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Control panel ideas

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Cynicaster:


--- Quote from: Donkbaca on April 06, 2011, 10:05:40 am ---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.

--- End quote ---

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:


--- Quote from: Donkbaca on April 06, 2011, 10:05:40 am ---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.

--- End quote ---

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

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