Cabinet friendly software
Note: this page descibes what is meant by the term "cabinet friendly software", if you are looking for cabinet friendly software, see the software overview.
What is cabinet friendly software?
cabinet friendly software is software that can be played using an arcade cabinet with limited controllers. This mean it can been played with no keyboard in use, no configuration in the menu, and using a single full screened window.
About Controllers
Software is considered cabinet friendly when all commands required to operate the software are remappable (including ESC), or mapped to a set of default keys, based on MAME.
Cabinets have limited controls, wich is based on a keyboard or gameport encoder. This means you do not have access to a full keyboard to operate. Most encoders use MAME defaults, wich mean the software needs to be remapped to use these keys for correct operation.
Cabinets with a trackball might be able to operate more software as the trackball can be used to move the mousepointer (without needing a joy2key utility). There are even some games, that use a trackball, rather than mouse.
At the last some more thing to look for:
- ESC should exit the game, regardless of whether in the game or menu.
- Hiscore entry should >NOT< use the keyboard (yes, many mostly cab friendly PC games do that).
About Resolution
Cabinet friendly software should be capable of operating at a resolution of 640x480 or below.
Even if the game only uses 640x480, a 15khz arcade monitor can only use this resolution on a interlaced mode. This mean the screen would flicker, and some graphics may look unacceptable. However, many games do look fine - even interlaced.
For better results, it needs to run on a 320x240 and 321x240 resolution (which ArcadeVGA utilizes) for use on an arcade monitor. A nice bonus is a resolution like 640x240, which is also a flicker-free resolution that ArcadeVGA can use.
List of cabfriendly games
Here is a lists of PC games, that is fun to have on a cab:
External Links
- BYOAC forum thread discussing software that can be played on a cabinet.
- Who makes their own games? - Look here, if you are a developer.
