Do you need a QUIT button on your control panel??

[eggedd2k]

this might sound like a daft question but whilst i was planning my cp layout I suddenly thought that if I don't somehow wire up a QUIT button how am I going to quit a game and go back to the mame front end?

on all of the cp's i've seen i've not seen any that specifically mention a quit button.

[Veinman]

If you are using an IPAC, I believe the default "escape" key combo is P1 & P2.

Personally, I don't like that, and am putting in a dedicated Escape key button.

[eggedd2k]

thanks.

[AlanS17]

Yeah you can quit any game by hitting P1 and P2 start buttons simultaneously with an Ipac. However, you might be better off just remapping it. I've had plenty of times where 2 people go to hit start at the same time (especially in fighting games) and the games accidentally exits. In that case you'd want an "exit" button or a less sensitive exit button combination.

[eggedd2k]

i'll have to check my i-pac pcb. does it have a quit terminal that a button can be wired to??

[flampoo]

On my first cab (using a keywiz) I didn't bother to designate a button solely for quitting. But since then I make a point of adding one. It's extremely convenient, especially when you're entertaining people and you don't want to explain how to exit the game.
If I'm working on a MAME I consider it a necessity. And it's one of those buttons you can easily hide - you don't need it on the CP.

[Tahnok]

I consider exit to be like credit, you have to have it.

Personnaly, I have never understood why people map exit to P1 and P2 start. Of all the combinations...

[markrvp]

i'll have to check my i-pac pcb. does it have a quit terminal that a button can be wired to??

There is not a "Quit" terminal.  I hooked mine up to Player 1, Button 8 and changed it's mapping to ESC using the WinIpac utility.

[Lilwolf]

I hate the p1 and p2 combo.  I just got an IPac recently (used mk64 before then) and I haven't disabled it yet...  (lack of time)

but I got knocked with that last night...  almost made my 5 year old cry... (because she thought I was quitting the game because it was bedtime)

[AlanS17]

i'll have to check my i-pac pcb. does it have a quit terminal that a button can be wired to??

Yeah there are more buttons on an IPAC than you'll ever use. Just pick a button 7 or button 8. The IPAC wasn't built with menu buttons in mind, only game play buttons. All the menu buttons are activated by a combination of game play buttons.

[Stingray]

Never had a problem with the P1 + P2 combo myself. Of course my MAME cab doesn't have a credit button either. You have to put tokens in it just like with my dedicated machines.

-S

[Dire Radiant]

If you're the only one using it then combos are fine. However one of my ironclad design principles for my cab is that any person of average intelligence should be able to walk up to it, launch a game, play, quit the game, launch the jukebox, play a song, switch back to Mamewah and play another game without any instruction from me and preferably without reading an instruction card. That makes a clearly laid out admin panel essential. Luckily my cab has a perfect place for the admin panel to go. Others may not be so lucky if doing a conversion.

[Thenasty]

check my CP on my page. Dedicated EXIT button and dedicated Help button.

[jelwell]

My design principle for my cabinet is : "I don't want to help".

As soon as a friend asks me "How do I...?", a part of me dies inside.

So having a dedicated Quit button was essential for me.

You can see from my control panel that I have the following dedicated buttons:
Escape (Which I should have called QUIT)
Next List
Previous List (This doesn't seem necessary anymore since I don't have very many lists)
Save Game
Load Game
Volume + (These are kinda optional, people don't seem to care about the volume much and lots of designs just use a knob sticking out somewhere or hidden somewhere)
Volume -
Pause



Some functionality I've added since I designed my control panel:
The Next List did nothing in MAME, so now it brings up the Command List
The Previous List also did nothing so now it brings up the Cheat List. Although maybe cheating shouldn't be so accessible?

Joseph Elwell.

[Dire Radiant]

Now having a help button - that idea I like. What does yours actually do?

[Thenasty]

Now having a help button - that idea I like. What does yours actually do?

check my site, it shows you. I'm working on putting on the site when you push HELP while a game is loaded. I have posted a pic here berfore but I'm trying to put everything in my site.

[Veinman]

My CP will have a row of 5 admin buttons. Current plans for their functions, in order, are:
Escape
Shift (alt button for the IPAC)
Load
Save
Pause

I feel that Escape and Pause are buttons that are always going to be needed, so I was wondering if I should actually have the words "Exit" and "Pause" printed on the CP above the buttons.

Alternatively, I can put a small instruction card on showing the buttons and their functions under the bezel, or maybe even print out the words myself and stick them on top of the printed CP, which will be covered with lexan.

The advantage is flexibility, at the possible cost of some aesthetics. What do you think? Did any of you print words on your CP, only to regret it later?

[markrvp]

I'm adding a NAV bar under the monitor on my cab.

[DreamArcades]

Don't forget the [Tab] key for getting into the ROM menu.
-mike

[paigeoliver]

My design principle for my cabinet is : "I don't want to help".

As soon as a friend asks me "How do I...?", a part of me dies inside.

So having a dedicated Quit button was essential for me.

