Learning the Hard Way

[PiNPOiNT]

As everyone expierences when trying something new, like building a whole arcade cabinet for the first time, we eventually learn something that we could have done better or a different way when we are ready to build our second.  I'd like to hear some of the stories of the community of things that have happened to you during contruction that you unfortunatly had to learn the hard way to do.

Perhaps all the new people will be able to learn a thing or two before they make the same mistake.

[GGKoul]

If you search the boards there's lots & lots war stories...

[atog]

pages and pages of them, and all sorted by type of project:

http://www.arcadecontrols.com/arcade_examples.php

Absolutely invaluable resource for you, check it out thoroughly before you start building!

[FractalWalk]

Things I would change if I could:

I wouldn't have ordered from WICO!

I would have measured twice and cut once . . . ALWAYS!

I wouldn't have attempted a keyboard hack. I learned a lot from it, but it is just is way too much effort and too little functionality when compared to an encoder.

I would have bought my table saw, drill press & shop vac before starting construction as opposed to waiting until I couldn't do without.

I would have used my jigsaw more. I am just recently finding out how handy that thing is.

For laminate, I would have bought the adhesive in a can and applied with a roller as opposed to the spray stuff. The spray stuff is hard to apply and you don't get much in a can.

I would have only performed all measurements on a flat concrete floor as opposed to on carpet. My back door is a bit crooked because the carpet shifted the cabinet a bit.

I would have researched my controls and planned my CP better before purchasing. I changed my mind about what would work best for me and now I have controls I don't need.

I wouldn't have spent so much time trying to design a cabinet that plays as many games as possible when in reality I am happy only playing a few.

I wouldn't have attempted  to do it cheaply. It took a while for me to realize that I was going to spend a lot and I was much happier with the results when I came to terms with that.

[bdsjake]

I wouldn't have spent so much time trying to design a cabinet that plays as many games as possible when in reality I am happy only playing a few.

The Frankenpanel impulse is a strong one! I agree, resist it!

[PixelCloud]

Things I would change if I could:

I wouldn't have ordered from WICO!

I would have measured twice and cut once . . . ALWAYS!

I wouldn't have attempted a keyboard hack. I learned a lot from it, but it is just is way too much effort and too little functionality when compared to an encoder.

I would have bought my table saw, drill press & shop vac before starting construction as opposed to waiting until I couldn't do without.

I would have used my jigsaw more. I am just recently finding out how handy that thing is.

For laminate, I would have bought the adhesive in a can and applied with a roller as opposed to the spray stuff. The spray stuff is hard to apply and you don't get much in a can.

I would have only performed all measurements on a flat concrete floor as opposed to on carpet. My back door is a bit crooked because the carpet shifted the cabinet a bit.

I would have researched my controls and planned my CP better before purchasing. I changed my mind about what would work best for me and now I have controls I don't need.

I wouldn't have spent so much time trying to design a cabinet that plays as many games as possible when in reality I am happy only playing a few.

I wouldn't have attempted  to do it cheaply. It took a while for me to realize that I was going to spend a lot and I was much happier with the results when I came to terms with that.

what controls do you have laying around?

[FractalWalk]

what controls do you have laying around?

I've got 4 supers, 4  4-way Oscar restrictors with mounting plates, 1 2-way Oscar restrictor. About 20 misc buttons including a 1-p and 2-p start and a 2" CompUSA trackball.

I was going to sell them but I decided on a 2nd cab instead!

[Dartful Dodger]

I wouldn't have spent so much time trying to design a cabinet that plays as many games as possible when in reality I am happy only playing a few.

The Frankenpanel impulse is a strong one! I agree, resist it!

Give in to the voices, if you don't they'll just get louder.

[CthulhuLuke]

Yeah, I'm going to agree with the resist the frankenpanel instinct.  I was originally not even going to have that big of a control panel, 2 super 8-ways, a 4-way pacman reunion, plus a happs trackball, and a spinner.  Having extra parts is always nice, but I now have bout 2 boxes full of crap from various projects and my original cab.  I believe I have 2 trackballs, a 4-way off-brand yellow balltop, a 4-way pacman reunion, many pushbuttons, a 12v trackball light adapter *definitely didn't need that one*,  and after I finish my 2 solo joysticks and my versus cab, a box full of left over competition pushbuttons plus 2 psx pads.

Things I have learned from my experiences:
  drawing power from a usb mouse on an imperial trackball if you do it wrong will blow out the usb port *sorry dad*
  never use the "ship the items as they come" from happs, they charge you for every shipping they do.
  Never buy off of ebay without checking for a name or brand, if there isn't one it's more likely than not crap.
  Always cut less before you cut more, you can take off more than you can put back.
  Always overestimate your projects, my mame arcade is still sitting without a tv and a new pc, its only running on hand-me-downs and the control panel.
  NEVER use X-Arcade parts, they might work fine but they won't feel as nice as happs parts.
  Do take advantage of fixed shipping charges on ebay, I scored 40 buttons or so off of ebay w/ $3.50 for shipping, the price on the box said $12.50 for shipping.
  New happs trackballs spin better than any old trackballs I have ever tried, my happs spins around 13-15 times with a moderate swipe, my wico and imperial are limited to bout 4-5 spins, even with a new bearing set.

[paigeoliver]

Gravis gamepads ghost and block if you hack them.

If you hack two identical gamepads then they will randomly swap position at each boot up.

If you combine both of the above then you are gonna have problems.

Don't bolt an oversized panel onto an original machine (I actually DID do this once, it looked terrible, and luckily I didn't actually modify the cabinet).

Don't leave freshly rebuilt TM 202G monitors laying around where a fan can fall on them and vent the tube.

Don't even THINK about buying a non Ms. Pac/Reunion 4-way until you at least go out and try that one.

Joysticks go to the left of the buttons (I did not make this mistake, but I own a Gorf cocktail that MIDWAY made that mistake on).

Untested Jamma boards NEVER work.
Untested non-jamma boards work about half the time.
If you post a WTB post on RGVAC for an item and get zero responses, then it is gonna be hard to find.

When you get a non-working game in, always do the following before moving to advanced troubleshooting techniques. Check all fuses, press down on all socketed chips, test monitor with another game, test game with another monitor, reseat edge connector, and check voltages on the power supply.

[PixelCloud]

what controls do you have laying around?

I've got 4 supers, 4  4-way Oscar restrictors with mounting plates, 1 2-way Oscar restrictor. About 20 misc buttons including a 1-p and 2-p start and a 2" CompUSA trackball.

I was going to sell them but I decided on a 2nd cab instead!

damn i would be interested in the supers and the buttons..

[rdagger]

1.  Read as much of the BYOAC forums as possible, because at every hurdle you will find posts by people with identical experiences.  (including this post)

2.  Search before posting, so BYOAC members don't have to read the same question over and over.