Arcade/Supergun setup for Blast City cab/local tournaments

[Admiral Zackbar]

Hey everyone!

I recently purchased a Blast City cab for import (through Cosmo-Logi) and I'm working on what will go in it once it gets here. Wherever possible I've tried to do my research, but I'm a complete arcade cabinet newbie and there is a LOT to learn. I was hoping I could kind of think out loud on what I'm hoping to do and get some help on where to get what I need and if I'm missing anything for my setup. Direct questions are in green, answered questions in blue but feel free to comment on anything else you see as well.

I'm currently thinking a CPS3 board (primarily for Third Strike), and a Mister for everything else.
I also help run local fighting game tournaments and weeklys, and would ideally like both of these boards to be portable for use with a TV/Monitor outside of the cabinet if needed.


--General Blast City Cabinet Setup--
-Monitor seems to be in good working order, may order convergence strips (and solid shock protective gloves) for adjustments as needed
-Seller is recapping monitor/power supply/anything else in the cabinet before shipping
-Includes new repro 2L12B control panel, populated with Sanwa hardware
-Not sure exactly what wiring harnesses are coming with my cabinet
--May need a JAMMA harness
--Likely need two kick harnesses
-Planning to mount CPS3 and Mister in the cabinet and just swap the JAMMA harness (while cabinet is powered off) and use a JAMMA switcher (thanks AeroCity20XX) to change between them.
-Need to check power supply voltages with multimeter and adjust if necessary
-Will need to remove front control panel when it arrives to fit it through the small doorways of my old house

Anything else I might need to consider for the basic internals of the cabinet?

How can I tell what the amperage is on the cabinet to make sure my circuit breakers won't be tripped? So far, I can only find specs for voltage and wattage.
-Calculated to be 2amps (or less) - Thanks AeroCity20XX!

Outlets in my house are GFCI only with no ground, is that a risk at all for an arcade cabinet? Having an electrician run a ground to an outlet just for the cabinet is possible.
-GFCI should be fine - Thanks AeroCity20XX!

I ordered a Sunflag JIS 1, 2, and 3 screwdriver set already to help with disassembling the control panel, so hopefully that will be relatively simple, but let me know if I'm missing anything.


--CPS3 board--
-Potentially needs DarkSoft mod (though most for sale seem to have this done already)
-Needs some sort of Supergun
-Not sure what video outputs can be handled. Definitely need HDMI Out for stream capture, RCA to connect to CRTs, possibly RGB out as well
-USB input adapters to support everyone's controllers while connected to Supergun
-Some kind of power supply for use with the supergun, no idea what is needed for this
-Likely want some kind of housing for the board to prevent damage during transport

Is the DarkSoft mod pretty easy to DIY these days? Or are there still people that offer to do it for the boards? I'm willing to DIY if there are instructions somewhere and not much soldering is required. Prefer to use the SD card version that can boot multiple games

Based on a little research around here it looks like Superguns are very custom builds these days and there aren't many pre-built ones for sale anymore. If anyone has a good source for these please let me know. Or just general recommendations for any parts on this list.
-HAS Supergun seems to be the answer, will just have to wait for it to be in stock. - Thanks DorianGray!

Would outputs be built into the supergun, or need some sort of adapter based on the output I need?
I've seen USB input adapters for sale, would prefer ones with lowest possible input latency and support for button mapping if anyone has a good recommendation
Do I just need a portable arcade power supply, or are there some made specifically for supergun arcade boards?
-All of these answered by this super helpful post https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/newcomer-looking-for-advice-on-sf3-setup.29974/post-465584 - Huge thanks to DorianGray!

I've seen a few options for CPS3 board housings, but recommendations are appreciated.
-The TR CPS3 Case looks nice! Will likely go with this. - Thanks DorianGray and djsheep!

--Mister--
-Needs JAMMA connector
-HDMI Output for stream capture from home arcade machine would be a nice option
-Ideally the same Mister comes ready (or could be easily adapted) to work with a TV/Monitor
-USB controller support (low latency if possible) for portable setup or custom controllers on the arcade cab
-Some way to easily change games/settings on Mister while it's in the arcade cabinet (without having to open the door)
-Some kind of power supply when not connected to cabinet

This is what I'm looking at currently, seems like one of the best/only JAMMA ready pre-made Mister options. Is there anything that might be a better fit based on everything I'm trying to do with it?
https://misteraddons.com/products/m...-fpga-jamma-arcade-kit?variant=41129654419589

I've tried reading the specs for that Mistercade V2 but they are very dense. Of the list of things I want to do above, what is supported by default and what would need to be modded with extra boards or adapters? Where could I find the needed boards/adapters, or am I looking at DIY for some of these?

