Project Death Star

[Elfman]

Have been planning for about 2 weeks now.

[oldsage]

Another guy broke into my mind! They always take the good ideas, too!
j/k...
That's an awesome idea, but i have one comment which might sound a bit bitchy, but...
In the name of some things that are good (and stuff), please, please, please, don't make it a UAII cab!
Or at least change the plans...! Just DON'T use that commercial crap (at least not as it is)!
I am getting tired of seeing that everywhere... Even LuCiDs (that's how it's spelled?) plans were nice at first, but after every damn cab used them, they got boring..!
Please, i am begging you, this idea has LOTS of potential that UAII is taking away...

</grumbling>

...Nice idea though...

[Elfman]

Here is my revised CP design.  I decided to remove the 4 way since I had a hard time placing it so that it would be a compfortable fit.  Either my wrists were sitting on some buttons or I had to go around an 8 way to get to it.  I may add one later, but I think I will see how it goes first.

So how does the placement look?  Are the joys to close to the edge/trackball? Is the spinner to high up?

I moved the spinner as far north as I could so that I could have free range on the trackball without my knuckles hitting things.  The 2 buttons above player 2 are the dedicated mouse buttons for the trackball.  Above that, I have the black admin buttons.  Then on the right and left top I have the player 1 and 2 coin and start buttons.

So let me know how this looks.  Still working on the cabinet so it will take me a bit to get to the CP but I thought I would like to have something decided upon before I got to it.

Thanks.

[rchadd]

I decided to remove the 4 way since I had a hard time placing it so that it would be a compfortable fit.

don't know if you've got your joysticks already but maybe the 8/4 way switchable joysticks such a Ultimarc TStick Plus would be a solution

i've got them in my cab and think that they are a perfect solution

[chrisindfw]

I am using visio too. Nice tool.. However, are your buttons too close together. Especially with the lip of the button on top. You may want to print it out and try it out on cardboard first.

Just a suggestion, and learning from experience.

[dphirschler]

They look fine to me.  Mine are very close as well, but there was plenty of room for them.  The primary concern should be the nut underneath.  Still can't argue with trying it out on cardboard first.


Darryl

[Elfman]

I decided to remove the 4 way since I had a hard time placing it so that it would be a compfortable fit.

don't know if you've got your joysticks already but maybe the 8/4 way switchable joysticks such a Ultimarc TStick Plus would be a solution

i've got them in my cab and think that they are a perfect solution

Yeah, I considered that too.  But of course I considered it after I bought my two supers from Happs. 

When I order my IPac, I may still pick up a Tstick and throw the whole thing in cardboard to test it out.

Thanks for the input.

[Elfman]

They look fine to me.

[Elfman]

Okay, now I need a little advice on which keyboard emulator I should use with this CP.

I first considred the IPac² but then thought that I may quickly run out of connectors on that.  Especially if I end up putting a 4 way back onto the CP.  I know that Player 1 can be held for shift, then the admin buttons would become availble so the admin buttons shouldn't take up any more.

Then I thought that the IPac⁴ would work but thought it might be overkill with just a two player CP.

I would also consider the Keywiz fro groovy game gear but I quickly get confused as to what sort of emulator I should get since they have emulators for all kinds of controls (360 etc).

So given this configuration (keep in mind I may put a 4 way back onto it and I will have at least 2 buttons on the side for flippers and VP), what emulator should I get?  I would prefer screw terminal (non-solder) connectors if at all possible.

My Trackball and spinner will both be USB.

Thanks for any input!

Brad

[Tiger-Heli]

I would also consider the Keywiz fro groovy game gear but I quickly get confused as to what sort of emulator I should get since they have emulators for all kinds of controls (360 etc).

You mean 49-way joysticks.

So given this configuration (keep in mind I may put a 4 way back onto it and I will have at least 2 buttons on the side for flippers and VP), what emulator should I get?  I would prefer screw terminal (non-solder) connectors if at all possible.

Counting inputs and ingnoring the mouse buttons on the trackball and the flipper buttons, it looks like you have 31 inputs required.

You have three options as I see it.

The KeyWiz is 32 inputs and PS/2.

The GGG GP-Wiz is 32 inputs and USB, but looks like a gamepad to the PC, so you need to reconfigure MAME to use Gamepad keys, but that's not a big deal.

Or there's the I-PAC VE, which is also USB.

Either of the GGG products will be about $35 with the screw terminals (which I recommend) or $24 with an IDE header.

The I-PAC VE is $35 with screw terminals.

Your mouse buttons should be covered by whatever interface you use for the trackball.

Your flipper buttons can either share inputs with the action buttons or you could convert the admin buttons to one-click shazaaam! buttons using RandyT's adapters to free up more inputs.  That would also go for the four way.

FWIW.

See http://www.mameworld.net/tigerheli/encoder/shiftkeys.htm for more on the adapters.   

