Do you see this beautiful combat squad? It's not just a controller: it's an icon. This is a sign that I'm running out of excuses not to compromise on Street Fighter 6 (or at least get out of the weeds). Earlier this year I was so excited about the new Street Fighter that I decided to create my own Hit Box. Also known as an arcade box with all the buttons without the actual "stick". As with most fighting games I'm passionate about, I promised before release that I would devote real time to this game. I'm the first and only fighting game fan to be told that lie.
When Street Fighter 6 came out in June, I only had one unfinished project, so I decided to wait a month or two until I finished everything. Considering I finally connected all the cables and had the box up and running on December 19th, it's safe to say things didn't go as planned. And 2024? 2024 will definitely be the year I dedicate time to Street Fighter.
However, building the controller itself was a lot of fun, and it's a process I'd recommend to any fighting game enthusiast (or, like me, a friend who does) with plenty of woodworking equipment on hand tomorrow. Although I watched YouTube videos and read articles online about other people's builds, I made a few small mistakes and picked up a few tips for other new builders. So it happened.
Planning steps
I decided to make a wooden fighting stick and keep it relatively small so it wouldn't be difficult to hold. I bought some 1.5cm plywood from a local store and while on vacation in Tokyo I decided to visit a slot machine parts store to pick up some buttons. I thought they would be a little cheaper than online in Japan, but I ended up wiping out all the savings because I panicked about the color combinations and bought more buttons than I needed.
For the main switches, I chose the Sanwa OBSN 24mm, which I will compare with the Cherry MX Red. These are the quick, light touch buttons you find in arcades and in many fight sticks. For different colors and textures, I also purchased Seimitsu PS-14s which require a little more pressure to activate and act as triple tap and kick buttons.
All that remains is the control panel and wiring.
Even though I primarily play on PC, I wanted the device to work on consoles as well. At $25, the Brook Zero-Pi is a budget-friendly option, but I had Brook send me a universal battle controller for $80, plus a little extra for PS5 support. However, if you want to make a Warstick, I recommend the new UFB Fusion, which includes the PS5 add-on; It's a plug-in card and it works. If you're building a non-stick controller like me, you'll also need a Fighting Board cable and a Hitbox cable, which makes the wiring process much easier. Brooke offers bundles to purchase the cables together and/or with the UFB, which significantly reduces the price.
The next steps in planning my build revealed a lot of complexity that I hadn't really considered at this point.
Even high-quality plywood doesn't have perfectly square edges , making perfect measurements difficult. This can be fixed quite easily, but only if you have the proper carpentry equipment.
The saws you use determine how you configure your controller . Since we don't have a table saw or saw (or a laser cutter would be better), we decided it would be difficult to create a box controller like this YouTube video. Instead, we used a sandwich approach, cutting the plywood into multiple pieces and layering them together to achieve the required thickness for all internal parts. This means we can then smooth out any rough edges with an orbital sander.
If you find a button pattern online, make sure the spacing is correct for screw buttons (better for thicker boxes) (for thin metal/acrylic panels). I used this modified model to fit the screw knobs, but they barely fit, so I needed a few extra millimeters of space between them. If I use one of these official models, it probably won't fit my buttons.
If you don't already have a well-stocked woodworking shop, the costs will definitely add up - I spent about $30 on 24mm and 30mm Forstner drill bits used just for drilling eyelets, about the same for wood and more for brushes. , stain and polyurethane for finishing.
Eyelid injection and trial assembly
Ideally, I would use a drill with Forstner round bits to make the buttonholes quickly and cleanly, but a hand drill did the job just fine. An important tip is to make a small indentation in the wood with the tip of the drill bit in the center to ensure it is secure and does not slip on the surface when drilling.
The advantage of this half-inch thick piece of plywood is that it is extremely strong and does not bend at all, but the disadvantage is that it is too thick to screw knobs into. This meant I had to drill each hole in the back of the top plate with a 30mm drill bit, doubling the amount of work at this stage of the process.
At this point we did a test and everything clicked! But later when I painted the wood and had to press all the buttons to stop it from moving, it was too tight.
