Newbie- Controller Question

[Garrett_N]

Hey,
Hi my name is Garrett and im completely new to these forums.  I have recently started dreaming of building my own arcade machine, and am dying to build one.  I find all the components of the Arcade cabinet simple and monitor mounting and where the pc goes and what software i need and what not, but I have lots of questions about the control panel.  What i want is either a 2 or 3 player arcade with maybe a track ball but that dosnt look like it will happen unless the pc has room for another connection.  What i was planning to do was take apart an old gravis gamepad and use that to hook up 6 push buttons and a 8 way joystick...gravispad has four buttons   so i thought maybe i could borrow two keys from the key board and connect those.  Also im wondering how the game pad would work in MAME i have a gravis pad(USB) and it dosnt even have an option asking if i want to use it MAME...im not sure how it would recognize the controller then and use it?  Also i hear a lot about Ghosting and Blocking....Is this really a big issue? Most of the machines I saw on sites were in fact using hacked keyboards and it dosnt look like they are having to many problems? Will one keyboard go well with one players set of controls, but be totally screwed with another pair connected to the same keyboard?  If i use a keyboard splitter can I use two different keyboards(one for one player controls),(one for two player controls), and the pc will recognize them as two or will it still ghost the same as if i had both controls on one keyboard? Its all so confusing if anyone can help me with these questions i give them much thanks.
Thank you very much,
P.S. Im short for cash, some things i need i will buy but im not to keen on getting an IPAC controller, hacking gravispads and keyboards would be way more convienent for me since im lacking the cash for such things.  This will be great if i can hack the pads and boards but if there will be any complications I should just forget about it and try and get an IPAC.
>>Garrett

[eightbit]

Forget about hacking, get a Ipac.

I'm not sure why you want 2 keyboards or a keyboard and a joystick. I would recomend either hack a joypad that has enough inputs or hack a keyboard but don't try to do a both in the same cab.

If you must hack check out many of the links to tutorials on this site.  Ghosting and blocking are very real concerns.

Go back to the home page of this website and start with the newbie guide. Then work your way through the relevant sections of this site and come back with more specific questions. Its hard to answer questions as broad as yours.

[hyiu]

well... I do NOT own an IPAC.... but I've been on this site for a while... and I think that's what everyone else will tell you....

if you're interested in 2 players controller (or more).... it'll save you a LOT of trouble if you get an IPAC.... actually save up and get the IPAC4....

now... if you don't mind a lot of work (compare to IPAC... which does not require solder...) and you're good with soldering.... and you want to hack..... then you might want to hack some sidewinders.... (which are cheap... about $5 each...)

but I would suggest in either case.... stay away from keyboard hack....

IPAC and gamepad hack should NOT have ghosting pblms... but keyboards will....

hope it helps...
 

[Garrett_N]

hey again,
I'm actaully pretty good with soldering all my tech classes in school have used it and all my circuits come out top notch.  I am not afraid to solder and i will do it.  I do not care about not having to solder.   So is an IPAC neccessary? Or can i pull off a 2 player machine with just 3 sidewinders?  Also how do i get my sidewinder to work in mame? it wont recognize it at all?  Its USB im not sure if that is a problem? Any help is much appreciated.
Thank you.
>>Garrett

[SNAAAKE]

you can do 2 generic usb pads from EB games dude..only $20 for total interface with 28 inputs..just my $0.20.

[Garrett_N]

Thanks i guess ill be hacking some game pads then,
Although i cannot figure how to get my Sidewinder i have now that is USB to work inside of mame? where do i do this?
Thank you.
>>Garrett

[eightbit]

Wheres the game pad hackers when you need them. I thought the sidewinder could be mapped to keystrokes. Since mame uses keyboard by default this is the simple approach.

Of course I've never used a sidewinder and could be thinking of a different joystick that could do that.

[SNAAAKE]

YOU press TAB...hehe...

then configure the inputs to work with mame(only takes a minute).

avoid the once that only gives you 4 inputs(gameport version,then you would have to get 3 of them to play street fighter).
If i were i you..i would go grab 2 usb pads from EB games that usually goes for $10 each($20 total for mame interface is cool).

[CthulhuLuke]

I think I know what you're problem is if you cannot get your Sidewinder to work in Mame32.  For some reason, the default option is to have the joystick input off, so here's what you do:
  open up Options:  Default Options: click the Controllers tab, then click the radio box on Enable Joystick Input, so that it has an X in the box.  Now when you open up Mame and press tab, you can configure it to your joystick and have fun.
  And for your sidewinder needs, click this before you go buyin anything on ebay or at a store unless you can find cheaper, because these controllers can be daisy chained together, and are VERY easy to hack:
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/surpluscomputers/micsidjoy.html
  -Btw, there is a Gravis Gamepad usb that has 10 buttons, but the grounds are wired seperately so you'd have to solder twice as much as if you went with a sidewinder or an I-pac.
   -CthulhuLuke

[hyiu]

I'm a game pad hacker....  
and I'm here.... just a lilttle slow responding....

you know.... when you have a girl friend and got to work... and its Holidays season.... its hard to keep up with everything all at once....
   

CthulhuLuke is right.... try enabling the joystick in the options....

also... there is another place.... (like startup options or something...) there is another enable joystivk input there also... check that one also.... then restart your Mame32... (I'm assuming you're using Mame32, if not, plz state clearly which version and os... etc...)

once that is done.... you can use joystick to move up and down to select game in the Mame window.... you can press button 1 to start a game... 2 and 5 to page up /down, and 3 and 6 to go to beginning and end of list....

hope it helps....