The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: Alaska on March 09, 2016, 03:59:29 pm
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After finishing my first build and moving on to my second I have a lot of lessons learned and things I would have done differently.
- Restored the cab to its original state and built a mame from scratch (difference in cost would have been around $400 for graphics, a monitor (old CRT TV) and one more sheet of ply wood, and outcome would have been 2 cabs)
- Used a jpac rather than ipac, then I could have swapped the computer with other PCBs
- Only made a 2 player board with a trackball rather than 4 player board
- Would have painted the control board or installed graphics prior to installing buttons... DOH >.<
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Put the down payment on Big Bang Bar. Could have easily afforded it at the time and they ended up worth $20K+ last I checked.
It was a damned risky proposition, though. Kudos to the nuts that rode it out.
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Never thought with my heart instead of my mind when I bought a basket case Donkey Kong for my first arcade...let alone restoration.
Then again, as the saying goes..."You always pay the most for your first one"
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Bought Rayforce for 300 bucks.... I had no idea that the SHMUP market was made up of insane trust fund kids and basement dwellers with thousands of dollars to blow on games that most people will happily just play in MAME.
Don't believe me?
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My project isn't done yet but I probably would have chose another material other than MDO. I had to use about $70 worth of primer and a lot of sanding to get it as smooth as I'd like. It's also difficult to screw into. I think I'll use furniture grade plywood for everything going forward.
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My project isn't done yet but I probably would have chose another material other than MDO. I had to use about $70 worth of primer and a lot of sanding to get it as smooth as I'd like. It's also difficult to screw into. I think I'll use furniture grade plywood for everything going forward.
Interesting to know. I've always wanted to try MDO.
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My project isn't done yet but I probably would have chose another material other than MDO. I had to use about $70 worth of primer and a lot of sanding to get it as smooth as I'd like. It's also difficult to screw into. I think I'll use furniture grade plywood for everything going forward.
Interesting to know. I've always wanted to try MDO.
I think MDO is more for something you want to leave unfinished but want a durable surface that will hold to some abuse. Like building a toybox for my daughter or something. It just doesn't take paint that well but would be fine if you were laminating everything, but if you're doing that there's no reason to spend $70 a sheet for MDO.
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Heh, I can 1UP you. I picked up a Sega Astro City which I got from Matsu back in 2006 for about $600 shipped. Then sold it for about a $400 profit. I have been kicking myself ever since.
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... not unloaded tons of Jamma boards in 2004 that are now all worth 5 times as much.
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Bought Rayforce for 300 bucks.... I had no idea that the SHMUP market was made up of insane trust fund kids and basement dwellers with thousands of dollars to blow on games that most people will happily just play in MAME.
Don't believe me?
No, I can honestly say I don't believe you... Comparing MAME to the real thing is ludicrous in of itself, (Like defender had or needed 12 buttons on the control panel) But people buy all kinds of things in this world, cars, houses, swimming pools ,perfume bottles, matchbooks, barbwire, whatever. So why would be collecting arcade games be any different?
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I've only got one (incomplete, but running) build under my belt, but since then, I have learned LOADS!
1. YOU DON'T NEED 8 BUTTONS!!
2. Cup holders, while fun, are not allowed....lol
3. Cutting corners is not worth it
4. Wood filler fails compared to Bondo
5. X-arcade is the devil, and buying one just to gut it for the controls and have to buy an Ipac anyway is a costly lesson to learn.
6. Never budget for a build as that budget will be blown out numerous times....lol
7. I REALLY need to invest in some woodworking tools.
8. Having 2000 games on a cabinet makes you spend more time searching for games than playing.
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Buy and use a pattern bit for the router ASAP. Good god that made duplicating sides so much easier.
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Cut back on the diamond plate. Too much diamond plate is too much diamond plate. I just cant stop myself. :hissy:
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Start from scratch for mame. Don't hack up a perfectly good HS-5 no matter how good the outcome will be.
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Cut back on the diamond plate. Too much diamond plate is too much diamond plate. I just cant stop myself. :hissy:
Any amount of diamond plate on your arcade game is too much.
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Any amount of diamond plate on your arcade game is too much.
+1
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I can't think of anything that I would do differently. I have had 3 distinct iterations of my cab, and I really feel that I needed all of them to find out what I really wanted.
I started with X arcade controls, and then switched to Happ stuff. The Happ stuff was better, but I instantly realized that the cheapness of the x arcade stuff wasn't my issue. My issue was that I was trying to use a fighter stick for classic games. Once I figured out that controls were really (ridiculously, even) important to me, I went modular, and I was happy. I was still trying to get a real arcade experience by using a cabinet and arcade monitor, and it became frustrating over time. There are just too many differences in 20 years of games to get them to all play correctly on a low res monitor.
When I gave up on that idea, I decided that simulating would work better, so the arcade cabinet was out, and a showcase cabinet with a big flat screen TV replaced it. this seems to still be good for me. I rarely use it though. lol
That has been the one constant over the almost 13 year history of this project. It has always been more of a design challenge than something I use daily. I started buying dedicated machines in 2005, and I spend most of my arcade time in the arcade. I have had well over 100 games over the years (currently at 12, which is a nice, manageable amount unlike the 22 I tried to cram in the garage once), and it has changed my opinion of the MAME cabinet over time. I think of them as separate. My MAME cab has never been in the arcade, and it never will. It is a different experience, and I like that. It is a test machine that also allows me to play any game I want. Having that ability has changed the way I think of my old favorite games as well. I built this so I could use any of the specialty controllers, since those were the games I remembered liking. It turns out that those games are really only fun in short bursts. The driving games, shooting games, the yoke games, etc are fun for a while. Most of the fun is in the interface though, and the games just don't seem to have as much replayability. I find that my MAME choices, and my dedicated cabinet choices are gravitating back towards joystick games. I would now like to add a Mr Do to my arcade (if I can ever find one), and I just bought a frogger. I can play both of these fine on the MAME cab, and I even have the joystick for Mr Do. I would like to play them in the arcade though.
I have always heard people say that you just can't replicate playing on a real cabinet, and I guess I am starting to see that a little. It took 13 years though.
I guess what I am trying to say is just try what you want, and then build on that. It is the missteps in this hobby that make it fun. When I tried to play Donkey Kong on my first cabinet with a fighter joystick, I had no idea what was wrong. I just knew that a game I hadn't played in close to 20 years just felt wrong. That moment was the start of hobby that has kept me entertained for over a decade. It led me to own a real Donkey Kong, and a lot of other games. The hobby forced me to learn a little about electronics, which made me want to learn more, which led me to a career as a computer engineer. That chain of events only happened because I tried stuff, and then with that knowledge, tried some other stuff. In early 2003, I had no idea anyone but the Silver Spoons kid actually had arcade games in there house. Now I have an arcade in my garage that includes everything from my earliest favorite game, Stunt Cycle, to what I think is the best pinball machine ever, Metallica.
Don't try to shortcut the learning process on this hobby, because at the end of the day, that is what makes it worthwhile.