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ch
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Joined: 01 Oct 2004
Location: IN UR FORUM POSTING ON UR THRED |
3420.  Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 6:14 am Post subject: Re: Red Octane control box |
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yes, people have tried that. they made their pad to output to a DB9 serial cable instead of hardwiring to a controller. theres a schematic somewheres that shows which pin does what, (i think its lost in the thread). but if you cant find it, you can still hook the box up to a ps2 and figure out which button does what using a piece of wire. so yes, it is very possible to do. it also makes it easier to transport, not having a box wired to your pad.
| pandaran wrote: | | We're going to etch an image into the bottom of the plexi and have some LEDs shine in from the side. I'll let you know how that turns out. |
please do! we would all like to know the best way to do lights, so experiment. just a few pages back, have a plan what shows how to use leds like in the arcade, when you step on an arrow.
| pandaran wrote: | | I also read somewhere that some kinds of glue (for attaching the sheet metal to the wood squares) crackle and stuff when you step on them. |
i think everyone uses Scotch 90 Spray Adhesive to glue their sheet metal to everything. and yes, it crackles a little when you step on it. if you dont want to use spray adhesive on the 5 metal squares, you would have to make them like riptide did, and bend the edges over. in that case, they would be secured by screws.
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HitokiriX
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Joined: 27 Mar 2004
Location: Berwyn, PA |
| 3421. Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 7:40 am Post subject: Re: Red Octane control box |
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| pandaran wrote: | Hiya everyone. I just started reading up on this stuff last night, so please pardon any dumb questions.
My boyfriend and I have been planning on building a pair of these pads for some time. I have a PS2 and he has and XBOX, but I'm sure a lot of you have already discovered that the PS2 to XBOX adapter lags, rendering it unusable. We just ran across the Red Octane XBOX/PSX(2) control box. Have any of you tried it? Would you consider it a success?
We've also got a fun idea for lights. We're going to etch an image into the bottom of the plexi and have some LEDs shine in from the side. I'll let you know how that turns out.
And I've read that both Riptide's and DDRhomepad's designs feel a lot like the arcade pads. Thepadmaker's design looks pretty slick, though. How does it feel to play on?
I also read somewhere that some kinds of glue (for attaching the sheet metal to the wood squares) crackle and stuff when you step on them. And I know a lot of people are using spray adhesive, but it doesn't seem like it would keep a very good hold for all that long. What's the best kind of glue to use?
Thanks for the input! |
I've never tried the adapter but I would think it should lag since it's like converting everything from a ps2 controller to an xbox format and stuff. Anyway if you are building a metal pad I would suggest using the madcatz soft pad control board that is compatible with both xbox and ps2 plugins. It has both a ps2 plug and a port to plug in an xbox plug. So all you have to do is sauter all the wires from the pad to their corresponding contacts on the madcatz control board and you're done.
I don't really understand what you're doing with the light plan. Could you expand on that idea for me? Anyway if it works I would love to try it. One of the problems I have is that I have a padmaker's design padso it's like 1 1/2 in. in height with no 2x4's and stuff. Therefore it would be pretty hard to add lights unless I like fit one of those net lights between the two plexiglass or something....*shrug* maybe I'll try something like that....
All the pads are very sturdy and basically all feel the same way. If you play on cushy carpet they dip a bit in the spot you step on and when you play on hard wood it's just like in the arcades. Padmaker's is a little cheaper than riptide's and DDRhomepad's though and it's thinner than both I believe. Maybe just as thin as DDRhomepad's.
Wow I didn't know that the spray adhesive crackled when you stepped on it. thanks for the tip! If you look on the FAQ for building metal pads that shadow_dragon made it says that to make a perfect metal panel you should use super elmer's probond glue or epoxy glue to stick the metal to the wood. That might be different. |
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grgisme
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Joined: 07 Aug 2004
Location: Melbourne, Florida |
| 3422. Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 10:17 am Post subject: |
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Man DDRFreak is going slow today... or it could be my cable internet connection, dunno. Anyhow:
The adapters are horrible, I agree with you. If you're using dance pads, you can't use adapters for any system, PC, Xbox, Gamecube, nothing. That control box should work well. Keep in mind though, that if you are major DDR fan and will be getting a gamecube and the DDR game on gamecube or if you 're going to play on PC, you might as well just build your own control boxes. I'll be building mine, and I'm making them with a $2 controller, a $4 aluminum housing, and some other cheap parts I have laying around. So you can make your own "xbox" and "ps2" control boxes for considerably less than that one you can buy there (which is well priced for the work they put into it).
