need ideas for second cabinet

[severdhed]

hey guys, i need some advice.  I have one mame cabinet that is pretty much as done as it is going to be.  i don't have a current pic of it, but this one is pretty close...


the only things that i have changed since this pic are:

i modified the control panel box so that it is sloped slightly downward instead of being level, I removed the black buttons from the ends of the panel, as well as the pinball plunger, and the 4 round magnets that were holding the bezel/plexi in place are not gone.

so, anyway, this was going to be my only cabinet, and I named it Zak-Man after my son Zakary. well, last night my wife informed me that she is pregnant with our second child. which is awesome....not only because we wanted another child, but now I have to build a second cabinet so that child doesn't feel left out for not having a cabinet named after them.

obviously i can't choose a theme yet until we know what we are naming the child, but i can start planning the other aspects of the cabinet.

my current cabinet has a 19" LCD monitor, which may not be arcade perfect, but I am very happy with it.  basically, it  is a two player panel, 6 buttons each, and a dedicated 4way with two buttons.  i used to have a spinner and trackball installed, but i removed them because i didn't like the panel layout.  after helping my friend build his control panel, i have a renewed interest in trackball games, especialy centipede.   I was just planning on building a new control panel for this cabinet, so that I can install the trackball and spinner, but then i found out about the baby.

so, what should i do?  should i build a new panel for this one to include the trackball and spinner?  no matter what, am planning on replacing the x-arcade components that i am using now with happ competition sticks, happ buttons, and either an ipac or keywiz.  I probably will not do control panel art, i like the plain black look (this one has plexi that has the back side painted black)

so here are the options i have come up with:

i could build another cabinet that is similar to this one, which i could then connect together for 4 player games.  this would be awesome, but at the same time, it would probably be a waste since i rarely have that many people over to play arcade games. 

i could build a cabinet with a vertical monitor, and then install the vertical games on the second cabinet.  i would build a 2 player panel, with probably 3 or 4 buttons each.   but then which cabinet gets the trackball?  centipede and millipede are vertical, but missile command and golden tee are not.  i don't really want to drop the extra cash for a second trackball.  same thing goes for the spinner. 

i could build the second cabinet and install only the trackball, spinner, and 4 way stick, and probably a vertical monitor, and do all of my 8way, two player simultaneous gaming on the zakman machine...but what do i do about the 2 player vertical games that use 8way sticks?


i just don't know what to do.  when it comes down to it, i want to be able to play alot of games the right way.  i don't want a flight stick, and i don't need rotary sticks. but i want to be able to play pacman, centiped, mortal kombat and various other games.   so somewhere i need a 2 player panel with 6 buttons each, i need a dedicated 4way for donkey kong, pacman, etc.  i need the trackball for centipede, and the spinner for arkanoid and tempest.

i'm just not sure how to divide them up.  i don't mind uinstalling 8way sticks in both cabinets, but i don't want the panels to be too cluttered. 

i am probably going to look around locally for an empty cabinet to start with again, since i have very few power tools, adn even less woodworking skills.  and i'll probably go with an LCD monitor again, since they are easy to work with and don't take up much room.

and i guess one more thing to think about, if i do end up building a cabinet with a vertical monitor, i'll probably have to rotate the monitor in zakman and make the new one horizontal, since zakman/pacman is a veritical game.  ( i hacked the puckman rom to change it to Zakman and renamed the ghosts to family member's names)


so, any suggestions?  i figure if i can get an idea of what i want to do with it, it may help in selecting an empty cabinet to start with.


i'll be looking forward to your input.

[protokatie]

Like the ideas you have come up with, but you forgot one. A cocktail cabinet, so you can drink champaign and play arcade games in celebration when the little one arrives. Plus, I dont see many people building cocktails here, and it would be a good addition to BYOAC in celebration for the new addition to your family! (also, most cocktails cabs Ive seen are vert games, so that would incorperate the idea of having a dedicated vertical cab, plus you could put the wee one on the topglass while you play games and he/she could watch the action happening below her/him)

For some odd reason I get a feeling it will be a girl, my spidey sense is tingling (Or the fact that you already have a boy and the rules of statistics are tingling). Hope you like beating up horny teenage boys in like 16 years

[solderguy1]

Some good ideas.  I did see a commercial 3-in-1 trackball only cabinet with centipede, millipede, and missile command; so that's always a possibility.

