Your Ideal Ignition/DX style pad

[J Dogg]

Hey guys,

Please describe your ideal ignition/dx style soft pad. What problems do you see with the ones currently on the market (BNS, RO, level6, etc.)? How would you improve them? Thanks!

Give me all the details... the electronics, the base material, the top material, the insert, everything.
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[Mr_Blasty]

Id like a heavy mat, wit some thick lining between the foam and the pad, good inserts that stay, grippy (rubber, not foam rubber) bottom. one that is PLATFORM SPECIFIC (universal pads crap out on me). And a top like the RO one.
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10=footer's beaten as of 9/25/04
MAX300=B
MAXX UNLIMITED=D
BAG=A (BAG AA with 1.5 speed mod)
SAKURA=A
Paranoia Survivor=C
Paranoia Survivor MAX=D
The Legend of Max=C

[J Dogg]

What's so bad about pads that work on multiple platforms? How do they crap out on you? Are they inherently bad, or is it just that nobody has been able to make one well?
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[Mr_Blasty]

Ive only experienced the RO one but heres what I thought

RO PAD: Too expensive, not durable enough (Its a 100 dollar pad, I shouldn't have to mod it) Nice top surface. Doesnt slip or make that nylon scraping sound like the Mad Katz pad. Loose arrow positioners that curve and move out of place.
_________________

10=footer's beaten as of 9/25/04
MAX300=B
MAXX UNLIMITED=D
BAG=A (BAG AA with 1.5 speed mod)
SAKURA=A
Paranoia Survivor=C
Paranoia Survivor MAX=D
The Legend of Max=C

[Mr_Blasty]

from my experience, the multiple platform pads work better on certain systems than others and die quicker. I guess you could make them work.
_________________

10=footer's beaten as of 9/25/04
MAX300=B
MAXX UNLIMITED=D
BAG=A (BAG AA with 1.5 speed mod)
SAKURA=A
Paranoia Survivor=C
Paranoia Survivor MAX=D
The Legend of Max=C

[boss matsumoto]

anything that doesnt move when i do crossovers.
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I suck, but I am in Team Phunk!

[Mr_Blasty]

what i guess i would like would probably be the pump pad, just DDR and ignitionize (ignitiate?) (ignite?) it.
_________________

10=footer's beaten as of 9/25/04
MAX300=B
MAXX UNLIMITED=D
BAG=A (BAG AA with 1.5 speed mod)
SAKURA=A
Paranoia Survivor=C
Paranoia Survivor MAX=D
The Legend of Max=C

[FoxFireX]

I've actually modded two RO Ignitions like this, but I'd like to see much sturdier foam between the plastic contact sheets, preferably foam with an actual fabric layer to hold the thing together so it won't rip, and about 1/4" thick to prevent it from folding over itself. The plastic contact layers could definitely be made of tougher stuff as well, so it's not as likely to fold, tear, or wrinkle, causing the pad to misfire/not fire at all.

ETA: Why the question, anyway? Planning on going into the pad manufacturing business?

[J Dogg]

What is this "plastic contact layer" you refer to?

And uh, I refuse to entertain speculations regarding the reason for the question, but I appreciate your responses. =p
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[FoxFireX]

When disassembling the pad, there are two fragile, clear plastic layers containing conductive traces. Them's the ones. Since the layers don't lay perfectly flat, there are usually wrinkles, and to make matters worse, the wrinkles are most prevalent around the control box, which is where there's the greatest chance of completely cutting the trace to a contact or causing two traces to touch each other, which can cause a button to be always held down, or cause two buttons to trigger simultaneously.

And as long as we're suggesting Ignition improvements for nefarious reasons, I'd like the pad and foam to actually be matched in width. When I put the foam in and zip the thing up, I don't want it to feel like there's another half inch of space that could have been filled. Make the foam thicker, or the pad capacity thinner. Basically, any time there's more room for movement, that means more room for things to fold over themselves, create tears, and generally ruin things. My ideal pad would be tough to zip up, since it would be filled in completely.

Oh, and one more thing, because apparently my current pads are nowhere near my ideal, it seems like more recent pads have thicker, more cushiony inserts for the raised arrows. I'm not sure whether I like this yet or not, since I haven't put in the hours of wear on that style yet, but my initial feeling is that my older pad, which seems to maybe have thinner hard plastic inserts "felt" better. The downside of that design is that they're susceptible to caving in so that the center of the arrow is depressed, and the outer edges are raised. When that happens, the top surface of the pad is likely to become torn. I've got several vinyl patches and finally a pad cover to prove that point.

[Agent J]

My main concern with an Ignition/DX pad is durability. I'm so hesistant to replace my Konami DX pad because that thing lasted me for years, and I can't understand why Level Six, RO, etc. can't seem to give us a pad that consistently lasts more than a few months without some kind of modification.

