In order to interface the controls to the computer, I ordered the LP24 programmable keyboard encoder from Hagstrom Electronics and the Opti-Pac trackball and spinner interface from Ultimarc.
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LP24 |
Opti-Pac |
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I programmed the LP24 in a 22 X 2 matrix as follows.
| PIN | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X |
| A | U1 | L1 | 11 | 21 | 31 | 41 | 51 | 61 | U2 | L2 | 12 | 22 | 32 | 42 | 52 | 62 | P1 | P2 | C1 | C2 | ENT | ESC |
| B | D1 | R1 | D2 | R2 |
I found the idea for this matrix (with only slight differences) on the Build Your Own Arcade Controls FAQ. This matrix is perfect for use with M.A.M.E. because it eliminates the possibility of keyboard ghosting.
I programmed the player one fire button 1 as the "page up" key and the player one fire button 2 as the "page down" key to aid in scrolling through the games in the front-end program that I used to use, Arcade@Home. I have since switched to Game Launcher, which is a better front-end in my opinion. This front end does not look "Windowsy" like Arcade@Home does. It is also much easier to scroll up and down the game list, and you can set it up to run multiple emulators. So now I have several console emulators running under Game Launcher as well.
