Can I get away with four buttons in the control panel of my mame project?

[Dragonman73]

I have a soul edge cabinet (I'm converting to mame) and it has four buttons for each player, this had me thinking...can I get away with four buttons for most mame games or do I need to have six?

I'm trying to make this as easy as possible and user friendly for the users, plus it would be nice to have the four extra inputs so I can use to of them for FE duties. I have a 24 input encoder.

Suggestions?

Thanks again!

[cptnwhlz]

It really depends what you like to play.  You will miss out on street fighter, but most games are 4 buttons or less.

[DaveMMR]

Let MAWS be your guide....

But yeah, what cptnhlz said.  Six buttons is a versatile layout for those wanting to play the Street Fighter games (II, etc.) and even Mortal Kombat (1, 2 used five; 3 and Ultimate used six - I stopped paying attention after that).  If any of those games are important to you, go with six.

Otherwise, four will cover a whole lot of games (including all Neo-Geo games).

[Malenko]

Let MAWS be your guide....

But yeah, what cptnhlz said.  Six buttons is a versatile layout for those wanting to play the Street Fighter games (II, etc.) and even Mortal Kombat (1, 2 used five; 3 and Ultimate used six - I stopped paying attention after that).  If any of those games are important to you, go with six.

Otherwise, four will cover a whole lot of games (including all Neo-Geo games).

And that's pretty much your answer. Really only the fighters use more then 4. I'm a huge fan of the 7 button layout, it makes street fighter and neo-geo equally accessible but if you aren't into those 4 is plenty but its the first steps towards a frankenpanel.

It's quite refreshing to see someone who wants 2 sticks and 4 buttons each instead of 4 sticks, 6 buttons each 2 spinners, a 4 way, 2 trackballs, 9 admin buttons, and a flight stick all on the same panel.

[cptnwhlz]

It's quite refreshing to see someone who wants 2 sticks and 4 buttons each instead of 4 sticks, 6 buttons each 2 spinners, a 4 way, 2 trackballs, 9 admin buttons, and a flight stick all on the same panel.

amen.  I rebuilt my control panel about 4 times over the past years, always moving stuff off of it..

[Jack Burton]

YES.

It just feels weird to play a 2 button game on a a six-button panel.  This is why my vertical MAME cab is only going to have 3 buttons. 

[javeryh]

YES.

It just feels weird to play a 2 button game on a a six-button panel.  This is why my vertical MAME cab is only going to have 3 buttons. 

You could even get away with 2.  I have 3 on one of mine and I never use that third button... really only for Punch-Out!! and I can live without it...

[Turnarcades]

As you can see it's not really a case of "... get away with 4..." as having a MAME cab is not a definitive thing - it all depends on what you want to play. Here is a quick summary of what some have said:

- 2 buttons each player - for simple cabs with older games
- 3 " " " - was the JAMMA standard, and will cover most games up to the 'fighters era'
- 4 " " " - was the Neo-Geo standard, so is great if the most you wanna play is Neo-Geo and some basic consoles too.
- 6 " " " - will cover most bases including all fighters and if you want more consoles (SNES etc.)
- 7 " " " - great if you are a Neo-Geo officianado as you can have the Neo-Geo 'feel', but overkill for your average gamer or those not used to genuine Neo cabs.

- Admin buttons - at least a start button for each player and one coin input, even if just from the coin door. If running other emulators you may want to consider adding a credit button for each player, and if you want convenience and have room, add a couple more buttons that may come in handy for FE/emu tasks like escape and pause, and they could even double up as rarely-used buttons on more advanced console emulators.

[severdhed]

i've often thought about dropping mine down from 6 to 4 buttons.  I do occasonally play a game of MK2 or SF2, but not really that often.  you will not be able to play a large number of fighting games with 4 buttons, but there are still alot that you can play.   i recommend start and coin for each player, plus pause and exit.   everything else can be handled via shifted commands.  if you are looking at emulating consoles from the 16bit generation and up, then you will need more buttons.  personally, i dont like console games on my cabinet...they are best played with a gamepad.

also, be aware that this is your first control panel...if you are anything like me, you will find things you wish were different an you more than likely will make another one within a year or so.  so make it a 4 button layout and give it a shot..worst case you will have to redo it...thats what makes this hobby so much fun.  thats why i tell people not to spend alot of time/money on fancy control panel artwork until you played it for 6 months and are sure that it is exactly the way you want it.

[D_Harris]

Can some name the most popular admin functions.

I was going to put three buttons on on each side of a joystick(for left and right handed players) for classic(before '89) games for a friend but wantt o make sure all bases are covered.

(A pointer to a list of NEO GEO games would be great too, just to make sure I don't need four on each side of the joystick).

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.