Control panel ideas

[yman]

I'm in the middle of designing my control panel, and I was hoping to get some feedback (good or bad) from members of this forum.  I've already constructed the cab (not yet painted) and the control panel box, but I've been going back-and-forth on the CP layout.  The box is fairly large for two players - 34X18.  It will probably be used for mostly early/mid-80's classic arcade games rather than fighter games, but I was thinking of including a 6-button layout for maximum flexibility in case the kids end up playing other games.  My wish list includes two 8-way sticks, a dedicated 4-way, a trackball, a spinner and an Asteroid button layout - which would double as buttons for the 4-way and spinner - possibly also as admin buttons.  I know the dedicated Asteroids layout may seem over-the-top, but this whole thing was inspired by a trip to an 80's arcade at DisneyQuest a few months ago where I played Asteroids with my 15-year-old.  He spent the first 5 minutes mocking the games, and then he was hooked.

Anyway, attached is a picture of my proposed layout.  The layout was done in Visio, which I've never used before.  The visio file has a grid/ruler layout which gives a better idea of scale and distances, but it didn't show up when I saved to JPEG.  The dotted line near the edges represents the inner edge of the CP box underneath the panel.

Any feedback would be much appreciated! 

[gatordad]

It looks fine but I find that I rarely ever use my 4way
Keep the spinner offset from the trackball, I wish I would have done that as I have smashed my fingers more than once playing GT
I have 2 u360's and they reprogram automatically between analog , 8way 4 way diag etc. I love um,
Both Randy and Andy are great and active on these boards so support is top from both.

I personally like the 7 button layout a little better than 6 but thats just me.

[gatordad]

It's worth the read
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=59359.0
lots of great and some creative examples to think about

[yman]

Thanks - I've seen that thread and the level of creativity and ingenuity exhibited by people here is pretty amazing.  I think I may have gotten the idea of a dedicated Asteroids layout from that thread.

[gatordad]

Yea I like asteroids
My build in in my signature
I also have an asteroids layout that I could not live without

[fallacy]

ya if you use u360's you can get rid of the 4 way. u360's are accurate enough making 4 way unnecessary. I would put the spinner right above the trackball if you intend to use it.

[Donkbaca]

Putting the spinner above the trackball is a bad idea, unless you don't mind smashing your fingers against the trackball on a regular basis

[yman]

ya if you use u360's you can get rid of the 4 way. u360's are accurate enough making 4 way unnecessary. I would put the spinner right above the trackball if you intend to use it.

Yeah, I had looked at the 360's (and read several good reviews of them), but I really wanted the old-school feel of a physically restricted joystick.  The GGG True4's are also nice because they use leaf switches rather than micro-switches, just like the buttons I settled on.  Based on everything I've read, and the fact that my arcade years were the early 80's, I think I'll be happier with leafs.  Anyway, I have a good amount of space, so I thought I might as well use it for a dedicated 4-way so i wouldn't have to mess with changing restrictor plates.

As far as the spinner, I saw several CPs with the spinner right above the trackball, but I was worried that it would interfere with the trackball, as donkbaca indicated.

Thanks!

[yman]

Yea I like asteroids
My build in in my signature
I also have an asteroids layout that I could not live without

Nice cab ... very impressive, particularly for a first-time build!

I'll definitely make sure to do a full-scale mock-up before I start drilling, particularly since your CP design had a lot of similarities to mine.

[Blanka]

I would wash it at 90 degrees. I think it is giganomous right now. But I never understood where the cantilevering control boxes origin from 
The one who can show me the first occasion this anomaly of the universe occurred wins free beers.

[yman]

I would wash it at 90 degrees.

Not sure what that means, but you mean make it the same width as the cab?  The cab is a slight variation of a LuSid plan, 26 in. interior, 27.5 outside to outside.  Yeah, I know, nothing very exciting, but it worked well for my needs.  I needed it fairly wide to fit the monitor I'm using (27 in. Panasonic TV - high-def flat CRT).  As it is, it barely fit even after decasing the TV.

Anyway, the larger monitor means it's probably better to have a deeper (front to back) CP.  I guess I could cut the width to 27.5 in. to match the cabinet, but the cantilevered look doesn't really bother me, and it gives a little more elbow room for 2-player games.

[Lilwolf]

btw, I would consider doing 2 things...

