My home built metal DDR pad (Part IV)

[Future Master]

I was wondering if any of you guys have gotten better at the arcade from metal pads(i dont care if you have gotten better at home because i AAed max 300, maxx unlimited , and the legend of max all in the 20ish great range without the bar on a red octane metal pad and it didnt help me at the arcade). So before i make a metal pad i wanna know if DDRhomepad, Riptide, Patster, BlueBeefman, or anyone else who has a metal pad have gotten better at the arcade from their metal pads? If not im starting to think that playing at the arcade is the only way to get better at the arcade unless you have one of those expensive official limited edition konami metal pads. So what I wanna know is would i be better off playing at the arcade on a daily basis instead of making a metal pad?
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Remember this name i will be your master someday...

[Weston]

If you want to get better on accuracy, the arcade is the best option. Using a homepad will simulate the arcade experience, so you can practice reading arrows and perfecting your techniques while on a pad that closely resembles the arcade. So yes, you can get better at the arcade by playing at home.

My pad has greatly helped me with techniques, but I still go to the arcade for accuracy practice.

[game3eak]

Ok im looking at either buying or making a metal ddr pad for my house and the one here:http://www.angelfire.com/d20/ddrhomepad/ but the problem is that i dont have a ps2. I want to make one for Ultramix and im wondering if i substatute the ps2/psx paddle for a xbox one will it work the same? Or should i make it the way they describe and buy the universal control switch? (The thing that lets you use ps2 controler on your xbox and visa vera)

[tolookah]

game3eak: if you want to make the thing show up as a pad in live, i would suggest spending a bit of money and buying the beatpad from madcatz, the cost is about the same as the adapter (if you went the way of the PS/PS2), though i would worry about the pad last, i found the madcatz really really easy to solder, i can make a little soldering your madcatz howto now i guess... expect it this weekend
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Aim: Tolookah
MSN: Tolookah
XBox: Tolookah
DDRPad Soldering and electrical Help: http://www.tolookah.net/DDR/ As hooded_paladin put it: "Currently, help for Beatpad Pro, official Sony Playstation Controller and ANY controller unless you are extremely stupid or lazy."

[Weston]

You can do either one really. I have mine hooked up to a PS2 controller, and I have a converter for XBox. The only problem is that the converter is about $20.
I haven't taken apart an XBox controller, so I couldn't tell you if it's easy to solder, or if it uses that pressure sensitive material over the circuit. I suppose it really depends on the controller type.

[Knee-ill]

Heres some pics if they help (of open xbox controller):






The pics are for a controller mod but hope you can see if it is solderable from there. Far as I know it probably is do-able.
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If you have DDR Cabinets, Metal Pads, Tutorials (or hosting), then PM me!

[game3eak]

Ill be looking for that this weekend and i give many thanks to you all. Any more tips would be grealy apreciated.
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If i had a penny for every person who asked how i move my feet so fast i would be as rich as bill gates.

XBL Gamertag- Game3eak
AIM- Game3eak
Battle.Net- God_of_ddr \or/ ddr_legend

[DDR4ever2003]

Can someone please help me out with the soldering? Im just looking for someone to solder a controller for me and send it to me...and let me know how much they want for this done...if you are interested please e-mail me at [email protected]

[game3eak]

You can do this very cheaply as long as you have an ebay account. Just buy a cheap paddel from there and then read up on FAQ about it to do if much cheeper probably.. Unless you can find someone who is willing to do it for free.
_________________

If i had a penny for every person who asked how i move my feet so fast i would be as rich as bill gates.

XBL Gamertag- Game3eak
AIM- Game3eak
Battle.Net- God_of_ddr \or/ ddr_legend

[DDR4ever2003]

iv tried and it got messed up...it would save me a lot of hassle is someone could do it for me and i can just pay them for the soldering

[Home Slice]

Hey Guys. I'm new at this and I really don't understand how you solder the controller to the pad and how it reads the steps. I understand how to attach the wires to the controller but the hooking up to the pad is the problem. Thanks alot

[eegah]

Hi everyone-

"Long time reader, first time poster." In the last 10 pages or so of this thread there was an interest in adding lighting, so I decided to get off my butt and post some details how I added halogen lighting into a RipTide style pad. I built the pad last July and added the lights last September. Retrofitting the pad like this wasn't the most elegant way to get lights in, but it definitely works. In August or something, I was having some knee problems, and as of November I was (and still am) recovering from reconstructive knee surgery, so I basically shut DDR out of my mind. Sucks that it had to happen in the first place (I'm only 16!), but it really sucked that DDR wasn't gonna be usable for a while. As of this afternoon, my physical therapist is allowing me to play again (although Tsugaru/heavy isn't happening anytime soon - ouch), and I just remembered that I was gonna post this one day. So here I am; hope what I've said is enough of a reason not to flame me regarding why I didn't post this earlier