Do let us know about the etching and the lights! I take it you're not going to use arow graphics, which would allow you to make your pad even thinner than normal, because you'd only need one sheet of 1/4" plexiglass instead of two, and if you made the thickness of the sheet metal panels 1/4" less respectively, then you could cut 1/4" of thickness off your whole pad, making it thinner and lighter (a BIG plus, a quarter inch of wood is surprisingly heavy).
Okay, "thepadmaker"s design won't work for you. I've studied all of them, and seeing as how I'm using led's much like you, I came to the same conclusion. "Thepadmaker"s design is the thinnest and therefore lightest out of all of them. It would still feel like the arcade because the top is exactly the same as the rest. However, there is no space in between the bottom piece of plywood and the arrow assembly, so no room for LEDs. HOWEVER, If you wanted a real challenge, you could somehow try to RECESS the LEDS into the base plywood by routing out a small area for each LED. This is an interesting though actually, one I hadn't considered! Your problem would come in with this: you would have to be getting ALL your power directly from the pad (what I'm working on), because you wouldn't have room for batteries. Perhaps if my pads come out well and I go to make another, I'll build one of padmaker's and put leds inside, and put a walkthrough up on how to do it.
Now THAT would be sweet.
EDIT: Curse my infernal thinking and excitement! See the change to my below statements:
***If one were to use your etching idea, padmaker's design, and my eventual lighting schematic, you could make a pad that was about 1" thick, meaning it would be very lightweight. However, it still wouldn't be cheap, seeing as how most of the cost is in the acrylic and the sheet metal, and you'd be using pretty much the same amount of sheet metal. I'll run some numbers and see what I come up with as far as cost and such.
I think I answered all your questions (as did like 4 other people with varying responses). Please stay on the forum and help contribute ideas with the rest of us! |
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pandaran
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Joined: 22 Jan 2005
Location: California, US |
| 3423. Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 11:47 am Post subject: Replies to replies... |
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Yeah, ddrfreak is being super slow this morning. I thought my net was being dumb at first.
I, personally, do not have the knowledge it would take to make a controller, but I brought it up to my boyfriend, and he kinda likes the idea. Are there any instructions up for that yet, or will you be putting them up after you make yours? He was thinking it would be pretty cool to make a single control box with a switch to change between consoles.
And, with what we were looking at for the lights, any of the pad designs should work. We're using the same sort of principle as those little fiber optic toys. So, you got it when you talked about recessing the LEDs. However, we will be recessing them into the sides of the "metal" panels and having them shine through the side of the plexi when it is stepped on. I haven't decided what graphic I'm going to etch onto it yet, though.
I still haven't quite figured out the best way to power the lights. If we end up having to use a battery, I wouldn't want it out and showing, but it would be kind of a pain to have to dismantle the entire pad to replace it. *ponders* Maybe I could work out some sort of door on the bottom of the pad, if it comes down to that.
I'm leaning towards the folded-over-the-side metal panels, anyway. I like the look of it better. But if I'm not mistaken, it uses glue as well.
Is Thepadmaker's design just as good for heavier players as the ones using 2x4s and stuff? And has anyone tried using metal rails before? Before I saw Thepadmaker's design I was thinking about getting some of those metal wall shelf railings and doing a little modification to them to make them work. |
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latindude88wpg
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Joined: 12 Nov 2004
Location: winnipeg, mb |
| 3424. Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 11:55 am Post subject: |
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gee, time goes by very fast. last time i checked we had wooden home made ddr pads. now we're talking about metal pads with lights, boomboxes and pictures of la virgen de guadalupe! sweet!!!
anyways, here's my question: my pad is squeaking like crazy. i thought it would go away after a couple of days, but it's getting really annoying. you can see rats and rabbits running out of my house when i play songs on heavy mode, cuz they can't stand the noise. what can i do to solve this?
also, i have to play with socks at home (i know, a big no no at the arcade), because if i play with shoes, i stomp and my apartment building is quite old, so it shakes like crazy. my socks get stuck with the screws and it kinda hurts. has anyone found any screws that fit *perfectly* into the stanley brackets? i'm using #2 screws and the head seems to be too big. i would appreciate it, and my feet will be happy. |
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Eisen
Basic Member
Joined: 14 Jan 2005
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| 3425. Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 12:02 pm Post subject: Please HELP |
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I built my own home pad according to riptide's design I am getting really frustrated as I have gone through my 3rd controller already. I solder the pad to the controller and it works for about 1 song and then buttons just stop working. I dont understand the problem and am getting very frustrated. I have used a multi meter and tested every connection and I know every connection works...