1) make sure to use quick disconnects.  They are very cheap (but you usually can't find them locally, you need the .187" size, not the .250 that are used in automotive).

2) buy a cheap press board and try your control panel.  I can get a 4x8 sheet for like 5 bucks at home depot.  Then cut out your design, cable it... and try it... Give it a few days / week... Then make up your real one... unconnect the controls, move the controls... rewire.  You will probably have to fix a few ends, but not many...

Reason.  I have hot swap control panels, and my most basic 2 8way 7 button each street fighter control panel I've redone probably 6 times...  Each time thinking its the 'one' before I finally settled down with mine (I have 4 on bottom in line, and 3 on top... and the extra on bottom away from the joystick... ) but everyone is different.

good luck

[mytymaus007]

I'm in the middle of designing my control panel, and I was hoping to get some feedback (good or bad) from members of this forum.  I've already constructed the cab (not yet painted) and the control panel box, but I've been going back-and-forth on the CP layout.  The box is fairly large for two players - 34X18.  It will probably be used for mostly early/mid-80's classic arcade games rather than fighter games, but I was thinking of including a 6-button layout for maximum flexibility in case the kids end up playing other games.  My wish list includes two 8-way sticks, a dedicated 4-way, a trackball, a spinner and an Asteroid button layout - which would double as buttons for the 4-way and spinner - possibly also as admin buttons.  I know the dedicated Asteroids layout may seem over-the-top, but this whole thing was inspired by a trip to an 80's arcade at DisneyQuest a few months ago where I played Asteroids with my 15-year-old.  He spent the first 5 minutes mocking the games, and then he was hooked.

Anyway, attached is a picture of my proposed layout.  The layout was done in Visio, which I've never used before.  The visio file has a grid/ruler layout which gives a better idea of scale and distances, but it didn't show up when I saved to JPEG.  The dotted line near the edges represents the inner edge of the CP box underneath the panel.

Any feedback would be much appreciated! 

Did someone say classics Asteroids here you go  I can play it all no problem All in one control  panel. Seems like your Asteroid layout is to far up why not put 4 way in the middle for pacman and trackball off to the right Unless you love golf then leave it in the middle

[yman]

Did someone say classics Asteroids here you go  I can play it all no problem All in one control  panel. Seems like your Asteroid layout is to far up why not put 4 way in the middle for pacman and trackball off to the right Unless you love golf then leave it in the middle

Actually, I may have to think about moving the trackball off to the right, since I'm right-handed and that would still leave me centered in front of the monitor if I'm using my right hand.  Not a big golf player.  Realistically, the trackball is mostly for my wife (Centipede), and apart from the occasional game of Missile Command, I'll probably be using it more as a mouse.

Thanks.

[Donkbaca]

If you move it to the right, then 2p is going to be crammed right next to 1p and 1p will be off to the left and 2p will be in middle.

Why do you need a mouse on your cab?  Are you going to be playing pc games on it?  If you are thinking you need it for admin purposes, I would reconsider.  Your goal should be to set everything up and then never mess with it again except for minor maintenance.  To do that , it would be easy to just plug a mouse in to the PC and use it.  Trackballs aren't cheap, you are looking at spending between 60 and 100 bucks, thats a lot of money, and you are adding clutter to your control panel just play a few games of centipede and missile command?  Hey, if you love those games and its worth it, then go ahead and do it.  I decided against putting a trackball in my cab because it seems that there are only like 5 games that people generally play with a trackball: Marble Madness, Crystal Castles, Missile Command, Centipede and Golden tee.  I got a trackball, then realized that I don't really like any of those games enough to justify putting a trackball on my rig.  I got a x-arcade trackball controller, so if I really want to play one of those games, or am missing out on something, I can just plug it in and play it, and if I really decide later that I have to have one, I'll add it.  To be honest though, a trackball would just take up space on my CP, and hardly be used.  But hey, if you or your wife love those games, then by all means go for it, but I am just giving you some perspective so you don't think you have to have a trackball on your pc.

[Cynicaster]

If you move it to the right, then 2p is going to be crammed right next to 1p and 1p will be off to the left and 2p will be in middle.

