Jamma/XBOX 360 Candy Cab *Final Panel PICS, VIDEO, LED's

[BurgerKingDiamond]

This is a thread for my Korean candy cab that I have recently finished working on. I got this on ebay for $300 + $200 to get it shipped from Florida to Virginia.
It came with a Parodius PCB. On the second day I had it I broke the neck on the tube   , so I replace it with a TV from a pawn shop. It is connected through s-video with a RGB to NTSC converter.

I also added a xbox 360, which is connected through component cables.

I wired up a DB-25 switch box for going between the controls for Jamma/xbox 360. I also ran a video button from the TV chassis to the switch box for going between the s-video and component inputs, also a button for the TV power was ran to the back of the cab. The xbox 360 control is through a hacked MadCatz street fighter IV gamepad (also ran the home button to the back of the cab for turning on the xbox).

I got the xbox from a friend already decased. Without the case there is nowhere for the dvd drive to rest. Luckily, the drive uses a standard SATA cable, and I just happened to have an extra lying around from another project I did. I did however have to manually lengthen the power connector. I then mounted the dvd drive to the bottom of the pcb shelf.

One side note.... I originally had both sets of sticks wired up to the switch box, but when I finished and tried to test it, only some of the buttons were working and I couldn't figure out why. the db25 cable has 25 pins, and for two sticks, 10 buttons, and 2 grounds (one for each hacked pad), I should have had more than enough pins to do this. but when I got out the multimeter to try and track down the problem I found that the problem lied within the switchbox itself. I opened it up and found out that pins 18-25 were soldered to each other, so I actually only had 18 pins to work with... So I rewired it and had to cut one xbox controller. This was particularly annoying, and I don't want to use a soldering iron for a long time... The end result is that bot sets of controls work for JAMMA, but only one stick works for xbox.

Also, the sticks are very loose, so I will end up replacing them with either sanwa or seimitsu balltops. I'm asking around to find out which model will best suit the kind of games that I will be playing.

A marquee holder will be made too eventually. Maybe in a week or so, I'm kind of burnt out right now.

Current games
JAMMA:
Raiden II
Parodius (maybe sexy parodius, but I don't know for sure because it is in Japanese)
Raiden (i'm haggling with a dude on ebay for it right now...)
Donpachi (pinballjim has offered to sell me the pcb, but I'm waiting for him to get back to me)

XBOX 360:
Raiden Fighters Aces
Raiden IV
Mushihimesama Futari
Deathsmiles (although I can't play it on this tated' monitor)
(I am in the process of acquiring a jtag'd 360, so this list is soon to explode!)

Here are some pics. I can barely find the time to do these projects, so documenting as I go doesn't really happen... Too bad because
I really like reading threads with lots of pictures of projects in progress. Also there is a video on youtube.

*** in the video I say that the other cab is JAMMA, that was a mistake. It's actually just MAME, PS2 and Dreamcast.



http://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/m609/burgerkingdiamond/arcade%20stuff/IMG_7274.jpg

http://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/m609/burgerkingdiamond/arcade%20stuff/IMG_7275.jpg

http://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/m609/burgerkingdiamond/arcade%20stuff/IMG_7277.jpg

http://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/m609/burgerkingdiamond/arcade%20stuff/IMG_7278.jpg

http://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/m609/burgerkingdiamond/arcade%20stuff/IMG_7279.jpg

http://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/m609/burgerkingdiamond/arcade%20stuff/IMG_7280.jpg

http://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/m609/burgerkingdiamond/arcade%20stuff/IMG_7281.jpg

http://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/m609/burgerkingdiamond/arcade%20stuff/IMG_7282.jpg

http://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/m609/burgerkingdiamond/arcade%20stuff/IMG_7283.jpg

[jimmy2x2x]

That looks like an awesome setup, congrats!

I would consider Sanwa buttons and a Seimitsu ls32 joystick for the type of games you are playing

I really want a Candy, one day, one day...

[emphatic]

I'd say Seimitsu LS-32 or LS-56 sticks as they are overall the best shmup sticks without modification (SUZO 500s are my personal choice but they need a custom made shaft to be "Candy pretty" ). And Seimitsu buttons, Sanwa is way to triggerhappy, especially for CAVE games. Best shop for parts is www.akihabarashop.jp imho.

[jimmy2x2x]

http://www.etokki.com/ is another option, I found these the cheapest after shipping.

Be sure to update with any changes!

[emphatic]

Had time to watch the whole video now (with sound!) and those sticks are Korean Fanta sticks. Very popular among fighter fans I believe. Too bad you necked the orginal monitor tube, but that component video must be considered an upgrade. As the tube on that TV seems to be curved it seems a lucky fit for your cabinet.  I wish HD CRT TVs were more common in Sweden, I'd love to put one in at least one of my EGRET IIs as both suffer from burn-in and replacing the tube isn't my cup of tea.

How is the picture when running PCBs? Also, the US release of DeathSmiles isn't worth rotating your monitor for as CAVE removed lots of slowdown apparently making it unplayable.

[Paladin]

Nice to see another shmup candy cab!  I'm working on mine as well.  It's got a Dreamcast in it now, and I'm adding a 360 as well.

