My First time

[PowerCat]

Greetings People!

I’m a first timer (please be gentle)!

A buddy and I are on the way to creating 2 Arcade machine and I need some advice from you experts/enthusiasts.
I’ve been looking into purchasing from:

http://www.groovygamegear.com/
http://www.ultimarc.com/
http://www.arcadeforge.net/

Firstly, are these 3 places good to buy from in an international standing point, as I’m from South Africa.

Secondly, here is the list of items I am currently interested in any reviews/recommendation will be greatly appreciated.

From GGG:

• Classx Pushbuttons (review?)
• Eclipse Spectra Eclipse™ Illuminated Bezel Pushbuttons (review?)
• Player Buttons (1 & 2)
• Token Buttons (The nice big one  that takes the paper)
• Hand-Candy
• USB.EXT
• T-Molding

From Ultimarc:

• Joystick J-Stik
• I-Pac

From  Arcade Forge:

• Scanline SLG3000

From reading some of the other arcade designs it looks like the most wood used is Super MDF.

We are going for a Dig Dug shape with a few improvements
I’ll be grateful for any advice!

Cheers,

Mark Fleming

[mgb]

Ah, I remember my first time....
It was a rainy night and we were in the cab of an abanoned dump truck...
Oh wait, wrong subject.

I have never ordered from arcade forge so I can't comment on that.

I have ordered from GGG which is just a state over from me here in the US
I have always found delivery time to be so so.
As far as international shipping goes, maybe you can contact him to ask more specifics.


Ultimarc is great on shipping.
Somehow I get my orders from Ultimarc (in the UK) to me in the US within about 3 days.

I'm not sure if it's still available but Craftmech (here on the forums) makes the mini scan line generator which I believe is much cheaper than the one you're looking at. Paradise Arcade sells it

[yotsuya]

Dig Dug is a great classic shape. Good luck with your build.

[PowerCat]

@MGB - Thanks for the advice on the stores and the suggestion for the Mini SLG, definitely a lot cheaper!

@Yotsuya - Thanks, Can't wait to start!

[PowerCat]

The biggest question I suppose is the Joysticks, I've chosen the J-Stik from Ultimarc cause it looks good and is praised by the shop owner. Has anyone actually used these?

I see in the title that it refers to this type: http://www.paradisearcadeshop.com/levers/104-sanwa-jlw-tm-8-joystick.html

[Homietheclown]

The biggest question I suppose is the Joysticks, I've chosen the J-Stik from Ultimarc cause it looks good and is praised by the shop owner. Has anyone actually used these?

I see in the title that it refers to this type: http://www.paradisearcadeshop.com/levers/104-sanwa-jlw-tm-8-joystick.html

Hey Powercat,

Welcome to the first timer's club. I'm also in the same boat. Waiting for the weather to warm up before I get started. I just wanted to chime in with the joystick you mentioned. Everyone here has different opinions about what to get. I don't know much about the J stick. Different joysticks are made well....differently depending on what your using them for.

The biggest thing you want to look for in a joystick is will it work well for the games you play. Apparently old style games (pacman, galaga, dig-dug, etc. benefit from using a 4-way joystick (up,down, left,right) as opposed to a 8-way joystick that might be better used for fighters.

I myself have been helped out by the awesome people here. I think I am getting the Servo-stik (which is also a Ultimarc product). It has the ability to switch between 4 & 8 way modes with the help of a motor. Anyway good luck on getting your arcade together. Me personally, I can't wait.

[PowerCat]

Hey Powercat,

Welcome to the first timer's club. I'm also in the same. Waiting for the weather to warm up before I get started. I just wanted to chime in with the joystick you mentioned. Everyone here has different opinions about what to get. I don't know much about the J stick. Different joysticks are made well....differently depending on what your using them for.

The biggest thing you want to look for in a joystick is will it work well for the games you play. Apparently old style games (pacman, galaga, dig-dug, etc. benefit from using a 4-way joystick (up,down, left,right) as opposed to a 8-way joystick that might be better used for fighters.

I myself have been helped out by the awesome people here. I think I am getting the Servo-stik (which is also a Ultimarc product). It has the ability to switch between 4 & 8 way modes with the help of a motor. Anyway good luck on getting your arcade together. Me personally, I can't wait.

