Starting a project, recommendations?

[SmokinGun]

Hello,

I've been reading these forums for a while trying to decide if I have what it takes to build my own machine.  I've been looking around for a while and figured it would be easier to emulate someone elses machine that to design a whole new plan on my own.  I can make modifications as I see fit of course.

The one machine that really stands out in my head is this one:

http://www.leafstation.com/ms2intro.html

I looked around a bit more, and came across this site

http://www.cybertechdesign.net/mameroom/index.htm

It basically sells the plans needed to make the Mamestation.  The autocad plans used to be listed on the Mamestation site but were removed.  I assume this machine was built from a kit.  

I would like to know, should I purchase these plans or can I get them somewhere else?  Is this a popular model to use when building a machine?  Have others built this machine from a kit or is the Mamestation the only one?  Also, if anyone has any machines they recommend I take a look at, it would be most appreciated.  I'm looking around and want to make sure I'm building the best machine I can.  I've looked around the projects section but nothing I've looked at so far compares to this.  I'm a fighting game fanatic and would like to have 2 8 way's, 1 4 way, trackball and spinner.  Thank you for your time.

[TazMan]

Personally, I am a fan of 1UP's Pac-Mamea.
As of yesterday, he has also added the pans to his site.

[SmokinGun]

Yes, I took a long hard look at that cabinet.  It's very nice and would be wonderful to build, but it looks much too complicated for my first project.  Also, I'm not into the classic games that much so a rotating control panel would not appeal to me.  Is there anything else that you guys can think of that I should have a look at?

[eightbit]

You could build one ups without the rotating panel.

[SmokinGun]

Well, 1up designed the machine to fit a rotating control panel.  He made the case a certian size in order to fit in into the machine.  He mentiones he had to go with a defender style case in order to make it fit.

If I'm not going to put a rotating control panel in it, it would be a waste of time to go out of my way to build a machine designed to have one.  It would be much easier to go ahead and build something like the Mamestation.  The front of it is straight because it doesn't have to accomodate for a rotating control panel.  

Does anyone know where I can get the plans for it at?  Also, does anyone have any other machines they recommend I take a look at?

[eightbit]

Have you scanned the 550 examples linked from this site? Its tough for us to know what your looking for.

[SmokinGun]

As I stated above, I've looked around the projects section but nothing I've looked at so far compares to this.  I'm a fighting game fanatic and would like to have 2 8 way's, 1 4 way, trackball and spinner.

I'm basically looking for projects that stand out in other members heads.  What are some of the better projects you have seen?  I know there are 500 +, but I would like to know what you guys think are some of the better ones.  

[ITrek]

I bought the cybertechdesign.net plans and I'm glad I did.  I'm building both a 4 player control panel and a 2 player panel with a trackball and spinner.  It saved me a ton of design time and took a lot of guess work out of building my first cab.  I'm sure I'll design my own when I build number 2.

Another cab design you might want to consider is LuSid's.  A lot of the cabs on this site use this design or a variation of it.  

http://home.earthlink.net/~seanhat/arcade/arcade.html

Scott's Unicade is a variation on LuSid's design which has a frame inside instead of using all the angle brackets.  I probably would have used a variation of Scott's Unicade if I hadn't liked the features and looks of Cybertech one so much (best looking 4 player cab I've seen).  

http://home.austin.rr.com/shumate/unicade/index.htm

Both of these sites are excellent.  Hopefully, this is the type of advice you were looking for.

[SNAAAKE]

I would still say mamestation 2(damn it this cab look too good) but can you really do similer one?

It wont be easy but thats just my $0.20 .

[SmokinGun]

Snaaake,

Why do you think the Mamestation 2 is so hard to duplicate?  I will have the plans, I would assume if I follow the directions it will turn out just fine.  What makes you think it will be so hard?

[SNAAAKE]

I dont know..no idea...looks complicated thats all.
I am sure I will eventually built a similer one.in summer maybe when i can cut the wood outside.

[SmokinGun]

This is off topic, but what does "MDF" mean?  I assume it is a type of wood?  I went to homedepot.com and did a search, it came up with a ruler or something?  You guys throw that word around all the time, what does it mean?

BTW, thank you all for your posts.  I believe I'm going to buy the plans from cybertechdesign.net and give it a go.  If anyone wants to stop me, last chance

[Xiaou2]

 MDF = Medium Density Fiberboard.

 Its found in large sheets at homedepot.  Ask arround, and they will find it for you.  It looks simular in color to cardboard.  

 Its cheap, and yet very strong.  Its also very smooth, and requires nearly no sanding.  Easy to paint as well.

