[CABINET] Gamejunky Cab

[imagamejunky]

Hi guys!

Today was build day number 1 (pc done). So far so good!

PC specs are:

i7 4790K

Asus Z97 Deluxe MB

Evga GTX 970 Superclocked

Viper 32GB 2400mhz ddr3

Samsung 500GB ssd

2 Seagate 4TB hds

Hopefully it will kick ass.

I will keep you all posted on my progress

Junky

[imagamejunky]

[Draco1962]

Sweet Jeezus, are you trying to run a cabinet or the US space program?! Looks like you will have a nice core for your rig that will keep you going for a while. What OS are you going to use?

[imagamejunky]

8.1 pro

It was a toss up between that and 7

[Draco1962]

A good choice really. Not that I have anything against 7.

[tthurman]

I agree, I'm glad I went with 8.1.

Looking sweet man, love that big ole chimney fan

[imagamejunky]

thanks guys. I changed the memory today to 2400 mhz and bought another 4TB hd. And I agree with you. I like the look of that big CPU cooler as well

[stigzler]

Oh. That's sweet. You'll be doing PCSX2 and Dolphin Wii without it breaking a sweat!

Wonder if that spec will be able to handle the next-gen emus like the PS3 and Xbox360 one(s?)

Now just slap it in a wooden box, hammer in some wagglin sticks and you'll be golden!

[MNMax21]

What are you going with for display?

[tthurman]

If you're going for the purist build, you're going to want a WG CRT, otherwise just get a quality flat panel, Samsung, etc...

If old school realism is your bag you can always add scan lines and the like to it. I play on my 40" Samsung LCD, and think it looks awesome!

One thing you may seriously want to consider, and it will require a good bit of extra work, but make it to so you can rotate your screen. You'll likely forever be glad you did.

[stigzler]

One thing you may seriously want to consider, and it will require a good bit of extra work, but make it to so you can rotate your screen. You'll likely forever be glad you did.

Seconded. My biggest regret. Especially if you like schmups.

[MNMax21]

I like that, but if you go with a 32 inch or higher tv screen, I feel like the vertical games are still even bigger than they were originally in the arcade. My regret is even putting a bezel in. If I would've known about built in bezel artwork within mame prior to my build. I would've just filled the whole opening with a TV. Then you could just have the game bezels be the bezels. It's genius

[imagamejunky]

I'm playing around with it right now on a decent quality 40" Samsung 3D 1080P LCD. I was just saying yesterday that it is a great sized tv for games in landscape/horizontal view at the approximate viewing distance (of how I am imagining the build). However I think going bigger will allow for a better size with the portrait/vertical games. I'm gonna play around with some other tv sizes before making a final decision. I will be trying it out on another 52" samsung this next week. Because I plan on playing some current games as well as classics I definitely want a large high res screen. I'm considering 4K also. I don't plan on rotating the screen although I think that is a really cool idea.

I'm planning on a 4 player stand up with the control panel cantilevered out so that I can use bar stools too. I know that I want light guns, track ball, spinner, etc etc...

Here are my thoughts on the control panel. Please let me know what you think guys.

2 Light guns.. I'm leaning towards the ultimarc aimtraks: http://www.ultimarc.com/aimtrak.html

6 RGB LED buttons each for players 1 & 2 and 4 buttons each for players 3 & 4. Ultimarc or GGG? http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=73&products_id=238

4 RGB led joysticks: maybe http://www.paradisearcadeshop.com/paradise-arcade-exclusive-products/741-paradise-rgb-led-joystick.html

GGG Electric Ice track ball: http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=74&products_id=270

Thanks ahead of time for your input.

Junky

[MNMax21]

Can you switch between 4 way and 8 way with the RGB LED joysticks? Games like pac man play better with a 4 way (up, down,left, right), whereas 1942 or fighting games need 8 ways (add the corner diagonals, left/up, right/up, etc.).

I'd recommend a joystick from Ultimarc that does that. I got my buttons from groovy and two fairly cheap joysticks (8 way only) for players 3 and 4. I'm pretty sure there is no need for 4 way for players 3 and 4.

I got the mag stik plus from Ultimarc in blue for players 1 and 2. You can switch from 4 way to 8 way by pulling up on the joystick shaft and turning it.

There are joysticks out there with their own control boards that'll auto switch from 4 to 8 way based on the game. Example for that would be the servo stik from Ultimarc.

I got the u track flush mount trackball from Ultimarc. I loved that it was basically a mouse and connected to the computer via USB. I then was able to wire two buttons as the left and right mouse buttons and I have no need for a mouse now, unless I'm doing something extensive in Gimp for artwork. My trackball is blue, but I think you can get a multi color one too. It won't come lit up, you have to buy the extra deal. I ended up just putting lighting inside my panel, which lights the trackball. The ball itself is blue, so any white light will do.

I also have the aimtrac light guns. I knew I wanted the guns, so I wanted an easy way to hook them up. I'd seen people who had made the gun holder deals on the front. I wasn't sure if I liked the look of that and I was even less confident that I could build something like that and not have it look like crap. I ended up putting USB ports on the outside of my control panel. That way I can plug the guns in when I want them. It also comes in handy for iPods, iPads, etc. easy access to a USB port. I have a link to the USB product and a picture in my build post in this forum I believe.

