ALL Soft Pad Discussion goes HERE

Ke6dRRtY · Trick Member Joined: 28 Nov 2002 Location: Mesquite, TX

Not much activity here right now, so I just thought I'd give an update on my CG Ignitions. The one pad is still working as excellently as it was new. I finally have all basic songs (except Virtual, that'll come later

) on Konamix passed, and will now move on to 100% trick. As for the broken pad, still waiting for a good time to work on that, hoping to have it done this month.

drovkin · Basic Member Joined: 06 Jan 2003

How is everyone's BNS Ultra DX-Xtreme holding up? I was thinking about purchasing one of these, and wondering if anyone's is messing up/tearing up, or anything else bad that might make me want to turn from it. Thanks.

GFBeach · Trick Member Joined: 08 Aug 2002 Location: Georgia USA

Just thought I'd give an update too.

All rightey, so for those of you who haven't heard my rantings, I'm using two CG Ignitions with the celotex/wooden board/chairmat mods. To hopefully prevent the known flaw with the pad cord dying after being used on a PS2, I'm also using a controller extension cable on each pad so that, if anything, the plug on the extension cable dies and not the real cable. Here's a report on how each mod is holding up.

Celotex: At first I thought this mod was totally useless once the insulatoin boards already started breaking, but the thing does serve one purpose: It takes up space. The foam, celotex, and chairmat fit snugly into the CG pad's zip-up compartment, so the pad keeps its shape perfectly. Can't say it's the most useful mod from my experiance, but it doesn't hurt. Cost of this mod: ~$8 for insulation and duct tape for two pads.

Wooden board: I have each CG pad velcro'd to a wooden board that works as a hard surface fo the pad to rest on (ie: the pad responds better than on carpet). Had to hot-glue the velcro to the bottom of the pad as the velcro adhesive wouldn't bond well, but no problem. I also have the two boards literally LATCHED together so they don't separate during doubles. They can be un-latched for storage/transportation. When latched, these suckers do NOT separate at all. The whole assembly will still shift on the carpet by an inch or two, but that's not bad so long as Doubles are still possible. Not a bad mod. Cost of mod: ~9 for wooden board, ~10 for velcro (I overbought, you don't need to buy this much), ~3 for duct tape, ~6 for two sets of latches, for a total of $28 for two pads.

Chairmat: If you have an Ignition pad and get ghost arrows, you MUST do this mod. It's a little pricey depending on what chairmat you buy (I bought the cheapest ones and they were $16 per mat), but these make the pad very, VERY accurate. I'm doing 8 footers and Catas with almost no missed steps because of a malfunction (I miss steps because I screw up

;;

. A little pricey, but very much worth it. Cost: $32 for two mats, one per pad.

Extension cable: As I said before, this was a crazy idea I got to prevent the CG cables from dying when plugged/unplugged too much from the PS2 ports. I haven't been DDRing all that consistently, but the cables still work (when I do DDR, I usually go nuts for like three days straight then rest for a week). So far so good! I'm using a Mad Catz extension cable for one pad, then a no-name 3rd party extension for the other. Cost: $8 for Mad Catz, $4 for no-name for a total of $12.

Initial cost of 2 CG pads including shipping: $50.
Total cost of modding materials for two pads: $80.
Having some frickin' awesome DDR pads for home: Priceless.

Oryan · Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2003 10:26 am Post subject:

I want to play double and versus in StepMania Right now I have one pad hooked up through my (printer) parallel port I was wondering if I could hook like a multi-tap or something to the parallel port and then use the multi-tap to hook up two pads?!?! Can u guys plz help me

Thanks,
Oryan
_________________

AzN_jErK · Basic Member Joined: 15 Jan 2003

yay first post newayz ...
i took a crappy buttocks topway pad from a frend he sed the buttons wasn respondin so i thought id fix it so heres my plan:

im gonna open it up and seal off all the unused buttons and put foil on all the contacts of the arrow buttons and start select and any of tape those down on the spots that dont touch wires or contacts and the mayb change the foam and put plastic things under each arrow so it feels raised

do you think this would werk? if not wat should i do besides buy a new one?

DarloJo · Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2003 8:46 am Post subject:

Hey, just wondering if anyone could link me to a site that shows the best way to mod a soft pad? Something with diagrams, what materials to use, etc? Thanks

Ke6dRRtY · Trick Member Joined: 28 Nov 2002 Location: Mesquite, TX

The first post in this thread has links to quite a few good mods. Tommy Gun in particular has a nice looking mod with pics and all that good stuff.

DarloJo · Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2003 2:13 pm Post subject:

Ah, OK thanks

{SFSA} RAHK · Trick Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002 Location: Albany,Ny

Soft Pad Sugery-

Ok for christmas my friend gave me his used official konami dance mat. It looks cool. So I modded it and it looks really good. So Im playing and the up arrow is sticking and the down is only working when it wants to. Now Im really pissed.

So today I completely tore the pad apart layer by layer. Soft pads register a step when two contacts touch each other inside the pad. The two contacts are separated by a thin piece of foam with several small holes. So now you know how a soft pad works it you didnt know

Ok so now I have the pad completely torn apart. What I see is that someone was obviously playing with sneakers, because the foam is stretch, thin and very worn. The foam is usually a few millimeters thick but the foam under the up arrow (the one sticking) just about gone. The other three arrows were on the verge of sticking also.

What I did was take the foam from the non-arrows and put them under the arrows. I test out the pad and perfect!

