Operation first build under way

[AlienInferno]

The only admin buttons I have on my panel will be EXIT and PAUSE.  Your idea for the buttons sound like what I'm going to do.  I've got the Electric Ice 2 buttons from GGG and will be sticking Pongo's vinyl on them.  I'd post a pic but don't have the panel put together yet.  I'm currently in the painting stage.

[PL1]

I still need to decide what to do for admin buttons so any input would be great. Coin up for both players and player 1 and player two start buttons? What else?

In addition, I have Escape, Pause, Enter, Tab, and 2 mouse buttons. YMMV.

Apparently when I bought the buttons I had the idea of using LED buttons for the coin up and player start with overlays on those buttons from GGG. Thoughts?

Are you talking about Pongo's Vinyl or these inserts from GGG?  The note on them says, "NOTE: These are designed for our NovaGem™ Pushbuttons and similar styles only! They are not compatible with our ChromaLite™ and SpectraLite™ style buttons. These will have a dedicated style of insert all their own."

The good news is you can print your own custom inserts to go inside LED buttons. (The translucent ones, not Electric Ice)

Attached is a PDF with the inserts I printed on inkjet transparency media.  They fit perfectly in my Paradise Arcade LED buttons and might work for the GGG LED buttons as well.

The quarters may look dark printed on paper, but will work great on transparency media. 

The hardest part is the painstaking process of trimming them to the right size.  I used reasonably sharp scissors for the rough cut, then used nail clippers to slowly nibble down the rough edges to a perfect fit. Protip: Leave a small "handle" while you trim the rest of the way around so your finger ridges don't wear off the ink.

Let me know if you need the inserts resized/customized.


Scott

[2panther]

The only admin buttons I have on my panel will be EXIT and PAUSE.  Your idea for the buttons sound like what I'm going to do.  I've got the Electric Ice 2 buttons from GGG and will be sticking Pongo's vinyl on them.  I'd post a pic but don't have the panel put together yet.  I'm currently in the painting stage.

Good thinking on having a button for pause, I can see how that would be useful.

Are you talking about Pongo's Vinyl or these inserts from GGG?  The note on them says, "NOTE: These are designed for our NovaGem™ Pushbuttons and similar styles only! They are not compatible with our ChromaLite™ and SpectraLite™ style buttons. These will have a dedicated style of insert all their own."

The good news is you can print your own custom inserts to go inside LED buttons. (The translucent ones, not Electric Ice)

Attached is a PDF with the inserts I printed on inkjet transparency media.  They fit perfectly in my Paradise Arcade LED buttons and might work for the GGG LED buttons as well.

The quarters may look dark printed on paper, but will work great on transparency media. 

The hardest part is the painstaking process of trimming them to the right size.  I used reasonably sharp scissors for the rough cut, then used nail clippers to slowly nibble down the rough edges to a perfect fit. Protip: Leave a small "handle" while you trim the rest of the way around so your finger ridges don't wear off the ink.

Let me know if you need the inserts resized/customized.


Scott

I have the novagems from GGG with the associated inserts. I was thinking of using the red novagem button as the escape button which I think would bring the player back to the menu to choose another game? One white novagem button for each player start button and then one blue button for coin up for each player? I also have two solid black buttons but I don't remember what I wanted to use those for. Maybe hide the pause button on the back of the cp or on the bottom?

How do I take one of these apart to slip the insert in? Press the plunger down and squeeze the prongs?

[PL1]

You got Novagems?  Didn't think they'd been in stock for quite a while.  You must have bought them when you first started this project.     jk.

I was thinking of using the red novagem button as the escape button which I think would bring the player back to the menu to choose another game?
. . .
Maybe hide the pause button on the back of the cp or on the bottom?

In default configuration, pressing Escape pauses the game with the option to exit (Enter) or return to play. (Escape again)  Confirmation can be disabled in software so one press of escape exits.

If you leave exit confirmation enabled and have an enter button, you can avoid exiting due to one accidental button press and still have a pause function with only 2 admin buttons.

Not sure if placing the pause button out of sight is the best plan.

One white novagem button for each player start button and then one blue button for coin up for each player?

Since you're using the inserts for player buttons it would be nice to use them for your coins, but you might prefer clear buttons for that. Good luck finding more Novagems.    

Worst case scenario - change to Spectralites or Paradise LEDs and print your own inserts.

I also have two solid black buttons but I don't remember what I wanted to use those for.