My next project will be to add a spinner. I'm thinking I'll go with the Spin Trak over at Ultimarc. That way I can add that steering wheel attachment for games like pole position, which would be sweet.

[MNMax21]

Both groovy and Ultimarc have been great for me. No issues. I've never bought from paradise.

[imagamejunky]

Thanks a lot Max!

Junky

[MNMax21]

No problem. I missed the description for the RGB joysticks on the bottom when I looked the first time. I see they can be 2, 4 or 8 way. pretty cool. Do you know how the change between the 3 options? I did not realize there was a light up version with these capabilities.

[imagamejunky]

Sorry I've been MIA here guys. Very busy life lately.

I purchased a few new parts for the project:

- Sharp 60" 240hz 3d led tv. It does sharp's version of up-conversion pseudo 4k. Not a true native 4k but still looks fantastic IMO. This looks great with vertical portrait games as well as the landscape games.

- ultimarc Utrac flush mount trackball with RGB LEDs.

- 2 ultimarc Aimtraks

I'm really having a hard time choosing joysticks. My son and I play a lot of console emulators using xbox360 controllers. I know that using these controllers may be my only option while playing some of these games on my cabinet and that bothers me.

In a perfect world I would find a RGB LED servo stick type joystick that will do 2/4/8 way AND analog too. So far I can't find a good solution. I emailed Andy at ultimarc to ask if his RGB handles will fit his ultrastick360's and he said no. I really don't want a "frankenpanel" with dedicated 4 ways, dedicated 8 ways, and analogs too but I'm torn. What to do, what to do....

Please post your opinions guys. I do really appreciate your input.

And Max, I don't have any info on those paradise sticks. I will post when I do.

I also plan to post build info and pics from my pincab I built later.

This forum rocks!

Junky

[stigzler]

Hmmm.. choice of joys is always a compromise in some department. Designed my cab with a particular eye to being able to play console games using arcade controls (which really doesn't work for all console games, of course). Dilemma was that these game are designed to be used with a gamepad - that is quick responsiveness - no throw or engage distance to speak of. So, if yer wanting to play these games on a cab, get joys with very short throw+engage. Also, reasonable spring tension, so returns to neutral quick.

Then you need to think about a 'gate.' This 'shapes' the stick to different directions (forgive me if teaching to suck eggs). With console pads, the sticks are essentially a "round gate." However, looking at roundgate sticks, these compromised (in my limited research) on throw and engage. Also with this issue, think about the height of the sticks. Longer/taller ones aren't gonna feel as "consoley" (!?) as shorter ones.

In the end I went for: Seimitsu LS-56 with and 'octo' gate. I'm awfully glad I did. They sit short on your CP, but that adds to the console pad-type feel. The octo makes circular moves (for e.g. Tekken moves) a lot more accurate and natural feeling - also great for schmups where you do a lot of circling, but also adapts well for fighters - the octo ensures you hit the diagonals well. The throw and engage is super short, and the spring tension just right (however, this one really will be matter of taste).

The compromise, of course, is that you don't have switchable gates allowing for 2,4,8 way switching. Not really issue here, as have switchable control panel units. Also, you'd miss your analogue.. hmmm tough one. I'm guessing the majority of console games you want to play on a cab, however, would be suited to digital inputs, as the ones requiring analogue stick use are maybe a little more 'sit down and play' rather than 'stand at a cab. The other thing that comes to mind (something I've got on the backburner for now) would be to buy wireless usb converter for your xbox360 controllers and hook up and output to a telly for the more 'sit down' console games running on yer rig. I got some converters that take HDMI input, convert them to cat6 so you can run them as far as you want then back to hdmi. Just a thought...

In summary, I rate these sticks, although haven't tried any other asside form the cheapo ones I got as a 'builders pack.' I did do quite a bit of research and think these are commonly well rated.

This page may be useful:

http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/attributes_brands.html

Good luck!

[Krakerman]

I just got the Arcade Guns and these work brilliantly in Win 8.1

[imagamejunky]

I really appreciate all of your great input guys. Thank you very much for taking the time.

I forgot to mention that I picked up an ipac ultimate i/o. Although now I know that it's not going to be enough to connect all of the switches and leds. I still haven't made a decision on joysticks. This is a tough one for me.

[imagamejunky]

I decided to build a testing control panel today out of some scrap wood. This way I can try out some different joysticks and buttons and figure out what I like. Here's the test panel before buttons.

[imagamejunky]

Here's the underside with wiring.

[imagamejunky]

Even though it's just for testing I really enjoyed building this today.

I'm trying out a ServoStik on the upper left corner. Next to that in the correct P1 location is an UltraStik360. I installed the top mount restrictor kit with longer shaft and stiffer spring. The 2 white buttons I'm trying are GGG Electric Ice 2's. One is concave, with leaf switch. The other is convex with the adjustable microswitch. Both buttons have the Helio RGB leds. The other buttons are just extras I had. The trackball is a UTrak with RGB led.

[imagamejunky]

Here's the test panel powered up. I'm super happy with how bright the buttons and trackball are. I messed around with LedBlinky tonight. Totally awesome. I'm loving this little panel! So far I like the concave buttons but I'm leaning towards the microswitches. I like the click.