How many admin buttons do I need? (Trying to fit 4-player setup on Ultimate I/)

[eds1275]

My main cabinet has a bottle opener on it. If I need to pee during 18 holes of golden tee I can push player 2 up and player 2 start. Exiting a game is down on player 1 and player 1 start. Unless you're flailing, these are pretty good options for combinations that don't get pressed. It's rare someone does it by accident.

[meduza]

I have four bottons with 7 functions:

normal: PAUSE   MENU      Setup        Screen Shot
shifted: RESET   SERVICE  Fn (shift)    QUIT

Menu is MAME tab
Setup is  MAME ~
Service is MAME dip switches

[obizues]

My main cabinet has a bottle opener on it. If I need to pee during 18 holes of golden tee I can push player 2 up and player 2 start. Exiting a game is down on player 1 and player 1 start. Unless you're flailing, these are pretty good options for combinations that don't get pressed. It's rare someone does it by accident.

My only issue with removing admin buttons is when I have guests over or my family/kids that don’t know how to exit and restart a new game. Then I’m stuck answering questions or taping a sign to it.

[Ian]

The real answer is "as many as you want". But hide them! I hide all of mine, and I use mine quite a bit! I love my admin buttons, but they are in a place no one can touch them. And I don't have to worry about shift functions accidentally getting pushed. Hide them and hide them well. A good suggestion is behind the coin door.

My admin is Tab and pause.

[obizues]

Do people have pictures of admin buttons “under the cp?

[javeryh]

Exit to far left, coin and pause to the right.  Buttons are countersunk so no accidental presses.

[wp34]

My main cabinet has a bottle opener on it. If I need to pee during 18 holes of golden tee I can push player 2 up and player 2 start. Exiting a game is down on player 1 and player 1 start. Unless you're flailing, these are pretty good options for combinations that don't get pressed. It's rare someone does it by accident.

My only issue with removing admin buttons is when I have guests over or my family/kids that don’t know how to exit and restart a new game. Then I’m stuck answering questions or taping a sign to it.

Since you do not appear to be going for an arcade authentic CP I would suggest you go ahead and put the Exit (and Pause if you want it) buttons on your CP.  No need to hide them.  That way your guests can easily see them.

You can get a cheap wireless keyboard to use for other "admin" functions.

[obizues]

Nice. And answered a question I didn’t have about being counter-sunk.

[JudgeRob]

It sort of depends on how flexible the whole thing needs to be.  The more different consoles and applications it is running, the greater need for more admin buttons.  I have 2 admin buttons on mine and a separate shift button on the side of the CP.  So I guess that makes three.  I like having pause.  I also use Mouse1 and Mouse2 assigned out of convenience, but most people don't.

I think 2 would look fine and give you some flexibility down the road if you need it.

[Jakobud]

If you are the only one playing you cabinet, then go with shift button so then you have zero admin buttons. You are the only one who needs to know how the shift buttons work. But if you ever have friends who want to play your cabinet, I would go with pause + escape. Once you get the cabinet initially setup you shouldn't need other admin buttons like TAB or ENTER. Just use a keyboard at first to get everything setup then you won't need those buttons ever again.