Pictures/brief explanations follow...

finished1.jpg
Two or more arrows can light up independently at once thanks to the solid state relays I bought for $15 off of eBay.

finished2.jpg
Err, the pad in the room, nice size comparison to other objects

finished3.jpg
There is a normal "computer cable" style power cord running into one empty panel for the electricity, and the other empty panel has a 9-pin serial cable running into an external control box (I think it's a TerTerBox or something)

finished4.jpg
Control box, I recall making a few modifications to the original design (more buttons, different arrangement, stuff like that)

construction1.jpg
Basically the pad before I printed out some arrow graphics. It looks like a real mess in there, but everything is pretty neatly organized.

construction2.jpg
Inside of an arrow panel. I bought under counter halogen lights from Home Depot for 30 bucks or something; they are breaking about every safety warning they have right now: don't connect too many, don't stick upside down, don't use in confined spaces. Haven't burned anything down yet, so I'm not too worried about it. The lights only get hot if they're left on for a long time, and even if they were, I still don't think they'd melt anything. (Again, if I didn't add lights as an afterthought, there would not be as huge a mess in there. Oh well.) BTW, springs r0x0r5 my s0x0r5 - so responsive and l337 and they come up quickly!

construction3.jpg
Underside of an arrow panel. I'm trying to plan out how I can redesign the metal contacts - right now they don't stick that well (I've tried just about every type of sticky thing out there, any ideas?) and they look really unprofessional. Anyway, the controller is on every other contact, opposite 3v or something (definitely less than 9) for the solid state relays.

construction4.jpg
Think this is under the center panel here. The solid state relays are the black things, the white wire is the lights, the red wire goes between the relays, and the strands of cat5 cable are the control wires (duh). There wouldn't have been so many holes if I wasn't so lazy or I had the time to take it apart. Or just do it in the first place, and not have to worry about retrofitting.

construction5.jpg
Main power out. The white cable going off the bottom is now terminated with the kind of power jack you would see on the back of a computer (check out an earlier finished post to see what I mean). The lights are all on that white wire going to the rest of the pad, and the red (for the relays) are attached to an old AC adapter that is now replaced with a smaller one.

construction6.jpg
Err, basically the same as an earlier post (different knee brace - hah!) showing two panels lit up. In case you're blind and have no idea what I'm talking about, this one happens to feature no arrow graphics! Or something...

Anyway, if there's enough interest (or any interest at all; I have no life), I'll add more details as to how to add lights into the pad. I would be happy to take additional pictures as well. I basically took Patster's light layout and modded it to fit into a smaller pad. So since I've thrown the idea out, all you intelligent creative types can now go and make it even better for your own pads

Sorry for the really long post; thanks for your time

[DDR4ever2003]

looking despritely to find someone to solder controller...how bout 30$? Does that sound good? I know this doesn't take a whole long time to do...please someone?

[hooded__paladin]

eegah, how is it that you can only press 2 at a time? What would happen if someone were to stick a hand down and press a 3rd? This looks like a nice, easy solution, but that limitation is weird.

[CeLLuLoiD]

Hey guys I'm building ddrhomepad's design. Everything is going well, i'm on the part where I wire the controller arrows to the sheet metal on the lucite. All arrows work besides the right one. On selecting menus it doesn't work at all but on the song list it goes crazy. It would be like if I was holding down the right directional on my controller for eternity. Is there anyway to fix this? PS I looked at circuit board and tried direct contact between sheet metal.

[eegah]

[MarKoPoLo]

i had the same problem as you when i first tried to solder. it wouldnt work for me on the menus but when i was on the song lists it went nuts. as if i had it held down. now i of course became very frustrated and i had tried to find the answer to this problem. but to no avail. so of course i got extremely angry and ripped all the wires off the controller. this ruined the controller and partially relieved my anger. unfortunetly i was then forced to proceed to my closest walmart and pick up a new controller the next day. i just felt like sharing that, i honestly dont know why but meh. anyways i have no idea as to why that happens and the only solution i can think of is to buy yourself a new controller. sorry man.

now for something completely different...


i wouldnt mind doing the soldering for you there mister. though i dont understand as to how the whole payment would work. similarily, how it would work if i were to accidently make a mistake and the controller were to not work. im good at soldering but im not perfect. there is a definet possibility that could be the case and could happen. anyways i am willing to giver a shot if you want. contact me and we can discuss the details.


enjoy
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Death comes swiftly to those who run in fear. I stand waiting.

"Yellow headed, purple dress!" Thus spaketh Gord

[Home Slice]

Where can I find Riptides design?

[Home Slice]

...and Paster's light design.

[eegah]