Building the controls was probably the most exciting part as it means I can actually play games with that arcade feel. All the buttons went in smoothly as I usesed a drill bit to make perfect holes, and then the buttons just slid in and screwed on. The joysticks also lined up perfectly by using some paper templates to make sure the holes were drilled in the right place.
The only regret I have is adding in the 4-way joystick. I don’t feel like I used it enough, and most games that are a 4-way joystick game I felt played fine with the regular ones. Also the 4-way I settled on was supposed to rotate for games like Q-Bert but even that didn’t feel right, and I realized I don’t really like Q-Bert. I think this was a case of wanting to be able to do everything and the look of the cab suffered a bit.
I was very pleased with the track ball and loved the fact it was able to light up by placing a bulb under it. Also the spinner worked out great as well.
I over compensated on the buttons going for 7 total as I think that was the most I saw for games, and again it was trying to plan for everything.
I also installed 2 USB cables that sit just under the control panel so I can plug in light guns, steering wheels or joystick pads. Though for Joysticks I think I’m going to move over to the xbox controllers for PCs as they have a nice feel, and you can run 4 and hide the connector in the cab as they’re wireless.
What a great idea for a cab! I think it is great that you are documenting all of this for others to learn. I plan on building a four player cab myself soon. I was wondering how you like the position for your 4 way stick? I was thinking about putting mine in a similar place, but not sure how easy it would be to reach the stick? Also was wondering if you miss not having a flight stick? I don’t think I would use it much, but might be nice for Tron?
To be honest the 4 way stick almost never gets used. The position isn’t bad, but I just didn’t notice much difference from that stick to the others for most games… It may have been the stick more though than the position.
That is a beautiful machine. The cabinet is exactly what I am looking for. Where can I find the plans you used for the cabinet? It seems like the perfect height for standing and sitting on a stool. I would use the same plans just have it 2 player though.
Well done. Any chance you live in the GTA and would build me one? 🙂
the plans are from: http://www.mameroom.com/ and you can find them at: http://www.mameroom.com/Products_Plans.asp as the Ultimate Arcade II plans. It doesn’t include the control pannel which I had to build myself.
I am in the GTA, but unfortunately don’t have the time to build cabinets.
The cabinet is the right hight for standing or for setting up some bar stools in front of, but even with a 2 player control panel the arcade machine it’s self is fairly big, and you need to make sure you have the space for it, when I moved last time it had to sit in storage for a couple years, and now that I’ve got the space it’s back out, and I’m rebuilding the PC in it.