Which ipac to go for?

[FunkyGibber]

Hi,

I'm planning to build a 2 player cabinet which will allow most MAME games to be played which require 1 joystick and up to 6 buttons, but also double joystick games like Robotron and Smash TV. Being very new to this, I'm having difficulty figuring out what ipac would allow this. As I see it the robotron controls are two sets of up, down, left and rights, but from what i can tell the ipac boards only allow each player one set of directions. For instance, the ipac 2 has only 4 joystick slots, one for each direction on 1 joystick.

Could anyone tell me how I could achieve this?

Cheers.

[HaRuMaN]

You could play Robotron using both the player 1 & player 2 joystick...

[FunkyGibber]

Thanks for your speedy reply. Is that possible? I would have thought that with the wiring of the 2nd player's joystick going to the player two side of the ipac it wouldn't allow that. Can this be verified? If this is the case and it IS possible, then in order to play Smash TV (using 4 joysticks, 2 for each player) I'd need an ipac4?

[Hoopz]

In individual games, you can map the controls to be different or however you need them.  So for Robotron, you hit Tab then configure the controls for just that game.  You would then map P2 Joy to match what you need for that game.

Make sense?

[HanoiBoi]

Hey Funky,

It is absolutely possible to use 1P and 2P joys for Robotron.  Question, do you use MAME on a computer?  If you do, start a game.  From there, press TAB and then select Input (this game).  Here, you can scroll down to a function select it by pressing ENTER and then either click the button or move the joystick to assign that 'key' to that function.  

When doing so in Robotron, you'll see options such as :

1 Player Start
2 Players Start
Coin 1
Coin 2
P1 Right/Up
P1 Right/Down
P1 Right/Left
P1 Right/Right
P1 Left/Up
P1 Left/Down
P1 Left/Left
P1 Left/Right

If you have two joysticks on your Control panel, it really doesn't matter how they are wired.  You simply assign them by selecting the function in the list, and then moving the joy stick in that direction.  Make sense?  It's much, much easier than you might think.

Your biggest concern when selecting an IPAC is the number of inputs.  

An IPAC2 can handle 32 inputs.  
An IPAC4 can handle 56 inputs.  

Each joystick will have 4 inputs.  Each button is 1 input.  (If you are looking at a joystick with any buttons or triggers, you'll need to account for those as well.)

If you are indeed proposing 2 joysticks and 6 buttons per player, you are already up to 28 inputs.  You'll then most likely want coin buttons, 1P start, 2P start and maybe even some admin buttons (Pause, Exit)  

Do the math...you might be good to grab an IPAC4.

Hope this helps.

HanoiBoi

[FunkyGibber]

It does help. Thanks a lot for your help guys. I reckon I'll go for the i-pac4 just to make sure as there's more margin to upgrade the buttonage :-)

Cheers!

[Malenko]

honestly an Ipac 2 is perfect for a 2 player cab (hence the 2) Id only get the 4 if you really plan to have a 4 player cab or if you want a wall of skittles for admin buttons.

[HanoiBoi]

honestly an Ipac 2 is perfect for a 2 player cab (hence the 2) Id only get the 4 if you really plan to have a 4 player cab or if you want a wall of skittles for admin buttons.

Malenko, no one's suggesting the skittle effect. 

Did you catch the fact that he wants 2 joysticks per player and 6 buttons each?  With the player controls alone, he's at 28 inputs.  He'll probably want 2 start buttons and at least 1 coin button.

Margin for growth is not a bad idea.  He may plan on adding pinball (2-5 more inputs) or a flight stick (4-7 more inputs) or something...

I do agree though.  If he wants to stick to 1 joystick per player, the IPAC2 is the wise choice.

-HanoiBoi

[DrN8]

If you do the math and are certain that all of your input requirements will be met with the ipac2, you may also want to consider the minipac since it not only does everything the ipac2 does but it also will allow for a spinner and trackball if you ever want to include them. I recently built a 2 player CP and am very pleased with my choice of the minipac.

