Personal DDR Arcade. Phase 1: Complete

Walked · Trick Member Joined: 10 Feb 2005

Well, all of us would kill for a true DDR arcade machine, yet none (well, almost none) of us will ever be able to afford one.

So I'm doing the next best thing, and building my own.

So, what do I have to start with?

Modded Xbox (with Stepmania)
Cobalt Flux Pad (gets here in a day or two, not major right now)
27" TV
Mid-range sound system I can trash for the sole use of the cabinet

I've designed the cabinet to accomodate these, however I have not had the chance to scan the plans in yet.

However, the first few things I needed to accomplish was to get stepmania setup to match extreme, I managed to get matching announcers, every single song to match (plus an "Extra's" directory for my own files), matching announcer, etc. Not a small feat for the xbox version.

Next, the first accomplishment, and point of this thread, was the coin door.
The coin door operates through a microswitch with a common ground and normally open contact, I had to wire this up to the internals of an xbox controller. I wried the N.O. contact to the pin for the L trigger (this way if the coin door is jammed, I still have an operational button to work the coinage with) , and the common to a ground point on the controller.

The coin door, works perfect now. Next step is to build the cabinet and order a matching DDRextreme Marquee.

Pics of the controller/switch:

latindude88wpg · Trick Member Joined: 12 Nov 2004 Location: winnipeg, mb

where did you get the switch for the coin door? did you build it yourself, and if so, would you post some diagrams? thanx a lot.

i have been working on something similar, but i've focused on the lights first. i also built a homemade pad, and hopefully i'll get it done sometime this year.

edit: by 'build it yourself' i mean, the coin door. not the switch

Seven7 · Trick Member Joined: 29 Dec 2004

The switch looks bought.

its the core of a coin mech,

are ya useing a coin mech, door, etc?

btw, this is what iam doing, except with stepmania and a pc.

i will be watching your progress, this looks interesting.

-Seven7-

Walked · Trick Member Joined: 10 Feb 2005

That is a purchased microswitch, very similar to the one you can get from Happ.

I used a cheap pacman style coin mech/door I nabbed off ebay. The mech that came with it is a piece of poopy honestly, however it works, I'm in it more for the look than anything.

I'm currently contemplating wiring up a complete control box arrows et all on the cabinet as well, but I'm unsure of the difficulties I'd encounter. We'll see about that yet.

Walked · Trick Member Joined: 10 Feb 2005

Arimasen · Trick Member Joined: 14 Feb 2003

latindude88wpg · Trick Member Joined: 12 Nov 2004 Location: winnipeg, mb

click on my signature to see the tutorial. it is not perfect, and there has been tons of corrections, so make sure you read the entire thread.

Walked · Trick Member Joined: 10 Feb 2005

Seven7 · Trick Member Joined: 29 Dec 2004

thats also covered, more or less, in the same topic.

ill be useing that method myself.

be sure to thank the masterminds/mad scientists who came up with this stuff!

-Seven7-

Walked · Trick Member Joined: 10 Feb 2005

latindude88wpg · Trick Member Joined: 12 Nov 2004 Location: winnipeg, mb

that does work for the pink/yellow ddr lights. as a matter of fact, i'm working on a new tutorial that covers the pink/yellow lights, the menu buttons and the bass lights. with the help of tons of people, of course.

Walked · Trick Member Joined: 10 Feb 2005

The cabinet is cut and being painted now (break between coats for this post).

For the most part, cutting the actual cabinet was rather simple, hardest part was the coin door hole, and monitor bevel.

Hope to have paintin 100% done before sunset on Monday, and to get the assembly done by Thursday.

That, however, is just hoping, not sure it'll be done before then.

Anyone want pics of the cut wood thus far? Nothing special, but I know some may be interested.

BreakfastPirate · Trick Member Joined: 05 Feb 2005

Walked · Trick Member Joined: 10 Feb 2005

Walked · Trick Member Joined: 10 Feb 2005

Alright, have some pics here.

The flash kinda makes the cabinet look a bit poopy than it really does, the wood grain shows a lot more in these pics.

Additionally, I do not yet have the marquee in and a few many other things need work, that siad:

Alex3305 · Trick Member Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Location: Netherlands

sweet stuff man !

Remember to use StepMania Xbox CVS build instead of the Xport one, its better but you cannot use bg animations (also no characters)..

BTW, Its my build

_________________

My Weblog (Dutch) | R.i.P. Capt. Jack ! Great BEMANi artist !

Walked · Trick Member Joined: 10 Feb 2005