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Can someone Identify what mods were done to this TankStick?
arcadesteve123:
Great points...and was almost going down that road ripping them all out and replacing with the tankstick components but Scott's option 1 (plug in usb left first) did the trick!
Ok...back on track with a couple more questions (will it ever end) lol....So it is my understanding that a game like Pacman which only had one player controls...for two players, I am unable to map the Joystick P2. It only will respond to P1 controls. A game like Street Fighter which is a true two player game I am able to play correctly. Would that be a correct assumption? Are you only able to play on P1 controls for a one player control game?
Lastly, looking at my mapping of the game...should the joysticks be aligned up? Like when I push up on the joystick, should it say up on the mapping? Is that logic physical like are the joysticks not mounted correctly or I would change the wires on the usb controller accordingly...or does it even matter....Thanks again everyone!
PL1:
--- Quote from: arcadesteve123 on February 11, 2025, 08:13:35 am ---So it is my understanding that a game like Pacman which only had one player controls...for two players, I am unable to map the Joystick P2. It only will respond to P1 controls. A game like Street Fighter which is a true two player game I am able to play correctly. Would that be a correct assumption? Are you only able to play on P1 controls for a one player control game?
--- End quote ---
For games that have alternating play like Pac-Man, the "Upright" cabinet only has one joystick so P1 and P2 alternate using that joystick.
- If you look at the controls in MAME, you'll notice that there are inputs for P2 joystick as well.
- If you set the dipswitch/machine config to "Cocktail", the screen will flip for P2 and P2's controls will accept inputs.
- If you want P2's controls to work with the "Upright" cab configuration, you can double-map the P1 inputs.
- To double-map an input, highlight it, press ENTER, press the first button/joystick (maps the first to the input), press ENTER again, press the second button/joystick (maps the first OR second to the input). If you mess up, press either DELETE or ENTER then ESC (depends on which version of MAME you're using) to set the input to "None", then map the input again.
- The down-side to double-mapping controls is that if a player presses a button during the other player's turn, MAME will accept it as if the other player had pressed the button.
For games that had simultaneous play like Street Fighter, the cab had two sets of controls and MAME has separate inputs for them.
--- Quote from: arcadesteve123 on February 11, 2025, 08:13:35 am ---should the joysticks be aligned up? Like when I push up on the joystick, should it say up on the mapping? Is that logic physical like are the joysticks not mounted correctly or I would change the wires on the usb controller accordingly...or does it even matter....
--- End quote ---
Uhh . . . Wow! ::)
You can use that messed up button and joystick setup in MAME, but some front ends and emulators are not as easy to remap.
Given how portable the Tankstick is, I'd recommend fixing the messed up wiring order so you have the option of easily plugging it into another system or taking it to a friend's house.
Easiest way is to change where the wires plug into the encoder inputs.
- Remember that with joysticks, if you press right the actuator will hit the microswitch on the left.
Once you've got the wiring right, it will be easier to do a fresh install of MAME than to try to manually return all of the currently mis-mapped inputs to the defaults. The MAME defaults should work for most of the games you want to play.
Once you've got MAME working right, you can consider what Front End, if any, you want to use.
Scott
arcadesteve123:
Amazing information Scott...You have your own YouTube channel or something?...would love to know how you are so experienced with this stuff...Anyhu, you have been a great resource for myself and others in this forum! Thanks again!
PL1:
Glad to assist. :cheers:
You pick up a few things after four and a half decades working/playing with schematics and electronics, often down to component level, with a decade and a half of that time reading and posting on the forums here.
No YouTube channel for me, but I did open an account on GitHub to, among other things, help Jakobud with his skipstartupframes plugin for MAME that he announced with this thread in the Software sub-forum. Galaga normally takes about 12 seconds to boot up and run system tests. With the ssf plugin, it only takes about one second, plus you don't have to see the bootup video test or hear the sound test. Unlike save states, ssf works with every game in MAME v0.253 and newer. You may want to check it out. ;D
Scott
arcadesteve123:
Very cool...wasn't aware that Galaga took that long to load...great game. So now I will take your advice and take the tankstick into surgery mode and correct the connections on the usb boards. I was bummed out that Dragon's Lair 1/2 .chd's weren't included in my Rom set...so that quest will continue for that one and I also noticed one of the blue buttons doesn't work but I can swap that one out with the one I took out for the spinner...GEEEEEZ All this to relive a bit of old school arcade memories! :dizzy:
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