Buttons needed for 2 player arcade cabinet? Then extras?

[bruiserh89]

Hi all

Just working out what buttons I need for my first attempt at an arcade cabinet. It will be two player so I figure I need one and two player buttons, two coin buttons or do I just need one? 6 action buttons for each player. This should cover all Mame games I've been told.

Is there anything else I need? Do people put in additional buttons?

Thanks.

[romshark]

That should cover you for the buttons used for gameplay. Some people, like me, have 7 action buttons per player in a street fighter / neo geo hybrid, but I never use all 7 buttons on a single game. Others can chime in on this.
Some people have admin buttons for quit and stuff like that. I just have a button for pause on the side of my control panel. If you have an Ultimarc iPac encoder for your controls, you can set up a key as shift (hold it down and press another button for special functions.) My pause key is also my shift button, reducing clutter on my panel. Look at the encoders at Ultimarc.com for more details.
You probably want test and service buttons too, for configuring your games. On a real cabinet, these are inside the coin door. Depending on your build, you might want to put them somewhere (or use the iPac shift method.)
Just to give us an idea of what and where to place buttons, what type of build are you doing? Upright, or Bartop, or other?  Using a real coin door?  (you can put service, text, and admin buttons in there.) Do you have a way to control volume, or will you need buttons for that too (adjust volume with the PC or using an external volume control?)

[vaderag]

I am in the process of build for mine at the mo and intend to have 8 per player. It's def overkill and 7 would probably be enough, but I had 8 on my old SF4 fightstick and found the extra 2 handy for the combos. Also, for the sake of a few £ I prefer the symmetry!!
For those with 7, do you have the extra on the top or bottom row?

I'll also have P1&P2 coin and start, and two pinball flippers on the sides. Plan to set P1 to shift and use pinball buttons in everything but pinball for exit and pause.
I'm not interested in getting into settings on my cp as I can whip out a wireless keyboard if I want to mess with that stuff, prevents others from meeting stuff up too!!

[yotsuya]

2 joysticks, 6 buttons, 2 start is all you actually NEED, if you're using an iPac.

[EMDB]

2 joysticks, 6 buttons, 2 start is all you actually NEED, if you're using an iPac.

True but I (and my guests) find my dedicated Exit and Pause buttons really convenient. I added an extra Mute too.

[yotsuya]

2 joysticks, 6 buttons, 2 start is all you actually NEED, if you're using an iPac.

True but I (and my guests) find my dedicated Exit and Pause buttons really convenient. I added an extra Mute too.

Convenient, yes. NEED, no. :-)

[vaderag]

So, this thread for me thinking and decided to do a good think through of my controls before I start setting up...

Anyone see any issues in the following?

P1: 8 buttons
P2: 8 buttons

Start / Coin x2p
Pinball flippers x2

Additional:
Shift - P1 hold
Exit -  Shift + P2 (I.e P1+P2)
Pause - shift + coin 1 /  coin2
Save / Load state - shift + flippers
2 mouse buttons - P1 7/8

[bruiserh89]

That should cover you for the buttons used for gameplay. Some people, like me, have 7 action buttons per player in a street fighter / neo geo hybrid, but I never use all 7 buttons on a single game. Others can chime in on this.
Some people have admin buttons for quit and stuff like that. I just have a button for pause on the side of my control panel. If you have an Ultimarc iPac encoder for your controls, you can set up a key as shift (hold it down and press another button for special functions.) My pause key is also my shift button, reducing clutter on my panel. Look at the encoders at Ultimarc.com for more details.
You probably want test and service buttons too, for configuring your games. On a real cabinet, these are inside the coin door. Depending on your build, you might want to put them somewhere (or use the iPac shift method.)
Just to give us an idea of what and where to place buttons, what type of build are you doing? Upright, or Bartop, or other?  Using a real coin door?  (you can put service, text, and admin buttons in there.) Do you have a way to control volume, or will you need buttons for that too (adjust volume with the PC or using an external volume control?)

Thanks Rom and others. Its a coffee table with pullout drawer controls. I ended up going with the buttons I mentioned as well as some admin buttons for exit and pause. I will also have a volume dial.