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What's up with the angling?

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DaveMMR:

First off, let me preface by saying I'm not picking on anyone's project or plans in particular.

Anyway, I've kind of gotten over the "outer" players on 4-player panels being angled in relation to the front. But I've seen more than a handful of new CPs being built or designed with the inside (or only) sticks angled as well. What set this trend off? Is being too close to player two that humongous of a concern?

I kind of tried it out with my own panel, pretending different points on the stick being "up". And I felt weird, like I was frightened to stand directly in front on the game. My tests were a bit unscientific to be honest - but I can't imagine it working out well (except maybe Q*Bert or Congo Bongo) for any long period of time.

I dunno. I'm just curious. Anyone have any experiences or opinions about the main sticks being laid out that way?

kahlid74:

When I was working on my latest cab I messed around with this using Lusid's button format.  My primary thoughts were ergonomics and how it felt while playing.  If I angled player 1/2 I could shrink the control panel size by close to a foot making it a smaller cab all together.  In the end I didn't do this because it just felt weird to be honest but it was a fun exercise to better understand it.

leapinlew:

The reason I don't understand why anyone would do it is because you never saw a layout like that in the arcade. If you are building a arcade game for authenticity, why would you change one of the most critical things?

Green Giant:

To be honest I think it is just cockyness coupled with lack of experience.

If you were not an arcade expert, you would think, the controls should always point at the screen.  Hence the need for the angling.

The problem is every human alive learned to play arcades on straight button layouts.  It just feels unnatural when the buttons are at an angle.




I guess the best example would be the common QWERTY keyboard.  It is a fact that there is a much more efficient keyboard design, but QWERTY is so ingrained that we don't want to change.  Just an FYI, QWERTY was designed to slow down typing and encourage alternating a letter from each hand to reduce the chance the mechanical typewriter would jam up when the keys hit the paper.




It kind of reminds me of the guys that do the curved button layout because they say when you put your hand down your fingers make a curve.  This is true but when you assume the arcade button smashing position, your fingers are bent forming a fairly straight line where the buttons lay.

kahlid74:


--- Quote from: Green Giant on February 16, 2012, 10:40:13 am ---To be honest I think it is just cockyness coupled with lack of experience.

If you were not an arcade expert, you would think, the controls should always point at the screen.  Hence the need for the angling.

The problem is every human alive learned to play arcades on straight button layouts.  It just feels unnatural when the buttons are at an angle.




I guess the best example would be the common QWERTY keyboard.  It is a fact that there is a much more efficient keyboard design, but QWERTY is so ingrained that we don't want to change.  Just an FYI, QWERTY was designed to slow down typing and encourage alternating a letter from each hand to reduce the chance the mechanical typewriter would jam up when the keys hit the paper.




It kind of reminds me of the guys that do the curved button layout because they say when you put your hand down your fingers make a curve.  This is true but when you assume the arcade button smashing position, your fingers are bent forming a fairly straight line where the buttons lay.

--- End quote ---

This is a different entity from what the OP's original grip/question was.  If you've never actually angled the buttons you should try it.  You don't really gain a true perspective until you play it on wood with angled buttons.  Angled buttons are super ergonomic and prevent finger fatigue.  Yeah yeah, catch phrase smatch phrase but it really works man.  I noticed a huge difference after two hours of playing.  On my straight line buttons my fingers would cramp but on the angled buttons I can play longer.

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