Logistics of a 4 player cabinet

[blueoakleyz]

For 4 player games I'd ABSOLUTELY want it to be

p1 - p2 - p3 - p4 (cuz for games like NBA jam it'd be weird for team mates to be on different sides I think)

But in 2 player games I'd want it to be

-- - p1 - p2 - -- (anotherwards, the centermost control panels).

But what coin solution would I use? I'd need to use a 4 coin door/mech thingie (unless there is a way to use a standard 2 slot one without having to do some kind of shift thing)?

it'd be coin 1 - coin 2 - coin 3 - coin 4 for 4 player games but for games where it's only 1 or 2 players and I want to use the center consoles Id want it to be different, without having to manually reassign the coin buttons for every single game in mame

[SOAPboy]

2 player games.. generally (mostly) are centered.. so instead of jim and bob playing street fighter on a total angle, they can play centered like normal..

[blueoakleyz]

I edited it because I accidentally hit enter, not only that, I changed my mind mid-post.

Ideally it'd be nice to just have a 2-slot coin door but I have no idea how I'd be able to play 4 player games (like Gauntlet or X-Men) that require a seperate coin without resorting to Ipac shifting

or should I probably just settle with the nicer looking 2slot thing and have a sign saying "Instructions: For 4-player games requiring specific a coin slot, for player 1 and player 4 hold down your start button and insert coin)"

were there a lot of games that required a specific coin slot?

the other option is to go with a 4 slot coin door but again I don't know how it'd work for regular two player games without having to manually change it for every game in mame

[Vicious]

Konami 4-player games are the ones that I know use an individual coin slot for each character.

As for the layout, do it like this:

P3 - P1 - P2 - P4

In your 2-player games your layout will be as you wanted it, and for your 4-player games just make a controller file for each game and map it how you wanted it:

P1 - P2 - P3 - P4

Map the joysticks and buttons to this exact layout and you'll be set.

[blueoakleyz]

If I were to just use buttons in place of coin doors,
lets try to solve the problem that way

I'd still want the controls to be P1-P2-P3-P4
but I'd also want the coin buttons to be P1-P2-P3-P4 to avoid confusion

for 4 player games (if there aren't too many) should I just manually map it that way since all other games will naturally disregard which slot the coin came from? I think this might be the simplest yet longest solution.

[Vicious]

For your coin doors/buttons, it probably would be best just to map it:

P1 - P2 - P3 - P4

It's just more natural to put a coin in the first slot whether it's a 2 or 4 player game, so yeah, just map it that way.  In 4-player games the coin slots/buttons will already be correctly mapped so you won't need to mess with them at all.

[blueoakleyz]

Yeah  I'm not sure where I got so hung up cuz for 4 player games I'll just manually program which slot does what that way on normal games, if it accepts a coin from slot 3/4 (button 7 & 8 in mame) it will recognize it.
I'm just really worried I'm going to have to manually program the button setup for every game, or do they all basically fall under the correct setup?

I mean like Ninja turtles will automatically be like it was in the arcade at the same time if I loaded up Street Fighter 2 it'll already be mapped out the way it was in the arcade?

[Vicious]

Yeah.  If you have it mapped 1, 2, 3, 4 then when you play TMNT it will recognize all 4 slots correctly.  When you play Street Fighter II it will recognize slots 1 and 2 correctly (3 and 4 obviously won't be recognized).

No alternative mapping will be required.

[blueoakleyz]

Well I'd have to manually map the coin slots for games like TMNT (coin specific ones) or X-Men cuz if I leave it as default, when I put the coin in (and for default slot 1 or 2 {or button 1 and 2} both correspond to coin button 5&6 in mame) it'll give a credit to two players on screen which would kinda suck.

I just don't think there's TOO many 4 player games with coin specifics so that'll be the best solution.

anyway about the button idea which I think might be a little more fun I was thinking of having it like a button right next to a real insert-coin plastic doohickey thing (where can you get those on happs website?) sorta like this

can you map buttons using a frontend like ArcadeOS using only the control panel buttons/joysticks? Or would it need to be done 1) only using mame controls 2) only with a keyboard (anotherwards is it 1, 2 or both 1 and 2)
 
(O)[|  ]

maybe maybe not i donno
color coded buttons seem better looking now that I think of it although if I chose to use a 4 slot coin machine (which would have to wait anyway due to price) I at least have everything solved and it'd already be mapped out by the time I got it.

[Vicious]

Well I'd have to manually map the coin slots for games like TMNT (coin specific ones) or X-Men cuz if I leave it as default, when I put the coin in (and for default slot 1 or 2 {or button 1 and 2} both correspond to coin button 5&6 in mame) it'll give a credit to two players on screen which would kinda suck.

