SFII Control Panel feedback

[ControlledBurn]

Was hoping to get some feedback on the control panel layout for the Street Fighter II cabinet I'm restoring.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=113856.0

The buttons were pretty poorly installed originally, and I'd decided to go with Sanwa buttons and joysticks which need 30mm holes. To fix the problem I welded some electrical plates to the back of the panel, filled the holes with Bondo and repainted it. Now I obviously need to drill new holes, and am not sure which way to go for a layout.


For the first layout I just mimicked the way the buttons were laid out on the cab originally (But aligned properly)


http://dl.dropbox.com/u/23939344/SFII%20CP.vsd

And for the second I moved things around to what seems to be the more traditional control panel layout.


http://dl.dropbox.com/u/23939344/SFII%20CP%20mk2.vsd

[eds1275]

I prefer the second one.

[javeryh]

I like the placement of the buttons and the height of the joysticks in the first design but I like the location from the sides of the joysticks better in the second design as well as the placement of the P1 and P2 start buttons (although I would put those on the front of the CP or maybe on the bottom of the bezel to just get them out of the way completely).  The second design doesn't look like there is anywhere to rest your wrists - as always, do a cardboard mock-up before drilling any holes... 

[xmenxmen]

I like the placement of the buttons and the height of the joysticks in the first design but I like the location from the sides of the joysticks better in the second design as well as the placement of the P1 and P2 start buttons (although I would put those on the front of the CP or maybe on the bottom of the bezel to just get them out of the way completely).  The second design doesn't look like there is anywhere to rest your wrists - as always, do a cardboard mock-up before drilling any holes... 

agreed.

[ControlledBurn]

What about this? I've centered the controls again, but left the start buttons up top.
(Joystick bracket hidden to better demonstrate what is actually on the face of the panel)

[javeryh]

What about this? I've centered the controls again, but left the start buttons up top.
(Joystick bracket hidden to better demonstrate what is actually on the face of the panel)

Much better although I'd still move those 2 buttons off the CP completely - I'm afraid you will be hitting them all of the time by mistake and also the less clutter the more appealing the panel is (to me anyway).  Also, I just noticed the spacing of your buttons is not uniform - the columns should be as close together as the rows (and if you keep the start buttons on the CP I'd push them right next to each other and center them in the panel like you have it).   

[ControlledBurn]

I'm not entirely sure about taking the start buttons off the face of the panel right yet, but that can easily be done later once I play with a cardboard mockup. I moved the spacing between the rows to match the spacing between columns, and pushed the start buttons closer together at the midpoint.

[javeryh]

Looking good!   I've got nothing else...    

[ControlledBurn]

Thanks for the help! I'm going to print this out on the plotter and mock it up tonight.

[amendonz]

have you tried an astro layout? like japstyle? not sure if it would fit, or if you really prefer the straight buttons, but i find after you get used to it the jap style layout is far more comfortable

[DCsegaDH]

have you tried an astro layout? like japstyle? not sure if it would fit, or if you really prefer the straight buttons, but i find after you get used to it the jap style layout is far more comfortable

+1 It's more comfortable for your hands.

[amendonz]

i forgot to mention (if its not obvious) ignore the 2 far right buttons

[ControlledBurn]

Aaaand now I need to edit my visio again/make another mockup to give that a whirl.

I'd thought about it at one point but had completely forgotten to look for the layout when I started working on the design. Thanks for the reminder and the really helpful schematic for the setup!

[ControlledBurn]

Ended up going with the Astro 6-button layout. I felt it gave me more room on the panel and I'm more than willing to get used to a slightly different scheme in the interest of comfort.

I created a Visio stecil for the 6-button layout with a Sanwa JLF joystick using the measurements from the diagram amendonz posted if anyone's interested.

Went to start cutting the control panel today and found my cordless drill's batteries are too old to try and cut holes. I got halfway through one button hole before my first battery, fresh off the charger, gave out. I'm going to have to pick up a corded drill on my way home from the office sometime this week