I just got 2 of those same controllers in the mail, and will be hacking them like yours in the next couple days.  I've been loading up games and making sure they work but haven't paid attention to what buttons I need for shmups other than A and B.  Do you find that A, B, X, Y are enough?  Can you configure the buttons on 360 games?  I guess I need to fire some up and actually pay attention to what I need!

[BurgerKingDiamond]

@jimmy2x2x
thanks, it's a really good setup. Now I need to work on my scores, no more excuses! (well I can blame the sticks until I get those new ones..)

@emphatic
I can see why these sticks would be good for fighters. I'll keep them around in case I do another cab in the future.

As for the TV, I got pretty lucky. I took in the black bezel to the pawn shop and put it on all the 27" TV's to see which one fit the best. I was so surprised to find one that fit so perfectly, AND had component and s-video input. And the best part was that it was only $40!! The converter was only $35, so overall breaking the monitor wasn't too costly of a mistake. And, the component input for xbox is definitely and upgrade.

the pcb's look great. Maybe not arcade perfect, but I don't really know without being able to do a side by side comparison. So overall I would say very good. the converter comes with individual pots for R G B. I had to mess with them a little bit, because at first the colors were over saturated.

As for Deathsmiles, I can still play it on my room mates xbox on the 42" flatscreen, but I'll have to put up with using an xbox controller... I think it's playable enough, but I haven't really given it serious attention. I got it the special edition with the faceplate the day it came out just because I was excited to see a CAVE release in the US.

@paladin
Every game that I've played on xbox so far (Raiden IV, Mushi Futari, Raiden Fighters Aces, Deathsmiles) let's you configure the fire/bomb buttons to any of the A,B,X,Y,LB,LT,RB,RT. My panel already had 5 buttons, so I just connected 4 to the A,B,X,Y and 1 to start, plus a separate button for HOME. This is sufficient for MOST shmups. I say most, because Deathsmiles needs like 5-6 buttons, but that doesn't really matter because I won't be playing it.

[emphatic]

I took in the black bezel to the pawn shop and put it on all the 27" TV's to see which one fit the best. I was so surprised to find one that fit so perfectly, AND had component and s-video input.

That's a pretty smart way of finding it.  :applaud:I wish we had a pawn shop in my town. Also, most consumer TVs have much better CRT quality than arcade monitors. They are mostly made from B or C grade tubes and TVs from A grade (of course depending on the brand and so on).

This is sufficient for MOST shmups. I say most, because Deathsmiles needs like 5-6 buttons, but that doesn't really matter because I won't be playing it.

Not entirely true. The arcade PCB for DeathSmiles uses 3 buttons. Left, Right, and Bomb. The full auto buttons + lock shot is just for the 360 version, and not really needed unless you play with a game pad (as mashing buttons isn't as easy as with an arcade controller).  If you want to play DeathSmiles 1.1 (360 exclusive mode) "properly" you need an extra stick to control the characters familiar as well. Me, I just stick to the arcade setup (4 buttons) as both ESPGALUDA II and the upcoming Do-Donpachi Dai-Fukkatsu uses 4 buttons.

As for Futari, the Arcade PCB uses 3 buttons, the 4th button is added for Arrange mode. So 4 buttons is pretty much all you need if you're going to play ONLY arcade shmup ports.

[BurgerKingDiamond]

ahhhhhh, I see. I was just going off the 360 version, which is all I've ever played  .

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention. the converter I have will only work with Standard Resolution games. So would it be compatible with the current generation CAVE pcb's? Not that it matters much, because I don't see myself ever shelling out the money for one of the newer CAVE boards.

[Franco B]

All Cave games are standard 15k res so you should be fine if you decide to invest.

Shame about necking the monitor 

Apologies but DonPachi is on route to me.

Enjoy your Candy 

[BurgerKingDiamond]

good for you Franco. PinballJim had led me to believe that he was selling it to me but that he had to test it first. I guess sending me a message to inform me that he had decided to sell it to you was too much trouble.

[emphatic]

All Cave games are standard 15k res so you should be fine if you decide to invest.

Except of course for DeathSmiles 2. 

[Franco B]

Apologies BKD. There was one for sale on ebay, I had a look for you but [it looks like it sold].

Emph, I didn't know DS2 wasn't on the usual hardware, shows what I know  DS2 suks anyway 

[BurgerKingDiamond]

Damn. I saw a Donpachi cab on ebay a few days ago. I would have offered to just buy the marquee and pcb but I didn't because I was waiting for PinballJim to get back to me. Now I can't find the listing anywhere.

[BurgerKingDiamond]

well I just got my new xbox 360 from SNAAKE and I am stoked! SNAAKE was awesome to deal with. He was very communicative and there was no B***S***. Unlike another failed transaction....

So GO SNAAKE!

anyway, I'm gathering supplies to do some ventilation work on my cab. My previous decased 360 seemed to be fine, but I don't want to decase this new one, and it is getting disturbingly warm. I will try my best to take pics as I go. It will involve a Nyko intercooler (modded to take power from seperate PSU, instead of stealing power from the 360 like it's designed to do), a 90 degree register box, another PC fan, and some flexible ducting... sounds like I'm going overboard huh? maybe, but this xbox needs to last. Forever. I hope.

