Aside from action buttons, what is needed?

[caykroyd]

Aside from the common six butttons per joystick, what are all the buttons needed for things like 1p,2p,pause, etc.  I don't want to forget any necessary buttons when I start drilling holes.

[Amra]

Most common
-----------------------------
1 Player Start
2 Player Start
1st Player Insert Coin
2nd Player Insert Coin
6-8 Action buttons


Other Common
----------------------------
Pause
Pinball Buttons


Less Common
----------------------------
Esc
Pg Up
Pg Down
Enter

One and a great while
-----------------------------
In Game Control buttons like the F* buttons
Buttons that control game speed or volume
Buttons that dont have a function... yet

[Cue-Ball]

That all depends on how you interface your buttons to the computer.  If you use the Ipac then you have the "shift" functions available which means you need far fewer buttons.  For instance, the only buttons you NEED when using the Ipac are one or more player 1 and player 2 action buttons (I use 7 per player myself), the player 1 start, and the player 2 start.  That's it.  I personally have two coin buttons in addition to this, but it's not absolutely necessary if you have a working coin mech (though i certainly would recommend having them).  If you plan on adding a trackball to your CP i'd also add two more buttons on there to act as mouse buttons.  You could also use two existing buttons for this, but i find it better to have two dedicated buttons.

[Distortion]

on mine, i just have 7 action buttons for each player, a coin button and a start button for each.  The rest of my controls (enter, esc, tab, pause, and F2) are done thru the shazaam key.  Save yourself the room on your control panel and the hassle of wiring unnecessary buttons.

[IG-88]

on mine, i just have 7 action buttons

Just curious but how many games are there that actually need to use all 7 buttons? I get finger tied with any game above 4 buttons!

 

The rest of my controls (enter, esc, tab, pause, and F2) are done thru the shazaam key.

and what heck is the shazaam key?

[unclet]

My 4 player cab has the following:

Tab
Tilda(~)
Enter
Esc
Reset
Pause (left side)
Pause (right side)
Left Pinball button
Right Pinball button
Plunger button (just for fun)
Player1 Start
Player2 Start
Player3 Start
Player4 Start
Player1 CoinUp
Player2 CoinUp
Player3 CoinUp
Player4 CoinUp
7 buttons next to player1 8-way joystick
4 buttons next to player1 4-way joystick
7 buttons next to player2 8-way joystick
6 buttons next to player3 8-way joystick
6 buttons next to player4 8-way joystick
Left Mouse click button
Right Mouse click button

Also.....since I am using a keyboard encoder (which allows multiple characters to be mapped a single button press), I decided to add a few buttons extra.   The idea being that when I press one of these buttons, I could execute a BAT file which would then run a command to reconfigure by keyboard encoder button mappings.  As a result, if I wanted to play TombRaider, I could hit the TombRaider button and have all the switches on my Mame Cabinet remapped correctly for me to play TombRaider.  Another button press would take me back to the Mame Configuration mappings.......

PS:  I have two pause buttons located on separate sides of the control panel top so any player (1-4) would be able to reach the Pause button  quickly (ie: in case they have to leave quickly to take a leak during a heavy night of beer drinking and Mame competition).....

I knew I was only going to build one 4-player cabinet, so I wanted it to be excellent since it will be in my family for a very long time.....

Later
UncleT

[neuromancer]

Aside from the common six butttons per joystick, what are all the buttons needed for things like 1p,2p,pause, etc.  I don't want to forget any necessary buttons when I start drilling holes.

If you use MAME, then you don't need any extra buttons. MAME has "shift" function built into it. Even though it isn't mandatory, I like P1 and P2 coin buttons.

Bob

Bob

[Cue-Ball]

Just curious but how many games are there that actually need to use all 7 buttons? I get finger tied with any game above 4 buttons!

No games need 7 buttons.  But some people (like me) use one row of three buttons for most games, then a row of four buttons (with the first one offset) to act as Neo-Geo buttons.

and what heck is the shazaam key?

I think he's talking about "shifting".  The Ipac lets you have an alternate for every key.  For instance, i don't need an ESC key on my cabinet.  I just press P1Start+P2Start and that sends the "esc" signal just as if i'd pressed ESC on a keyboard.  The same can be done for Tab, F2, Enter, etc.

[shmokes]

Ha ha ha

Yes, he's talking about shifting, but he didn't just make up a random new word for it cos he doesn't think shift sounds cool.  He has a Keywiz.  This is for all intents and purposes the same as an Ipaq, but made by a competitor.  Keywiz has "shazaam", Ipaq has "shift".  

[SirPoonga]

If you use MAME, then you don't need any extra buttons. MAME has "shift" function built into it. Even though it isn't mandatory, I like P1 and P2 coin buttons.

Unless you use more than just mame

Also, a dedicated pause and quit key is great.  I use the pause key all the time, if the phone rings, etc....
The quit key is nice as you don't have to constantly explain to your idiot friends how to quit.