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Button layout and interfacing
RobotNinjaTim:
So, I am trying to plan out my first cab, and was trying to nail down some of the properties of my CP. I wanted to do a universal two-player layout, with 8-way joysticks, trackball, spinner, 4-way joystick, etc. Something along the lines of the Classic Controller from the Mame Room. I had a couple questions about the layout along the top of the panel. Would people recommend that layout around the spinner and 4-way joystick? Would a cluster of buttons in between the spinner and joystick be better? And if that was the case, would it be better to switch the sides that the spinner and joystick are on of the buttons? I'm sure some of it would be preference, but I was just trying to get an idea to get the most versatility out of my CP.
Onto the second part of the topic... I was thinking of using the I-PAC 4 from Ultimarc to interface the buttons and the OptiPAC from Ultimarc for the trackball and spinner. Those interfaces should be able to handle all the inputs as well as allow for other CP configurations I may have in the future. My questions about the interface were as follows: If I wanted to do something like the layout discussed above, how would I connect it all up? Would the buttons for the spinner and 4-way joystick be connected to the same inputs as the other buttons for player 1? And what about the pinball function buttons, player 1 again? Or should those buttons be connected to player 3 or 4 and configured to function as intended for certain games? And also, probably a slightly dumber question, but how would exit, pause, etc. type buttons be connected into those interfaces? All through configuration?
Thanks in advance for your guy's suggestions and help.
darcyp:
personally, i wouldn't recommend that layout. it seems to me that the top part of that cp is laid out like that for the sole purpose of playing asteroids correctly. if that game is not that big of a deal to you i wouldnt have most of those buttons cluttering up the top. you can always use player 1 and 2 buttons for any games that you are using the 4way or the spinner, and i find that works great.
another thing i would get rid of are the 3 mouse buttons to the left of the trackball. I think you will find that once you have your cab set up, they never need to be used. as said before, your player 1 and 2 buttons will work great for any trackball game without the need for 3 dedicated buttons.
as for the 4way, i would just wire it up to the same inputs as the player 1 8way. very simple and you dont have to bother reconfiguring for every game you want to use the 4way in.
i dont really play much pinball, so sadly i cant really recommend anything there.
RobotNinjaTim:
Thanks so much for the suggestions. Feel free to keep more coming guys.
drventure:
I'd ditch the 3 buttons near the trackball, and nix the 4 way in lieu of 2 u360's (which can be 4 way, 2 way, 8 way, diagonal (for qbert), or analog). I WISH I'd know about that before I built my CP. Doh!
I can't really comment on the button arrangement at the top, it does look a little cluttered, but then, it just depends on what you're after.
RobotNinjaTim:
I originally just liked the buttons up top because it gave a set of buttons for the spinner and dedicated 4-way up top. I wasn't a huge fan of the extended layout because it was a little too game specific. I like the idea of having versatility of the U360s. I could clean up the top a lot with that and maybe figure out a different arrangement for the spinner.
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