the single trackball.  That's more or less what I was thinking about... But even though I brought up the CP discussion above... I really am not spending much time on that, yet.  But I'm still taking in your inputs...

[yotsuya]

If you're just playing classics, you only need 1 joystick. P1 and P2 trade off on most classics.

Take a look at classic control panels. 1 joystick.

Unless you plan of playing beat 'em ups or fighting games from the late 80s/90s, you only need 1 joy.

[kk99]

Also... I was thinking about putting a digital keyboard towards the back of the CP, since it'd be pretty "deep".  So instead of hiding a keyboard under the panel, I'd love to put something like this...

http://www.dynamism.com/accessories/cool-leaf-keyboard.shtml

But the damn tongue may give me a problem...

[Generic Eric]

One thing should be clear to everybody, at this point... it's that nothing is clear to me yet...

I haven't done any "research" into the CP yet... I just slapped a couple of sticks on the pics I posted, but I was more concerned about the shape.. So the pics were just a quick thing I put together to see if the proportions would work.

******** WARNING WARNING WARNING ********
DON'T LAUGH at my taste buds detaching from poor little pacman!
I haven't decided on the colors, the position or the number of buttons yet.  What this does show, however, is the dual-player layout and the single trackball.  That's more or less what I was thinking about... But even though I brought up the CP discussion above... I really am not spending much time on that, yet.  But I'm still taking in your inputs...

That's  durty. I need a shower.

[yotsuya]

Heh. I'm out. Enjoy your build. 

[mgb]

the tongue is....... interesting.

but to get back to controls here.
why exactly do you want to add a keyboard to the cp?

also being that you're looking at doing a pacman shaped cab, are you planning for a vertically mounted monitor.

If I were building a cab with this shape, I'd think I'd want to have a vertical monitor and a centered 4-way joystick.

[kk99]

Due to unpopular demand, I might have to rethink my tongue... To be fair, I was never fully set on the idea specifically because it gave an unnecessary hard time dealing with its layout relative to the controls.  I may just put a standard pacman play field background type-of-thing.

@mgb
Yes, I'm strongly leaning towards a vertical 4:3, as mentioned above.  Just because most games I intend to play on it will be the old, vertical ones.  So I'm getting a taller 20" 4:3 than I'd be getting with a 28" horizontal 16:9.

As for the keyboard... Well, as far as I know, most vertical cabs have some sort of keyboard... usually hidden under the CP.  What I don't know is how often it's actually being used.  However, the keyboard I've pointed to is actually pretty slick looking. When turned off, it's just a glass looking surface... similar to what a Plexiglas covered CP would look like.  Turn it on and the digital keys light up.  So I'd add a small USB power switch right next to it (or hidden somewhere) to quickly access it; but most of the time, it would be turned off.  I know it's unconventional but I'm at piece with myself on this one...   I'm willing to live with the consequences... unless somebody brings up a functional challenge.

Finally... I don't want to sound like I'm ignoring your inputs, as I truly appreciate the time you guys take... but I want to stick with 2 joysticks.  Definitely flexible on the layout and the number of buttons though...

@Eric (The Generic)
no need for a shower... the tongue is out...

[BorgDog]

you know, if you made the tongue 3d sculpted like, then it would be totally freakin' awesome!  seriously. ooh and you could put like a rough tongue like texture on it too

[Generic Eric]

Due to unpopular demand, I might have to rethink my tongue... To be fair, I was never fully set on the idea specifically because it gave an unnecessary hard time dealing with its layout relative to the controls.  I may just put a standard pacman play field background type-of-thing.

@mgb
Yes, I'm strongly leaning towards a vertical 4:3, as mentioned above.  Just because most games I intend to play on it will be the old, vertical ones.  So I'm getting a taller 20" 4:3 than I'd be getting with a 28" horizontal 16:9.

As for the keyboard... Well, as far as I know, most vertical cabs have some sort of keyboard... usually hidden under the CP.  What I don't know is how often it's actually being used.  However, the keyboard I've pointed to is actually pretty slick looking. When turned off, it's just a glass looking surface... similar to what a Plexiglas covered CP would look like.  Turn it on and the digital keys light up.  So I'd add a small USB power switch right next to it (or hidden somewhere) to quickly access it; but most of the time, it would be turned off.  I know it's unconventional but I'm at piece with myself on this one...   I'm willing to live with the consequences... unless somebody brings up a functional challenge.

