Main > Main Forum
Noob (who's researched) still with lots of questions...
Epyx:
I'd like to comment on a few of your questions.
Joysticks
I would seriously reconsider the Mag Stick Plus, unless you have already used it and love it. Depending on the type of feel you are looking for my bet is you will either love the Mag Stick or hate it...I fall in to the hate it camp...firmly. To me the feel and short throw just make 8 way games feel "not right"...seems "ok" for 4 way and shooters but fighters, platformers etc it's terrible (again my opinion).
What I would suggest is you buy a 2nd stick just to get a different feel before you commit. Worst case you have a spare for a 2nd project...best case you have a better stick with one or the other.
The stick I would recommend looking at are the 360 or Sanwa sticks. I purchased the Sanwa J Sticks (balltops) and I love the feel.
I would then just set the left player 1 stick to 8 way and the right player stick to 4 way...and keep it that way unless you have a guest over in which case you can just switch it at the base. You will find that this will work for you without having to switch it 90% of the time, unless your mr social! Then you just configure 4 way games to the player 2 stick for player 1 play and 8 way games to player 1.
Administrative Buttons
It's been said by others but I echo the suggestion. Just use shifted controls for the admin features.
Trackball
Im pretty anti Xgaming for their other products but one of their products stands out, their trackball. It's pretty easy to install, USB plug in and feels just like the classic trackball used in the games you mentioned. It is a clone of the Betson Imperial which to me is "proto" trackball. But you can't go wrong with the other ones available either.
Speaker control
For aesthetics, if done right, a speaker control looks great. However, a simple solution is to use one of many apps available to control volume through your CP controls.
Good luck!
HanoiBoi:
Hi Epyx,
Thanks for your comments!
Joysticks
Your implied assumptions about my reason for the mag-stik plus (surface switchable) are dead on. No, I haven't had the opportunity to try one, but perhaps I should look into it....I do know someone locally that has one (or two) but doesn't have his system working at the moment.
I agree with the ball top and was planning to later purchase the optional ball top for the mag stik plus.
I like the idea of the top switchable stick because it will be easier to teach the kids and guests. I don't consider myself Mr Social, lol, but I did just finish a basement bar that can seat 12 comfortably, so we get our visitors. :)
Are there any other surface switchable sticks on the market? I haven't come across any....
I'm really not planning on a 2nd project, and I'm pretty sure my wife would agree. ;) I'm hoping to cover bases in the first project.
Trackball
I will look into the XGaming track ball option. Thanks for the tip. :cheers: I am still at a lost regarding the 'high ball' description that I have read. Is this the norm, or the exception? A high ball track ball that I'm imagining would be one that will quickly takes it's toll on one's palm, like if it banged too hard into the (more exposed?) side of the ball. Is this correct thinking?
Administrative Buttons
Understood, and in agreement. But, how many buttons would truly be needed? As is stands, I'm planning for Power (on back side of CP), Exit and Pause (maybe one for each player). (Does coin count as admin?) That's not overkill is it? Can it be simplified? I did think that I could use Pause with Exit, but then I'd still need to add a 'shift/shazaam' button, correct?
I may try to incorporate a working coin door in the future, but for now it will be buttons. I was thinking of keeping the coin buttons down bottom, close to the coin doors for that authentic scramble and reach when a player needs to add a credit.
Speaker Control
I guess I wasn't aware of any programs out there, but still I'd like to be able to adjust the volume during game play if needed, which is why I thought an accessible control would be cool.
Buttons
Any thoughts on buttons, Epyx? NEED- Concave WANT- Solid look WANT- illumination option
I'm looking into Electric Ice and NovaGem currently. The photos of the NovaGems are hard to make out. Can't see if they are concave. The description says 'Horizontal Pushbutton'. Does this mean that they are flat, and not concave?
Thanks again Epyx.
bungy:
--- Quote from: HanoiBoi on November 13, 2009, 10:40:53 am ---Not sure if you were shooting for sarcasm, but of course I plan to use more games than listed. ;D
--- End quote ---
Not being sarcastic, every project is different so I didn't want to make assumptions. Your layout seemed specialized for the vector games you listed so I wasn't sure what your goals were
--- Quote from: HanoiBoi on November 13, 2009, 10:40:53 am ---I appreciate the criticism and by no means take offense, but I am curious as to what you find weird about the button layout? The 6 buttons per player, and/or all of the other buttons?
I'd be curious to see your CP if you have it posted. I have considered making the fire buttons 'red' similar to your suggestion. I just haven't figured out which button that would be.
