Clutch Hitter conversion to Vertical cabinet

[mccoy178]

I thought I was done.  I swore I was done.  At least it's not a complete build and I won't be modding the cabinet in any way other than a custom metal CP overlay.  I don't want to ruin an original.  Anyways, I want a cabinet dedicated to the classic verticals and I'm ready to make it happen.  Much more is to come.  I just wanted to get a thread started.  I am going to throw the cabinet in BST for a couple days and see if there is any interest.

[TOK]

Clutch Hitter was a conversion, and that looks like a Taito cab, so the ruining of an original has already been taken care of. MAME with impunity! Looks like a real clean starting point.

I have my vert cab working now, and I think I might like it more overall than my horizontal cab. Even though a few of my overall favorite games are horizontal, playing the shooters and  original vert classics properly oriented is great.

[Glaine]

Agreed, I've had one of those on the mental back-burners for years.
Besides Mame, I want a tate setup for my dreamcast shmups like Gunbird 2 and Ikaruga. *sigh*

[mccoy178]

Thanks Fellas.  Would you recommend a 4/8 way joy, or a true 4 way.  Kremmit recommended going with an original ms pacman joy, and I like that idea.  I just don't know yet.

[leapinlew]

Thanks Fellas.  Would you recommend a 4/8 way joy, or a true 4 way.  Kremmit recommended going with an original ms pacman joy, and I like that idea.  I just don't know yet.

Definetly go with a 4 way. The reunion stick is a great stick. My favorite cabinet is my Old School cabinet that has all the classics on it in their proper form.

Thats a great looking cabinet - it'll be great!

[TOK]

I went with 8 ways since I also really love the vertically scrolling shooters.
Even if you're primarily interested in Donkey Kong, Galaga, Pac Man etc, go with something switchable, because there are a lot of great old vertical games that use an 8 way (Gyruss, Commando, Xevious, Time Pilot, etc).

[CheffoJeffo]

When I build a little "classics" control panel that I could use wth my notebook, I took a Wico 4-way (leaf) and adjusted the switches so that I could hit diagonals, but not as "early" in the throw as a normal 8-way would. I was tryng to replicate the kind of behaviour you see in a Tron stick.

It took some tweaking, but I was happy with the results -- can play Donkey Kong fine and still play 8-way games.

I'll be moving that stick into my vertical MAME setup.

Cheers

[theCoder]

Great project.  I'd go with a 4 way, 2 buttons, and a spinner.  Maybe a 70's retro theme.  I've got an arcade vendor near by with a short narrow machine.  I'm trying to talk him out of it to do this to. 

Good luck with the build.

[Glaine]

I go with 8 way stick and at least 3 buttons per player for vertical schmups. But a 4/8 switchable would prolly be best for you so you can still play Burgertime, puckman, etc without diagonal woes.

[javeryh]

I'm building a vertical cab and I'm planning to use 3 buttons and a 4/8 way switchable joystick.  I'm not 100% sold though - I may install 2 joys (4 way and 8 way) because this cab is for my daughter and I don't want to confuse her... although 2 joys might be more confusing... I don't know.  It seems like she'd be missing out on a ton of great vertical games with just a 4 way...

[leapinlew]

I'm building a vertical cab and I'm planning to use 3 buttons and a 4/8 way switchable joystick.  I'm not 100% sold though - I may install 2 joys (4 way and 8 way) because this cab is for my daughter and I don't want to confuse her... although 2 joys might be more confusing... I don't know.  It seems like she'd be missing out on a ton of great vertical games with just a 4 way...

I thought the same thing so I went with some magstick+ sticks. People couldn't figure out how to change from 4/8 way and they didn't know what mode they were in to begin with.

The ultimarc 360's look like a good solution. I'm looking forward to trying some out.

[mccoy178]

I've been thinking about it, and I think I want to go with a dedicated 4 way.  I have all the shooters on the main cabinet, and I think that by going with that and a 2" trackball, I can have most of the classics in one spot.  I need to take some measurements and see what I can fit in there.  I think I'm going to go with one 4 way, and not two.

[theCoder]

I've been thinking about it, and I think I want to go with a dedicated 4 way.  I have all the shooters on the main cabinet, and I think that by going with that and a 2" trackball, I can have most of the classics in one spot.  I need to take some measurements and see what I can fit in there.  I think I'm going to go with one 4 way, and not two.

On the PartyBox project, I used a 4 way joystick, 3 buttons, a 3" trackball, and 5 admin buttons.  This in a 18" CP.  It was a bit tight.  A scale model in Visio really helped fit it all in.  You should have a bit more room to work with.  Also, you mentioned going with a 2" trackball.  I really like the 3".  I had a 2" in my first cab and it felt a little light.  For what its worth...

[javeryh]

I'm building a vertical cab and I'm planning to use 3 buttons and a 4/8 way switchable joystick.  I'm not 100% sold though - I may install 2 joys (4 way and 8 way) because this cab is for my daughter and I don't want to confuse her... although 2 joys might be more confusing... I don't know.  It seems like she'd be missing out on a ton of great vertical games with just a 4 way...

I thought the same thing so I went with some magstick+ sticks. People couldn't figure out how to change from 4/8 way and they didn't know what mode they were in to begin with.

The ultimarc 360's look like a good solution. I'm looking forward to trying some out.

This is probably a stupid question but why would a 360 be better?

[Aurich]

360 would be better because it switches modes automagically, no need for people to know how to twist the joystick, worry about if it's in the right mode, or even know what the game requires in the first place. Plus, for a vertical cab you get the bonus of Q-Bert and Congo Bong native-style controls.

[mccoy178]

I want the restrictions in movement.  That's why I'm building a dedicated cabinet for the verts.  I have 49 ways on my main cabinet and they are terrible with ms pacman.

[Timoe]

restricted 4-ways are the a bomb

[javeryh]

360 would be better because it switches modes automagically, no need for people to know how to twist the joystick, worry about if it's in the right mode, or even know what the game requires in the first place. Plus, for a vertical cab you get the bonus of Q-Bert and Congo Bong native-style controls.

So it knows (or you can tell it) which game is launched and will load the corresponding map?  If so, I'm sold.  I need as little hassle as possible - my daughter will have a hard enough time learning the rules of Pac-man let alone that it requires a 4-way joystick and a particular map loaded when she wants to play (she's 2).

[Aurich]

So it knows (or you can tell it) which game is launched and will load the corresponding map?

Exactly.

[shardian]

I am doing the same project with my taito cabinet. I have a dedicated 4-way cp with 2 buttons laid out to each side for left or right handed play. I have another switchable control panel that will have a trackball and an 8-way stick with 2 buttons. I would recommend you at least consider a switchable cp on yours too, especially if you are going to fab a new cp.

I am using a reunion 4-way in mine. I was a 90's kid, so arcade games just don't feel right unless I hear the clickety-clackety.

[Kremmit]

I've been thinking about it, and I think I want to go with a dedicated 4 way.  I have all the shooters on the main cabinet, and I think that by going with that and a 2" trackball, I can have most of the classics in one spot.  I need to take some measurements and see what I can fit in there.  I think I'm going to go with one 4 way, and not two.

Yeah, there's really no reason for two 4-ways.  The only game I can think of that would use both is 1player Karate Champ.