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To link or not to link buttons, that is the question!
Visitor Q:
--- Quote from: DaveMMR on October 12, 2008, 01:04:38 pm ---
--- Quote from: Visitor Q on October 12, 2008, 12:27:09 pm ---I am not actually the one building or wiring the control panel but with that said, it is build to my specs.
I mean I see all the points here and again as it may seem I have already made up my mind, I have not. For me to the biggest hurdle to get over with linking buttons is once they are linked, you are stuck with it unless you rewire them. With each button being their own, the only drawback I can see is more programming but total control of what you are doing.
--- End quote ---
I have not, the only thing I am going off of is picture and my x-arcade that I already own.
Did you make a test panel? (Even if just a quick cardboard mock-up with the button locations) If not, I highly recommend it before finalizing. It will answer a lot of questions for you. For starters, you may find that you don't even really need all the extra, dedicated buttons. That would definitely make your decision easier.
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DeLuSioNal29:
I re-read this whole topic and here's my opinion on what you should do:
I think that you don't need the extra buttons for the spinner. You can use the same # 1 and # 2 buttons from player 1. It should still be quite comfortable. That would solve the part about multiple buttons lighting up with the LED Blinky program. It would be cheaper too since you don't have to buy extra E-Ice Buttons.
For the Trackball, since you are using the E-Ice T trackball which allows for three dedicated mouse buttons that are independent from the I-Pac2, you should make those three mouse buttons admin buttons. That way they will work outside of your front end in Windows as left, middle and right mouse buttons, yet in the front end and games, they will function as whatever you program them to be as admin buttons. Also, when you play trackball games, you can use the same # 1 and #2 buttons from player 1. Again, it should be quite comfortable while playing trackball games so it should not be an issue. The trackball and player 1 and 2 buttons will light up perfectly when used with the LED Blinky program.
Also, concerning the LED Blinky program, even if you didn't link the buttons, they are still "programmed" in MAME to be used in the key assignment. As such, wouldn't LED Blinky light up both of the buttons anyway since they are both assigned to that particular button? (Which is what you don't want to happen according to your previous post). So regarding this issue, it would not pay to not have them linked when they will all light up anyway.
So my layout suggestion would look like the following (RED means it's lit):
Joy1 1 2 3
4 5 6
7
(note: # of buttons lit depends on game of course)
1 2 3 Trackball
4 5 6
7
Spinner
1 2 3
4 5 6
7
Last but not least, by linking the buttons, you are "saving" those precious inputs for future expandability of buttons. That way if you ever want to "add" a button somewhere, you can with ease.
That's my 2 cents worth. :afro:
Good luck!
~ DeLuSioNaL
Visitor Q:
So you are more or less saying ditch the buttons for the trackball and spinner using the buttons from player 1?
Another think to keep in mind is this; if I do go the route for each button being its own I will be using an Ipac4 on a two player CP. That will give me 56 individual controls and I am using U360s for player 1 and 2 so I will not even need keys for them. Limitation is not really and issue here in that case...
DaveMMR:
--- Quote from: DeLuSioNal29 on October 12, 2008, 08:18:06 pm ---Joy1 1 2 3
4 5 6
7
--- End quote ---
Heh. I thought I was the only one with the main buttons on the top row. So much more comfortable.
--- Quote from: Visitor Q on October 12, 2008, 09:17:30 pm ---So you are more or less saying ditch the buttons for the trackball and spinner using the buttons from player 1?
Another think to keep in mind is this; if I do go the route for each button being its own I will be using an Ipac4 on a two player CP. That will give me 56 individual controls and I am using U360s for player 1 and 2 so I will not even need keys for them. Limitation is not really and issue here in that case...
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He did say that but the particular mouse you're using has inputs for mouse buttons (left, right, center) so you don't need to hook them up to the iPac. So in MAME, you can have the fire button be LEFT MOUSE and JOY BUTTON 1, for example and they'll both light up and you can use either.
And, just to save you some money, an iPac4 is overkill for a two player CP, especially considering that you are using U360's and they have 8 inputs of their own (and don't need to be hooked up to "Left", "Right", etc. on an iPac). Just go with a simpler encoder. You definitely will never, ever have a need for 56 inputs. Even with an iPac2, you'll have inputs to spare.
Visitor Q:
There are 28 buttons on the face of the control panel, each one will be lit.
Even though I am using 2 U360s, I will still need 4 key strokes for the dedicated 4-way stick.
5 Pinball Buttons and two more admin buttons not seen.
So that is 35 buttons total and 4 more for the dedicated 4-way = 39 total
Ipac2 supports 28 so even minus the 3 you say for the mouse buttons that still leaves 36.
The Ipac4 is 20 or 25 bucks more than the Ipac2. I look at it this way, if I am blowing 3 grand on this project, whats another 25 bucks at this point? :dunno