>2 KBs

[jjcousin]

Hey all,

I was at the beginning of all of this in 1998!
I put a PC and monitor in a Renegade machine (actually used to be Joust).

First I tried a kb hack for 2 joysticks (ROBOTRON!) and found out the hard way that it wouldn't work.
Then, I wired the 2 joysticks to 2 cheap gamepads and that worked great.
I also used a PS2 KB-hack for Tab, Enter, Coin1, etc...(i.e. "slow" inputs).

Fast forward 8-10 years.
PC needs replacing and the "joystick" cards (yeah, 15 pin or whatever) needs replacing because the new PC won't take joystick cards of course.

I bought an I Pac 2 years ago and CAN'T FIND IT!!

But...I was thinking...why can't I just hack 2 more USB keyboards and use them for the 2 joysticks (and associated buttons)??
Anyone see this as an issue?  Couldn't do this at the time with PS2 KBs, of course.

(I see the Xin Mo may be good, too and cheap).

Thanks in advance,

jjcousin

[yotsuya]

While I enjoy a good keyboard hack myself, just buy an encoder. 

[Malenko]

While I enjoy a good keyboard hack myself, just buy an encoder. 

^This

[JDFan]

Not reall a need for 2 KB hacks as 1 provides plenty of inputs and the 2nd joystick can be setup to use any 4 inputs.

For example on my bartop I use a cheap gamepad encoder with 16 inputs set up so that I have 4 for the 1st joystick , 4 for the 1 and 2 player coin and select, 2 for Pause and select, 2 for buttons 1 and 2, and the final 4 for sharing as buttons 3-6 and the 2nd joystick using up the 16 inputs available.

SO the 2nd joystick and buttons 3-6 are both wired to the same inputs and mame is setup so that games like ROBOTRON and Smash TV use the 2 joysticks and fighting games use the 1 joystick and 6 buttons - Since no game uses 2 joysticks and buttons 3-6 it works fine setup that way. And as you mention was much cheaper than other options.

[jjcousin]

Thanks....I like the Gamepad idea...pretty much updating my setup to more modern pads I guess.

What about when you need 2 joys and some buttons...oh...2 buttons are ok but no < 2 for that second one, right?

I browsed and haven't seen any 16 button pads...12 maybe...

[JDFan]

Thanks....I like the Gamepad idea...pretty much updating my setup to more modern pads I guess.

What about when you need 2 joys and some buttons...oh...2 buttons are ok but no < 2 for that second one, right?

I browsed and haven't seen any 16 button pads...12 maybe...

It's actually an encoder that is seen by the system as a gamepad here is a link to one vendor on Ebay ( http://www.ebay.com/itm/NO-Delay-USB-Encoder-PC-to-Joystick-Arcade-MAME-Multicade-2pin-Happ-Push-Button-/191065889930?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c7c6a1c8a ) (NOTE : this one is for Joysticks with microswitches but they do have ones for Japanese style joysticks as well with the 5 pin interface - just be sure to order the proper one for the joysticks you are using. ) -- They are great for single player setups (esp. at $10 including the wiring and shipping) but are limited in the number of inputs so if doing 2 or 4 player panels you would be better off with a different encoder like the Xin-mo you mentioned or Ipac. (though you could use more than one of these on the same system if you have the USB inputs on the system)

[PL1]

For more flexibility in firmware choices, consider the KADE.

It can act as a keyboard-style or a gamepad-style encoder and easy to customize.


Scott