WirelessTaco's 4-Player Cab (WIP)

[WirelessTaco]

This is going to be my first build and I plan on starting within the next few weeks. I think I am going to have players 1 and 2 to have eight buttons and 3 and 4 to have four buttons. I will also be using the I-Pac4 Board.

Are there any games that are worth playing that would use more than four buttons for players 3 and 4?

I plan on buying my controls from arcadeemulator.net Is this site good? Who do you guys prefer?

That's about it for now. I will keep you updated. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

[shateredsoul]

Depends on what you need, but overall I really liked http://www.lizardlick.com/.  They always delivered very quickly (if you live in the U.S.A.).  Also make sure you order everything you need the first time, if you forget something or don't get enough button the shipping kills it.

As far as 4 player games,  hmm why do you have 8 buttons for player 1 and 2? Is it for consoles? I haven't really had an issue with 7, the real issue is the fact that some games use analog and some games use the digital pad in the newer systems that had both.. this makes it difficult to configure the joystick.

[HaRuMaN]

arcadeemulator.net is run by a member here, divemaster.  You can see his sale thread here.

Many people here have bought from him, you can't go wrong.  He sells Happs products, for much cheaper than you could buy from Happs directly.

Lizardlick is good if you want Japanese style buttons and joysticks (Sanwa and Seimitsu).



If you are just running arcade games, I would do a 7 button layout for P1 and P2 (hybrid street fighter / neo geo layout) and 4 buttons for P3 and P4.

[opt2not]

arcadeemulator.net is run by a member here, divemaster.  You can see his sale thread here.

Many people here have bought from him, you can't go wrong.

divemaster is cool-beans. Bought from him a bunch of times, no problems, great communication. 

[Jigenjuke]

Hey there guys, if you want the Sanwa and Seimitsu stuff cheap, I live here in Japan even if you think about shipping from here to there it's probably a lot cheaper than buying from anywhere in the states.

 

[WirelessTaco]

It still looks like arcade emulator is my best bet so I think I will go with that. I will not be doing console games(at least on this build) so I will go with the 7 buttons for player 1 and 2.  The Neo Geo layout looks cool any others I should look into?


P.S.  Holy crap its the Burger King!

[WirelessTaco]

The parts are here!





And here is my design.


I will start building tomorrow.

[NeoFlynn]

looks like a nice build, I will have to look into arcadeemulator for my parts I was going to go with Ultimarc but ill have to see now

[shateredsoul]

Hmm.. maybe a bit slimmer? (from front to back).  I built a "slim" built and boy is it big.  You don't realize how big these things are until you build them.  Also, if you're concerned about the weight on the front, they do sell weights you can attach near the back (on the inside of the cab) that will help it be stable.

Also for player 3 and 4, I don't think you need that many buttons. I've never seen more than 4.  Maybe you can use the extra buttons as pinball buttons?

Have you decided on a button layout yet? Maybe you can do a cardboard one or draw one out on paper to see how the spacing and amount of buttons feels.  From looking on these forums, it seems like the cabs with less things look nicer.  If I had to redesign my control panel.. (I have only player 1 and 2; 7 buttons each player) I probably would have taken out the trackball and spinner.  I have some topguns that I'm considering selling because the sensor bars are making mounting the monitor more difficult. I Know you haven't mentioned any of this, just sharing it in case you're considering any of this. In the end it's your preference and whatever works for you.  Nice choice on colors, but why is one of your blue buttons darker?

Are you sure you don't need more quick connects? I used one pack of 100 on wiring half the buttons and joysticks that you have. Then again, I had throw away a bunch due to mistakes.

[WirelessTaco]

I just cut 4 inch off the depth of the cab. Initially I was going to put the computer behind the t.v. so I wanted it to be deeper but decided against it and never put the dimensions back.

For player 3 and 4 I am only using 4 buttons. Each set of buttons has one extra for a coin button. 2 Black and 2 White will be used for pinball/admin buttons. And one white will go under the control panel for as an escape button.  The purple button is just an extra button to go with the pacman stick.

I have not yet decided the button layout and will play around with it tonight.  

I wasn't sure about the quick disconnects but a few local places have them so If need some more I will pick more up.

[WirelessTaco]

Here are some updated pics of the progress I have made so far.







I am planing on having the side art of the cab be collaboration of all kinds of arcade characters fighting each other. What characters do you think I should have on the cab? Or what characters fighting each other would be cool or funny? Thanks for help!

[WhereEaglesDare]

Sonic V Robotnik, Contra V Bubble Bobble, Donkey Kong V Billy Mitchell, Metal Slug V Nazi Zombies, RoboArmy V Robocop 2 V Terminator, Ken v Ryu, Megaman @ Captain Commando  V Hulk and Spiderman...  just for a few

[Rick]

Sonic V Robotnik, Contra V Bubble Bobble, Donkey Kong V Billy Mitchell, Metal Slug V Nazi Zombies, RoboArmy V Robocop 2 V Terminator, Ken v Ryu, Megaman @ Captain Commando  V Hulk and Spiderman...  just for a few

Inky vs. Pinky vs. Clyde vs. Sue vs. The Punisher vs. The ShamWow Guy (for effect) vs. Princess Peach vs. The Entire Cast of Dead or Alive vs. Pac Man...  ...to name some others.

[Donkey_Kong]

The Shamwow Guy!

[NeoFlynn]

although not directly video game related some one else had a picture of a base that had the simpsons vs family guy and it was awesome, instead of doing a whole bunch of characters from different games I would go with 2 games with a bunch of characters like Tekken vs Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat vs Street Fighter or Sonic vs Mario.....something like that

[JustMichael]

I'm glad you are trying out your control panel layout on a scrap piece of plywood first.  I bet the finished one will look awesome!  When I first saw the the test control panel, it made me think of a control panel for an arcade version of Redneck Rampage...