 

[CthulhuLuke]

I agree with Snaaake that the MamestationII would not be easy at all.  The sheer size of it would be quite a challenge, and also making sure it was not too front heavy, although it looks fairly stable.  One major thing I would have done different if you do follow his plans is do not put a joystick underneath the trackball unless you don't mind pushing those 4-way buttons on there.  Also, that TV is huge, I don't have that kinda money, but if you got a lot of funding go for it.
  I've heard a lot of good things about LuSiD's design.  It's very generic in a good way, because it's compatible for both the person who wants to build an old school cab, and for someone like me who's into making a Capcom vs SNK 2 style CP.
    Well the one thing you gotta think about before you build your cab is what you mainly want to use it for?  If you say that you're going to use it for everything, old school, trackball games, fighting games, then build one with a changable CP.  If you're like me and don't mind a little smooshed together, you can also just fit 2 8-ways with 6 buttons and a trackball on one CP and call it good, and have all that you need.
    Also think about your funding.  If you got as much money as you could possibly spend, then go ahead and build a showcase cabinet.  but if you're limited on funds like most of us, then build a conventional cab that doesn't take too much wood and paint.
    -Many options out there, good luck
     -CthulhuLuke

[SmokinGun]

Hmm, you guys have got me thinking again.  That Mamestation is kind of big, and Scott's unicade is looking better to me now.  Heck, I might even go with 1up's plan now.  I'm so confused...

[Tiger-Heli]

Hmm, you guys have got me thinking again.  That Mamestation is kind of big, and Scott's unicade is looking better to me now.  Heck, I might even go with 1up's plan now.  I'm so confused...

Well, just to throw another idea out, if I had the funds, I might try something like OSCAR's proposed X-arcade showcase cab in this thread: http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=3994 , although those sketches are as close as he has to detailed plans :-(

[ITrek]

Posted by: CthulhuLuke Posted on: December 28, 2002, 08:33:02 PM
I agree with Snaaake that the MamestationII would not be easy at all.  The sheer size of it would be quite a challenge

I'm not sure why you're thinking that the Mamestation II (using the Ultimate Arcade II plans) is large compared to Scott's Unicade.  The Unicade is just over 28" wide and 73" tall.  The Ultimate Arcade is 27" wide and 75" tall before adding the CP.  IMHO both of these designs are about the same size.

However, if you plan to use a 4 player CP with either design then yes it will add significantly to the width (size) of the cabinet.  The 4 player CP on the Ultimate Arcade design is 46" wide.  I believe the SlikStik Quad is also about 46" wide if you went that way, but either design can use a narrower 2 player CP that would be about as wide as the cabinet.

The only thing I saw more "challenging" in the Ultimate Arcade II design is the slide out keyboard tray.

[SmokinGun]

I'm going to go with a 2 player cab because I'm mostly into fighters, not 4 player beat em ups.  

Now, after reading this on the unicade site, I have a barrage of questions.  I hope this isn't too complicated for 1 thread, but I figure it would be better to keep this thread alive than to create multiple ones with simple questions.  

The next objective was to decide on the controls.  I knew I wanted a do-everything control panel but I knew there was no way I was going to fit it all on one control panel.  I had seen some examples of detachable and rotating panels on the web but I thought they would be more trouble than they were worth.  I thought of some of the games I like to play that have special controls: Ikari Warriors, Heavy Barrel, Smash TV, Centipede, Tron, Xenophobe, Tempest, Arkanoid, Star Wars, and some others.  I came up with the following list of controls to play all of these games properly: rotary joysticks, dual joysticks per player, a spinner, a trackball, a yoke, and a pistol grip style joystick.  The problem was that I knew I wasn't going to fit all of these controls on one control panel so something had to go.  What I decided upon was to have a spinner and trackball in the middle of the control panel, and dual joysticks for each player, one a rotary joystick and one a top-fire joystick.  This seemed to be the best possible solution since I could still play Tron without the pistol grip joystick by using a top-fire joystick and spinner.  The only real draw-back is having to play Star Wars with a mouse instead of a yoke.

I've decided to take a similar approach, but I have a few questions.  In this image, there are 2 top fire joystics.
 


I haven't played Tron in a while and cannot remember if 2 joystics are necessary or not.  Also, I noticed the 6 button layout is sort of crooked.  A lot of other control panels are modeled like this, why is that?  Why is it not straight across like the standard Capcom layout?  And finally, Scott mentions he designed a circuit to change the way his joystics perform as stated below.

