how many admin buttons should i use?

[swaffar]

ok so i'm thinking that all i should need for admin are:

start
pause
quit / exit
shutdown
reset

i'm using maximus arcade so i'm not sure if i should dedicate a button to volume and a "back" button for navigating the frontend itself.  what do you guys think?

[HaRuMaN]

What encoder are you using? 

Some encoders have a "shift" function where you could reduce / eliminate the number of admin buttons needed.

[swaffar]

i should have been more specific.  i'm using a mini-pac so i DO have a shift function.  what i'm more worried about is how many physical button i should use as i'd rather not use player buttons for admin functions.  i want this to seem as professional as possible when navigating the frontend (maximus arcade)  in fact here's a mock-up of my panel so far (without admin buttons affixed)   maybe i'll just put them on the front or side panels so i can easily edit/add/change them as i see fit.

unfortunately, my ultimarc order showed up today and the u-trak is a RED trackball.  i could have sworn i ordered white.  oh well, it's not worth the money to reorder or send back.  hopefully i'll easily be able to swap down the line once my bank account has bounced back.

[bloodyviking77]

This comes up every now and then and people seem to have some strong views about it ...

I have no admin buttons on my panel - the IPAC shift function covers the basics and most "in-game" configuration can be done without anything else.

A "service" button (mapped to F2 by default, I think) might be helpful for some games (eg Neo Geo), but I'd tend to stick it inside the cab. As I have a keyboard stashed inside my cab anyway I haven't bothered yet (though my cab has only recently emerged from nearly 3 years in storage ...)

I'll probably end up with a couple of "spare" buttons rigged up on a mini-panel inside the cab ... eventually ... but its not urgent and I personally think a control panel looks heaps better without them.

[DaveMMR]

This comes up every now and then and people seem to have some strong views about it ...

Yup.  If you do search for admin buttons, you can spend a night reading replies.  It's the perpetual debate. 

Anyway, I'm all for fewer buttons on the CP.  Definitely a dedicated Start and Coin (or door), perhaps an Exit and Pause if you have the space, but everything else (e.g. TAB) shifted as a secondary function for regular buttons or hidden off the panel.  People get a little too button pushy and you don't need them all up in your menus.

[kayoteq]

If you want to make a 'stealth' button..my approach when external switches are not an option.. get a reed switch (used for alarm systems for windows),
There's normally open/normally closed variations.. place it somewhere like just under the lower corner of the monitor bezel (depending on your cabinet's design)
and glue a  (small!) magnet to a quarter/token.. just big enough to activate it, not enough to interfere with the CRT.. one of those magnetic ad cards might do..
(Or avoid crt interference altogether and put it anywhere you want. behind the marquee?)

 then just move it into position when you want to activate said secret switch. Lose the special quarter? make another. Work on your sleight-of-hand, and you could mess with
your friends who try activating the switch with their quarter.. hehe.

[Loafmeister]

ok so i'm thinking that all i should need for admin are:

start
pause
quit / exit
shutdown
reset

i'm using maximus arcade so i'm not sure if i should dedicate a button to volume and a "back" button for navigating the frontend itself.  what do you guys think?

IMHO "Start" is not an admin buttons, neither is "coin1".

On my cab, I have 4 admin buttons and have shifted 4 more functions to them:

ESC/Shutdown
Menu (tab)/F2
Enter/Reset
Pause/Can't remember what I shifted it too eheh

Loaf