My second cab is going to be for Dreamcast games, I already have a huge chunk of the library and think it will be a good fit next to a mame cab.  Plus a DC can be modded to drive an arcade monitor.  Hoping to adapt some 6x2 button cab with decent artwork.    Was playing Hydro Thunder on the TV last night, really getting enthused about the project.   Your x-arcade controls could come in handy for that too, if you go that route.

[severdhed]

yeah, a dreamcast cabinet would be cool.  i have a dreamcast in my zakman cabinet right now, but it will have to go when i switch to the ipac.  it has been my experience that even though i took the time to get it all in there and working, my dreamcast very rarely ever gets turned on.  I thought about taking it out and hooking it up to my dlp projector with the rest of my game consoles, mainly so i could play Ikaruga, but now that I have it for xbox 360, I don't know if it is worth doing.

the coctail cabinet is a good idea, the problem is that I know for a fact i dont' have the tools or skill required to build one from scratch and have it turn out looking OK.  There is a local guy here who services arcade games, that is where i bought my first empty cabinet.  i have been there a few times looking for parts and things and every time he says he might be closing down and taking a different job.  i know a year or so ago, he had a warehouse full of empty cabinets.  i went and checked it out, i didn't see any hidden treasures or anything like that, mostly just empty shells in pretty rough shape.  i think maybe I'll call him up one of these days and see if he still has any of those.  If he does, i'll see if he has any coctail cabinets i could start with.  if there is anything good, i'll be sure to let you guys know.

my only concern with a coctail cabinet, is that it may be uncomfortable to play for long periods of time when you are bent over looking at the monitor.  is this true?  i can only recall ever playing  a coctail cabinet once, and that was probably 10 years ago, it was a MS Pacman, and I only had 1 quarter on me, so needless to say i didn't get to find out what it was like to play for a long time.

i'm thinking at this point, if i can find an empty coctail cabinet, i'll probably get it if it is reasonably priced, but if i can't i'll build another upright...so i would still welcome any suggestions.

[severdhed]

I think i figured out what I am going to do (at least for now)  to start,  i am going to build a new control panel for my existing zakman cabinet, and rotate the monitor on it so it is veritical.   I am then going to build a second upright cabinet with a horizontal monitor.  since most of my favorite trackball games, spinner games, and 4way games are vertical, those controls are going to go into the zakman machine.  I also like to play vertical shooters, so it is going to need two 8way sticks and a few buttons each..i'm guessing 3 would be enough.  the control panel on zakman is currently 12x30, and i think that is a good size for that cabinet.  it is a little tight getting all of those controls jammed in there, but i think i have it figured out.    as for the horizontal cabinet, i'm thinking a standard 2 player layout with 8way sticks and 6 buttons each.  i don't know the dimensions of teh panel yet, but that should be easy to accomplish..i may will probably leave room in the middle for a trackball if i choose to add one later down the road(if i can get a good deal on one...i don't want to spend $60 or more on something i probably won't use a whole lot)

so, what do you guys think?


here is the possible layout for my vertical cabinet


the red button is the exit game button, and I am not 100% set on that location for it, it may go over above player1's joystick...even though that would mess up the symetry


i already have:
x-arcade enoder
2 x-arcade joysticks
16 black, 2 white, and 2 start buttons (x-arcade)
2 yellow, 2 white, and 1 red button(s)- all of unknown origin
3" wico trackball with mousehack interface
hard drive spinner with mousehack interface
betson 4way stick, which sucks and i am going to replace

since it appears as if the vertical cabinet will get more use, I am planning on purchasing the following for it:

2 happ competition sticks
all new happ buttons
Ultimarc Jstick balltop for 4way games(my friend just bought one, it feels great as a 4way stick)
Ipac2 encoder
trackball mounting plate

for now, i will use the x-arcade sticks and buttons in the new horizontal cabinet.  once I am sure everything is to my liking, i will probably replace that stuff with happ stuff as well.  i figure that this is going to be expensive enough, if i have this stuff lying around, i should take advantage of it, i can easily swap it out later once i get everythign else the way i want it

i would like a unique exit button instead of just a regular pushbutton.  i am torn between getting a standard translucent pushbutton and one of those lable inserts like groovygamegear sells, or possibly a red one of these:


 
from the looks of it, i should be able to print out an insert for in it that says "exit" or something to that effect.


