admin buttons... what do I need and a word game! :)

[boogieman]

I see most people have 3 admin buttons.  What are they?  I can see using esc. and tab but don't know the other one.

Any ideas, and what is that third button/most useful admin combination, I could go 4 button but would rather keep 3.  I can also shift buttons so what could I get away with using 2 buttons?

For the word game, I am messing with an image with joust font and have the following words to cut up the letters and rearrange...  "single" "dual" "play"  I want to label the admin buttons but only use those letters above since I don't want to try to add letters to the font and such.  I came up with "end play" for the esc. button.

EDIT: If pause is a button, it has the right letters, also if enter is, it could be "yes".  Not real sure on the tab button?

Here is my "coin 1 and 2" overlay, and the start of the "admin" overlay.  I will probably remove the Joust from the admin overlay.

[protokatie]

I see most people have 3 admin buttons.  What are they?  I can see using esc. and tab but don't know the other one.

Mine are Esc, Shift-mode for the minipac, and pause. I dont need tab as I will only use it sparingly, and can use the shift button to perform tab. For me this setup made the most sense.

As per what admin buttons you NEED: Only one, and that is esc (So you can escape back to the front end). The reason why I went with an independent shift-mode button was that I didnt want people to accidentally perform an esc or similar when pressing the player one start button and another at the same time. And the pause is because I like to drink and may want to pause the game so I can pee...

[boogieman]

That sounds reasonable.  I like the tab because it lets me see what buttons are used on the games.  I can see pause being handy.  I think I will use pause.  I can shift pause to be tab.  That way the tab will be hidden from the end user (well, its just mainly me and my wife so it won't really be hidden).  So I guess I have esc. (end game) pause (pause) and tab (shifted not labeled on overlay).   

Is there anything else worth having that is shifted?

[leapinlew]

I don't use admin buttons anymore. I only use shifted buttons.

Press 1p + 2p = esc. (To exit a game)
Press 1p + down arrow = P to pause in game, and exits the front end and shuts down the computer

Any more buttons, and my niece and nephews hit them and inevitably break stuff.

[boogieman]

p1 + p2 sounds dangerous, I plan on playing a lot of 2 player stuff so it could get hit on accident. 

I think I will shift the pause to be the tab button and use escape.  Here is an updated pic.  Hopefully the humor is subtle lol.

EDIT: Blank one is for coin 1 and 2

[leapinlew]

p1 + p2 sounds dangerous, I plan on playing a lot of 2 player stuff so it could get hit on accident. 

It's pretty hard to do. There's nothing wrong with dedicated buttons though. I just like the cleanest look possible.

[fixedpigs]

p1 + p2 sounds dangerous, I plan on playing a lot of 2 player stuff so it could get hit on accident. 

It's pretty hard to do. There's nothing wrong with dedicated buttons though. I just like the cleanest look possible.

'oh no...we both died...hurry and hit your button so we can keep playing...oh...crap...'

[vidmouse]

Been there... done that.

I had so many pinball buttons on mine that I ended up using
them for admin buttons as well.

[leapinlew]

p1 + p2 sounds dangerous, I plan on playing a lot of 2 player stuff so it could get hit on accident. 

It's pretty hard to do. There's nothing wrong with dedicated buttons though. I just like the cleanest look possible.

'oh no...we both died...hurry and hit your button so we can keep playing...oh...crap...'

Yeah, I get it. It's just infrequent. There is a utility that requires the Escape button held down for 2 full seconds before it escapes from the game. That could be useful here.

I've gone back and forth on the issue. I like having the dedicated quit button because it helps with people who may not know how to operate the machine, but I don' t like the looks of admin buttons.

 

[protokatie]

Yeah, I get it. It's just infrequent. There is a utility that requires the Escape button held down for 2 full seconds before it escapes from the game. That could be useful here.

I've gone back and forth on the issue. I like having the dedicated quit button because it helps with people who may not know how to operate the machine, but I don' t like the looks of admin buttons.

That utility would be usefull even with a dedicated admin button for esc.

As per the aesthetics of admin buttons: I would prefer not to have them myself as it isnt as authentic, but the usefulness of them is often paramount in a MAME cab. I would have to say that 3 should be the maximum ever put on a cab.

As per the poster who wanted TAB to be a dedicated button: I understand you like the idea of quickly getting into the settings for the game, but consider that someone who knows nothing about a MAME cab will inevitably use the cab and thus mess up the settings by trying to "get out of the menu", I would suggest against it. I was going to include TAB as an admin button, but considering the consequences of mistakenly hitting it, plus how rare it is used, I decided on a dedicated shift key that would easily let me use tab.

