Buying bits for my first build

[Sir Headless VII]

Ok, so I want to start ordering things for my first arcade cabinet and I have a few questions.

First what is the difference between the Happ Pushbutton With Horizontal Microswitch and the Ultimate Pushbutton with Microswitch and why are the regular ones more expensive than the ultimate ones?

Second I like the idea of the ultrastick 360 but I want to have 4 players and it seems a bit excessive to buy 4 of them. What should I get for players 3 and 4?

Third I want to have 8 buttons for player 1 and 2 because i will hook them up to my ps2 aswell as my laptop but is there any reason to get more than 4 buttons for 3 and 4. I hear that is the most and MAME game supports.

Fourth theoretically I may want to add players 3 and 4 to my ps2 which will require more buttons. Is is difficult to remove and redo a CP? From what i gathered on the forums the hardest part is taking it off when the machine is already working.

Fifth I have almost nothing when it comes to tools and things like that. Woodworking tools I'll borrow from my dad but are there any other wiring things or anything else that you would recommend to make things easier. 

Thanks

[CheffoJeffo]

First what is the difference between the Happ Pushbutton With Horizontal Microswitch and the Ultimate Pushbutton with Microswitch and why are the regular ones more expensive than the ultimate ones?

The Ultimates suck -- it is pretty much a safe bet that any product that Happ sells with the title "Ultimate" is going to suck -- their "Ultimate" joysticks are equally terrible (and were, coincidentally, the first sticks I ever bought).

Third I want to have 8 buttons for player 1 and 2 because i will hook them up to my ps2 aswell as my laptop but is there any reason to get more than 4 buttons for 3 and 4. I hear that is the most and MAME game supports.

Not that I can think of, unless you'll be playing 4P console games.

Fifth I have almost nothing when it comes to tools and things like that. Woodworking tools I'll borrow from my dad but are there any other wiring things or anything else that you would recommend to make things easier. 

That one is tough to answer -- you may need some woodworking bits that your dad might not have (proper size drill bits, router bits for t-molding). I always say that anybody with an arcade cabinet should have a multimeter, but that is for troubleshooting, not building, so isn't strictly necessary for a build (but comes in handy when you can't figure out why parts of your CP don't work!). If you are going to use quick disconnects, I would recommend getting an appropriate (not necessarily expensive) crimper.

[JonProphet]

Care to go into details about the ultimate joysticks and pushbuttons? Saying they suck doesn't say a whole lot. Do they wear easily? I bought almost a dozen ultimate pushbuttons and one joystick for a project for my 360. Then I got my cabinet and used them there. I noticed right off the bat on the Joystick (before install) the joystick wouldn't center correctly and would often not contact one side of the switch. I called them and they sent me another right out and I didn't have to return the original because it was such a cheap item.

After closer inspection I found that the actual joystick "stick" was interferring with the case. I broke out my dremel and beveled the plastic at the bottom where it meets the metal rod. Problem solved, now both joy's work perfectly.

I'm sure they need to be broke in as well.

For the OP, are you going to build a new cabinet or buy an existing and convert? If you are going to convert, then all you need is a standard set of sockets and maybe a DMM (digital multimeter). Of course basic understanding of wiring is crucial.

-JD-

[CheffoJeffo]

They're sloppy and less responsive than the other options.

The joystick has an overly long throw and isn't good in the corners, so isn't good for fighters (not that I find that troubling). I still have those sticks in an active cabinet, but it is at the cottage and, since I rarely play games at the cottage, I haven't bothered to replace them.

On the buttons, I also don't like the fact that the switches are screwed into the button when I want to swap a switch out.

Here's the Retroblast review of the Ultimate Joystick:

http://www.retroblast.com/20041130273/Hardware/RetroBlast-Review-Happ-Controls-Ultimate-Joystick.php

[JonProphet]

Thanks for the detailed response. Which sticks do you like?

-JD-

[severdhed]

the ultimarc jstik should look physically identical to the u360...so they make good sticks for players 3 and 4..although i dont really know how they feel in 8 way mode.

the u360s are usb joysticks...how do you plan to connect them to the ps2?

if you are considering using it for 4 player ps2 games, then you may want to leave enough room on your panel so that you could easily add a few buttons later

do yourself a favor and make sure you have a router to use.  they make the entire process so much easier.  you can get one at harbor freight for under $30.

[Sir Headless VII]

the u360s are usb joysticks...how do you plan to connect them to the ps2?

since there will be 2 regular sticks anyways I'll hook up all the sticks to an ipac4 and have a keyboard switcher to switch between the laptop and a ps2 adapter.

I was planning on leaving some extra room anyways but now you have me thinking of what I should do with the layout if I might add 4 buttons later. Frankly it seems unlikely that  I'll ever get around to adding the 4 player ps2 since its allot more complication and the only game I would want to play is marvel ultimate alliance which uses an ungodly amount of buttons (pretty much every button,joystick and d-pad are useful at the same time excluding possibly the left analog if you don't mind not changing the camera angle).

And I am building an entirely new cabinet I'm not converting an old one. As another question how long do you think this will take? I'm taking at least 3 weeks off of work (not just for this) but it seems to me that I should be able to finish it in that time. Is that realistic for my first build?

[severdhed]

3 weeks could work if you can spend alot of that time working on it...  3months sounds like a more reasonable time frame though