Finally selecting joystick/button/encoder hardware. What to avoid?

[P-chan]

Last time I built a cab (10 years ago), I threw my wallet at the problem and bought 2 U360s and a bunch of "classic" Happ-style buttons from Ultimarc.  It worked fine, but I wasn't thrilled with it.  I used the built-in encoder in the U360 and it worked fine.

I mainly play fighting games and beat-em ups, so I'm mainly looking for an 8-way joystick that feels clicky (think SFII), and good buttons.

Are the "zero delay" USB encoders on Amazon any good?  If so, this set of two would certainly get me there with enough inputs: https://www.amazon.com/Easyget-Controller-Joystick-Raspberry-RetroPie/dp/B01FZ6QVWO/

Or should I opt for an I-PAC2 or similar?  I would like to have at least 25 inputs (10 per side for joystick and buttons, 1P and 2P start, 1P and 2P coin, and an ESC button).

I will not have a trackball/spinner on this cab.

If there's something to go to or stay away from, whether it's a vendor or a product, please let me know!

[PL1]

I mainly play fighting games and beat-em ups

1. Are there any games on your list that require an XInput controller?

2. IIRC some newer fighting games use up to 8 buttons.  Are there any games that need more than 6 buttons on your list?


Scott

[P-chan]

I mainly play fighting games and beat-em ups

1. Are there any games on your list that require an XInput controller?

2. IIRC some newer fighting games use up to 8 buttons.  Are there any games that need more than 6 buttons on your list?


Scott

Thanks for the reply!


1. No, I want everything playable from the CP.  I only plan on having ~50-60 games on the cab.  I already have my 0.225 install running on what will eventually run the cab with LB/BB and everything's going fine, but of course my testing is all using the keyboard.

2. No, everything is 6 buttons or less.

[Howard_Casto]

Windows 10 has issues keeping usb devices in the proper order so if you are doing a 2+ player panel you might want to consider using a traditional keyboard encoder or an avr with some of the free firmware floating around for arcade panels.  Long story short a device that shows up as one keyboard can't get player 1 and 2 mixed up, ect.  There are ways to fix this, but none of them seem to universally work for everyone so ymmv.  That being said the zero-delay boards and all the other low cost solutions are great and the fault is that of windows and not these devices. 

You'll probably want to do a 7 button panel.....  neogeo and other 4 button systems/games often don't use two rows of two but rather one row of four, so an extra 7th button on one of the rows is nice to have to use for those games. Certain layouts arrange the buttons so a button from another row can be used as that extra button though.... it really depends upon the layout.

 

[P-chan]

Windows 10 has issues keeping usb devices in the proper order so if you are doing a 2+ player panel you might want to consider using a traditional keyboard encoder or an avr with some of the free firmware floating around for arcade panels.  Long story short a device that shows up as one keyboard can't get player 1 and 2 mixed up, ect.  There are ways to fix this, but none of them seem to universally work for everyone so ymmv.  That being said the zero-delay boards and all the other low cost solutions are great and the fault is that of windows and not these devices. 

You'll probably want to do a 7 button panel.....  neogeo and other 4 button systems/games often don't use two rows of two but rather one row of four, so an extra 7th button on one of the rows is nice to have to use for those games. Certain layouts arrange the buttons so a button from another row can be used as that extra button though.... it really depends upon the layout.

I did not know that about win10, I'm assuming an IPAC2 is probably the way to go then.  Thanks for the info!

[PL1]

I'm assuming an IPAC2 is probably the way to go then.

That should work fine.   

If you do decide to add any of the newer cab-friendly games that require an XInput controller (steam games, modern fighters like SFIV or MKX, etc.), you can easily reconfigure the IPac.

Multi-mode functionality enables interface to be switched into dual gamepad mode or dual Xinput controller mode.

Scott

[nitrogen_widget]

Windows 10 has issues keeping usb devices in the proper order so if you are doing a 2+ player panel you might want to consider using a traditional keyboard encoder or an avr with some of the free firmware floating around for arcade panels.  Long story short a device that shows up as one keyboard can't get player 1 and 2 mixed up, ect.  There are ways to fix this, but none of them seem to universally work for everyone so ymmv.  That being said the zero-delay boards and all the other low cost solutions are great and the fault is that of windows and not these devices. 

You'll probably want to do a 7 button panel.....  neogeo and other 4 button systems/games often don't use two rows of two but rather one row of four, so an extra 7th button on one of the rows is nice to have to use for those games. Certain layouts arrange the buttons so a button from another row can be used as that extra button though.... it really depends upon the layout.

I bought a few ATmega328P devices dirt cheap with the intentions of using them for arcade panels.