Thanks a lot for the advice!
I think it's gonna be one heck of a job putting it all together - but so worth it

Good luck with your project, let me know how it turns out.

[mgb]

The j stick basically is a Jlw.
So is the servo stick but with the auto switching

[PowerCat]

The j stick basically is a Jlw.
So is the servo stick but with the auto switching

Thanks MGB!

[PowerCat]

Me again!

I was wondering, is there a specific template for the control panel? (How the joystick and buttons are layed out)

[mgb]

That really comes down to opinion.
There are some standards such as the street fighter layout.
Check out www.slagcoin.com for some button layout ideas.
Plus take a look at the different members control panels here on the forums fir ideas.

[mgb]

A good part of it comes from what games you plan on playing.
For example, if you build a cab with a 19" vertical monitor, then the dual 8-ways with 6 buttons each may be a bit silly.

[PowerCat]

@mgb - thanks a lot  for the information!

[PowerCat]

With the J-Stik, can you mount it to a 16mm Supa MDF panel from underneath?

[mgb]

Should be fine. Worst case, you can route out a thin amount of material from underneath the cp.

[PowerCat]

Should be fine. Worst case, you can route out a thin amount of material from underneath the cp.

Oh yes, of course, that's a really good idea!!

I see on your (Amazing!) build that you currently use an I-Pac, can you program the buttons to anything?
Like for example could I assign Btn 1,2,3,4 to H, J, K, L?

[mgb]

Should be fine. Worst case, you can route out a thin amount of material from underneath the cp.

Oh yes, of course, that's a really good idea!!

I see on your (Amazing!) build that you currently use an I-Pac, can you program the buttons to anything?
Like for example could I assign Btn 1,2,3,4 to H, J, K, L?

Yes you can.
And I know there are many other very good encoders out there nowadays but when I bought mine, the Ipac was the main choice.
It's been going strong for around 10 years now

[PowerCat]

Yes you can.
And I know there are many other very good encoders out there nowadays but when I bought mine, the Ipac was the main choice.
It's been going strong for around 10 years now

Awesome!

So pretty excited, I've placed the order with GGG and Ultimarc on Wednesday and Ulitmarc has left UK and is on it's way already. Still haven't heard back from RandyT though, hope everything is ok - did try to email but didn't get a response, eh probably really busy. (Hopefully they have all the stock!)

[mackmack1]

Yes you can.
And I know there are many other very good encoders out there nowadays but when I bought mine, the Ipac was the main choice.
It's been going strong for around 10 years now

Awesome!

So pretty excited, I've placed the order with GGG and Ultimarc on Wednesday and Ulitmarc has left UK and is on it's way already. Still haven't heard back from RandyT though, hope everything is ok - did try to email but didn't get a response, eh probably really busy. (Hopefully they have all the stock!)

It took my stuff from GGG about a week and half to get here, he said he was a little backed up with tax refund season which is understandable.  I got them 3 weeks ago and im just finishing cab now so it was plenty of time, I need to wire everything up now.

I bought the eclipse buttons.  I haven't plugged them in but build quality is good.   You said "hand-candy" I am assuming you meant hard candy ball tops? I got two of those as well and they are really nice, no seams and they feel great. 

[mgb]

I have ordered a decent amount of arcade parts over the years for both myself and customers and I have found Ultimarc (and Bob Roberts) to be the best as far as delivery time goes. Typically 2-3 days.
GGG is not the best but far from the worst.

I just ordered from GGG at the beginning of this week and my package shipped on Wednesday so I'm expecting it today or tomorrow.
I feel a week is fine.

[Generic Eric]

I've no doubt every vendor makes their best effort to ship out reasonably.  I've learned personally not to order on a Tuesday for a project the following Saturday.  Inadvisable at best. 

[PowerCat]

mackmack1 - Nice! I can't wait to start building, just bought all the wood today!

mgb - I was just kind of worried that's all, wasn't being blah or anything - Not sure if my order went through or not. Don't mind it taking a week to get here or so, gives me time to cut everything out and put it together before it arrives!

Generic Eric - Thanks for the advice! Oh no doubt they do make the best effort, I was just a bit worried as I was saying to mgb ^