Lighted keyboard LED's

[eightbit]

In mame the LEDs emulate the Caps/Num/Scroll lock keyboard LEDs. What these LEDs actually do depends on the game. In MAME some games flash the LEDs to indicate coin credits. Some games use the LEDs for indicating "power-up" or rapid fire status etc.

[cdbrown]

I don't think it's a requirement as I won't actually be utilising them.  But some people can't do with out them for their really old games that had the buttons flashing when inputting credits.  What I would like is when I put in credits for each player I'd like to see the player start buttons light up.  Now I can hear some people saying but the keyboard LED's do that somewhat.  I would like it for my four player cp.  Each player has a credit button and a start button.  Some games can have a "pool" of credits where it doesn't matter where the credit was registered anyone can take it.  However on some 4 player games the credits are allocated to the corresponding player (ie player4 credit button will only register to player 4).  It would be good to see the start buttons light up when there are credits available.  But I think this is waaaaayyyyy off topic.

Short answer - keyboard LEDs not required unless we can get 4 LED's that work the way I suggested but YMMV.

Cheers
-cdbrown

[spidermonkey]

I bought the 3 led harness from Andy and I love it.I only used the two that flash when credits are inserted. I put them in my white player 1 & 2 buttons. They look cool as hell when playing Atari games. They do flash on quite a few other non Atari games as well. Haven't kept track of them though. When trying new games I always keep an eye on em when I drop quarters in. Of coarse when showing a friend my cabinet I always pick an Atari game so that I'm assured that they'll flash when he drops quarters in . I never bothered to figure out what that third led does though. Its hidden under my control panel untill I figure out what to do with it. Anybody remember playing Gorf and the top of the triggerstick would light up when the fire trigger was pulled? Hmmm I'm wondering if that third led is lighting up under there and I don't even know it. Dammit now I've got myself wondering I guess I'll be opening up my cp during a game of Gorf tomorrow to see if I might be right . I'll let you guys know if it does.

[Minwah]

I'd be interested to know what the 3rd LED is for too - I guess I haven't noticed it much...I'm about to order an I-Pac so I'm wondering whether to get the LED harness too.

I'd say it's not a requirement for a keyboard encoder, but certainly a nice feature

[Odonadon]

I put them in my white player 1 & 2 buttons. They look cool as hell when playing Atari games. They do flash on quite a few other non Atari games as well

Did you change the default LEDs that came with the harness?  I experimented with putting the LED in the button, but could only notice it when the lights were off in the room.  I don't think the LEDs that come with it are bright enough.

One thing I did noticed, is the Capslock LED flashing the entire time when playing Space Harrier.  What's up with that?  

Odonadon

[spidermonkey]

No I used the leds that came with the harness. They seem to be bright enough even with the lights on but I did find that I had to move the leds a little farther away from the button surface so that the light was defused through out the the whole button surface. When I first put them in I set them as close to the button as possible thinking they would be brighter but they ended up emitting a small dot of light in the middle of the button. I'm not saying that they are super bright but pulling them a little farther away from the button surface should spread the light out a bit. I toyed with the idea of replacing them with brighter ones but when my buddies come over to play they all noticed the player 1 & 2 buttons flashing so I guess they're bright enough for me.
Good luck

S.M.

[SirPoonga]

I'd be interested to know what the 3rd LED is for too - I guess I haven't noticed it much...I'm about to order an I-Pac so I'm wondering whether to get the LED harness too.

I'd say it's not a requirement for a keyboard encoder, but certainly a nice feature

The leds flash depending on the game.  Some games use them as indicators for something.