Tutorial: How to mod your Softpad

[XMaxX]

Ok, I've seen alot of these modding soft pad topics floating around here lately, and I want to put a stop to them, so I modified my old tutorial to make one big tutorial for everyone to see.

Modding a Soft Pad ver. 1.0
by XMaxX

This guide is intended for everyones benefit.

This is a modified tutorial on how I modded my soft pad (meaning I revised this more than once):

Materials:

A soft pad (not Madcatz for the love of God...)
A piece of Plywood (Your choice in size)
Some cardboard pieces
A roll of duct tape

Modding the actual thing:

Before you even think about modding a soft pad, determine what type/brand of pad you will buy. Don't buy a third party pad like Madcatz nor some other crappy pad like the Universal dance pads that Pelican makes because they suck even after modding them. Stick with the brand name pads like Konami or Redocane. Personally, I prefer the Official In The Groove pad by RedOctane (($29.99) (prices may vary now)) (for a cheap pad, it works great; after modding it, of course). Now since you have a pad, it is time for the actual modding. First buy a piece of plywood (Preferably 36" X 36", or the size of the pad if you don't like the extra space) and some cardboard boxes. Next, measure the length and width (dimensions) of the arrows on the soft pad and record them on to a piece of paper. Then take those measurments and cut four pieces of cardboard out to fit the dimensions of the arrows. Now since you have the cardboard cutouts made, place them on top of the plywood piece and align them under where the arrows should be**. Once the cardboard cutouts are in place, ductape them to the wood. Next, align your pad on top of the cardboard cutouts & the plywood and finally tape it all together into one piece (Make sure that the arrows overlap the cardboard cutouts). Now you are done and ready to play. It's called modding a softpad very quickly so that it doesn't suck.

*This adds elevation to help you recognize where you are stepping*

Visuals:

Here are some pictures to show you how I modded my pad.

The inner workings of the softpad mod. A bit messy, but what the hell. Yes I added more cardboard that I needed, but that's just my style.


The Finished Product! Again, a bit sloppy, but who cares how it looks.


Alternatives:

Now, if you prefer not to waste the time nor money with buying a piece of plywood, then you are out of luck. Just kidding. You could always duct tape the cardboard pieces on to a computer chair mat where the arrows should be placed, then place your pad on top, overlapping both the cardboard cutouts and the computer chair mat and then duct tape the pad on to the computer chair mat. (This is just one of the many alternatives that there are to modding a soft pad).

Life of a modded soft pad:

My pad actually died out about a week ago, so I can't really tell you how long your modded pad will last, but I can tell you this: the life of a soft pad varies by what difficulty you play on and how often you play. For example, I had my soft pad for a total of 9 months (R.I.P) and I played like a maniac. Well, this is what you get for playing 13's and Keyboard songs everyday on the pad XMaxX.

Conclusion:

Well, this is how you mod a soft pad. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them here. There are probably several mistakes in this guide, so feel free to point them out to me and I will be sure to include you in the credits. Enjoy!
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Dancing games are for fags.

[JedlyDDR]

pritty good, i just need to get a soft pad

cool, u have a dreamcast
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Bill Gates: "Where do you want to go today?" Napoleon Dynamite: "Where ever i feel like, Gosh!"
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[XMaxX]

Thanks.

I have a dreamcast with NesterDC in it.
_________________

Groovestats l ITG Edits l My Simfiles l PUI Ranking
Dancing games are for fags.

[Dogswood]

The only thing that belongs in DCs is Record of Lodoss War(s). Best game evar.

[The original thing I typed out was "The only thing that belongs in DCs is dynamite". I had a good laugh over it just typed out, so there was no need to post it.(I like dreamcasts, it was just conveniant)]

Cool guide, I tried that sort of thing but just straight plywood. Tape came off, but it wasn't good duct tape.

PS: instead of duct tape, I'd recommend the less common "Tuck Tape". It's clear, red, and like 3x stronger than duct tape (and 3x more expensive, but like 15$ for a roll, who cares). Its used in trades mostly, so somewhere like home hardware, canadian tire...Generic Lumber Mart.... On the tape is says "VentureTape" is the brand we use, but idk names of others.
http://www.canadianwholesalehydroponics.com/product_images/p1710.jpg looks like that.

[DARREN HAYEZ]

My main pad is a RO3, but I do have a Madcatz pad too (I didn't buy it, don't say anything XD). I can't play doubles with a high pad and a regular softpad, but maybe if I modded my MC pad I could play doubles a bit better. I'll have to look into it.
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[DefaultGen]

For teh ugly.

1. Use packaging tape, looks a hell of a lot nicer.
2. Won't it be more secure if you wrap the tape around the 4 edges?
3. I have 5 (2 Xb, 2 PS2, 1 Gc) modded Mad Catz pads and they all work fine.
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[XMaxX]

[DARREN HAYEZ]