[boogieman]

Where can I find that escape must be held for 2 seconds utility?  I would like that even with the dedicated one.  Tab will be shifted but is definitely out as a dedicated.  I could imagine my neices/nephew getting into those menus!   

[protokatie]

Where can I find that escape must be held for 2 seconds utility?  I would like that even with the dedicated one.  Tab will be shifted but is definitely out as a dedicated.  I could imagine my neices/nephew getting into those menus!   Cry!

I am wondering about that utility too...

As per worry about your MAME setup being messed up, I suggest that as soon as you get it configured to your liking, you make a ZIP file of it. That way if anything is messed up (by yourself, say ) you can just unzip the file and restore whatever it was you messed up.

[tomsurfnj]

I put my "admin" buttons on the side of player #1 towards back. Only I know where they are and how to use them. So no accidents or shifted keys.   Escape, Coin and Tab are on side.
My yellow pause button is right under P1 & P2. Pause is great for when phone rings or wife is yelling for me.
I provide coins for players anyway. I also attached a phone and drink holder to CP.

[shardian]

If small children or adults who act like small children will be playing your cabinet, keep accessible admin buttons to a minimum. At the least, DO NOT put the tab function where anyone but yourself can use it.

If you absolutely must have the admin functions available for your own use, at least give them a dedicated ground loop and break it from the ground main with a switch that is in the coin door. Then you can disable them when people are over.

[Crowquill]

I prefer to have no admin buttons. Mostly because it ruins the illusion of "a real arcade cabinet." I also use combinations of buttons to do admin features. To make it manageable to people who have never used my cab I made an instruction card (see PDF below). I was overly paranoid about the P1+P2 start to exit thing (especially since my Frogger-style MAME cab has the start buttons on the front). A quick breakdown:

P1 Bottom 4 buttons and start=exit (I told you I was paranoid)
P1 start + bottom-left button=pause
Joy down + start=insert coin

If I need to configure a game, I have a USB keyboard just inside the coin door.

[leapinlew]

Where can I find that escape must be held for 2 seconds utility?  I would like that even with the dedicated one.  Tab will be shifted but is definitely out as a dedicated.  I could imagine my neices/nephew getting into those menus!   

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=59867.0

[u_rebelscum]

'oh no...we both died...hurry and hit your button so we can keep playing...oh...crap...'

Yeah, I get it. It's just infrequent.

Once is far too much.  Happened to me twice the first day I played mame (with my brother on his hotrodse CP he just pulled out of the box).  Neither of us knew what happened the first time, but the second time on a different game got us both pissed.   Almost made me think "Screw it, mame sucks, great when playing but dies at the best point, they must be doing it on purpose, I won't play it again".  But luckily my brother found that it was P1 + P2 start combo that did it, unmapped it, and well, I'm still here.

I will never, NEVER, ever make a CP where exit can be activated with just normal buttons. 
A single button is too easy, too.

P1 Bottom 4 buttons and start=exit (I told you I was paranoid)

Ahh, okay I take it back.  I might do a "just normal button" combo, but your paranoid is not quite enough for me.  I'd do P1 four buttons + P2 four buttons + P2 down right diag (grabbed by thumb).  At least nine fingers needed, and the only reason P1 wouldn't need to do a direction is the stick is not where my thumb is.  Serious.  Otherwise at least two admin only buttons, at least one used only to exit, away from all other buttons.


But that's just me.   If it doesn't bother others, shrug.

[boogieman]

Well, thanks for the help/info everybody!

I have sent the artwork to mamemarquees to get printed.  I am going with the panel above with exit (will have the 2 second utility), pause (shifted for tab) player 1 and 2 and coin 1 and 2.  I plan on using epoxy to stick a quarter to the coin up buttons.  I will paint a 1 and 2 on each coin.  It should look neat.

Alternately, instead of shifting pause to function as the tab key, I may just hide it inside the coin door.  We'll see.

Thanks again!

I also sent my control panel overlay graphics to be printed.  Getting an original joust marquee resized to fit too.  I can't wait till they come in!

[Timstuff]

I'm personally just going with escape and pause.

[CrazyKongFan]

I too have ESC, TAB and P (pause) on the panel. I'm not worried about someone screwing it up. Besides me, about the only other one who might use it is my brother. I do have a service/reset switch too, but I mounted that on a little bracket inside the coin door, in a common location for such things.