Will these go with the rest of the the panel? Mixing inserts and vinyl may not look right.

How do I take one of these apart to slip the insert in? Press the plunger down and squeeze the prongs?

You got it. Details and tips on the PGI Insert page.


Scott

[2panther]

After closer inspection, these are NOT novagems, they are the Spectralites, I still have the invoice from 10/11 when I bought them, my mistake.

The black buttons I'm referencing are simply solid black Arcade PRIME pushbuttons, i think I was going to stick them somewhere out of site but I can't remember what I thought they would do lol

Ok so if I go with the Spectralites I already have then I could do player 1 and player 2 start in white, and coin up for each player in blue (or maybe I should buy yellow?) and use the red for exit/pause if I leave confirmation enabled?  I would just need to print out some inserts for the buttons as you suggested. Sound like a plan? I don't see the size hole I would need for the Spectralites on GGG though, do you know off hand?

[PL1]

After closer inspection, these are NOT novagems, they are the Spectralites, I still have the invoice from 10/11 when I bought them, my mistake.

Great news: Randy's got plenty of those.

The black buttons I'm referencing are simply solid black Arcade PRIME pushbuttons, i think I was going to stick them somewhere out of site but I can't remember what I thought they would do lol

Use them for pinball flipper buttons?

Ok so if I go with the Spectralites I already have then I could do player 1 and player 2 start in white, and coin up for each player in blue (or maybe I should buy yellow?) and use the red for exit/pause if I leave confirmation enabled?  I would just need to print out some inserts for the buttons as you suggested.

For mine, I used the following colors:
P1/P2 Start, P1/P2 Coin, and R/L Mouse buttons are clear
Escape is red---\
Pause is yellow--|---Think traffic signal.
Enter is green--/
Menu is blue

SpectraLites are $2.15 each.  Considering how much effort you have put into making the artwork look great, that's a pretty small expense.

I don't see the size hole I would need for the Spectralites on GGG though, do you know off hand?

So, the guy who just said that he has a bunch of these on hand is asking the guy who is using the competition's LED buttons what the measurement is? 

If they are the same as the Arcade Primes, then they are standard 1 1/8" buttons.

Final thought: If you adjust the artwork/layout to get rid of the dedicated 4-way stick, consider putting the admin buttons on one line and grouping them similar to this. (Adjusted to reflect your specific choices, of course) Some people prefer to swap the P2 Coin and P2 Start locations.


Scott

Edit: Admin button final thought in wrong post, but still a good idea IMHO.

[2panther]

made some good progress over the weekend, I apparently made a very slight error on the right hand side player 1 and credit buttons as they are just barely not lined up exact. I can tell but my wife cannot.


Traced out the mounting plate on the Zippyy fight stick


First of 8 inserts. I followed the directions from P1 and GGG and drilled the 1/8 pilot hole followed by the 5/16 full size hole for the insert itself. I was nervous about these inserts for not having ever used them before but following the directions and taking my time things worked out good I believe.


one side done


Does my work line up with the plate? yes!  


looking good


I notice the player 2 start and credit button being slightly off...

Now I just need to drill a hole in the piece of MDF for the back of the CP and glue it in. Then figure out how to mount the CP top to the CP base.

I also wanted to thank all those who've helped me out with this phase of the project, I probably had some silly questions for those who are handy with tools and or woodworking as I am not. I hope to be able to help others now that am almost finished with my own build and have been "in the $h1t" as they say.

[2panther]

So I tossed a 4670 into my pc that is running HyperSpin and my emulators just to see it up on the TV and the colors and the resolution are not quite right on the tv. I have Windows set the resolution of the TV to 640x480 (correct?) and the top is cut off (see SNES pic) and The desktop has a green tint to it when it should be blue. When I hook up an LCD it the colors show correctly so I'm guessing the video card is good and maybe the TV is messed up? I thought for sure tube TV's were 640x480? Any thoughts on the green tint?

[BadMouth]

Not sure about the green tint, but it doesn't look messed up on the Mario screen?
What type of connection are you using to the TV; composite, component, or s-video?
(could just be a bad cable depending on the type)

Also make sure that your video card is set to the right kind of output,
especially if it only has one plug with various adapters coming off of it.

Since only the Hyperspin screen is cut off, Hyperspin is probably running at too high of a resolution.
I don't use Hyperspin, so can't help you there.  