[Malenko]

well I just got my new xbox 360 from SNAAKE and I am stoked! SNAAKE was awesome to deal with. He was very communicative and there was no B***S***. Unlike another failed transaction....

So GO SNAAKE!

anyway, I'm gathering supplies to do some ventilation work on my cab. My previous decased 360 seemed to be fine, but I don't want to decase this new one, and it is getting disturbingly warm. I will try my best to take pics as I go. It will involve a Nyko intercooler (modded to take power from seperate PSU, instead of stealing power from the 360 like it's designed to do), a 90 degree register box, another PC fan, and some flexible ducting... sounds like I'm going overboard huh? maybe, but this xbox needs to last. Forever. I hope.

then dont use the Nyko cooler, it makes it worse.  Get a Talismoon fan or do the 12V mod on the existing fans.

[BurgerKingDiamond]

hey Malenko,
I don't want to decase this xbox. From what I understand, the Nyko intercooler's problem is that it uses a pass through and steals power from the xbox. I'm going to mod it to use another 12V psu on a power strip in the cab.
So, are there any other reasons to not use the intercooler that I don't know of?

 

[The Habbler]

Hey BK,
The Intercooler had a revision released when Nyko realized the power-draw from the 360 was bad. If you have the old model then by all means hack it, but if not, just get the new one that uses its own AC power.

[BurgerKingDiamond]

@Habbler
I heard the new one is crappy because it has a built in thermal sensor that turns the fans on when it gets hot. But for some reason the sensor is weird and the fans never come on at all, which is actually worse because the stock fans are blocked.

I think I'm just gonna get the original.

[Malenko]

it actually reduces airflow. cant find the website but they used a CFM tester and the nyko slowed everything down and increased temps. If you dont wanna pop the box open, use PC fans to push air in the "bottom" (if vert)

[BurgerKingDiamond]

I'm doing a little work on my candy. I'll be adding a bracket to display my original DonPachi marquee, which I got along with a DonPachi pcb recently. this is just a quick mock up in Photoshop.



It will be a 90 deg angle bracket in the front painted white. The marquee will be sandwhiched between two sheets of plexi and it will be held together by a couble bolts and a flat piece of metal in the back. I will probably end up putting a light behind it too, because it looks so nice lit up... I know it's not a traditional candy type of set up, but I don't care.

Also, I've been putting off upgrading my sticks, but I need to do it. I'll be changing to a one player setup because this thing is only for tate shmups and I don't play 2 player, and don't want to spend money buying extra buttons and a stick that I will never use. Unfortunately I can't just drop in the Seimitsu LS-32 that I want (or any jap stick, for that matter). Stupid Korean thing has it's own thing going on, so I have to get a little creative. The black part of the original panel is recessed into the white plastic of the cab. I'm going to completely remove it and replace it with a precut astro city panel from LizardLick. This panel will sit on top (not recessed), and I will have to bolt it right into the white plastic (unfortunately I will have to make some holes in my cab.... It's ok, in the end it will look fine). Also, the astro panel is just a little too small to completely cover the hole from the old recessed panel. So I have to cut a piece of plexi, which I will paint from the back, and put that down first to cover the hole, then put the astro on top of it. In other words, original white plastic -> painted plexi -> metal astro cp -> plexi artwork cover. My only concern now is that the screw in buttons have enough threads to go through the 3 layers of material. I will have to double check and measure before I order. Here's another quick photoshop.



Oh yeah I also put in a nice, cheap ($30) set of pc speakers from Radio shack. It has two small speakers and a sub, plus a seperate volume knob with headphone jack that I velcro'd to the inside of the door. These make playing my CAVE 360 games and Raiden IV, plus all my final burn stuff really awesome. It doesn't do anything for the jamma games though, I still have those going through the original speakers.

[BurgerKingDiamond]

My package from LizardLick came in today. It shipped pretty damn fast too. I think I only ordered this stuff 3 days ago or something.

List of stuff I got:

4 X 30mm Seimitsu clear blue buttons
2 X 24mm Seimitsu clear white buttons
1 X Seimitsu LS-32 Stick
1 X 35mm clear blue bubbletop
6 X KNserts for lighting up buttons
2 X Happ regular joystick springs (to replace the heavy ones I have in my MAME cab)
1 X Clear dustwasher (with arrow design thing)
1 X Lizard Lick 1 player Astro City control panel
1 X barrier strip
10ft red wire
10ft black wire

I will be upgrading my control panel as you can see. I want a 4 button setup. The plexi will cover the two button holes that I'm not using. I will be using the following tutorial from shoryuken to achieve lighting up buttons (when pressed, not lit all the time), the ball top will be permanently lit.

http://shoryuken.com/content/light-up-activation-button-mod-tutorial-61/

I still need a hollow LS-32 shaft. Bryan from paradisearcadeshop.com saw a post I made about this and let me know that they have them, but haven't started advertising them yet. He is hooking me up, and I should be getting soon (not really... they're in Hawaii so it will probably be at least a week to get to Virginia. It's ok.) I'm also waiting for the Hex Inverter IC to come from ebay (Radio Shack does not have them).

