An Idea for my 4 player cab

[lordsub]

I'm in the process of designing my first cab.  I have an idea, and dont know if it's been done or not, but it sounds like it could work.  I would really like to have 4 players.  I also want to have a trackball, spinner, and a 4 way stick.  This poses a real estate issue.  I can make a big control panel like the MameII (i think thats it)  but that thing is very wide, and i dont have much room in my small apartment.  So i was thinking about maybe making it so the sides can detach...and be seperate entities.  So when i am not using the 3rd and 4th players the box is only about 2.5'-3' feet wide.  Then if i want to play the 3 or 4 player games, i could attached those pieces to the box.  Like of like a leaf in a dining room table.  I would want to make it flush and still look good when the pieces are connected.  Also need to put enough support on it, so if anyone leans on it, it would break.  I think this can be done.  As far as the wiring.  I think i can just make some extra wire connections.  Put a male adapter on one end, and a female adapter on the other end.  Plug them together when i attach the leaf.(in my mind i am picturing this connection kind of like an ATX connector)   Anyone ever tried anything like this?  Any thoughts on how this will or wont work?

Thanks

[eightbit]

I think that sounds like a great idea. Maybe make triangle sides big enough to support leaning weight.

[1UP]

I was thinking of doing the same thing for my rotating cab.  My idea was to drill 2-4 holes on each side, and mount tee-nuts on the inside of the cab.  The side panels would attach by long bolts with plastic knobs on the ends, so they could be finger-tightened into the tee-nuts.  Not sure about the specifics, but that was my basic plan...

[ashardin]

Just another brainstorm for you as I read a poster here that did this with his cabinet and I really liked the idea.  This would not be completely "authentic" for players 3 and 4 but would help with your space requirements and allow you to built a panel that will fit in your place and allow you to learn on the first and make your "dream panel" later and learn from your mistakes.  Plus, figure the amount of 4 player games and how many time you would have 4 players actually playing.

Built a 2 player panel, and on each side of you control panel, mount a usb jack.  Run each of these into your computer.  When you want to play a 4 player game, plug a controller into each USB port and boom!  4 player action.

Like I said, players 3 and 4 will not get the "Arcade" feel but it will still be just as fun, with taking up 1/2 the space (and much cheaper as well).

just an idea for you.

[Darkstalker]

You could make cutouts in the side, and make pegs on the wings to slide in...

"Built a 2 player panel, and on each side of you control panel, mount a usb jack.  Run each of these into your computer.  When you want to play a 4 player game, plug a controller into each USB port and boom!  4 player action."

An idea I was kicking around is making a plug in the side, or under the CP, with a DB25 connection and just have P3 and P4 as "laptop" panels.  Not quite as smooth as the usb options, but you would only need one encoder/hack instead of 3..

[ashardin]

Sounds like a really good idea, I seem to recall a thread earlier where Andy at Ultimarc stated that the IPAC is hot swappable so you could plug and play as needed.