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Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: Well Fed Games on August 19, 2013, 10:47:26 pm

Title: Any reason why this two-trackball setup wouldn't work?
Post by: Well Fed Games on August 19, 2013, 10:47:26 pm
Ok, say i was building a panel to play 2-player simultaneous Marble Madness via MAME on a WinXP machine. If I used two Happ Trackballs and two Opti-wiz interfaces from Groovy Game Gear, any reason why that wouldn't work? i don't see many dual-trackball panels so I wanted to make sure before I place orders, etc.

(I really am still working on my Raiden cab, promise! Also would love to get a puzzle-game oriented cocktail done for my wife before Christmas.)

(Imagine a Joust cocktail having a very ugly baby with a Millipede cocktail... that is pretty much where i am headed.)
Title: Re: Any reason why this two-trackball setup wouldn't work?
Post by: PL1 on August 20, 2013, 05:59:57 am
I'm sure you know this WFG, but for less experienced readers who want to follow in your footsteps the two possible problems I see are:

1. Forgetting to order Opti-Wiz's with different USB device numbers.

2. Forgetting to enable multi-mouse in MAME.


Scott
Title: Any reason why this two-trackball setup wouldn't work?
Post by: Well Fed Games on August 20, 2013, 08:28:02 am
I'm sure you know this WFG

Of course...  :)

That was just the info I needed, Scott. Thanks as always!
Title: Re: Any reason why this two-trackball setup wouldn't work?
Post by: drventure on August 20, 2013, 09:00:27 am
I've got 2 happ trackballs in my panel. They both look like mice to windows, you DO have to turn on multi mouse support, but once that's done, they work a treat for Marble Madness.
Title: Any reason why this two-trackball setup wouldn't work?
Post by: Well Fed Games on August 20, 2013, 07:38:34 pm
Thanks for the confirmation drventure. Looking forward to playing Marble Madness, that 2 player Centipede prototype, Rampart, etc. when it is done.
Title: Re: Any reason why this two-trackball setup wouldn't work?
Post by: drventure on August 20, 2013, 09:29:03 pm
Rampart! Awesome! I didn't realize there +were+ any other simultaneous 2 player trackball games.

Title: Re: Any reason why this two-trackball setup wouldn't work?
Post by: Fursphere on August 20, 2013, 09:51:09 pm
Multi-Trackball games that I'm aware of...   

Rampart (3 trackballs)
SegaSonic The Hedgehog (3 trackballs, as noted before)
Cabal (2 trackballs, also has joystick version)
Marble Madness (2 trackballs, as noted before)
Blades of Steel (2 trackballs)
Ataxx (2 trackballs)
Boot Camp (2 trackballs)
Tehkan World Cup (2 trackballs)

Single-Trackball Games...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_trackball_arcade_games (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_trackball_arcade_games)


Title: Re: Any reason why this two-trackball setup wouldn't work?
Post by: drventure on August 20, 2013, 11:17:30 pm
@Fursphere

Many thanks for that list! Great stuff. I've got to put in some cabinet time with my daughter to check out all these.
Title: Re: Any reason why this two-trackball setup wouldn't work?
Post by: Fursphere on August 20, 2013, 11:51:21 pm
No problem!

It's a damn shame Marble Madness 2 was never dumped and emulated in MAME. 
Title: Any reason why this two-trackball setup wouldn't work?
Post by: Well Fed Games on August 21, 2013, 06:29:35 am

It's a damn shame Marble Madness 2 was never dumped and emulated in MAME.

Too true. Some people's idea of "preserving" a digital thing is ridiculous.
Title: Re: Any reason why this two-trackball setup wouldn't work?
Post by: marioxb on August 21, 2013, 10:31:18 am
There is at least one sports game that uses 4 trackballs: Dunk Shot. I wonder if that's the only 4P simultanious trackball game??

Also, there are a few games that use 2 spinners, such as Blasteroids. (Maybe a version of Arkanoid? I know the Famicom version of Arkanioid II can use 2 spinners) Any games that use 3 or more spinners?
Title: Any reason why this two-trackball setup wouldn't work?
Post by: Well Fed Games on August 21, 2013, 03:33:06 pm



Also, there are a few games that use 2 spinners

Yeah, I have a soft spot for Atari's (very 90s) Off The Wall and will likely put it on this cab w trackball control.
Title: Re: Any reason why this two-trackball setup wouldn't work?
Post by: Haze on August 21, 2013, 03:40:25 pm
No problem!

It's a damn shame Marble Madness 2 was never dumped and emulated in MAME.

Well MM2 uses Joysticks not trackballs anyway, and is basically terrible ;-)
Title: Re: Any reason why this two-trackball setup wouldn't work?
Post by: BadMouth on August 21, 2013, 03:41:17 pm
Nooooo!!!  They're all gonna laugh at you!

jk

Atari Football
Street Football
Title: Re: Any reason why this two-trackball setup wouldn't work?
Post by: Fursphere on August 21, 2013, 03:45:56 pm
No problem!

It's a damn shame Marble Madness 2 was never dumped and emulated in MAME.

Well MM2 uses Joysticks not trackballs anyway, and is basically terrible ;-)

Actually, the original prototypes had two trackballs.  Then some more were released with joysticks.   Ultimately they never went into full production.  Not enough interest or something.

You can see one here: http://www.safestuff.com/marbleman.htm (http://www.safestuff.com/marbleman.htm)


Although given the simplicity of the games, I'm surprised it hasn't been recreated.  If I knew how to program games, I'd take it on.
Title: Re: Any reason why this two-trackball setup wouldn't work?
Post by: Haze on August 21, 2013, 04:07:56 pm
No problem!

It's a damn shame Marble Madness 2 was never dumped and emulated in MAME.

Well MM2 uses Joysticks not trackballs anyway, and is basically terrible ;-)

Actually, the original prototypes had two trackballs.  Then some more were released with joysticks.   Ultimately they never went into full production.  Not enough interest or something.

You can see one here: http://www.safestuff.com/marbleman.htm (http://www.safestuff.com/marbleman.htm)


Although given the simplicity of the games, I'm surprised it hasn't been recreated.  If I knew how to program games, I'd take it on.

Yeah, I'm aware of this.  I also don't think an actual copy of the software for the trackball version has ever been located, so even if the guy was to dump his roms for MAME (which he won't, ever.) then it would only be the joystick version supported.

Even if a trackball version did show up there's no saying how complete it would be either.  Development happens quickly and if they swapped it out pretty early (and keep in mind such a change is a fairly essential decision when it comes to level design etc.) then it might not even really resemble the near-final version we've seen much at all.
Title: Re: Any reason why this two-trackball setup wouldn't work?
Post by: Well Fed Games on August 21, 2013, 10:29:18 pm
Well MM2 uses Joysticks not trackballs anyway, and is basically terrible ;-)

Ha, yeah, I think keeping the ROM is a major ---meecrob--- move, but there is a reason the prototypes never made it to production.   :laugh:
Title: Re: Any reason why this two-trackball setup wouldn't work?
Post by: McHale on August 22, 2013, 03:07:20 am
Track and Field also used 2 trackballs.

(http://www.quarterarcade.com/img/vol1/6340_0_fs.jpg)

But I don't think anyone has gotten the trackball version working in MAME.