Any Ideas or Help would be awesome
..Eisen.. |
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pandaran
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Joined: 22 Jan 2005
Location: California, US |
| 3426. Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 12:24 pm Post subject: Squeaky pads |
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| I've heard baby powder works to cut down the squeaking on wood floors. You might try that on your pad. |
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latindude88wpg
Trick Member
Joined: 12 Nov 2004
Location: winnipeg, mb |
| 3427. Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 12:25 pm Post subject: |
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get a mat and rip it apart. their solder points are bigger and they seem to be able to handle static better.
or get an official sony controller. they're a little bit more pricey, but they seem to be working better. |
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grgisme
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Joined: 07 Aug 2004
Location: Melbourne, Florida |
| 3428. Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 1:40 pm Post subject: Re: Replies to replies... |
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| pandaran wrote: | Yeah, ddrfreak is being super slow this morning. I thought my net was being dumb at first.
I, personally, do not have the knowledge it would take to make a controller, but I brought it up to my boyfriend, and he kinda likes the idea. Are there any instructions up for that yet, or will you be putting them up after you make yours? He was thinking it would be pretty cool to make a single control box with a switch to change between consoles.
And, with what we were looking at for the lights, any of the pad designs should work. We're using the same sort of principle as those little fiber optic toys. So, you got it when you talked about recessing the LEDs. However, we will be recessing them into the sides of the "metal" panels and having them shine through the side of the plexi when it is stepped on. I haven't decided what graphic I'm going to etch onto it yet, though.
I still haven't quite figured out the best way to power the lights. If we end up having to use a battery, I wouldn't want it out and showing, but it would be kind of a pain to have to dismantle the entire pad to replace it. *ponders* Maybe I could work out some sort of door on the bottom of the pad, if it comes down to that.
I'm leaning towards the folded-over-the-side metal panels, anyway. I like the look of it better. But if I'm not mistaken, it uses glue as well.
Is Thepadmaker's design just as good for heavier players as the ones using 2x4s and stuff? And has anyone tried using metal rails before? Before I saw Thepadmaker's design I was thinking about getting some of those metal wall shelf railings and doing a little modification to them to make them work. |
Okay, wow, you're pretty far ahead of me in some of these areas, geeze.
As far as a single control box and a switch to switch between systems, I suppose its possible, that I haven't the expertise to design one (wish I did!). Here's an easier thought (again not what I'm doing, but easier). Just have all the controllers hooked up all the time within 1 box. Then just whatever cord you have plugged in will be the one that works, and the rest will act as if they're not even wired up. That make sense? If not I'll explain it more.
What I'm doing is creating a SEPERATE control box for each system, they'll all be about the size of a controller, and I'll just carry them in a bag and switch between them. Perhaps I'll do what I described in the paragraph above at a later date (or with this one if I can get all the wiring figured out in a panic).
As for recessing the lights into the metal panels, BRILLIANT, and that makes the etching make more sense. I might use a router and recess mine the way I talked about (easier for me to accomplish, works just as well). I'll let you know as soon as I have verified that my design for powering the lights from the various consoles works, I'll put up info on how I did it.
| pyro4fire wrote: | | so how you getting the 8v out of the pad without it going through the controler? what are you grounding to?? |
Someone else asked how I was getting the 8volts from the PS2 into the controller and how I was grounding it. I'm going to take a PS2 controller extension cord, rip it apart, and tap into the correct wire, and run that into my pad (really it'll be my control box, but same difference). I'll also split the ground wire into 2 as well. Then one ground will be wired up to the wires coming out of the controller (that normally go directly to the ps2), and all the other wires of the extension cord will do likewise. The other ground will bypass the controller board and go directly into the pad for wiring up to the LED lighting circuit. It's hard to explain if you don't understand it I suppose. |
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pandaran
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Joined: 22 Jan 2005
Location: California, US |
| 3429. Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 2:20 pm Post subject: PC control box |
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| yeah, we're probably going to have separate plugins for each system, after all. It does make a lot more sense. How are the PC control boards being done? I read that someone tried it with a keyboard once. Is there anything smaller than that to use? |
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latindude88wpg
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Joined: 12 Nov 2004
Location: winnipeg, mb |
| 3430. Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 2:23 pm Post subject: |
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usb gamepads are your friends.
