*FIRST BUILD* What am i gonna need to make everything work

[BonzNumber1]

Ok so i bought a Golden Axe 2 arcade machine and i want to get the control panel and coin systems to work with my PC and mame.  Soon i plan to make my own control panel with 4 8way sticks, 30 micro controller buttons and a standard golden tee track ball.  currently the panel only has the sticks and 16 buttons but I want to have the room for the panel described.  most important is the coin mechanism as this machine is for me and my son and every quarter that goes in is for his education i figured that this is a good way for him and me to save =)

so here's what I'm asking.  I would like a list of things that i would need to buy to make this work links would be nice.  I'm willing to build all of it (if possible) but the key is i want it all to work well  so build it or buy it i just don't want compatibility issues

Bellow are pics of my machine and the connections on the buttons, buttons and coin mech.

The first is of my machine

The second is of the back of one of my 2 coin mech's

The third is of the back of 3 buttons

The forth is of the back of my 8way stick

[Donkbaca]

That is a very, very broad question, but I'll try to help you out:

Go to www.groovygamegear.com, and www.ultimarc.com  and http://www.paradisearcadeshop.com/index.php

Those are the websites that will have pretty much everything you need, browse the products and if you have any questions about stuff feel free to ask on the boards.  The owners of those stores are members here, and if you use the search function for one of their products on this website, you can probably find what you need.

I also suggest you browse the "project announcements" and "woodworking" sections of this forum for ideas about what other people have done.  It wouldn't hurt to look at the "software" forum too.  Finally, get on youtube and type in "MAME" and there will be a slew of how-to videos and examples of what other people have done.

Okay. Now.  In order to get your Coin mech to work.  If you look at it, a coin goes in the top, snakes its way through the mech and exits out of one of two chutes.  One chute goes to the coin reject area, the other goes to the coin box. The one that goes to the coin box should have a microswitch in it, with a long, skinny wire that gets tripped by a coin that passes through in order to register credits.  You wire this switch just like you would any switch in a joystick or button.  As far as what you wire it to, you can choose between a JPAC or IPAC from www.ultimarc.com, or a KEYWIZ from www.groovygamegear.com.  Those are the most common ways people interface their joysticks with their computers.

If you have any more specific questions, let me know.  Welcome to the hobby!

[BonzNumber1]

As far as what you wire it to, you can choose between a JPAC or IPAC from www.ultimarc.com, or a KEYWIZ from www.groovygamegear.com.  Those are the most common ways people interface their joysticks with their computers.

If you have any more specific questions, let me know.  Welcome to the hobby!

So if i were to use the ipac4 would I have enough inputs for my 4 8ways 30 buttons and the 4 coin slots? or would i need to get an aditional ipac2 also what would i use for my track ball?

[Donkbaca]

The IPAC 4 has 56 inputs, each joystick has 4 inputs so 4 joysticks would make 16 inputs. 30 buttons would bring you to 46, and then there would be 1 input for each of the coin mechs which brings you to 50.  A lot of people also have 2-4 admin buttons for things like pause and exit, so it seems one IPAC4 would do the trick


 If I may ask, why 30 buttons?  What games are you playing?  I ask this because most people have 6 or 7 buttons for P1 and P2, and then have at most 4 buttons for P3 and P4, since I don't think there are any 4 player games that use more than 4 buttons.  So you could get away with 7 buttons for P1, 7 buttons for P2, then 4 each for P3 and P4.  That would be a total of 18 buttons, plus for player start buttons, which would bring you to 22 buttons, and that is all you would need.  Maybe another button for pause, and another for exit.

As for the trackball, the simplest way to go would be to get a PS2 trackball, it plugs right into your USB.  Groovy Game Gear sells one, Ultimarc sells one and Happ sells one and x-gaming sells one.  If you want to go arcade authentic (golden tee) then get a 3 inch ball, otherwise a 2/14 ball may work.  Paradise arcade shop sells a USB 2/14 inch lighted PS/2 trackball for 30 bucks, that's a pretty good deal.

