Devout Stealth homepad

[Alexi Stuvok.THV]

I play at the arcade fairly often, and it's there that I get all my awesome scores. I get AA's there that I could never get at home. I FC songs I never could at home. I love the arcade feel of a pad, it just feels so... natural. You don't know what you're missing, seriously.
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My DDR/ITG vids.
Help a game music lover out and click these links so I get points towards mass downloads!
Also, my less than stellar Groovestats page.

[methejuggler]

Sorry, been a while since I've checked the board!


First, congratulations on the new people who made their pads... nice to have a pad which actually registers your steps, isn't it? =P


I've gotten a bit better at DDR since I made the pads... I've actually managed to AA a few heavies now... So I can say that the pad does hold up well under higher feet ratings =P


In response to the person who had an issue with a freeze arrow:

One of my panels had a problem with this too.... it turned out that the penny didn't have a very solid connection to the tin foil.... my solution was to take a strip of tin foil, wrap it around the penny, and leave about 1/2" extra, which overlapped the edge of the hole. The extra would be taped against the main tinfoil of the pad... this ensured that there was constant contact between the penny and the tinfoil... so may want to try that before replacing the sheetmetal.


Also, yes, a couple of my panels have a cardboard outline in them too... but it hasn't affected game play at all, and it's only on panels that I had issues with, and either added extra cardboard to, or torqued down really far (or a combo of both)...

Maybe I'll have to replace the sheetmetal on those eventually, but after 3 months of use I havn't had issues so far.... we'll see how things sit a year down the line =P



My brother bought a DV camera, and I'm going to borrow it for some video footage soon if possible... probably at the next lan party...

Also, I'll probably be making another two pads sometime in the next couple of months, and when I do, I'll video tape much of the construction process.
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My home pads:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cjmanca/DDRHomePads

[Maliciant]

I'm curious why you are making more, did someone like yours enough to buy some off you or are you figuring to make someone a christmas gift or what? Maybe just thought you could improve something (add a bar or something)?
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Dandelion Games

[methejuggler]

Actually, only one of the first two I made was for me... the other was for my younger brother (who still lives with my mom).

The new ones I'd make are to complete the two sets for doubles at both houses... it's a pain to carry mine to my moms whenever I visit =P

Besides, when I made the first two, I made mine first, then my brothers second... I learned a lot in the building of the first, and more during the second... my brothers is better than mine =P

I think that if I make another two, they'll be even better!

I've had to tweak mine a few times since I finished it (although my brothers has been solid), and I may end up replacing the step panels on my original when I make the next two, so that both my pads will be great =P
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My home pads:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cjmanca/DDRHomePads

[Maliciant]

Yeah, I learned a lot in making mine as well, it makes sense, my pads have slightly different feels to them due to the sensors not sitting at the same levels (over-cranked down one corner accidently and sometimes the metal lip goes just beyond the wood but it's not easy to trim etc).

I figured I'd play doubles a lot more having two solid pads but I haven't really, I can play doubles, but just don't yet (pads aren't stable enough moving between them)... I also figured I'd play stepmania more but it seems to be lacking some of the playmodes I prefer that my ps2 version has, either way my pad is still going strong.
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Dandelion Games

[Lawrencesss]

I just finished building this pad.

It is nuts, the design is simple to construct yet the result is extremely reliable.

All my sensors worked 100% the first time, holds work great, and they register taps as fast as my foot can move.

Build time was in excess of 24 hours for me, including sourcing and picking up materials across three days. But I did take a great deal of care in construction. I.e. The wires are sitting in router tracks, each panel has an individual line plug in case it needs servicing. I also made 2 spare panels incase I break one somehow.

Aesthetically, it is not as good as I had hoped, the laminate on the MDF dead squares chipped quite a bit, so I am looking into replacing them soonish. The steel squares however look great, and seem to resist dirt and scuff marks extremely well.

Sure it does not look anything like an arcade pad. But it is so sleek, for a home setting, it looks better.

All in all, I am stoked I could create a pad of better quality then the $350 low quality metal pad I was looking at. It is a nice bonus the cost was a fraction of that.

Thanks Devout!

Pics to come.

[Eduardo1]

The discussion thread about the stealth has one me over to take this on as my pad build of choice. I've never played DDR before but plan to start off on a "REAL" pad from the get go. I have a WII and saw the launch of DDR HP is out.
I have 2 questions:
1. If the wood pads need to be extremely flat for the foil to attach to, why would you not use the same shelving for all pads. it's laminated and smoother than the plywood would be. Is it possible or is there a fastener or epoxy issue?

