Switch for player 1/player 3

[dirkomatic]

I am in the process of getting everything together for my swappable panel.  The side panels are always player 1 & 2, but I want the option to have the joystick in the center panel be player 1 or player 3.  That way, if it's a one player game, a player can stand in the center as intended instead of off to the side.  I've tried to think of many ways to compensate for this on the fly and the only thing I can come up with is an 8PDT switch, but they are incredibly hard to find.

Do any of you have any ideas how to accomplish this without being too complex?

[mvsfan]

yes. use two 4PDT relays, and one spst toggle switch to turn them on and off.

[SavannahLion]

Gut an older manual switch printer A/B switch box. IIRC they're 25 pin ports and most, if not all, are comprised of a 25PDT rotary switch. Ugly as hell on the inside, but they functional. I spot them once in a while at flea markets and thrift stores. Don't buy them at a computer store, they're overpriced for their age.

[dirkomatic]

Thanks for the input.  I'll see which of these will work better for me.

[dirkomatic]

Ok...  Sorry for my lack of knowledge regarding this topic...

I know the basic idea of how relays work, but I'm not sure which one to get.  I'd like to get relays which run of either 5vdc or 12vdc.  If I search digikey, there's coil voltage - is that the 5vdc or 12vdc or is that something else.

[Thenasty]

I'm gonna try to explain what I did with Advmame (Dunno if regular Vanilla MAME does it, but I think it will).

Here is what I did.
I made some Configuration files for Controls (INI in MAME)

8way1P1B   This is 1 Player 8 way 1 button game
8way1P2B   This is 1 Player 8 way 2 button game

8way2P1B    This is 2 Plyer 8 way 1 Button Game

4way0B        This is 4way no buttons  (pacman etc..)
4way1B        This is 4way Joystick located in the middle of the panel (there is no 2 player here, its for alternating 2 player games)

SPIN1B        This is Spinner Games
TRACK1B    This is Trackball Games

I think you get the picture by this time

I have (2) 8way Joys (Left/Right of the panel)
I have  (1) 4way Joy in the Middle of the panel.
I have Spinner also in Center
Trackball in Center


When I launch a Game say PACMAN  ( I use Advmame/Advmenu) using BATCH FILES

ADVMAME PACMAN 4way0b

This will only enable the 4way joytick and disable buttons (except for START/COIN of course)

Advmame kof 8way2P6B           This is KOF 2 player 8way 6 buttons



Hope at least you got my idea. After i got all the CONTROL config done, it was easy adding games to my Advmenu FE (BATCH FILES)

Here is a preview of my Menu Screen
Click on it to see it in action.

[dirkomatic]

I'm gonna try to explain what I did with Advmame (Dunno if regular Vanilla MAME does it, but I think it will).

This is great, I may try something along these lines, but I'll have to see if it works...

I use SDLMame on Ubuntu, not AdvanceMame.

I really like the idea of having a hard physical switch, though.  That way if something isn't working quite right, the answer is easy to explain to the kids.  It's the reason I'm going with the omni-stik prodigy for 8-way/4-way conversion.  It's easy to see what mode you're in...

[bkenobi]

I would investigate into config files myself.  If you want to build hardware to do what software can already do, have at it...

[dirkomatic]

I would investigate into config files myself.  If you want to build hardware to do what software can already do, have at it...

Ha...  Good point.  It's not that I necessarily want hardware to do the job that software does; I want visual clues as to what is going on.  As always, if I had a picture to go with my plan, that would help....

[mvsfan]

say if you can do that with a cfg file thats even better. ive got a small addition to that idea though although i cant help you any further with the software part.

if you could wire a toggle switch to an input on your ipac or other keyboard encoder and then get the cfg file to pick up when that switch is on or off, you still get your switch and also you dont have to fuss with replacing relays or wiring them.

[SavannahLion]

I would investigate into config files myself.  If you want to build hardware to do what software can already do, have at it...

Ha...  Good point.  It's not that I necessarily want hardware to do the job that software does; I want visual clues as to what is going on.  As always, if I had a picture to go with my plan, that would help....

The caps/numlock light functions from the controllers or a separate LED controller might fit the bill. Depending on how fancy you want to get, a simple light on the CP can indicate what mode you're in.

say if you can do that with a cfg file thats even better. ive got a small addition to that idea though although i cant help you any further with the software part.

if you could wire a toggle switch to an input on your ipac or other keyboard encoder and then get the cfg file to pick up when that switch is on or off, you still get your switch and also you dont have to fuss with replacing relays or wiring them.

Easy enough. Just use the shift/Shazaam/user defined to "shift" your button functions. Tie the shift and another chosen button together so pressing the button will activate both. After that the rest is just a programming exercise.

[dirkomatic]

Found the perfect thing for my use:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10103&cs_id=1010305&p_id=1373&seq=1&format=2

The components are all pluggable using RJ45 or USB, so this will be perfect.  Hopefully, I'll be able to get that out of the box and mounted to my admin panel.

Thanks for all the ideas!