they're cheap and they can be plugged into any computer. and stepmania recognizes usb controllers quite easily too. |
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grgisme
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Joined: 07 Aug 2004
Location: Melbourne, Florida |
| 3431. Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 2:26 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, I checked into keyboard controllers, and found out the usb gamepads are easier to hook up and are cheaper. Go with those, that's what I'll be doing.
~Grgisme |
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latindude88wpg
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Joined: 12 Nov 2004
Location: winnipeg, mb |
| 3432. Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 2:30 pm Post subject: |
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besides, most modern keyboards have the limitation of being able to handle only three keys pressed at the same time, so for those of you who have three legs (or a tail), it could be quite inconvenient.
and that'd mean unplugging your keyboard all the time and reaching to the back of your computer... gah, too much work. |
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pyro4fire
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Joined: 30 Dec 2004
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| 3433. Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 2:40 pm Post subject: Re: Replies to replies... |
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| grgisme wrote: | | pyro4fire wrote: | | so how you getting the 8v out of the pad without it going through the controler? what are you grounding to?? |
Someone else asked how I was getting the 8volts from the PS2 into the controller and how I was grounding it. I'm going to take a PS2 controller extension cord, rip it apart, and tap into the correct wire, and run that into my pad (really it'll be my control box, but same difference). I'll also split the ground wire into 2 as well. Then one ground will be wired up to the wires coming out of the controller (that normally go directly to the ps2), and all the other wires of the extension cord will do likewise. The other ground will bypass the controller board and go directly into the pad for wiring up to the LED lighting circuit. It's hard to explain if you don't understand it I suppose. |
i think i understand what your saying.... maybe 
i guess ill just have to wait for the walk-through  |
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grgisme
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Joined: 07 Aug 2004
Location: Melbourne, Florida |
| 3434. Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 2:57 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | and that'd mean unplugging your keyboard all the time and reaching to the back of your computer... gah, too much work. |
Not if you use a USB keyboard, then you don't have to unplug your keyboard and it won't conflict at all. But regardless, a gamepad is better. |
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pyro4fire
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Joined: 30 Dec 2004
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| 3435. Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 4:00 pm Post subject: |
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| do psx controllers have the wire for the 8v? |
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pyro4fire
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Joined: 30 Dec 2004
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| 3436. Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 4:02 pm Post subject: controllers |
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| do psx controllers have the wire for the 8v? i have a few psx controllers i dont mind ripping apart for a control box but i would like to get power from the console |
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slvrshdw
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Joined: 05 Jan 2005
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| 3437. Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 4:11 pm Post subject: |
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i got a quick question hopefully u can answer...
i want to make mine be able to be used for xbox (mainly), ps2, and if i can PC (USB)
u said the box thing..but should i buy:
a ps1 controller and use that on ps2 or do i need a ps2 one? (ps1=$2 ps2=~20)
a xbox/ps2 pad ($30)
use an xbox pad ($20) and a ps2 to xbox adapter..(i have already)
the USB thing im gonna buy for about $10 and that just changes the xbox one..
so wouldnt the most logical be to buy an xbox pad?..$20+xbox->USB adaper??
thanks..ill get more pics up when im done..its only about 3/4" thick!! and not very expensive either..(~$75 when im done, no lights)
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ropeadope
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Joined: 20 Jul 2004
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| 3438. Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 4:35 pm Post subject: |
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Could someone explain to me how the softpad mod actually makes your pad last longer? I'm not so sure it's worth it.
I'd also like some links to threads with other people doing the softpad mod thingy. |
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ch
Trick Member
Joined: 01 Oct 2004
Location: IN UR FORUM POSTING ON UR THRED |
| 3439. Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 4:49 pm Post subject: |
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the softpad mod doesnt make your pad last longer, but it does make it work better. it stretches it out so it wont wrinkle up and pucker on carpet. it also gets a good flat backing behind the sensors for you to dance on. and, if you add the little teeth that dig into a carpet from a rolling desk chair mat, then it won't slide around, either.
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