advice: how to wire a cocktail cabinet joysticks+buttons t..

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.mame (More info?)

Hi All,

Does anyone know what brand/kind of joystick(s) to buy that don't mind being
pulled apart and soldered on to my cabinets controls?

Obviously, as this is a cocktail conversion, I've got 2 joysticks and 4
"fire" buttons to bother with.

I've never owned a joystik before, so be kind with any replies!! I do
remember seeing inside an old apple ][ stick in the 80's, and it had
potentiometers (variable resistors) - so if PCs use these, then I obviously
need some other kind (my cabinet has microswitches)..

Can MAME under (windows 98) use any old joysticks? Like - USB etc? Does it
know how to assign the 2nd player controls to "the other one" if I need 2?

What's the standard modus operandi for wiring the coin mech? and 1+2 player
buttons? Can MAME handle spare joystick buttons being soldered on to these,
or do I have to rip apart my keyboard?

thanks for all or any advice... I'm a PC old-hand, but a MAME (and most PC
games for that matter) newbie 🙂

Chris.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.mame (More info?)

Hi,

> thanks for all or any advice...

Visit http://arcadecontrols.com.

Ciao, MM
--
Marian Aldenhövel, Rosenhain 23, 53123 Bonn. +49 228 624013.
http://www.marian-aldenhoevel.de
"Ich hoffe Sie können mir helfen. Ein Freund hat mir einen tollen
Bildschirmschoner aufgespielt, aber jedesmal wenn ich die Maus bewege
ist er weg."

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.mame (More info?)

" ! ribena" <group-only-replies-please@dsblme.firestuff.org> wrote in
news:4234127e$0$30043$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au:

> Can MAME under (windows 98) use any old joysticks? Like - USB etc?

It's funny that you refer to USB joysticks as "old," since it was the
"gameport" connection type of joystick that preceded it for several years.
🙂


> Does
> it know how to assign the 2nd player controls to "the other one" if I
> need 2?

If I understand you correctly, this is only an issue if you decide to wire
the cab's existing controls to the PC via -two- USB controller hacks. With
two joysticks and eight buttons in total, you should be able to find
corresponding contacts in just a -single- USB gamepad (provided it has enough
buttons).


> What's the standard modus operandi for wiring the coin mech? and 1+2
> player buttons? Can MAME handle spare joystick buttons being soldered
> on to these, or do I have to rip apart my keyboard?

Hmmm, a little confusing. If you decide to use a keyboard encoder, such as
those offered by Ultimarc or Hagstrom Electronics (and you can see a lot of
cabinet examples using either through www.arcadecontrols.com), you'll find
the job quite a bit simpler.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.mame (More info?)

! ribena wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> Does anyone know what brand/kind of joystick(s) to buy that don't mind being
> pulled apart and soldered on to my cabinets controls?
>
> Obviously, as this is a cocktail conversion, I've got 2 joysticks and 4
> "fire" buttons to bother with.
>
> I've never owned a joystik before, so be kind with any replies!! I do
> remember seeing inside an old apple ][ stick in the 80's, and it had
> potentiometers (variable resistors) - so if PCs use these, then I obviously
> need some other kind (my cabinet has microswitches)..
>
> Can MAME under (windows 98) use any old joysticks? Like - USB etc? Does it
> know how to assign the 2nd player controls to "the other one" if I need 2?
>
> What's the standard modus operandi for wiring the coin mech? and 1+2 player
> buttons? Can MAME handle spare joystick buttons being soldered on to these,
> or do I have to rip apart my keyboard?
>
> thanks for all or any advice... I'm a PC old-hand, but a MAME (and most PC
> games for that matter) newbie 🙂
>
> Chris.
>
>


I believe the device you are looking for is called the I-PAC, and it is
available from Ultimarc.com. It lets you connect your joysticks and
buttons to a PCB with screw terminals that acts as a passthrough device
for your keyboard, either PS/2 or USB. It is a very "clean" solution and
eliminates the need for soldering and destroying a keyboard. I believe
you can even get your joysticks and buttons there, too.

Jeff

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.mame (More info?)

hehehe - yeah - I meant "old" as in "being sold on eBay for $1 or so...",
or, scavengable at my local tip 🙂

Thanks heaps for the pointers; I was wondering about a game pad in my game
port, but as I need 15 inputs total, this isn't looking possible, so I might
grab an old used USB thingy of eBay and see how I go.

"Hung N" <find@my.crack> wrote in message
news:Xns961846E94ACF4sneakyboyfastmailfm@198.164.200.20...
>" ! ribena" <group-only-replies-please@dsblme.firestuff.org> wrote in
> news:4234127e$0$30043$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au:
>
>> Can MAME under (windows 98) use any old joysticks? Like - USB etc?
>
> It's funny that you refer to USB joysticks as "old," since it was the
> "gameport" connection type of joystick that preceded it for several years.
> 🙂
>
>
>> Does
>> it know how to assign the 2nd player controls to "the other one" if I
>> need 2?
>
> If I understand you correctly, this is only an issue if you decide to wire
> the cab's existing controls to the PC via -two- USB controller hacks. With
> two joysticks and eight buttons in total, you should be able to find
> corresponding contacts in just a -single- USB gamepad (provided it has
> enough
> buttons).
>
>
>> What's the standard modus operandi for wiring the coin mech? and 1+2
>> player buttons? Can MAME handle spare joystick buttons being soldered
>> on to these, or do I have to rip apart my keyboard?
>
> Hmmm, a little confusing. If you decide to use a keyboard encoder, such as
> those offered by Ultimarc or Hagstrom Electronics (and you can see a lot
> of
> cabinet examples using either through www.arcadecontrols.com), you'll find
> the job quite a bit simpler.