hi all noob, here

[JohnnyRocket76]

forgive my ignorance but i am just now planning my frst arcade build.
i have a few questions for you seasoned vets.
i have already ordered the x arcade tankstick and plan on modifying it slightly with spinners and a few extra buttons.
my first question is... is there a way to play games such as mario 64, star fox, 720 or any number of flight/driving games that require an analog input?
ive been looking at some sticks the 360 the 49. do any of these work well enough on these types of games?
or would it be better to just keep a handheld controller tucked away?
im also wondering how to connect light up buttons? do they require any special hardware/software
the is the effect i would like to have...

thanks in advance

[Donkbaca]

I don't know why you would need more buttons than what are in a tank stick.

I would prefer joypads to play console games, plus they are easy to set up

[BobA]

You would first have to replace all the xarcade black buttons with some that are translucent or transparent to put the LEDs in.  The video shows changing colors so you need RGB leds in each button and an LED controller. An LEDwiz can do 32 outputs so only 10 in RGB so to do your buttons and the trackball you need 20 which is 2 LEDwiz and 20 RGB LEDs and 18 translucent buttons and a translucent trackball on an xarcade.  Going to cost a fair bit and involve lots of wiring.

You could also use a single pacled64 and translucent or transparent buttons and RGB Leds from ultimarc.

[orchidius]

You would first have to replace all the xarcade black buttons with some that are translucent or transparent to put the LEDs in.  The video shows changing colors so you need RGB leds in each button and an LED controller. An LEDwiz can do 32 outputs so only 10 in RGB so to do your buttons and the trackball you need 20 which is 2 LEDwiz and 20 RGB LEDs and 18 translucent buttons and a translucent trackball on an xarcade.  Going to cost a fair bit and involve lots of wiring.

You could also use a single pacled64 and translucent or transparent buttons and RGB Leds from ultimarc.

Alternatevely you can of course solder the LEDs up yourself and possibly save a substantial amount of money. The LEDs from GGG are of course as simple and straightforward as they come. Also, there's no need to buy a dozen LEDwiz boards. That's only necessary if you absolutely want all buttons to be individually controllable (as far as lighting goes ofc ). For example, my button 1 (P1) and button 1 (P2) are wired to the same LEDwiz port. Therefore they light up in the same color every time, but I only need 1 LEDwiz to wire my entire controlpanel.

[arzoo]

Also, there's no need to buy a dozen LEDwiz boards.

Just as a clarification for someone new to this hobby - this is a bit of an exaggeration  
As BobA has mentioned, he only needs 2 LEDWiz (GGG) boards or a single PacLED46 (Ultimarc) board.

[bkenobi]

You can play N64 games with an 8-way stick, but you will be very disappointed with the general playability for any game that utilizes the analog stick.  If you play a fighting game like Street Fighter, you should be fine.  If you want to play Mario Kart 64, though...well, that won't go quite as well.  I tried for a while and it does work, but it kinda sucks.  I now use Logitech Rumblepads for console gaming and am VERY happy with the performance.

[Donkbaca]

Yeah there is no real way to do console gaming on a stand up cab and have it feel right if it uses analog controls.  I use the xbox controllers in my cabinet.  The only thing that sucks about that is that the controller has enough buttons for the n64, but it does not have them in the right spot, i.e. six buttons on the face. 

[EVEGames]

Johnny,
My 2 cents, I agree with Donkbaca, if console games are a serious priority to you, an arcade control panel will never do them justice.  Here are a couple links to threads discussing "Retro Ports".

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=66238.0
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=103117.0

This way, you don't need to clutter your control panel with analog controls in order to get more authentic console gameplay... what's more authentic than the real thing? 
And it's not that expensive or difficult to do...

[garnerb350]

Johnny...
Im using a Tankstick as well for my CP...

NES & some SNES games....you can play "ok" with it, but i dont appprove of it... I agree with the rest of the gang...

N64...heck no!

I like the idea of having retro ports on mine, and when i get time, i will try to install on my cab....

What i have done, i came across the USB retro controllers and I also have an old logictech game pad controller and i hooked up an old 4 port usb hub and i plugged them in and whenever i am in a mood to play i pull them out and use em....store em inside my cab when im done...

 

[bkenobi]

Strong point about the position of buttons.  I've found an acceptable configuration for N64, but it is not the same as the original, obviously.  If N64 is your perfect controller, nothing but an N64 controller will work.  I wanted a single type of gamepad to control all console gaming, so I opted for a dual shock style.

[Donkbaca]

I really like the Xbox controllers, they are wireless and set up super easy with windows, since they are MS.  The thing is I HATE the N64 controller, the analog sticks always fail, and they are uncomfortable.  For most games you dont need the 4 C buttons, on the face, they are usually used for moving the camera around, so i just mapped them to the second analog stick. For the few games that use all 6 face buttons though, its annoying.

[EVEGames]

The thing is I HATE the N64 controller, the analog sticks always fail, and they are uncomfortable.  For most games you dont need the 4 C buttons, on the face, they are usually used for moving the camera around, so i just mapped them to the second analog stick. For the few games that use all 6 face buttons though, its annoying.

All a matter of taste of course, but for me, if I could choose only 1 set of retro ports to add to my arcade cabinet, and I wanted maximum versatility across all consoles and arcade games... no contest whatsoever... N64.  For my money, absolutely the most versatile of all console controllers, FOR EMULATION PURPOSES, when coupled with a program like JoyToKey.  Allow me to convince you beyond a shadow of a doubt... 

1) Seamless mapping to standard arcade control panel.  Button A, B, and the 4 yellow buttons line up just like a standard 6-button control panel, and the D-pad  maps to your 8-way joystick.  Why would you want to replicate a control panel on a controller?  I see two reasons - first, some (younger) players generally prefer the D-pad over the joystick, and this allows them to play classic arcade games with a controller they can relate to, and second...

