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| Yes you can double-up inputs using shift on an I-PAC |
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| fogman:
I guess I am kind of surprised that no one sees the need for admin buttons that aren't shifted or at least that it is not a big deal. With my rotating CP, I plan on having the emulator in the CP, so I don/t want to run a bunch of wires out of it. I would like my admin buttons on the cab, and again would like to aviod a bunch of small gage wires. I don't have a problem with using the shift, but I know if I have friends over and tell them "To select a game, hold down the Player 1 button and move the left joystick to the left" they would look at me like I grew a third eye. I don't hang with the sharpest tools in the shed. I absolutely undestand the economics- that if a smaller board would be the same price as a regular Keywiz or I-pac, then it would not be realistic- I could just buy a new one and reprogram it. The problem I had with a secondary keypad is that hacking it would require setting the admin keys to the keypad equivalent. Does anyone know if the comuter sees the new keypad as different then the regular number pad??? I was trying to avoid reprogramming the emulator or installing diodes and the like. I have no electrical experience at all and do not want to end up buying a new I-Pac after frying the first, because I don't know how to install a diode. Having said that, I think you both did a great job with your emulators. I am duly impressed that you not only designed them, but also are able to market them and hope you are making decent money. The I-Pac has been a huge help, I just wish I wasn't so cheap and bought the 4 instead of the 2!!! Then I wouldn't have a problem at all. Oh well, live and learn! |
| eightbit:
--- Quote from: fogman on November 21, 2003, 09:15:29 am ---I guess I am kind of surprised that no one sees the need for admin buttons that aren't shifted or at least that it is not a big deal. With my rotating CP, I plan on having the emulator in the CP, so I don/t want to run a bunch of wires out of it. I would like my admin buttons on the cab, and again would like to aviod a bunch of small gage wires. I don't have a problem with using the shift, but I know if I have friends over and tell them "To select a game, hold down the Player 1 button and move the left joystick to the left" they would look at me like I grew a third eye. I don't hang with the sharpest tools in the shed. --- End quote --- You can do admin buttons that aren't shifted. How many admin butons are you trying to get? A standard 2 player 6 button layout is 24 inputs with no admin buttons. On the ipac that leaves you 4 input and on the keywiz it leaves you with 8 inputs to use without shifting for admin functions. You are going to have wires goin in and out of your rotating panel no matter what. I don't see why a couple coin inputs and admin functions are a big deal. It would be more difficult to install and configure a secound encoder. --- Quote from: fogman on November 21, 2003, 09:15:29 am ---I was trying to avoid reprogramming the emulator or installing diodes and the like. I have no electrical experience at all and do not want to end up buying a new I-Pac after frying the first, because I don't know how to install a diode. --- End quote --- You can't get away from having to configure the emulator. By default mame doesn't even map buttons 5 and 6 so you have to go in and set them. Why is it such a big deal to change other buttons? When you set up your buttons connect p1 start to "enter" and now you don't have to push shift left to start a game. You go into mame and change the default for p1 start to the enter key and your done. This is also front end specific. My front end uses the number 1 or the left ctrl key by default to lanch a game so I can start the selected game with p1 start or p1 button1. Are you using mame32 for your front end? Perhaps you should try a front end that is more configurable. Then you can change the buttons that launch the game or if you use the one I use stick with the defaults and you don't have to change anything. |
| Tiger-Heli:
--- Quote from: fogman on November 21, 2003, 09:15:29 am ---I guess I am kind of surprised that no one sees the need for admin buttons that aren't shifted or at least that it is not a big deal. --- End quote --- It's not usually a case of "I only used 18 inputs on my I-PAC, but let me use some clever shift functions for admin function instead of 10 unshifted inputs", more likely "I used 26 of my 28 inputs for action keys, and I still want Start, Coin, Pause, Esc, etc." --- Quote ---With my rotating CP, I plan on having the emulator in the CP, so I don/t want to run a bunch of wires out of it. I would like my admin buttons on the cab, and >again would like to aviod a bunch of small gage wires. --- End quote --- Your app SCREAMS for hacking a USB gamepad, keyboard, or that USB keypad above. --- Quote ---I don't have a problem with using the shift, but I know if I have friends over and tell them "To select a game, hold down the Player 1 button and move the left joystick to the left" they would look at me like I grew a third eye. I don't hang with the sharpest tools in the shed. --- End quote --- That's the beauty of what I call the "Stealth-Shifted" inputs that RandyT introduced on the KeyWiz, and Andy is adding to the I-PAC. The button on the panel is labelled "Quit", you press it, and it sends Shifted P2 Start to the encoder. The encoder sends ESC to the PC, MAME quits. No more remembering "Press this key and then this other one, and this happens" --- Quote ---I absolutely undestand the economics- that if a smaller board would be the same price as a regular Keywiz or I-pac, then it would not be realistic- I could just buy a new one and reprogram it. --- End quote --- Right, encoders are pretty reasonable now, there wouldn't be a huge cost savings building one with ten less inputs, and it couldn't compete with a $2.99 USB gamepad hack. --- Quote ---Does anyone know if the comuter sees the new keypad as different then the regular number pad??? --- End quote --- Not sure what you're asking, here's some examples: MAME knows the difference between the Numeric Pad and the "1" key on the standard keyboard. MAME does not know the difference between Numeric Pad 1 on the USB pad, Numeric Pad 1 on the keyboard numeric pad, and Numeric Pad 1 sent from the keyboard encoder. You can set any admin function to use the numeric pad buttons in MAME and any key that normally would use the numeric pad (none that I know of) to use something else. This might not be true of all the programs you want to try with your cab, though. --- Quote ---I was trying to avoid reprogramming the emulator or installing diodes and the like. I have no electrical experience at all and do not want to end up buying a new I-Pac after frying the first, because I don't know how to install a diode. --- End quote --- RandyT likes to call the KeyWiz an emulator, I find it confusing ;-(. Reprogramming MAME is a piece of cake. See Mameworld.net and the links to EasyEmu. Reprogramming the encoders is pretty simple also, but you can easily set up MAME to use the encoder defaults, if you prefer. Installing the diode improperly is unlikely to do anything other than maybe the individual buttons will send the shifted output instead of the regular output. Now if you short some wires together soldering the diode blocks - . . . --- Quote ---I just wish I wasn't so cheap and bought the 4 instead of the 2!!! Then I wouldn't have a problem at all. Oh well, live and learn! --- End quote --- If you bought the 4, wouldn't you still have the problem you were trying to avoid of running the wires from the encoder on the rotating CP to the admin buttons on the fixed portion of the cab? |
| bmcdonald:
I'm a newbie in the midst of building my first Control Panel using a new 32 input Mini-Pac. I need One more button as I'm using EVERY input on that sucker including the two mouse buttons. I visited Radio Shack to purchase the capacitor, resistor and diodes to get one more button out of my rig and have a question.......What type of diode do I need? Zener Diode? 12-volt? 5.1 volt? or Switching Diode???? My CP is comprised of an Oscar spinner, Happ Trackball, 2- mouse buttons, 2 Mag-Stick Plus joysticks, and 8 button for each player My scheme is to have the following admin buttons: Player 1, Player 2, Coin 1, Coin 2, Pause, Enter, Exit, Volume up, Volume Down. Another options is that I could go down to 7 buttons per player and just have enough. Which way would you go? Is having 8 buttons per player useful ? |
| BobA:
Go to 7 buttons per player. Don't know where you would use 8. |
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