Why do you need a mouse on your cab?  Are you going to be playing pc games on it?  If you are thinking you need it for admin purposes, I would reconsider.  Your goal should be to set everything up and then never mess with it again except for minor maintenance.  To do that , it would be easy to just plug a mouse in to the PC and use it.  Trackballs aren't cheap, you are looking at spending between 60 and 100 bucks, thats a lot of money, and you are adding clutter to your control panel just play a few games of centipede and missile command?  Hey, if you love those games and its worth it, then go ahead and do it.  I decided against putting a trackball in my cab because it seems that there are only like 5 games that people generally play with a trackball: Marble Madness, Crystal Castles, Missile Command, Centipede and Golden tee.  I got a trackball, then realized that I don't really like any of those games enough to justify putting a trackball on my rig.  I got a x-arcade trackball controller, so if I really want to play one of those games, or am missing out on something, I can just plug it in and play it, and if I really decide later that I have to have one, I'll add it.  To be honest though, a trackball would just take up space on my CP, and hardly be used.  But hey, if you or your wife love those games, then by all means go for it, but I am just giving you some perspective so you don't think you have to have a trackball on your pc.

This is what I was going to say.  In my case, using an existing PC, the trackball easily became the most expensive single piece I bought for my whole cabinet.  I deemed Golden Tee pretty much mandatory because that's the main game my buddies will want to play (I like it too, don't get me wrong) and a big part of the motivation for my project was to have something in my basement that could be used to entertain. 

I'd just suggest you really think about it before just assuming it's a no-brainer decision to go with one.  Using it as a mouse is a pretty poor cost/benefit ratio, IMO. 



 

[gatordad]

Some of my favorite company / party games are Trackball games

Shuffleshot
Simpson's bowling
Quantum
Golden Tee
World class bowling
Missile Command
Reactor

GT and shuffleshot are 2 of the most played / best drinking games at my house
Sometimes the simple to control games are more popular than the complicated ones, especially for non gamers who visit.

[yman]

If you move it to the right, then 2p is going to be crammed right next to 1p and 1p will be off to the left and 2p will be in middle.

Why do you need a mouse on your cab?  Are you going to be playing pc games on it?  If you are thinking you need it for admin purposes, I would reconsider.  Your goal should be to set everything up and then never mess with it again except for minor maintenance.  To do that , it would be easy to just plug a mouse in to the PC and use it.

Yep.  I'd agree with everything you said, except:  1) the wife loves her some Centipede, and the kids like it, too.  This is one of the few games I could see her and my 14-year-old daughter playing, and it'd also be nice if guests have the option  2)  My 16-year-old son really wants to be able to play Simpson's Bowling, and 3)  I'll probably play the occasional game of Missile Command.  I was just pointing out that my primary use for the trackball will (likely) be as a mouse.  OTOH - who knows?  I might end up really liking some of the games that Gatordad mentioned.  Thing is, I already have a keyboard drawer built in to the front of the cab, so I will have a mouse/keyboard easily accessible.  Nixing the trackball would make things easier and save some $, but including it is a fairly easy way to keep the wife happy about all the time/money I'm spending on this thing.

Good point about the P1 and P2 being next to each other.  One of the things that attracted me to a larger CP was a little bit of elbow room for simultaneous, 2-player games.  I think I'll keep the TB in the center between P1 and P2.

[Donkbaca]

There is no reason to need a mouse unless you are playing PC games, unless you want to use the trackball to navigate the CP.

I say keep the TB center.  I like the original design.  I would ditch the 4 way though and just get U360s

[nick3092]

Personally, I'm a fan of modular CPs that allow you to set up for any game you want, and you can add new panels/controls as your budget permits. Also allows you to keep the cab narrow with no giant Franken panel on the front.  I recently just finished my cab and used Doc's cabinet as an example. But instead of messing around with dowl pins and precise holes, I went with industrial strength Velcro. Seems to work pretty well so far. I've included a link to Docs site below. I can post some pics of mine later when I get home (if any one is interested).

http://www.beersmith.com/mame/controls.htm

[VanillaGorilla]

You sound like a guy of my era (early 40's) who can appreciate the classics. I know where you are coming from. Go right with the trackball, if you are going to have 4-way and 8-ways, the 4-way is obviously important to you. Get a real leaf stick, and put it smack in the middle. My first control panel 12 years ago was arranged very much like your image, and I HATED the four way up top in the left corner like that. It just always felt odd to play pac man or Donkey Kong that way.

