4-player games on 2-player CPs

[dth122]

I was wondering what most people do to play 4-player games on a 2-player control panel.  Is there a better way to setup the CP to control different characters (such as in Gauntlet or The Simpsons) than reconfiguring all of the controls each time the game is played?

It seems like there should be a simple keyboard remapping utility that will let you change  things around right before you load the game, that way you can control any two characters of your choice.

Alternatively, is there a way to save multiple configurations of the same game and store those so they come up as individual ROMs in the front end?

Thanks.
 - Dave

[SirPoonga]

That's what the usb ports on my cabinet are for.

[eightbit]

Like Sirp said plug in some joypads for players 3 and 4. Alternatively some of the games like TMNT have a 2 player version that would let you pick which character you wanted.

You could save the game config and write a script to copy the config for the players you wanted then launch the game.

I think most people either build a 4 player panel or they play p1 and p2 of those games.

[u_rebelscum]

I was wondering what most people do to play 4-player games on a 2-player control panel.  Is there a better way to setup the CP to control different characters (such as in Gauntlet or The Simpsons) than reconfiguring all of the controls each time the game is played?

It seems like there should be a simple keyboard remapping utility that will let you change  things around right before you load the game, that way you can control any two characters of your choice.

ctrlr ini files.  Look at docs\ctrlr.txt file that came with mame and http://www.mameworld.net/easyemu/mamecontrolini.htm for examples on using it.

Then write a batch file to rename the .ini files.

Alternatively, is there a way to save multiple configurations of the same game and store those so they come up as individual ROMs in the front end?

Thanks.

Depends on which FE you are using, but you could setup same version mames in different folders with the different cfgs.    But I like the ctrlr method.

[dth122]

I'm running ArcadeOS.  I understand the different controller cfg files, but Is there a way to select which one to use right in the FE?  I prefer not to have to use the keyboard to run batch files.

Thanks.
 - Dave