The middle two joysticks and top-fire buttons are wired the same way as the buttons.  The outer two joysticks, P1 left and P2 right, are wired to a circuit I designed to allow me to select between 8-way, 4-way, and diagonal modes.  The circuit works via a switch mounted on the control panel.  When the switch is in 8-way mode, the signals that come from the joysticks pass through the circuit unaltered.  When the switch is in diagonal mode (i.e. Q-bert mode), a logical AND function is applied so that only the diagonals are registered.  When the switch is in 4-way mode, P2 right, which is a 4-way joystick, takes over the inputs from the P1 left joystick  The inputs normally received from P2 right are disabled.

Does the IPac or JPac from Ultimarc have this option included?  Is this only possible with a keyboard hack?  If it is possible, how difficult is it to do?  The reason why I ask is that it seems this project is somewhat older than others I have looked at.  I figured there may have been some new, easier way to accomplish joystick control method switching.

If it is possible to easily duplicate this control panel layout, I will probably try and duplicate it in my machine.  I really like the idea of hitting a switch to go from 8 way, 4 way, or 4 way diagonal.  Do you guys agree that this is a good idea?

Once again, thank you all for your time.

[Birdtales]

  Also, I noticed the 6 button layout is sort of crooked.  A lot of other control panels are modeled like this, why is that?  Why is it not straight across like the standard Capcom layout?

If you rest your hand on a table with the tips of your fingers touching the table note that the finger tips arc in the shape of the buttons in that pic (because your middle finger is longer than the other two). I did mine this way as it felt more natural but it's what you feel is better that will work for you.

[SmokinGun]

Sorry to beat a dead horse, but I would still like to know if the ability to have a controller switch from an 8 way to a 4 way is a possibility with an IPAC or if it is a custom configuration that will be difficult do duplicate.

[SNAAAKE]

you get the oscar restricter plate(that how its called right?) for switching between 4 and 8 way.

That like the easist way(I think).

[eightbit]

Sorry to beat a dead horse, but I would still like to know if the ability to have a controller switch from an 8 way to a 4 way is a possibility with an IPAC or if it is a custom configuration that will be difficult do duplicate.

The 4/8 way configuration is usually down physically with switching the joystick.

Some joysticks are switchable by moving a restrictor on the bottom. These don't feel like 4 ways they just keep you from hitting the diagonals.


Some are switchable by reversing or replacing an actuator on the bottom of the joystick. These also don't feel like 4 ways, since they still move diagonally, they just can't register a diagonal hit.

There is one that I know of that is switchable via a toggle switch mounted on the side. This is my favorite. Still not a true 4 way stick but close. I like its stiffness and short throw distance.


As Snake mentioned Oscar from Oscar controls makes a restrictor plate that converts most joysticks to a real 4 way by physically restricting your stick to moving in only 4 directions. These have a advantage because you can remove them but I've heard adjusting them can be fussy. I've never used one so I can't tell you by personal experience. He also makes 2 way restrictors and q-bert restrictors.


A lot of people if they have room mount a 8 way and a 4 way joystick to player 1. You just wire them both to the same inputs as if the other one wasn't there. This gets you the best of both worlds because you don't have to change any configurations or physically have to adjust or change anything.

[CthulhuLuke]

Hey, I'm wayyy into fighters also,  and basically made my cabinet so my brother and I could play Capcom vs SNK 2 on a real cabinet.  This control panel is perfect for fighters, the only thing I would change would be 360 perfect joysticks in there instead of happs supers, but that's money I don't have.  I do have a 4-way pac joystick, but I didn't have the space to install it, so it was either my trackball or my 4-way, and trackball won because I can play 4-way games with the super 8-way fine, I don't notice any of the complaints I hear as long as I turn on "Steady Key Support" in Mame32.

*how to link to geocities, change .jpg to .txt*
if I had more materials and money, I probably would have made a plexi top and made an awesome overlay to go underneath it, but I'm pretty cheap, so yeah.
  -Good Luck
      -CthulhuLuke

[ashardin]

Just another idea, especially since it is your first effort, forgo building the entire cabinet, and convert a stripped/broken cabinet.

I've done 4 this way and find it to be cheaper, easier, and quicker.  You can still customize many parts and lets you decide what you want or don't want if you get the desire to build another.

[phantompower]

Hey all...I am the guy who build MameStation II.

Just for the record, I did not use plans from CYBERTECH.  I created the AutoCAD plans from scratch using images of the CYBERTECH design and some key measurements like height, width, etc.

I do not have his plans and can't compare the two...but he did ask me to remove my plans as he wanted to make his available by purchase.  I complied out of courtesy as my plans were made from images of his final construction.

Hope this helps to clear up any issues of how I did it.  It was a tremendously fun project, but it is very large and physics are something to pay attention to with regards to being top-heavy etc.

Feel free to mail me if you have any questions.

Later,
Chuck