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49-way Question(s)...

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Quarterhorse:

Again, thanks for everybody's advice / help in this forum.  My cocktail project is continuing to evolve....I'm not content with just the two vertical sides and am looking to add a third control panel on the horizontal (coin door) side of the monitor.  Thus, I'd have two vertical control panels (one joystick each) and two joysticks (for robotron and simultaneous play) and a trackball on the horizontal side.  The most adaptable joystick for me seems to be the 49 ways.  Here come the questions:

(1) can I have TWO player one controls hooked up?  e.g. I want player one on the left side of the table vertically and also on the left side of the horizontal control panel (and 2 player 2's)....not sure if I can do this with using the GP-wiz and usb inputs

(2)  are there other ball top handles that will fit the 49-way besides the ones by Randy T?  Any other interfaces besides the GP-Wiz?  When are the "new" 49 way joys coming out (see groovygamegear website)?  Any chance they can make one that has a gpwiz encoder BUILT in? 

(3) is it really worth it for me to add control panel #3?  This is going to add a lot of coin to the original budget....

Kremmit:

I can't answer any questions about Randy's new product, but:

1)  You can have all 4 joysticks hooked up, sure.  Each 49-way will need it's own GP-Wiz49.  You will need to configure your horizontal games to use the sticks on the horiz panel, and the vertical games to use the vertical panel sticks.

2)  There aren't any other replacement tops for 49-ways.  Williams 49-ways come with ball-tops already.

3)  It's worth it if you're only going to have one MAME machine, because otherwise you'd be missing out on all the horizontal games.  If you're going to have another machine with a horizontal monitor, then maybe not.

Quarterhorse:


--- Quote from: Kremmit on May 08, 2006, 01:58:33 pm ---1)  You can have all 4 joysticks hooked up, sure.  Each 49-way will need it's own GP-Wiz49.  You will need to configure your horizontal games to use the sticks on the horiz panel, and the vertical games to use the vertical panel sticks.


--- End quote ---


How do I go about configuring it for horizontal to use horizontal player one and not vertical player one?  Is this done through the frontend or mame config settings?  I'm using (have been using) MALA in the past as it can rotate for cocktail tables the menu to the side where action is occurring....

ahofle:


--- Quote from: Quarterhorse on May 08, 2006, 03:28:39 pm ---
--- Quote from: Kremmit on May 08, 2006, 01:58:33 pm ---1)  You can have all 4 joysticks hooked up, sure.  Each 49-way will need it's own GP-Wiz49.  You will need to configure your horizontal games to use the sticks on the horiz panel, and the vertical games to use the vertical panel sticks.


--- End quote ---


How do I go about configuring it for horizontal to use horizontal player one and not vertical player one?  Is this done through the frontend or mame config settings?  I'm using (have been using) MALA in the past as it can rotate for cocktail tables the menu to the side where action is occurring....

--- End quote ---

Worst case you could open up mame and map both player one joysticks to the same things like P1 left, right, etc in the in-game tab settings. 

davieboynj:

I made a couple cocktail tables similar to what you're making and i'd have to agree that  if it's your only cabinet you definitely want the side by side joysticks in the front.   If you're going to a classics only design, you'll probably be happier without it just for simplicity and lack of confusion when other people use your cab.

Question tho...  Are you sure your front joysticks really need 4 way functionality?  I'm hard pressed to think of a game that I play in a horizontal format that i've ever been frustrated with for lack of true 4-way joysticks.  The cost of buying 49 way joysticks may not be worth it ($35 joy + $20 gpwiz + $13 cable + $10 gasket return + $? balltop + $15 ship all = ~$100 each).  Let that extra money ride, and get yourself a nice spinner or trackball (or both!). 

I actually do like the idea of 49 ways for the two ends, but still feel that functionally they are not enough to justify the cost.  They have a round motion which most people feel is not ideal for most vertical games.  Have you considered starting off with something with a restrictor plate (like a j-stick) and just cutting some slots in the bottom to twist the plate when necessary?  I'm actually a big fan of the suzo inductives, but i know their short throw is an acquired taste.  i acquired it when i saw my time pilot score double :). 

As far as the end joysticks go, in my case anyways, they are in 4 way mode 90% of the time.  There are very few exceptions:  gauntlet 4p, time pilot, time pilot 84, gaplus.  I usually play with other people, so all my shmups play on the horizontal mode so that we can take on the forces of evil together.  With the suzo, i just toggle a switch and i'm in 4p mode on both end joysticks  :)

Also with the end joysticks, I think you would want to wire the end joysicks as controllers 3+4 instead of 1+2.  I did this on my second cocktail.  a couple reasons:
  a. Some 4p games play rather well like that (gauntlet I + II), and some 3-4p games (Rampage, Off-Road, nearly any beat-em-up) play well enough that if you handicap yourself enough to keep the game interesting for your buds. 
  b.  it's really quite easy to generate a couple extra controller schemes in your controller config file.  any time you set a game to rotate the screen, just add the lines to the controller config for that individual game, and you're set.  Some (like gauntlet) will require a complete rewrite of the directional controls for the character to move properly, and others that use relative controls (Offroad) won't. 
  c.  Avoid confusion with people trying to play with the wrong controls.  It's nice because with separate inputs they can't even start the game from the wrong controls. 

that must be my longest post ever...  good luck building your cabinet.  adding a front panel makes for a lot more decisions, but also makes for a really versitile cabinet...  I'm sure you'll find out what you want to do for controls, but i'd avoid committing myself to $350 worth of 49-way joysticks.  Throw in the fact that Happ keeps on making the product worse, and it seems to even make less sense...


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