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| F|end:
Ok people! My spoke to my mum and she encouraged me to make a cab and now i'm gonna really into making one! I need simply the best opinions you have ok! This project needs to be as close to a "arcade public cab" as possible! Let's start with the best wood i can use! I sugest MDF but i don't know wich one! Any sugestions! Should i laminate the wood or buy laminated? I'm thinking in buying 8-way happs balltop joys! Do you agree? Ok, that's it for now! Furtherly i'm gonna need some help because i'm haven't got much money... ...in fact i'm haven't got much money for nothing in my life... ;D Thks anyway! PS: Please don't make insults on this thread! The last ones were shut down because of that... |
| hyiu:
if you want look and feel like a real arcade cab.... and you don't have much $$$.... I assume you will be willing to put some time and hard work on it.. right ?? ;D ;) then my suggestion is.... go buy a gutted arcade cab.... gutted cab can be bought very cheap.... or buy a cab in decent shape... maybe for a few hundred $$... then sand... fill.... paint.... and so on.... you'll need minimal power tools.... and you can finish quickly... and since its a real arcade cab to begin with.... you'll end up with a look and feel like real arcade when you're done.... |
| DeathMonk:
I agree with hyiu.. Buying a gutted cab (or maybe even one with a monitor) would be the cheapest way to go about this little endeavor. |
| Lilwolf:
Hi and no insults here... (this board is USUALLY completely insult free... Howard can squash a newbee like a bug somedays though ;D) between wood or buy laminated... Find out what you can get cheaper. I initially went laminated for the control panels only because I got some cheap stuff. But I replaced it with wood and vynal *(sp?) later. The wood/vynal was easier, but the end results where very similar. The laminate doesn't cut as nice on the edges, but you couldn't see it because of the buttons hide it a little. But my vote wood. Wood also has the advantage of being able to test the control panel and see if you like it before you vynal it... So that you can test layouts before you spend any real cash on it. Wood - MDF is right... but thats one type.. Most people use 3/4 inch. I don't think there is anything elst then that you need to know. Go to a lumber yard and you will see it. Also, you will want some 1x1's for construction at the joints. Easy to do, strong connections, no screws on the outside. There are some threads on this elsewhere, but basically you glue and screw the 1x1s to the side boards (screws on the insides with 1 1/2 inch screws so they don't go all the way through. The 1/2 inch and the glue should be enought to hold).... Then screw in (from the inside on the front... back doesn't matter as much) the front panel. If you don't glue the front/back, you can break it down... but you loose some strength. Up to you really here. I would go with extra screws myself. If you are building a whole cabinet. Use wood on everything and paint with rollers. Spraycans really doesn't do it. Also consider that you will want a few coats. Paint before you put all the stuff in helps. And also paint the inside of the cab enought so when mounting everything, you have some slack (so you don't end up with some wood color sticking throught at parts. As for joysticks. I like the bat style happs super. But thats what I'm used to.. But get one like what you where brought up with... That will be the best for you. Joystick preference changes. Some say ultimates are the best... and I really don't like them... Oscar has a great review of all the happs ones. I personally think Wico for ball tops myself. I have some 4 way ball tops and like them. I don't know if their 8ways are any good. One thing to look at is where you can buy from in your country.. That will make a HUGE difference. It will be worth getting happy with whats available then spending a ton for shipping! Have you decided on what monitor type your going for? (I would go true arcade monitor with ArcadeVGA as best, then TV out with SVid (or the european standard... I don't know what the quality is for your area... stay away from composite).. Then Industrial VGA (large low resolution monitors)... Then SVGA monitor... Have you considered buying an old arcade and converting it? (this I wouldn't recommend unless you can get it super cheap because it's basically dead).. Have you also considered if you need/want a trackball? Other specialized controllers? You might start thinking about doing hot swappable control panels. This is nice... but 90% of the time I have my 2player 7buttons each control panel... but it's nice to plug in my asteroids one or some of the others when the games is right..... Have you decided on a keyboard encoder yet? I would highly recommend getting one... But if thats not an option, I would look at hacking a joystick first (they usually don't have ghosting problems since they are usually desigined to have all the buttons pressed at once)... Then a keyboard (works for some, but expect a lot of playing with matrix's and such... Lots of time getting a 2 player control setup) And last... I'm sorry for bringing up more questions then answers... I love this hobby! |
| rampy:
The most important thing (and sharing it would make it easier for people to make reccomendations) is to get a clear sense of what your goals are. Hopefully you've skimmed through the byoac faq, and have browsed the examples or at least some of them to get an idea of what you like and more importantly don't like in a cabinet/control panel. I often ask people... well what were your favorite games when you were in your golden age of arcade playing? i.e. classics vs modern/fighters. would you be happy playing some games really well (i.e. the way they were meant ot be played) or are yoru intent on jamming as many controls as possible on to your cp (me --> guilty) ??? 2p vs (arg!) 4p cabinet. convert vs build from scracth *shrug* when you think of your cabinet what do you envision, besides it "looking like a "real" public arcade cabinet"? Is there an existing design you have in mind? Upright vs Cocktail vs Cabarate vs showcase vs oddball vs european cabs vs us cabs Planning is an important step... and one you can do while you are saving money (and if you plan well and research well you can save additional money -- by, buying the right parts, the FIRST time, and from the most economical vendors) rampy PS fyi --> i'm with the previous posters that converting an existing cab CAN be an affordable/quick way to getting that authentic arcade cabinet look... (and often distributors are throwing away/giving away empty husks of cabinets... so!!!!) |
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