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4-Player CP Critiques/Suggestions
severdhed:
--- Quote from: javeryh on October 12, 2010, 10:59:56 pm ---
--- Quote from: DaveMMR on October 11, 2010, 07:50:42 pm ---Not a good reason to add unnecessary buttons IMO. If you have a use for them, that's fine, but start giving guests too many choices and they're just going to get confused. Also, the extra inch of choice really won't make a terrible difference. I personally think less in more with buttons on a panel.
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More buttons = confusion + eyesore. People are stupid and you will be explaining everything eleventy billion times. Also, when I'm working on one of these things I try to keep in mind the entire cabinet design. I want it to be functional but more importantly I want it to look good in my house. Tons of buttons on a gigantic CP just doesn't do it for me aesthetically-speaking.
:dunno
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i agree. i try very hard to keep the panel as clutter free as possible. the more buttons, the more confusing it is for people. like others have said, there is no need for more than 4 buttons for players 3 and 4, unless you are doing console emulation. and as far as I am concerned, console games should be played with a gamepad, not an arcade setup. (there may be a few exceptions). there are already way too many games in mame for anyone to come close to playing them all, consoles games just make it worse. if i'm going to play a console game, it is either on the original console, or a modded xbox, on the big screen, sitting on the couch.
same goes for admin buttons...less is more. i dont like coin buttons on the panel, i either use the coin slots, rig the coin reject buttons, or put the coin buttons on the edge of the control panel box to get them out of the way. on my vertical classics cabinet, i have an exit button and a pause button, both of which are clearly labled. on my 4 player cabinet, i only have 1 admin button that serves as pause and exit (quick press is pause, 2 second press is exit). even at that, the panel seems cluttered to me....i am planning on adding a trackball yet, but that will only add to the clutter.
my point is, if you dont have a real need for all those buttons, why have them?
Harakiri:
I agree with all the opinions above stated and i add a few rhetorical questions myself.
Do you have that many friends willing to play retro games frequently?
Do you party often?
Do you have lots of free time on your hands?
If you failed to answer one of the three, don't build that panel.
Jefferson:
I have a 4P cab (orig a TMNT) with 4 coin slots, so I glued in some switches behind the coin reject buttons and wired them as p1-4 coin inputs... its great, its intuitive, takes 4 buttons off the panel, and if you don't tell people, it would never occur to them $$$
severdhed:
--- Quote from: Harakiri on October 17, 2010, 08:36:14 am ---I agree with all the opinions above stated and i add a few rhetorical questions myself.
Do you have that many friends willing to play retro games frequently?
Do you party often?
Do you have lots of free time on your hands?
If you failed to answer one of the three, don't build that panel.
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i don't know if i agree with that. i had only a 2 player cabinet for a while, and i thought i had no need for a 4 player cabinet. i helped my friend do a 4player panel, but 90% of the time it is used to play millipede and gyrus. and while i don't too often play anything other than the vertical classic games, my kids love the beat em ups. i used to sit with my oldest son (3yo) and we would play tmnt and sunset riders, but now my youngest son(he will be 2 in december) wants to sit there too. so when i got the chance to build a 4 player cabinet, i took it. sure it doesn't get used very much, but when i can sit there with my 2 sons and play a few games (the little one just pounds on it,,the other one can actually play) it is awesome. And since we are expecting our third child in March, it will be really awesome when i can play 4 player TMNT with all 3 of my kids. I'm sure it will also be a big hit the next time we have a party and our friends bring their kids over. My point is, even if you dont have alot of parties or alot of people over all the time, it doesn't mean it isn't worth building a 4 player panel....especially if you have kids. i'd still try to eliminate any extra buttons you don't need, but if you want a 4 player panel, go for it.