A couple interfacing questions....

[Brax]

Question 1:

Opti-PAC, why do I need it? What are the pro's? I want to run a trackball and a spinner. Couldn't I just hack a serial mouse and a PS/2 or USB mouse to interface to the computer? The Opti-Pac seems like a simple solution and a great device but why do I need it? Is there something obvious I'm overlooking?

Question 2:

Game pads. How is it that people can use two game pads on a PC? I've heard of using these for your arcade controls and buttons but any computer I've seen only has the one game port. How do people pull this one off? I'd like to use this as a cheap interface for a friend, but I'm not really sure how two would work together. Any insight?

[hyiu]

I can only help on the gameport part...

if you go search for sidewinders (gameport ones)...
they are really cheap... (like $5 each or so....)

on the gamepad, there is a plug where you can plug the 2nd one in.... and so on, you can daisy chain 4 of them together.....
(This is only for gameport microsoft sidewinder....)

of course... if you get USB joypads... you can get a USB hub and you can plug a few in at the same time....

hope it helps...

[Brax]

And the computer recognises each one separately? Coolness.

And mame will accept separate programming for each? Sounds like a good solution to that problem....... thanks

[cdbrown]

Optipac is just easy.  It allows you to wire all spinners, optical rotary and trackballs to one board that then plugs into the pc.  If you comfortable with hacking mice then thats going to be the cheaper way.  I went for the optipac because I don't trust myself hacking anything and was already getting the ipac.

Your choice Brax

-cdbrown

[hyiu]

note: with Windows 2000, I have had pblms with multi sidewinders daisy chaining.....

but with WIndows ME, 4 sidewinders can easily be plugged in and play 4 player Guantlet....

I know XP will work for at least 2 players... have not try 4 with XP before...

hope it helps...

[neuromancer]

Question 1:
Opti-PAC:
Is there something obvious I'm overlooking?

Question 2:
Game pads. How is it that people can use two game pads on a PC?

Q1: If you like hacking, then hack! That's all you need to know.

Q2: Gameport's original spec. supports 2ea 2 axis sticks with a total of 4 buttons between them. Microsoft figgured out how to do more with the gameport and invented the Sidewinder. IINM (If I'm Not Mistaken) you can have 4 of them.

There's also USB gamepads. You can have bunches of those.

Happy Thanksgiving (in the USA, anyway)!
Bob

[u_rebelscum]

Question 2:

Everybody's tooting sidewiders, but there are other gamepads that you can daisychain resulting with more than the 4 axis + 4 button limit.  All of them, including the sidewinders, do it by not following the standard gameport signaling, and thus need their driver instead of any normal gameport joystick driver, and can only be daisychained to the same brand gamepad.  Off the top of my head, Gravis, Logitech, and Interact definitely also have gamepads that can be daisychained, but if it says "digital gameport", it has a very good chance of being daisychainable.  Just letting you know there are other options.   Sidewinder gamepads (gameport) are good ones to hack, though.

Another way is to have two gameports.  My computer has one on the motherboard and one one the soundcard, but you can buy addin cards that have two gameports.  Wierd thing is that my Saitek prefers the motherboard gameport, but my gravis xterminator digital gamepad (daisychain-able in gameport mode) only works on the soundcard gameport when hooked through a gameport (I currently hook it through USB port).  

[mcleanjoel]

I am getting the Opti for 2 reasons:

My soldering sucks.

More importantly:
I can connect 2 spinners & 2 trackballs at the same time and just select the ones I want to use by moving them!

[SirPoonga]

pretty much what other people say, the optipac is just easier to use if you don;t want to fool around with hacking.

IF you plan on using windows I;d seriously look at USB gamepads then.

[JustMichael]

I think people keep forgetting that the gameport on a pc is not only a gameport.  It also doubles as a midi interface.  What the digital sticks do is read the joystick and buttons and then transmit that data to the pc using the midi interface.

[eightbit]

The optipac makes it much simpler to connect optical devices like steering wheels, rotary sticks, and spinners without hacking up multiple mice. An optipac will run 2 trackballs or 4 spinners or one trackball and 2 spinners.

If you want to hack by all means hack but I advise you do some reading first. The optipac/ipac and interfaces like them make your life much simpler and they work with fewer problems. Also if your looking for a control panel with less buttons the ipac is the way to go. With its shift mode for less used buttons you can keep your control panel looking like an arcade game instead of a panel of buttons.

[Brax]

I have the I-Pac already, I'm thinking of going ahead and getting the Opti-Pac after all. Especially since its just gone USB... Its just that the price is KILLER!

A mouse: 5 bucks.
Opti-Pac after shipping and Cdn exchange: NINETY DOLLARS!