Buttons most used and needed beyond player controls

[phildo77]

I'm trying to put on any extra buttons I may need beyond the player controls, PLayer start and coin buttons. 

What other buttons would be extremely useful on the CP?  Maybe for navigating Mame? or other commonly used buttons?

[cholin]

Depends, are you using an iPac?  If so, it's just a matter of programming, but the buttons I use the most are:

Pause
Escape
Menu

Varies on what games you play and what you like to do on your cab if it's not just for certain games...

[markb]

Ditto the above.

I also use:-
P (pause)
enter (for lots of non-mame games)

[DreamWeb]

MarkB - Lots of Non Mame games!

You need to tell us which ones you use!!  There's a thread in the Software forum already.

d.

[markb]

Consider it done!

[GGKoul]

Escape
Pause
Tab

If you have a IPAC, you can easily reprogram the shift features so you don;t need extra buttons on the cab.

[rdagger]

With an IPAC, a dedicated Pause is handy.  I think the shift function is best for Escape so you don't hit it by mistake.
I currently use the shift function for Tab and Enter, but it is somewhat inconvenient, because I find myself doing it frequently.

[Tiger-Heli]

With an IPAC, a dedicated Pause is handy.  I think the shift function is best for Escape so you don't hit it by mistake.
I currently use the shift function for Tab and Enter, but it is somewhat inconvenient, because I find myself doing it frequently.

I agree with what Rdagger said.

I hot-swap a KeyWiz on a desktop controller, so I end up using the default codeset.  I wanted a dedicated pause button.

Originally I had a dedicated ESC button, but I hit it too often (once) by accident, and re-mapped MAME so escape is "="  (the shifted ESC input on the KeyWiz).

I have Tab set as right flipper 2 and Enter as Left flipper 2.  For Pinball games in MAME I will use a second installation (C:\MAME2\mame) for example that doesn't use TAB for the UI menu.  I wasn't sure I would want this at first, but it has come in EXTREMELY useful.

For ME it is easy to use the keyboard along with the controller if I need to, but other keys I have found useful (for practicing PacMan).

F3 - Reset (Shazaaam! P2B3 on the KeyWiz)
F7, Shift F7 - Save State, load Save State.

FWIW.

[dphirschler]

I was considering putting some "admin" buttons on my cab.  They were going to be:

esc
tab
pause
~
F3
a volume knob
and a headphone jack

Is there any value to putting these buttons inside the coindoor?  Naturally, I will want some of these up top like pause and the headphone jack.  What about esc?  Should it be inside the coindoor?


Darryl

[Tiger-Heli]

Is there any value to putting these buttons inside the coindoor?  Naturally, I will want some of these up top like pause and the headphone jack.  What about esc?  Should it be inside the coindoor?

Tab and ~ could go inside the coin door so guests don't activate them accidentally.

I think if would be a pain having to go inside the coin door to quit a game.  What I would recommend is some obscure two-button combo to exit the game from the main CP.

[jdjuggler]

I use MameWah.

[Dire Radiant]

I'm using just one to keep the keep the clean look of my CP. When you're in a game it will quit and when you're in the FE it will switch between the FE and the jukebox. I reckon I couldn't pause playing the games in the arcade, I don't need to now.

[Chris]

I have a Pause and Exit button on mine, along with a dedicated shift button (called FUNCTION on my panel), plus I use the flipper buttons as shift buttons as well.  I use Shift-Pause to get to the MAME menu, Shift-Exit to reset the game, Shift-P1 Start and Shift-P2 start for P3 and P4 start (I think only Track and Field, Hyper Sports, and the Trivial Pursuit games use these on my cab), and Shift-Player buttons do a variety of tasks like Service 1 through Service 4, Snapshot, Show Framerate (for troubleshooting), etc.  The coin reject buttons are wired as my coin entry buttons.  I use Left Flipper-Pause to save a game state and Right Flipper-Pause to load a game state.

I'm using a keyboard hack, not an IPac, so all the shifting is done through MAME.

As far as the button choices, they've all been selected to maximize the playing of Non-MAME games. Exit is of course ESC; Pause is P, which is pause in most games; P1 and P2's Button 1 are the Enter and Keypad Enter buttons; P2 Joy Up and P2 Jot Down are Y and N, for answering questions; P1 Joy are the arrows on the numeric keypad; P1 B2 is Space; and the flipper buttons are Left and Right Shift.

--Chris

[phildo77]

Depends, are you using an iPac?  If so, it's just a matter of programming, but the buttons I use the most are:

Pause
Escape
Menu

Varies on what games you play and what you like to do on your cab if it's not just for certain games...

Well how about... EVERY GAME.  I will be using MAME and any other emulator i decide to use.  I'd like to be as flexible as possible.  I have a ton of CP space.  I've attached a draft of my CP art.  This thing is massive... like 55" x 33".  Its a rotating 3 piece CP but the outer wings are always there (but removeable for moving the cab.)

I'm NOT using an IPAC.  I'm using a KE72 and OPTI-PAC.  Here's the draft of my main CP art.

[Chris]

Well how about... EVERY GAME.

[phildo77]

Well how about... EVERY GAME.  I will be using MAME and any other emulator i decide to use.  I'd like to be as flexible as possible.  I have a ton of CP space.

Well, then just build a keyboard into the panel and be done with it. I use this one (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33964&item=5190444733&rd=1) at home for maintenance, but it could just as easily be built into the panel.



--Chris

Hmmm...  I'd like to NOT do that.     I want to stick to a arcadey feel and adding a full keyboard would kill that idea.  I just haven't played with all the emulators I guess and don't want to forget or miss something.  I'll incorporate probably ALL of the ideas above.  The machine will MOSTLY be a MAME machine but will probably include emulators for NES, PS, SNES, N64.  Maybe I'll just add like ten extra buttons and give them some sort of label so I have any or all of the extra buttons i need for whatever emulators.

Thanks for the help everyone!

PJ

[Kremmit]

If you've got a ton of room, why not build a hidden flip-up door into the top edge of your cp, and hide the admin buttons under it?  Keep 'em out of sight, and keep 'em from getting accidentally pressed, but still easy access when you you want 'em.  You can even mount buttons you want available at all times (p1 start, pause, etc.)  into the flip-up door itself.

[KenToad]

I seem to only need two admin buttons for Mame, one to escape the games and one more mapped simultaneously to menu/pause/current time.  I use the player 1 button and joystick to navigate the menu.  For other emulators, it seems like I use the escape button and then maybe two more for save/load, since those make much more sense for consoles and such, IMO.

Cheers,
KenToad