2. Has anyone heard of a working homebrew that supports the Wii? Can I just modify a GameCube controller? I haven't found a mention of the GC controller working or not working.

Thanks,
Ed.

[devout]

[Maliciant]

You could probably use tape to hold the tinfoil in place, I'd just go around the edges, if you have to smooth a bump out of the tinfoil smooth it over to an edge, edge wrinkles won't matter anyway since the carboard and tape would cover that part.

With the single sheet of plywood I bought I had enough for two controllers, sensor pads and all, I think I even had enough spare that I could have used the plywood for the non-sensors and the shelving for the sensors (yay, easy recessed buttons). Two things I'd consider first though...

One is that obviously the lip on the sheet metal would need to be smaller since shelving will not be as thick.

More importantly, I think that the sensor part of the pad takes a LOT more abuse than the non-sensor part, after all you are stepping (sometimes stomping even) and jumping up and down on them, the particle board of the shelving may deteriate from the repeated stress (particularly where the screws are holding it in place). It would only take a small amount of movement to cause this though I don't know how long it would take to be a problem.
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Dandelion Games

[Eduardo1]

[Eduardo1]

Just thinking out loud, based on using the same materials for all pieces...

1. What if you took a single 33x33 sheet (an inch or more thick) and you made four 1/2" deep cuts into the surface 11 15/16" in from each edge (to make the checkerboard pattern).
2. You then took a single 11 7/8 x 11 7/8 square and made 4 sheet metal covers.
3. You made the sensor bottoms straight on the main sheet, (with foil, cardboard, etc)
4. You placed the metal covers over top and fit the edges into the cuts and screwed them down.

You'd need to have the right 'width' saw blade to match the thickness of two pieces of steel (or could add a filler), and some dead-on cuts.... Less pieces and fasteners... Maybe more suitable for "mass production".

[devout]

[ChilliumBromide]

Du to the nature of plywood, if you took 3/4" plywood and made a 1/2" cut into it, it would effectively be some 1/2" plywood throroughly glued to some 1/4" plywood.

However, 1/4" is really thin for a pad base.

I'd suggest that, if you want to do it with just the base of the wood, you make 1/4" deep cuts, then cut out 4 count 11-7/16" x 11-7/16" metal squares for the panels. Then, you bend the edges down and all that jazz, and that way, you don't have the sharp edges, and you still have a 1/2" base if you use 3/4" plywood.
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I used to be active here lol

[Maliciant]

I like the idea of a single board piece, I don't like the idea of having to use a router for the steps, but it'd be pretty hard to avoid sharp edges without them, and I think having the bends probably helps keep the steel elevated a bit. I love the innovations in simplicity though, it's almost like the 4k game contests (where the total size of the game has to be under 4k) only it's the 2 blocks of wood and an official macguyver paperclip DDR pad contest instead or something.
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Dandelion Games

[Eduardo1]

[Maliciant]

I was kidding a little, there is a pad design that is just silver tape on the floor and on your shoes estimated as a $5 ddr pad, obviously someone could do that, and go with just about anything as a base (I kept a floor mat under my soft pads since I have a carpetted floor, could glue to that). Obviously those designs could work, but while being even simpler than stealth pads design it wouldn't be very durable, you'd pretty much have to repair the pad on a daily basis if not on a per song basis...
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Dandelion Games

[Eduardo1]

Just thought I'd mention that the Gamestop universal dance pad (~$20) works for the Wii DDR hottest Party (no adapter required).

Now I just have to disassemble and start the work.

[Yukidaore]

I've been working on building a pair of these pads the last couple days, and have been having some trouble with the soldering like several other people here. I haven't been really fond of the method from the start, since an accidental pull on the wire could make for extremely unpleasant repairs, and since it makes disassembly somewhat difficult besides. So I spent some time thinking about alternatives, and I'm wondering; could I perhaps just put a washer in place of the penny, put a screw through the panel, and attach the wire on the underside? Or would that cause problems with conductivity, or some other aspect I'm not thinking about?

[Yukidaore]

Also, could someone please help me figure out where to solder the wires to on a logitech precision gamepad pro? There's a picture of the circuit board on page 7 of this pdf that has some labeling, but I'm still not sure what to do.
http://www.applied-sciences.net/library/laserpad.pdf

[P.I]

nice looking pad!