[Hoopz]

honestly an Ipac 2 is perfect for a 2 player cab (hence the 2) Id only get the 4 if you really plan to have a 4 player cab or if you want a wall of skittles for admin buttons.

Malenko, no one's suggesting the skittle effect. 

Did you catch the fact that he wants 2 joysticks per player and 6 buttons each?  With the player controls alone, he's at 28 inputs.  He'll probably want 2 start buttons and at least 1 coin button.

Margin for growth is not a bad idea.  He may plan on adding pinball (2-5 more inputs) or a flight stick (4-7 more inputs) or something...

I do agree though.  If he wants to stick to 1 joystick per player, the IPAC2 is the wise choice.

-HanoiBoi

Pinball buttons can share inputs with P1 or P2's buttons.  A flightstick or other specialized stick often times uses P1 joy's inputs too.  There's a variety of ways to share inputs to help things out.  Just map them in program (Mame, Visual Pinball etc) to meet your needs. 

[Lo_Wire]

I would go Ipac2 and use two joysticks per player (suitibly placed on control panel) but have the second joy wired to switches 1,2,3,4.
Then go into mame and map accordingly in the twin joy games.

[DeLuSioNal29]

I used an i-pac 4 on mine.  I was able to hook up 2 joysticks for each player 1 and 2.

The joysticks on the right side of player 1 and 2 are actually connected to the player 3 and 4 inputs.  Then I remapped it in MAME for SMASH TV, Robotron and Total Carnage.  I based my design around those games.  And now I'm able to play SMASH TV cooperatively with 2 players.  You can't do that if you only have 2 joysticks total (using player 2 as the fire joystick).

P.S. - Little did I know that I'd own the actual arcades SmashTV and Total Carnage later on. 

DeLuSioNaL29

[Malenko]

Malenko, no one's suggesting the skittle effect. 

Did you catch the fact that he wants 2 joysticks per player and 6 buttons each?  With the player controls alone, he's at 28 inputs.  He'll probably want 2 start buttons and at least 1 coin button.

Margin for growth is not a bad idea.  He may plan on adding pinball (2-5 more inputs) or a flight stick (4-7 more inputs) or something...

I do agree though.  If he wants to stick to 1 joystick per player, the IPAC2 is the wise choice.

-HanoiBoi

You do realize the IPAC 2 supports up, down, left,right AND 8 button inputs in addition to coin and start for each player?  he could have 2 sticks, 7 buttons per player (Capcom/Neogeo Hybrid layout) and have a pinball button on each side, a coin input for each player AND a start for each player and the ipac2 has it covered.

Adding too many buttons and sticks sounds like a frankenpanel. There is a fine line between what you think you want and what you actually need.

[HanoiBoi]

Malenko,

He's proposing 4 sticks.  And up to 6 buttons per player.

HanoiBoi

[FunkyGibber]

Thanks for all your suggestions. I do plan on possibly updating the control panel in the future (I'm sure I'm not going to get the layout perfect first time) so I think the 'room for growth' scenario suits me better. Definitely not going for a Frankenpanel, I want everything to be clearly layed out. I would like a spinner though to play Tempest and Tron and I'm not sure an iPac 4 supports that. I may have to buy a Mini-Pac too...make sure they're both usb. Not cheap, this cabinet malarky, is it? lol.

[Malenko]

Malenko,

He's proposing 4 sticks.  And up to 6 buttons per player.

HanoiBoi

I know, but whats to stop him from mapping the controls for the second stick for each player to the buttons? The games that dont use 2 stick will use the stick and the buttons, and the ones that use 2 sticks dont use buttons. Perhaps I was too vague, my appologies. if he doesnt feel comfortable have up on the second stick also be button input #1 (etc,etc,etc) then his only choice would be an IPAC4, a 2nd IPAC, or the keywiz that supports a bajillion inputs.

[Kman-Sweden]

I'd say play it safe and get the Ipac4. This way you have the option to go bigger.

[DeLuSioNal29]

If you get the TT2 from GroovyGameGear.com it's plug and play with its own USB connector.

[Benevolance]

The TT2 is a fantastic purchase.