Re: Compatibility with optical rotary games?


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Build Your Own Arcade Controls message board ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Druin on 4, 2000 at 8:44 PM:

In Reply to: Re: Compatibility with optical rotary games? posted by robert mcelwee on 4, 2000 at 7:08 PM:

: How do you adjust these settings? Is this done in the mame cfg or by using a screwdriver or turning a knob when you change games? Thanks...

I decided on not using dials/screw adjustments because if someone had to go playing with knobs like that between games, they'd have to do some guesswork to make sure they put it in the correct position - it would be annoying to have to switch from Ikari to Time Soldiers and go spending 2 minutes first by turning the adjust dial, rotating the joystick, re-adjust the dial, re-rotate the stick, until they get it accurate again...etc...

So I was opting to go with the jumper/switch type method, and of course the thought arose, what about when this interface is locked away inside my control panel, how do I change it? So I ended up adding a new feature, and maybe someone can give me an idea on how to better "access" this feature, but here is the functional description of this entire delay button press thing, which I also updated on my site's "Description" section at the bottom, where it says newest added feature.

There are jumpers to pre-set the desired delay time on startup so that it doesn't always default to a slow or fast delay necessarily...like if you normally play games that need a slow delay you would preset it to start out slow and then manually change it if necessary. That's straight forward.
Changing the delay time on the fly is where I might be able to have improvements made if someone knows a better way. I've tried to keep it a simple task and minimal extra hardware required, like avoiding the need to have a new set of wires and external jumpers/switches/dials to mess with and muck up a control panel...So What I've done is add a Function key type thing. There is a new switch connection so that when that switch is held down (maybe I can make it just a toggle on/off instead of holding)...the unit goes into a config mode, and the player 2 joystick becomes a data entry tool. So you press the new function button and then when you rotate the player 2 joystick left, you decrease the amount of time the output rotation MAME switches are held down. When you rotate the joystick Right, you increase the delay time that the outputs are held in the pressed-button state...when you are done changing the button press times, you release (or re-toggle) the function button and the joystick returns to normal
operation for rotary signals instead of configuring the unit.

To even avoid having to add that new function button...even though it doesn't have to be a big arcade switch, it can just be a very small hidden switch somewhere not obvious....the other option is to just double-wire an existing arcade button to act as a function for the interface. So if your panel has more than 2 action buttons per player and the rotary games only need 2 action buttons, you wouldn't be using the other buttons for normal gameplay anyway and you can just use them for the special function mode. I don't know how many buttons the games all need, but in the case of Ikari, it uses 2, and my panel has 3, so I would maybe wire up that 3rd button to the interface as well as the keyboard encoder, and use it to configure the interface timing delays during gameplay to get it optimal for each game. Or I could use the player 1 start button as the function button and that should work out also.
The only thing to be certain of for using existing buttons is that they are connected to a keyboard encoder in direct, not matrix mode, because one end of the button would have to be on ground to work with the interface function.

If all that sounds too weird...try the scenario again, assuming you have a switch there accessible to press, no matter if it's an arcade existing button or a new switch you specially put in, just assume you already have it up & running for this.
You turn on the system and you had your interface preset for an optimal Ikari delay time for the button presses, so you go in and play Ikari for a while and it works fine. You then decide to play Time Soldiers and you know you'll need to change the unit's delay time to be holding down the rotate buttons longer, because MAME doesn't respond as fast to the rotate keys for that game.
So you press the special new button and twist the player 2 joystick in the clockwise direction a few times to increase the delay time of holding the rotate buttons. When done, you let go of the special function button and you're all set to go load Time Soldiers and the player 2 joystick now works as normal, out of config mode because the function button is not activated.

I just thought of something. I'm going to change that to player 1 being the special function rotary stick because I took it for granted that I happen to be using 2 joysticks and I have the ability to use #2 as a data input device. So let's pretend I had been saying joystick #1. Then anyone can use it.

Well this is all clear in my head, because I thought of it, but does it require better explanation for people outside my twisted (pun?) mind? Or does anyone have a better idea on how to access the time change features?



Follow Ups:



Post a Followup

Name:
E-Mail:

Subject:

Comments:

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL:


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Build Your Own Arcade Controls message board ] [ FAQ ]