Main > Project Announcements
THE SYSTEM
isucamper:
So I wanted to re-review all the parts I used since I feel like I've gotten a lot of use out of them now and can provide more in-depth insight into what I like and don't like about them. I'm going to leave my initial impressions that I gave in the first post so I can record how my opinion has changed (or not changed).
2 Ultimarc Ultrastick 360s with bat tops, hard springs (formerly medium springs), circular restrictor plates, and button harnesses.
Old score: A-.
New score: A.
I can't get enough of these sticks. With the high price and difficult installation a distant memory, I can do nothing but heap large amounts of praise on the Ultimarc 360. Their versatility is unmatched. I'm always finding new uses for them. In addition to the 2-way/4-way/4-way diagonal/8-way games they make playable, I've found that other games with more unique controls also play beautifully with these analog sticks. Escape from ithe Planet of the Robot Monsters, Sinistar, Hang On, Paperboy, 720, they all play great (even if some of them aren't completely authentic). I also find myself using them as a throttle in addition to my flight stick for games like Afterburner and Steel Talons. It's just really nice having a mapable analog sticks at the heart of my control panel. You can get as much out of them as your willing to put in by fiddling with them. I even went and tweaked seperate 8 way maps to get perfect controlling fluidity for games like Street Fighter 2 and Robotron. I can't say enough great things about these sticks.
GPWiz40 gampad interface by Groovy Game Gear.
Old score A.
New score A.
I haven't had a single issue with my GPWiz. It's working as good as the day I got it. I've even got it powering my 5 volt trackball light. One issue I ran into with MAME is you cannot map joystick button 17 (which shows up in MAME as button 16) to an input without MAME changing it to button 16 (shows up in MAME as button 15) upon reboot. A weird bug. Kinda leaves you minus an input, but it happens that button 17 is the UP direction of the Frontline rotary mode, so it really only impacts a few games. I wired the player 2 rotary controls to my player 1 stick to get around this because there are no 2 player Frontline style rotary games.
2 Happ Mechanical Rotary Joysticks.
Old score B.
New score C+.
First, let me say that I'm still happy with the Rotary functionality of these sticks. Combining these sticks with the Roto X functionality of the GPWiz40 and a newer version of MAME which supports rotary functionality for all rotary games is a dream come true. However, I've come to the conclusion that the UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT control of these sticks is horrid. Way too oversensitive. In it's nuetral position, the actuator rests on the microswitches and barely touching the stick causes movement. I'm always ducking or jumping when I don't want to. I'm actually trying out a little mod to get around this. I unscrewed the switches from the joystick base and used double stick tape to stick them back on with a little more space between the switch and the actuator. So far, it has helped, but I have my doubts that this will be a good long term solution.
MacSense iFunstick PC flightstick.
Old Score: C-.
New Score: F-.
Oh well. It was a good try. After only a few months, this stick needed to be replaced. The axises kind of seized up after too much use and I couldn't hit a damn thing in FireFox. Replacing it was a pretty tough job, but it had to be done.
CH Fighterstick PRO PC flightstick.
Old Score: NA.
New Score: A-.
Ahh. So much better. I've only had it mounted a few weeks now, but the difference is night and day. It's probably actually overkill for an arcade control panel. I ain't ever going to use all those POV hats. But I broke my high score in Afterburner 2 and Discs of Tron the night I installed it. Very smooth control. Very sensitive. It is a high end stick for sure. One thing to know. This stick is humongous and does not lend itself well to being mounted in an arcade control panel (the base was about twice the size of the Funstick's base). I just barely had room to fit it on my existing panel design. Additionally, I had to spend some time routing out room for the LEDs and axis wheels so the josytick would sit flush with my panel. No kidding, this stick was very hard to get mounted. See my build log for more details on how I did it.
Happ 3” USB trackball.
Old Score: A.
New Score: A.
The ball's been perfect. Not a single issue. I've gotten a lot of time in on Marble Madness, Missle Command, Sonic Arcade, and Capcom Bowling. It's a lot of fun.
