What will I miss out on w/o trackball?

[crashdmj]

I have my layout pretty well designed but my friends are pretty opinionated about me putting a trackball in. Their main reason is Golden Tee, what will I be missing out on if I decide against one?
Derek

[kspiff]

Centi/Millipede.. Missle Command.. Reactor (sp?).. Marble Madness (2 trackballs).. can't think of any others at the moment, but there are a lot more.

[jerryjanis]

You'll miss out on "trackball night"...  It makes for a really awesome change of pace on the arcade cabinet.

We've had some late nights of just playing 4 player Shuuz - a sorta basic but really fun game.

We've had a couple of late nights of nothing but "Snake Pit" - using a joystick in one hand and a trackball in the other - one of the greatest Mame games, if you ask me.

On my own, I play a lot of Marble Madness (once I went to cross the finish line on the final stage, and I bounced off one of the goal posts and died and time ran out.  Aaak!  Haven't done that well again.)

Irritating Maze has captivated large audiences.

Snacks'n Jackson is a "must see" for all curious to see Mame games.


Ever since I put in a trackball, I use that a lot more than the joysticks, to be honest.  (Surely I will return to more joystick use one day, right?)

[RedSquirrel]

I want to add a trackball to mine when i make it, but i just think its going to work out too much (and be a bit complicated to get all the parts). I was considering the trackball from ultimarc but it doesnt have a plate and it still needs the optipac doesnt it .. more money.  

[Brax]

Besides the obvious games, you'll miss out on Windows control if you need it. In my opinion I want an arcade cabinet to look like an arcade cabinet. Not a computer. Having a mouse hanging out the side just doesn't cut it. Why not try a computer trackball to start. The crystal trackball is only 20 bucks. The crayola one is only 30. Take a look at 1up's cabinet. It looks stellar. The wico trackballs are dirt cheap. I think they're in the 20 dollar range for a 2 1/4" You have tons of cheap options.

[Frostillicus]

We just went through the good game list - check out this thread

[rampy]

you won't be allowed into the secret trackball society.

We have our own handshake/grip... monthly meetings.

Urebel_scum is our Grand Poombah!  (he has to where a viking hat or fez when running the meetings)

I think i've said too much.. i'm gonna get blackballed =P (no pun intended)

Rampy

[crashdmj]

So what would I all need for a trackball?
A trackball duh, an optipac, the housing and that's it?
What size is normal and is it easy to mount?
Derek

[1UP]

So what would I all need for a trackball?
A trackball duh, an optipac, the housing and that's it?
What size is normal and is it easy to mount?
Derek

If you get a PC trackball, all you need is to find a way to mount it.  The Crayola ball (3") and the CompUSA crystal ball (about 2") already have a serial interface, so no OptiPAC needed.  Although, I ended up hacking my Crayola to the OptiPAC anyway...  3" is a good size for an arcade ball.  Some games like Centipede used a smaller ball, but 3" is more comfortable.

There are a few examples out there of how to mount odd-shaped PC trackballs.  There is a description of how to mount a Crayola ball on my site.  This also tackles the issue of making a non-standard size hole in your Lexan.  You'll also find instructions for interfacing to the OptiPAC.

[Bill_S]

I opted to connect the trackball with Oscar's USB mouse interface.  He has a harness that connects right up to a Happ's trackball.  If you're only going to do 1 trackball and no spinner, I'd go that way to save a little $$.

Just finished hooking it up yesterday and I gotta say it's SOOO much better than a PC trackball!  Just bite the bullet and get a good trackball.  Especially if your friends want one for Golden Tee.

[u_rebelscum]

you won't be allowed into the secret trackball society.

We have our own handshake/grip... monthly meetings.

Urebel_scum is our Grand Poombah!  (he has to where a viking hat or fez when running the meetings)

I think i've said too much.. i'm gonna get blackballed =P (no pun intended)

Rampy

LOL.  Rampy, we had to call a secret meeting with the only thing on the agenda was to vote you out or not.  Lucky for you, we were too busy playing marble madness, golden tee, cabal, centi/milli-ped, missile command and the rest of the ~100 trackball games to vote, so you're still in.


But on to the original question:
Besides the one hundred trackball games (many of the best already listed in the prior linked thread and here), and windows navigation, analog joystick games do pretty well with a trackball in mame.  In fact, mame32 lists analog joystick games in the "trackball" games folder.  

On the same line, if you don't have a spinner, a trackball is the next best thing.  Again, mame32 lists spinner games in the "trackball" games folder.

So it you don't have an analog joystick or star wars yoke on your control panel, a trackball is great for most "AD_stick" games, including Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, and Space Harrier to name a very few.  And if you don't have a spinner, there's tempest & arkanoid just to name only a couple.

[crashdmj]

Ok so If I get a 3" trackball I need the housing (from Happs? antwhere cheaper) and a Happ trackball harness from Oscar which allows me to plug it into the USB port? Do I need anything special for the mouse buttons? And where do trackball buttons generally go? How many etc.
Think I am going to make the trackball leap!
Derek