I would suggest the following steps:

1) decide what type of monitor you are using.

2) decide what type of games you are going to play.  This is key, lots of people go overboard and build "franken panels" I hate these, I am sure you have seen them, they are control panels with boat loads of buttons, joysticks, trackballs, spinners.  The initial reaction is " I want to play everything" But then you end up with a really, really expensive control panel, with a million things going on that is not user friendly.  For example, a good 3" USB trackball is going to set you back at least 60 bucks.  Is it worth it to spend 60 bucks and take up space on your control panel?  To some the answer is yes, to others, the answer is no, because they don't play enough trackball games to make it worth it.  Same with spinners, dedicated 4 way joysticks, etc.  Figure out what you want to play, what games you have to have and keep it simple. 

Along those lines:  Do you really need a 4 player control panel?  Will you have 4 people over, putting quarters into your machine on a often enough basis to justify the cost, effort, and space required for a 4 player panel?  Read the posts on here, the initial reaction is "man it would be sweet to have a 4 player TMNT game going on!" but then people end up with these HUGE 4 player panels that hardly ever get used.  If its just you and your son playing mostly, I would consider building a 2 player control panel and either save the money you would have spent on the parts for a 4 player panel or use it to do cool things like adding LED buttons.

Also regarding the quarter thing.  One thing you may consider is modifying your coin mech to take .984 tokens.  Its simple to do, I did it myself.  .984 tokens are about the same size as quarters, and almost the same weight, so its a simple mod.  You can pick up used .984 tokens on e-bay really cheap.  I got 200 of them for 10 bucks including shipping.  That way, you can still put quarters in the machine if you want, or you can "sell yourself" tokens and put the cash away in a piggy bank or something.  It also lets you give tokens to your son as a reward, and allows guests to play without having them shell out cash, or without you handing them quarters.

Just some thoughts.

[BonzNumber1]

i need 4 buttons for golden tee alone.  and another 7 each for player 2 and 3 another 4 each for player 1 and 4 then 4 player start buttons.  that's a total of 30 but now based on what you said i want 2more for pause and exit so 32. 

As for the trackball I would really rather not have to buy another one just to get it to interface i know there are ways to make the one i allready have work but i want to know what the best way to go about that is.  I have seen a few different controllers for them and also some info on the mouse hack but i want the one that works best.  not the easiest way that is the only reason i am gonna buy I-pac4 instead of a keyboard hack cause from what i've read is even a perfect keyboard hack has problems.

I'm not concerned about easy, I know you guys are use to newcomers biting off more than they can chew, but I can do almost anything I've seen mentioned in this forum in my shop.  Like I won't need to save cash on buttons just to put in lights i have over 1000 led's just sitting around in my shop when it comes to this project i literally have everything i need except the interface controls.

all said and done i will spend less than $300 on this project as i have everything cept the I-pac4 already i guess now all i need to know is what i'm gonna need is recommendations for the trackball.

so here's my question when a mouse hack is done perfectly does it work juat as well as the controllers you can buy?

[BobA]

Get a controller for a trackball.   Mouse hacks vary from good to poor as the mice are all different and you never know how it works till it is made.

[BonzNumber1]

Get a controller for a trackball.   Mouse hacks vary from good to poor as the mice are all different and you never know how it works till it is made.

thanks can you recommend one?

[Donkbaca]

Ultimarc sells them, so does groovy game gear.  Optiwiz and Optipac respectively.

BTW, you don't need to have seperate buttons for your trackball, you can just use some of the buttons from player one or player two.  The only real reason to have seperate trackball buttons is if you want to have mouse clicks, and that is only really useful is you are using your cabinet for something other than MAME.

[BonzNumber1]

Ultimarc sells them, so does groovy game gear.  Optiwiz and Optipac respectively.