2) Allows for simultaneous 4-player arcade action on your 2-player cabinet.  Alternate controller mappings can be loaded into JoyToKey via batch files, which can be launched from most front-ends.  One such mapping could assign the default MAME Player 3 and Player 4 keyset to your N64 controllers... now you have two players on the control panel (Player 1 and 2), and one on either side using N64 controllers (Player 3 and 4).  Think NBA Jam, Gauntlet, Simpsons, etc. etc.  I have your attention now, don't I 

3) Focusing on console games, each N64 controller provides a total of 10 buttons, one D-pad and one analog joystick.  True, this does not cover dual-analog systems such as Playstation, but it covers all the classic consoles pretty well (unless you're a big Atari2600 or C64 fan... that calls for another set of retro ports).  And if you're a fan, as a bonus, you get to play N64 games with authentic controls.

4) Flexibility... coupled with JoyToKey or similar software, the analog stick and button Z (trigger) can function very nicely as a mouse and left-click button while in the front-end, playing PC games, or simply navigating in Windows.  Also, with 10 buttons per controller and very few systems requiring them all, you can set up one of these buttons to function as the "Shift" key, which when held down, remaps all buttons to an alternate keyset.  Use this in the same way you use your keyboard encoder's Shift function, to give yourself access to Pause, TAB, Enter, Tilde, the Function keys for your computer emus, etc.

[EVEGames]

Forgot to mention the obvious downside... OEM N64 controllers are very hard to find these days.  They can still be had on Ebay, but you won't find them in the 'used' section of your local GameStop anymore, so you should inquire about the state of the analog joystick before buying.. they do wear out.  There are new 3rd party N64 knock-off controllers readily available, though I cannot vouch for their quality.

[Donkbaca]

The six buttons on the face of the controller are cool, but there are really very few games outside of fighters where you would want six buttons in a row like that. Plus the fact that the buttons are all different sizes makes it a little akward.

The other benefits aren't unique to the n64 controllers, the xbox controllers share the same benefit, plus they are wireless and they have the benefit of two analog sticks that are actually durable.

You don't need joy to key, you can just map MAME controls straight to the joysticks.

Downsides: the controllers are ugly, horribly laid out, not comfortable to use. Plus they wear out ridiculously fast.
Upside: it makes playing N64 games easier.

I would recommend xbox controllers to most people, unless authentic N64 controls are a must for you

[EVEGames]

The six buttons on the face of the controller are cool, but there are really very few games outside of fighters where you would want six buttons in a row like that. Plus the fact that the buttons are all different sizes makes it a little akward.

. . .

You don't need joy to key, you can just map MAME controls straight to the joysticks.

I'd estimate no less than 75% of everyone's control panel on this forum has exactly that layout - 6 buttons per player, 3 x 3.  This way your controller layout mirrors your control panel - no confusion about what button does what.  To me, that's a big plus.

. . .

Sure you can just tweak MAME, and most other emulators, to accept the joystick's input directly.  But to get the most out of a retro port, be it N64, XBox or any other controller, people should consider some software like JoytoKey, for reasons mentioned above.  But do you have enough dedicated buttons to hit Pause, Tab, Enter, ESC, Insert Coin, etc right there in your hand... a shift function is handy for that.  The ability to switch from a Player 1/2 keyset to a Player 3/4 keyset to me is a VERY cool and useful option, and requires JoytoKey or similar.

[DeLuSioNal29]

You need to checkout retrousb.com

They have USB adapter that are plug and play for retro controllers.

http://www.retrousb.com/index.php?cPath=21&osCsid=2bd6e116c0f0848029f80f8c430ca3b8

So you can simply buy the N64 adapter and then use the actual N64 controller.  Can't more authentic than that.

D

[Donkbaca]

The only people that have six buttons on their cp are people that play street fighter. There are no 4 player arcade  games that use more than 4 buttons that I know of, so having six buttons in a row only benefits some N64 games and Saturn games.


I don't see why you would use joy to key in mame when you can just globally set all 3 and 4 player controls in mame.  Web with joy to key you would have to set up the emulators. 

If you just like the N64 controllers the best, well that is personal preference and I am cool with that, but the advantages you cite aren't unique to the N64 controllers, and in my opinion xbox controllers work better with dreamcadt, psx and old school emulators

[EVEGames]

I don't see why you would use joy to key in mame when you can just globally set all 3 and 4 player controls in mame.  Web with joy to key you would have to set up the emulators. 

Donkbaca, you continue to miss the point.  Yes, you can set up MAME to use your controllers for Player 3 and 4 at all times, or for Players 1 and 2 at all times, in addition to having your control panel fully functional.  What if you want the flexibility to use those controllers for Player 1 and 2 sometimes (when you want to give the players the option to use either the control panel or the controller based on their preferences), and to use them for Players 3 and 4 at other times (when you want to play 4-player Gauntlet with a 2-player control panel, for example).  That, among many other wonderful things, is what JoyToKey or similar programs can do for you.

Remember, the original poster introduced himself as a noob, who may not know about joystick encoding software, specifically called out an N64 game (Mario64), and said he ordered a TankStick (which, like nearly ALL retail control panels and hobbyist-built control panels, offers AT LEAST six butons per player - in this case, eight).  Let's help him learn about the options available to him, eh? 

[DillonFoulds]

Maybe we missed the boat here buuuut.......

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS! Hope you enjoy your stay!

[Donkbaca]

Options are good 

But if people want to play with controllers, why build a cab?

Anyhow I think we all agree, arcade controls fir arcade games and controllers for consoles