Vertical Games Only Mame Cabinet

[coffeegod]

So I bought a few old arcade cabinets last weekend. One of them appears to be a Tempest cabinet converted to Aero Fighters. My woman really loves Galaga so I've decided to make this my first of possibly 3 Mame cabinets.

I've done a lot of surfing lately but haven't come up with a definitive answer to how many controls and or buttons I will need for ALL of the vertical games in Mame. I know I'll need a control stick for each of the 2 players and at least 2 buttons for each. I think tempest uses a spinner?

Anyone able to elaborate on the contol scheme that I'll need.

Thanks for your time

[milhouse]

Check out MAWS deluxe search.  You can search by control method and monitor orientation to find out the max number of buttons and joysticks used on any vertical game.

And yes, tempest uses a spinner.

[ahofle]

Here's a good list of verticals with a 4 way stick and 2 buttons just a few posts down (not sure if that helps):

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=79298.0

[TOK]

I built my MAME cab mainly for vert shooters. I used two 8 ways with 3 buttons each. Very few games use the third button, so if you're mainly into vert classics you would probably be OK with two buttons.

There are two vert oddballs I don't play on it... One of them is Tempest, the other is Centipede. Due to the fact that most trackball and spinner games are horizontal, I just play those two cropped on my horizontal cab. 

If you want my game list, just let me know, but it's very heavy on Cave/Atlus and Psyko shooters.

[whoozwah]

Radiant Silvergun uses more than 2 buttons.

[coffeegod]

Geez this could get complicated! I didn't think that there were that many vertical games lol. MAWS doesn't seem to list the games that actually use a steering wheel/gas pedal like All Points Bulletin or what not. Seems like they categorize dials as spinners and steering wheels.

I'd really like to make this the ultimate vertical cabinet, capable of running 99% of the mame vertical games without having a really congested control panel.

So far I think I'm looking at having 2 - 8 way joysticks, 3 buttons for each player, 1 track ball, 1 spinner and a gas pedal. APB looks pretty fun with the steering wheel and gas pedal

I do plan on getting a Sega Outrun upright cabinet as well (cheap $75.00) Trying to find out if that would be any good for a Mame Cabinet... how many games could actually be used for this cabinet...

[rrcade]

If you've ever tried to play pacman, ms pacman, all the donkey kongs, that use a four way joystick with a 8 way...it sucks. I suggest you get the ultimarc  joysticks that can be switched from 4 way to 8 way.

[Zobeid]

So far I think I'm looking at having 2 - 8 way joysticks, 3 buttons for each player, 1 track ball, 1 spinner and a gas pedal. APB looks pretty fun with the steering wheel and gas pedal

If there's anything I would question it would be the trackball.  I'm trying to think of vertical trackball games. . .   Centipede, Millipede, Slither, Quantum. . .  and. . .   is that all?  I like Centipede/Millipede pretty well, but it seems like quite a bit of expense and CP space just for those games.

A spinner, on the other hand, is a good idea -- not just for driving games, but also for Tempest, Super Breakout, Arkanoid, Tac/Scan, Cosmic Chasm.  It's easy to install, doesn't take much space on the CP.

[coffeegod]

If you've ever tried to play pacman, ms pacman, all the donkey kongs, that use a four way joystick with a 8 way...it sucks. I suggest you get the ultimarc  joysticks that can be switched from 4 way to 8 way.

Actually I haven't and I'm glad you mentioned it. I was wondering why people didn't just switch out all joysticks for 8-way. I'm going to have to sell my house to build this aren't I lol.

So far I think I'm looking at having 2 - 8 way joysticks, 3 buttons for each player, 1 track ball, 1 spinner and a gas pedal. APB looks pretty fun with the steering wheel and gas pedal

If there's anything I would question it would be the trackball.  I'm trying to think of vertical trackball games. . .   Centipede, Millipede, Slither, Quantum. . .  and. . .   is that all?  I like Centipede/Millipede pretty well, but it seems like quite a bit of expense and CP space just for those games.

A spinner, on the other hand, is a good idea -- not just for driving games, but also for Tempest, Super Breakout, Arkanoid, Tac/Scan, Cosmic Chasm.  It's easy to install, doesn't take much space on the CP.

Well after doing a seach on MAWS it comes up with 39 games, like a bunch of bowling games that might be fun.

[jcoleman]

If there's anything I would question it would be the trackball.  I'm trying to think of vertical trackball games. . .   Centipede, Millipede, Slither, Quantum. . .  and. . .   is that all?  I like Centipede/Millipede pretty well, but it seems like quite a bit of expense and CP space just for those games.

Any classic gamer worth his salt knows that it's totally worth it.  Don't try to keep the TB in the middle (set it to the right) and you'll be fine.  The Multicade panel at www.arcadeshop.com has a perfect setup - you can even drill a hole for a spinner.  See my attachment for an example.

[javeryh]

Don't forget about games like Punch-Out!! that are 3 buttons but probably not going to turn up on a "vertical only" search since they run on two horizontal monitors.  It plays great on my vertical cab though!