Joysticks
The Joysticks are pretty easy to install. Drill a hole of at least 1 1/8 inches diameter, larger (1 1/4 to 1 3/8 inches) depending on the thickness of the mounting surface. Then screw the joystick's base onto the underside of the mounting surface, with the handle slot centered to the hole. Then insert the joystick handle (with the plastic ring and cover attached) into the slot, and push the plastic contact block onto the bottom portion of the handle. This will expose one of the notches on the handle for the c-ring clamp, which holds the contact block in place. When the joystick handle is moved, the contact block will push a button on one or two of the switches. Each switch response to a direction, with two switches combining to form diagonal directions.
There are two types of joysticks that need to be discussed now, 4 and 8 way sticks. The difference between the two, is whether or not two switches can be pressed at once. This becomes important when playing games, such as Pac-Man, which were designed with only four movement directions in mind. In these games, having two switches sending directional signals can produce a "sluggish" response from the joystick. In games that were designed for 8 movement directions, like Guanlet, a 4-way joystick will limit the player to only 4 directions. There are 4/8 way switchable joysticks, which can be used in either mode. However, they need to be manually switced from one mode to the other. A few, such as the Mag-Stik Plus allow for switching from above the control panel. This prevents having to open the cabinet in order to switch the joysticks between modes. In the case of the Mag-Stik Plus, switch modes is accomplished by pulling up on the joystick handle, then turning the handle in a clockwise/counter-clockwise direction to select the mode.
The first control set for ElLa project used two 8-way joysticks. These functioned very well for games designed for 8-way joysticks. However, one was replaced with a Mag-Stik Plus 4/8-way switchable joystick. The Mag-Stik Plus is highly recommended, as it feels and performs better than the other joystick in both 4 and 8-way modes.
Next, connect the COM terminals on the switches to the ground terminal on the I-Pac. Then, connect each NO terminal to the corresponding I-Pac terminal connector. Remember, the controls are going to be "backwards", as a push up on the joystick makes contact with the switch closest to the player and a push left connects with the switch to the player's right. The joystick is now ready for use.
If connecting an analog joystick, then a controller board like the Opti-Pac will need to be used, and the connection method differs in which leads are connect to which terminals on the controller board.
The previously reported issues with the Cherry's K Series miniature snap-action switches turned out to be the fault of the I-Pac board. Occasionally, the I-Pac would not register the keypress when the switch was closed, even if the COM and NO terminals were then shorted. Andy at Ultimarc was exceptionally helpful, and sent a new I-Pac. So far, the new I-Pac board has functioned flawlessly. As a note, an email to SlikStik, enquiring about the switches, was never answered.
While waiting on a replacement I-Pac, and keyboard hack was attempted. Keyboard hacks are where the switches are wired to a keyboard's controller board, and then the controller board is plugged into the PS/2 port. In order to do this, the proper connections have to be found. All the keys on a keyboard are connected to two different leads on the controller board. These leads form a matrix, which determines the keypress. For example, a keyboard controller may have 26 connector leads, which forms a 13x13 matrix. Completing the circuit between lead 7 and 24 cause the processor to send the corresponding keypress to the computer.
To find which keypress is which, disassemble an old keyboard, connect the controller board to the PS/2 port, and then using a keyboard test program, complete a circuit and see what keypress is registered. Complete different circuits, until the desired keypress is found. Mark down the leads and keypress, repeat until all needed keypresses are found. Then attach wires to the connection leads, and connect the wires to the switches. There is a bit more to keyboard hacks, and if a keyboard hack is going to be used permanently, please consult reference guides to find out how to prevent ghosting, masking, and key blocking.
Both joysticks were attached using this method, while waiting for a replacement I-Pac. The hack worked successfully, and made the joysticks usable. However, some oddities were noticed while playing two player games. While playing Tetris, blocks would rotate unexpectantly. However, this behaviour could not be reproduced reliably inorder to debug. Once the new I-Pac board came, the keyboard hack was removed, and the oddities have yet to be noticed again.
Buttons
Button installation is not difficult. Drill a 1 1/8 inch diameter hole in the mounting surface, where you want the button. Insert the button into the hole, then screw the plastic fastener nut onto the button, from the bottom, until tight. Then, attach the switch, first with the mount hole on the top side (the side with the switch button) onto the mounting point. Next, swing the bottom mounting hole up into place, while pushing the retaining arms out of the way.
Coin Doors
Coin doors let the machine know a quarter has been inserted. Basically, the door has coin mechanisms for each slot, that trip a switch when a coin of a certian weight and size is inserted into the slot. Connect the ground wire for each slot to the corresponding ground terminal on the I-Pac, then connect the non-ground wire to the corresponding I-Pac coin terminal. Next, attach the ground and live wires for the bulb/LED in the coin slot and the coin mechanism to a +5V power source.
One thing to keep in mind while adding a new game, not all games treat the coin drops the way one would expect. Some only support a set number of coin drops, causing coins placed in any drop above that number to do nothing. While others treat the different coin drops as higher denominations of coins (like half-dollar or dollar coins), giving multiple credits per coin drop. All of these anomalies can be handled with configuring the controls for the game within MAME.
MAME also allows you to simulate a coin drop by pressing certain keys (defaults are 5 and 6) and the I-Pac allows you to send those keys with multiple button presses (default is Player 1 Start Button and Player 1 Button 1 for the 5 key). This lets you start games without needing to put money into the machine. As a side effect, you really don't need a coin door for the machine. However, dropping a quarter into the machine just adds something to the whole experience and shouldn't be over looked.
Spinners and Steering Wheels
Project ElLa contains no plans to use either a spinner or a steering wheel. A spinner is a knob used to control the game, by turning it left and right. Like the controls used for Pong or Arkanoid, and the paddles for old game consoles. Actually, the ones used today aren't quite like the ones used for Pong. Today, optical spinners are used instead of analog ones. So, you'll need an Opti-PAC controller to translate the signal from a spinner to MAME.
Steering wheels are basically just a spinner with a steering wheel attached to the knob. Also, the gas and brake pedals can each be attached to spinners. Also, there have been some successes in using PC steering wheels controllers with pedals.
Trackballs
Project ElLa does not plan on including a trackball. A Trackball is two spinners attached to rollers that turn the spinners based on the direction a ball resting on the rollers moves. One spinner is the X-axis (left/right) and the other is the Y-axis (up/down).
Flight Yokes
Project ElLa does not plan on using flight yokes either. However, a flight yoke uses two spinners, like a trackball, to report movement on the X and Y axis. However, the position of the two spinners are different. One is mounted the same as for a steering wheel to measure left and right turning, while the other is mounting in the handle to sense the direction and amount of forward and backward tilt. Additionally, an optional third spinner can be placed to measure "throttle", either in a seperate controller or at the base of the yoke, to measure forward and backword movement, forming a Z-axis.