Main > Main Forum
Multiple GP 49 questions...help please
dema:
I am building a cabinet with a rotating control panel, and I intend to use 49 way joysticks along with Randy's GP 49 Wiz encoders. The problem I am having is that I will have a two player panel, where players 1 and 2 will have 49 ways set up in a fighter layout and will be connected to their own board; and I am also building a one player panel, where there's a single joystick in the center of the panel, with buttons on either side. These layouts will allow me to play games a little more true to form.
The problem I am having is that I'm not sure how I can wire the player 1 joysticks so that they both work immediately when I rotate to the different panels. Randy mentioned that the 49 ways don't work like regular joysticks, so I can't daisy chain the controls. Instead he said that I could use a switch that I'd flip when I change panels, to let the GP 49 Wiz know which joystick is the active player 1 joystick.
I thought maybe three encoders would do the trick and then have the player 1 controls programmed to the same keystroke but Randy didn't think that would work. I wasn't sure if it was possible to wire the two joysticks to the same encoder, much like daisy chaining, but I might be wrong on that. I was going to wire a regular joystick to a Mini-Pac but I'm sure once I go 49 I won't want to go back to microswitches and the difficult 4-way maneuvering.
Does anyone have any alternate ideas, or is the switch method that Randy mentioned the best option?
Flinkly:
i'm doing switchable panels, but i intend to plug controls in and unplug them. with rotating panels, all should be plugged in at once, so this is going to be a hard problem. the only thing i can think of, is having a switch for all the wires on the player one gp49. so when you switched panels, you'd flip the switch, and hopefully remember to switch it back before you went back to the other panel.
might want to wait for some others to answer, because i know there must be a better way out there. good luck.
Tiger-Heli:
Not sure I completely got what you are doing, but here's my thoughts on a solution. Someone else may shoot holes in it.
You want three 49-way sticks, two on a SF panel, and one on a PacMan style panel, correct?
Suggestion - Get 3 GP-Wiz49's, have them all plugged in. In MAME, set your controls up so that:
P1_JOYSTICK_UP "JOYCODE_1_UP | JOYCODE_3_UP"
etc (repeat for Down, Right, and Left).
(might be different for newer versions of MAME).
This way either Joystick 1 or Joystick 3 will work for player 1. (The GP-Wiz identifed as gamepad 3 should be connected to the Pac-Man Joystick).
Only problem is that if the 1 or 3 stick that is not in use gets bumped, it will affect gameplay, but I doubt this is likely to happen.
dema:
--- Quote from: Tiger-Heli on April 20, 2005, 06:49:35 am ---Not sure I completely got what you are doing, but here's my thoughts on a solution.
--- End quote ---
Tiger-Heli:
--- Quote from: dema on April 20, 2005, 09:06:33 am ---Now the method that you mention, would I need a third GP 49 Wiz?
--- End quote ---
I believe you would - RandyT could answer for sure.
--- Quote ---It sounds like the solution you give is essentially assigning both joysticks to the same keyboard keystrokes, is that correct?
--- End quote ---
Not exactly - SF stick 1 is seen as Gamepad directionals 1. SF Stick 3 is seen as Gamepad directionals 3, then you re-map MAME so EITHER Gamepad 1 or Gamepad 3 controls Player 1. Keyboard keystrokes aren't used here.
--- Quote ---Also, would MAME be able to read 49 way inputs as up, down, left, and right?
--- End quote ---
MAME can't really read 49-way inputs at all without Randy's GP-Wiz49 (unless you do some stuff with MAME Analog Plus and only in the 49-way games, AFAIK). Randy's interface converts the 49-way inputs into an analog joystick signal. I am ASSuMing MAME will read this as Joycode_1_Up, but it might be ANALOG_1_Y+ or sth. Hopefully Randy or someone with the interface can answer.