big arcade project

[KenToad]

Has anyone who has actually built an aircraft carrier or frankenpanel ever come back here to warm people away from that design choice?

[opt2not]

Has anyone who has actually built an aircraft carrier or frankenpanel ever come back here to warm people away from that design choice?

Pretty much everyone in this thread that is speaking against building one.

[KenToad]

Pics? Let's see these mistakes and learn from them.

[opt2not]

Hmm, my first cabinet build was like 15+ years ago before I joined this site (and before smart phones cameras was a thing). I might have some pics on a camera memory card somewhere in my stash, but I can't be arsed to look for them just to prove it to you internet randos.
But you can easily use our forum search function for older project builds of people who built frankenpanels and learned from their mistakes.
Or maybe some of the other guys have 'em that can share.

[Osirus23]

Has anyone who has actually built an aircraft carrier or frankenpanel ever come back here to warm people away from that design choice?

Me 4 replies before yours.

[KenToad]

Has anyone who has actually built an aircraft carrier or frankenpanel ever come back here to warm people away from that design choice?

Me 4 replies before yours.

2 players with 6 buttons and a trackball? That's not a frankenpanel.

[jennifer]

I would think most people would tend to come around less and less after their build is done, got what that came for kinda thing, And a do it all machine in there mind Is just that, move on with life...If you go into the way back time machine and see what some of the old founding members were doing OMG, that was hardcore, old school creations and makes Jenn wish they would all come back even if just for a day.

[negative1]

Has anyone who has actually built an aircraft carrier or frankenpanel ever come back here to warm people away from that design choice?

probably not, maybe they just chilled them out about it, or maybe the temperature wasn't quite right. who knows.

later
-1

[KenToad]

Has anyone who has actually built an aircraft carrier or frankenpanel ever come back here to warm people away from that design choice?

probably not, maybe they just chilled them out about it, or maybe the temperature wasn't quite right. who knows.

later
-1

Nice catch! 

[Mike A]

I assembled a little Haruman bartop for a friend. She liked the idea of an arcade machine in her house but she didn't want to dedicate the space for a full sized cab. I  argued that a bartop  cab that never moves takes up about the same space as a regular cab. I lost that debate. She wanted a 60-1 board. That was fine with me. It ensured that this cab would require no maintenance calls. I gave her the game list and asked her what games she liked to play. She looked at me like I was a nut and said "all of them".

I told her about the difference between 8 way and 4 way sticks. I told her you could get sticks that switch back and forth.

"The 8 way sticks will be fine. It won't make a difference on the 4 way games."

I set up the CP with an 8 way joystick with three buttons.

Almost immediately she came back to me and said "Burgertime is broken. I keep missing the ladders. My husband says that the controls for Pengo are frustrating. Neither game works like they do on your emulation cab."

My MAME cab only has a real 4 way stick.

It turns out they play Pengo and Burgertime like 90 percent of the time they use the cab.I bought them a 4 way stick and eliminated all of the games that require an 8 way stick. Their cab gets regular use after 2 years.

I have another friend that I assembled a two player Haruman cab for. Standard 2 player Street Fighter II layout.  This one has a Pandoras box. He is happy as can be with it playing a bazillion games with the wrong controls. He doesn't play the 4 way games very often. His cab got very little use after the first month or so.

Another friend had a cab that he assembled from Gameroom Solutions. I had to spend a bunch of time fixing that garbage kit. It was 2 player Street Fighter II layout. His kids loved it. He didn't like the way the controls worked for Donkey Kong and Frogger. I built him a control box kind like an x arcade. It had a 4 way stick and 1 action button, a credit button, and a p1 start button. It plugged into the back of the cab with an ethernet cable. The ethernet jack was wired into the player 1 controls. All he had to do was plug it in and start playing. This cab still gets regular use after about a year and a half.

This is my personal experience.

Figuring out what games you like to play the most is important. The controls matter. These control panels are simple and it still mattered. Frankenpanels add confusion to the equation.