[ccmathome]

How long is that new cp? Awesome cab by the way

[BurgerKingDiamond]

.

Posted on: Yesterday at 11:05:28 PMPosted by: ccmathome 
How long is that new cp? Awesome cab by the way

here it is on LizardLick

http://www.lizardlick.com/Lizard-Lick-Control-Panel-1L6B_p_116.html

It's not a direct fit for my cab but I'll make it work. It would probably go nice with yours. And you'll have the opportunity to design around it, which is nice. It's nice that it has the mounting bracket already tack welded into place, the only small annoyance I have is that they didn't include the nuts. So I have to bring to whole thing to a hardware store to find the right size nuts for attaching the stick to the mounting plate.

[emphatic]

Is the new panel bigger than the original one? Did you consider grinding it down to fit? That button layout is my new favorite actually. Very comfortable.

[BurgerKingDiamond]

Is the new panel bigger than the original one? Did you consider grinding it down to fit? That button layout is my new favorite actually. Very comfortable.

hey, if you read a little further up I tried to explain. The situation is that the new panel is actually a little too small. It won't completely cover up the hole where the old insert was. I decided to go with it anyway because it's precut, with all the holes and joystick bracket already there for only $45. It's worth it to me to not have to find a machine shop and all the crap. What I'm gonna do is cut a rectangle of plexi glass to cover the hole of the old CP (this is the blue rectangle in the mock up). Then the metal CP will go on top of that. Then another plexi on top of metal CP.

[emphatic]

Sorry. I actually remember reading it now that I'm reminded. Me = 

[BurgerKingDiamond]

Sorry. I actually remember reading it now that I'm reminded. Me = 

no problem my friend

[ccmathome]

My package from LizardLick came in today. It shipped pretty damn fast too. I think I only ordered this stuff 3 days ago or something.

I like ordering from lizardlick as I live in NC so I get my stuff 2 days tops

[BurgerKingDiamond]

Construction of the new control panel has begun. I'm at the painting stage. BTW, I hate painting....

The old panel from front


The old panel from back




This is why I couldn't just put the metal panel directly on top. It doesn't cover up the hole from the old panel. Too bad, nothing's ever easy...


checking it out....




complete test fit. On to painting


from back


Spray booth

[emphatic]

What's the second 24 mm button for, HOME?

[BurgerKingDiamond]

one of the 24's will be for start and the other will be wire straight to the coin switch for freeplay.

[BurgerKingDiamond]

Here is the artwork that I am thinking of using. I decided that my original design was kind of boring. I decided to use Reco from Mushihimesama Futari, my favorite game at the moment.

the blue paint on the back piece of plexi turned out darker than I expected. I guess it looks ok. I was hoping for more of a light, sky blue. Kind of like the buttons....
 
just a quick photoshop


I like this because I think it balances out all the negative space on the left side with the 4 buttons on the right.

[ccmathome]

That looks pretty good, really like the artwork

[emphatic]

Looks good, but how do you blow the artwork up that big without it looking like "fecal matter"?

[BurgerKingDiamond]

Looks good, but how do you blow the artwork up that big without it looking like "fecal matter"?

Thanks. I found some nice, big wallpapers:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.peacefuldeath.net/mushihimesama/mushihimesama2/wallpaper_reko_2_big.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.peacefuldeath.net/mushihimesama/mushihimesama2/&usg=__hiJAnssYknCMLGvDEFwN-m-pWmI=&h=960&w=1280&sz=229&hl=en&start=2&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=isOWNm_4xXy3cM:&tbnh=113&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmushihimesama%2Bfutari%2Bwallpaper%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26tbs%3Disch:1

The image is about 17" across normally. I have to double check in photoshop (I just slapped in on there quick last night to see if I liked it, I didn't use the true CP dimensions), but I think I can blow it up to 26" across without it getting to ugly.

[emphatic]

Here's what I do:

Open the Image size window and set it to 300 dpi and make the picture the size you'll need, use the "bi-cubic sharper" for the resize option at the bottom
Hit ctrl+L to bring up the Levels, use the color picker to set the black and white first, then the gray (if you can find any in that pastel art )
(optional*) Use "smart sharpness" to enhance the lines in the artwork
Use "surface unsharpen" (or what it's called in English) and juggle the sliders until the artifacts are gone (don't worry if the lines are a bit blurry)
Now use "smart sharpness" again (be careful so the saturation isn't too much)

*I often won't use the first "smart sharpness" step unless the resize makes the picture too blurry for the "surface unsharpen" step.

[BurgerKingDiamond]

Thanks for the tips. I'll give it a shot tonight after work. I might add some white circles with blue outlines around the buttons, and something around the stick. Maybe some text too, X,Y,B,A,  COIN. I want to try and bring the art and the buttons together somehow. I'll post the results.

[emphatic]

I really think it looks very nice as it is right now except for the semi-showing logo to the right. If those button plungers are clear, why not add the letters to them instead of possibly cluttering up your artwork?