You can see from my control panel that I have the following dedicated buttons:
Escape (Which I should have called QUIT)
Next List
Previous List (This doesn't seem necessary anymore since I don't have very many lists)
Save Game
Load Game
Volume + (These are kinda optional, people don't seem to care about the volume much and lots of designs just use a knob sticking out somewhere or hidden somewhere)
Volume -
Pause



Some functionality I've added since I designed my control panel:
The Next List did nothing in MAME, so now it brings up the Command List
The Previous List also did nothing so now it brings up the Cheat List. Although maybe cheating shouldn't be so accessible?

Joseph Elwell.

Hee hee, the control panel looks like you spilled a bag of skittles on it!!!!! (Nice build quality though).


I hope, I hope, I hope that is a temporary monitor, its a shame to match up that awesome panel with a 17" or 19" PC monitor that is dwarfed by the panel.

[Veinman]

Don't forget the [Tab] key for getting into the ROM menu.
-mike

I plan to manage that one through use of the alt button somehow. I don't find myself using that very much at this point in time, but I'm sure I'll use it more in the future.

[Chris]

I hope, I hope, I hope that is a temporary monitor, its a shame to match up that awesome panel with a 17" or 19" PC monitor that is dwarfed by the panel.

There's only so big of a monitor you can cram into that size of a cabinet. If that's a 23" wide cab like mine, it's 3/4" too small for the common 27" monitors, and 25" monitors are darn hard to find.

My panel has three admin buttons: Pause, Exit, and a dedicated Shift button to access everything else.  And yes, Paige, it also looks like a bag of skittles spilled on it; I'm not fond of monochrome panels.  (I remember arcades as colorful places.)

[Bones]

I have dedicated admin buttons with unique IPAC inputs for Esc, Tab, Shift and F10. 

[Dougmeister]

I have dedicated pause and exit buttons, as well as <Enter> and <Tab> to get to the menus.

If you have kids, you gotta have a pause button.

Too bad it doesn't work on them

[Chris]

Thinking about adding the save/load buttons...

I use the flipper buttons and PAUSE for this.  Left flipper/PAUSE saves, right flipper/PAUSE loads.  Because of the way this function works, both automatically save and load from position "P" (which is what PAUSE is mapped to), so I don't need the extra step of specifying a save/load position.

Edit: Chris and jelwell, nice CPs.

[stellarola]

Instead of having an Exit and Select button...you could just make a Select/Exit button in one. You select the game in your favorite frontend, which is mapped in the frontend, and then you make the same button the exit button in Mame mapping, by hitting TAB....easy nuff, right?

[Veinman]

Did any of you print words on your CP, only to regret it later?

I hate to self-quote, but I'd love to hear some thoughts on printing words on the CP overlay.

[RayB]

Instead of having an Exit and Select button...you could just make a Select/Exit button in one. You select the game in your favorite frontend, which is mapped in the frontend, and then you make the same button the exit button in Mame mapping, by hitting TAB....easy nuff, right?

That sounds good, but would there be a "key repeat" that might cause the front-end to then immediately re-start a game?

[jelwell]

I hope, I hope, I hope that is a temporary monitor, its a shame to match up that awesome panel with a 17" or 19" PC monitor that is dwarfed by the panel.

It's sorta temporary. It's currently a 19 inch PC Monitor. I'm waiting for someone to donate a 21 inch PC Monitor, or for me to become wealthy enough to buy a nice 25 inch Arcade Monitor (assuming that's the largest that will fit). I bought a real bezel, so it looks a lot cleaner now:

Thinking about adding the save/load buttons...

Edit: Chris and jelwell, nice CPs.

[paigeoliver]

A 25" will just barely squeeze in, and that is pretty much a minimum considering the sheer size of that panel.

Is that thing front heavy, I mean, does it want to tip over if you push down on the panel?

[RayB]

What the...?!  Do you have a rotating marquee?

[jelwell]

A 25" will just barely squeeze in, and that is pretty much a minimum considering the sheer size of that panel.

Is that thing front heavy, I mean, does it want to tip over if you push down on the panel?

Nope. Not at all. Not only that, but you can see from some of the pictures that the cabinet is resting on a furniture dolly - which you would think would lend even more stability problems to it. But it doesn't. Try lifting an arcade cabinet with a 19inch CRT in it and coin door mechs! That's a whole lot of counter-balancing weight.

My concern with upgrading to an Arcade Monitor is that I love Virtual Pinball and I'm afraid I'll lose too much resolution/clarity. My friend has a TV in his cabinet and Visual Pinball looks awful.

What the...?!

[jelwell]

Instead of having an Exit and Select button...you could just make a Select/Exit button in one. You select the game in your favorite frontend, which is mapped in the frontend, and then you make the same button the exit button in Mame mapping, by hitting TAB....easy nuff, right?

Any button on my control panel that doesn't do anything in MAMEWAH will launch the selected game. Which means all the player buttons including STARTs and CREDITs. But none of the "Function" buttons.

People seem to understand hitting the Player 1/2 Start button, to load a game.

Thinking about adding the save/load buttons...

I use the flipper buttons and PAUSE for this.

[Dire Radiant]

Is that thing front heavy, I mean, does it want to tip over if you push down on the panel?

Only when planes land on it!