Newbie starting simple

[KuddlKat]

Hi all.  Just joined but love the forums so far.  In the midst of car repairs, house renovations, family events and friend counsellings, I've decided to finally delve into making a simple, general-purpose 2-person arcade controller.

My spouse sunk around $900 into a non-working arcade machine years ago and after I dumped $560+ more into getting the boards working (they took a trip back to Sega Japan), we had an actual working Sonic Championship (although the red gun on the CRT is still shot).  This is not my most favorite game so along comes MAME.  (Not in that way: I've already been told I can't gut the cabinet even though I've found a Sega Model 2 emulator and the ROMs.) 

I grew up in the '80s and I found MAME many years ago.  It is much easier on the wallet, but keyboards and OTS gamepads just weren't the same. I thought about getting a X-Arcade control unit, but if I'm going to sink $200 into something to play games, I'm going to build it myself.  That way if I don't like it, it's my own fault.   

The two joysticks and 20 buttons arrived today.  They seem to be made a little cheaper than what was in the 20-yr-old cabinet but most say Suzo-Happ, so I'll live.  The eBay seller apparently was out of blue buttons because I got two purples instead, but they threw in two additional orange ones so maybe I'll find someone to swap with down the road.

Also arriving today was the switches to USB adapter.  I didn't go for the more expensive ones though, and I might regret this down the road.  I found someone in Hawaii selling a small board for $25 (eBay item #130408773908 from Paradise Arcade).  The board has "XIN-MO CONSOLE" on the silkscreen and two double-row headers.  Included was 22AWG wiring with header connectors and 0.187 quick connects, and a 6-foot USB A-B cable.  I plugged it in and WinXP (work--don't blame me) recognized it as Xin-Mo Dual Arcade game controller.  It is made for 2 sticks and 10+12 buttons (P1+P2).

Still on the way is a 4/8 way stick that I'll set up for 4-way, and an arcade trackball that I'll probably be searching through the forums for a "mouse hack" in order to make it USB-able.  Both of those will be on a smaller controller console, coming later.

Sorry about the wall of text...just wanted to say Hi and got carried away.  I'm a shutterbug so I'll have photos of the journey as I go along too.  I look forward to spending time (what little I've got) reading through the forums for tips and suggestions as I'm planning out and building the console.  It obviously won't be as impressive as most I've seen on here since I'm not big into console artwork, but I hope I'll be able to contribute in other ways.

[javeryh]

Welcome.  Enjoy the practice for what will lead up to a full sized cab!   

[Nicodumas]

Another new person! Welcome! You seem to be on your way, can't wait to see what you have brewing in your head.

[Stobe]

Welcome aboard!

Its good to see someone on their first post who did their research and has a good idea of what they want to do.

I'm also curious to find out how well that USB adapter works.  I've seen those, and they look interesting (plus you get the ground loop for your switches pre-made!).

Good luck!

[GreatLamer]

Cool. I already found this board @ SmallCab.net They supplying both single and dual ones. I bought two of them (single ones) for 2x12 button support, the pack today arrived from France.

Now I ordered some stuff from Lizardlick: Sanwa JLWs for 4/8 way play and 24 HAPP Comp. buttons (panel height not fixed yet, HAPP fits all). If everything is here, I will begun the 2 joystick building.

So, this board is a price champion, for 15 euro + post with premaded-chrimped wires, either one or two player versions.

Have a nice day!

[Dr Zero]

Definetly let is know about the controller board it looks interesting to say the least 

[KuddlKat]

How's this?



I didn't want to spend much time on wood finishing, so I picked up two 12x36" shelf boards.  I really, REALLY intended on having access to black shelf boards to use, but after a Lowe's and two Home Depots didn't turn up anything, I went with what I could get.

I'll post more pictures in a bit.  I finished the general wiring Friday night (and then couldn't get my spouse off the thing for a few hours).

I built a test rig (joystick + 6 buttons) out of a piece of white plastic and scrap wood and that worked fine.  Then I made a PS/2 mouse hack for the Betson trackball I bought and put it into another test rig, and that worked fine too.  Eventually I got a pair of USB ball mice (Dell), but the mouse hack didn't work on it, so I'll be focusing on that this week to see if I can figure out how to get it working.  I'd rather have the controller and the mouse on a USB hub in the controller box and a single 10-foot USB cable coming out.

Here's the plans I did in Visio:  PDF contoller plans.  The numbers didn't come out as nice once I started using the actual board's dimensions (12"x36" isn't 12"x36") and there's a few things I left out, but I doubt anyone wants to make one this big anyway.   

The feet on the front are because of the carrying handle on the back, and yes the trackball mounting plate will be getting sanded down and painted white.

[mrtuesday42]

the computer IN the box or you hook it up TO a computer? making it carryable is a cool idea. i would personally think it awesome if it was like a mobile mame

only thing is the joysticks sticking off the front of it like that

[KuddlKat]

No, just hooking it up to a computer.  Although having a USB flash drive on a hub in the box is something I want to try too.  Not necessarily running Mame from it, but at least storing the installation and a collection of ROMs ready to go.

If I want to make it a portable mame, I'll just bring a laptop...