[markrvp]

Keep in mind that adding a 4-way joystick doesn't take up any more inputs on your keyboard encoder.  You wire your 4-way joystick to the exact same inputs on the keyboard encoder as your Player 1 8-way joystick.

[Elfman]

Started applying vinyl to my cabinet.

[Elfman]

Sorry I haven't updated in a while.

[Elfman]

My revised control panel design.

4 way and spinner are back on.

[MudFlapMan]

i like ti better without... but what do i know...

[Tiger-Heli]

Like it a lot, especially the trackball placement on the artwork.

One concern - if the white buttons are the buttons with the little guys on them - they have to mount with the microswtich tabs coming out on the right side.  So you may need to move the 2P start button inboard and/or down, and you will want to make the 1P start symmetrical with it.

FWIW.

[Elfman]

One concern - if the white buttons are the buttons with the little guys on them - they have to mount with the microswtich tabs coming out on the right side.

[Sinner]

One concern - if the white buttons are the buttons with the little guys on them - they have to mount with the microswtich tabs coming out on the right side.

[Tiger-Heli]

One concern - if the white buttons are the buttons with the little guys on them - they have to mount with the microswtich tabs coming out on the right side.  So you may need to move the 2P start button inboard and/or down, and you will want to make the 1P start symmetrical with it.

Thanks!

Now that you mention it, you are correct.  I may just move them under the 'ST' and the 'DE" on each side respectively. 

Thanks for the heads up!

It's not hard to pop the button out of the sleeve and turn it around...then the switch will be pointing the other way...it's just 2 little tabs at the bottom, and a sprint on the inside...

Awesome!  I never thought about that, but that should work out fine!!!  Thanks!!!

[Elfman]

Quick update.

I'll give a more detailed write up later.

Control panel is 80% done.  Still needs to be wired and a box built for it.  Then mounting to the cabinet.

This CP turned out better than I though possible!

Word of advice.  Lexan is SOOO worth the price.

Happy 4th all!

More later...

[GameOver]

Sa-weet brother!  Well done.

The spinner looks a bit out of place to me - any problems getting to it, and what buttons will you use with it?  Can't wait to see more!  Excellent work.

[xonix_digital]

absolutly LOVE the trackball placement and color!
very nice!

-=XD=-

[Elfman]

Sa-weet brother!

[Elfman]

Now onto my Control Panel write up.

Over the long weekend, I decided to get to work on my control panel since I will be heading out on vacation next week and wanted to get something done before I left.

Ran off to HD and went looking for 5/8 MDF or something comparable.

[xonix_digital]

pixpixpixpixpixpixpixpixpix - 

-=XD=-

[Elfman]

Just some minor touch ups left but it is indeed playable.

[the3eyedblindman]

I think the cabinet would appreciate it if you put a bezel around its tv. 

[ChadTower]

All that great work and you put a television in it?

[Acids]

All that great work and you put a television in it?

Whats wrong with that?
It Looks Fully Functional and not that out of place.

[GadgetGeek]

Great work.  One suggestion would be to replace the white player 1/2 buttons with black ones.  Otherwise, amazing work.  And to repeat what others say, designing the death star artwork around the trackball placement was genius.

[ChadTower]

Whats wrong with that?
It Looks Fully Functional and not that out of place.

A Corvette with a four cylinder engine is also fully functional.  He put a LOT of work into this, using an arcade monitor and AVGA wouldn't cost much more and would be so much better.  TVs just don't do it.

[Timoe]

the TV looks like a perfect fit.  The TV might make windows look not so good.  But it will look fine for the games.  Oh and if you want to watch a movie or TV or something.  Plus it gives him something else to work on later.  Adding the $500 worth of arcade monitor and graphics cards cables and whatever else that might require.

nice project.

[Onji]

Dont listen to them, TV's work great in cabinets. Looks great buddy, get that bezel soon

[ChadTower]

$500?  You could get a used 19" arcade monitor without burn for less than $100, and an AVGA for far less than $100.  Or, you could use an older cheap ATI card for less than $20.

[Timoe]

Oh, my bad.  Get a 19" monitor.  What size is that TV?

[Wade]

I'm not a huge fan of TV's either, but a 19" monitor in this large cabinet would definitely be a worse option.

Wade

[ChadTower]

So how big is the TV?

[Elfman]

Wow, I never knew my TV would spark up this conversation.

Thanks for the comments on the setup (I think

[ChadTower]

I have lowered the resolution to 640x480 and Windows doesn't look all that bad.

You didn't go to all that time, work, and expense to get a setup you describe as doesn't look all that bad, did you?

[Onji]

You didn't go to all that time, work, and expense to get a setup you describe as doesn't look all that bad, did you?

He's referring to WINDOWS, not mame. Games through MAME on a TV look great. Just text in windows (start menu etc) itself is not all that bad now. But who cares how windows looks, the games and frontend are what matters