I built a TGC2 Arcade Cabinet. Learn from my mistake.

[Greg]

I have wanted a Golden Tee cabinet for probably 15 years now. After building an arcade cabinet I thought, I should build one. Buying them is outrageously expensive so I started looking for a golf game I could turn into a cabinet. After looking at quite a few, I settled on TGC2. It seemed a few people have contemplate it, so I decided to go for it.

I bought it and tried to use it with a mouse and it worked well enough that I ordered a trackball. I chose the X-Arcade trackball because at ~$90 it was a good price and it is wired with the 3 mouse buttons and a vertical hold button which I liked. It arrived, I tested it a little and thought that with a little practice we could get the hang of it enough for it to be enjoyable.

After that, I set out to build the pedestal which I based on the one for Golden Tee. I designed it in CAD, printed out the templates, and went to work on the cabinet. It took quite a bit of work, but in the end I really liked what I came up with.

After figuring out which buttons I needed on the console I mapped it out, designed a faceplate and had it printed on laminated polycarbonate sticker. I used an arcade joystick encoder and arcade buttons for input and JoyToKey to map everything how I need it.

Here is the final product:
* https://i.imgur.com/DW5f8Td.jpg
* https://i.imgur.com/qIdP6e8.jpg

I am absolutely thrilled how it came out and was SUPER excited to play it, which I have been doing since yesterday.

And so here's the reality of it: It's a non-starter. The controls for mouse are simply too touchy and inconsistent. You can hit 100 balls in a row and feel like you're getting the hang of it, and then hit a dozen drives in a row that don't exceed 150 yards. I have played with the sensitivity and messed with my swing in every way possible, but it's just not there.

It's worth it to note that it's not the trackball or me, Golden Tee Fore 2006 and Tiger Woods 2008 play just fine.

---

So to all those who come here looking for how it would play as an arcade cabinet with a trackball, the answer is terribly. I'm now going to play with all the golf games I can get my hands and remake the control panel and the sticker.

The frustrating part is this game is SO CLOSE to being an amazing contender for a DIY arcade cabinet. If they added an arcade mode that ignored speed and tempo, it would be amazing.

[DBYou]

Very nice!

[nelman]

links 2003 or golden tee pc work flawlessly too

[Bullete]

Awesome cabinet, I'm sorry it didn't work well for this game. Mouse swing is a complete crap.

[Greg]

@Bullete,

Yeah, it was a complete waste of money for what I spent having the top printed. It works amazing for Tiger Woods though.

[the evil one]

Nice job though, shame the game didn't match all your hard work

Impressed

[jme27]

I hope you haven't given up hope on this build! I stumbled across this, planning on building as well. I read this and learned from your mistake... however I think it's time to put your build to use and I am back to planning one myself. I just purchased PGA Tour 2K21 on sale to try on my arcade. I have a trackball and an iPac so I can easily remap my buttons. I will tell you, I have played a couple rounds and LOVE IT!!! It works brilliantly with a trackball!!! I will say that I have it on beginner settings and will eventually adjust the difficulty, it's kinda on the easy side right now but it is a ton of fun! If you try it and like it, we can play online sometime knowing that two trackballers are playing against each other! Cheers, I think your build is about to pay off!

[Greg]

Originally posted by jme27:

I hope you haven't given up hope on this build! I stumbled across this, planning on building as well. I read this and learned from your mistake... however I think it's time to put your build to use and I am back to planning one myself. I just purchased PGA Tour 2K21 on sale to try on my arcade. I have a trackball and an iPac so I can easily remap my buttons. I will tell you, I have played a couple rounds and LOVE IT!!! It works brilliantly with a trackball!!! I will say that I have it on beginner settings and will eventually adjust the difficulty, it's kinda on the easy side right now but it is a ton of fun! If you try it and like it, we can play online sometime knowing that two trackballers are playing against each other! Cheers, I think your build is about to pay off!

I didn't give up on it, I just only play Tiger Woods 2008 on it. I'm going to pick up 2k21 based on your recommendation though. Cheers!

[GAD]

Very cool. Few things in life are as maddening as going to a lot of trouble and expense, just for the rug to be pulled with no explanation. I feel for you buddy, but I read you've got an alternative so all is not lost.