Button layout - why are P1 and P2 different

[chucklepie]

Hello,
I'm playing with various button/joystick layouts (from slagcoin) and one thing I cannot figure out and I'm hoping I'm not missing something, but I was planning on simply using the same layout for player 1 and player 2.

Can somebody tell me why some/most layouts have a 'player 1' and a 'player 2' layout that are different - well, that's the impression I get from reading slagcoin?

Thanks.

[PL1]

Umm. . . . Where'd you read that people used different layouts for P1 + P2?

Didn't see anything like that on Slagcoin's Panel Layout page.

I remember someone new doing an initial CP layout sketch that had the stick on the right for P2, but that was fixed in his second draft.


Scott

[BadMouth]

Slagcoin has a lot of examples that were taken from Japanese candy cabs and that's how it was on them.
They are different because the players are seated in different positions.

These cabs were mostly used for newer games (late 90's to current) that aren't playable in MAME.
The majority of arcade games were not done that way.

Most people on here make them both the same, but do whatever you like.

[mgb]

Most cps from users here and any commercial games will have the same layout between p1 and p2.
the only differences I've seen here are where someone may have a small cp and they limit the the amount of buttons for player 2 figuring only certain games they wanna play with a partner or someone may use 2 different types a joysticks like an 8-way on player 1 and a switchable 8,4-way on player 2.

Other than that both layouts should be the same.

[chucklepie]

Cheers. That's answered that one then

I've opted for the modified Sega player 1/2 mix (6 buttons) but 95mm is a tad too far and 63mm is a tad too close for the joystick/buttons so I'm option for 8cm gap and the height between the buttons is not too close or far apart

[Le Chuck]

Incidentally one of my builds had a different layout for P1 and P2.  It works great for me but confuses the hell out of my guests so it's a wash as far as capabilities gained vs PITA introduced.  I'm in the middle of changing it to both the same.  So much easier that way.  Fun to try tho. 

[BadMouth]

On my current build, I originally had P2's buttons angled more than P1, but I liked it so much better that I changed P1 to the same.

[harveybirdman]

On my current build, I originally had P2's buttons angled more than P1, but I liked it so much better that I changed P1 to the same.

THIS!

P2 SEGA Astro City/Blast City is much better than P1 in my opinion!

[DaveMMR]

I've seen a few project examples where the (full size) CP had different layouts for P1 and P2 (usually the infamous "mirror" or "symmetrical" layout where the joystick is on the opposite side of the buttons for P2). That's usually the first thing that sticks out and everything else just seems inconsequential at that point.

That being said, there are maybe three legitimate times when multiple players do not match:

First: Bartops are typically most comfortable as one player affairs and the second stick is more for Robotron, etc. where being able to play a two-player game is a "bonus" and not some "advertised feature".

Second: quite a few real four player games have the buttons it a slightly different position from the joystick for spacing reasons. These are simple beat-em-up and the buttons could be almost anywhere and be effective anyhow.

And finally: if you're the only one going to be using the machine with regularity, you can conveniently have two different sets of layouts for different games (e.g. SF on the left and MK on the right; straight on left, curved on right) without multiple panels.