mouse scroll wheel

[doctorhifi]

I'd like to replicate the mouse scroll wheel function on my control panel using the spinner.  Anyone know how this could be done?

I'd like to be able to use Sauerbraten.

http://www.sauerbraten.org/

[u_rebelscum]

I don't think there is a software way, if the app you linked to can't remap the scroll wheel.  The quick way is to wire the spinner to Z axis, but how depends on which spinner you have and how it's connected to the computer.  The next step is to add a 2 way 2 pole switch so you can swap from Z to X axis and back.

Somethings you didn't touch on are which spinner you have, what other games & apps you're planning on using.  Mame?  While mame can remap so the dial type input reads from the Z mouse axis (aka scroll wheel), the scroll wheel normal step is 40 unlike the X & Y's one, so you need to set mame sensitivity to 1/40 of what you'd use for the X & Y axes.  If you have a high res spinner (TT2, TT-HL, SpinTrak), though, most likely the values are too high.  And most games don't support multiple mice like mame, let alone remapping the individual axes.  All these are why I mentioned the hardware switch.

[doctorhifi]

Sorry I didn't provide more detail.
I've got a TT2 for a spinner.  I'm using mame .126.

My younger son was begging me to put Sauerbraten on my arcade cabinet and so I obliged.  Besides requiring more keys than I've got buttons on my control panel, it also requires the mouse wheel and you cannot remap those inputs from within the software. 

I don't plan on using any other apps or programs that require the mouse wheel so I don't want to spend alot of time if there isn't a somewhat easy way.  I thought maybe I'd just use a wireless keyboard with a built in scroll-wheel.

Howeverm your first suggestion intrigues me.   Can you elaborate?

[u_rebelscum]

TT2, huh?  It comes with a board that you can move the sensors to the Z axis (scroll wheel).  The problem is if you do, the values will be 40x what mame expects, and maybe 100 times what the game expects (most scroll wheel are around 12-24 clicks/counts per rotation, while the TT2 has 1200 counts per rotation).

I'll draw a diagram on the 2 way 2 pole switch when I get home.

[doctorhifi]

Is anyone familiar with autohotkey and whether or not this could someone be used for mouse wheel mapping?

http://www.autohotkey.com/

[u_rebelscum]

Is anyone familiar with autohotkey and whether or not this could someone be used for mouse wheel mapping?

Not familiar, but there's no mention on converting to mouse wheel AFAICT.


Here's a pic of a DPDT (Double Pole Double Throw) switch between the TT2 and it's encoder board so you can hardware switch between X & Z axis.  Remember that the TT2 has somewhere around 33 to 100 times the resolution of normal scroll wheels, so test playing that game with the spinner direct wired to the Z axis before putting in the switch.

[csa3d]

I thought I remember seeing a thread where you could roll your own mame build to accommodate for the z-axis multiplier.  I have compiled my own version with that fix and it seems to be working ok.

-csa

EDIT:  Here's that link Turbo Twist 2 .diff file

[doctorhifi]

u_rebelscum: thanks for the diagram.  I may go that route

csa3d: thanks for the link.

I'm using both a TT2 and a Happ trackball.  Trackball is conected to mouse input on the PC (shows up as Mouse 1) while the TT2 is USB into the PC (shows up as Mouse 6).
Currently the spinner is set up for X & Y and works fine for games like tempest.

If I'm reading that thread correctly it sounds like I could set the spinner to Z axis and it would work as a mouse wheel, but it may be way too sensitive to be useful.  Is this right?

And if it is too sensitive then I could perhaps change code in mame and/or compile to handle the z-axis multiplier but then it would screw up my trackball:

For those with TT2 on Z axis and the TT2 is the only mouse Z axis used in mame, there is a one line fix.  However, this ruins normal mice's Z axis use

So if I use that one line fix does that mean games like Golden Tee would no longer work on my trackball anymore?  Z-Axis is up & down on a trackball, isn't it?

What would you do seeing how my TT2 and mouse are wired?

[csa3d]

For those with TT2 on Z axis and the TT2 is the only mouse Z axis used in mame, there is a one line fix.  However, this ruins normal mice's Z axis use

I think what that is saying, is that if you make the code change using the .diff, and have your spinner hooked up which uses the Z-axis... THEN.. you decide you are going to hook up a mouse to your machine which has a scroll wheel for windows maintenance, or pc play, etc... that... because the TT2 is the first mouse detected (perhaps?) that the code change will basically only affect one mouse device (being the TT2) and you can count on your pc mouse with scroll wheel to not work due to this fix.

What I have done on my control panel, is that my trackball (X and Y axis) acts as my windows mouse when I need to admin the OS, or surf BYOAC for updates, and the spinner is my scroll wheel.  I have a DPDT switch like discussed above, which makes my button 1 and button 2 toggle between being a mouse press or a Mame key press.  This is hidden under the control panel, so I flip it on when I'm in windows admin mode, and you essentially have a mouse ready to go without having to dig inside the machine.

I play a lot of centipede, and have not really had any issues with placing my TT2 on Z-axis and the trackball on XY.  Only thing I can think of is that MALA, which I prefer as my frontend, doesn't recognize a Z-Axis for gamelist scrolling.  I'm sure Loadman could correct though.  (*Goes to MALA forum to request said feature..*)

Hope that helps some.
-csa

[doctorhifi]

Well I tried switching the TT2 to register Z-axis instead of X.  This made the spinner work with the game but it seemed to cause the editing controls within the game to move diagonally up & down.  So I'm giving up on the spinner on my control panel and will just end up using a keyboard with a mouse wheel.

thanks for all the help.

[csa3d]

Well I tried switching the TT2 to register Z-axis instead of X.  This made the spinner work with the game but it seemed to cause the editing controls within the game to move diagonally up & down. 

Did you compile your own version of Mame as well?  What game does the diagonal for you out of curiosity..

-csa

[doctorhifi]

I'm using mame .126 compiled to remove the nag screens.

The game is http://www.sauerbraten.org/

[csa3d]

I'm using mame .126 compiled to remove the nag screens.

The game is http://www.sauerbraten.org/

I see, dunno if you're over me dwelling on this or not.. but that link I posted above, there is an attached t2_zaxis.txt, which you can download and rename the extension to .diff  Then add this diff in the end, (after you added the nag screen diffs), and it will bascially fix the 40x z-axis scalar issue.  Maybe you did so and didn't specify, maybe you don't care anymore.  Just laying that out there.   I've done this and not experienced diagonal issues in Mame games or when using windows which scroll.   

-csa

[doctorhifi]

thanks alot-  I may just do that!