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Re: So I Invented a USB Arcade Control Panel… How to Share It?
10/03/14 03:38 PM
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Good question!
I got into this backwards...
I didn't sit down one day and decide to build an arcade. My son had a Raspberry Pi, and I wanted to show him what it could be used for. So we got MAME running on it.
I also happened to have an Arduino left over from a previous robot experiment, so I programmed it as a USB keyboard and ordered some controls. Then I replaced the Arduino with a less expensive Teensy that had more inputs to boot.
i-pac costs about twice as much as a Teensy, but sounds like it might be better technical solution if it can support two mice.
My goal here was to build the best performing arcade, but to get the cheapest design using spare parts that does "OK". Plus, keep my electronic and programming skills alive, satisfy the hacker in me, and enjoy the satisfaction of figuring out how to to it myself.
I'm aware that i-pac avoids the USB keyboard simultaneous keystroke issue, but that hasn't really been an issue - my emulator can detect 4 modifyer keys and 6 other keys which is more than enough for 2-player casual gaming if you assign them right. I could not think of a game where one player would need to activate more than 4 switches at once.
And if you do want to get serious about the keystrokes, you could easily use all keystrokes for a 1-player to get around my 4 switch limitation.
Had trouble finding the price of a j-pac on ultimarc.
Thanks for the feedback!
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So I Invented a USB Arcade Control Panel… How to Share It?
