Best way to build a multi platform CP?

[ViciousXUSMC]

Im starting my first project here soon, a very simple, very cheap 2 player CP for PC use (MAME, ZSNES, NullDC, Ect)

I did a good amount of research and do not regret the parts I ordered, but I did not do enough research to the extent that I could have made a better return on my investment using a different PCB for the brains of my controls.

Just for the sake of sharing my parts list for this mini project:
I-PAC Value
2x Happ Comp Joysticks
14x Happ Comp Buttons (6 action, 1 start for each player, plan to use the start key as the shift key and assign 2nd functions to the action keys for admin tasks)

For the CP base I am actually on such a tight budget and space that I am modding my computer desk into the CP!   So this CP is not going anywhere, but the next one I build or if I move these parts to a new host body I want it to work with my consoles.  I own almost all the older ones and some games just do not emulate on the PC nearly as well as the original (Dreamcast MVC2, PowerStone)

So I wanted to weigh my options.  The forum is flooded with various game pad hacks, this is an option but the cost of a game pad can be expensive and the skill needed to do it can be high (and I would have to buy the tools).  I have soldering experience but from many years ago an after my military service my hands are not as stable as they used to be.  My last attempt at soldering failed badly when I tried to mod the opamps on my creative x-fi sound card.  I trashed a $120 card. 

So before I even decided to build my own CP I was looking around at pre-built stuff and found 2 sticks that looked interesting, the cheap play-asia model and the more expensive X-Arcade stuff.  The net reviews of x-arcade are good but the feedback from enthusiast forums are not as great.

What I really liked about them though is for $20 you can buy an adapter to use with the consoles.  Thats ridiculously  nice, as $20 is less than the cost of a gamepad in many cases and no work/tools needed.

So here is where the questions start.  I found they sell the PCB they use for $50 and thats not bad at all since it has the wire harness and all that jazz with it, By the time I buy the wires and things for the I-PAC I wont have saved much money at all.  Does it seem like a good idea to use the BYOA PCB from X-Arcade for a multi platform CP?? 

The next question is, has anybody tried to hack/mod one of there adapter boxes instead of a gamepad?  Im thinking it maybe easier and again in many cases cheaper than the gamepad.

Lastly is what is the easiest/best way to change out multiple adapters on the fly?  I build PC's and stuff as a hobby so I am used to things like molex connectors and was thinking of using ATX adapters they hold like 24 wires and no soldering needed just crimp on the pins and insert it into the housing.  Actually with something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200121  Just cutting it in half and your done.  You have a breakable connection and you can use a terminal block or just splice the wires together to your CP from there.

The best thing I think I have seen done by looking through many of the tutorials here was something called a DB25 connection but it used soldering so it will be harder to work with and more permanent (though they mount nice, the computer stuff is internal so it does not mount normally)

[severdhed]

if you plan on using it with multiple consoles, the xarcade is a good option.  i have one, and it is fine.  the biggest downside to is, is that the encoder doesnt use a common ground.  there is one ground for every 4 buttons, so it makes wiring a little weird.  plusyou have to use their wiring harnesses, which have very short wires, so you cant put alot of space between the two players unless you extend the wires.


i have personally used mine with:

playstation
playstation 2
xbox
gamecube
wii

and it works pretty well.

just for the record though, Ultimarc sells console adaptors for the ipac as well...i think they are a little more money, but you already have an ipac, so you wouldnt have to buy that again.

[ViciousXUSMC]

Yeah they have adapters, but they go for $35 instead of $20 thats a big difference.  Plus you have to use the I-PAC in PS/2 Mode, the value version I got is USB only.

So this build is going to be dedicated to my PC but next one is for the consoles and pc and it will have Sanwa sticks and maybe buttons just so I can say I tried both worlds.

[severdhed]

the x-arcade stuff works just fine...the wiring is the only real problem.  (unless you want to build a small controller, similar in size to their 2 player unit, then the wires are long enough).  there is also not an xbox 360 adaptor, which sucks.  but it is hard to beat an x-arcade if you want console connectivity

[ViciousXUSMC]

Well I guess thats the plan then.  I see no reason to hack gamepads when something like the XArcade can do the same thing cheaper.

Still wondering if anybody has used one of there adapters on another PCB and found it easier to hack than a gamepad and if anybody else has used my ATX extender idea.

[NickG]

hi severdhed, is the short wiring true of the BYO kit?  I tore my board out of an x-arcade dual, so I am familiar with the shortness of the wiring, but I had always assumed that the BYO kit would come with more manageable lengths.

[ViciousXUSMC]

I have heard the wiring is short on the byo kit in more than one place.  Connecting/Extending wires is one of the easiest things to do though.  I would just use a terminal block.

I hear conflicting opinions on the quality of the product & adapters in more than one place though.

I guess I will keep an eye and ear out and cross that bridge when the time comes.

There is another product I just found that does PC & PS3 native via usb and many people have tied it into other controllers.

Also I suppose any 360 controller mod would work for PC too since 360 controllers are plug & play in Windows, just some programs do not support gamepad input (like NullDC) I found that out the hard way this morning when I tried to use my 360 controller on NullDC to play MVC2. 

I fixed it fast though with GlovePie I am familiar with it since I use glovepie to use my wiimote on my PC

Simple code like:

Code: [Select]

Key.Left=Joystick1.x<-.8
Key.Right=Joystick1.x>.8
Key.A=Joystick1.Button1
Had it working perfectly.

I love my wiimote though as it can use the IR sensor, accelorometer, tilt sensor, and all that other stuff for controls.  I have some really cool scripts for the wiimote for my PC games and some of my emulators.

[J.Max]

There is a board sold at Lizard Lick Amusements called the Cthulu that is supposed to have a multi console version soon (it presently works on PC and PS3).  It's designed to be easily compatible with controller hacks as well.  I'm using two of them to power my new Astro City panel, and they work really well.  They're also cheap: $40 for an assembled version and $20 if you can solder it yourself.

[ViciousXUSMC]

Yeah I saw this, I do not have a PS3.

I was thinking that it emulates a PS3 controller and that it just picks up as a gamepad in windows, much the same way if you plug a 360 controller into a computer it picks up as a gamepad.

I played NullDC the other day and it only works with keyvboards and not gamepads, so sometimes having newer gampad like connections is not good.

How is the board made easy for controller hacks though, I read through most of a thread about the PCB itself and could not figure it out, al the diagrams I saw for multiple PCB's just had them sharing common ground controller boards and doubling up the wires on a terminal block.  You can do this with any PCB.

[Hoopz]

I played NullDC the other day and it only works with keyvboards and not gamepads, so sometimes having newer gampad like connections is not good.

A lot of people use Xpadder to use their gamepads in NullDC.  It works very well.