What order are your admin buttons in?

[Diewrecked]

Hi guys

I am going to have three admin buttons UNDERNEATH my control panel, to prevent them being pressed accidentally. The usual suspects: pause, quit/escape, power.

My question is, what is the favoured order for putting these buttons in, and why? Does it actually even matter...??

Cheers all

[Ginsu Victim]

I'd hate to reach under hoping to hit PAUSE and accidentally hit one of the others. Are they far apart?

[Diewrecked]

Yep. The panel is 60cm wide so if there are only these three buttons on the underside I can put one in the middle and the other two, say, 20-25cm away from it. There would be no risk of accidentally hitting the wrong button.

Is there a "de facto" order they should go in? Is one order "riskier" than another for whatever reason?

Thanks again

[bkenobi]

I wouldn't personally put the power button in the same region as anything else.  I have the power button on the bottom right corner of my CP for one cab and hidden near the pedals of my driving cab.  There is nothing else around them, so there is ZERO chance of pressing them.  Of course, I have mine wired up the the power button on the PC and the BIOS set up to only power off if held for 4 seconds.  I actually power down via the FE.

[Ginsu Victim]

Yeah, my power switch is on the back, and my shutdown button is on top of the cabinet. There is NOTHING near it.

My EXIT button is in the upper-left corner of my CP away from the rest of the buttons. I've also stretched the spring and installed a Sanwa microswitch to make it tough to press accidentally.

[leapinlew]

I use no dedicated admin buttons

P1 + p2 = esc
P1 + Down = P (pause in game, and escapes from Mala when done and powers off the PC)

I flip the power switch on the power strip to power the unit off

[Ginsu Victim]

I flip the power switch on the power strip to power the unit off

When I hit shutdown in Mamewah, it's just for the PC, then I flip everything else off from the power strip in back.

P1 + P2 = ESC doesn't work well for a lot of people. During frenzied two player games, accidental exits are VERY easy to do. I went to a dedicated exit button after about a month.

[ptinolv]

The order doesn't really matter. I just don't think it is a good idea to have the power button close to any other button. I personnaly have my 4 admin buttons on the control panel and i like it that way (it is not arcade buttons though because i think they are too big and sensitive).

If I were you i wouldn't choose the button functions right now. Just play a little and figure out which ones are good for you. For instance i use the button reset (when i choose the wrong character) or the fast forward in mame (long game intros) quite often.

[javeryh]

I have 3 admin buttons underneath my DK CP (all recessed so the top of the button is flush with the panel).  To the far left is my Exit button.  On the far right is my Pause button and next to that is my Coin button.  The power button is on the back of the cabinet in the bottom corner - easy to get to but IMPOSSIBLE to press unless you mean to.   

[leapinlew]

P1 + P2 = ESC doesn't work well for a lot of people. During frenzied two player games, accidental exits are VERY easy to do. I went to a dedicated exit button after about a month.

Good point, this is a risk. I find it's not been a problem, but it could happen. I wouldn't say "VERY" easy to do, but it can happen (and has happened). Still I prefer the cleaner look of no visible admin buttons.

As for the order of the buttons - like everyone is saying, if your going to have utility buttons (tab, exit, power) make sure they are far away from useful admin buttons (pause, quarter, 1p, 2p)

[Ginsu Victim]

I said "very" because that's been the case with the games we mostly play 2 player on (TMNT, Metal Slug, etc)

[leapinlew]

I said "very" because that's been the case with the games we mostly play 2 player on (TMNT, Metal Slug, etc)

ah, I see. Maybe we are just better gamers at my house and don't have to continue as much. 

[Ginsu Victim]

When you don't have to spend the quarters, it's okay to play careless. I don't play at home the same as I would on a real game (and my wife stinks at most games).