dedicated shift button

[vrf]

so I'm thinking of having the left black button (above red) as a dedicated shift button. Dumb idea?

I haven't decided yet on the keyboard encoder. Probably a Keywhiz Max, although I could be talked out of it.



Also, can I use the white buttons as mouse buttons in addition to Player 1/2? I can do this with any encoder, right?

Thanks!

[mccoy178]

I am going through the same dilemma.  I think I am going to use the pause button as my Shaazam key(shift on a keywiz max), and use my other buttons on the cp for things like the cheat menu, the tab key(mame menu), escape of course, and anything else that strikes me.  As far as using the mouse buttons as P1/P2 start, I think you would have the buttons wired to both your trackball interface and your keywiz.  I don't know if that would cause any problems or not.  Also, since that is a small cp, you may want to consider a minipac.  You can intergrate both the trackball and your controls into that one piece.  Here is a link to the ultimarc page:

http://www.ultimarc.com/minipac.html

[vrf]

Thanks for the suggestions. My trackball is a USB one, though, so I don't need an additional optical interface.

So.. the Keywiz shazaam key can also have its own function? Guess I didn't know that. I thought it was just a shift key.

The mouse button thing also confuses me. Won't it press the 2 keystrokes when I left/right click? (Like when I'm in Windows.)

[mccoy178]

As far as I understand it, yes.  It would not only left click but hit what ever button you had programmed such as "1" for P1 start.

Sorry, had a brain fart.  In Mame, you can assign mouse buttons as keys, so in effect you would not wire your mouse buttons to the keywiz.  Sorry about that, it's been a long time.  I had two buttons on the side of my first cp.  One was a mouse button, the other was a button for vpinball.  That's why I was a little lost there.

[Tiger-Heli]

So.. the Keywiz shazaam key can also have its own function? Guess I didn't know that. I thought it was just a shift key.

I think you are correct - it is just a shift key.  I think McCoy178 is thinking of the I-PAC (or maybe of the stealth-shift adapters that allow you to send a shifted input with a single button).

The button location concerns me if you are going to use all eight buttons for console emu's (which you might want to do).  I would probably mount the shift (Shazaaam!) button on the forward face of the panel - but if you've thought this through and don't think you'll accidentally hit it, then you should be fine.

[vrf]

For console emus, I was hoping to have the 2 white buttons as select/start, but only if I can get them to be keyboard presses as well as mouse buttuns. I still haven't figured out how to do that. Just wire the buttons into the mouse harness and the keywiz at the same time?

Or maybe there is a way to activate mouse buttons only when holding the shift key... (So, otherwise they'd be keyboard buttons.)

[Tiger-Heli]

For console emus, I was hoping to have the 2 white buttons as select/start, but only if I can get them to be keyboard presses as well as mouse buttuns. I still haven't figured out how to do that. Just wire the buttons into the mouse harness and the keywiz at the same time?

Or maybe there is a way to activate mouse buttons only when holding the shift key... (So, otherwise they'd be keyboard buttons.)

You could probably wire them as mouse buttons and then use JoyToKey (KeyMouse ()) or some other software to translate them into keyboard presses.