PACTO TECH 3000T 3 Player Control Interface User Guide

PACTO TECH 3000T 3 Player Control Interface

Intro

The Pacto 3000T is a 3 Player Xinput arcade control interface for arcade cabinets. When plugged into a computer, your arcade cabinet joysticks and buttons will be seen as 3 separate Xbox 360 controllers. Xinput (Xbox controller format) offers better compatibility compared to the older “direct input” or keyboard type inputs for most applications. Some newer games exclusively supply Xinput, which makes the Pacto 3000T work without additional special software or configuration. Unlike using multiple interfaces, The Pacto 3000T should always keep the players in the correct order, and also provide the option to modify the order instantly, to optimize for different games, without adjusting settings on the computer.

Player Button Wiring

All button and joystick inputs should be wired with one side to ground. The “mode” pins are optional to wire with buttons, or a permanent jumper. All modes except for interlock mode can be accessed through long-pressing various start or select buttons (refer to tables on later pages). The buttons and joysticks should ALWAYS be wired to the interface left to right as follows :

If you would prefer to keep the controls as 1,3,2 I would still recommend wiring as per above diagram. The default player order is 1,3,2 , which is more comfortable when playing 2 player games. You can either switch modes to 3P mode to put the players in the 1, 2, 3 order, OR remap 3 player games in emulators accordingly.

Mode Input Wiring
There are several ways to switch between the different modes:

1. No dedicated mode controls – use shortcuts instead (holding various start and select buttons)
2. Buttons – buttons to enter each mode
3. Switches – a single pole switch is attached, while the opposite mode is grounded (refer to switch wiring guide for which ones to ground)
4. A combination of switches and buttons as desired (Ex. – buttons for 2P/3P/TS, switches for ANA/DIG)

Mode Button Wiring Option
Each mode button is connected to its respective input pin on one side, and ground on the other side

Mode Switch Wiring Option
Switches should be wired as followed:

DPAD/ANA-S Mode Switch (Enable Slow Analog)

• Ground the DPAD Pin
• Connect ANA-S Pin to switch, connect other side of switch to ground

DPAD/ANA-F Mode Switch (Enable Fast Analog)

• Ground the DPAD Pin
• Connect ANA-F Pin to switch, connect other side of switch to ground

2P/3P Mode Switch (Enable 3 player mode (123 order) switch)

• Ground the 2P Pin
• Connect 3P Pin to switch, connect other side of switch to ground

2P/TS Mode Switch (Enable Twinstick Mode)

• Ground the 2P Pin
• Connect TS Pin to switch, connect other side of switch to ground

2P/DIS Mode Switch (Disconnect From PC)

• Ground the 2P Pin
• Connect DIS Pin to switch, connect other side of switch to ground

TURB/TURBO Mode Switch (Enable Turbo/rapid-fire)

• Ground the !TURB Pin (!TURB = NOT Turbo)
• Connect TURBO Pin to switch, connect other side of switch to ground

8TO6/8TO6 Mode Switch (Enable 8 to 6 Mode – Convert 8 button fight layout to 6 button arcade)

• Ground the !TURB Pin (!TURB = NOT Turbo)
• Connect TURBO Pin to switch, connect other side of switch to ground

Notes:

• The board starts in analog fast mode on startup
• A 3-position switch could be used to switch between ANA-S/ANA-F/DPAD (Ground ANA-F, wire others to switch)
• A 3-position switch could be used to switch between 3P/2P/TS (Ground 2P, wire others to switch)
• If 2P,3P and TS are hit together, TS will be active
• If 2P, 3P, and DIS are hit together, DIS will be active
• If 2P, TS, and DIS are hit together, DIS will be active

Connectors
The Pacto 3000T uses spring terminals which will accept 2 or 3 wires typically used for arcade control wiring (20 gauge or smaller). Most wiring sold for the purpose of arcade controls will work well with the 3000T. Stranded 20 gauge wire is a good choice for arcade controls. 22 gauge works well, but is easier to break when pulled. Solid wire is more likely to break from handling or vibration. Here are more detailed specifications:

TABLE 1 – TERMINAL WIRING SPECIFICATIONS

• Max Size Solid conductor 0.2 to 1.5 mm² / 24 to 16 AWG
• Max Size Fine-stranded conductor 0.2 to 1.5 mm² / 24 to 16 AWG
• Recommended Wire Strip length 8.5 to 9.5 mm / 0.33 to 0.37 inches

Typical Button Layouts

6 Button Layout (or variation 6 button + 2 trigger buttons)
For arcade cabinets with only 6 buttons per player, the following layout is most common:

This 6 button layout is strongly recommended by the CoinOps project team, and is a great choice for retro gaming. Retro arcade games are generally covered by 6 buttons for the middle positions for 2 player games, and 4 buttons on the outside positions for 3 or 4 player games. 4 buttons are adequate for the wide majority of 4 player arcade games, but will be inadequate for most 3 or 4 player windows games or 4 player console emulation. Polycade uses an interesting button layout which uses the typical 6 button layout, but with the trigger button added underneath to be hit with your thumb. This Polycade layout seems efficient, and could be less confusing than the modern fight layout, while still retaining 8 buttons for maximum compatibility (Particularly useful for console emulation). The “8to6” mode is unnecessary for either of these layouts.

Button Layout
This layout is fairly standard for modern fight sticks with 8 buttons, and is a common option for 8 buttons on pre-made arcade cabinets.

