Should I include dedicated coin-up buttons?

[gedman]

[Disclaimer: I'm new to MAME and building custom control panels]

Should I include dedicated Player1/Player2 coin-up buttons on my control panel?  I'm trying to reduce "button clutter" in my layout.

It seems to me that I have 3 options:

• Dedicated buttons
• No dedicated buttons - use MAME key mapping instead (Something like Shift-Button1 to coin-up Player1 and Shift-Button7 to coin-up Player2). I have never setup or used MAME (yet!) so I have no idea if this is hard to setup or hard for the players to use.
• Use the coin door reject buttons as coin-up buttons by mounting microswitches behind the reject buttons.

Thanks!

[gildahl]

I definitely prefer using the player 1 & 2 button shifted for coin buttons (a pause button on my CP doubles as the shift key).  No dedicated buttons.

[PileDriver]

I have both coin doors active so I might not have the best advice.. Shifted and real coin is the best advice .. coin door reject and shifted would be second..

[PL1]

It seems to me that I have 3 options:

• Dedicated buttons
• No dedicated buttons - use MAME key mapping instead (Something like Shift-Button1 to coin-up Player1 and Shift-Button7 to coin-up Player2). I have never setup or used MAME (yet!) so I have no idea if this is hard to setup or hard for the players to use.
• Use the coin door reject buttons as coin-up buttons by mounting microswitches behind the reject buttons.

Those are the three most common ways to coin-up.

There are pros and cons to both dedicated buttons and shifted functions.
https://web.archive.org/web/20160809113045/http://newwiki.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?title=FAQ#Number_of_admin_buttons

Bottom line:

1. It's a matter of personal preference.

2. Some games assign credits to players based on which "coin slot" is used but you can work around that.
i.e. for a game like Gauntlet, "5" = P1 Coin = Warrior, "6" = P2 Coin = Valkyrie, etc.


Scott

[dgrams2000]

I have dedicated buttons for all 4 players for coin up buttons.  And I have the coin mechs work for credits for 1P.

Works fine for me.  Love having the buttons handy, but I have a large CP and plenty of room.

[ivwshane]

I choose option three for my cab and I would do it again for any cab I'd make.

[ark_ader]

I choose option three for my cab and I would do it again for any cab I'd make.

Get some Atari Cone buttons for the side of your control panel.  They have a nice clicky feel.

[CheffoJeffo]

I've used the coin reject approach on dedicated cabs and love it. It's clean, easy for people to understand and doesn't harm the aesthetic. Also keeps accidental coin-ups to a minimum (I used shifted coin-ups on my first cab and it caused problems for kids and adults alike. I never did it again).

Just to contradict ark -- I love Atari cone buttons, but they are a pain to source and I've never seen used well on a custom panel.

[severdhed]

i think it depends on who will be using your cabinet.    Shifted buttons are fine for you or me, but they can be difficult for other people who don't have an intimate knowledge of your cabinet.  If you are going to be having kids or friends playing frequently, you'd be better off with another option.  The coin reject buttons are a great choice.  that is the way I went with my first cabinet, in addition to making the coin slots work as well.    Reaching down to press the reject buttons makes it feel authentic.  I found that while they worked great for adults, my kids had a difficult time reaching down to the coin door when sitting on a bar stool.  So, what I did was add dedicated coin buttons to the front edge of the control panel box.  this keeps the clutter off the top of the panel, but keeps them easily accessible.

on my 4 player cabinet, i skipped the coin door completely and just used the buttons on the front edge.  nobody has any issues with it, it is easy to understand and no button combos are required, which is great for small children.

[mourix]

Fully agree with the above. A decated button/reject will feel authentic and prevent you from having to explain the shift again and again.

[wemr97dl]

I used method 3 myself, I wanted it to seem more realistic, plus anyone who plays it has no problems, when my 10 year old nephew is playing the cabinet I don't have to stand by constantly to help with any shift functions


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Cynicaster]

IMO, all are good options.  About the only thing you don't want to do is have dedicated buttons on the top of the control panel itself.  I mean, you can do that if you want, but it just seems like a goofy choice when you have multiple other choices that are easy to implement, work great, and don't add clutter. 

So, what I did was add dedicated coin buttons to the front edge of the control panel box.  this keeps the clutter off the top of the panel, but keeps them easily accessible.

This is what I did, and would do it again because I'm very happy with how it works.  Like somebody mentioned, some games have player-specific coin-up buttons, so having a coin button on the front of the control box near each joystick makes it pretty foolproof and intuitive.  The aesthetic disruption is minimal to non-existent if you go with buttons that are color-matched to the box.  My panel has a small overhang, so the coin buttons are hidden in shadow from most angles.