Control interface options 2017

[severdhed]

I currently have a four player cabinet using an ipac 4, and I really love it. However, I've noticed that while it works great for emulators, it is getting increasingly difficult to get PC games working with the controls. Many of the games I've purchased on steam simply won't allow you to use a keyboard for more than one player.  So far I've had to resort to work arounds using virtual Xbox 360 controller emulators, but even then, that doesn't always work.

I'm wondering if I should look at replacing my ipac with some other kind of controller interface.  Like keep using the ipac for players 3 and 4 and my exit pause buttons, but get two USB  gamepad style interfaces for players 1 and 2.  Will steam games work with any USB gamepad? Or just 360 controllers?

Any recommendations?

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[KenToad]

Kind of expensive, but you could get an Ipac2 and two console adapters from Ultimarc. You could wire up players 1 and 2 to the Ipac2 and then also have the console adapters for Xinput or Xbox360 or PS3 connectivity.

I have no experience with this setup, but it is Ultimarc, so I trust that it works as advertised.

[barrymossel]

Try some Zero-delays. They will act as two different controllers and work fine.

[BadMouth]

I've read that some games will only allow one direct input controller.

For maximum steam compatibility, you pretty much have to go with something that shows up as xinput (xbox 360) controllers.

The interfaces get expensive.  Especially for 4.

There's the paclink adapter for the Ipac, but each I-pac only supports 2, so you'd need another I-pac.  Maybe even 2 if your old one isn't compatible.
https://www.focusattack.com/ultimarc-paclink-i-pac-xbox-360-ps3-xinput-adaptor/
So 4 of those and 2 ipacs.  The good thing about that setup though is that switching the joystick between d-pad and analog thumbstick can be done through the controls.

I ended up hacking 2 xbox360 fight pads for my cab and keeping the Key-Wiz in there for the exit (ESC) button.  That's probably the cheapest route, but requires a fair amount of work.
It's fairly plug and play for steam games that work with arcade controls, but a lot of the old emulators, homebrew (locomolito), and older PC games default to using the analog thumbstick with no way to change it.
Some of the fighting games work better if the joystick is switched to show up as the D-Pad so that is what I have mine set to and it isn't easily changeable.
So all the old games/emulators that want to see the analog thumbstick require workarounds which I never got around to doing.
Makaron emulator and the Taito Type X hacks I have also only supports ONE xbox360 controller, so those need a workaround as well.

Another thing to look out for is number of buttons.  For some reason modern developers feel the need to use every last button on the controller.
Some games like castle crashers don't let you remap them either.  Other games like Mortal Kombat Komplete require you to map every button before exiting the mapping menu.

So maximum compatibility with the few Steam games that work with arcade controls, but for some games you need to have at least as many buttons as are on a fight pad (  8 and having the joystick show up as either the d-pad or thumbstick will cause a new set of issues with some games depending on which one you choose.

[jeremymtc]

Get a couple of cheapie gamepad encoders like a XinMo or ZD, and wire them parallel with the existing Ipac. Have your cake and eat it too.

[PL1]

Get a couple of cheapie gamepad encoders like a XinMo or ZD, and wire them parallel with the existing Ipac.

Don't try this with the ZD encoders, they are "active high" devices.

5v is common. (outer pins all connect to 5v)



The I-Pac is an "active low" device.

Ground is common. (daisy-chain connects to ground)


Scott

[DeLuSioNal29]

Problematic, even more so now.   

Personally, I have resolved to just building a MAME machine for strictly MAME using an iPac and using Steam on my other machine (I bought the Steam Link which works well).

Sucks, but it's probably how it should be anyway.

DeL

[yotsuya]

Problematic, even more so now.   

Personally, I have resolved to just building a MAME machine for strictly MAME using an iPac and using Steam on my other machine (I bought the Steam Link which works well).

Sucks, but it's probably how it should be anyway.

DeL

AMEN, BRUVVER!!!!

[jeremymtc]

Don't try this with the ZD encoders, they are "active high" devices.

5v is common. (outer pins all connect to 5v)


The I-Pac is an "active low" device.

Ground is common. (daisy-chain connects to ground)


Scott

Thanks Scott - was not aware of that on the ZD.

[petrockblog]

I am just roaming through this forum at the moment and found this thread. I have worked on a USB controller interface recently that seems to match your use case quite well: It supports arcade and other original game controllers and it registers the attached controllers as individual gamepads - and not as a keyboard. Also, it is an active-low device, so that you could daisy-chain GNDs. I have put a detailed description at https://blog.petrockblock.com/gamepadblock/. Since people asked for it, I am offering it for sale on that website.

[AndyWarne]

The I-PAC 2 also has alternative firmware which allows each input to be selected as either keyboard or gamepad.

This is not the default firmware which is shipped, because there are restrictions imposed by RetroPie in this area. But it is available on our site for download.

We do now have another beta version which defines two gamepad devices and separates the two players across the two gamepads but this is not yet tested on the Pi. It works fine in Windows and if anyone wishes to try this I can send it.

All versions also appear as a mouse, for trackball/spinner support and consumer/power for volume,sleep,wake etc.

RetroPie has restrictions on configuration, it is OK with a keyboard, for both players but if it finds a gamepad device it allocates this to one player and then the player 2 controls dont work at all.

[petrockblog]

RetroPie has restrictions on configuration, it is OK with a keyboard, for both players but if it finds a gamepad device it allocates this to one player and then the player 2 controls dont work at all.

This does not hold for every gamepad, though. With the correct HID descriptors and USB HID quirks two virtual gamepads from a single device are recognised and handled correctly by RetroPie (and also in Windows and MacOS, btw). I learned this recently with the development of the GamepadBlock.

[fablog]

The I-PAC 2 also has alternative firmware which allows each input to be selected as either keyboard or gamepad.

This is not the default firmware which is shipped, because there are restrictions imposed by RetroPie in this area. But it is available on our site for download.

We do now have another beta version which defines two gamepad devices and separates the two players across the two gamepads but this is not yet tested on the Pi. It works fine in Windows and if anyone wishes to try this I can send it.

All versions also appear as a mouse, for trackball/spinner support and consumer/power for volume,sleep,wake etc.

RetroPie has restrictions on configuration, it is OK with a keyboard, for both players but if it finds a gamepad device it allocates this to one player and then the player 2 controls dont work at all.

Andy, is it only for Ipac 2? I have an Ipac UIO.

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