How many action buttonns?

[LeedsFan]

I'm doing my first cab and I'm trying to plan out the control panel. It's going to be a 2 player cab to try and play most games in Mame. I'm planning on trackball, spinner, 2 switchable 4/8 ways and 1 extra stick at 45 degrees for Q-Bert.

But how many action buttons will I need for the 1 & 2 players? Will I need the Neo-Geo 7 button set-up for those games, or will 6 buttons suffice?  Is the 7th button on those panels just there for convenience? (under thumb?).... or do some games actually NEED 7  buttons?

I won't be playing any console games either.... this is to be a purely dedicated Mame cab.

[Minwah]

But how many action buttons will I need for the 1 & 2 players? Will I need the Neo-Geo 7 button set-up for those games, or will 6 buttons suffice?  Is the 7th button on those panels just there for convenience? (under thumb?).... or do some games actually NEED 7  buttons?

Unless you are a big NeoGeo fan, go with 6.  Most people who have 7 only do so to mimic the NeoGeo button layout.

[koolmoecraig]

I'm doing my first cab and I'm trying to plan out the control panel. It's going to be a 2 player cab to try and play most games in Mame. I'm planning on trackball, spinner, 2 switchable 4/8 ways and 1 extra stick at 45 degrees for Q-Bert.

Ya know for Q*Bert all you have to do is set your joystick to 8-way and configure MAME to require two inputs for each move in Q*Bert(Right arrow, Down arrow=Diaganol right down). That way you don't need a dedicated Q*Bert joystick. It works perfect. In fact, it works more precisely than my original Q*Bert joystick!

peace  

[LeedsFan]

I'm doing my first cab and I'm trying to plan out the control panel. It's going to be a 2 player cab to try and play most games in Mame. I'm planning on trackball, spinner, 2 switchable 4/8 ways and 1 extra stick at 45 degrees for Q-Bert.

Ya know for Q*Bert all you have to do is set your joystick to 8-way and configure MAME to require two inputs for each move in Q*Bert(Right arrow, Down arrow=Diaganol right down). That way you don't need a dedicated Q*Bert joystick. It works perfect. In fact, it works more precisely than my original Q*Bert joystick!

peace  

I never thought about that. Just given it a try..... and it does work perfectly!  Thanks for the tip!