What are my options if I need 42-46 inputs on a 4 player CP

[Hoagie_one]

I want to keep my costs down.

I see ipac 4's are like $65.  add shipping and its almost $80.  Kinda pricy.  DO I have any other options?  Can  the Eco models of keywiz or ipac be daisy chained?

Thanks

[Thenasty]

I don't about the rest of the encoders but IPAC you can daisy chain.
Would it cost more if you get 2 Ipac-2 ?

[GGKoul]

As Paige always says "Your in the wrong hobby if you going to be cheap"

Spend the money... as the IPAC4 will make your life alot easier.

[versapak]

Or you could try to hack a KB.  Have fun with that!

I always see this said.

Why is it hard to hack a keyboard? Wouldn't it simply be a matter of wiring your buttons to the proper locations on the board?

[Hoagie_one]

I can be as cheap as I want to on my novelty projects. 

Anyways, I think im going to use the keywiz eco2 with ide pins soldered on and buy a dozen of the shazam cables to add 12 more inputs.  with shipping this is still cheaper than the ipac4 and i have used the keywiz in tehpast and loved it. 

wish they just made a larger input encoder.

[Percipio]

Why is it hard to hack a keyboard? Wouldn't it simply be a matter of wiring your buttons to the proper locations on the board?

Mainly has to do with the way keyboards are made.  Check out this link: 

http://www.arcadecontrols.com/arcade_input.shtml#KeyboardPort

There's also some issues of ghosting:

http://www.arcadecontrols.com/arcade_input.shtml#KeyboardOther

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

[SirPoonga]

You might be able to get away with using a couple of gamepads with alot of buttons.  It usually isn;t hard to hack those.

[Apollo]

It might be a good idea to list what buttons you are going to have on your CP. Then we can point out which ones you don't need.

[Hoagie_one]

2 players with 6 buttons each= 20
player 3 adn 4 with 3 buttons each=14
4 coin and 4 start buttons = 8

Total without admin buttons = 42, 46 with 4 admins

[Beeeph]

I just finished wiring my first Control Panel yesterday:



It's a four player CP with 4 8-way joys, 2 4-way joys, a trackball, spinner, and a bunch of buttons.

[Kremmit]

Hey Beeeph, that looks really good!  One of the cleanest wiring jobs I've seen here, ever- and from a 1st timer!  Reach back there and pat yourself on the back!   

[JonnyBoy]

I don't mean to hijack this thread or anything but is that what I think it is Beeeph? Do you just plug that CP right into the TV and everything loads up right in the screen? Kind of like those games you get at walmart with a few classics on it, except this is a lot cooler. I didn't even think of doing that!

[Hoagie_one]

thats exactly what i want to do with mine, except im going to have speakers built in to mine so all i have to do is hook up the video, either vga or rca....that and I'm gonna put folding legs on mine

[Beeeph]

that it is.

[Pyro]

Also, I need the space inside of the cabinet for something else I'm building into my arcade, that's why I decided to install the computer inside the CP.

Great looking wiring job Beeeph!

I can't help but ask though... is the "something else" a secret until it is done?  My curiosity is getting the better of me! 

Pyro

[Layer01]

so with the cat5, do you just strip it back at the ends to get at the wires? can you use any of the coloured wires inside? or are there some that you cant use.

[unix4hire]

beeeph, nice CP!  How about a shot from the top?

Also, I've been thinking hard about doing the same thing, a portable all-in-one mame cp!  but the fact that you built yours to also sit in an upright cabinet, that's genius.

Do you have any intake/exhaust fans for your CP?  Since the entire computer is inside it you really ought to have some air flow (I do'nt see a lot of air flow on cabinets that are built; I'd think the insides would get mighty hot).

[coachcarstens]

What a great idea to have the CPU right inside tha CP.  Then it's portable easily going from cab to tv, to friends party, etc.  This will defentily have to be in my next cab.  (When I'm no longer poor, lol)

Chris

P.S.  Great job there.

[versapak]

Do you have any intake/exhaust fans for your CP?  Since the entire computer is inside it you really ought to have some air flow (I do'nt see a lot of air flow on cabinets that are built; I'd think the insides would get mighty hot).

He has 4 fans in there. You can see 2 in the back middle area, and then one on either side on the angled cuts in the back.

[Beeeph]

I'm glad to hear you all like it, it means alot coming from all ya'll.  When I'm completely finished installing the last component, I'll post some pics.  Thanks everyone!

[Tiger-Heli]

Anyways, I think im going to use the keywiz eco2 with ide pins soldered on and buy a dozen of the shazam cables to add 12 more inputs.  with shipping this is still cheaper than the ipac4 and i have used the keywiz in tehpast and loved it.

Bad idea - This gets you 44 inputs, but remember, pressing one of the "Shazaam! cable inputs shifts ALL the other inputs.  I would only use the Shazaam inputs for coin and start, and not for action buttons, and not for pause or escape.

2 players with 6 buttons each= 20
player 3 adn 4 with 3 buttons each=14
4 coin and 4 start buttons = 8
Total without admin buttons = 42, 46 with 4 admins

I would recommend either of the following:

Use the KeyWiz and hack a USB gamepad for 2 of the buttons and the 4 coin and start and admin buttons (costly and a pain, but gets the job done),

or . . .

Use the KeyWiz with Shared inputs (for a 4 player game with 3 buttons, P1 and P2 buttons 4-6 are unused, as follows).  (If desired, you could have a switch disconnecting the grounds on the switches that were not to be used).

P1 and P2 are Joysticks are wired normally.
Terminals 1-3 - P1 Buttons 1-3
Terminal 4 - P1 Button4 and P3 Button 1
Terminal 5 - P1 Button 5 and P3 Button 2
Terminal 6 - P1 Button 6 and P3 Button 3
Terminals 7 and 8 - P3 Up and Down
Terminals A-C - P2 Buttons 1-3
Terminal D - P2 Button4 and P4 Button 1
Terminal E - P2 Button 5 and P4 Button 2
Terminal F - P2 Button 6 and P4 Button 3
Terminals G-H - P3 Right and Left
Terminals I-L - P4 Directionals

This covers all your "Action Buttons".   You still have inputs MNOP available for Esc, Pause, or other admin functions.

Now you add eight Stealth Shifted inputs for Coin and Start Buttons.  Try to make these off the least used buttons - example

Terminal I-L - (P4 Directionals - Coin 2 and 4, Start 2 and 4)
Terminals G-H & 7-8 - (P3 Directionals - Coin 1 and 3, Start 1 and 3)

 This has the following results:

2-player games have no issues.

3 and 4 - player games have the following issues - Player 1 and 2 could press jump or atttack for P3 and P4, if they know how and you don't disable the inputs, and in certain situations, you might get unwanted coin or start activations - example - P3 inserts a coin and holds the coin button down and P4 moves the joystick - Coin 2 or 4 or Start 2 or 4 could be activated.

A minor annoyance, but the price you pay for using an encoder without enough inputs.

Oh, one last thing - you probably want to prioritize the shifted inputs and disable the on-the-fly switching as shown here: http://www.mameworld.net/tigerheli/encoder/nocodeload.htm, otherwise you might insert a coin while P1 is moving side to side and swap out of your MAME codeset!!!

[Hoagie_one]

ARGH