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New member, new to building, Simpsons 4 player conversion to Mame semi-stealth
gr3yh47:
thanks so much for the advice guys!
--- Quote ---You'll play tons more fighters than four player games and having to play those reaching towards the back at an odd angle
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I actually rarely play fighters which leads to why the 8 button layouts are on the sides - i want them to have competition buttons but I want convex buttons for the classics which is most of what I play. The reulting compromise is either fighter players have to stand to the side, or I have to stand to the side when i play Galaga so yeah. See below about the angle.
--- Quote ---Wow, that NFL Blitz must have been horrible to play with all those wacky-angled sticks (look at the bolts).
Speaking of which, don't angle your sticks
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The CP is 37" across so i can only fit 2 people on the front. I figured i would have 3 and 4 angled because they will be off to the sides and could turn their bodies instead of just their necks to look at the monitor. I'm curious what the reason for not angling them would be? (actually do want to know, not trying to be argumentative) Its not a big deal to me if 2 people playing a fighting game have to stand off to the side.
--- Quote ---it looks a bit busy.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote ---As shown the buttons detract from the art and vice versa.
I think you can do a great homage without cluttering the CPO so much on the art.
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I agree on the busyness as pictured in the concept. I was also worried about the buttons detracting from the art, so the idea was to have only the red button stand out on each set and the blue ones blend into the background. As for clutter, I will probably remove player 2's move and fire art, and I might get rid of the multiple spaceships and only have one bigger ship in the middle. Any other ideas are welcome - I was trying to include all of the original art but agree about clutter. And I will be doing something about the 'Fire' Text having a button through it, just not sure what yet. What about something like this:
Thanks again so much guys, it's really encouraging to hear that you all like the concept. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the stuff above.
And thanks PL1 for the must/dust links :D
Malenko:
the smell? wipe down the insides with bleach water, then seal it with primer (like Kilz)
DaveMMR:
--- Quote from: gr3yh47 on March 26, 2013, 09:10:42 am ---I'm curious what the reason for not angling them would be? (actually do want to know, not trying to be argumentative) Its not a big deal to me if 2 people playing a fighting game have to stand off to the side.
--- End quote ---
Do a search for "angled joysticks"; there's been countless threads on the debate (Edit: Here's the most recent one.). But the bottom line is that most 3/4-player games had all their joysticks straight (up towards monitor)* for a reason. Take the classic GAUNTLET for example. You can stand anyway and still be able to control the sidelined characters without effort. But when you angle it, you are making a very specific dictation as to where someone needs to be standing. And they'll have to remember which way is up (no one looks at arrows on the panel while playing). And having to do that while playing a fighter? It's a recipe for a poor game night. Test, test, test your layout before committing to artwork layout/wood cutting.
*In that thread I linked to, a member posted a mind-blowing exception: a Virtua Fighter with angled controls. Everyone suddenly remembered why it controlled like ass in the arcade.
If you're not interested in fighters I'd just ditch the 8-button controls and either (a) make them simple 4-button controls or (b) ditch the extra two players entirely. You should really think about how many times you'll be playing with three people simultaneously and if it's worth the extra space and expense. (Most, if not certainly all, 4-player games have 2-player versions as well.) If you have enough of an interest in fighters, I'd keep the 6/8 button set-up front and center.
gr3yh47:
Thanks for the link. you mentioned in that thread
--- Quote ---15 degrees off center, but not even 45 degrees.
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100% agree about player 1 and 2, and those will be straight on, but for 3 and 4 who are going to be standing at a 45 degree angle, I tried straight on sticks and just hated the feel. to move up, i have to do what feels like up/left. I also tried standing with my body straight to the screen and turning my neck, which wasnt too bad for my neck but because i then had to reach to the right it hurt my wrists to bend them to match the straight controls.
That said, most 4 player games only use 3 buttons, which is something i didnt consider in my testing. It was hard to bend my wrists to fit the fighter button layout, but those are only two player and we could stand directly in front for those. If I decide the angle is really necessary for 4 player games there is a really awesome way of mapping the sticks that effectively has mame registering the stick as being rotated 45 degrees.
--- Quote ---Its possible, using the standard mame mappings and 8-way joystick mode.
say your p1 joystick is UP DOWN LEFT RIGHT and you want to rotate it 45 degrees right:
up = UP RIGHT or UP or RIGHT
down = DOWN LEFT or DOWN or LEFT
left = UP LEFT or UP or LEFT
right = DOWN RIGHT or DOWN or RIGHT
pushing the joystick to the UP position will trigger both up and left, giving a diagonal shot in smashtv
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from http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,52041.msg509792.html#msg509792
The above should be included in the debate more often. It is absolutely genius imo and if i really want the 45 degree angle for 4 player games this can be mapped for those games and still allow me to play fighters with straight on sticks standing from the front instead of the side of the cp... maybe.
I am going to set it up both ways on some thin plywood. I am not sure how a 10-12" reach towards the back of the cp will feel for fighting games. But I am starting to lean towards straight sticks. Plus with the straight layout it will look much better/ more symmetrical.
--- Quote ---If you have enough of an interest in fighters, I'd keep the 6/8 button set-up front and center.
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I would go with this if i didnt want competition buttons for the fighting layout but want the convex buttons to be 'true player 1' in the center. i think it will end up being ok. Have been gradually leaning more towards a straight layout all day. will ultimately come down to if it is too far to reach or not. On the off chance i end up angling them it will be a strict 45 degrees.
Now for a project update:
Fom my original post
--- Quote ---there is a full size ionic breeze running full blast inside the cabinet.
--- End quote ---
DONT EVER DO THIS OH MY GOSH TOXIC TOXIC THINGS HAPPEN
I found out that Ionic Breezes and competing products produce a small amount of ozone. In researching this I found out that in a large room it is not an issue, HOWEVER even in a small bathroom levels are unhealthy. An arcade cabinet is much, much smaller than the room size needed for an unhealthy concentration to be produced. I had run it for about 24 hours before finding this out.
Soooooo I turned it off and am hoping the ozone will slowly dissipate today. Either tonight or tomorrow (weather depending) I am going to take it outside and open it up to let everything dissipate, then remove the boards and wipe it down with bleach/water mix, let it dry, and varnish it per the suggestions linked by PL1 and as mentioned Malenko.
Here is an updated CPO mockup. I still have to move the start buttons and the move/fire art but for the layout of the pictures i like it much better. The ship is going to have a red ultimarc spinner for an eye instead of a trackball, I couldnt make the ship big enough for the trackball and didnt want it to look like o.O
EDIT 2: Updated pic again (again) with all controls visible. The design is very close to being finished, May only need some minor tweaks for p4's joystick and p2's buttons spacing
EDIT: I'm also thinking of going with bright green T-molding. Here is a link to a pic, what do you guys think of this instead of black? http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f102/dentistofdoom/20120904_125822.jpg
gr3yh47:
Edit: Whoops double post when meaning to edit previous post. Mod, please delete
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