anybody able to create control panel layout?

[Jeromebechaz]

hey guys so im just wondering and this would be a huge ask as it would take somebody out of there way but i just have no idea how to do this.

i have just cut out my control panel which is 34" wide 17" width, and i want 2 players with 7 ultimarc ultralux buttons each, a mag-stick plus joystick each, an electric ice-t trackball in the center, a slikstik tornado spinner to the top left corner of that, in each corner i was thinking the player 1 start (player 2 for the other corner) and the coin on top of that?
then in the middle up the top i thought putting the pause, enter, exit, and setup buttons all in a row?

with the player buttons i really think i want the setup where you have the ring finger and rude finger finger buttons in a straight square, but then with the pointer finger buttons they fall down a bit so they are lower than the other 4 so it is more natural to hold ( i will post a picture to describe what im looking for.

sorry this is lengthy, but even if you know someone that does this stuff can you please let me know? I'm willing to pay 5-10 bucks.

thanks for your help

[Jeromebechaz]

this is the layout im looking for

[Drnick]

I am working on this for you at the moment, You want 7 buttons, do you want the 4th button on top row or bottom row?  I am currently working on basis of bottom row which if you use standard layout will mean you want to remap neo geo games.

[Brian74]

Im in the same boat. Trying to make everything fit and look right on my cp. 

[Drnick]

Grrrrrr The spinner in there along with 2 buttons for Trackball/Spinner are annoying me know.  This seems the most comfortable layout to me.
Created at 100PPI to your CP size,  used the Slagcoin template for the buttons although got artistic with button 7,  1/2" spacing between Credit and admin buttons, Included the mounting plate area for the Joystick although got lazy and didn't include the mounting holes.  Trackball is on the basis of using Happ 3" mount for it.  Thanks to Mcseforsale for the Trackball template.  I worked with a 2x2" area for the mounting of the tornado and gave it a 2" knob. (Aww poor fella). Here is a png,pdf and zip with the gimp xcf file. I'm sure someones going to pop up with a much better one shortly but I was bored 

[chucklepie]

I would only say that I tried out all the layouts (now that I have my parts) and I found that the 59mm gap between the stick and the buttons is just too close. the 94mm is better but due to space I narrowed mine down to 84mm and it feels perfect now.

As for your design, I taught myself Inkscape in a few hours and after a few posts to the inkscape forum everything was done in a very short time, and I learnt some new skills while I was at it.

[Drnick]

From Centre of Joystick to Centre of Top Row Button 1 on this is 89mm, It just wasn't right with the 59mm    I left the Gimp version as layers so if Jerome feels like learning a little something new at least he will be able to just move and adjust accordingly.

[Toadie]

This will be interesting to watch

[Jeromebechaz]

Drnick you are a legend, it forgot to mention that I need 3 mouse buttons but Jim sure I can figure out where they go as they don't really need to be in a certain position, but what I was looking for is the spacing measurements, as I don't know where I should put them haha, and if someone can tell me the size hols that I will need to drill for the ultimarc buttons, the ice-t TB, and the joysticks.

Is someone able to tell me how to connect these to the CP without having any mounting plates or bolts throat the top?

Again Drnick you are an absolute top bloke

[Jeromebechaz]

And yeah 1.2.3 buttons up the top,  then 4.5.6 down the bottom then 7

[Unstupid]

I'd move the 7th button down and left til its even with or below/right of the red line...  current config would make pressing button 4 difficult.

[Jeromebechaz]

Why do you think It would be in the way?

[Drnick]

 

Drnick you are a legend, it forgot to mention that I need 3 mouse buttons but Jim sure I can figure out where they go as they don't really need to be in a certain position, but what I was looking for is the spacing measurements, as I don't know where I should put them haha, and if someone can tell me the size hols that I will need to drill for the ultimarc buttons, the ice-t TB, and the joysticks.

Is someone able to tell me how to connect these to the CP without having any mounting plates or bolts throat the top?

Again Drnick you are an absolute top bloke

Thats what these images will allow you to do, they are sized so that when printed 1:1 you could just overlay it on your board and there are your drill positions.

 Drill size for buttons & Stick is 28 to 30mm. 

