Making a stepmania "machine"

[Moridin]

Okay, this could possibly go into a few different categories, but this seems to fit best.

I am planning on buliding a standalone comp running stepmania with my friend. We are planning on using my PC, a pair of CFs and a projector for a really big screen. Now, I have two questions:

1) I have heard that PC adaptors do not work very well with CFs. Is this true, and can it be remedied? We really want to use CF pads.

2) Will there be any timing problems created by using a projector? I know that light is... fairly quick, but I also know how small the timing window can be.

Finally, any other problems anyone can foresee or any suggestions would be welcome.
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NTH17: when your sitting in church and you all of a sudden hear: INTRODUCING K-BUNCC!
NTH17: you know its time to get the hell out
NTH17: the first song wasnt too bad though... he started rapping against homosexuality
NTH17: but when the breakdancers showed up....

[diddrstrait]

regarding the use of CFs and adapters:

Pantera is going to test out an adapter with the CFs he's going to be getting soon. we should know the answer to this question for sure in a little while.

regarding the speed of light:

light travels at 3 E 8 meters per SECOND.

that's 300,000,000 meters in a single second. so unless you have the projector set up in orbit (or some other way that's really far away), you won't have a noticable lag. that's like saying that there is a noticable lag between the arrow showing up on screen and you seeing it. speed of sound is more of a problem, but again, unless you have the speakers set up many many yards away from you (like say 50), this won't be a problem either.

EDIT: and just so you know, the timing for a marvelous in the arcade is something like .015 seconds. doing some simple math, we can see that the max distance before this timing window becomes distorted would be roughly 4,500,000 meters. in other words, you can't blame crappy PA on the speed of light.

[Moridin]

Thanks for the info. Ever since I took AP Physics in sophomore year, I stopped wanting to figure that stuff out myself. Thermodynamics and special relativity singlehandedly made me stop caring about math lol.

Also, I was figuring any lag might have been caused by factors *other* than the speed of light itself, like the kind of fps a projector can support etc.
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NTH17: when your sitting in church and you all of a sudden hear: INTRODUCING K-BUNCC!
NTH17: you know its time to get the hell out
NTH17: the first song wasnt too bad though... he started rapping against homosexuality
NTH17: but when the breakdancers showed up....

[diddrstrait]

ah, well I was just playing around with ya :-P

but at any rate...if the projector is newer (like an LCD projector), you won't notice much of a framerate problem. any framerate problem most likely wouldn't mess up the timing anyway...just make the arrows look a bit more jerky.

[DJX]

[diddrstrait]

you have to admit, you'd get some serious bragging rights with that one.

"DUDE! I got you all beat! my stepmania machine is setup in geosynchronous orbit!"

everyone else: o_O?

[Pantera]

The adapter I'm looking for specifically is for doubles, which I would assume would work fine for singles if it does for doubles.

I'm still waiting for my PIN number on my cash card to arrive so I can buy the buggers :\
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