Here's a font that goes well with Futari art btw: http://www.dafont.com/toon-town-industria.font

[BurgerKingDiamond]

Another change of plans... I still like the the Mushi Futari art, and will probably still do that. But, I found some BEAUTIFUL large DonPachi images inside my DonPachi theme for Hyperspin. I can't resist using them to compliment my Donpachi Marquee. So I think I'm gonna do put something together for that first. I'll probably get the mushi CP printed out too, with an image for a marquee, so I can change them out if I feel like it. I'll post up tonight hopefully with some DP stuff.

[BurgerKingDiamond]

Ughhh, after working at a computer all day and then coming home to work on Photoshop/Illustrator on a laptop with a trackpad my wrists are killing me!!

Anyway, this is the DonPachi CP that I will most likely be using. I think it will go well with my marquee. The Mushi Futari one will probably get printed out too at some later date.


Overlay photo


Sloppy photoshop to show buttons/stick

[skinz]

Awesome.  I dig the Illustrator over the photoshop look - Makes it look really authentic.  Great job.

[emphatic]

I gotta say I really like the Futari art much more than the DonPachi one. It's just much cleaner and the pastels look much better on a candy cabinet. But it's your cabinet, so you will do what you want.  Here's some more DonPachi art: http://www.world-of-arcades.net/Cave/DonPachi/DonPachi.htm

[BurgerKingDiamond]

Thank you both for your opinions. I have choice to make. I agree with you emphatic that the Mushi Art is beautiful. I really like the colors as well. My problem is that I like to have things match, so if I'm going to put up my DonPachi marquee then I want a CP to match... What do you think about the DonPachi CP without the buttons names, just the circles?

I would really like to print both, and use the following image as a Mushi marquee. The problem is that I know I won't feel like pulling out all the buttons to switch out cp's very often. Maybe a few times a year at the most...

[emphatic]

I would go much more minimalistic with the CPO. I made a couple of mockups (for EGRET IIs) a while back:



As you see, the DonPachi doesn't even have the logo as that's covered by the marquee.

[BurgerKingDiamond]

Thanks emphatic. PM sent.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

I would go much more minimalistic with the CPO. I made a couple of mockups (for EGRET IIs) a while back:

http://www.pici.se/pictures/IQFAzeRRX.jpg

As you see, the DonPachi doesn't even have the logo as that's covered by the marquee.

Wow, those are great.

[SNAAKE]

I like 6th best. white background with 2 planes

[BurgerKingDiamond]

I would go much more minimalistic with the CPO. I made a couple of mockups (for EGRET IIs) a while back:



As you see, the DonPachi doesn't even have the logo as that's covered by the marquee.

Ketsui (#7 is my favorite)

After seeing some of emphatic's designs I asked him if would be kind enough to do a little design work for me, and he was up for it. I wanted him to use his own DonPachi CP (3rd one down), and add a few extra elements. This is what he came up with:



I went to kinkos tonight at 7:30, and they said I can pick up the print tomorrow night at 10 p.m. WOW, they must be the busiest kinko's in the country..... I guess it doesn't really matter though since I have a little more painting to do before I'm ready to place the art. So updates tomorrow probably.

thanks emphatic.

 

[emphatic]

 

I really hope you can give them the HIGH RES version I've just PM:d you instead of the sample image at 72 dpi.

[BurgerKingDiamond]

It's taken care of.

[BurgerKingDiamond]

So here are some pics of the control panel with new buttons and stick (not wired up yet). It has the low resolution image which I retardedly printed because I was in too much of a rush to realize what I was doing. You won't be able to tell from these pics but in person you would be able to tell. So I will making a high rez print sometime next week.

The pics actually make the whole thing look a little cleaner than in person since it's not a super high quality camera. It doesn't show all of the imperfections. There are a couple of small cracks in the plexi, but I don't have the heart to recut another one since I already destroyed one when I was drilling out the button holes. I have a small tolerance for frustration and little patience (I think if I had a decent place to work it would be different, but working in my living room/kitchen just aggravates the piss out of me. What I wouldn't do for a garage!). Also, since I knew that this wouldn't be the final print, I cut it out pretty quickly with a somewhat less than sharp razor knife, so you may be able to notice some ragged edges of the print sticking out from the edge of the plexi (maybe some fingerprints too since I didn't bother to clean both sides like I will for final install. Hmmm. And I think I will probably put down a small bead of clear silicone on the edge of the plexi to make a more finished edge. It will make it semi-permanent, but if I ever need to disassemble it to switch out the artwork or something I can just peel up the silicone without much effort.

So onto the pics. Again, artwork is courtesy of Emphatic.

[emphatic]

Wow, even though it's low res it looks very nice! 

If you want to, we could probably add some text near the 24 mm buttons as well as you're going to reprint if you feel something is missing.

[BurgerKingDiamond]

Thanks, but I like it the way it is. One thing I will probably do is repaint the bottom plexi. I'm not really liking the shade of blue that it turned out to be. I am thinking of doing a semi-gloss black painted on top instead of the bottom. I think it would go better with the black bezel, and I want it to contrast more with the artwork. Right now I think it's too much shiny reflective plastic. The pics don't really show it though.