As for the trackball It's going to be a 3" hole you need to cut but if you are using a mounting plate you could take out the area inside the Trapezoid.  You will want to use a mounting plate for the trackball if you want to leave no marks on the surface, there are other ghetto ways of achieving this but I would go with what looks best.

I shifted those buttons so they are in a line, I was using my thumb to test and slightly raised was more comfortable for me but YMMV.

Mounting the joysticks so that there are no screws,  Did you get standard handles or long handles, do you want to undermount or top mount.  I personally undermounted. see the following threads for some assistance on this. Also see my build thread right at the bottom for how I did it.

I would download gimp, learn a little about how to move layers (Remove alpha channel before moving then apply alpha again once moved)
and then shift things around as you see fit.  Joystick and 6 buttons are 1 layer 7th button is an individual layer, the 4 admin buttons are also one layer, everything else has its own layer if I remember correctly 

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=69151.0
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,130690.0.html

[Jeromebechaz]

Alright thanks dude.

But my printer doesn't print that big. How do you achieve that?
Also I didn't want to use a mounting plate because I wanted to see the artwork underneath. Any tutorials on this?
Thanks for you help

[Drnick]

Alright thanks dude.

But my printer doesn't print that big. How do you achieve that?
Also I didn't want to use a mounting plate because I wanted to see the artwork underneath. Any tutorials on this?
Thanks for you help

You could always route out the cp top the size and depth of the mounting plate and then put the artwork over the top of the mounting plate   If you search for Trackball Mounting here you will see various threads with various methods.  The hanger method seems to work quite well.

As for Printing get Adobe Reader, open pdf document, file, print, Change page sizing and handling to poster. Set scale to 100%, set overlap to 0.005 set cutmarks and labels.   Either that or take it to a printers that can do a large print for you.   

See following thread for Trackball mounting with flush mount and plate. (Note I have already reversed the plate in your diagram)

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,119081.0.html

[EMDB]

...
Also I didn't want to use a mounting plate because I wanted to see the artwork underneath. Any tutorials on this?
Thanks for you help

You could do this (I did  ) :

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,130690.msg1345990.html#msg1345990

[Jeromebechaz]

Thanks for your help man. I think I will go with the mounting plate. With the routed square do it slots in flush.

With the joysticks and if they go in from the top with a routed rectangle they will sit flush?

[retrostark]

well i would have gone ahead and thrown my own take on it, but you seem to like drnick's one. best of luck!

[Jeromebechaz]

I'm open for ideas dude!
If you have any send them my way.

[i64X]

and if someone can tell me the size hols that I will need to drill for the ultimarc buttons

Saw this question - just for future reference if someone wants the perfect size for each and is in the US and can't find metric spade bits - I just did this yesterday and for the standard Happ buttons are 1 1/8" and the Ultralux lit buttons are 11/16".

[retrostark]

ok here's a little mock for you. when i get time i will make changes to your liking.

image cut off a bit, other than that it was the size specs you wanted.

[Drnick]

Image cannot be displayed because it contains errors.   

[Toadie]

Here's what I was thinking, very similar but I can't say I have my spacing worked out



this was my original thought

[michelevit]

I've built several iterations of two player upright cabinets. Get rid of the dedicated admin buttons. They make cabinets morph into frankenstein mission control panels

I use a USB trackball which functions as a mouse when selecting a game.

Here's my 2 cents.

Use a joystick mapping program like joy2key or xpadder to emulate a left mouse and right mouse button to player one, joystick one and player two joystick two.

Pause isn't needed because you can remap it in MAME to a two button command. I map mine to joystick down, player one start. Its impossible to trigger on accident. No video games I have ever seen in an arcade have a pause button. It detracts from the authenticity.


Relocate player one start and player two start from the top of the control panel to the face of the control panel. This is more authentic for me. You only use those buttons when starting or continuing a game. This will free up some real estate.

Exit is also not needed. You can map that command using xpadder as well or better yet...

Use a wireless KB. They are really nice now. I like firing up my arcade cab, selecting one game and walking away from it not worrying that one of my friends, or friends of friends will muck it up. A wireless keyboard is nice for parties.

Not a fan of dedicated admin buttons.

[Toadie]

So If I understand what you're saying, you're a fan of having admin access at your fingertips? 

