Production metal pad ideas

v13inc · Basic Member Joined: 22 Mar 2004

Hello everyone, I have am about to start a new company called padproject.
After succesfully making a few excellent DDR pads, I would like to try and sell my creations. Unfortunately, as of now, no pictures

. But that is not the point of this thread anway.

I would like to ask some everyoen a few questions, to help make my pads better.

1. First off, would you prefer a seperate control box, or a playstation control box and buttons built into the pad?

2. Does the fact that it is not 100% metal (it contains wood, like all homepad designs) make a difference?

3. Finally, i would like to find a good price point. After looking around, I found that a Red Octane Ignition pad is $100us, and a Red Octane metal pad is $200us. I think that a price of around $150us would be reasonable. What do other people think?

The pad will be 3/4" thick, and available in multiple colours.

bb · Trick Member Joined: 27 Jul 2003

that sounds real good! and a few questions from me:

does it us brackets?

how much weight can it hold

peace

v13inc · Basic Member Joined: 22 Mar 2004

what do you mean by brackets? it will not use those triangular ones like most homepads, but will use the square flat ones like the redoctane pads.

this is only a guess on the weight, but since you are standing on solid wood, it should easily be able to hold a 300 pound person stomping in shoes.

Bioclown · Trick Member Joined: 13 Jan 2004 Location: So Deep

Listen, I built a pad of my own, (successfully, might I add) and I'm here to tell you that if you have some good, supportive material for your supporting "beams" under the panels, then Scott Kurtz should be able to play and not bust it. Although, be sure your lucite/plexiglass has good structural integrity, no cracks at all, lest it snap like my first one did.
Kudos on finishing, too. It's nerve-racking, isn't it?
On the subject of the control box, I went with mine on the inside, under one of the "dead" panels. My friend, however, made an arcade-style control box. The difference between us is that I play on PC, and he plays on PS2, so my control box is my keyboard. He, however, needed it the control box.
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bb · Trick Member Joined: 27 Jul 2003

do you think you can get pics ?

i would like i to have a seperate control box.

MyMilkshake · Basic Member Joined: 23 Mar 2004

I can make a site for you if u want (for a 1/2 a pad and ill pay the rest heheh)
.... check out one i made
www.clangop.tk
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[]D [] []V[] []D

FlyersPh9 · Trick Member Joined: 25 Jan 2004

v13inc · Basic Member Joined: 22 Mar 2004

Zip Zap Pro:

A. I live in kamloops, bc, canada. i need to check S&H to get atleast some idea of what it will be.

B. There will be a warranty, it will be something along the lines of support. You email or IM me with a problem, and i will try to diagnose and fix it that way. if somethign is seriously my fault, or something broke that shouldnt have with reasonable use, then we can work out shipping and stuff from there. im not trying to start a big company or anything, just something interesting on the side.

C. hehe. flashing lights could be workied out, of course. but i feel that it would add unnecessarily to the height of the pad, for something you dont see.

MyMilkShake:

Thanks for the website offer, but i already have it under control.

Just some decisions i have made:

the pad will not have lights.
it will use an external control box. When you buy the pad you can choose from a playstation, or an xbox control box. you can buy an extra control box seperately.

by the sounds of it, the fact that it is partially wood does not matter. i am hoping to fill a gap here, basically a higher quality homebuilt pad for people that do not have the expertise or time to make one themselves.

From the old version of the pad a pad i made (i wont show pics for that one, as the production pad will be quite different), i can tell you that it is very sensitive. i have never played on a CF before, but i am able to play on my pad with light finger presses. and compared to the mediocre-condition pads at my local arcade, they are a vast improvement in sensitivity.

ark_keeper · Trick Member Joined: 31 Aug 2002 Location: Louisville, KY

I just started looking at buying a metal pad. Are you going to use sheet metal contacts? Will it last more than a year? I may buy one of your first ones if I like what I see(put up some pics and a gameplay video plz)
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Moooooo

v13inc · Basic Member Joined: 22 Mar 2004

I plan to do what i did on my old pad (which seem to be working very well), which is to use fairly thick copper tape as contacts, in a criss-cross pattern (strips of copper tape laying one way on the top, rotated 90 degrees on the bottom).
Here is a picture of the sensor on my old pad (once again, emphasis on old, production pads will be higher quality, and slightly different in the sensor area)

Pad Sensor

If anyone is turned off by the idea of using copper tape, i will gladly use sheet metal.[/img]

Zing · Trick Member Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Location: Canada

As long as the copper tape will not fall off over time, I don't see a problem.

Any chance of a slight discount for early buyers?

v13inc · Basic Member Joined: 22 Mar 2004

Well, for the first few buyers i might be able to work something out, to help get my name out there. I may need a testemonial or something thrown my way though

diabloslayer469 · Trick Member Joined: 15 Feb 2003 Location: Neo-Geo Land

Sheet metal would be a lot better than the copper tape. The copper tape will most likely get more burn marks and would fall out. So, please try to use sheet metal.

Also, what's wrong with posting pictures of your old pad?

v13inc · Basic Member Joined: 22 Mar 2004

If people want they can see my old pad, i am just worried that they will not like it that much, as the production pads will be fairly different, and of much higher quality (i sorta hacked my old one together).