NOLF2, Great game... cab possiblities?

[Lilwolf]

Well, last week I picked up No One Lives Forever 2 for 10bucks at Sams club.  GREAT GAME!  Man I was in stitches most of the time.  Great fun trying to be sneaky... but pulling out the machine gun when you want to!  

I haven't played such a great, polished, all around entertaining game for a long time.  I tried the demo when it first came out... thought it was good.. but didn't have the time / money to put 50 bucks into it (because I could get 3 joysticks and a some new leaf switch buttons for that!)

Anyway, for the games that deserve it, I would like to try to get them on my cab... Anyone ever come up with a good control panel design for fps?

I hate trackballs, but thought a touch pad might work.  anyone try one with a fps shooter to replace the mouse?  you would just loose the easy mouse buttons...

I was also thinking that I could get one of those little black light mice and put a cord going through the cabinet... I might be able to have the a control panel with an actual mouse on it.  

Might work.

I played it on my work machine, but my game / mame machine is really designed for games... It would be great to get them working together.

[Lilwolf]

Oh yeah... and anyone else play any other 'new/bargain bin' games like NOLF2 that are worth playing?

BTW, the $13 bucks was worth it for the house in tornado scene alone for action... And the memos for changing the project name for humor.  And the ocean scene for visuals (last level).  All the rest was just gravy.  

[TalkingOctopus]

I think that first person shooters are better off with a keyboard and mouse combo and nowhere near an arcade.

But NOLF 2 is a great game.  NOLF one was good too.  Check that one out too if you have not allready.

[Lilwolf]

The only reason to add it is just to seperate my gaming machine and my work machine really.

Right now, I have to swap cables / monitors / keyboards to get it on a real keyboard mouse..

I might just try and come up with some designs that might work for me....   The question is if I will do a mouse or try something else I guess

[qaotik]

Well not to be played with trackballs and joystick but if you already havent checked Thief: The Dark Project and System Shock 2 you definately should. Both have demos to try and imo best games ever made.

And if you like robotron u might wanna check this out:

http://www.pompom.org.uk/mutantstorm.htm

[hooded_paladin]

using standard arcade controls, I think it'd play okay with an 8-way or analog flightstick with a trigger and at least two other buttons and a trackball.

Trackball for the mouse, obviously (In fact, some people prefer a trackball for FPS's even on a PC ... it's something about not having to pick up and move the mouse for long sweeps)

An 8-way stick works for the standard ASDW position your left hand is in, or analog would work too.

You don't have trigger buttons with your trackball so the joystick needs to have a trigger and probably at least two others.

Then you need lots of buttons for weapon switching and other things.  This would kind of be hard with a traditional arcade setup.

It seems a lot easier to add a keyboard and mouse.  But make sure you have a good stool as you will NOT be standing for an entire level/round.

[shmokes]

I can't even imagine the hilarity that would ensue if I tried to play a first person shooter with a touchpad...

[paigeoliver]

I ALWAYS played first person shooters on the PC using a trackball. They should be doable on a control panel using a trackball and a nice large button bank for the left hand. (Or trackball and 4 button top fire stick).

[john_mame]

Oh yeah... and anyone else play any other 'new/bargain bin' games like NOLF2 that are worth playing?

I'll have to second the reccomendation of NOLF 1.

In many ways it was superior to the sequel.

[Nailz]

I will agree that NOLF 2 is pretty sweet, I will also agree with others that the ONLY way to play a FPS is with a keyboard and a mouse, unless you want your ass handed to you on a consistent basis.  

I tried playing Doom when it first came out on a gravis gamepad, wondered why my butt was getting kicked all the time when we got together to do some LAN gaming.  I switching to the standard keyboard/mouse and it's night and day.

It would probably be fun to have on the MAME cabinet with the arcade controls, but I am guessing that you'll need a really good sense of humor and have to not care that you aren't near as good as you were with the keyboard/mouse.

[Lilwolf]

Ok, I'm going to try to create a fps control panel.

I'm going with a mouse with a routed mouse area... But being lefthanded I will have to have the area on both sides.

Then the buttons in the middle will be the question.  Inverted T with buttons all around it...   I'll see if I can make something work.