Coin & Start Button the Same??

[Lumpy]

Can some one tell me the draw backs... if there are any.. to mapping the Player Start buttons to the insert coin keys?

Basically I bought 1-4 Player buttons, do I need seperate Start and Coin buttons?

Thanks in advance for you input

[hyiu]

it works...

but for some very old games...

you'll nee separate buttons... (or else they don't start.. just keep adding credits...)

[Lilwolf]

I have them together... I'm not sure I made the right choice.

I did it because it confused the kids (who have never put a coin in an arcade) and don't see the difference... They can just wack away at the start/coin buttons.

But some really do act a little weird.  But those (so far) have been two player games... And I just moved the 1 coin to player 3 start... (and 2 -> 4)... Works so far...

but it isn't a great solution.

I might make it so you HAVE to use coins soon...  (but I hacked my coin mech so it takes ALL coins... nice for a coin jar)

[Lumpy]

Right now I don't have the money to put in a coin door and was looking for the cleanest way of setting this up on the control panel.   Unless someone can point me in the right direction to get one cheap.

My first idea was to put the Start button and the coin button right next to each other on the top of the controls panel.  After doing that on a cardboard template I'm not sure I like the look of it.

The next idea was to put it on the front of the control panel where each person stands.  I've seen that done before, but wasn't sure if that was the best solution.

Any other suggestions to making it look good and being functional?

[Lilwolf]

Having only one button works for almost all the games... Some you ahve to hit twice (one for the coin, one to start) some will jump off and go right away.

but there are a few (don't have a list for you sorry) that I had to change the settings around.   And this was very annoying to me since my frontend makes it so I dont' have to do that for switching between control panels and a bunch of other options... yet I now do because I wanted to remvoe a few buttons from the front of my cabinet.

[grafixmonkey]

You might end up accidentally starting 1-player games when you were going to hit the 2-player start, or vice versa.  

You can always keep a keyboard plugged in close by as a temporary solution if you're going to eventually get a coin door, or just hide a couple buttons somewhere (like on a back edge of the panel) that you can push.  Even a couple bare cherry microswitches without any buttons on them would do the trick, and you could temporarily attach those with 3M removable foam tape until you find a better solution too.

You can also get little vertical coin drops that are cheaper than a coin door.  There are small, self-contained metal slot/return things too, that are cheaper than a full coin door.  This is the cheapest I found on Happ:
http://www.happcontrols.com/coindoors/40150000.htm
If you call them and talk to a sales rep, they might make a deal if you can't buy it at the listed price.

[paigeoliver]

This only works well for 2 player cabinets.

Map player 2 start to coin.

Then you can press player 2 start once to coin, and then press either player one or player 2 start as needed. Of course this does not work with everything.

[grafixmonkey]

Unless someone can point me in the right direction to get one cheap.

Check the buy/sell/trade forum.  There are lots of refurbished coin doors flying around there for pocket change.

[Spaced Invader]

If you really can't afford a coin door (you CAN get them pretty cheap), just put a couple buttons down where the coin door will eventually go...assuming you will eventually get a coin door. Mapping the buttons together complicates things...simple good/complicated bad.  

Just my opinion.

[Lumpy]

Just had a thought....  man that hurt....

Would there be anyway to buy the coin eject buttons and wire them up as coin buttons?  Anyone have any ideas on how to mount them right to the wood cabinet or on how to get them to work.

Spaced Invader....thanks for getting me thinking....

[dhansen]

A lot of people have done the reject/coin thing I used a leaf spring that gets triggered when the mechs on the backside push out..

(don't look at this gif for too long...if you set it to 70's porn music you might get turned on... )

Doug