Let me introduce myself......

[Kane]

Hello all. My name is Alex - I'm 29(30 in 2 months ) and like most of you  I have decided that I need to make an arcade cabinet so I can enjoy all those games the way they were ment to be played.
 I have been browsing these boards (as well as some others) for about 2 weeks now looking for information and ideas. I have my CP layout all set the way I like it and need to order all my supplies (sticks, buttons, etc.) I thought I was doing good at all my planning and research, getting prices and figuring what I needed. Then tonight I see the link for RandyTs' new encoder and now I need to re-think all of it .
 I'm planning on 7 buttons per player, 2 player starts, 2 coin drops(unless I get a coin door, but that won't happen for awhile), a track ball with 3 buttons over it and I was thinking 6 "Windows" buttons across the top. Is 6 buttons to many? I don't wanna over do it, but if I don't have enough I'll regret it.
Is the Hagstrom Mouse interface the only one out there or are there other cheaper ones? I love the KE72 from hagstorm but with all the extras I need with it, it gets kind of expensive(about $180 ). I need simple in terms of connectivity (I can't solder to save my life) but I also want least expensive as I am doing this with my "allowance"(married guys know what I'm talking about )
OK, I've rambled enough-any ideas, thoughts, suggestions, links, and general bad mouthing of my ideas are welcome and appreciated .

[Brad Lee]

check www.ultimarc.com for the Ipac and Optipac

Ipac can handle most of what you're looking for(2 joysticks, 8 buttons each, 2 start, 2 coin)
Optipac can handle the trackball and some buttons(I haven't checked too much yet but I'll be picking one up soon)

also check out the KeyWiz, a new entry into this market that has similar features, some better some not(all i know is just what i've read in the forums here and in the faq) There's a thread going now that jsut called "OOoooh!" or something similar thats all about this

I have no experience with a keyboard hack so forget that this sentence ever existed.

(and yes I know all about the 'allowance'.. that's why I'm waiting:) )

[rampy]

Hello all. My name is Alex - I'm 29(30 in 2 months ) and like most of you  I have decided that I need to make an arcade cabinet

Welcome aboard Alex/Kane

I was thinking 6 "Windows" buttons across the top. Is 6 buttons to many? I don't wanna over do it, but if I don't have enough I'll regret it.

Well you can put whatever you like on your control panel of course. But I'd think 6 would be a bit much... have you thought of what functionality you were looking for in those six keys?  (by windows keys I assume you mean stuff like "pause" or "tab/menu" or "reset" or unthrottle in mame)

But still.. IF you think you're going to need a lot of "regular" keypresses in your cabinet outside the controls for MAME, you shouldn't if you setup an FE to automate as much as those processes as possible.   If you have a trackball, you shouldn't need a keyboard for too much in general windows use when not in a game (well sorta)... you can manage files/etc without a keyboard anyways using trackball...

Also note you can use the SHIFT key in an ipac or the Shazaaam! key on the keywhiz to map different alternate keystrokes to your different arcade buttons (so you could map it so that "shift/shazzaam" + player 1 start equals escape or whathave you ... or ...?

Is the Hagstrom Mouse interface the only one out there or are there other cheaper ones?

A few options here.  Buy an arcade trackball and hack mouse guts to it (there are few pages detailing this, i'll dig up the links if you want)... an optipac from ultimarc as mentioned by Brad Lee is an excellent choice.... also if you follow ebay you may or may not be able to get a betson imperial ps/2 arcade trackball... it already has the mouse interface built in... For a while there you coulda gotten one of those for right around 30 duckets.. but i imagine the price is higher now that the market isn't flooded with them. (you can buy them direct from betson new for around 90 beans as well)

Hope that helps... and good luck with yoru project... and remember to take tons of pictures and post a site detailing your progress/project.

rampy

[Howard_Casto]

Just a fyi... there isn't a single console, arcade or pc game that uses mroe than 4 buttons per player on a 4 player setup.  Also 4 player games don't use start buttons.

Also 4 player setups rarely get used more than a few times after they are first built due to the lack of people that will agree on the same game, lack of variety with 4 player arcade games, ect... But I won't go there as it's a lengthy debate.    

With that being said, unless you are doing something crazy player 1 and 2 should probably have 7 buttons max and the 7th can even be shared from another input. (one for the "neogeo" button).

I think 6 windows keys is excessive.  I can see maybe three max, but if you buy an encoder with the shift/shazaam feature, it's really completely unnecessary.  Some people like to have a dedicated exit key so they don't accidentally exit a game by pressing a shifted combination, but that's really the only reason to have dedicated buttons, unless you really want them.  

The ipac and keywiz should both fill your needs, but remember the keywiz is cheaper and has more inputs (ipac-4 actually has just as many inputs, but it'll cost ya) and the ipac has led outputs and usb support.  Regardless of the recent controversey that's the only two points that apply to your setup.

Hope that helps,
HAC

[rampy]

Just a fyi... there isn't a single console, arcade or pc game that uses mroe than 4 buttons per player on a 4 player setup.  Also 4 player games don't use start buttons.

