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paulscade - First Build - MAME - Blastoff!
paulscade:
I thought that I would share this little applet as others may also find it useful....
Hardware:
The GGG KeyWiz40 (but the hardware really doesn't matter)
Some Background:
The Keywiz allows for multiple profiles to be applied (one at a time). The profile files can be selected using a command line switch when launching the keywiz downloader. So I can program my buttons differently depending on which configuration file that is selected. It also allows for 2 profiles to be selected via the joystick (MAME default and the currently loaded configuration) by holding down the Shazaaam key and moving the stick.
I have a two player control panel setup... but I find that it's *usually* played by one person (but certainly not always).
I have two configuration files that are usually used --
Two Player - this profile programs the controls like you might expect; the buttons/stick on the left are for player 1 and the buttons/stick on the right are for player 2. The analog stick is also used by player 1 by default.
One Player - (the default) - both sets of controls left and right are all programmed as player 1 controls. Button 1 on the left is the same as button 1 on the right, etc.
In the one player configuration, I can stand wherever I want when playing... I can use the stick on the left and the buttons on the right... or the stick/buttons on either side (like you normally would). It also allows me to switch hands (i.e. use the stick on the right and buttons on the left)
My "Problem":
I wanted a simple menu system that lets me select a profile to use at boot time. While I can switch between two profiles using the joystick... my only choices are the MAME defaults and whatever has been uploaded to the KeyWiz.
I wanted to be able to choose between my player one and player two profiles at boot time. While I could have used a batch file, that's pretty ugly. After discussing the "problem" with a friend at work, he wrote me this .hta menu system that works great.... and I'm real pleased with the way that it looks.
How it works:
Pretty simple... it waits for about 10 seconds for a keypress. If no key is pressed, the default option (keypress of 1 [one player]) is chosen.
Valid keypresses are [currently]:
1 - one player
2 - two player
esc - exit
end - exit
You can add additional keypresses by expanding the case statement.
The applet launches the keywiz downloader with the appropriate option then launches my frontend [Maximus Arcade]
You can modify the paths to point to whatever front end that you want... you can also modify the KeyWiz downloader options and path (or replace it completely).
The screen positioning and size are optimized for 1024 x 768 (which is what I run).
Drop these files into the same directory and run the hta.
Programming credit: Billy Casselberry
paulscade:
When I mounted the marquee, I had some light leaks... maybe 1/16" on either side of the marquee. I placed some light pencil marks where the front of the marquee would sit and I used some foam tape to seal up the leaks:
I'm happy with the results:
(this photo taken with no flash using only the backlighting from the NovaMatrix from GGG)
monkey puzzle:
Hello Paulscade, I just wanted to say how good your cab is looking.
I'm currently building my first cab, but havn't got very far yet. I have a question for you:
I was planning on using 2 x U360 joysticks and no other joysticks. For what reason do you (and others like you) use 2 x magsticks (or similar) as well as a U360? Why don't you just use 2 x U360s? Should I re-consider my joystick choice?
paulscade:
Being a first build, I did a lot of homework... reading this forum and searching the web for any info that I could get... so I could make the right choice... well... at least an informed choice.
I wanted a universal panel. I've always liked the feel of real arcade sticks... the ones that have corners (4 way sticks). I also knew that I would be playing plenty of 8 way games. The Magsticks seemed to fit the bill. In hindsight, I think that I made the right choice. They are a very short throw... but I've got very use to them.
The U360 was selected because I wanted an analog stick in the panel (although I haven't exploited the analog functionality yet). I do find myself using it for the flying games (horizontal and vertical scrollers) because it seems smoother.
I'd probably agree with what most people say about the U360 stick... get the hard spring and the circular restrictor. I've got the hard spring... but no restrictor. The stick does have a lot of throw without the restrictor.
As for your choice of using 2 x U360's ... I suppose it's somewhat of a personal preference. If you go with only U360's, you won't have that 4 or 8 way feel... unless you add one of the restrictors... but, then, that sort of, defeats the purpose of having a fully programmable stick...
Side note and off topic a bit...
I spent about an hour composing a nice post with photos (of Blastoff!)... when I went to post, I got an error because I was trying to attach an xls file... when I hit back... my post was gone. :banghead: My next post will probably have photos of the project.
cmoses:
Looking forward to your photos. Make sure you have one of the full cabiner so we can see it in all it's glory.