Groovy Game Gear TurboTwist 2 Hi-Lo Spinner (USB).
Old Score A.
New Score A.
Still happy with the high low spinner. I'm getting way more use out of the push/pull than I expected too. Caliber 50, Forgotton Worlds, Zwackery... all fun games.
Happ Concave and Happ Competition pushbuttons.
Old Score A+.
New Score A+.
The buttons are still perfect.
Vinyl Button Stickers from Pongo.
Old Score: Deffered.
New Score: A+.
These still look perfect after some pretty heavy use. They hold up to kids and cleanings. They look as new as the day I got them. It's just occured to me that I don't think I've posted a proper picture of them here or on my blog.
Marquee print from MAME Marquees.
Old Score B.
New Score B+.
Still looks great. My design has grown on me a bit. :)
Side Art from MAME Marquees.
Old Score: NA.
New Score: A-.
Looks great and reasonably priced for providing such a niche product. Scott is very adaptable to any unique requests. I had no hiccups with my order like I did the Marquee and it was at my door 3 days after I placed the order. Can't ask for anything better.
Wells Gardner D9800 Monitor.
Old Score: B.
New Score: B.
I haven't changed my overall rating for the monitor, but there's definitly stuff about it that I've grown to love more and stuff about it that's bothered me more, so it kind of evened out to the same grade. The good news: It's working like a champ. And I've really put it through its paces. I've thrown every resolution at it that I could come up with and with a little click, it switches right over and displays it beautifully. As I was configuring games, I'd go through 50 or 60 resolution switches per night and the monitor didn't so much as flinch. I wouldn't want to hammer on it like that all the time, but I'm not so sure that it wouldn't be able to handle it if I did. The bad news: There are severe geometry issues with this monitor at certain resolutions. Most games you won't notice unless you really look, but other games (medium res games in particular) are all out of whack. It's like I can't get the pincushion dialed in. There's always this pear shape I can't get rid of. I'm kinda kicking myself for not getting a refurbed D9400 when I had the chance, as I've heard no one complain about the geometry on that monitor. Overall, I'm still pretty happy with it. It's really not an issue with 90 percent of the games I run on my cab, so its hard to be too critical.
Tinted monitor glass from One Day Glass.
Old Score: A.
New Score: A.
No issues with this other than a single pin point scratch on it that I've noticed. With the lights out in the room, if you look at this point it kind of obscures the monitor behind it, but it's pretty tiny. Still happy I got it.
Happ Coin Door.
Old Score: A.
New Score: A.
It now works... with quarters!
I'm really pretty happy with all the stuff I used in THE SYSTEM. Aside from the iFunstick, there were no duds. There's a few less than stellar performers, but overall, everything gets used and performs sufficiently. Between the flightstick, U360s, and mechanical rotaries, I like to think that my panel offers exceptional playabilty in 99.9% of all joystick games, 1-4 players. It's probably what I'm most proud of in the entire project, the playability that is. There are certainly better constructed, better looking cabs out there (some of you guys are artists), but as far as playability goes, I think THE SYSTEM can hang with the best.
CthulhuLuke:
Very nice looking system. I like all the tron details, I wonder how bad UV reflective marquees would cost? ;D
Quick question about the finish on the cab, do you have any problems with the cab rolling on the casters with the kids? Or does the weight keep it pretty stable? Also did you have any problems with the plexi-glass cracking when you were routing out those weird cuts? I've heard going slow is the key, but I've cracked a few plexi sheets before so I was wondering what you used for that part of the process.
Good work!
isucamper:
Sorry, was on vacation. Would have replied sooner otherwise.
It actually takes all of my might to roll my cab. It weighs so much and the casters sink into the carpet. If it's been sitting for months in one spot and I want to roll it out a bit to take a look at it, I've actually got to strain a bit. No reason to be concerned about it moving when I don't want it to.
I had no problems with cracking plexi either. I went real slow with a router. It just melts away the plexi real easily.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[*] Previous page
Go to full version