I think 640x480 is the standard, but both my machines are running 1024x768 over S-Video.
It's harder to read stuff in windows, but the newer games look better.  
They look even better over the component input, but I have s-video light guns.
I switch it back to 640x480 when I need to work in windows.
If I go back into my front end while at the lower resolution, it cuts stuff off like in your pic.

[2panther]

Not sure about the green tint, but it doesn't look messed up on the Mario screen?
What type of connection are you using to the TV; composite, component, or s-video?
(could just be a bad cable depending on the type)

I'm using component, I swapped the cables to rule that out and it's still tinted green. It is messed up on the Mario screen as well, Mario wears blue overalls has blue eyes and yoshi's green is off.

Also make sure that your video card is set to the right kind of output,
especially if it only has one plug with various adapters coming off of it.

The card has dual DVI and S-Video Out.

Since only the Hyperspin screen is cut off, Hyperspin is probably running at too high of a resolution.
I don't use Hyperspin, so can't help you there.  

I will check HyperSpin and see what resolution is set there, thanks.

I think 640x480 is the standard, but both my machines are running 1024x768 over S-Video.
It's harder to read stuff in windows, but the newer games look better.  
They look even better over the component input, but I have s-video light guns.
I switch it back to 640x480 when I need to work in windows.
If I go back into my front end while at the lower resolution, it cuts stuff off like in your pic.

Got it.

If all else fails and this tv is fubar I will just order a 27" lcd and hope it fits into the frame that is wood glued into the cabinet 

[2panther]

After quite some time off, I'm back trying to complete this build.

Update: 27" CRT monitor blew up, turned it on one time to start working (actually I was just trying to get something, anything playable) and the monitor made a popping sound and a quick flash on the screen and now the power light doesn't come on. I pulled the monitor (heavy as hell 27" Sony Trinitron) out of the cabinet and it's going to be recycled next week. I'm on the hunt for a 27" LCD (yes I know games won't look exactly right as they did on a CRT) in the interest in just getting this build done and over with so my kids (yeah my kids, that's it) can play it.

Things needed to be done still:
1. wire buttons and joysticks
2. install t-molding
3. apply side art
4. wire coin door to light up (no idea how to do this or where to even get power from to do so)
5. wire marquee light (no idea how to do this or where to even get power from to do so)
6. configure MAME and all ROM's using hyperspin fe
7. 8 hour bender of all my favorite games

It's been a long time since I've been on here so I'm kind of out of the loop as far as procedure for things. Can someone tell me how to get power to both the controls (5 buttons are LED light up buttons) and the marguee light which is the NovaMatriz LED Linx lighting

I'm a complete electricity idiot so yeah 

[2panther]

This project still has a little life in it yet. I'm wiring the pushbuttons on my cp and I'm unsure of what button traditionally goes to what on the ipac. I have a 7 button layout for each player so does that mean that the first button on the second row would be button 1? or is the first button on the left of the top row button 1?

what about the admin buttons at the top? I haven't really gotten into the software side of things yet but will I need to configure the buttons for every MAME game individually?

hopefully this pic illustrates what I'm asking.

[Drnick]

I would go with 123 on top then 7456 on the bottom.  You then only need to remap Neo Geo games and any others that may like that layout, and you would set 7456 as 1234 for those games. Or you can go with 456  on top then 7123 on the bottom.  I suppose it depends on if you prefer using the bottom or top row for 2 button games.

I'm sure someone else can chime in on the mame defaults for buttons but I think its the streetfighter 3 over 3 with 123 top and 456 on bottom. This is why I say make that extra button number 7.  This way you would have to change the minimum of buttons.  I am sure that there is a way to do it easily just for the neo geo games. Check out the following.

http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/w/index.php?title=Ctrlr_file#Remap_and_Test_with_the_standard_in_game_UI_method_and_Convert_to_Ctrlr_file

You can use any spare port on the ipac for the admin buttons, you just reconfigure mame for that buttons function. This is a global setting so only needs to be set once.

[2panther]

OK great thanks. I'm using an ipac with this cabinet and I see that I can remap where needed now the only thing is that Mame seems to be keeping the default mapping versus using what I changed in the Winipac button configurer thingy. How can I get Mame to use what I told ipac to use?

[severdhed]

once your ipac is programmed, you go into mame and redefine all the keys to match.

personally, i have mine mapped

1237
456

i have mame set to use button 4 or 7 as button 4 for all games, then i just tweak the few that need changed (MK...etc)

this way by default all games that have 4 or less buttons use the top row, and the fighting games use the standard sf layout...then i just tweak the 7th button as needed