so, any advice?  i would love to see what the translucent buttons with the inserts look like, or what the happ buttons look like in action...so if any of you have used these and have pics, please share. 

am I missing anything?   i looked through MAWS briefly, i think 3 buttons on my vertical cabinet should be enough..unless that is you guys see a reason for more.    i'm thinking that for the horizontal cabinet, my panel can probably be smaller than the other one, since it will be just sticks and buttons.  i don't think there is a real reason to install a spinner or trackball in that cabinet, or even a 4way stick.


this setup will not allow for any 4player games, but to be honest, i wouldn't use that functionality much anyway, and besides, my friend is building a 4player showcase cabint right now, so i can always use his for that.

so, is there anything I am missing?  some game that is too awesome not to play that will totally screw with my whole plan?

here are the games i am wanting to be able to play, and i figure between the two cabinets, i should be pretty much covered:

Centipede
Donkey Kong
PacMan / MS Pacman
arkanoid
tempest
1942 and sequels

metal slug series
MK series
street fighter series
puzzle bobble
rastan
TMNT
sunset riders


i'm sure there are others that I am missing, but i think i will be Ok with most of them.. right now i am playing all of them on a horizontal monitor, so if there is one or two trackball/spinner/4way games that are horizontal, i'm sure i can play them just fine on my vertical monitor.. i dont think that there are any of those that are worth the extra cost/headache of adding those controls to the horizontal cabinet as well....are there?

[severdhed]

after some more thinking, i might be doing a little too much...perhaps it would be better to make a vertical classics cabinet with a 4way, trackball, spinner, an 2 or 3 buttons, and then just play everythign that requires an 8way stick on the horizontal cabinet.  sure some of the shooters like 1942 would be better suited for a vertical cabinet, but i play them on a horizontal monitor now and that works just fine.   that would make everythign alot simpler and easy to fit in the panel

what do you guys think?

[protokatie]

I still say keep all of your 8-way games on the H-cab, and set up a cocktail cab for your vert games. (Use a joy that can be switched from 4 to 8 way). Dont remember if golden tee is a vert game or not (odd, since I work right next to a place that has one)...

Also, as per your question about having to lean over to play a cocktail cab, you are supposed to be seated. the idea is that the table you are seated at is also an arcade game

[severdhed]

yeah, i think i will keep the 8way games on teh horizontal cabinet, that will make it so that both cabinets have simple control panels that aren't cluttered.  so i'll have a 4way, trackball, spinner, adn probably 3 buttons in my vertical cabinet, and two 8 ways and 6 buttons each in my horizontal cabinet. 

i know you are supposed to sit when playing a coctail cabinet, but it still seems like you would have to sit bent over the screen to see it properly.


on a side note...if I only have 1 stick and 3 buttons on my vertical cabinet, it seems like a waste to buy an ipac for it.  i can use the mouse buttons from my trackball mousehack, it was only a 2 button mouse, but i could always do another mousehack with a 3 button mouse.  then i would only really need 4 inputs for my joystick.  should I buy a cheap usb gamepad and hack it?  or bit the bullet and buy the encoder so i will have it if i need it later?

[protokatie]

The Ipac VE is only 35 bucks. That might be the best way to go.

http://www.ultimarc.com/ipacve.html

[severdhed]

that's only $5 less than the regular ipac, which does retain custom key programming.  I don't mind buying an ipac, i planned on buying one anyway for my panel..now I am going to need two though. (unless i continue to use the x-arcade in the horizontal cabinet.

perhaps i'll look into a keywiz also, they are a little cheaper.  although i can't seem to find if it saves custom key programmin to the device or not.

as i look at it now, i will also need inputs for 2 start buttons, 2 coins and an esc button, so i think the keywiz or ipac is the way to go

[protokatie]

as i look at it now, i will also need inputs for 2 start buttons, 2 coins and an esc button, so i think the keywiz or ipac is the way to go

Might want to look into the 2 versions of the minipac. They cost a few dollars more, but are much easier to install (no wire cutting/connector crimping) and will basically cover the cost for buying wire and crimp ends. (Plus the more expensive version of the minipac has a built in ability to handle analogue stuff (like a spinner or trackball)