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My 4 player arcade pedestal!


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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Yea so its all about personal preference.  There's no denying the cool factor of a classic arcade build, but for me, i would not have done it any other way. I also build 2 player table top control panels locally as a hobby. Nobody has ever said they wished to swap to a classic arcade yet. For me personally there are two huge reasons i did this style.

Size and modularity 

It is so much easier to fit people in to game. No need to crowd a small screen. Much more enjoyable and comfortable. Its a lot easier to move. Pedestal base is bolted to control panel. Easy to unbolt and move with just one person.

The modularity factor is the real scale tipper for me. I love that i can HDMI plug it to whatever new and upgraded tv i want. I am not "stuck". And for me, playing on a huge 65" tv wins hands down!!!

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It certainly does make sense and I have played retro gaming on my 65 tv as well so I know the feeling of playing turtles arcade on it. Probably will certainly consider scoping a build like this out. Did you reference any previous design plans for this or you just kinda went with your own take on it?

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To be quite honest, i scoward the internet for 4 player pedestal plans. I had very little luck and was kind of picky so i eventually gave up completely. I just took some visual inspiration from pictures on line and went at it. The pedestal base is fairly simple and easily tailored to your likes. The majority of my time was figuring out the panel. I didnt want everyone crowded too close and wanted angles as ergonomic as i could. It took a few tries to get right. Especially button arcs. If you make one let me know. I might be qble to help with my drawings. Or i can cut the control panel top for you, predrill and hook you up with a template for easy artwork for a fee ;) save countless hours of trials. I can give dimensions of box that attaches pedestal and panel top too to avoid dimensional issues with joystick plates and wiring.

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  • 2 weeks later...

That's pretty hot. I'm building a 4 player arcade cabinet at the moment and mostly because of TMNT and gauntlet. LOL.  

Are you able to browse launchbox using the buttons and joystick you have on there or do you need a keyboard & mouse?  just curious because im trying to figure out if i need any extra buttons for anything.  (I don't want any extra buttons, but just wondering if i need the to control launchbox.  like an escape button,.right mouse click, etc

the little things are stressing me . lol

really nice graphics on there. 

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Haha thank you very much.  I appreciate it.  So i agree with you  100% which is why you wont find any unnecessary/additional buttons on my arcade.  What you can't see in the picture is that I have tiny little labels on most top coin and player start buttons. One is set as a shift command and acts as a hotkey when another button is pressed. This allows for dual function. Get yourself an IPAC4 encoder for your build. Worth it!! Allows for standard commands and shift commands for each button! So to answer your question, i do not need a keyboard or mouse for anything at all on the arcade! Hope this helps:) 

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Nice, good idea. and yes i was actually getting together an order from ultramarc tonight (and ipac4 is on the list).  just trying to figure out which joysticks to buy from him. very confusing since its my first build.  

well thanks for sharing you build. it has me anxious to for mine to be finished!  lol.  im slow... took me atleast 4 hours to determine button placement. LOLOL  

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I totally get it.  I researched for a long time first! For what its worth i decided against ultimarc sticks and got all my buttons and sticks from groovy game gear. Here is a link to the sticks i got for players 1 and 2 https://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=383

And players 3 and 4 https://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=371

Extremely happy with their performance. Dont waste unnecessary amounts on player 3 and 4. Zippy sticks are great quality and you wont need the quick selector plates that 1 and 2 use.

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So for starters I didn't even thing about doing shift commands so now I am going to have to rethink my button layout because of that so thats helpful. 

So Question

   For your focus of layout for your control panel? I see you like turtles and the turtles arcade beatemup is certainly in my top 5 most played arcade games but I am also big into playing street fighter and mortal kombat. Did you do any testing on different sticks for those games to find which is most responsive? I know having low quality, loose joysticks tend to not work wheel last all in fighting games. I am considering trying out a few different types to play test on my current PC build before making a final order.  Thanks for your help and wealth of experience.

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