Mapping buttons for Launch Box/BigBox - Lost

[Coin_Operated]

Hi all,

I've finally finished building my four player pedestal and pc to run it.  I have 4 players 8 buttons each for for P1 and P2 and 4 buttons each for P3 and P4.  I also have a trackball, spinner and flightstick.  I'm using servo sticks for P1 and P2 (not sure if that matters).  Everything is wired up to two Ultimarc I/O IPAC's which I have set to run in multimode.  I'm using RBG buttons that all appear to be lighting up corectly but I'm having issues with LED Blinky (that's for another thread).  At the moment I at a loss on how to map the buttons with MAME/Retroarch.  I've looked for guides online but I'm have little luck or just not understanding them at all.  Is there a standard mapping process at all?  Or just random assignment of keys as needed?  I'm very new at this and doing my best to learn so any help is appreciated.  If there are any other details I can provide that will make things easier to diagnose please let me know.

Thank you!

Mods sorry if this the wrong forum for this post.

[PL1]

At the moment I at a loss on how to map the buttons with MAME/Retroarch.  I've looked for guides online but I'm have little luck or just not understanding them at all.  Is there a standard mapping process at all?  Or just random assignment of keys as needed?

First step is to get your IPacs programmed with the desired keystrokes.
- The yellow highlights show some overlapping defaults that you'll probably need to change for your setup.
- You may also want to change the "modifier" keys (Ctrl, Alt, Shift) to avoid hotkey combos like P1B2 (L Alt) + P3B3 (Enter) that toggles MAME between fullscreen and windowed views.   
- There's a list of unused keys at the bottom of the image below.
- One other thing to watch out for is the "shifted functions" feature of the IPac.  P1 Start + P1 Joy Right sends a TAB keystroke that allows access to the MAME menu system.  That can be really bad news if triggered by button-mashing kids or drunk friends.  You have been warned. [/Foamy the Squirrel voice]

Next step is to map the keystrokes in the emulator.
- In MAME, press TAB to enter the menu system.
- Navigate to the "Input (general) -- Player 1" menu.
- Remap any inputs that don't match up with the keystroke that you selected for the IPac.  For example, if you changed P1B1 from "L Ctrl" to "N", you would navigate down to the "P1 Buttton 1" input, press "Enter", then press P1B1 -- MAME sees the "N" keystroke from the IPac and maps that key to that input.
- Repeat this process in the Player 2-4 menus.




Scott

[Coin_Operated]

At the moment I at a loss on how to map the buttons with MAME/Retroarch.  I've looked for guides online but I'm have little luck or just not understanding them at all.  Is there a standard mapping process at all?  Or just random assignment of keys as needed?

First step is to get your IPacs programmed with the desired keystrokes.
- The yellow highlights show some overlapping defaults that you'll probably need to change for your setup.
- You may also want to change the "modifier" keys (Ctrl, Alt, Shift) to avoid hotkey combos like P1B2 (L Alt) + P3B3 (Enter) that toggles MAME between fullscreen and windowed views.   
- There's a list of unused keys at the bottom of the image below.
- One other thing to watch out for is the "shifted functions" feature of the IPac.  P1 Start + P1 Joy Right sends a TAB keystroke that allows access to the MAME menu system.  That can be really bad news if triggered by button-mashing kids or drunk friends.  You have been warned. [/Foamy the Squirrel voice]

Thank you for the reply.  I'll get to work on this when I get some free time!


Next step is to map the keystrokes in the emulator.
- In MAME, press TAB to enter the menu system.
- Navigate to the "Input (general) -- Player 1" menu.
- Remap any inputs that don't match up with the keystroke that you selected for the IPac.  For example, if you changed P1B1 from "L Ctrl" to "N", you would navigate down to the "P1 Buttton 1" input, press "Enter", then press P1B1 -- MAME sees the "N" keystroke from the IPac and maps that key to that input.
- Repeat this process in the Player 2-4 menus.




Scott

[PL1]

Thank you for the reply.  I'll get to work on this when I get some free time!

Scott