BTW, you don't need to have seperate buttons for your trackball, you can just use some of the buttons from player one or player two.  The only real reason to have seperate trackball buttons is if you want to have mouse clicks, and that is only really useful is you are using your cabinet for something other than MAME.

i know i don't have to have them but when it comes down to it i don't have to have a track ball i could just use a mouse but that wont feel very authentic. I play allot of golden tee and when i play it i want it feel right when i hit the spin button I don't want to have to think about where it is i just want to hit it...

but thanks for the info on the trackball controllers i mean if you recommend both of them i'll just find the cheapest  one

[Donkbaca]

I didn't mean that you didn't need the trackball, you just don't need seperate buttons for the trackball.  In mame you can program the buttons to do whatever you want so if your layout is like this


J   xxx        O
  xxxx         

Where J is the Joystick for plyaer one, x are buttons and O is the trackball, you can just use the buttons next to your joystick instead of having a layout like this:

J  xxx    xxx   O
  xxxx

You see what I am saying?  The trackball does not need its own dedicated buttons if you are just going to use the cabinet for MAME

[BonzNumber1]

I didn't mean that you didn't need the trackball, you just don't need seperate buttons for the trackball.  In mame you can program the buttons to do whatever you want so if your layout is like this


J   xxx        O
  xxxx         

Where J is the Joystick for plyaer one, x are buttons and O is the trackball, you can just use the buttons next to your joystick instead of having a layout like this:

J  xxx    xxx   O
  xxxx

You see what I am saying?  The trackball does not need its own dedicated buttons if you are just going to use the cabinet for MAME

but id like to have them for the authentic feel that's same reason why ppl like to have 4 of the 7 player buttons  in a row

[BonzNumber1]

so i think this is gonna be my final panel.  just so you know credit for the design that i modified goes to Rene his site is http://www.northernarmy.com/arcade/ i moved how the 7th button sits and added the 4 buttons i'd like for my track ball and removed his coin buttons.  tell me what you guys think

[Donkbaca]

Very nice! But you don't need separate left click an right click mouse buttons. What would you ever use them for?  And you can just have two of your trackball buttons be mouse buttons

[BonzNumber1]

Very nice! But you don't need separate left click an right click mouse buttons. What would you ever use them for?  And you can just have two of your trackball buttons be mouse buttons

to behonest i think it will just be nice to have them. at the moment this is only gonna be a mame machine but who knows i may feel like playing wow on it and the left and right buttons could be handy

[BonzNumber1]

another question  this is a software question as my buddy is getting the computer ready while i do my cabinet.  either way we would like to use windows but never see windows... i'd like to see the bios post and then see something like a mame loading screen instead of the windows one and from that have my front end boot up

[Donkbaca]

 Just trust me on this, don put buttons just for left an right mouse clicks. It makes no sense, you can have your spin and right buttons be your mouse buttons or have the flyby and left be your muse buttons. You can assign left click to be spin an right click to be right or whatever in MAME. You don't need a separate button for every thing. In MAME you can have any keyboard or mouse input be whatever button you want and you can change that for every single game.

Ad for your other question, do a search for instant sheller

[BonzNumber1]

Just trust me on this, don put buttons just for left an right mouse clicks. It makes no sense, you can have your spin and right buttons be your mouse buttons or have the flyby and left be your muse buttons. You can assign left click to be spin an right click to be right or whatever in MAME. You don't need a separate button for every thing. In MAME you can have any keyboard or mouse input be whatever button you want and you can change that for every single game.

Ad for your other question, do a search for instant sheller

Thanks for letting me know about instant sheller very helpful...  on another note I finished doing a mouse hack cause I didn't want to wait for the controller to be shipped to me over a long weekend.  It was so easy I have decided to do a keyboard hack 1/2 way through it though it is allot harder i think i can muddle through it =)

[Donkbaca]

Good luck! Keyboard hacks are different then mouse hacks because there are no interrupts on a regular keyboard that allow you to press more than one key at the same time. Let me know how it goes!

[BonzNumber1]

Good luck! Keyboard hacks are different then mouse hacks because there are no interrupts on a regular keyboard that allow you to press more than one key at the same time. Let me know how it goes!

what do you mean you can't press more than one key at a time?