So I tape the pad together and mod the pad again. It works great. But one problem............ I didnt completely cover all traces in the pad. So when you step in the middle of the pad you register the down arrow and sometimes stuck.

Well it doesnt really matter because I dont step in the center of the pad while playing ddr so I dont I have to worry about that.

So my ddr surgery was successful. Well mostly successful.

But what Ive found out that it is extremely easy to take the things inside the soft pad and make a metal one. But that a different project.

_________________

More Doubles

ucntstpme · Basic Member Joined: 17 Jan 2003

i was wondering if there was a way for me to fix my cyphergames ignition pad, the light comes on but the buttons dont register....i'd like to avoid having to get a new pad because i need the money for other games...but i appreciate all the advice i get...thanks
_________________

games are books for the modern age

Ke6dRRtY · Trick Member Joined: 28 Nov 2002 Location: Mesquite, TX

Sounds like a problem with the cord or plug. Best solution would be to cut the cord off and solder on a good cord. Though if you can't solder stuff, you'll need to get a new pad. Splicing the cord is the only known solution to this particular problem. Read the first post in this thread for more info.

Leadfoot · Trick Member Joined: 23 Jun 2002 Location: My house

Recently, my Red Octane 2.0 stopped working. The lights lit up, but none of the buttons seem to work. I opened it up and saw what looked like huge creases on the top half, but then I looked closer and saw they were tears. (As an aside, did anyone else notice that they generate a lot of static electricity when you stop playing and go to pick it up and move it?)
So now I am stuck with a non-working pad, and the foam inserts. What should I do?

SeaQAngel · Basic Member Joined: 24 Dec 2002 Location: room 219

Deeko deeko deeko. Uhm. I bought a whole lot of DDR stuff this Friday, at Babbage's Game Stop. Let's just say my checking account is about $308 more empty than it was.

BUT! I got a PS2, DDR MAX, memory card, and a soft pad. W00t.

ANYway, I just wanted to say that the soft pads I got from there - the DPR2 ones - are the same ones that a lot of my friends have... And none of us have problems with them tearing, ripping, etc. We don't have them mounted (although one of my friends has the chair pad thingy thing) and I think it's more of a "how you handle it" than "the pad itself sucks."

So... Just don't go all crazy mad if you have a soft pad... Because... That's what the arcades are for.

_________________

I believe in love, but think nothing about it when you're not around, I believe in love, I think you're just fine on the sweet up and down.
~Dave Matthews~

AzN_jErK · Basic Member Joined: 15 Jan 2003

hello, i just got a cheapo intec dance pad fromt oysrus does anyone know how i can mod it that does not involve mouning it to plywood since my floor is uneven

MrDru · Basic Member Joined: 11 Jan 2003 Location: Ohio

Well, this is my first post. I've been reading around here since October November so I got my mom to get me the 2 Ignition Pads, 2 covers, and DDRMAX for an early Christmas gift. Well, it's 2 months later and i'm gonna do my review now. Since everyone seems to do the reviews the first day they get them, that isn't of much help to people buying them. For example, "These (soft pads) are the greatest! Everything works! Buy them!"
Then they buy them, and play with them and then the problems start.
I'm not doing much of a review as much as complaining.
The Ignition 2.0's do get ghost steps, and quite often too. 30 days is not long enough for a warranty on pads. Of course, I get mad because these things cost some money, and if they're gonna break in 2 months then you would get pretty mad too.
Yes, these are good pads for a month, but if you play a lot (like me) they will start to break sooner than you think.
So thats my little rant on that. If anything, just save your money for cobalt flux.

_________________

Imagination-The only way to escape the hell hole that is your life.

r1ptide64 · Trick Member Joined: 01 Jan 2003 Location: Washington, DC

how much do ps2s cost nowadays? i bought mine like a year after it came out, maybe 2 and it was $300
_________________

i am not riptide. when i joined ddrfreak, i was already r1ptide64 on e-mail and AIM, so i used my old sn nomad.
DDRDDRDDRDDRDDRDDR
i used to be nomad here BTW. yeah.

cRazY FeeT · Trick Member Joined: 25 Dec 2002 Location: SoCal

$200

dammit jill · Trick Member Joined: 09 Nov 2002 Location: Carson

the CG pads are working fine for me since late november. it's been under heavy heavy abuse by me, friends, and little cousins. didn't mod it but it has some slippage especially in doubles. and yes i tried the exstension cord thingy and my cords are fine =D so testing out with the exstension cords are a success!

Dark Hogosha · Trick Member Joined: 12 Feb 2002 Location: Dubuque, Iowa

Alright, here's my problem. I'm not sure if this is the right thread for it or not, so, if it isn't, direct me elsewhere.

I bought a Radio Shack PSX->USB adapter to use with Stepmania. I knew ahead of time that the arrows wouldn't work and I'd have to either use a PS1 controller (just hold the right side with both hands and use your thumbs) or turn the pad 45 degrees and use the buttons on that. I tried the 45 degree thing last night and...well, it hurts. A lot. Try it for yourself sometime if you think it wouldn't.

At any rate, I want to take my spare pad (I have three altogether) and remap the buttons somehow so that the arrows register as the X, O, square, and triangle buttons. My question is...is this possible? Like, reroute stuff with wire or something? Or do some weird thing with the connectors? I'm not too knowledgable with this stuff, so, if it's impossible, lemme know.

Thanks,
Michael
_________________

"...to leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success." - Emerson