Ultimarc or Happcontrols?

[sisko]

I'm about ready to start phase 2 of my Arcade Cab conversion.

I need to get the i-pac board from Ultimarc.com, and it would be easier if I just got all of the controls from there and saved on shipping.

On the other hand Happs Controls is extremely reputible and have slightly lower prices.


Are Ultimarc's controls of the same caliber? Or am I better off sticking with Happ's?

[Arrrhalomynn]

I ordered some stuff at Happ controls once and wasn't too happy with the service. I ordered it at the USA site, but they transfered it to the UK site. Then they made me pay more.

Of course you won't have this problem if you live in the USA.

[christianscott27]

i used the ultimark i-pac in my mame cab and couldnt be happier with it. speaking as a non-techie type it was a simple straight forward assembly that took less than an hour. the interface worked fine with MAME and ultimarcs website instruction page had an answer for every question that came up. the whole unit with shipping ran me $40 something and yes it comes from england but ultimarc only ships via air so it came as fast as i would expect a US supplier to deliver it. i have nothing bad to say about happ, i've never dealt with them but i can endorse ultimarc.

edit- the control quality, ok that i cant really comment on, i used an actual taito control panel in my project, it just looks better than those fighter things so many people use for MAME. of course if you plan on playing a lot of 90s era fighters you might want one of those, for my purposes (classic era stuff) 4 buttons was more than enough.

[stargate]

i used the ultimark i-pac in my mame cab and couldnt be happier with it. speaking as a non-techie type it was a simple straight forward assembly that took less than an hour. the interface worked fine with MAME and ultimarcs website instruction page had an answer for every question that came up. the whole unit with shipping ran me $40 something and yes it comes from england but ultimarc only ships via air so it came as fast as i would expect a US supplier to deliver it. i have nothing bad to say about happ, i've never dealt with them but i can endorse ultimarc.

edit- the control quality, ok that i cant really comment on, i used an actual taito control panel in my project, it just looks better than those fighter things so many people use for MAME. of course if you plan on playing a lot of 90s era fighters you might want one of those, for my purposes (classic era stuff) 4 buttons was more than enough.

What's the deal with the I-PAC anyway? I want to build an arcade style joystick to use with my Windows version of MAME. I would like it to be USB compatible. Is the I-PAC the way to go? By the way, I am a total newbie when it comes to building controllers.

[christianscott27]

if i follow what you're saying you want a stand alone controller? something that would sit on a table? what i did was part of an entire arcade cab (jungle king) so the i-pac was a vital link in that set up. there are several companies out there that make mame controls ready to go, which would probably save you time and money. you can get a good idea of what the i-pacs about on the page below, the links also will take you to some companies that make completed controls, and lastly if you want to see the i-pac in person just follow the link in my sig, its always on for the trademeets

http://www.ultimarc.com/ipac1.html

[Flack]

I can also vouch for the IPac. If you are one of these people who looks forward to buying stuff so you can break it apart and marvel at the guts and dream about better ways to solder stuff together then you might get by without one, but if your main goal is to get arcade joysticks to interface with a PC and want to do it as quickly and painlessly as possible, then that's your product.

I took a Donkey Kong Jr. cabinet which had already been desecrated into a JAMMA cab and just took it further down the spiral into a MAME cab.

[sisko]

So the I-Pac is definitely the way to go.

Now are the Joysticks and Buttons the same quality (or the same button for that matter) as happs?

More specifically, I'm leaning toward the T-Stick plus that allows easy switching between 4 and 8 ways. Is there a better stick out there?

Info:
http://www.ultimarc.com/controls.html

[toddst]

Like everyone else, I am full of praise for the Ipac. I have wired 2 with no problems (well, besides my own stupid mistakes of confusing left and right).

As to controls, I bought some cheap ones of ebay. They work fine, but I wish that I got the T-Stick...

You might want to search http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&group=alt.games.mame to see if anyone has left any specific comments about that joystick.

[stargate]

if i follow what you're saying you want a stand alone controller? something that would sit on a table? what i did was part of an entire arcade cab (jungle king) so the i-pac was a vital link in that set up. there are several companies out there that make mame controls ready to go, which would probably save you time and money. you can get a good idea of what the i-pacs about on the page below, the links also will take you to some companies that make completed controls, and lastly if you want to see the i-pac in person just follow the link in my sig, its always on for the trademeets

http://www.ultimarc.com/ipac1.html

I want a stand alone controller to hook up to my PC via USB and use for MAME. I want to build it myself just for the experience. So, is this what an I-PAC accomplishes?

I may take you up on your offer and stop by for the upcoming meet. I live just south of Worcester.

[christianscott27]

an i-pac by itself is just a board with a harmonica type edge where you feed the wires from the controls. there are slots for things like "joystick right" and "one player button" and so on, you simply match the wire to the slot and screw it down. the board has an eprom on it which contains program needed to match it up to most versions MAME, you can plug it in thru the keyboard port (theres a passthru for keeping your keyboard still hooked up) and you're ready to go. if you're building your own controller from scratch an i-pac is still a decent option, its one less thing to worry about. the i-pac comes in several models, which can handle all the bells and whistles you might want to add to your controller.

[TripppsK]

I have ordered from both and have never had a problem with either. Andy at Ultimarc is excellent to work with and will answer any question you may have very quickly. If you're ordering the I-PAC it might be worth it to get your additional sticks and buttons from them. I believe you can get the shipping costs for your order at both sites before you complete the transaction, give them both a try and see what is cheaper.