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IPAC4 or KE72?

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Tiger-Heli:

--- Quote from: quarterback on November 13, 2004, 11:44:46 am ---
--- Quote ---Alternately, you could use the I-PAC/4's shift function so that say if you pressed "Pause and Joystick 1 Right" at the same time, the Tab key would be sent.  
--- End quote ---

It seems that a lot of these keyboard controllers have this "shift" option available to add more control options.  I've got a question: Could you hook up a SINGLE button wired into TWO of the controller's inputs simultaneously (like Shift & "fire") to get the wanted response?

You know, lets say I have an ipac controller with 28 dedicated inputs, one of them a 'shift' key for the alternate code set (28 more codes)  If I've got a big CP and I've used all the 28, could I also hook up additional single buttons wired to both the "shift" and the "coin1" inputs and another to the "shift" and "coin2" inputs to add additional single-key inputs?  Or would doubling up the "coin1" input (which is already it's own dedicated button on my CP) screw things up?

--- End quote ---
See http://www.mameworld.net/tigerheli/encoder/shiftkeys.htm

You are describing what I refer to as "stealth-shifted" inputs.  It's not as simple as you describe you need diodes and such as well.

Can it be done?  Yes  Should it be done - probably not.

The biggest drawback is that the shift function shifts ALL the other keys.  Here's an example of when this would be bad -

Lets say you have P2B2 shifted to be escape, and P1B1 shifted to be "Coin 1", you are playing a two player game and you try to add another coin just as your opponent presses Bomb and . . .  Game over.

You can maybe pick keys to make this less likely, but the more shifted inputs you use, the more likely you will run into a similar scenario.


calicyco:
Thanks everybody, I think I understand what to do now. I need an IPAC/4 and Optipac to start. Tiger-Heli - your site is exactly what I need to design this! I have been reading mame cab sites for about a year now and have not seen yours, and its the most useful! hehe

Another question - USB or serial on the Optipac?

I definitely need to sit down and really plan this control panel out more, I don't have a great amount of knowledge into all the games and their control needs, just the games I am most familiar with. Is there some site with the full break down of available games and their control needs? Similar to the info on http://www.mameworld.net/tigerheli/encoder/index.htm but with all of them?

calicyco:
Heh, never mind my last question, the site Tiger-Heli posted contains pretty much all I need to know about quantity and type of inputs.

Still curious about the serial vs. usb question though.

Matt Berry:
While some people may argue with this I'd recomend usb especially if you are not building a dedicated mame cabinet. You could also have problems with USB in a pure DOS enviroment but most people don't run pure DOS. My last keyboard encoder was a hagstrom LP24 which connected to the PS/2 with a keyboard passthrough. I found it was hard to plug and unplug the controller because it had to be plugged into the back. With usb it is hot swappable, ports are available via a hub or on most computers the front of the case. I've found that the Ipac in USB mode is way faster and more responsive then the LP24 was in PS/2 mode. The Ipac and optipac in USB mode would be the way to go. Don't worry about the number of inputs because as another poster pointed out, For player 1 and 2 you only need 6 buttons and 3 and 4 will only use 4. That leaves a lot of extra buttons. Shift button works very well for various admin functions

Kremmit:

--- Quote from: calicyco on November 15, 2004, 03:52:13 pm ---Still curious about the serial vs. usb question though.
--- End quote ---

Once upon a time the serial version was the only way to get dual trackballs, but this problem has been beaten.  Now the only reasons I can think of to go serial are:

DOS compatiblilty;
No USB ports on your MAME computer;
Leaves your USB port free for other devices (but you could alwas add more USB ports or a hub);
You think using old-school stuff is cool.  8)

And good for you on doing your homework first!

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