Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: Jimmy on March 22, 2006, 10:33:25 pm
-
I have started build on my cab, everything seems to be going fairly smoothly. But i have been doing my research and im a little confused wiring the controls. Because ive counted something near 60 inputs needed. Im really worried about ghosting. Which encoder should i buy? I found threads on this in the faq, but none aswered my questions.
-
What joysticks are you going to be using? If you are using 49-ways, then you will need to get one GP-Wiz 49 for each 49-way joystick you use. Each GP-Wiz 49 has 28 additional inputs, so you would have plenty.
If you have no 49-way joysticks, then you have a couple of main stream "current technology" choices. There are more, but these are the two I would reccomend.
1.) If you absolutely have to have 60 inputs then you could get a KeyWiz and a GP-Wiz which would give you a total of 64 inputs. These two encoders come from Groovy Game Gear.
2.) If you can get by with 56 inputs (which I'm sure you can - just show us your layout), then the IPAC-4 from Ultimarc would suffice.
-
8 ways, i think ive decided on p360s.
56 is actually what i came up with. Thats why i said nearly 60
player 1 6 buttons
player 2 6 buttons
player 3 4 buttons
player 4 4 buttons
1-4 start 4 buttons
1-4 coin insert 4 buttons
pause 1 button
exit 1 button
4 joysticks 16 buttons
------------------------------
total 46
maybe a few more, i guess i added wrong when i came up with 56
-
Then either solution I listed above (Keywiz+GP-Wiz OR IPAC4) will work.
-
wheres the bst place to buy thes from?
-
wheres the bst place to buy thes from?
There aren't really many options.
Ultimarc sells the Ipac encoders at http://www.ultimarc.com
GroovyGameGear sells the Keywiz/GPwiz products at http://www.groovygamegear.com
divemaster127 also just started carrying the Ultimarc products in his thread in the B/S/T forum, so you can save a few bucks in shipping if you're in the US.
I'd also really recommend you read the FAQ on the board and the Wiki, as well as taking a look at the main page at http://www.arcadecontrols.com as this is a very simple question and has come up very often. You'll probably answer hundreds of your own questions by reading the FAQ/Wiki
-
Hi. I can't speak for the others, but the ultimarc i pac's work great. :)
-
I have the ipac4's stock here in the us, if you need one, you will save a few dollars shipping in the united states
thanks
dm
-
I like the KeyWiz Max 1.5. Especially the screw in terminals, since I've yet to learn how to solder.
I made a new control panel top and once I get eveything wired again, I'm planning on testing out the Shazaaam! key function. From what I've read, it looks like I can save a few buttons by using the Shazaaam! button as a shift key. My plan is to make Player 1 and Player 2 act as Coin 1 (P1+Shazam) and Coin2 (P2+Shazam). I'll probably do the same with the Pause, Esc, admin buttons too. I think the Ipac might have the same function, so either way you go you might be able to save some buttons utilizing a shift function.
-
its really preference what you like i like the ipac4 due to it saves your setting & you do not have to redo them everytime you reboot with the other i may be wrong but you have to set the settings up to default to keep from having to redo each time, if im wrong please let me know
dm
-
I have a Keywiz and GPWiz - they work great. There is a Keywiz program you can put in your startup if you really need to have your inputs mapped a particular way, however I just wired up the standard connections, and anything different I configured MAME to use that way. So, no real worries about "losing" a configuration.
Either way, you can't go wrong - they're both excellent products.