Finally... I don't want to sound like I'm ignoring your inputs, as I truly appreciate the time you guys take... but I want to stick with 2 joysticks.  Definitely flexible on the layout and the number of buttons though...

@Eric (The Generic)
no need for a shower... the tongue is out...

You don't need a keyboard shelf.  Any programming you need to do should be done before hand.  Should you feel the need for a keyboard, just get a wireless combo with a mouse too.

So why 2 sticks again?  Is it for robotron? Or for two players? Or was it for the symmetry issue? 

How do you play emulated games now?  Mouse and keyboard or do you have a test control panel?

[PL1]

you know, if you made the tongue 3d sculpted like, then it would be totally freakin' awesome!  seriously. ooh and you could put like a rough tongue like texture on it too

Check out the Monstarcade here.   

   


Scott

[Dawgz Rule]

kk99,  without question, the first step is to figure out what you want to play.   It will make all the difference in the world in the end.  I love the cabinet I built and considering I didn't even know BYOAC existed, I am pretty pleased with the results.  However, my lessons learned:

1.  My favorite games turned out to be Shmups.  Had I known that, I probably would have built a vertical cab first.
2.  Many of my current favorites are games I never realized existed until after my build.  Better research would have helped focus my cab design.
3. I generally don't play fighters and although playable, the sticks I have aren't the best for them.  (although they are great for shmups).
4.  Be selective about the games you choose to have.  100 great games is much better than 8000 games with 100 great games in the mix. 

The broader the mix you choose, the more compromise you will have to make in order to build a cab that accomplishes everything.  It is much better to focus on a specific genre and build a cabinet that fulfills that role extremely well. 

[Malenko]

You lost me at 2 sticks bro.  Wondering what games you plan to play that will make use of both, or are you going to wire them in parallel so that the 2 players eventually get into a fist fight over messing up each other's games?   

[kk99]

@BorgDog
I like the tongue, really.... but unless I do another Monstarcade... it's probably going to be more of a pain to deal with the layout than if I chose something else.

@Eric (The Generic)
Whenever there's a PC involved... I kinda like to have a keyboard. I can probably use the trackball for the mouse, if I chose to go that way. I could go with wireless but I'd still have to have a readily available storage location for it.  I will certainly keep it in mind anyway.  But let me ask you... Are you running Win7 or XP?  Are you connected to the web for updates or do you have a completely isolated machine?

@PL1
Where are the eyes?

@everybody
Like I said... I REALLY haven't thought much about the controls yet... I haven't even read the chapter in the book about them.  This isn't urgent for me as the controls are pretty irrelevant when designing the cab in general. I need to do my homework first, as Dawgz (and others?) mentioned. Know which games I plan on playing is certainly going to be a key part of my final decision.  Heck, I didn't play that many arcade games as a kid (just the home game consoles) so I have games to discover first.  Luckily, my co-worker knows all about them

You guys are bringing valid points that I will considered further when I'm in CP mode.  At this point, I'm just trying to get my 3D modeling skills back on track... it's been years since I've used AutoCAD and it's a painful process right now... but fun.

Again... thanks for all you inputs!

[Generic Eric]

Wireless KB & mouse
Win7x64
Connected to the internet, but that is because it was set up before I had other computers.  Once you have everything loaded, you might decide its not necessary to have it connected.  There are people that swear against.
*shrug*   
After giving it some thought, and multi tasking for over a year, when I get this going again, I want to have it only play the games the controls allow it to play. 

[kk99]

Thanks Eric (The Generic),

Initially, it certainly seems like I should be connected to troubleshoot and read setup stuff on the web.  But yeah... once everything is working "just right"... It may not be needed after that...

[PL1]

Where are the eyes?

Oops.  Forgot to check their blog here.

They never updated the build thread with finished build photos.




Scott

[kk99]

I'll be damned!