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Ipac2 VS. Ipac4
kill9cowboy:
First off, I just discovered this community this week, and I've been really impressed. I didn't even know people built their own cabinets. I read Saint's book last week, and decided it would be totally worth building my first cabinet. I have a pretty big backround in computers, mostly in Linux, but as far as cabinet building goes, this is totally new to me.
I have a question about the Ipac2 and Ipac4.
Based on the Ultimarc website, the Ipac2 has 28 inputs on it. Do most of you find this enough for a 2 player CP?
I was thinking about building something close to the SlikStik Classic, and when I look at it, it looks like they are using plenty more than 28 inputs, although they say it is using a 26 input Ipac.
Am I right in a joystick takes 4 inputs on an Ipac?
For something similar to the SlikStik setup, will I need an Ipac4?
Thanks for dealing with my totally newbie question :)
Farmboy90:
An IPAC 2 should be plenty for a 2 player panel.
A typical 8 way, 4 way joystick will use 4 inputs each. Each button is another input.
That slikstik panel uses a 28 input IPAC. This is because they reuse inputs. All the admin buttons are not required since you can get that functionality via the shift keys on the IPAC. The middle/top joystick is probably wired to the same inputs as the P1 joystick. The trackball and spinner buttons resuse existing inputs as well - probably the p1 buttons.
I have a P2 panel with IPAC connections consisting of 3 joysticks and 23 buttons. I use an IPAC2 with no problems. Again this is becasue a lot of the inputs get reused.
Zakk:
A lot of the controls can be doubled-up. My suggestion is a minipac, which can also control the trackball and the spinner. I-pac 4's are really for 4 player cp's. Oh, and don't limit yourself to the slickstik design, that seems to have a lot of extra 'unneeded' buttons. Stick around here and you'll learn a lot, and look at the examples page. There are a LOT of good designs out there.
Tiger-Heli:
There is also the KeyWiz or KeyWiz Eco from www.groovygamegear.com, which is 32 inputs.
See http://www.mameworld.net/tigerheli/encoder/index.htm for the (almost) full story.
kill9cowboy:
Great!
Thanks for clearing that up.
I'm definitly going to stick around, this looks like it could be one addictive hobby.
I am going to try to get a MAME front end up on one of my Linux machines this week, and start building a cab in the weeks to come.
Thanks again.