what in mame/mamewah distingushes a 4 vs 8 way joystick

[j123vt_99]

in time, i will be building a cab and probably go with a 4 & a 8 way joystick... what do i need to do so that when  i load a game with mamewah, the appropiate joystick is "activated"

[GGKoul]

MAME doesn't know if a joystick is in 8 way or 4 way mode.  But you can break up the gamelist in two parts, games that require 4 way or 8 way joysticks.

[j123vt_99]

so you do 2 different ini's? one for 4 way, one for 8?

[screaming]

so you do 2 different ini's? one for 4 way, one for 8?

  No,  You wire both the joysticks to the same inputs on your keyboard encoder and they will both technically be able to control MAME/MAMEWAH at the same time.. You just use the 4 way when you know you're going to be playing a 4-way game, and the same thing with the 8-way.

  What GGKoul was talking about is making a separate list in your front end so that you and your guests KNOW when to use the 4-way and when to use the 8-way.

  Know what I mean?

-sab

[markrvp]

From a wiring standpoint, there is no difference between a 4-way and an 8-way joystick.  They both have four microswitches or leafswitches.  What makes a joystick "8-way" is the ability to activate two switches at the same time. 

As mentioned above, the software doesn't "activate" a joystick.  It simply accepts data from the joysticks wired to the appropriate encoder inputs.

[j123vt_99]

so you do 2 different ini's? one for 4 way, one for 8?

  No,  You wire both the joysticks to the same inputs on your keyboard encoder and they will both technically be able to control MAME/MAMEWAH at the same time.. You just use the 4 way when you know you're going to be playing a 4-way game, and the same thing with the 8-way.

  What GGKoul was talking about is making a separate list in your front end so that you and your guests KNOW when to use the 4-way and when to use the 8-way.

  Know what I mean?

-sab

ok that makes sense.. so technically you could use the 4 way to go up and left and use the 8 way to go right (not that you EVER would)

[screaming]

ok that makes sense.. so technically you could use the 4 way to go up and left and use the 8 way to go right (not that you EVER would)

  Technically, yes.

[GGKoul]

ok that makes sense.. so technically you could use the 4 way to go up and left and use the 8 way to go right (not that you EVER would)

  Technically, yes.

Actually no, a 4 way will only go Up, Down, Left, Right and will not allow you to hit the corners/

[j123vt_99]

ok that makes sense.. so technically you could use the 4 way to go up and left and use the 8 way to go right (not that you EVER would)