Newbie here: Common Admin Buttons and Wireless Controllers

[CyC]

Newbie here and finally caught on the mame cabinet bug. I have been wanting to build in one ages and finally decided to build my own box. I have done a lot of research but need some advice.

What are the common admin buttons people use? I plan on having a "Pause" and "Exit" button. I also will have a remote Push button to turn on the PC. Any other buttons most commonly used? And each player (2 player setup) will have a "Coin" and "Start" button.

Second question is I am building a portable mame box and it'll be a 2 player setup with 6 buttons each. I also plan on have 2 xbox 360 controllers connected to the PC incase there is ever a rare time I have enough friends over for a 4 player game. So 2 players on iPac2 and 2 players on Xbox 360 PC controllers. Will this be a problem setting up software wise?

Thanks.

[yotsuya]

Newbie here and finally caught on the mame cabinet bug. I have been wanting to build in one ages and finally decided to build my own box. I have done a lot of research but need some advice.

What are the common admin buttons people use? I plan on having a "Pause" and "Exit" button. I also will have a remote Push button to turn on the PC. Any other buttons most commonly used? And each player (2 player setup) will have a "Coin" and "Start" button.

Second question is I am building a portable mame box and it'll be a 2 player setup with 6 buttons each. I also plan on have 2 xbox 360 controllers connected to the PC incase there is ever a rare time I have enough friends over for a 4 player game. So 2 players on iPac2 and 2 players on Xbox 360 PC controllers. Will this be a problem setting up software wise?

Thanks.

Re: Admin Buttons- depends on who you ask. I don't use any dedicated buttons. Rather, I use the shift functionality of the I-Pac. Saves real estate, saves money on buttons, etc.

[CoryBee]

Same as yotusay, I use shift functions to handle exiting MAME games and console games. But instead of using the built in shift functions of an encoder I use JoytoKey.

Good luck

[shponglefan]

This tends to be a controversial topic.  Personally I use:

1) Enter
2) Exit (Esc)
3) Menu (Tab)
4) Pause

Some people though do not use them.  And you'll hear stories of guests abusing admin buttons to change settings, etc.  Although one option for having admin buttons and preventing guest abuse, is either hide the admin buttons (like Menu/Tab) or wire up them to a hidden toggle switch so they can be deactivated.

[CyC]

ahh. I can see that being an issue with admin buttons and guest.

and never realized about the shift functions on I-Pac 2. Thanks for the quick advice guys!

[McHale]

I am mounting a pause and exit to my control panel and in my coin door, I have toggle switches that are Momentary On/OFF/Momentary On so each switch does two functions.  They are mainly for performance tweaks. 

[keilmillerjr]

I have an app that I need to finish some time soon called FrontEndHelper. For the most part, it's all done besides one function. It maps buttons to have dual functions, like holding pause button to exit, or holding player to drop coin. Eliminates need for most if all admin buttons. My cabinet will only have a pause button for each player (really only one is needed).

[Dawgz Rule]

I find the pause and exit are pretty helpful, especially for guests.  I do have a tab and enter on my CP but they are somewhat concealed within the artwork and are much less noticeable than the other buttons.  They are also set apart from the player buttons.  Beyond the initial tweaking of all of my games, I rarely use the tab and enter so I would agree that these could very easily have been moved to a shift function.

[PL1]

I rarely use the tab and enter so I would agree that these could very easily have been moved to a shift function.

The only downside to this is the same potential problem with having any shifted functions -- accidental activation.

IMHO it is better to have a keyboard (usually a bluetooth model) tucked behind the coin door or hidden nearby.  YMMV.

It maps buttons to have dual functions, like holding pause button to exit, or holding player to drop coin.

Just as a curiosity check, some games like Omega Race have the option to start a multi-credit single-player game -- 7 ships instead of 3 in Omega Race.

Does your app wait until the button is released to output the keystroke or would a single-credit game start when you press and hold P1 Start to insert the second credit?


Scott