Advice needed for small 2 player control panel

[digitalhobbit]

I am building a 2-player control panel to fit into a converted donor cabinet (used to be Arkanoid). The size of the original control panel is only about 23 3/4" x 6". This is not a whole lot of space to work with, so I'd appreciate some feedback on CP layouts that have worked well for you.

I want at least a joystick and 6 buttons (2 rows of 3) per player, for fighters. I might be tempted to go with a 7 or 8 button layout (for a more natural Neo Geo layout and potentially some console games).

At this narrow size, is it possible (or advisable) at all to include a small trackball (in which case I'd probably stick with 6 buttons per player)? I do like the idea of a trackball for games like Marble Madness or as a mouse replacement, but I can probably live without it if this is not realistic for such a small CP.

I don't think I'll waste a lot of space on admin buttons. I might just have P1 and P2 Start and Credit buttons, and a single Admin (Shift) button that triggers things like Pause, Reset, etc. in conjunction with the regular game buttons.

Thoughts? Or even any layouts / templates?

Thanks in advance!

[PL1]

Thoughts? Or even any layouts / templates?

For layouts, there's the always popular Slagcoin.

I don't think you'll be able to squeeze in a trackball unless it is WAY smaller than most or you use an external USB unit that you can set on the panel or you make swappable panels.


Scott

[digitalhobbit]

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the input. That's pretty much what I figured.

I'll play around with the Slagcoin templates to come up with something usable.

-Mirko

[digitalhobbit]

Any thoughts on small 1.5" trackballs such as this one?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/390409794526?item=390409794526&ViewItem=

I don't expect this to be a great choice for games like Golden Tee, but it seems like it might be sufficient for Marble Madness etc., and as a mouse replacement. Given the small size of the mounting plate (63mm x 43mm if I understand the description correctly), it seems like this would fit just fine in the middle of my CP, as long as I constrain it to 6 buttons per player.

[mgb]

Thats the same dimensions as my panel. you can see it in the link down below.

I could have gone with 6 buttons each but it didn't look quite right to me on a panel of this size. I ended up using 4 buttons each because Street Fighter series and other similiars just weren't as important to me. I play Neo Geo fighters when I want.

On my panel, I have 2 joysticks, each with 4 buttons and a 2.25" trackball and a spinner and it all fits well. also to save room, I had to move my player start buttons to the front of the panel and my pause and exit are by the coin door along with my credit switches being the coin ejects.

[digitalhobbit]

All good suggestions, thanks.

I think I might still give it a shot (first with a mockup) to see if I can fit a small trackball in addition to 6 buttons. I'm now leaning towards this cheap 2 1/4" trackball (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10758?). I know it's not going to compete with proper arcade trackballs, but the price is hard to beat, and the small footprint (4"x4") is very compelling. After playing with some of the Slagcoin templates, it seems like it should just about fit in the middle.

[Don]

I have a mame cab cp with very similar dimensions to yours. If you are putting a track ball in the middle be very careful that it does not interfere with the player 2 joystick. When people are using the joystick they need space to rest their hands. I'll try and throw a pic of my CP up. I'm actually just finishing putting in a new CP which I think is better spaced for 2 players than my last one.

[digitalhobbit]

Hi Don,

I'm slightly worried about that as well. The trackball is cheap enough (about $20 shipped) I might go ahead and order it anyway, and try it in a playable mockup. I'll report back how it works out.

-Mirko