There are some options for SDRAM on that Mistercade, do I want the DAC addon for HDMI output? Does this choice affect how much RAM is available for the unit, and will that be an issue if CPS3's core is eventually added (since it needs extra memory on the CPS3 board for Third Strike)?

For some kind of access to the Mister menus to reset/change games/access settings while it's mounted in the cabinet, I think I've seen Arcade vendors at tournaments using wireless keyboards with USB dongles. Is something like this better or worse? ( https://misteraddons.com/products/mistercade-remote-v2 ) Having a dedicated hardware for it that I could mount to the cab somewhere seems appealing, and this seems to have ports for low latency controller adapters as well which is a plus.
-There are built-in commands through the arcade controls to swap games, so external control isn't needed for most functions. - Thanks AeroCity20XX!


Whew, I think that's it for now. A lot to figure out still. I'll try to keep the post updated as questions are answered or new suggestions are added.
Thanks for reading this far and thanks in advance for any help!

 

[AeroCity20XX]

Could use a JAMMA switcher, I recommend RiddledTv's. Just mount the CPS3 and the Mistercade to the same wooden board in the cabinet. Then to switch games all you need to do is press both start buttons.

How can I tell what the amperage is on the cabinet to make sure my circuit breakers won't be tripped? So far, I can only find specs for voltage and wattage.

Outlets in my house are GFCI only with no ground, is that a risk at all for an arcade cabinet? Having an electrician run a ground to an outlet just for the cabinet is possible.

Looks like the Blast City is listed as ~200W, that's about 2A at 100V. Realistically the cabinet will draw less than that, depends on the game board's power draw. Like my Aero City cabinets say 150W but I've metered them running at about 100W on average.

Ground isn't required for it to run, Japanese plugs don't even have ground pins since they use a separate wire screwed to the receptacle.

For some kind of access to the Mister menus to reset/change games/access settings while it's mounted in the cabinet, I think I've seen Arcade vendors at tournaments using wireless keyboards with USB dongles. Is something like this better or worse? ( https://misteraddons.com/products/mistercade-remote-v2 ) Having a dedicated hardware for it that I could mount to the cab somewhere seems appealing, and this seems to have ports for low latency controller adapters as well which is a plus.

I guess it depends on what settings you need to change, but I've got two Mistercades and don't really need the remote. To change what core is running or the game's settings, I just hold down on the joystick and press player 1 start. If I need to change something more complicated, which is rare, I just open up the cabinet and plug in a keyboard.

 

[DorianGray]

Not too long ago I was in the same spot as you, looking for advice on how to set up a CPS3 with no arcade hardware background. I went the consolized route so I can't offer much advice relating to cabinet issues but I can cover some other things.

Is the DarkSoft mod pretty easy to DIY these days? Or are there still people that offer to do it for the boards? I'm willing to DIY if there are instructions somewhere and not much soldering is required. Prefer to use the SD card version that can boot multiple games (st-v multi?)

There are different variants/levels (I think) of Darksoft setups. In my opinion the Darksoft Ultra CPS3 SIMM Multigame Kit with no CD is the way to go. Even though I only play 3rd Strike, I thought it was nice to have the option to check out the other games with the turn of a dial (or dip switches). I was able to set mine up with no problems and no prior experience.

Based on a little research around here it looks like Superguns are very custom builds these days and there aren't many pre-built ones for sale anymore. If anyone has a good source for these please let me know. Or just general recommendations for any parts on this list.

The HAS superguns seem to be the gold standard around here. Its what was recommended to me when I started and I'm glad I went that direction. The guy who makes them posts on here and offers great support. You have to wait till they are back in stock or one pops up in the for sale section.

Would outputs be built into the supergun, or need some sort of adapter based on the output I need?

Depending on what you want to hook your CPS3 up to, you need a handful of adapters. My CPS3 runs into a PVM, here's an image/list of all the adapters I needed. I have an older version of the HAS supergun so the 8pin to HD-15 might not be needed for the newer version.

I've seen USB input adapters for sale, would prefer ones with lowest possible input latency and support for button mapping if anyone has a good recommendation

The Undamned DB15 USB Decoder is what most people (and tournaments) use. Like a lot of other things, they are often sold out and you have to wait till they are back in stock or find a used ones.

Do I just need a portable arcade power supply, or are there some made specifically for supergun arcade boards?

See my above linked supply list, the RT-85 works

I've seen a few options for CPS3 board housings, but recommendations are appreciated

Two popular options are the TR Fighstick case, and the Jasen's Customs case

 

[djsheep]

Best case, hands down, is the TR Fightstick case. It’s not too heavy and much more compact, more stylish (and a lot cheaper) than the Janson case. The new model also has custom hardware to directly interface with the UltraSIMMS.

The TR cases are not always readily available but they are currently in stock.