Multiple iPac

[JolietBob]

Greetings,

I'm building my first Mame cabinet and I had a question about setting up the controls. 

I have found the site UltiMarc and they seem to have quite a bit of everything I need.

I enjoy playing Smash TV, Robotron which work best with two joysticks.  Also, trackball games, spinner games, shooters and multiplayer.

Thus I would like to have the two main players having two joysticks each and multiple buttons and the 3rd&4th player having a single joystick with a few buttons

I saw the iPac 4 at Ultimarc but it did not have connections for players with tow joysticks.

My question is,

(1) can I purchase an iPac4 to connect up all the 2 player functions and an extra ipac2 to connect up the 3rd and 4th player controls?  It seems that each ipac has it's own usb connector for the PC, thus I'm guessing that I can have multiple types of iPacs / optipacs connected at the same time, (1b)is that correct?

(2) Is there any kind of software control board builder, or just open up visio and start drawing away?

of course any advice is welcome

Thank you!

[DeLuSioNal29]

I used an iPac4 for my 4-player arcade machine (with 2 joysticks per player for Smash TV and other games for co-op play).  You can double up the inputs to make it all work.  Read more about my project here:  http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,74378.0.html


To explain it all:
I am only using a single i-pac4.
You can get 8 additional slots if you double up the 3 & 4 player joysticks.  The same is true for buttons.  (You simply have 2 wires in the same screw terminal and you can double up as many as you want - In my case, I had it tripled up.  My 8-way, 4-way and flight stick were all wired into the same input 1pU,D,L,R as well as my player 1 and 2 buttons and my pinball buttons into 1psw1).  In my my setup, I have player 1's second joystick on the same input as player 3's joystick.  I also have player 2's second joystick on the same input as player 4's joystick.  You never use both joysticks at the same time for any games, so it's OK to share the same inputs.  (Although if you try to use them for some games they will work.  For example if you play The Simpsons, and you touch the 2nd joystick on player 1, you will move the 3rd player since it's using the same inputs.  But normally, when player 1 plays he is only touching the player 1 joystick, so player 3 has their own).

Not sure if this makes sense or not.  Let me know!

DeLuSioNaL29 

[AzureKnight]

I did the same thing it works great.  I made the "mistake" of buying an extra IPac2 for the extra joysticks and now it isn't being used...of course that just gives me an excuse to build another cabinet...

[zallax]

Like the others said.  You can double map your 3 & 4 player sticks and the "secondary" Smash TV sticks to the same inputs on the I-PAC.  As for drawing up the control panel, I used Visio and I think CorelDraw later.

[JolietBob]

Excellent, thank you for the feedback.  I will definitely double up on the connections.

I really like your controller.  I have been working on my visio mock up today, I'll attach it here, if you have any suggestions let me know.  Couple of other questions, with the track ball, do you worry about people knocking into your joysticks while playing golden tee or marble madness?  I moved the roller ball down in my mock up, but worry about people jamming their palms when taking a full swing while playing golden tee.  Also, what are the dimensions of you controller, seems that real estate can be tight.

Thanks again

[horizon]

You'll get feedback to not angle players 3 and 4 joysticks toward the screen.  They should have the same orientation as players 1 and 2.

[AzureKnight]

Also, you probably are fine right now, but keep in mind what is happening below the panel as well.  You have to make sure you have room inside the CP box as well as a bit of room for wiring switches on the controls.

[zallax]

I definitely agree with horizon.  Joysticks should not be diagonal.  Players adjust to it very easily if not naturally. 

As for the trackball, it kind of depends on how important Golden Tee, and similar games, are to you.  I you are an avid fan of those, you might want to open it up.  If not, are you willing to sacrifice a little playing skill to compensate for the extra controls. 

Here's a shot of my control panel.  It's 48"x20.75"


On my control panel, I don't have problems with hitting the joysticks while using the trackball, including while playing Golden Tee.  I admit, however, that I don't excel at Golden Tee -- possibly because my movement is limited or I just haven't put the effort into playing it.

As AzureKnight was alluding to, mock-up your panel from the bottom side as well to make sure that all your parts are going to fit in your panel.  The track ball mounting plate is huge, as well as the trackball enclosure beneath it. 

Lastly, think about ergonomics.  I personally would rotate your button sets unless you are going out of your way to let a person be able to choose to use their left or right hand for buttons vs joysticks on players 1 & 2.  One thing I learned when re-making my panel is that the button sets were close to the joysticks.  The configuration like you have, and I did, causes the player to keep their wrists close together and then twisted back in order to stay in proper orientation with the controls.  For instance, your position of your dual player joysticks will be natural for your arms as they will probably be shoulder length apart and your arms will be perpendicular to the screen like this | |.  While using the joystick and button set, your arms will make the shape of a ^ with your wrists twisting back to to line up best with the button orientation.  This is, by no means, ergonomic and will wear you out over long usage.  In my configuration above,  the button set is rotated to allow the left arm to stay perpendicular to the screen and the right arm rotated in a little to the left.  My arms are effectively in this orientation | \, but more importantly neither of my wrists are twisted which makes it much more comfortable to play.

If you want the Visio file of my panel, let me know and I will send it off to you.  Good Luck!

[paigeoliver]

Two things about this layout. Player 3 and 4 sticks do not get angled. If someone tells you that they do then they either don't know what they are talking about or already made the mistake and are in denial.

With a tad different spacing on the sticks you could eliminate both of those angled sticks and still have a 4 player setup.

Excellent, thank you for the feedback.  I will definitely double up on the connections.

I really like your controller.  I have been working on my visio mock up today, I'll attach it here, if you have any suggestions let me know.  Couple of other questions, with the track ball, do you worry about people knocking into your joysticks while playing golden tee or marble madness?  I moved the roller ball down in my mock up, but worry about people jamming their palms when taking a full swing while playing golden tee.  Also, what are the dimensions of you controller, seems that real estate can be tight.

Thanks again

[JolietBob]

ahh , yes, having the joystick angled on player 3 and 4 would be annoying.  Thanks for the feedback.  Zallax I sent you a message with my email address.

[PL1]

Which admin buttons are you planning on using?

Seems like you might have more of them than you need.   
(having a menu button on the panel can be trouble)

You may also want to consider the placement/spacing of the admin buttons.
(less reach for P3/P4, separate the pause and exit buttons so you don't accidently exit while trying to pause, etc.)


Scott