Hey guys,
I have yet to finish my first cab but is proving to be a hit and I can now see the need for a 4 player setup. I'd like to get together some games like The Simpsons and TMNT that feature simultaneous player action. I'd still need to research this a little further, to see what games require what controls etc...
Anyway, I have pretty much 'blown my wad' (of cash that is) on the first (WIP) cab but I have some extra parts sitting around and just might be able to pull off a second one for cheap.
I have:
Existing cabnet, (was used for rackmount audio equipment)
PIII 800MHz 512 Meg Ram PC
21" Viewsonic CRT monitor
4 green handle Happs joysticks
30+ buttons and switches
several used trackballs
and a 3' by 5' laminated table top for a CP (green woodgrain, Yikes!)
Need:
Encoders
Information about games to run on it.
Time to put into this project
I figured 4 players and a general green theme, Hmmm . . .
TURTLES! ! !
And then I dug up Rgecko's old SHELL SHOCKED project thread.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=35058.0(Awesome job he did on that one!)
Anyway, getting to the point of this post, I've got a few questions for the general consensus.
1) Is it really necessary to have 7 buttons for each player?
I see many of your CP's only using 4 buttons for P3 & P4.
I kind of like this uncluttered design but hate to think I'd be leaving anyone short changed on the controls.
2) Lots of debate over 'angled joystick placement' in many of the old threads I've been reading. I like the idea of making a little extra elbow room for the middle players and will be using that configuration. (Remember the panel I have to work with is only 36" wide. Has anyone every REALLY regretted the angled layout after they'd finished their projects?
3) So far the only games I know for sure we'd like to play on this setup are The Simpson's and TMNT. As my experience is with the early to mid 80's games, I'm not real familiar with the latter stuff. Kind of interested in fighters or other action titles. Can anyone recommend a good source for researching more potential games?
**I've seen lots of type about the wiki but I can't say that I've figured out how to use it effectively yet. I'd really like to stumble upon a database of games sorted by # of players and a listing of required controls for each. Seem to remember someone here (Spystyle maybe?) had a program that sorted ROMs by these options so you could 'weed out' all the ones you didn't need/want. Wish I'd left a train of breadcrumbs to that one!
4) Are there any games they would require 2 trackballs? Cuz I've got balls to spare now, might as well put em to use someplace.
5) With 4 players smacking away at the controls in a wild frenzy, there has got to be some encoder overload at some point. Could you guys voice your thoughts on the better encoder to use for these 4 player setups? I'm figuring 1 for joysticks & buttone, another for trackball(s) as a minimum.
Also, when using multiple encoders, is it OK to mix say 1 Key-Wiz and 1 iPac? Do they ever conflict or anything weird like that?
OK, I'll try to stop babblin and give you all a chance to pipe in. I'm sure I'll have some more ?'s after awhile. I'll even try to get some preliminary pics to post.
Supermegawarhead thankies to any and all replys!