This is my latest arcade stick build. It’s 9.75 x 7 x 2.75-inches, based off X-Arcade electronics, and entirely laser cut from MDF and Acrylic. The top sits at slight 5 degree angle which I found to be the most ergonomic, rubber feet + bottom of unit is felt for when playing on the lap. I’ve got 3 bottoms on the back panel (start, select, program).
That’s pretty cool, I would replace the x-arcade pcb with something else due to known lag problems with it though. A cheap, easy option would be the zero delay pc encoder ($10 shipped from eBay).
Probably the weakest link of what is an otherwise awesome build. As PresidentCamacho has stated, we recommend replacing this with something with less lag.
PresidentCamacho and d3v,
Thanks for the great feedback. One of those ebay boards has been sitting in my parts bin for a few months, time to build another stick!
FreedomGundam,
I designed it this way in an effort to keep wrists straight and comfortable. I noticed most of the time for me, people play standing, on a low coffee table, or on their lap where their hands sit below their elbows. I’ve tried various angles and 5 degrees down has been the best overall. Someone once told me that arcade cabinets angle it towards the player in an effort to prevent drinks from being left there and accidentally spilled over the controls. This makes sense to me because downward angle while playing standing does not sound comfortable at all. However, I know that some people like their keyboards tilted up… I just don’t understand how they do it.
So put together a stick with the zero delay encoder but didn’t get very far. Couldn’t get it to recognize on my Mac and my PC’s support was inconsistent. Need to do more research
For now I’ll keep using X-Arcade electronics because the do everything I want, but I purchased the components to build my own encoder, I couldn’t find what I wanted for a reasonable price.
This actually feels amazing if you have crotchety old man wrists. I can’t play for very long anymore on a flat panel, let alone one slanted towards me.
The slant towards the players comes from stand up cabinets. Since there’s a chance that a shorter player might have their elbows below the top of the control panel. Having a slant like that makes it easier for shorter players to reach it.
For lap play however, flat or slanted away actually makes sense.
I love it. I HAVE to make one. My local group has more laughs with this game than any other.
I have been thinking about adding two pinball positioned buttons for this, but now I think DK going to get it’s own box. @cudbur I’m going to try and use a Teensy microcontroller for my box.
I had some scrap material left over so I put together a frame I can test various configurations on and it came out pretty nice. I made the bottom out of clear acrylic so I can easily check what I’ve got in there.
