Control Panel Help

[Brian74]

So I thought i would take a shot in the dark and see if i could talk someone into helping me out. I am not good at doing woodwork. I am not good at designing artwork.  So here is what I am looking for. I need a control panel setup for 2 players 7 buttons each trackball spinner and a flight stick and admin buttons for the up coming H.S 2.0.  Im not dead set on the flight stick. But I managed to get my hands on a Saitek ST 90 Flight Stick. Which I have read work great for mame and other emulators. Now the artwork, I found something that would work, but its not setup for a flight stick and I dont need that many mouse buttons. So if anyone could help out that would be great. Im willing to pay!

[GregD]

That is a lot of controls for one machine.  If the flight stick is a must then i would lose the dedicated 4-way stick.  Have you thought about a modular control panel?  What are the dimensions of your co trol panel going to be?

[DaveMMR]

If that's your plan, you should scale back as GregD said.  Also consider ditching all the admin buttons (except maybe Exit, Pause) - they do not belong on a panel (not even for Hyperspin 2.0).  The mouse buttons are highly unnecessary as well. You will then have room to move the 4-way over (which IMO is more important than a flight stick).  

Also, keep in mind, "START GAME" can be handled easily by the start buttons and "menu up and down" are handled with the joystick by default.

I do like the artwork, but you can safely do without graphics telling people the trackball is a "trackball", etc.  Less is more when it comes to information.

I think it's fairly easy to construct a panel even without woodworking experience.  Give it a shot on some scrap wood.

[Dawgz Rule]

Agreed.  I only have four admin buttons on my panel (Esc, Pause, Tab, Enter) and I seem to be more than able to do anything.  Player one and player two mouse buttons aren't necessary.  I have a magstick plus for each player and I like them because they can convert to four way or eight way.  Some people like them, some people don't.  However, that will give you more space and you can place a dedicated flight stick where you have your four way.  Last but not least, be sure to consider the "comfort level" of your design.  Is it going to be comfortable for people to use all of the devices without bumping into or reaching over other devices.