I must be lost.  On any 4-player game, the default mapping is:

Coin 1 = Button 5
Coin 2 = Button 6
Coin 3 = Button 7
Coin 4 = Button 8

How would you be getting two credits for one coin?

[blueoakleyz]

"I must be lost.  On any 4-player game, the default mapping is:

Coin 1 = Button 5
Coin 2 = Button 6
Coin 3 = Button 7
Coin 4 = Button 8

How would you be getting two credits for one coin? "

I'm saying I'd CHANGE the general default mapping so it would be

Coin 1 AND 2 = button 5
coin 3 AND 4 = button 6
cuz otherwise for 2 player games (where I'd use the center controls) if I left it as the default you mentioned above, if I insert a coin in to coin 3 and 4, the game wouldn't recognize it because it was meant for player 3 and 4 which the game doesn't recognize.

Then for 4 player games I'd manually map it to that default coin 1=1 coin 3=p4 etc.

[Vicious]

Gotcha.  I assumed that for 2-player games you just weren't going to put coins in slot 3 or 4.  If you are planning on using slots 3 and 4 during 2-player games, you might be better off with credit buttons instead of a coin door.

I'm planning on using this coin door from Happ and will just have slots 3 and 4 do nothing if a token is inserted when playing a 2-player game.

[blueoakleyz]

oh no i just thought of a new problem

basically i'm gonna have to do the same thing (with the coin buttons/slots) with the control panels as well, otherwise regular 2 player games will think player 1 is all the way to the left and player 2 is the 2nd left (so people would only get to play on the left side of the machine instead of central)....
so for 4 player games i'd have to manually map out that player 1 is NOT the center left stick but the far-left stick and have the default as the two center sticks being player 1 and 2


grr
So to recap for regular 2 player games it'll go

Useless - Player 1 - Player 2 - useless
and then for 4 player games which I'll manually map

Player 1 - Player 2 - Player 3 - Player 4

again, lotta work but that's what a hobby's for.

but can I map buttons using a frontend like arcadeOS, using only my arcade joysticks/buttons or would I have to actually use a keyboard or mame controls etc

[Vicious]

oh no i just thought of a new problem

basically i'm gonna have to do the same thing (with the coin buttons/slots) with the control panels as well<snip>

but can I map buttons using a frontend like arcadeOS, using only my arcade joysticks/buttons or would I have to actually use a keyboard or mame controls etc

I thought you knew (4th post above).

As for the ArcadeOS stuff, I don't use it so it somebody else might want to chime in.  But, button mapping is done when you're in the game (TAB) or by making a controller ini file that has the keys already mapped out to your liking.  If you don't make a controller ini file then you'll have to remap in the game each time you play.

[blueoakleyz]

ya thats basically how i do it now when i play with mame
i press tab and it takes me to a menu
i was just hoping i could do that with arcade controls on a cab tho

[krick]

See this thread:

4 player control panel theory
http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=16720

[blueoakleyz]

I'm definately going to make it so it's

3124 but on 4 player games it'll be 1234 as they were supposed to be.

[krick]

I think I'm still leaning toward the 3142 layout...

(note, this is a rough approximation of the layout for illustrative purposes only.  The control spacing is NOT exact by any any means.)


1) the majority of the time I will be playing 1 player games.  In this layout, player 1 is very close to the center.

2) The stick spacing for two player smash tv / total carnage is close to the arcade.

3) for robotron, I can use the player 1 and player 4 joystick and get a stick spacing that is closer to the arcade (10 inches).

4) when playing a game with 3 players (this will probably happen more than 4 players), player 3 can stand off to the left and not be in the way of the player 1 position.  The only time it will be cramped is if there are 4 players.

5) I still have the option of creating custom mappings for 3 and 4 player games if I choose...

3 player: 1203  (0 = not used)
4 player: 1234

[cdbrown]

I have a 4-player cab and all the controls are currently set up to be
3-1-2-4
mainly due to wanting 1-2 in the middle for 1 player and 2 player games.  I have them all wired to the ipac4 in that order.

However, I will soon be setting up my ctrlr file to suit the 4-player games to be 1-2-3-4 as mame has the leftmost player as 1.  This is just a matter of pointing P1 in mame at my current P3 controls, P2 at P1, P3 at P2 and leaving 4 as is.

I do have 4 start and 4 credit buttons, but for 4-player games it's not really P1, P2 but based on position as you should be able to step up to any of the controls and just play from that spot.  Just need to test out all the 4-player games to make sure this is the same for all.