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Control Panel Design advice (Work in Progress)

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Turnarcades:

If you want to see how others are doing 4 player panels, then check out some of our 4 player machines. You'll notice that we use 6 buttons for the centre players and 4 for the outer players for the same reason you mention about playing console games; 6 really is plenty for most games (even PS1 & N64 where many buttons originally weren't often used or could be remapped) and with the outer players, this is truer still as multiplayer games tend to be simpler still (most arcade games 2/3 will do, very few used 4, multiplayer console games rarely used more). With regards to the sticks, angled sticks have never been a problem for us, customers or show attendees so if you did decide that you'd be safe.

Our layout is obviously not for everyone's needs but obviously we have a lot of experience and feedback to work from so have decided our default layout covers most bases. Certain things like extra admin buttons are also normal for us and we use a coin button forceach player which obviously helps with console emulators, but they're a good reference point even if you don't have these features. The way we position our spinner and trackball is also worth noting as although they simply seem to be fitted in convenient spaces, the trackball position offers most space around it, and the spinner is placed so that the hand and arm rests in a space free of controls whether left or right handed.

For the best close-up pictures see our facebook page or YouTube videos.

bkenobi:

So you are saying the Red arrows, right?  I would think the blue arrows would be more comfortable considering the button orientation.  It just seems awkward if the buttons are angled and the joystick is 45° off.   :dunno

Turnarcades:

I'm saying the blue arrows, as much as people disagree. When people refer to joysticks being 'angled', they usually mean in relation to the screen, as I did.

lord-jaffa:


--- Quote from: bkenobi on November 01, 2011, 11:35:32 am ---So you are saying the Red arrows, right?  I would think the blue arrows would be more comfortable considering the button orientation.  It just seems awkward if the buttons are angled and the joystick is 45° off.   :dunno

--- End quote ---

Yes the red arrows are how I intend to angle the joysticks, its how ive always played them in the arcades and I find it more natural, after all pressing UP/RIGHT to move Up on the actual screen just doesnt seem right to me. I remember TMNT and Simpsons being this way so its how I prefer it, I move the stick the way that I see the character moving on the screen!

Anyway I have a little update, I managed to vectorise the artwork I found, (VectorMagic is waaaaay superiour to illustrator for this). The red admin buttons will be removed and I havent finished the outline for the middle graphics yet (or changed P3/P4 to 4 buttons)


quarterstringer:

There doesn't seem to be enough wrist/palm area on that control panel. I don't like feeling the edge of the cp, so my cp has 7 inches from the bottom of the joystick/buttons to the bottom edge of the cp. Check out the control panels on this page. Most of them allow plenty of room between the joystick/buttons and the bottom edge.

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