[emphatic]

I would paint the plexi white instead. As I was eying your lovely pictures I kept thinking that the plexi has a WIP "quality" to it.  

You've done such a good job at making the plexi fit that snugly, so why not go all the way and have it white?

Quick mockup:

[BurgerKingDiamond]

You know what, I was thinking about going white, and your mock up has convinced me. I like that it minimizes the appearance of the bottom plexi so that you don't notice it as much. Which is good since I had to put it there out of necessity rather than for any aesthetic reason.

BTW, isn't the internet a strange wonderful thing? What we have here is one guy in Sweden and another guy in the USA who will never meet, but are communicating over a common interest in video games. Isn't it cool to design something on your computer, and then see it printed out on another continent just a few hours later? Your English is really good too, it sounds completely natural to me. The only foreign language I know is Spanish and it's pretty rusty now. If I was trying to converse in Spanish it would sound very broken and weird....

Anyway, I will definitely not have a chance to do anything until maybe Sunday. So check for updates in a few days.

 

[Rick]

Now, I'm not a big fan of the candy cabs, but I gotta say you're doing some nice work on this one!

[emphatic]

BTW, isn't the internet a strange wonderful thing? What we have here is one guy in Sweden and another guy in the USA who will never meet, but are communicating over a common interest in video games. Isn't it cool to design something on your computer, and then see it printed out on another continent just a few hours later? Your English is really good too, it sounds completely natural to me. The only foreign language I know is Spanish and it's pretty rusty now. If I was trying to converse in Spanish it would sound very broken and weird....

You left out that the guy in my avatar is Canadian, smoking and swearing profusely.  What can I say, the arcade hobby is the only one that's stuck with me since my first credits of Knuckle Joe (what a crap game) back in 1986 and forward. And yes, I get plenty satisfaction from sharing what I can with people "in the same boat". 

[BurgerKingDiamond]

Now, I'm not a big fan of the candy cabs, but I gotta say you're doing some nice work on this one!

Thanks Rick. I've been following your DOOM build. That is gonna be a Hall of Fame'r for sure when it's finished. I can't believe that you tried to use your router on your finished panel though! OUCH that's gotta hurt.

[emphatic]

Btw, care to explain the metal showing on the sides where the screws are? Or are they on top of the panel?

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

You know what, I was thinking about going white, and your mock up has convinced me. I like that it minimizes the appearance of the bottom plexi so that you don't notice it as much. Which is good since I had to put it there out of necessity rather than for any aesthetic reason.

BTW, isn't the internet a strange wonderful thing? What we have here is one guy in Sweden and another guy in the USA who will never meet, but are communicating over a common interest in video games. Isn't it cool to design something on your computer, and then see it printed out on another continent just a few hours later? Your English is really good too, it sounds completely natural to me. The only foreign language I know is Spanish and it's pretty rusty now. If I was trying to converse in Spanish it would sound very broken and weird....

Anyway, I will definitely not have a chance to do anything until maybe Sunday. So check for updates in a few days.

 

Can I get in on the  cuz I am totally sipping cheap whiskey here and ... I also like to give/ receive tips over the internet, plus I'm from a dark, cold, exotic European country just like Emphatic.










... Germany...

[BurgerKingDiamond]

You know what, I was thinking about going white, and your mock up has convinced me. I like that it minimizes the appearance of the bottom plexi so that you don't notice it as much. Which is good since I had to put it there out of necessity rather than for any aesthetic reason.

BTW, isn't the internet a strange wonderful thing? What we have here is one guy in Sweden and another guy in the USA who will never meet, but are communicating over a common interest in video games. Isn't it cool to design something on your computer, and then see it printed out on another continent just a few hours later? Your English is really good too, it sounds completely natural to me. The only foreign language I know is Spanish and it's pretty rusty now. If I was trying to converse in Spanish it would sound very broken and weird....

Anyway, I will definitely not have a chance to do anything until maybe Sunday. So check for updates in a few days.

 

Can I get in on the  cuz I am totally sipping cheap whiskey here and ... I also like to give/ receive tips over the internet, plus I'm from a dark, cold, exotic European country just like Emphatic.










... Germany...

Yes. for cheap whiskey indeed.

[BurgerKingDiamond]

Btw, care to explain the metal showing on the sides where the screws are? Or are they on top of the panel?

Oh yeah, I forgot to explain that. It is the metal from the panel I got from LizardLick. Originally I cut the plexi to the exact shape. What happened is that when I was drilling out one of the corner holes it shattered the whole corner of the plexi. I was already on my second attempt, and didn't want to cut a third piece of plexi. So I cut off that corner of the plexi that shattered and cut the other 3 to match. I thought it looked cool so I stuck with it.

[emphatic]

I see. Perhaps painting the panel (that's showing) white as well would look even better?

Not a fan of Whiskey myself, but I like both German and American beer though.  Mmm, a cold Flensburger pils or a Bud anytime.

[BobA]

No matter what color you end up painted the underlying plexi I would paint it underneath as that gives the very best finish.   Painting on top of the plexi will never be as smooth or uniform and is prone to scratching and other damage.

