Modular Pedestal and Unusual Multi-Player Control Options

[Batchman]

Don't want to flood the forum with 20 different topics, so trying to consider a way to cover several topics in one thread. Oh god ... I hope that doesn't make this a Franken-Thread!

I keep trying to plan an upright, and knowing it will cost a fortune, and that there's a good chance I would never get to do more than one, I keep finding myself going fairly Frankenpanel, even when I try not to.

But after studying several different threads, I think I've come up with an idea that will let me move further away from the Frankenpanel, and be less expensive in the short term, as well.

I'm thinking of going with a Pedestal (less wood, less bulk, easier to move) and swappable control panels. I will start with a single panel, set up to allow a wide variety of games with some trade-offs for playing games in usable but not optimal controls, and over time, add more control panels to allow more games and better controls for those games.

My first panel would probably have two 360 sticks that can be programmed to partly emulate various other kinds of joysticks (trade-off) and 6 or 8 buttons each, and a Tron stick and spinner ... and I am still toying with the idea of squeezing in a trackball, but if so, it would probably be the smaller type for more controlled trackball games.

The second panel (built 6 months or a year down the line) would probably be for four player games, with the four joysticks and buttons, (8 way with a shorter throw, I think), and toward the back, four spinners for Warlords.

Eventually I would probably have a panel with two larger track balls and a 4 way joystick, allowing for some of the wilder trackball games, and ultra-precise four way games, and another panel for driving games, but these would be able to be worried about, and fit in, down the road. (I would, however, include the space to install pedals in the early design work of the pedestal, so there wouldn't be requirements for tearing it up to make space for them later.

But on the four player panel, I was just wondering ... I know there are a few three or four player games that use other controls (three steering wheels? Possibly four steering wheels? Three track balls), but those are really unusual, right? I mean, 99.5% of all the popular four player games are just going to use joystick and buttons, yes?

Anyway, this gives me less expense to start, and if I never get around to the additional control panels, I can still play the vast majority of games I want to ... but easy expansion (and not requiring the expense of building multiple cabinets and having a place to put them and ways to move them) means I'm more likely to add more later!

Anyone willing to share thoughts?

[Slippyblade]

Good call on doing a 2 player panel first.  2 8-way sticks with 6 buttons is all you need.  Put a trackball in the middle and you have a standard Knievel control panel.  If you are doing 360 sticks, those can be programmed to work just fine as 4 way sticks as well.  The only reason to have 8 buttons is if you plan on mixing console games into the cabinet.  Most folks will advise against that.

To easily make the two player panel work for four players, simply build a USB port on to each side of it and keep a couple gamepads tucked away.  When (if) you have more than two players you can plug in a gamepad and rock out with the Turtles.

[harveybirdman]

More than one trackball is nonsense.  I mean with all due respect to Marble Madness, Rampart, and Atari Football it's a complete waste to have more than one.

Driving games, while fun, will never be the same out of their native cabinets without tons of compromise and a sincere focus on making a games list that is well suited for the controls you ultimately decide on.

I think it's cool that you are considering the modular route, there are lots of cool modular builds on this site.   However, I'd just build a four player pedestal with one trackball and see how you like it. 

Someday people will realize that either A) Tron isn't any fun or B) I am a weirdo that loves Tron so I better build a dedicated replica or restore an original cabinet so I can play it properly without making my other arcade projects fugly.  However it can be integrated within a classy cabinet if you do things right.  I highly suggest looking at wp34's build "Tron Legacy" http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,116519.0.html to see this integrated seamlessly.   

[Paul Olson]

I would build a standard 2player layout with a trackball in the middle. This will get you playing most of the games. Honestly, it will get you more games than you can ever play.

The swappable panel idea will work great if/when you decide you need more. Try to design the cabinet so it is easy to add panels. You don't want to have to buy controller interfaces for each panel, so make those modular as possible so you can just mount the new panel and plug in. Don't get me wrong, it would be nice to have separate interfaces for each panel so you can just plug in the USB, but these projects can get expensive really fast.

For your second panel, I would make a test panel. Something that you can replace pieces of. I am thinking more like a modular panel like I have. That way you can try stuff out and see what you actually want without making a presentable panel. It will giv you a chance to see if you will play games often enough to warrant special controls.

[Batchman]

More than one trackball is nonsense.  I mean with all due respect to Marble Madness, Rampart, and Atari Football it's a complete waste to have more than one.

And I'll admit, Marble Madness is the only reason I would do this ... which is stupid, considering I don't actually play it ... while I would like to, one player ought to be enough for the occasional desire. Why is it so easy to go crazy with this stuff?

To easily make the two player panel work for four players, simply build a USB port on to each side of it and keep a couple gamepads tucked away.  When (if) you have more than two players you can plug in a gamepad and rock out with the Turtles.

While I want to argue against this, and demand my full set-up for players 3 & 4 for X-Men and Gauntlet, the truth is, the chances of ever having four people playing them are slim, anyway. But on the other hand, a second panel with four player also allows me to do the Smash TV thing or whatever it is that others are always raving about. So I think I will still keep in mind a second panel that can be swapped out, for four players. Whether it will ever happen or not ....

Someday people will realize that either A) Tron isn't any fun or B) I am a weirdo that loves Tron so I better build a dedicated replica or restore an original cabinet so I can play it properly without making my other arcade projects fugly.  However it can be integrated within a classy cabinet if you do things right.  I highly suggest looking at wp34's build "Tron Legacy" http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,116519.0.html to see this integrated seamlessly.   