--- End quote ---
Wasn't meant to be offensive, but I was referring to the "shape" of the collection of player buttons near the sticks. Just seems awkward to me, but if it works for you, by all means go with it.
Here are some pics of my CP. Believe it or not, it's my third wooden mockup. I did the first two before I built the cab, and this one was done with 5/8 particleboard and 1/8 plexi. I have since acquired 5/8 MDF and made a note to mount joystick bases and the trackball assembly before applying the vinyl overlay :)
Anyway, each player gets 8 buttons (ideal for console games). For MAME games the player mostly uses the two green buttons, and the other buttons are used as needed per game.
I have a bunch of admin buttons because I don't want it to be a puzzle to figure out, though I realize the merits of shifted buttons. The admin buttons don't get in the way when slamming the trackball in Golden Tee and there is room to comfortably use the spinners with the player's right hand.
Admin buttons are:
Start (Play)
Menu (Emu)
Reset
Exit
Save
Load
Pause
Fast Forward (useful for speeding up boot process in MAME games)
The Pause and Fast Forward buttons double as left & right mouse buttons in Windows (trackball is the mouse).
The trackball is an X-Arcade flush mounted by removing the top of the housing and chamfering the hole. The ball itself is a translucent green one from HAPP that I rigged to light up. Joysticks are also X-Arcade (I had a tankstick and gutted it) and I like them, but I'm considering the 360 as Epyx noted. Spinners are Ultimarc SpinTraks and they're great, but I need color coordinated knobs. Buttons are all HAPP and the labels are from Pongo. Under the hood it's an IPAC4 for the joysticks and buttons (36 inputs), U-HID nano for the spinners, and the trackball is native USB.
bungy:
--- Quote from: HanoiBoi on November 13, 2009, 11:58:45 am ---The description says 'Horizontal Pushbutton'. Does this mean that they are flat, and not concave?
--- End quote ---
No, it means that the microswitch mount is horizontal
Epyx:
--- Quote ---Are there any other surface switchable sticks on the market? I haven't come across any....
--- End quote ---
GroovyGameGear sells one -> http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=195
I personally can't stand the aesthetics of the Omni stick though...the switch is not nearly as elegant as the Mag Stick offering but for all I know it may handle like a champ, as I have never tried one.
--- Quote ---Understood, and in agreement. But, how many buttons would truly be needed? As is stands, I'm planning for Power (on back side of CP), Exit and Pause (maybe one for each player). (Does coin count as admin?) That's not overkill is it? Can it be simplified? I did think that I could use Pause with Exit, but then I'd still need to add a 'shift/shazaam' button, correct?
--- End quote ---
All I would put in is Power...you can handle Exit and Pause with the IPAC rather easily using Shifted controls and it will make your CP look that much neater. However, that is a personal choice thing...some have made admin panels look great (Mountain, Pixelhugger etc) others look terribad ;)
But from purely a functional point of view...they aren't required at all with either the IPAC or Keywiz.
--- Quote ---I am still at a lost regarding the 'high ball' description that I have read. Is this the norm, or the exception?
--- End quote ---
Highball just implies that more of the physical trackball is above the lip. I personally don't like the feel and prefer the lower trackball profile but again its a personal choice.
--- Quote ---but still I'd like to be able to adjust the volume during game play if needed, which is why I thought an accessible control would be cool.
--- End quote ---
The programs I was referencing allow you to adjust volume from within games. For example, using Cabvol.exe you can assigned up down volume to your spinner with a shifted key...so Player 1 + Left or right on spinner is volume up or down as an example.
--- Quote ---Any thoughts on buttons, Epyx? NEED- Concave WANT- Solid look WANT- illumination option
I'm looking into Electric Ice and NovaGem currently. The photos of the NovaGems are hard to make out. Can't see if they are concave. The description says 'Horizontal Pushbutton'. Does this mean that they are flat, and not concave?
--- End quote ---
You have a few options...you can go the do it yourself route...if you look into Ond's awesome futuristic cab thread you can see one possibility, although it requires some work on your part...he uses regular Happ's concave buttons and modifies them to produce a radial illumination around the base of the plunger.
You could also look at Randy's offering on GroovyGameGear...I am using the Novagems which are concave but somewhat translucent...he also has the electric ice buttons that look solid (non transparent) but are white when not lit.
Happ's also sells translucent ones.
Andy from Ultimarc also offers some buttons but based purely on aesthetics, I don't like the look of them at all. Plus they aren't concave.
So it boils down, imo, to modding Happs Concave ones yourself or going with one of the GroovyGameGear/Happs translucent options.
hope that helps.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version