Advanced Modes (OPTIONAL)

The Pacto 3000T has the ability to change the orders of the players using dedicated “mode” buttons, or by holding down various start or select buttons for 8 seconds. The “modes” can be completely ignored if not wanted or needed. Most games will function in the default mode. If you would like to permanently enable a mode other than the default, install a jumper from the desired mode pins to ground, otherwise they will return to default when the power is cycled. Default Setting: 2P (2 Player Mode – 132 player positions) AND Fast Left Stick/Analog output

2P (2 Player Mode – 132 Player positions – DEFAULT)
This is the mode which allows players 1 and 2 to be on the outside while playing 2 player games. If you want to use one mode all the time, I would recommend using this, because there are much more 2 player games than 3 or 4 player games, so it is easier to remap the 3 and 4 player games as opposed to 2 player games.

3P (3 Player Mode – 123 Player positions)
3 player mode makes the left player 1, middle 2, right 3. This layout works well with default layouts for 3 or 4 player games.

TS (Twinstick Mode)
Play MAME Twinstick games with default controller mappings for Xbox controllers, or have some fun with flying games or first person shooters! Twinstick mode on the 3000T creates a single player Twinstick control scheme. The player 1 and 2 joysticks on the cabinet will both behave as the player 1 left analog stick. The left stick inputs are redundant to allow you to choose whichever is more comfortable. You can play with left and right stick, or middle and right stick depending on the size of your cabinet or the person playing. The player 3 joysticks on the cabinet will behave as player 1 right analog joystick. Any of the buttons from the 3 players will be sent as player 1 buttons in Twinstick mode

Twinstick mode provide 0-100% direction control instantly when in “DIG” or “ANA-F” mode, and provides slow/smoothed input ramping in “ANA-S” mode. “DIG” or “ANA-F” mode will almost always be more appropriate for arcade games, but the analog smoothing could make for unique first-person shooter or flying game play.

INT (Interlock Start/Back)
Interlock mode helps avoid accidentally exiting games by pressing start and select at the same time (a common shortcut used for MAME/CoinOps/Hyperspin). Start and select must be held together for 2 seconds before being sent at the same time. Jumper “INT” pin to ground to activate. Unlike every other mode, it is simply enabled or disabled by a jumper, and does not stay activated when momentarily pressed. This mode is recommended for CoinOps, Hyperspin or RetroFE users.

DIG (Digital/D-PAD Mode)
Joystick inputs are sent to the computer as d-pad controls from an Xbox controller. This is the default setting, and will work with most games and emulators.

ANG-S (Analog Slow/Left-Stick Mode)
This mode outputs joystick direction to the PC as analog left stick. The outputs in analog mode are also slowly increased from 0 to 100% over time, and slowly reduced back to 0% when released. This is intended to make driving games or other which require sensitive inputs easier. This mode can be accessed by pressing a button wired to the “ANG” input, or by using button shortcuts (refer to table).

ANG-F (Analog Fast/Left-Stick Mode – DEFAULT)
This mode is the same as the above Analog Slow mode, but with no slow ramp up. It immediately provides 100% output on the stick. (Please note, boards sold prior to early December 2022 only have slow analog mode)

DIS (Disconnect Mode)
Completely removes the Xbox control interfaces from the computer to allow other controllers like wireless Xbox controllers to be used to play games, without needing to physically unplug anything. Plug your wireless Xbox dongle plugged into the PC, and power up your controllers AFTER entering disconnect mode. Switching back to any other mode will reenable the USB interface. After reenabling, it can take up to 30 seconds for the Xbox interfaces to reappear. To use the arcade controls again, turn off the wireless gamepads, or unplug the dongle to release the low player positions.

TURBO (Turbo Mode)
Turbo mode pulses button inputs 15 times per second (A,B,X,Y,LB,RB,LT,RT). This is helpful when playing some of the older shoot em up games like 1941 which did not have rapid fire, but did require constantly quickly hitting buttons to fire.

8to6 (8 to 6 button layout modifier)
If your cabinet is wired with the modern 8 button fight stick style, you can use the 8 to 6 mode to quickly make your buttons behave like the typical 6 button configuration (for the left-most 6 buttons). This is a popular configuration for pre-built game collections like coinOps Legends, or Hyperspin.

TABLE 2 – MODE SELECTION SHORTCUTS

reconnect)
P2 Start AND P2 Up| Turbo Enable
P2 Start AND P2 Down| Turbo Disable (DEFAULT)
P2 Start AND P2 Right| 8 to 6 button Conversion Enable
P2 Start AND P2 Left| 8 to 6 button Conversion Disable (DEFAULT)

TABLE 3 – DEDICATED MODE SELECTION INPUT PINS

(common exit shortcut for MAME and other emulators)

DISC (hold 3 seconds)| Disconnect Mode (Return to !TS or TS to reconnect)
INT (need permanent jumper)| Start/Back Interlock (delay 3 sec. before sending both)

Notes:

• for shortcuts, P1 always refers to left, and P2 middle, P3 right, regardless of mode.
• For most people, Fast Analog will work well for most games. Games requiring analog input (driving or flying games usually) may benefit from the slower analog option, while most games requiring fast input will work best with fast analog or dpad. Fast analog is the default setting on startup for maximum compatibility (several games use the analog stick for movement, while dpad controls view).

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