I have arrived at a very simply layout these days, and I have foregone the frankenpanel. I have 2 panels so far in play testing and I couldn't be happier:

First for the deceptively simple 'catch-all' classics panel (damn, no Tron though ) :



I also have a separate dual-8 way 'fighter' layout. These 2 seem to cover 90% of my needs.

I wouldn't think of not having a trackball, or a spinner for that matter; No Tempest? Surely you must be joking. 1 U-360 really works great for the classic games. The dynamic joystick mapping feature in mame is awesome, and I'm not missing a dedicated 4-way at all. It also lets me play Q-bert without a physically rotated 4-way. Man, I was missing that game. Having a mouse via the TB is a god-send at times.

Pa-rouse my build thread in-progress in the bottom of my post if you want to see the approach that I took. I am glad to have left the franken panel behind.

Man, this picture reminds me, I gotta get moving on the vinyl graphics for my control panels. I have been waiting until I was set on my control panel layout before ordering, and now I realize I have been having so much fun with this layout, that I dont stop playing games long enough (when I have 'spare' time) to get back to finishing the darned things!!

[Donkbaca]

Vanillas thread is awesome.  He speaks wisdom.

Still don't think you need a mouse though

[VanillaGorilla]

Thanks, Donkbaka..

Yman, I forgot to mention, I also laid out my six buttons like you did, specifically so i could play asteroids/space duel/gravitar, with the compromise of using a joystick instead of the left/right rotate buttons (which, if i'm gonna be completely honest, I sometimes miss just a little ). The two right-most buttons in my bottom row are left & right mouse buttons, and the top row are all leaf buttons.

[yman]

You sound like a guy of my era (early 40's) who can appreciate the classics. I know where you are coming from. Go right with the trackball, if you are going to have 4-way and 8-ways, the 4-way is obviously important to you. Get a real leaf stick, and put it smack in the middle. My first control panel 12 years ago was arranged very much like your image, and I HATED the four way up top in the left corner like that. It just always felt odd to play pac man or Donkey Kong that way.

Will definitely have to give it some thought.  I had seen your thread previously when I was researching CPs, and I really liked the simplicity of your layout.  I'm 44, so early 80's games are the ones I remember from my misspent youth, and your panel looks like it would work for the vast majority of them.  This probably also influence my choice of buttons and sticks (all leaf) ... don't have much interest in the fighting games, so I probably don't even need 6 buttons.  A simpler control panel would also be easier for guests to navigate ... hmmmmmm....

Your thread also prompted me to look for some Atari cone buttons for the nostalgia factor.  I picked up a pair of the NOS cherry switches on Ebay ($30/pair - probably should have gotten the used ones for half that price) and found a pair of the cones on another site that escapes me at the moment.  In fact, I was in Radio Shack today looking for resistors for when it's time to install them.  Do you remember the type (wattage, ohms) of resistor you got?  Still have to figure out what wires go where, but I will also probably use your Mudhawk mounting trick to mount them.

Thanks for the input ... stop playing with your cab and let's see some artwork on that thing! 

[VanillaGorilla]

Do you remember the type (wattage, ohms) of resistor you got? 

The Atari arcade games powered the LED's with +5V and a 330 ohm 1/8 watt resistor. The color of the stripes on the resistor is the key. You want:

Orange,Orange,Brown,Gold = 3 , 3 , x10 , 5% tolerance.


Glad my thread could be helpful to someone else. So many others have helped me on my journey, glad to see it paying forward...

The only reason I have 6 buttons on the classic panel, is to have 4 buttons for gaming, and 2 dedicated mouse buttons. I use a few other emulators (C-64, Atari 800, Amiga) where they really come in handy. And I will get ---my bottom--- in gear on the control panel graphics. Its a permanent decision, so its gotta be right, thats why I'm trigger shy I guess!! I'll have to post up my work in progress and get some feedback. Love this hobby.

[ragnar]

For a first build, I highly recomend the u360s.  If you do a second build, then go with dedicated sticks.

My next build if I get around to it is a 4 player cab with either 4 way or 8 way sticks.  I can see a third cabinet some day and a digital pinball setup.  With those 4 things, you could have everything in as good of a setup as possbile.  Well, mayeb a driving/gun cab to.