4 Player Control Board Button Mapping

[MrBobC]

Hi!

   So I have a four-player board on my arcade cabinet, and I'm struggling a bit due to what I think is maybe having too many buttons?  All four joysticks are Ultimarc ServoStiks (16 assignments), 1P & 2P have 8 buttons (16 assignments), 3P & 4P have 6 buttons (12 assignments).  There are Coin and Start Buttons for each player (8 assignments), Left Mouse/Right Mouse/Enter is the first grouping of three white buttons at center-left, MiniPAC Shift/Tab/Quit (backspace) are the second grouping of three white buttons at center-right, and 2 Pause Buttons (the white ones in between the coin/start buttons on the top-right and top-left corners).  My problem is that sometimes we'll be playing a game and something will happen that requires the keyboard/mouse to fix.  I don't know what is the cause of it, so I'm wondering if there is a preferred mapping layout out there for this many buttons, or maybe I have too many buttons (56 + Enter + Pause + Shift + Tab + Backspace = 61).  There are two MiniPACs being used in this scenario, one for P3/P1 (from left) and the other for P4/P2 (from right), meaning a P3/P1/P2/P4 layout.  I thought it would be possible to replace two (or all four) ServoStiks with Ultrastik 360s which would give me back 8 or 16 assignments, and I could even use the I/O harness to get back more assignments, and I'm sure I would then be fine since they would all be seen as joysticks and I'd have only maybe 15-20 keyboard assignments, but then I lose the ServoStiks, have to buy UltraStiks, etc.  Money isn't really an issue in this because if converting the ServoStiks to UltraStiks is what it takes to ensure usability of the machine I'd gladly do it.  These random issues are the main reason we don't use the cabinet anymore and I'd like to get back into it and get it up and running so my kids can enjoy it, and even me when friends come over.  The two holes in the middle to the left and right are for future spinners (really more likely those spinners are used with the racing wheel accessory though).  I cut down P3/P4 from 7 buttons to 6 already (as noted by the two blank inserts).  Love to hear what folks  have done as I've seen pics of similar (if not more complex) control pads with more buttons/joysticks and they apparently work, so if there's a recommended mapping for P1-P4 with 8/8/6/6 buttons for MAME/Retroarch I'd be happy to hear it.  Thank You!

[PL1]

Holy wall-o'-text, Batman.   

My problem is that sometimes we'll be playing a game and something will happen that requires the keyboard/mouse to fix.

These problems aren't caused by the number of buttons -- they are caused by the keystrokes/functions assigned to those buttons or by combinations of them.

1. MAME uses many "modifier" keys (Shift, Ctrl, Alt, etc.) originally chosen as defaults to overcome the limitations of old keyboards that had a feature called "boot protocol" because nobody would ever need to press more than 6 keys at a time while typing, right?   

Modifier keys don't count against that 6 key limit and are often used in Windows hotkey combos.
- For example, if you hit P1B2 (L-Alt) and P3B3 (Enter) you'll change between MAME being full-screen and windowed.

Reprogram your encoders and remap the modifier keys with unused keys and you should avoid these problems.  Also, reprogram/remap as needed to avoid the highlighted overlapping keys.



2. Do you really want a TAB button or shifted function where a kid or drunk friend can trigger it and mess up your setup in a way that can take months to find and fix.   
- If you need to get into the MAME menus, either plug in a keyboard or at a minimum put in a concealed, protected switch that disables the dedicated TAB button.
- Either way, I can't recommend strongly enough that you disable the default shifted function for TAB (P1 Start + P1 Right) on both Mini-Pacs.  [Foamy the Squirrel]You were warned.[/Foamy the Squirrel]   

3. Once your system is set-up and properly configured, Mouse buttons are just trouble waiting to happen.
- If you need mouse buttons, plug in a mouse or a wireless keyboard with trackball/trackpad.


Scott

P.S. Since you have ServoStiks, if you have access to a 3d printer or CNC machine, would you mind providing a little testing/feedback in this thread?  Thanks in advance for your consideration.   

[MrBobC]

Scott,

   Thanks for the response!  So my problem is caused by the number of buttons but only because I didn't know which keys I shouldn't assign.  Since I had so many keys that increased the likelihood of assigning one I shouldn't.  I'll re-program using that layout you spec'd in the picture.

