trackball accuracy and MAME

[timhett]

This is actually a response to Hamsters question over at CAGDC 
First - why not ask the question here?  DKF is not limited to DK players by any means and top players on many games frequent this site and would be glad to help.  No offense intended to our friend Pigger, but his site isn't all that active...  anyway.
I'm primarily a Millipede player and enjoy my trackball games of all kinds.  I own Millipede machines but still play other games on MAME with an X-Arcade set up. 
For the most part I have few problems with the accuracy and responsiveness.  The Pedes play okay but not great, and can be improved by tweaking the trackball settings in MAME. Probably better than using a mouse however you look at it.  For Millipede I play at a relatively high level and don't like playing it in MAME at all.  For Missile Command, Super Missile Attack, Liberator, Marble Madness, etc it plays fine for me.  Sorry, I don't play much Crystal and can't really speak to that.   If you are playing at world record level you may detect some differences of course.  Also, keep in mind that that balls are different sizes - the X arcade has the 3 inch ball (midi), but Centipede plays with a 2 1/4 ball (mini) and Missile Command plays with a 4 inch ball (maxi).  So they will handle differently than the original cabs. 
Good luck!

[marky_d]

  DKF is not limited to DK players

Well, if there is one thing I have learned from social media wisdom it's that DKF members only play DK and have never touched another arcade game in their lives. This probably includes the older players who grew up with arcades and games all over the place. The ones that accidentally played other games certainly couldn't ever play them at a high level. People know this because they just do.

Anyway, I was curious myself about what settings people have found that work well for the trackball games. Years ago I painstakingly experimented with settings for some of my favorite trackball games and was met with only frustration. I thought Millipede and Liberator was playable but Centipede not so much. Kick Man was awful. I mean you could play it, if by play you mean you could move the clown back and forth. But, when the balloons speed up and you have to move quickly, your guy just goes all over the place.

If anyone who has found "optimal" settings for trackball games would share them, it would be appreciated.

[timhett]

I did some experiments this evening with my Millipede machine as a direct comparison.  While not exactly the same I was able to get it pretty close before I got tired of messing with it.  Maybe with a bit more tweaking would get it there but I suspect it'll never be exactly the same. 

The set up - WolfMAME 106 with x arcade trackball
track x digital speed  1
track x autocenter speed 10 (default)
track x reverse   ON
track x sensitivity 45%
track y digital speed 1
track y autocenter speed 10 (default)
track y reverse OFF
track y sensitivy 45%

 

[Hamster]

I posted over there because I regard  as the authority on Trackball games .

If he says its good , as a top trackball player , then its good .

Have you tried using Analog Mame+ ?

Thanks for sharing your trackball settings . After fine tuning your settings do you like playing in MAME now ?

[timhett]

Hi Hamster,  Don't worry about and feel free to post all over.  Just don't forget DKF is one of the best resources out there!!
I'm not familiar with Analog MAME+    ?  what is this? 
Maybe I'll play on MAME a bit more for a submittable inp at some point, but haven't touched it since the experiments.  Since I have an actual Millipede machine there's not usually much reason to MAME it. 

[Hamster]

Over on  a member recommended Mame:Analog+ for trackball games . I haven't tried it yet .

http://www.angelfire.com/retro/u_rebelscum/

He said up to Windows XP works but hasn't tried it with windows 7/8/8.1

I'm setting up a MAME cab with trackball so I'll eventually give it all a try .