Is it possible to get a Unity game on a arcade machine?

I've been thinking about starting my own fighting game series called Hiro-Ken and one of the platforms I'd love for it to be on is on the arcade machines, like the ones you insert a coin into for each life. Mainly I'd want it to be on the arcade because most famous fighting games such as Tekken or Mortal Kombat have been on the arcades and I'd feel pretty proud of myself if I had one of my own games on a arcade machine one day.

So that's were I ask, is it possible to get a Unity-made game on a arcade machine, and if so, what are the steps in doing so?

 

Arcade machines are just common PC's but also with some extended peripherals - for accepting coins, and custom input system. There should be no limitations to connect payment device and communicate from your c# code. Create standalone build for Linux(if you don't want to pay for windows on every machine). Attach all the devices, insert all of them into custom arcade case and it's done!

 

There is an example of someone who did just that in Rewired forum section and the developer also posted screen shots.

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/rewired-advanced-input-for-unity.270693/page-40 (see msg 1985)

Or a more direct link

https://forum.unity.com/threads/rewired-advanced-input-for-unity.270693/page-40#post-2623731

 

Old thread, but I just wanted to chip it. Not only is this possible, it's actually very easy.

As far as Unity is concerned, a coin being inserted is detected the same as a button being pressed. So, develop your game with the flow of an arcade game and credit management in mind, then you just need to wire up your controls to real arcade parts.

Each input in the arcade will have two leads. two for joystick up, two for joystick down, two for the jump button, two for the attack button, two for the coin slot... You just need to use a keyboard encoder (like the one at x-arcade) or a disassembled usb gamepad (my preferred method) to connect your arcade controls to the computer running your game.


Unfortunately, no one really plays arcade games anymore, except maybe in BarCades. I used to own many machines but each month I wouldn't earn enough for a single meal. It became more about displaying and sharing my collection rather than any sort of success.

 

Oh, one more thing I'll add, I suggest building a "pedestal"-style arcade cabinet, one that uses modern TVs.
It's hard to find one that'll fit into an old-fashioned arcade cabinet, and getting harder to find replacements all the time. Best to keep that easily replaceable/upgradeable.

 

You can always go with a place like North Custom arcades to make a custom cabinet if you like. They have some really nice cabinet kits and you can just fill in all of the parts yourself.

https://www.mameroom.com/webstore_home.asp

 

Well thanks for the information! Even if it's old, it's still helpful, I actually forgot about this thread until I noticed it in my emails haha.

 

I'm developing a racing game and don't need the X-Arcade joystick. I went to their site and saw the encoder your talking about. If I buy that and their coin mech and hook them together would Unity acknowledge the encoder as a keyboard?

 

Yes, but I wouldn't recommend that.
After a few years I've realized that X-Arcade isn't the best quality. I build some cabinets (MAME, Raspberry Pi) using another called I-PAC which was easier to remap. In your case, I'd suggest the A-PAC because it's analogue and that's what you'd want for a steering wheel, and also the petals (In fact, I just found it on Amazon and the first thing in the description was "Working on a Racing MAME machine with a steering wheel and gas pedal?")
There's also many encoder boards on Amazon that will be detected as gamepads instead of keyboards, which I think is preferable even for non-analogue games.
Their coin mech is probably fine. I've bought many from Suzo Happ for significantly more money, because they have secure locked cash boxes.

 

I see, thanks for the help

 

Would this be programmable in Unitys’ input system? It says it comes with its own encoder
https://na.suzohapp.com/products/driving_controls/50-2838-00

 

Can't say for certain, I actually don't see anything that says it has it's own encoder.
If the encoder can be read by a standard Windows/Mac/Linux PC as an analogue input, then you should be able to map it to a regular Unity Axis.
If it doesn't (or there is no encoder), then it probably outputs an analogue signal to normal arcade parts. You should be able to wire that up to an analogue encoder or Amazon, like the previously-mentioned A-PAC, and then Unity will read that as an analogue input from a game device.
But the company would be able to tell you more about it's capabilities. I wouldn't know for sure until I actually tried it.