Control Questions / Need Advice Before Ordering

[Josh]

I want to thank everyone that replied to my first thread.  There are a lot of very helpful people on this board

My cabinet is coming along fairly well.  I have almost everything cut out and ready for assembly.  I am working on planning my control panel now and need some help

I am building the Ultimate Control Panel from the Mameroom.com  Attached is a picture of what it will look like hopefully

I don't quite understand what all the buttons are.
There are 4 joysticks with 6 buttons for each user
There is a trackball and a spinner
what are the 3 sets of buttons on the middle row used for?
I guessed that the top row on the right is a set of 4 buttons.  Are these player 1-4 buttons?

What would the other 5 buttons on the top row be used for?

I am just trying to get this all figured out so that I can get most of what I need in one order

What is the opinion of this coin door?
http://www.happcontrols.com/coindoors/40000800.htm
I want to set it up so that when you press the coin return button it gives that player a credit.  

What kind of buttons are prefered?  Where is the best place to buy them?

I need 4 joysticks.  I know there are many choices and I have read many things about them.  Do I want joysticks that I can switch from 8 way to 4 way?  What about the T-stik plus from ultimarc?  What are some better alternatives?  Where should I buy them from?

What trackballs are recomended?  What about spinners?

I think I am going to use a I-PAC4 USB to interface with the keyboard

Here is my original thread
http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=19384


I know there are a lot of questions, but I think it works better to ask people that have knowledge before wasting a lot of money on parts that I don't need or that don't work

Thanks Again for all the help

Josh

[Sasquatch!]

An 1182 x 660 attachment?!?  GREAT SCOTT MAN!  Seriously though, please trim that down.  My monitor is at 1280 x 960 and I still have to scroll back-and-forth to read your post.

Anyways, to answer your questions...

I don't quite understand what all the buttons are.
what are the 3 sets of buttons on the middle row used for?
I guessed that the top row on the right is a set of 4 buttons.  Are these player 1-4 buttons?
What would the other 5 buttons on the top row be used for?

"Trackball" buttons?  Maybe "admin" buttons like Pause, Quit, Tab, etc.?  In all honesty though, if you don't know what they are, YOU DON'T NEED THEM.  I only have two "admin" buttons (that is, buttons that aren't "gameplay") on my panel: Pause and Quit.  Some people like to have a "credit" button next to each Player Start button, so maybe those.  But think about what you want to have - don't just slap a metric ton of buttons on there unless you actually have a good reason to do so.

What is the opinion of this coin door?
http://www.happcontrols.com/coindoors/40000800.htm

Happcontrols.com isn't coming up for me right now, so I dunno.  Most people go with the "Over/Under" door from Happ though.

I want to set it up so that when you press the coin return button it gives that player a credit.

You'll have to wire in a switch yourself.  1UP did this and documented how he did so on his website.

What kind of buttons are prefered?  Where is the best place to buy them?

The Happ Pushbutton with Horizontal Microswitch is probably THE standard.  I'd link ya to it, but like I said, I can't get to happcontrols.com for some reason.

Do I want joysticks that I can switch from 8 way to 4 way?

I don't know...do you?  Playing 4-way-only games like Pac Man, Frogger, Donkey Kong, etc. with an 8-way joystick produces less-than-desireable results (the diagonal directions can screw up gameplay).  That said though, even if you DO want to play 4-way-only games, I can't think of a single game where you'd need MULTIPLE 4-way joysticks.  If you do play a lot of 4-way-only games, I would think about mounting a separate 4-way joystick on your control panel personally.  Either that, or maybe just have the Player 1 (and maybe the Player 2) joystick be switchable.  For Player 3 and Player 4, it won't matter because you'll never use them as 4-way sticks.

What about the T-stik plus from ultimarc?  What are some better alternatives?  Where should I buy them from?

This is like asking "What's the best car, Chevy or Ford?"...you're going to get different responses based on people's opinions.  I haven't use the T-Stik Plus myself, but I've heard good things about it.

What trackballs are recomended?

The Happ Trackball - while probably the most expensive - seems to be the best in terms of feel AND durability.  I own one and I absolutely love it.  I don't think that any of the other trackballs "suck" though.  Again, it's my personal opinion.

What about spinners?

Opinion again, but I'd definitely go with the OSCAR Controls Vortex spinner.  It's the most "arcade authentic" spinner out there.

*WHEW!*  Hope this helps!

[NoOne=NBA=]

What is the opinion of this coin door?
http://www.happcontrols.com/coindoors/40000800.htm
I want to set it up so that when you press the coin return button it gives that player a credit.

Should work fine for you.
Don't forget to buy the cashbox assembly as well.

What kind of buttons are prefered?  Where is the best place to buy them?

Another personal preference.
I PREFER leafswitches because you can adjust them so they trigger if you breathe on them; BUT, given how many buttons you have, the Happ micros will save you ALOT of money, and work well for you.

I need 4 joysticks.  I know there are many choices and I have read many things about them.  Do I want joysticks that I can switch from 8 way to 4 way?  What about the T-stik plus from ultimarc?  What are some better alternatives?  Where should I buy them from?

This answer is somewhat game dependent.

The best concensus I've been able to come up with for what MOST people prefer is:
Classics=Wico leafswitch sticks (4-way or 8-way depending on game)
4/8-way swappables=T-stik Plus
Fighting Games=Happ Ultimates or Supers

There's nothing saying you can't mix and match either.

I haven't tried these sticks yet; but based on their description, I'm guessing they will work great.
They are commonly referred to as a microleaf.
They have the rubber centering grommet like the Wico sticks, but use microswitches.
(I've got one on the way to test, but it's not here yet).

What trackballs are recomended?

It's hard to beat a new Happs.
The others aren't BAD, but the Happs ones are better.

What about spinners?

If space is not an issue, I'd get whatever strikes your fancy from Oscar.
If space IS an issue, I'd get the Tornado from Slik-Stik.

I think I am going to use a I-PAC4 USB to interface with the keyboard

Mine works GREAT.

[Josh]

Thanks for the great replies

sorry about the attachment size, it is fixed now

[Josh]

Thanks everyone for all the help, I will post some pictures when I get them taken

[darktemp]

This is the only thing I would change, from everything I've read Happ Competitions are the best for fighting games followed by Supers followed by the Ultimates which are trash by most accounts.

Fighting Games=Happ Ultimates or Supers