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: I've read : : that most keyboards only allow for about 16 keys : : without worrying about these problems. : Very true, however; since joysticks can't be up and down or left and right simultaneously, these keys can't ghost. Thus a joystick only requires two independent inputs. 16 keys then gives you two joysticks and 6 buttons per player with no ghosting. (2 joysticks x 2 inputs each plus 12 buttons). The buttons for the 1P Start and Coin Input might ghost, but usually these are not pressed during gameplay, so no problem. See my keyboard hack article at http://www.mameworld.net/emuadvice/main.html for more info. : : Other people hack joysticks to avoid this problem, or : The problem here is that the joystick is a slow interface and that it is designed for analog inputs while arcade joysticks and buttons are strictly digital (closed or open switches). Also, the joystick port tends to drift out of calibration. : : To me, a simple and cheap solution is to hack : : a standard PC gamepad, such as the Gravis gamepad, to : : get two joysticks and 4 buttons working from the : : PC's joystick port, and then use a keyboard hack : : to get the 16 individual keys. In total, this should : : provide for almost all the MAME controls desired : : (excluding trackballs and spinners, of course). : No problem. For 16 individual keys, do you mean eight buttons per player, or do you mean six buttons per player and the 1P, Coin 1, 2P, Coin 2 keys. If eight buttons per player, I don't know of any games that require this, but your idea should work. If option 2, this should work also, however, for speed I would recommend doing everything through the keyboard side except the four "START" buttons for speed if this is for a MAME Cabinet. If it is for a regular computer, I would run it through the keyboard only, as you will have to unplug things to use a regular joystick for Windows games. Of course, if you use the gamepad for the joysticks, you could use the arcadestick for Windows games. :-) : : I have yet to read about anyone who's done this. : Check the examples, I think it's been done, I know two gamepads have been done. : : Since I'm currently not a MAME user, would MAME have : : any problems if I implement this? : No problems other than the following: MAME will probably run slightly slower with ANYTHING connected to the gameport. Since the gameport loses calibration, have access to the CONFIG (normally TAB) and UI SELECT (normally ENTER) keys on your panel so you can calibrate (otherwise your character may constantly move to one side of the screen). (This can be done without including extra keys as mentioned in my article.)

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