Posted by Just Michael on September 23, 1999 at 14:14:18:
In Reply to: Help, MAME cabinet w/ 4 player setup posted by Matt M. on September 23, 1999 at 12:27:27:
: I am going to build a MAME cabinet, and I want it to have a four player setup for games like Gauntlet, T.M.N.T., etc. Has anyone ever built a homemade cabinet like this? I’ve been looking for examples and I can’t find one. My concern is with the joystick / button setup. This is my dreamlist:
: (2) 8-4 way joysticks (players 1 & 2)
: (2) 8 way joysticks (players 3 & 4)
: (6) player 1 buttons
: (6) player 2 buttons
: (4) player 3 buttons
: (4) player 4 buttons
: (8) buttons (coin and start for each player)
: (1) spinner (just for Discs of Tron, I LOVE that game)
:
: I know this is a lot of controls, but the cabinet will be used mainly for fighting games (hence 6 buttons ea. For players 1 & 2) and the Gauntlet. I don’t think I can use a keyboard controller setup because of ghosting (especially with this many buttons) so what are my options? These are the questions I need answered:
: 1. Do any four-player games use more than four buttons per player?
: 2. How should I tie the controls to the computer? Will a keyboard interface work? Can I use two double-joystick game cards in the computer, or do I need to use USB controllers (I don’t want this because cost is a factor)
: 3. Am I shooting for too much?
:
: Any help would be appreciated, I plan to take my time and do this justice (even if I have to save money for a long time)
: Matt M.
1) No idea
2) That is up to you but when I build my cabinet I plan on using my L4 Gameport card from PDPI and a keyboard hack(or encoder if I have the money)for the other buttons. With the add-on bracket(which I have)I can run 4 joysticks at the same time. Each of my cheap analog joysticks has 6 buttons and it sees everything just fine all of the time.
3) Nope. I plan on 4 players and probably 6 buttons per player. Coin and start and pause buttons for each player and then Esc,Tab,Enter,F2,F3 and any others needed.
The L4 only has windows drivers currently.