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4 Player MAME Cabinet - 4 U360s?
#376086 - 05/10/18 11:18 PM
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My brother-in-law and I are planning out a 4 player MAME cabinet. We want it to be able to play most MAME games. I was thinking of going with four Ultrastick 360s, two of their recoil guns, a trackball, 6 buttons for first two players, 4 buttons for the other two.
I know the U360s are really expensive and not the best at any one type of control, but they seem to be the best all-around. From what I read, they work with 2, 4, 8 way, analog, and many weird control styles. And I imagine most driving games will work with them as well, so they can double as joysticks. I would get the spinner upgrade for them as well, but those are way too expensive.
My question is this: Is it worth it to get four or them for a 4 player can? Or do I end up spending too much and sacrificing too much control? From what I've read, I haven't found anyone who has built a 4 player cab with four U360s.
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GatKong |
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Tetris Mason
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Re: 4 Player MAME Cabinet - 4 U360s?
[Re: Pasquirlio]
#376090 - 05/11/18 03:48 AM
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Having built a few mame cabs, my advice is...
Focus.
Too many MAME cabs try to be everything... resulting in a cab that CAN play everything, but none of it well. A giant Spruce Goose control panel with controls all over the place and in the way of each other with buttons spilled everywhere. A four-player will neccessarily have to be big.
I would run the following thoughts through:
1. Do I really want/need a 4-player? How often will it get played with 4 and is that frequency worth impeding the more frequent solo/two play?
2. Do I want controls that play everything mediocre over dedicated controls that play limited things great?
3. Here’s a brainstorm... consider some alternative 4-player designs. They don’t all four HAVE to stand shoulder to shoulder. Maybe a two-sided “head to head” design with two “normal 2-player cab” looking sides facing each other. With flat screens this is totally do-able in the same footprint as a normal 1-sided cab. Or even two seperate cabs where one cab can be switched to serve as a P3-P4 slave to the master cab.
4. Is Fruit Stripe gum white sticks of gum with colored stripes, or colored sticks of gum with white stripes, and is that tastier than Hubba Bubba?
5. Be sure and peruse Crap MAME to get some good ideas of what NOT to do.
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Re: 4 Player MAME Cabinet - 4 U360s?
[Re: GatKong]
#376228 - 05/16/18 02:10 AM
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Great questions and advice. I like the split cab idea. Might not go with that, but will definitely consider.
For question 1, the main reason we wanted this in the first place was for the 4-player games. So yeah, 4 player is the focus and multiplayer is a big thing in my family.
I hear you on the frankenpanel cabs. Our current plan is just the four joysticks, one trackball, and two guns. Spinners seem way too expensive to be worth it. And I wonder if an analog joystick can't do a passable spinner impression in some games?
I want it to be able to play as many games as possible with the fewest controls. We are focusing on arcade games, so that does relieve a lot of requirements. I don't mind if we can't play the games at a professional level, as long as the bulk of them work well. I'll settle for good over perfect if it gets me flexibility. From what I have read, the U360 can do most games at least "good" if not "great". Mediocre, though, would be unacceptable.
But yeah, even though they aren't the main focus, I don't want fighting games, for instance, to play poorly. Can you still pull off special moves with a U360 set to 8-way with no restrictor plate? (I haven't decided if I will do them with a restrictor plate or not- though if I do, it will be round, of course.)
I am also not sure on how far back to tilt the screen. 4-player cabs tend to tilt back pretty far (we are thinking 32inch LCD at this point) but might that interfere with the gun games?
I saw one well-received project blog that used two U360s and 2 standard 8-ways. But one of my favorite games was Super Off Road and I'm pretty sure I'll need analog joysticks to simulate those steering wheels for three players.
That same project also used 8 buttons for the first two players and 4 for the other two. There aren't any arcade games that require more than 6 for 1 or 2 players, are there? Most designs seem to stick with 6. I think this guy was also putting console games in his, which we won't do.
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Tetris Mason
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Re: 4 Player MAME Cabinet - 4 U360s?
[Re: Pasquirlio]
#376241 - 05/17/18 02:48 AM
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Your trackball will work as a spinner.
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Re: 4 Player MAME Cabinet - 4 U360s?
[Re: GatKong]
#376292 - 05/19/18 04:16 AM
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Well now I feel like an idiot!
That was pretty obvious...lol.
Are there multiplayer spinner games?
(Other than Warlords?)
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| GatKong |
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Tetris Mason
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Re: 4 Player MAME Cabinet - 4 U360s?
[Re: Pasquirlio]
#376362 - 05/24/18 04:18 AM
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This q has come up before, and IIRC there is a late 70’s football game that used 2 trackballs, but thats it.
Warlords used 4 spinners.
Super Sprint used 3 spinners (steering wheels)
Blasteroids, some Puzz Loop versions, Off The Wall, and Forgotten Worlds used 2 spinners.
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Re: 4 Player MAME Cabinet - 4 U360s?
[Re: GatKong]
#376363 - 05/24/18 04:36 AM
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FWIW, the 2 track ball football game was the B&W Atari Football games('78 & '79) & actually the 4 player version had 4 of them!
That was 1 of those good old games that made a lot of noise, between the 4 people grunting, spinning & yelling, & the those big ole black Atari balls whirring you could hardly hear the other games in the rest of the arcade...
Ah memories...
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Pessimist: Oh, this can't get any worse!
Optimist: Yes, it can!
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Re: 4 Player MAME Cabinet - 4 U360s?
[Re: Bad A Billy]
#377290 - 06/29/18 01:13 AM
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Thanks for the replies! Yeah, I tested Warlords out with analog joysticks. It worked, but boy was it hard. I managed to get decent at catching the ball, but I never did beat the CPU players. Precision is tough with a joystick in a spinner game, I suppose. It was still pretty fun, and I guess with 4 humans it would be fair.
Sounds like I missed out on those crazy Atari arcade spinner games. I was born in the 70s. I did grow up playing Atari 2600, though. And 7800- nobody ever talks about the 7800, but it had some interesting games.
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Re: 4 Player MAME Cabinet - 4 U360s?
[Re: Pasquirlio]
#379434 - 11/09/18 06:52 AM
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> Are there multiplayer spinner games?
>
> (Other than Warlords?)
The greatest game of all time!!!!!! PONG!!!!
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