Anywho, here's some basic specs I'd like to see in a hypothetical new Ignition:

1. Top layer- Nylon textured like the RO Ignition 2.0. I have to admit I do like that better than my DX pad. Also, I'd like for X and O buttons to be X and O, not arrows as the bright green arrows on Ignition clones look really ugly to me and don't really match up with the rest of the pad. Nitpicky detail, but I threw it in anyway.

2. Arrow inserts- Have to be more firmly anchored in place. Perhaps through sewing them or stronger, heat-resistant adhesive. It might be better if they were made from something more rigid, perhaps plastic, too, as the ones in my DX pad are foam and seem permanently bent inwards.

3. Circuitry- Oddly enough, the DX pad is slightly different from the Ignition clones. I apologize for any vagueness in description as I'm going off pictures from
DDR Pad Fix and my own personal experience. I'll see if I can find a way to provide pictures to clarify later.

On Ignition and clones, there's a clear plastic layer with magnetic tape or something on it, then foam, then another clear layer of plastic. On the DX, the layer that the inserts sit on is a thicker plastic that's white on top, and the bottom is all black, perhaps it's one big contact layer or something. Then there's foam, and then a clear plastic layer with magnetic tape on it for all the buttons. Also, the foam that's between the two layers seems thicker. In my own personal experience, it's been more durable, and I don't think I've been overly gentle with it or anything. There's probably a better general solution to the whole circuitry issue, though. One far simpler than my convoluted description. =P

4. Bottom layer- definitely a non-slip bottom of some kind. The rubber someone else suggested sounds like a good idea, though the Ignitions seem to have a rather good non-slip bottom as well.

Finally, in regards to the pad insert, the hard foam is nice, but I'm honestly ok with softer foam. I don't see any great difference between the two.

[J Dogg]

Kunio, your explanations are great. What is this drifting arrows thing people keep talking about? I looked at it on your site, but I couldn't figure it out.
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[FoxFireX]

I haven't personally experienced it, but from the descriptions I've read, in some pads the raised inserts that let you feel where the arrows are aren't properly secured. When you play on those pads, whatever adhesive was used on the inserts breaks down and the inserts start to shift around. Eventually, you could end up with a left arrow insert that makes it feel like left is supposed to be half a panel too low, or even toward the center. The web page he linked to suggests opening the pad up and duct taping the things in place, or for the more patient minded, using needle and thread to sew them right where they should be. For an ideal pad, this should just never be an issue; the blasted things should stay where they're supposed to be.

[Jeremy37077829]

my ideal pad would be the exact arcade one that never breaks. I have had all but 2 types of hard and soft pads out there and they all have broken before 6 months (I havent had RO or CF metal pads yet)
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oiasnofiadfmp'gmsoipdfm[opwermptgmpsfm

[Mr_Blasty]

or how about instead of a rubber base that spiky office mat, (provided you use it on carpet)
_________________

10=footer's beaten as of 9/25/04
MAX300=B
MAXX UNLIMITED=D
BAG=A (BAG AA with 1.5 speed mod)
SAKURA=A
Paranoia Survivor=C
Paranoia Survivor MAX=D
The Legend of Max=C

[mtwieg]

Ideal ignition pad...?
I'd say...made of metal and plexiglass.
my experiences with ignition pads haven't been two swell (I ripped one while trying one out at best buy a while ago).

[Thomas Hobbes]

I prefer for an Ignition pad that's not totally expensive, but not risking price for quality.

I'm hoping for a raised surface so that you could tell the difference between arrows and stuff, similar to the Red Octane Ignition that we have currently. Arrow design or anything of the like doesn't matter at all really but I'm hoping for the hard foam insert to be actually hard and be able to take a beating. I wish to play a lot of 9s and 10s and therefore, don't want my pad to be totally destroyed or anything of the like. The surface of both the bottom and top of the pad should be a clean vinyl or plastic whatsit so that I can just wipe across after usage and cover it with something so it doesn't get dirty or dusty.

I'm also hoping for the sensors inside to be able to take a beating to and not to be utterly destroyed when I fold it up, so that it'll be easier to take to places and for storage.
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"I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark."

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[Agent J]

Jeremy, mtwieg- Not to be nasty, but we're not talking about metal pads here. We're talking spefically about Ignition/DX style pads, something in between the generally-useless-for-anything-above-6-or-7-feet soft pads and metal pads. This is a pad that would probably cost around $50 to $90. If you want a great metal pad, there's the Cobalt Flux, which costs $300, way beyond what I, as well as many others I'm guessing, are willing to pay. If you're thinking that the Ignition should be a high quality metal pad that costs less than $100, well, keep dreaming.

[Agent J]

[FoxFireX]

Okay, just thought of another thing for my wishlist. I'd like to have a built-in strip of loop (fuzzy) Velcro along the left and right sides of the bottom of the pads. That way you could use hook (plasticky) Velcro strips to attach pads together for Double or Quad play.