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Malenko:
no such thing. You're gonna make a huge dokey 4 player panel and never have more then 2 ppl playing it at once with minimal to no spinner/trackball use.
Paul Olson:

--- Quote from: javeryh on August 12, 2010, 01:26:29 pm ---Don't you guys get annoyed with all the questions when people come over to play?  I find that "one cab to rule them all" works better in theory than in practice, at least for me...

--- End quote ---

I don't let people swap panels on my modular CP. They can play with whatever setup is on there. I get the "one cab to rule them all", and the guests get a completely uncluttered cp to play on. I have offered to teach people how everything works, which would give them permission to change panels, but so far no one has wanted to take the time. The frankenpanels definitely make it a little rough for guests since most won't care enough to learn what to do.

I am still surprised at all of the 4-player CPs being built. I almost never have that many people over. When I do, it is rare that 4 people want to play the same game.

To the OP, keep it as simple as possible for guests, or you will spend very little time actually playing.
Endaar:

--- Quote from: AzureKnight on August 12, 2010, 02:02:08 pm ---So you are suggesting something like this to make the trackball more usable?

--- End quote ---

That looks better to me, except I would move the spinner off to one side. I know it's asymmetrical, but with the spinner right in front of a trackball, it's too easy to hit with a game like Golden Tee.

Endaar
zallax:

Because my panel is angled, I have zero problems with my tier controls.  When I use the four-way with 4 in-line buttons my arms hover over P1 buttons and the trackball.  When I play Discs of Tron (my favorite) my arms are hover over P1 and P2 buttons, plus, the DOT spinner is far enough from the 4-way that I never touch it, even with a heavy duty wrist flick.

My other recommendation is move the trackball down a little, like on my panel, so that the joysticks are not in the way of a left or right spin or on the 45 degree angles. 

Lastly,  I completely agree with Endaar, do not place your spinner above the trackball.  You will eventually jam a finger.  I would recommend the spinner be placed over P1 buttons and throw in a few extra buttons, in-line, over the trackball or over P2 buttons.
AzureKnight:

--- Quote from: Malenko on August 12, 2010, 02:10:54 pm ---no such thing. You're gonna make a huge dokey 4 player panel and never have more then 2 ppl playing it at once with minimal to no spinner/trackball use.

--- End quote ---

You're half right, I will see very little trackball/spinner play.  I'll occasionally play Rampart or Marble Madness, otherwise the trackball is secondary.  The spinner, well right now I am considering dropping it altogether.  The only thing keeping it is the concept that I could play driving games with it, but there is a good chance it is going to be dropped.

As for the number of people playing...I regularly have a gaming group over (tabletop board games, Dungeons & Dragons) so I can be certain we will fill 4 players whenever we want to.  We also host many of the family holidays so there will be some use by the in-laws.


--- Quote from: Paul Olson ---keep it as simple as possible for guests, or you will spend very little time actually playing
--- End quote ---
I appreciate that advice, that is what I am trying to accomplish here.  I can only build one machine (for many reasons), but being an old school arcade junkie I want to support quite a few disparate games.  That is why I love the help here, you are all offering different and a lot more experienced views on how to find that balance between game support and making a monster that is unusable.


--- Quote from: Endaar ---I would move the spinner off to one side. I know it's asymmetrical, but with the spinner right in front of a trackball, it's too easy to hit with a game like Golden Tee.
--- End quote ---
I often see people on here post about that, is Golden Tee the only game that has this issue?  I don't ever recall using a trackball that wildly...but then neither I, nor any of my friends ever played Golden Tee. 

I'll definitely move the trackball down, that only leaves the spinner to consider.  I could move it over, up, get rid of it...I don't know on that one.

Does the spinner work OK for any driving games?  If not I may just drop the thing entirely in an effort to simplify this panel a touch.
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