2. The tab button is way up top and should not be used by anyone unless they knew what they were doing (hence why it isn't near a player setup).  The only shifted function is for volume up and volume down, so I'm fine with leaving the shifted functions online since all it could do is make it louder or quieter.  Maybe if I got rid of the tab and shift buttons though I wouldn't need to shift anything and could just assign them to vol+ and vol-.

3. Like Tab, the mouse buttons are out of the way and I'm the only one that uses them so for the moment I'm good to leave them but if I do get everything up and running without any of my previous configuration issues I'll certainly look to replace them with something more useful.

4. I don't have access to a 3d printer or CNC machine, but those brackets sure would have made my install a lot easier.  The cab is six years old so I don't think we had come quite as far as we have nowadays with things like that.



Follow-up Question: This accounts for MAME setups for sure, but wondering if it has any conflicts with RetroArch since that's the other main emulator used in my cab.  I also have Model 2, Daphne, and Singe (trying out Singe 2.0 to see if that's better for me).

[PL1]

So my problem is caused by the number of buttons but only because I didn't know which keys I shouldn't assign.  Since I had so many keys that increased the likelihood of assigning one I shouldn't.

To be clear, the problem is that the MAME defaults include these modifier keys that can trigger Windows hotkey actions.
  P1B1 = L Ctrl
  P1B2 = L Alt
  P1B4 = L Shift
  P3B1 = R Ctrl
  P3B2 = R Shift

If you change those defaults so your encoder uses no modifier keys, you can't trigger Windows hotkey actions like switching between fullscreen/windowed view or changing focus to another window so there's no need to fix those actions.   

I'll re-program using that layout you spec'd in the picture.

The picture lists the defaults for MAME, IPac and KADE miniArcade 2.0.

Reprogram the modifier buttons listed above with some of the unused keys listed at the bottom of the picture.

Protip: Print the picture and write down the changes you want to make to the defaults.   

2. The tab button is way up top and should not be used by anyone unless they knew what they were doing (hence why it isn't near a player setup).  The only shifted function is for volume up and volume down, so I'm fine with leaving the shifted functions online since all it could do is make it louder or quieter.  Maybe if I got rid of the tab and shift buttons though I wouldn't need to shift anything and could just assign them to vol+ and vol-.

Ah yes, those famous last words -- "should not be used by anyone unless they knew what they were doing".   

If there's a TAB button anywhere on the panel, someone will find a way to hit it and mess up your setup.   

Keep the other shifted functions if you want, but disable the default shifted function for TAB (P1 Start + P1 Right) on both Mini-Pacs.

3. Like Tab, the mouse buttons are out of the way and I'm the only one that uses them so for the moment I'm good to leave them but if I do get everything up and running without any of my previous configuration issues I'll certainly look to replace them with something more useful.

IMHO the risk isn't worth the reward.  Proceed at your own peril.

Follow-up Question: This accounts for MAME setups for sure, but wondering if it has any conflicts with RetroArch since that's the other main emulator used in my cab.  I also have Model 2, Daphne, and Singe (trying out Singe 2.0 to see if that's better for me).

RA was designed with a gamepad-centric mindset but AFAIK it will work fine with keyboard encoders.

All of the emulators should be fine once you map the controls properly.


Scott

[MrBobC]

Scott,

   Appreciate your help on this, it will be great to get this back up and running, will try it out tonight if I have time. 

1. I'll see if there are enough extra keys to be able to replae these, I'm thinking there are based on your list/diagram.

2. Was definitely going to print that out for ease of reference/implementation.

3. My RetroArch question was moreso about any of the MAME-assigned button/button combinations being a hotkey/shortcut for something in RetroArch.  I do have it set up for use with the MiniPACs and I don't think I've had conflicts with that program, but figured if I'm reprogramming the emulators and you knew of any hotkeys/shortcuts in RA I'd try to avoid assigning keys (or combinations of keys) that could set something off.

[Beretta]

Whats up with the 6 buttons for p3 & 4? are there any arcade games that need that many?

PL1 hit it on the head i'll just add that a lot of times just adding a single shift button "mame button" works

and then make all the other controls mamekey + blahblah

If you need to whip out a full kb/mouse to fix something, I recommend teh cheap wireless "android tv" keyboards such as:
They work really well and I use one when im testing computers because it's so portable, while not made for typing letters you can do pretty much anything you need to do. just velcro it to the top of the cab and no one will even see it when it's not needed.