Another lesson to be learned.

If you want to build a cab fast, then buy a Haruman kit. The kits that I bought assembled quickly and correctly. They look good too.
On top of that, Haruman is a good dude. (Note to self: Remember to collect commission from Haruman)

When I build for someone else I buy the kit. Less headaches for me.

[KenToad]

Great stories, Mike! I can relate. I've got friends with PhD's who wouldn't know what to do with the 2nd button on a 2-button control panel. It's like they turn their brains off for video games. I also collect board games and I find similar situations with very smart people refusing to internalize very simple rules.

But, that doesn't rationalize recommending a Mustang when someone asks for a Lamborghini, just because you think it would cost too much time and money without enough payoff.

Some people can handle a frankenpanel. Many people can't afford the space required to have a bunch of cabs with dedicated controls. All of our toys get less use over time. You have a great answer to that issue with the parties you throw.

Personally, I love my aircraft carrier pedestal. I keep a keyboard and mouse around and also use it as a desk. I use the TV not only for the arcade, but also for 8 game consoles. The whole setup has been pretty much constantly in use since I built it. I use the spinners, trackball, and 3rd and 4th player controls the least, but I'm still glad that I have them, because I love those styles of games.

[Mike A]

It is great that it works for you. The problem is when someone comes here with a post like that, most of the time they haven't even considered simplifying. As soon as it is recommended some idiot starts screaming about evil purists.
I don't have a single LCD in my arcade, but I have built or assembled several LCD cabs for other people. I am not allergic to them. I try to tell people the pros and cons of what they are trying to do.

But, that doesn't rationalize recommending a Mustang when someone asks for a Lamborghini, just because you think it would cost too much time and money without enough payoff.

If I were recommending a car the first question I would ask is "What are your driving habits?" If the guy said "I have 2 kids and a wife to haul around." I would obviously never recommend a Lamborghini, or a Mustang for that matter.

Defining your purpose matters. People new to the hobby often don't realize this.

[opt2not]

Just do a forum search in “frankenpanel” and see that not only the current guard recommends against them, but the old guard too. There MANY threads about this I don’t even know why we keep repeating ourselves. Use the search function!

[yotsuya]

Personally, I love my aircraft carrier pedestal. I keep a pillow and blanket around and also use it as a bunk bed.

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Just kidding!

I think Frankenpanels actually work for pedestals because that’s the focus of the design. But when you bolt that thing on the front of A smaller cabinet, it looks ridiculous.

[opt2not]

I think Frankenpanels actually work for pedestals because that’s the focus of the design. But when you bolt that thing on the front of A smaller cabinet, it looks ridiculous.

Actually, this is a very good point.   

[Mr. Peabody]

I'm wondering how long before mimic starts jonesing and comes back, just to lurk.


@Mike A: jeeeze, those first two stories are why I don't bother with such things. I can tell real quick when someone doesn't have what I consider necessary for me to be involved in something.

[Mike A]

I really couldn't ask for better friends. Assembling a couple of cabs and fiddling with them is the least I can do for them.

[Howard_Casto]

A few months ago I was asked by my step father to get his old 2600 running... turned out it was a very simple fix... it needed a new power supply and an adapter cable to hook it directly into the coax port of the tv.  At the time I was also working on one and asked him if he wanted me to composite mod it so it'd be easier to hook up to a tv and clean up the picture a little.  "No, I want it original."  He said.  The first thing he asked when I gave it back was "Why does everything look so bad?"   

Like I said.... people think they know what they want, but if they don't have the experience they don't really know what they want. 

Trying to build an arcade machine from scratch when you only have superficial knowledge of arcade machines is like trying to build a car from scratch with only a basic understanding of cars... you can technically do it, but it probably won't end well without help.  We've all started at that point and like some of the others have said, those initial cabs were fairly terrible so the go to advice is always to start simple and ask before you build. 

[Osirus23]

@Mike A: jeeeze, those first two stories are why I don't bother with such things.

