Starting CP need info....I'm a newbie

[tapnout]

Hello everyone. I just recently found out about mame. And when i saw what it was about, i was hooked. Anyway i'm building my first Cab and i'm starting with my CP. I was just wondering if what i'll be using on my CP will work.

I'm going to have a 4 players:
player 1 & 2 will have 6 buttons
player 3 & 4 will have 4 buttons

I'll have 1 dedicated 4-way joystick which will be connected to player 1

A happs usb trackball

A hacked spinner from a mouse

Now all the joysticks will be connected to an IPAC4 and the trackball will be connected to a usb port and the hacked spinner will be connected to the ps2 mouse port.

Will this work? Also since the usb trackball supports 3 mouse buttons can i just use those for the trackball and spinner and not connect any of the buttons to the IPAC? Will i be able to use the mouse buttons as fire buttons when needed?

Also i'll be using a TV as a monitor. What video card do i need. I'll be using it strickly for MAME. I know everyone here says get an ATI but which one? How many MB do really need in a video card? I did a search but got sooooooo many different answers.

Well that's all the questions i have for now. thanks in advance.

[Tahnok]

>Also since the usb trackball supports 3 mouse buttons can i just use those for the trackball and spinner and not connect any of the buttons to the IPAC? Will i be able to use the mouse buttons as fire buttons when needed?

I think you can (I never used that specific hardware), the only problem is if you are not using the mouse (unplugged), then 3 buttons will be dead. This shouldn't be a problem, but I don't know your exact situation and what you are trying to do.

>What video card do i need.

Well, yes, pretty much anything ATI. Unless you are running fairly new games you will not need to really worry about how many MB. The only thing to be sure about is whether or not your computer supports AGP cards or just PSI. AGP are dirt cheap (search Ebay or Froogle.com), but many older computers do not support it.

[tapnout]

I'm not sure either but i think the USB happs trackball is regonized as a mouse isn't it? Is anyone using this set up? I know the USB happs trackball also supports the PS2 mouse port, should i just use that for the trackball and hack a USB mouse instead?

[Sir Auros]

I'm kind of confused. When you say you'll have a dedicated 4-way joystick connected to player 1, do you mean you won't have an 8-way for player 1? I'm going to just go with one of the joysticks that can be switched between a 4 and an 8-way.

[Tahnok]

I'm kind of confused. When you say you'll have a dedicated 4-way joystick connected to player 1, do you mean you won't have an 8-way for player 1? I'm going to just go with one of the joysticks that can be switched between a 4 and an 8-way.

I think he is saying that he is just going to wire a standard 4 way into the same inputs as the player one joystick.

However, I highly recommend the T-Stik Plus joysticks from Ultimarc. I bought 2 for my CP and no regrets so far. They are a bit expensive, but well worth it IMHO.

[Tiger-Heli]

Your ideas should work.

I would consider a different trackball and interface - maybe Betson, or Happ with a www.oscarcontrols.com mouse hack or an Opti-Pac, only b/c of cost.

[tapnout]

My four way is separated from my player one. I have a total of five joysticks. I also already bought the happs usb trackball, I got it for 89.99 on ebay.

So what about the fire buttons for this setup? Can i just use the three connected to my USB Trackball?

[Tiger-Heli]

My four way is separated from my player one. I have a total of five joysticks. I also already bought the happs usb trackball, I got it for 89.99 on ebay.

Okay, cool

So what about the fire buttons for this setup? Can i just use the three connected to my USB Trackball?

Yep, no problem, as long as you tell MAME to use the mouse buttons for the games you want to use the Trackball buttons with.

[tapnout]

Cool. thanks. Also since i'm only using six buttons (because of space) can i play my neo-geo games like this:

123
4XX

[Tiger-Heli]

Cool. thanks. Also since i'm only using six buttons (because of space) can i play my neo-geo games like this:

123
4XX

Sure as long as that works (comfort) for you.

Remember there are only a handful of 4-button NG games.  The majority were 3-button and could be played like any other classic game.

You could also use

2 3 4
1 X X

for those, or many people prefer a square (think Tekkan) config like

1 2 X
3 4 X

or

3 4 X
1 2 X

Whatever works for you is fine.

[tapnout]

Thanks.