Good progress 

[severdhed]

No matter what color you end up painted the underlying plexi I would paint it underneath as that gives the very best finish.   Painting on top of the plexi will never be as smooth or uniform and is prone to scratching and other damage.

Good progress 

be careful if you are painting the back side of plexi.  i have done it many times with flat black spray paint and it comes out beautifully.  recently however i tried some dark gray textured spray paint, the first coat didn't cover very evenly, and recoating it didn't help. Now my panel looks pretty crappy.

[BurgerKingDiamond]

Ok. This is a short update. I have repainted the blue bottom panel white, and reprinted a high resolution version of Emphatic's artwork. And I've successfully accomplished the LED mod I referenced earlier from Shoryuken, and wired up the controls. I haven't had time to take pics yet, but I think I can do it tomorrow after work.

Overall it looks SO GOOD! I am very happy with the way everything turned out. One issue I have noticed is that there is already a small dirt spot on the white panel from where my wrist rests when holding the stick. I got most of it off, but I think it is actually rubbing through the paint a bit. So I will tape off all the plexi and respray one more coat of white and then do a clear coat over it for protection.

As for the stick... I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed at the moment, but I don't blame it on the quality of the stick itself. There are a few factors which are creating some issues for me. First off let me say that I have never used a Jap/Balltop stick. What I'm used to is the Happ 8 way competition with a very stiff spring. And after that I got somewhat accustomed to my Korean sticks which are physically the same size shape as the Happs but with a MUCH looser feel and longer throw (actually about the opposite of what you would look for in a shmup stick, but I got used to it nonetheless )

My problems right now with my LS-32:

1)  I'm not used to having the stick sit so low on the panel... It just feels akward. My hand is resting on top of it instead of gripping it from the side like I'm used    to. This will probably be the easiest thing to get used to though.

2)  I'm really disliking the square restrictor that it came with. I'm used to full circular movement and this square gate is really bothering me. It's not allowing me fluid, smooth movement, and I keep getting stuck in diagonals. Also, I've noticed that when I try to move straight up, I often slip left or right and slide right into a bullet. This is because I'm putting most of the pressure up, but any slight unconscious pressure left or right will cause the stick to slip in that direction. With a circular gate, the curvature of the gate causes a small resistance to lateral movement when you're holding straight up or down. Ideally I would like to try an octagonal gate, which would allow you to accurately lock into any of the 8 directions with confidence. However after some Google-ing I am pretty sure that there aren't any octagonal gates for the LS-32. So I will be ordering a circular restrictor from LizardLick soon.

3) I don't like how easily the whole shaft spins in the stick. It makes it harder to grip. Even my Happs do this but it takes a lot more torque to make them spin. So much that they won't spin during normal gameplay. Whereas this stick spins a lot (BTW I'm not talking about the balltop spinning on the shaft. I mean the whole shaft spinning).

4) The stick isn't as responsive as I had hoped. But I think that is my fault... In order to keep the wires leading to the balltop LED from getting twisted up during gameplay, I used a headphone plug and jack to connect the wires to the base of balltop. This allows the shaft to spin without the wire getting twisted up (I believe I saw this idea on one of Franco B's old posts. It's quite smart actually, and I don't want to take credit for it.) I think that part of why the stick is feeling less responsive is that the added weight of the plug/jack and the electric tape that I used to attach them to the shaft is affecting the inertia of the stick. I don't think that the stock spring is strong enough to return it to center as decisively as it would normally. I don't know, I just think it feels kind of "wonky". I don't really know if my head is playing tricks on me or not though. I don't want to get rid of the balltop LED. What I'm gonna try and do is get a LS-33 spring and swap it in. Supposedly these are stiffer, so I hope that it will compensate for the LED assembly and I happen to like a stiffer spring anyway.


So sorry for the "essay" on my new stick... 
Hopefully I'll have some pics up tomorrow.
 

[emphatic]

Glad you got the artwork sorted. Really looking forward to pictures on your white plexi panel surround. 

On the stick:

I grew up playing on lots of different arcade sticks, bat tops as well as ball tops and I was even quite happy with my X Arcade sticks until I found the LS-32. But I agree, the stick has some issues. First I would do though is to modify it by taking the spring out and stretching it to 2x it's original height. This will give it much tougher feel. It's too bad that you've gone though with all the work on lighting your balltop, as there are extender shafts available for it, www.arcadeshop.de for example has these. But the best way is to change you way of gripping it. I rest my hand flat on the panel and just grip the ball with my thumb, index and middle finger. This way my hand is pretty much in a resting position all the time, and the fingers do all the "heavy lifting".

My stick of choice now is the SUZO 500, but that's very hard to mount in most panels, and it's not a pretty stick unless you find someone that can make a custom shaft for it.

[BurgerKingDiamond]

Damn. That extended shaft would be perfect if it was hollow. At least I know that if I can't get used to the low height I can order that extender and get it machined locally.

