how would you use a 10" x 14" control panel?

[tonythemediaguy]

Hi, I made a bartop arcade around a 12" iBook laptop. I'm only now realizing that my control panel is probably too small to do what I want. Which is to have 2 players. I was thinking on each side to have a joystick and 2 rows and 3 columns of buttons, along with start buttons along the very top. But I don't think I can squeeze them in there. Maybe I will have to do 2 columns by 3 rows? Any suggestions are welcome!

[Nephasth]

Wow, that is a tiny control panel. My control panels are 19.5" wide, I thought that was small. Here's the layout I chose for mine:


Since you have so little room, if you want to keep it 2 players you might consider only playing games that use 3 buttons and sacrificing those fighters. You can use 3-in-1 buttons (they fit in a 1 1/8" hole) like these (but don't have the right joystick to the right side of the buttons) to save space and help keep the CP uncluttered. I'd offer you some, but I only have one left and that's not enough for 2 players. If you do sacrifice the number of buttons you want, you could also do 4 button diamonds for each player similiar to the one on the right pictured above.

[Jack Burton]

Use smaller parts.

This whole stick is about seven inches wide and uses 24mm buttons and the small LS-33 stick from Seimitsu.



http://slagcoin.com/joystick/example3.html

Scroll down and have a look at the Bumblebee and Snuffbox joysticks.  They can give you an idea of how to make a lot of use of little space.  

[tonythemediaguy]

Thanks...

I already have the parts, so I'll have to make it work. I have Sanwa sticks and Happ buttons. If I forgot about fighter games, how many buttons would I ever really need? My encoder supports using two buttons as one, so I always have that option too.

[Jack Burton]

There's still plenty of fighting games that use 4 buttons.  Try some King of Fighters 98.  

[HanoiBoi]

I think you need to figure out the games you really want to have on the cab.  14" wide isn't much room.  Even if you can fit the buttons, it won't be comfortable for two people side-by-side.  Especially 2 adults.

Would you consider dropping the second set of buttons?  If so, you can still keep the 2nd stick for 2 stick games (Robotron, Crazy Climber, etc.) and free up space for a spinner.  Arkanoid and Tempest are great for a bartop.

Just watch your spacing for playability.

[tonythemediaguy]

thanks for all of the help.

What are the smallest buttons I can get? This is actually for my 5 year old twins to play.