Does Mame Hooker only have plugins to specific games? And what about emulators outside of Mame, like Teknoparrot for example? Is there some sort of maintained list that tells you what’s supported and for which games?
Howard's the guy to answer your questions on Mame Hooker.
Check out this tutorial showing how to find and hook into MAME outputs.
- Lots of good info on Howard's site that should get you up to speed on the basics.
http://dragonking.arcadecontrols.com/static.php?page=mhsnipingI'll let someone that has experience with the output systems of whichever other emulators you are interested in answer that part of your question.
You mentioned the EG Starts can’t turn lights on or off, so in that case Race Leader Indicator or start button indicator wouldn’t work right? That wouldn’t be fun.
You could use the EG Starts encoder for the buttons and use an LED controller for the lamps.
Button press encoding and lamp lighting are separate functions that can be, and usually are, handled by separate boards.
In the examples you gave, which encoders would you pick if it were you?
Impossible to say without doing the necessary homework to define what it is that you want and need.
- How many cabs are you linking together?
- What controls and inputs does each cab have?
- How many computers? i.e. 2 cabs controlled by a single computer
or each cab has a computer connected via a network.
1. Make a detailed list of the games (and associated emulators) that you want to play.
2. Use that list to determine what inputs, outputs, features, and hardware you want/need for those games.
i.e. Daytona
Inputs: Steering wheel, gas pedal, brake pedal, shifter (4-speed?), coin slots, and VR button inputs.
Outputs: Lamps for the VR buttons and leaderboard.
Features: Steering wheel FFB.
Hardware:
- Wheel, pedals, and shifter use Logitech encoder(s).
- Two coin slots and four VR buttons need six encoder inputs per cab.
- Four VR button lamps per cab and __ leaderboard lamps need __ LED controller outputs.
3. Find which hardware, software and plugins you need for each game/emulator/cab. . . .
Scott