Thanks for the tip on the spring. I'll try stretching it out. Unfortunately that means I have to get that F****** c-clip off the shaft again. I'll probably need to find an e-clip to replace it since those are way easier to take on and off. I'll still order the LS-33 spring as a back up since I'll be ordering a circular restrictor anyway.

BTW, what kind of restrictor are you using Emphatic?

[emphatic]

BTW, what kind of restrictor are you using Emphatic?

ATM I have an LS-36 ( http://www.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=212639 ) in one of my EGRET IIs, and a regular LS-32 in the other (my SUZO 500 is in the UK for some custom work @ FrancoB).  Both Seimitsu sticks use the stock restrictor.

[BurgerKingDiamond]

cool. What are you getting done to your Suzo?

BTW, I've decided to order two circular restrictors and try make one of them octaganol with a dremel. If I take it very slow and precise I think I should be able to get it ok. If I screw it up it's only a few bucks wasted.

[emphatic]

cool. What are you getting done to your Suzo?

Basically trying to create an 8-way restrictor for it.

[BurgerKingDiamond]

As promised here are some pics of the cabinet as it stands right now.

First a couple of pics of the bottom side of the panel with all of components. You can see that right now I'm using 3 AAA batteries to power the LED's. I did this as an easy portable PSU while I was wiring and testing. After a few days break I'll get around to picking up the +5V from the JAMMA connector.

I also put a little video on Youtube with a short tour of the cab. Please forgive the not so great camera work, and narrating skills.





The little square of electrical tape next the barrier strips is covering the IC that all the LED's are wired to.





















BTW, the two 24mm buttons don't light up. I didn't realize that the KNserts (pre fab LED inserts) don't fit the 24mm buttons.
I didn't feel like doing a custom thing to work around it.

Also, emphatic, you might notice that the background blue is still darker. For some reason when you print the high res file, the colors are slightly off. The guy
at Kinko's tried printing it and recalibrating the printer like 3 times, and it kept coming out that way. Then he printed the low res and the colors were light again.
I just ended up going with the high res. It still looks good.

Now I'm gonna enjoy some games for a week or two... When I get the itch to do some work I'll do the marquee. BTW, the white plexi really highlights how discolored the rest of the cab is. So respraying will definitely be done at some point in future.

 

[BadMouth]

For the making the buttons light up when pressed, did you use the hex inverter like in this tutorial:
http://shoryuken.com/content/light-up-activation-button-mod-tutorial-61/
or is there a simpler way?

[BurgerKingDiamond]

For the making the buttons light up when pressed, did you use the hex inverter like in this tutorial:
http://shoryuken.com/content/light-up-activation-button-mod-tutorial-61/
or is there a simpler way?

There is this:
http://www.lizardlick.com/Toodles-FGWidget-LED-Controller-Kit_p_580.html

and these:
http://www.lizardlick.com/KNsert-LED-Board_p_585.html

But It's still gonna require some soldering.

yeah, that tutorial you linked is exactly what I did. I got a 5 pack of the inverters on ebay for like $4. It's actually pretty simple if you're alright at soldering and can read basic electrical diagrams. I'm by no means an expert, but I was able to follow the diagram and it works.

One thing I did to simplify it was to use the prefab'd KNserts from LizardLick. So all you do is take of the button plunger and stick in the KNserts. You drill a couple holes and run a GND and a +5V wire from the KNsert to the outside of the button. Also if you choose to use the KNsert without the FGwidget board you have to add a 150 ohm resister and cut a trace on the back of the KNsert.

The balltop is wired straight to GND and +5V so it is on full time. I may be able to answer some question if you plan on going through with it.

 

[BadMouth]

Thanks.  I already bought a pack of those hex inverters, but there was a thread on this board about it and everyone seemed to think it was an overly complicated way to go about it.  I threw them in my parts bin and never got back to experimenting with it.

[BurgerKingDiamond]

hmmmmm. I never saw that thread, but after having done it myself I wouldn't call it complicated.  I say try it if you have the opportunity because the results are sweet.

[emphatic]

Looks great! 

Playing Ketsui with one hand while filming is hilarious. 

[BurgerKingDiamond]

Thanks. I put in some practice time with the stick yesterday, and I'm already getting used to it. I had to completely change my grip. The forefinger, thumb, middle finger grip works well.
Now it's time to get into Futari and 1CC that first loop on Original. Wish me luck.

BTW, have you played DDP DFK yet? I have it but I've been to busy to jump in and give it a try.

[emphatic]

BTW, have you played DDP DFK yet? I have it but I've been to busy to jump in and give it a try.

I LOVE it. Been playing Arrange B stage 1 the whole morning. Great to hear you're getting to know your stick. Adjusting the spring makes it a whole world better though.

[Franco B]

Good job BKD, looks great

Only had a couple of credits on DFK myself, L1 is pretty straight forward but the difficulty soon ramps up!

I can wait until I have a cab fiished 'cough' to play these on

[BurgerKingDiamond]

I forgot to add that Brian from ParadiseArcadeShop.com saw my post asking about hollow LS-32 shafts and emailed me saying that he had them in stock even though they weren't up on the website yet. He gave me a good price and shipped it out very quick. So thanks again Brian, and I would recommend buying your arcade parts from his shop.