Yep. Reminds me of some of my experiences. I gave my old desktop PC away to family a couple years ago. My reward was weekly tech support calls because they couldnt get such-and-such working. Never again.

[nipsmg]

I would say, if you're going to build a machine with a 4p Panel, follow an existing build pretty closely.

The one 4p aircraft carrier that EVERYONE is copying (literally everyone, all over reddit, ebay, etc) is from ChanceKJ's build:   http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=135116.0.  For pretty good reason too.  It's well thought out and functional.

I'm going to join the chorus in dissuading you from a couple of things.. Realize, those of us who are giving you this advice have gone through this.. We were just as excited as you, just as passionate about playing all these games, had visions of people crowded around the machine to play, etc.  We also, collectively, have found out some of the same truths:

Universal Truths:
Adding ancillary joysticks like a flightstick... somehwere in the middle of the panel, because you HAVE to have it is a bad, bad idea.
If you're doing a 4P panel with a trackball, there's nowhere to put that flight stick but up above your normal controls. And that is CRAZY, CRAZY uncomfortable.  Also, how many games that NEED a topfire are you actually going to play?  If it's 1 or 2, just put an external USB port on your machine and PLUG IN a flightstick to play that game the 2-3 times you're realistically going to play it.  Don't complicate the manel.

Spinners are cool for authenticity.... and that's about it.
  If you are a HUGE arkanoid and/or tempest fan, add it.  However, you're going to have the same problem as your flightstick. Where are you going to put it?  Above the trackball?  UNCOMFORTABLE.  You will use it a few times, and that's it.  And you can play arkanoid with a trackball. I've gotten really good at it.

- 4P Panels in general---  are you REALLY going to use it?
Think really hard about this one.  I had visions of people crowded around the machine playing 4p games all day.  I think I managed to get 4 people to play TMNT or Simpsons maybe 2-3 times in the life of the machine.  The rest of the time those sticks and buttons got NO use.  NONE.  Zero.  There just arent' that many 3+ player games out there to play.  A handful, and they're mostly the same.  ANd it's just MORE STUFF to not work and have to fix.  If you have a bunch of friends who are way into it who will play the same 5-6 games all the time, go for it.  But otherwise it will be an exercise in futility... Trust me.

Light Guns - only if you're in a cave
If your cabinet is going to be within 10 feet of a window... Just give up on this idea right now.  The AimTrak guns work reasonably well, but if there's any kind of sunlight behind the cabinet---  they just won't work. The sinden lightguns look promising, but I haven't seen enough about them to endorse.  I REALLY, REALLY want to use mine, but my cabinet is either in a garage or in my sunroom, so I had to give up the dream.


Some of this you may just have to figure out for yourself.  I'm not here to say I told you so, and it's not about looks.  It's about enjoyment, functionality, and trying to stave off regret.  You will spend a lot more money and time, make more mistakes, get more frustrated, and have it be probably weeks longer before you get to playing games, for what will ultimately be a drag.

In my opinion (and take it for what it is)  this is your best bet to have the best experience and play 90% of the games you want to play:

• 2x servostik 4/8 way auto switching sticks
• 7-8 buttons each player
• 3" trackball
• Lightguns, if you're not near a window

Oh, and by the way.  This was my first cabinet.  I was so proud of it:  *sigh*

http://arcadia.gerety.net  (click galleries)

[nipsmg]

One more thing.

If you are into golden tee, and are putting in a machine to play Golden Tee Fore, etc:  DO NOT PUT YOUR ADMIN BUTTONS RIGHT ABOVE THE TRACKBALL!  You will try to hit long shots and end up pausing/exiting your game. 

[Mr. Peabody]

The resistance of a trackball may make Arkanoid easier to play. A regular optical spinner game, no. An aircraft carrier-size panel has plenty of room for a spinner. My two-player cab's smaller-than-normal panel has plenty of room. Of course, it is off to the side.


@Osirus23: yeah, no bone movies.