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keyboard hack / encoder question
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aumameman:
Maybe your answer is the ipac from www.ultimarc.com as it has shift key function build in. Example player 1 and player 2 button hit together will cause "esc" key. Basically the player 1 button is a sift button aswell as its usual player 1 start.
Tiger-Heli:

--- Quote from: aumameman on January 17, 2006, 02:33:58 am ---Maybe your answer is the ipac from www.ultimarc.com as it has shift key function build in. Example player 1 and player 2 button hit together will cause "esc" key. Basically the player 1 button is a sift button aswell as its usual player 1 start.

--- End quote ---
Player 1 and Player 2 Start together = Escape is a good reason NOT to get the I-PAC, but you could always set the shift key to a different input and avoid this problem.

--- Quote from: soulblazer28 on January 17, 2006, 01:59:17 am ---I am planning on a control panel that has two players, each having dual joysticks and six buttons.  By my count that is 16 inputs for the joysticks, and 12 inputs for the buttons, plus 4 buttons for 1&2 player coin and start. That is a total of 32 inputs. Oh no! What about administrative buttons?

Does anyone know of any other sensible solution without having to buy two 32 input encoders, or a single encoder with more inputs?  I don't suppose its feasible to have one of the action keys as a shift key, or is the shift key a separate entity?  If that were the case, I think I'd be set.

--- End quote ---
I think your best bet would be the KeyWiz from GroovyGameGear.  It has a separate shift key (not combined with one of the 32-inputs), plus you can wire a button so it activates a shift function automatically.

You do not want the action key as a shift key or as a shifted input, but coin, start, etc. as a shift key is fine.  For the panel you describe, you are looking at 28 action keys.  I would have Pause and maybe Escape as "hard" inputs, along with coin 1 and coin 2, and map the P1 and P2 Start keys to stealth-shifted inputs.

In this thread, I explain how to wire up a 4-player panel using the KeyWiz.  You would be doing something similar, but could avoid all shared inputs.

See http://www.mameworld.net/tigerheli/encoder/shiftkeys.htm for a discussion of stealth-shifted inputs, and http://www.mameworld.net/tigerheli/encoder/startkey.htm for a discussion about getting rid of the start keys to save more inputs (although you wouldn't need to do this).
rwhip41:
Regarding the ipac and the Shift function...

You could run a junctionfrom the Player 1 and Player 2 buttons to a seperate button that serves as the Escape function.

EDIT: I have an ipac and like it a lot, but a motivation to go with a Keywiz are for the 2-player games with a Continue option (more coins in). We've accidently ended many a game when both players hit their Player start buttons at the same time. Otherwise, the ipac works great for shift functions via easy extra button hookups.
Tiger-Heli:

--- Quote from: rwhip41 on January 19, 2006, 12:57:53 am ---Regarding the ipac and the Shift function...

You could run a junctionfrom the Player 1 and Player 2 buttons to a seperate button that serves as the Escape function.

EDIT: I have an ipac and like it a lot, but a motivation to go with a Keywiz are for the 2-player games with a Continue option (more coins in). We've accidently ended many a game when both players hit their Player start buttons at the same time. Otherwise, the ipac works great for shift functions via easy extra button hookups.

--- End quote ---
Exactly . . .

The problem Soulblazer has is that he is using 28 ACTION keys so there is no good way to make the shift function work (short of maybe combining P1 and P2 buttons 3 through 6 with the P1 and P2 second joystick inputs, which frees up 8 inputs - i.e., there are ways to work around it and make it work but they are awkward).

In general, regarding the P1 and P2 = Escape problem - I am a big fan of a dedicated Pause Key - so if you remap P2 B8 to "P", leaving 27 other inputs, you then can set P2B8 as the Shift key, so pressing Pause and 1P Start at the same time = Escape, etc.   This is MUCH less likely to be accidentally activated.

BTW - Soulblazer - Another option to consider would be the I-PAC VE which has 32 inputs and is USB.  It can also use Stealth-shifted keys, but the wiring is more complicated.
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