Also 4 player setups rarely get used more than a few times after they are first built due to the lack of people that will agree on the same game, lack of variety with 4 player arcade games, ect... But I won't go there as it's a lengthy debate.    

HC, I know I'm asking for it here... but did he specify that he was doing a 4 player CP? I *ASSumed* he was doing a 2 player with the 7 player EDIT: button setup (also assuming he was going for faux neogeo/hot rod style button layout)...
that's the impression I got from his post... or am I confused??

*shrug*

rampy

[Mike]

Yeah, i think your doing a little overkill. My cab has 2 joysticks one with an oscar restrictor, 6 buttons each, 2 start buttons, my 2 switches going to my coin mechs, a trackball, and spinner. The only thing I'm even considering adding is a left click button for the trackball and that is mostly for FE's. The interfaces i've used are the 28 input ps2 ipac($40) and oscar's mouse interface($9).  The ipac has a keyboard pass through so there is really no reason to add extra window buttons. Plus I think if you pick a good FE there isn't much use for those window buttons. Also I'd get a coin door as soon as possible. I had buttons up there for a while and I'm so glad now i have a coin door installed it gives you an easy way to get in the cabinet without having to pull the thing out from the wall and taking the back plate off.

[BASSOFeeSH]

Concerning "Windows" buttons:

Assuming you mean things like <Enter>(select), <TAB>(config), <P>(Pause), <ESC>(exit)...

I'd say it all depends on the audience.  When I use my CP I strictly use the I-PAC shift buttons to do all that stuff, but when friends/family are over they can't/don't want to wrap their brains around the idea that there isn't a button for everything.

Of course with a cabinet there's the possibility of an instruction card too.

[Kane]

Thanks for the resonses guys. I am doing a 2 player cp not 4 and the layout is like most that you've seen with the 4 neo-geo buttons along the bottom row. I thought the "windows" buttons were over kill but am just looking for ideas. Is it possible to have a button respond "only" when the shift/shazam button is pressed? I think I'm gonna go with 3 buttons - Esc, Tab and Enter, but  I want to be the only one that can use them (hidden shift/shazam key(unless there isn't a seperate button these))  
Man, when I started planning this thing I didn't realize that there was so much for me to learn first Oh well, this is gonna be fun...

[BASSOFeeSH]

Is it possible to have a button respond "only" when the shift/shazam button is pressed?

Yup.

e.g.  If you want a button to send <ESC>, just make sure that it's NOT mapped to <ESC>.  So by itself it might generate <L>(anything or nothing really), which may or may no do anything but it will generate <ESC> if you hold "Shift" while pressing it.

I-PAC(and keywiz I'm sure) makes this almost too easy.

[Kane]

If you want a button to send <ESC>, just make sure that it's NOT mapped to <ESC>.  So by itself it might generate <L>(anything or nothing really), which may or may no do anything but it will generate <ESC> if you hold "Shift" while pressing it.

That is exactly what I plan on doing....with out the shift the keys would seem dead but with the shift they would give me the Tab menu, escape from the games and select games. Thanks

[dhansen]

I think the point was that you can map the shift functions to your regular buttons without having to add the admin buttons at all...

 

Doug

[Brad Lee]

I have a top mounted plate that holds 4 mini-momentarys that I use for Esc,f2,f3,pause. I cut a hole for the size of the 4 buttons and mounted it from inside so it's recessed.
THe only buttons on the CP itself are the game buttons and 4 starts(or 2start + 2coin)

Another thing I did to help with front ends is program the IPac buttons 1 thru 4 as home,page up, page down, end. My 5th button is programmed to send Enter

[Rocky]

Kane,

The "extra" control buttons are a personal thing.

I would recommend that if you do them, you should include a dedicated "pause" button as well as others you are planning.

One thing you don't want is to screw around with a multi button control when you need to answer the phone or use the rest room or whatever.


Rocky

[Howard_Casto]

HC, I know I'm asking for it here... but did he specify that he was doing a 4 player CP? I *ASSumed* he was doing a 2 player with the 7 player EDIT: button setup (also assuming he was going for faux neogeo/hot rod style button layout)...
that's the impression I got from his post... or am I confused??

*shrug*

rampy

No, I just assumed the opposite.  Besides I have to tell all newbs the generic "shut and buy and ipac, shut up and make it 2 player" speech.  Friends don't let friends build oversized, useless cps.  

[rampy]

HC, I know I'm asking for it here... but did he specify that he was doing a 4 player CP? I *ASSumed* he was doing a 2 player with the 7 player EDIT: button setup (also assuming he was going for faux neogeo/hot rod style button layout)...
that's the impression I got from his post... or am I confused??

*shrug*

rampy

No, I just assumed the opposite.  Besides I have to tell all newbs the generic "shut and buy and ipac, shut up and make it 2 player" speech.  Friends don't let friends build oversized, useless cps.  

we need you in another thread, stat, then... =P

rampy