Newbie from the UK

[pboreham]

Hi all,

I decided in the last week to build an arcade cab! I've not really done much DIY before, so going to be up against it.

I love research though and have spent many, many hours the last 7 days gathering information, plans, designs etc in preperation.

All my materials and tools have been ordered and I should have everything I need to start work tomorrow, but still pretty nervous about the whole thing.

Anyway, I was directed here by Craig Conway (SpyStyle) who assures me this is the place to be!

I will keep you all updated and no doubt be asking tonnes of questions!

Thanks for listening, Paul.

[Xam]

Welcome Paul!

Congrats on your decision to build a cab.

Don't get to worked up over lack of DIY experience...you will be fine. I just finished my cab (except the marquee) and it turned out nice...especially considering my lack of experience.

Take your time...ask questions...don't let your mistakes beat you down. There is nothing time and money can't fix...LOL!

Most of all...enjoy the experience.

Xam

[pboreham]

Cheers Xam - I'm already over budget for this stage, so I guess I'll have to get used to that!

[buks]

my advice is don't bother with a budget, you can never stick to it anyway !

Presumably you've already ordered your buttons/sticks etc ? If not, since you are in the UK, ultimarc are well worth a mention. They are still worth a mention for non-UK byoacers too !

Buks

[pboreham]

No, not ordered anything other than wood at the moment - gonna worry about the CP after the cab is underway.

I thought UltiMarc where US based, so thats a bonus - will take a look now. Any recommendations? I'm after quite a big (wide) CP to house 2 players with 2 sticks each and at least 4 buttons. 1Up, 2Up, 2 coin buttons, a trackball (maybe with its own button) and some pinball flippers!

Would also love a steering wheel/shift stick too - so I will have to think about a hot-swappable CP.

Sounds a bit ambitious eh!?

[Xam]

No, not ordered anything other than wood at the moment - gonna worry about the CP after the cab is underway.

I thought UltiMarc where US based, so thats a bonus - will take a look now. Any recommendations? I'm after quite a big (wide) CP to house 2 players with 2 sticks each and at least 4 buttons. 1Up, 2Up, 2 coin buttons, a trackball (maybe with its own button) and some pinball flippers!

Would also love a steering wheel/shift stick too - so I will have to think about a hot-swappable CP.

Sounds a bit ambitious eh!?

Not really....take your time and plan well...be ready to adapt as everyone here will tell you, you will have to make adaptions to something in your plans.

Xam

[buks]

You haven't said if you are making an upright or a cocktail but I'd personally get these :

I-Pac
Opti-Pac
6 buttons per player
1Up/2UP
Joysticks - Mag Stick Plus
Trackball
Spinner

All of the above can be got at ultimarc. Plus it looks like ultimarc also stock all the driving stuff too.

Just had a second look and can't find the spinner at ultimarc - so take a look at the groovy game gear (www.groovygamegear.com) site and checkout the  turbotwist 2.

Of course, the layout you decide will dictate which controllers you want. If you never play fighting games then you probably dont need 6 buttons but they dont cost an awful lot more.

There are other suppliers in the UK but I can only recommend the one I've used myself - hopefully others will recommend other sites for you to compare.

Good luck !

Buks

[pboreham]

Thanks for that info - very helpful.

Thanks to everybodies kind words too, most appreciated.

I've just spent the day emptying my room where the cab is going to go and am shagged now! All the stuff comes tomorrow so exciting stuff!

[RecklessAbandon]

i got all my stuff from gremlin solutions - www.gremlinsoultions.co.uk
cant fault then for service

though i wouldnt buy a mini-pac from them again. i suggest getting that from ultimarc, if you get one that is

[sealslayer]

Hello mate, got a good tip for you as your in the uk, if you head down to B&Q they will cut your wood for next to nothing, providing you buy the wood from them.

First 3 cuts are free and the rest are just 50p each, they use a huge wall mounted circular saw that will save you so much time, effort and mess.

They took just 5 minutes to cut all the pieces for my cocktail cabinet which would have taken me a good hour or so if not longer.

[pboreham]

Thanks for the tips. I priced up the controls from UltiMarc using Buks list and it came to over £200! Thats without any wiring and being frugal on the buttons!!!!

Is that about right? I see Gremlin do a kit for £130 + VAT, but I'm not sure on the quality.

I dont mind spending that if that is the going rate, just may take a bit longer to save up and construct!

[buks]

I can't comment on gremlin as I've not used them - they have been around for a while though so I presume they do a good job.

One way to save money is to only purchase the ipac, joysticks and buttons for now. Later on add the optipac, trackball and spinner. It still costs you but you can get to play some while you are still building the cab (note - this is the number one excuse for why people never finish their cabs - "I've been having too much fun playing it !!!").

Just had a quick look at the gremlin bargain pack. Its £130 which is £50 cheaper than buying the parts separately  - which would be only slightly cheaper than ultimarc. I'm not keen on the gremlin buttons and the joysticks and trackball look cheap BUT like I said I've not used gremlin myself and a comment from someone who has bought parts off them would be more useful to you. One thing I'd say is if you buy all the bits seperately you will have more choice.

Did you include the coin door in your ultimarc price comparison ? Thats definitely something you could leave till last - I did but then I spent a lot of money on an authentic 2 player coin door so best not listen to me !!!!

Depending on your plans etc you could build a temprary control panel with just bottons and sticks, get used to using it then think about where the trackball/spinner will go.

Then start thinking about light guns, guitar controllers, etc etc

Worth getting IMHO is a 2 player PS-USB adaptor and 2 playstation controllers. Means you can play 4 player games and if you're a footy fan Pro Evo is excellent on the PC.

Buks 

[pboreham]

Think the general feeling on the Gremlin pack is 'avoid' and if I am going to put this much time, effort and money into the project, then I dont want to get to the end and have a vastly inferior finished article.

I liked the look of the Ultimarc stuff (though they could do with a new website!) so will probably go for it, but as I said, probably have to spread the cost a little more than I hoped.

Still, got plenty to do before then!

I'm going to try and integrate the PS2->USB controller into the can somewhere so it fits flush. Not sure how yet, but its what I'm planning!

Love Pro Evo - have all the mods installed on my PC version and it looks superb!