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Well it used to be a SEGA Super Megalo 2....


syntax_X

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So ive been chipping away at this little project for a few years now and I think its almost done.

All work besides painting has been done by me.

Gutted a Sega Super Megalo 2 and made it shorter so it can fit through a door and function in a living room.
Was a fair bit of welding and fiberglass work but came up sweet. 

In my opinion its one of if not the best machines to play on. 
Its big and heavy but there's plenty of room between both players, everything is exactly the same so its always a fair fight,

Sanwa JLF joysticks with QanBa round gates, heavy springs, short stick and alloy bat-top. Ends up the same height as a stock JLF ball-top but that nice batty feel :) 

HBFS30 buttons all around, easily one of the best buttons ever made, no idea why they went under but I'm glad I stocked up when I did.

The smaller buttons are IP67 rated buttons, they'll last forever, nice firm feel. The missile switches are covering I-Pac controls for EXIT RESET SAVE LOAD

When each emulator loads in Launchbox I run an autohotkey string that on-the-fly programs the I-Pac to suit the emulators mappings. Having this centre control panel across emulators is awesome.

The control panel when running emulators is hooked up to a hacked up PS2 controller that ive added HDMI breakouts to to make changing from console to emulator easier.
The hacked ps2 controller plugs into a Blissbox 4-play unit. Same goes for both players.
If I want to use a different controller I have to open the control panel, unplug the hacked ps2 controller from the Blissbox and then plug in whatever controller I wish. 
I tried using a HDMI switch to make this simpler but to no avail.
Players 3 and 4 can just plug straight into their HDMI ports, hit the ports reset if needed and play.

The 4play is basically 4 "Virtual" controllers in a hardware form.
You map the four controllers to all your emulators, then when you want to change controllers per game Blissbox does all the hardware mapping and compatibility for you.
It supports force feedback also, and even pauses most emulators when changing controllers.

To be able to play streetfighter on MAME one minute, then have friends walk through the door and plug in 4 Gamecube controllers and switch to Mario Kart 64 with proper feedback and analogue inputs is bliss.

When running on consoles the control panels HDMI lead is plugged into a ps360+ or Brooks adapter.

I guess what ive made here is pretty much one big 2/4 player controller that can use ANY console controller (pre Xbox) and also be used on ANY console to date. 

It could also take down a tank.

http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5250

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Edited by syntax_X
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Bliss box is all HDMI. I simply hid it inside the cab and routed each port to neutrix HDMI ports.

Seeing as HDMI has 20 pins I stole the idea for the button/joystick half of the cab to make for quick changes between console(PS360+/Brooks) and PC( Hacked PS2 controller plugged into BlissBox)
 

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I cant imagine using Launchbox without it.

When I first got the cab back together and finished setting up Launchbox I sat down and played a few old console games. 
I think I got to Sonic and just couldn't stand using the joystick. Something had to be done.

I tried plugging in 6 controllers at once and mapping all their buttons to virtual joysticks but that was such a large mess of code that was waiting to fail.
Then id have to have them plugged in all the time and risk them being pressed or held when stored, or issues with USB port ID ect.

When you first plug in the BB it does a quick search for plugged controllers, if none are found it goes into 5600 mode as those controllers do not have any variables to scan for.

If you plug in say a PS2 controller to any port after that you have to hit the reset button for that port. If the PS2 controller stays plugged in and your PC is power cycled it will rescan find the ps2 controller and just work :)

I think the first game I played with the BlissBox was DiddyKong Racing N64 with a GC controller. Strong responsive force feedback right off the bat and the analogs worked perfectly.

The developer works on it everyday, and support is great.

They are more aimed at Desktop players as you can see by my need to reroute the HDMIs to neutrix adapters( It was my decision to open my BB up and solder to the reset button points instead of using the reset wire on the HDMI line)
There is also no arcade stick support, I can confirm that the Blisbox 4-play is not compatible with a ps360+ or MC toodles boards in PS2 mode. They may work in forced Dreamcast mode because they are of a simpler design.
This is why I had to use a PS2 controller as the cp encoder. If you can solder its really not that hard. You could use a different controller if you wish but PS2 worked for me as it has the most buttons to play with.

I highly recommend buying one.

The only downside to me at the moment is the inability to customize mappings.

That being said there was a lot of time put into choosing these mappings and they all work for me.

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Edited by syntax_X
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Yea I use a 360 controller for my console gaming so no wires but I always like the idea of using the original controllers to play games.  But the wires man...

 

Does that giant tank sit in the middle of your living room at all times?

Edited by heelsinc
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  • 11 months later...

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