Place the layers together, glue and cut.
After making the holes for the buttons, we drew a rough diagram above to figure out how to position the board and where the side buttons would be (for start, select, etc.) and where the hole for the USB jack would be . settle. . I would This helped us determine the thickness of the sides and how much extra wood we needed to put in the corners to properly protect the bottom panel screws. After drawing everything out, we lined up a few more pieces of plywood and glued them together to serve as the controller box.
The process here was dictated by the type of saw we had; In this case, we used a multi-tool that oscillates to saw vertically stacked wood. We used a piece of tape on the blade to mark the depth we wanted to cut, but with cheap particle board as a stop, we could tell quite easily when going through harder wood.
The cutting process was surprisingly painless and once the interior block was removed we were able to use the Forstner bits again to drill the holes for the side knobs and then glue the top panel in place.
Sand, sand and more sand
We have a box! The controller looks pretty good at the moment, but upgrading it is a long process. At this point I had to use an orbital sander to clean up the protruding lip of the top panel and also started sanding the sides, which was harder than it looked. Some pages tilt up or down and/or left or right; others are convex or slightly curved in between. A tree looks pretty straight until you look at it closely from all angles, and then it doesn't look straight at all.
After the first hour or two of machine sanding to get the sides roughly square, I did a lot of hand sanding to round off all the edges so they felt better on the wrist. As you can see in the final image, there is a fairly visible internal slope on the right side; I did my best to mimic it on the left and it looks flat unless you really look at the final product. It's definitely not perfectly rectangular, but that's fine for me - it feels like it's handmade and it doesn't affect the usability of the device at all.
Paint and polyurethane.
I wanted a dark reddish brown, so I applied three coats of stain under the reddish brown. I liked how it looked wet, but of course the color was less vibrant once it dried. However, multiple coats helped, like the last step: applying semi-gloss clear polyurethane. I sanded between them very finely to make sure there were no stain particles or residue left in the finish. The polymer really helps bring out the vibrancy of the wood in good lighting.
Final steps: combine everything
It turned out that installing all the buttons was more difficult than expected; In my testing, I had no problem inserting the screws securely into the wood. In some cases my fingers were too big to grip, I had to remove the excess with a screwdriver and use needle-nose pliers. I also needed pliers for the left buttons where the wood is held quite thick - my fingers wouldn't fit!
Luckily, wiring was a simple step: I just followed the instructions on the 20-pin harness, which indicated what color wire corresponded to each button. Brook also provides instructions for the Hitbox cable. Since the cables come pre-configured with connectors, simply slide them over the buttons and you're done. The only "manual" wiring I had to do was to the PS5 expansion board, which required connecting and screwing two cables to the appropriate ports on the Universal Battleboard. This took a minute with a small Phillips screwdriver.
I also had to attach the Neutrik USB connector with a few small screws, so I drilled small holes first and then attached it by hand. Since I already spent money on this project, I purchased both Type C and Type A cables to be prepared for any situation.
The final step was to close the board. I had some sturdy velcro left over from another project, so I attached it to the bottom of the UFB and then to the top panel. I expect it to stay in place like this, but if I want to modify it or move it to another device, it's easy to remove and reuse.
More tips and tricks for creating your own hitbox
In summary, here are some nuances:
This FocusAttack guide is a good starting point for determining which parts you need and which you don't (like choosing between button types).
Getting a perfectly smooth edge without the right tools is a real challenge. So if you're a hobby builder like me, a more experienced friend is invaluable (thanks John!).
There's a reason most fight clubs are taller than me. A deep bag gives you a little more room to rest your wrists, while a wider box fits your knees better. I don't regret building a more compact case, but if I had to do it again, I'd probably make it a little bigger.
If you don't want to build your own, there is definitely a cheaper custom option: the Eternal Rival acrylic box. You still have to supply your own buttons and circuit boards, but this gives you a plug-in housing with no sanding required. You can also create custom artwork for them on the top panel, which is really fun. Check out the r/fightsticks subreddit for some great designs to inspire you.
Even though it's not a stick, it will still be hard not to call it a "fighting stick" every time.
