button count?

[Chris G]

I'm sure this question has been asked and answered, but after a brief unsuccessful search, I thought I'd throw it out there anyway...

I noticed on the rather impressive Control Panel Database a number of different button counts.  I'm down with having 6 buttons per player for fighting games, but what's up with 7 or 8?  I'm mostly interested in the classics which make due with far less, but I just want to make sure I'm not missing something in my old age... thanks.

[pointdablame]

The 7 button combo is usually a Street Fighter + NeoGeo setup.  It's actually only 6 buttons, but one is doubled up.  It's meant to emulate both the Street fighter layout (2 rows of 3) and the NeoGeo layout (4 across).

It usually looks something like:

      1  2  3
   x  4  5  6

Where "x" will be wired the same as one of the top row buttons.





The 8 button combo is usually only for other consoles, such as Playstation.  There's no need for 8 buttons in Mame unless you are playing one of those crazy mahjong games with a million buttons.

[RandyT]

Sometimes it's not the number but how you use them (where have I heard that before...)

A 6-button is the most common because of the fighters.  The addition of one more button to the lower left is usually done not because 7 buttons are specifically required, rather that extra button + the bottom row of three mimics an authentic "neo" style panel.  If you see a panel with 8 buttons, is usually due to the fact that the panel is designed for emulation of a console like the PS, where there are 4 shoulder buttons and 4 face buttons.

That's why the CP layout is such a personal thing.  Much depends on what you plan to play as well as space considerations, aesthetics and so on.

RandyT


*edit*

....too slow again.....

[Chris G]

Thanks guys.  6 it shall be.

I dig the clean, relatively-simple look of Timoe and MustardTent's CPs in particular, so that's the general direction I'm taking.  With that in mind, I'm going to do 2 programmable ball-top sticks, a spinner, trackball, and 6 buttons each.

Now my only remaining decisions are on admin buttons and whether to do all the flashy LED stuff.  My wife likes the lighted stuff, and I dig the "coolness" factor, but it just doesn't speak to the classic arcade gaming I remember (Tron excluded of course).  Perhaps my memory's fading... 

Chris

[RandyT]

I've been doing this so long, my first control panel had a WICO red ball top (before they got the idea to start selling them as a handheld for the Atari) and white leaf-switch buttons because that's about all you could get!  The colored stuff followed not too long after though.

The extra "bling" is pretty nice.  I was offering the LED-Wiz and the EI buttons for over 6 months before I forced myself to rewire my panel (no time.)  Now, I don't think I could go back, as it would seem kind of dull without having the buttons lit or being able to change the colors.

RandyT

[FrizzleFried]

I didn't realize that Joust had lit buttons (player 1 and player 2) until i got my cab...but they are lit with little bulbs...not LEDs... Lit buttons from 1982...nice.

[headkaze]

And now that the MameInterop SDK has been released LEDWiz plugins are going to support the led outputs of real cabs. I'm just doing a LEDWiz CP makeover myself and am documenting the whole thing on my cab's webpage. When I had my CP custom made there was no such thing as a LEDWiz so there was no option back then. Now with most FE's supporting LEDWiz in some way you can be sure to get the best out of your LEDWiz hardware.

[Donkey_Kong]

Is Mortal Kombat III  6 or 7 buttons? I can never remember that.

[FrizzleFried]

Looks like 5+1 to me...

http://www.klov.com/images/11/1115576909.jpg

[Spaz Monkey]

MK layout is generally

     
    ^        1      2
 < O >        3
    V        4      5

     6

6th button is Run for the games that use it

[clockwork]

What is actually the point of the 7th button if it's mapped to one of the top row buttons? Is it just a matter of making it easier to hit certain combos with the thumb?

[RandyT]

What is actually the point of the 7th button if it's mapped to one of the top row buttons? Is it just a matter of making it easier to hit certain combos with the thumb?

My take on it is that if you have enough inputs available, it should be mapped to it's own. 

The point of it being located where it's at is to provide authenticity for the NG games.  Some people are used to the layout from the machines.

RandyT

[Spaz Monkey]

The point of it being located where it's at is to provide authenticity for the NG games.  Some people are used to the layout from the machines.

RandyT

NG = Neo Geo.  Their layout is
   2  3  4
1

More of a curved layout than the straight 2x3 (or is it 3x2) layout of Street fighter and Jamma compliant.

[fjl]

Does the LED wiz thing work in that it can be made through the frontend to light up only the buttons that will be used for that game upon loading the game?

[horseboy]

Does the LED wiz thing work in that it can be made through the frontend to light up only the buttons that will be used for that game upon loading the game?

Well we convinced HC to incorporate it into his J5 app.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=54998.0

Since then Youki has incorporated it into AtomicFE, and Loadman and Headkaze have made plugins for Mala and GameEX.

[clockwork]

The point of it being located where it's at is to provide authenticity for the NG games.  Some people are used to the layout from the machines.

RandyT

Yeah, I realize that. I just wondered what the intended purpose of the button was on NeoGeo systems. So on NeoGeos it was mapped to its own?

[pointdablame]

The point of it being located where it's at is to provide authenticity for the NG games.  Some people are used to the layout from the machines.

RandyT

Yeah, I realize that. I just wondered what the intended purpose of the button was on NeoGeo systems. So on NeoGeos it was mapped to its own?

yes, there were four unique buttons for a neogeo layout.  The 4th button is usually used in fighters.  Most people double up on a button for their MAME machine simply because very few games, if any, have a need for 7 independent buttons.  You can do it either way though.

[MYX]

On mine I did 7 on each side. I never use the second row buttons. But the 7 button on each side was specific to a type of game.
      7
 1 2 3    1 2 3
4 5 6    4 5 6
         7
I use the diamond pattern on the left to play vanguard and the lower button on the right is used for games like asteroids that have a shield or hyperspace. In those cases, I use the 1&2 buttons on the right and left for left, right, thrust, fire.

[Senator]

I was thinking of it the same, the 7th gives flexibility for certain games.  I didn't realize the neo-geo thing and I understand that but I want to use 7th to the left of my joystick so I have my one primary key on the left for Joust, Galaga and Space Invaders.  But for most others I want the primary to be the lower left of the 6-pack.  Does anyone else wish they had the primary key sitting alone on the LEFT of the joystick.

Also, I'm using a KeyWiz Max and it has this Shazaam key.  I think I can use it to switch configs for that 7th button so I can switch the primary from side to side.  Anyone familiar with this encoder?


 

[headkaze]

This is how my buttons are lit for NeoGeo games.