No offense, but I think you're the weirdo who doesn't love Tron!  But in all seriousness, I looked through that entire thread, and I love it. I might look at that as 90% of my first control panel, right there ... though I might play with the idea of a couple of small tweaks. I'd just have to figure if I would need to include some blank space to the sides, or if I could fit the four player panel into the same space.

Though a part of my wants to toy with the idea of a 3-sided half-hexagon console done with a Doctor Who theme! Now where did I put that darned chameleon circuit?!?

[wp34]

Someday people will realize that either A) Tron isn't any fun or B) I am a weirdo that loves Tron so I better build a dedicated replica or restore an original cabinet so I can play it properly without making my other arcade projects fugly.  However it can be integrated within a classy cabinet if you do things right.  I highly suggest looking at wp34's build "Tron Legacy" http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,116519.0.html to see this integrated seamlessly.

Thanks Harvey.   

[Batchman]

Thanks Harvey.   

It is a gorgeous cabinet ... I'm seriously considering largely plagiarizing it if I end up going cabinet instead of pedestal.

[Slippyblade]

No offense, but I think you're the weirdo who doesn't love Tron!

I play it at least once every time I see it, but to be honest, it's not that great a game.  The cabinet is a piece of art, but the game...  kinda uninspired.  But if you like it, that's great.  Folks love Pac-Man to this day and it doesn't come much more uninspired than 256 levels of the same maze.

[harveybirdman]

Thanks Harvey.   

  to you sir huzzzzah!


Good Luck Batchman you're good people.  I'll have you talked into a room full of cabinets in no time.

[Batchman]

I play it at least once every time I see it, but to be honest, it's not that great a game.  The cabinet is a piece of art, but the game...  kinda uninspired.  But if you like it, that's great.  Folks love Pac-Man to this day and it doesn't come much more uninspired than 256 levels of the same maze.

You know ... when I really think about it ... light versions of Breakout, Snakes, Combat, and a shoot-em-up with fast-multiplying spiders being the only bit that seems fairly unique ... how much of the game's appeal was the very cool cabinet? This isn't to say that I didn't greatly enjoy it, and wouldn't play it two or three times every time I went to the arcade, or that I don't want to include it in my build ... but when really thinking, I have to admit that the game play wasn't the absolute greatest thing on Earth.

  Way to ruin my childhood memories! 

j/k

[Slippyblade]

I could never get past L2 light cycles, personally.

[wp34]

I went through a phase where I didn't like Tron---even early in my cabinet build. But the more I play it at the local barcade the more I like it.   Even the sound of the game (on a dedicated cabinet) has a visceral effect on me. Something that doesn't translate on my mame cabinet at all.

[Batchman]

I used to practically live at Disneyland (Disney's Tomorrowland Starcade is where I usually played Tron), and one of the things I always enjoyed was the Tron segment of the PeopleMover.

I've always toyed with the idea of setting up something where upon power-up my cabinet would suddenly call out "Warning! You have invaded the electronic realm of the Master Computer Program! Prepare for the game grid of Tron!" Followed, of course, during shutdown with "You have escaped Tron's game grid for now, User, but take heed ... next time you may not fare so well!"

I miss Tron.

I miss the PeopleMover.

[Slippyblade]

I've always toyed with the idea of setting up something where upon power-up my cabinet would suddenly call out "Warning! You have invaded the electronic realm of the Master Computer Program! Prepare for the game grid of Tron!" Followed, of course, during shutdown with "You have escaped Tron's game grid for now, User, but take heed ... next time you may not fare so well!"

[yotsuya]

 TRON is a great game. Anyone who doesn't like it probably likes Street Fighter.

[Slippyblade]

Guilty

[yotsuya]

Guilty

Case. Rested!

;-)

[yotsuya]

I used to practically live at Disneyland (Disney's Tomorrowland Starcade is where I usually played Tron), and one of the things I always enjoyed was the Tron segment of the PeopleMover.

I've always toyed with the idea of setting up something where upon power-up my cabinet would suddenly call out "Warning! You have invaded the electronic realm of the Master Computer Program! Prepare for the game grid of Tron!" Followed, of course, during shutdown with "You have escaped Tron's game grid for now, User, but take heed ... next time you may not fare so well!"

I miss Tron.

I miss the PeopleMover.

I miss those things as well.

[Batchman]

OK, I've decided what I want to do ... now I just have to figure out how to do it.

I want to build a pedestal very similar to Spkywlnt73's Castlevania pedestal (very nice piece of work), with almost the exact control panel that wp34 used in his excellent Tron Legacy build.

Instead of using his extra lighting, however, I will probably use LED lighting for all the buttons and the track ball ... and if it can work with my chosen joysticks (Ultrastik 360, if I am remembering the name right), even LEDs inside the ball top joysticks (which would probably mean replacing the ball with a clear one.), leaving just the spinner un-lit.

I just have to make sure that I make the control panel wide enough that when I get around to adding on a second control panel in the future, it will be wide enough to handle a four player, four button layout comfortably.

I think I'll go with the title/marque:

    TRON
Game Grid

done in the proper Tron style, and will program in the above-mentioned sound clips to play at start-up and shut down. I will also consider a SSD for operating system and software, for the faster boot times. I also *may* consider adding a Blip-style changing marque, should the price for the ultrawide monitors ever get cheap enough, in which case, the marque would show Tron Game Grid when a game is not actually loaded, and that game's marquee when it is. (But prices aren't likely to get low enough, at least in the near future.)

So ... now that I have determined fairly precisely what I want, where do I go from here? I've been poking around, and so far I have not found any pedestal plans anywhere. The link on the main arcade controls site that says it leads to a system to let you lay out your control panel goes to a dead site.

I'll buy the wood next month and get this started as an actual build, except I really don't much know how to do the plans.