stupid question about cocktail cabinets

[chiva]

Hello.
Ok I'd like to build a cocktail cabinet to run some classic arcade games but I've got a question I can't figure out.

When I look at most of the cabinet design places on the net, it shows a controller on either side, so that the two players are facing each other.  Doesn't this mean that one player would have to look at the screen upside down?

I'm pretty new to mame so I might just be missing something.  Is there a way to flip the screen upside down while player 2 is playing, or what?

Thanks.
chiva  

[rampy]

Hello.
Ok I'd like to build a cocktail cabinet to run some classic arcade games but I've got a question I can't figure out.

When I look at most of the cabinet design places on the net, it shows a controller on either side, so that the two players are facing each other.  Doesn't this mean that one player would have to look at the screen upside down?

I'm pretty new to mame so I might just be missing something.  Is there a way to flip the screen upside down while player 2 is playing, or what?

Thanks.
chiva  

Mame games that are either cocktail revisions or can have their "dip" switches set to cocktail mode do just that... flip the screen  around  for each persons turn...

That's what the old cocktails originally did, and so that's wthe behaviour mame emulates... and that's good for the folks that build MAME cocktail cabs...

does that help ?

good luck,
rampy

[Smack]

When I look at most of the cabinet design places on the net, it shows a controller on either side, so that the two players are facing each other.  Doesn't this mean that one player would have to look at the screen upside down?

Gotta give you props for asking that question! You've got big kongs!

Welcome to the obsession!!!

Smack

[Jakobud]

Come on, that was his first post....

Yes, basically any game that was originally out of a cocktail style table has an option to turn on 'cocktail mode'.  When cocktail mode is turned on, the screen will flip upside down for Player 2's turn.

So obviously you can't really have any games in there where more than one person plays at a time...

[rampy]

Come on, that was his first post....

Yes, basically any game that was originally out of a cocktail style table has an option to turn on 'cocktail mode'.  When cocktail mode is turned on, the screen will flip upside down for Player 2's turn.

So obviously you can't really have any games in there where more than one person plays at a time...

unless one person is dyslexic =P

rampy

[Smack]

Actually, you can use the fact that one person is upside down to your advantage at times.

For example, there are a number of shooter type games that run vertically that will play 2 people at the same time (as opposed to alternating turns).

You can reconfigure the player 2 controls to control the player relative to the angle that they're looking at the screen. (basically reconfigure the left for right and right for left)

That way both can play those types of games at the same time. One person just has to view the game in a different manner.

Just a random thought! And there's no such thing as a stupid question!  

Word.
Smack

[chiva]

Hi.
thanks for the quick reply.  I feel stupid now.  I just was hesitant to go into the dip switches section because I don't know much about that kind of thing and I thought I might mess something up.
Chiva

[Smack]

Ahh, don't feel stupid. We were all new at this at one time or another.

If you should ever reconfigure a dip switch on a game and you have trouble getting things back in order, you can just delete the .cfg file.

You can play around with service modes too. (usally F2 if they have one).