Which buttons should I double as mouse buttons?

[buck16]

I have an IPAC and an Opti-PAC.  My control panel is setup for two players with six buttons apiece.  I had the left and right mouse buttons hooked up to player 1, button 1 and p1, b2, respectively.  That was causing problems within windows (cntrl button + mouse ... yuck) and was affecting the response of button 1 in games like Track & Field (made player 1 slower).

I removed the wiring from button 1 to the Opti-PAC and the Track&Field speed is fine ... so that was the problem.

Question is: What buttons SHOULD I hook the mouse buttons up to?  I don't really want to add new buttons.

My panel is modular but that doesn't really factor in here.

Thanks,
Matt

[buck16]

I'm imagining buttons 5&6 would be OK, yes?

[BobA]

That will be better but not perfect.  If you want the mouse buttons to not influence the games separate buttons would be the ideal setup.

[krazy_kenny1]

When I put together my control panel, I'm going to try doubling the p1 and p2 start buttons as left and right mouse buttons.  Sure they're far apart, but I won't be interacting with windows much once it's set up, and if I do need to mess with windows, I'll just use remote desktop from another computer.

[Guaranos]

Serious question - Why do you want/need mouse buttons on your control panel?

Personally, I like to go for as few admin buttons as possible.  That way, when people come over there's less that they can screw up.

Unless you're playing PC games on it, I'd try to eliminate the mouse buttons altogether.  Once your cabinet is setup, if you set it up correctly, you should *almost* never have to touch Windows.  In fact, if the cabinet is not networked, I would go as far as to say that you should never have to touch Windows.

[Dmod]

In fact, if the cabinet is not networked, I would go as far as to say that you should never have to touch Windows.

I've found that my cabinet setup is always evolving and is never really complete.  I still spend a lot of time tweaking my frontend and Ultrastick setups, and mouse buttons are essential for a lot of these tasks. 

A remote network connection works (and I often use VNC to my machine if it's a major overhaul) but often the network connection is slow and painful for navigating the front end.  For tweaking game controller setups you really need to be in front of the controls, and then you'd need to have a laptop.

I have all USB controllers (both joystick and trackball/mouse).  My trackball left and right mouse buttons are connected to P1 buttons 5/6.  I don't use the center mouse button.  I haven't noticed any problem with game response on buttons 5 and 6 but if you're really concerned about it, then you can use P1/P2 start or P1/P2 coin for the mouse buttons.

[DaveMMR]

Here's another question: why can't you just plug in a USB mouse and keyboard for administrative tasks?  You can remap the controls of any game that's worth playing on a cab, including emulators, so the mouse buttons seem superflous.

[Dmod]

I have a USB keyboard hooked up 100% of the time for administrative tasks.  Multiple USB mice can get a little bit tricky.

I'm not sure if memory serves correctly, but I think MAME only recognizes input from the first mouse device while windows will recognize either.  As long as your trackball acts as the primary mouse, I think it should work fine. 

Not sure what you gain though.  Since your trackball will function as your windows mouse then all you gain by adding the "administrative" windows mouse is another set of mouse buttons.

[Dmod]

Ignore... duplicate message.

[Guaranos]

I've found that my cabinet setup is always evolving and is never really complete.  I still spend a lot of time tweaking my frontend and Ultrastick setups, and mouse buttons are essential for a lot of these tasks. 

See, now I've taken the opposite approach.  I spent a ton of time configuring it at the beginning, which was about 3 years ago, and have only had to make two minor changes since then.  One was the sensitivity rating on a particular trackball game, and the other was a typo I made in the naming of a game in the front end.  I like playing the games on the cabinet more than administering it.  I took the same approach on two cabinets I built for a friend of mine, and he has never had to touch the configuration since the day I delivered them. 

As the old saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

[stuckpixel]

I have a USB keyboard hooked up 100% of the time for administrative tasks.  Multiple USB mice can get a little bit tricky.

I'm not sure if memory serves correctly, but I think MAME only recognizes input from the first mouse device while windows will recognize either.  As long as your trackball acts as the primary mouse, I think it should work fine. 

Not sure what you gain though.  Since your trackball will function as your windows mouse then all you gain by adding the "administrative" windows mouse is another set of mouse buttons.

Yesterday I hooked up two USB mice (my normal one and a trackball for a project) and mame detected both of them as seperate mice. It was at first defaulting to my regular mouse, as it was the first one plugged in, but I went and it detected the trackball as mouse 2, and I could map to it.

Just thought I'd share.

[krazy_kenny1]

I have a USB keyboard hooked up 100% of the time for administrative tasks.  Multiple USB mice can get a little bit tricky.

I'm not sure if memory serves correctly, but I think MAME only recognizes input from the first mouse device while windows will recognize either.  As long as your trackball acts as the primary mouse, I think it should work fine. 

Not sure what you gain though.  Since your trackball will function as your windows mouse then all you gain by adding the "administrative" windows mouse is another set of mouse buttons.

Yesterday I hooked up two USB mice (my normal one and a trackball for a project) and mame detected both of them as seperate mice. It was at first defaulting to my regular mouse, as it was the first one plugged in, but I went and it detected the trackball as mouse 2, and I could map to it.

Just thought I'd share.

Ya, I believe the more recent versions of mame have native support for multiple mice.