Building my first MAME machine, some questions

[PixelCloud]

Well firstly i dont really know where to begin.

Here is what i want to do.

Upright MAME system
Modular parts to the system (so its easy to take apart and assemble)
4 sets of controllers /w joysticks
some sort of large screen.

now for the questions...

What should i use for the controllers? Which keyboard encoder should i use?

Which joysticks are the best to use? should i get one iwht 4 to 8 way switching on the top of the panel?

Could i also put a spinner on the CP?

Thanks for your help

[JustMichael]

I would suggest starting with this thread.  Make sure to read the FAQ.  It answers many questions.  If later you have specific questions, do a search of the message board and if you don't find the answer or understand the explaination then post the question.

[PixelCloud]

i already read through that thread... but i'll do some searching, thanks

[Apollo]

You really need to spend some time in the examples section. Look at what people have already done then consider your budget, tools, electrical expertise etc.
Think about what games you can and can't live without ( spinner? trackball? beertap? lol ), think about how many people will play at one time ( will you really have 4 people playing that often? ).
Maybe start off with a stand alone control panel ( often the best way to start and anything you buy for it can be used in your cab later ).
 

[PixelCloud]

I really want to put a spinner on it too, just for me so i can play some good spinner games..


4 players isnt really nesscary but it would be nice for when i have some friends over (which i do often)


i have access to a full workshop to work with, and i also have all the needed tools...

budget.. well basically i dont want to go drop some insane amount of money of this thing, but enough to make it look good. (the computer inside really isnt a large problem since i have tons of them laying around the house.)

[Robopede]

Here are a couple suggestions, but keep in mind I'm working on my first project as well... These are just some things I've found while researching on the internetwork...

Happ Perfect 360 joysticks seem to be very well thought of, and they're currently on sale until the end of July. I just ordered two, but haven't received them yet.

For encoders, check out Ultimarc.

For spinners, check out Oscar.

These are a couple starting points, but you'll need to spend quite a bit of time researching this stuff to decide what you want and what will work for you. I learned very quickly that building one of these things takes a lot of initiative and motivation!

Regards,
Dave

[spystyle]

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[PixelCloud]

thanks i've read through all that stuff !

i'm just unclear on the CP part of it..

If i use the i-pac 2 for the controlls how easy would it be to put a spinner on the CP too? Would the MAME emu recongize that the spinner is attached for games that require a spinner? can the i-pac and opti-pac co-exist?

[SideShow Rob]

If you need four sets of controllers, you will probably need an iPac 4, rather than the iPac 2...

If you can live with a 2 player control panel...you could always go for a MiniPac from Ultimarc.

http://ultimarc.com/minipac

That has enough inputs for 2 players, and includes spinner and trackball connections too - so you have everything connected to a single board, requiring only 1 USB connector. It also retails with all the wiring and crimp connectors fitted - it makes hooking everything up really simple.

Just another option to consider...

[PixelCloud]

Does the happs perfect 360 work with the ipac 2? could i use 2 of this sticks easily with the ipac2?

[Robopede]

I recently wrote to the Ultimarc guy and asked the same question, and some others. Here are my questions and Andy's answers:


I plan to order an I-Pac2 with a PS/2 connector, and a serial Opti-Pac. Will both these devices work with DOS?

Yes these will be fine in DOS.

Can the I-Pac supply power to two Happ Perfect 360 joysticks and one 5v LED?

Yes, but it's easier to get this from the Opti-PAC, as this has 5v screw connections.

How can I make the regular mouse and the trackball both work? Will the Opti-Pac help me out with this? I would like the trackball and mouse to both be active at once and control the same cursor.

This is easy in Windows, but in DOS you would need to load/unload mouse drivers using batch files, with the correct switches for enabling a PS/2 or serial mouse.

Is it possible to wire two buttons to act as mouse buttons and keypresses at the same time? For example, when an arcade button is pressed, can it generate a mouse button signal and a keypress signal simultaneously?

Yes, you can connect buttons to both the Opti-PAC and I-PAC to do this.


As you can see, Andy takes the time to answer every question thoroughly.

Regards,
Dave