Shoot us a pic of your control panel, I like your ideas and honestly don't like the admin buttons either, but I think the idea of putting them elsewhere in the cabinet sucks just as much...

Do you not use reset or shutdown?

I believe the 4 recommended admins are:

Pause
Exit
Shutdown
Reset

[Drnick]

I second the buttons on the front, I put my Coin and admin buttons there.  I really wanted the 2 admin buttons to keep things simple. (Green Go, Red Back).
 
Anyway Gonna Hijack this thread again as It's as good a place as any to put another layout in.

Brian here is a go at yours,  Once again feel free to use Gimp to shuffle it up a bit, Basically I can help supply the tools but you need to actually do the work.  Oh and lord only knows what you will do for mounting the Happ Rotary's  I would use a larger piece of metal routed in flush and then mount them to that. I am hoping from my google-fu that they have the same footprint as an LS32. I am fairly sure a zippy does. So that's what I used for the layout. 

[PL1]

I believe the 4 recommended admins are:

Pause
Exit
Shutdown
Reset

Exit and Pause both sound great.

You may not want the shutdown button on the CP.

Many people hide it on the under-side of the CP, behind the coin door, or on the top/back of the cab.

I think you'll also find that the reset button (F3) is really only needed for the initial setup of certain games -- not worth a dedicated button IMHO since initial setup and configuration usually involves a keyboard anyway.

Depending on your circumstances/preferences, Menu (Tab) is a good idea if you like to regularly tweak settings, but it's a bad idea if you have kids or drunk friends that fiddle with settings.

I also use Enter on my portable builds since it is the plunger/ball launcher in Visual Pinball/Future Pinball.


Scott

[Brian74]

I second the buttons on the front, I put my Coin and admin buttons there.  I really wanted the 2 admin buttons to keep things simple. (Green Go, Red Back).
 
Anyway Gonna Hijack this thread again as It's as good a place as any to put another layout in.

Brian here is a go at yours,  Once again feel free to use Gimp to shuffle it up a bit, Basically I can help supply the tools but you need to actually do the work.  Oh and lord only knows what you will do for mounting the Happ Rotary's  I would use a larger piece of metal routed in flush and then mount them to that. I am hoping from my google-fu that they have the same footprint as an LS32. I am fairly sure a zippy does. So that's what I used for the layout.

Thanks Drnick, here is the template for the rotary

[Jeromebechaz]

ok here's a little mock for you. when i get time i will make changes to your liking.

image cut off a bit, other than that it was the size specs you wanted.

this is a nice panel I'm just not into the whole straight across buttons. Makes it look a little to perfect and not a natural hold.

[Jeromebechaz]

Not a fan of dedicated admin buttons.

haha I can tell your not a fan!
I'm not sure wether I want them. I think I do. I don't want to much free CP space. Might look a bit bare because I guess it is big

[Jeromebechaz]

So If I understand what you're saying, you're a fan of having admin access at your fingertips? 

Shoot us a pic of your control panel, I like your ideas and honestly don't like the admin buttons either, but I think the idea of putting them elsewhere in the cabinet sucks just as much...

Do you not use reset or shutdown?

I believe the 4 recommended admins are:

Pause
Exit
Shutdown
Reset

can you tell me what the reset button does? Does it reset the game? Or the computer?

[PL1]

In MAME, F3 resets the game.

If the computer locks up, you can press and hold the shutdown button to kill power, so no advantage to having that function on the CP.


Scott

[Jeromebechaz]

So if you wanted a reset button you would just extend the reset cables from the computer

[chucklepie]

I'm not a fan of admin buttons but on my CP I didn't want every body pressing START+button to go back so I added a dedicated button for ESCape. This button is a tiny thing though (about 5mm) and is black and blends with the black background; I've used the same button for the power which is wired directly to the power button on the PC.

Remember if you get IPAC or similar you can use SHIFT facility for most admin actions.

[PL1]

So if you wanted a reset button you would just extend the reset cables from the computer

Yep, extend or wire it in parallel -- preferrably mounting it where someone isn't going to accidently hit it.   

Some Dell systems are a pain to sort it out (ribbon cable for front panel connections IIRC) but on most MBs it's no problem.


Scott

[Jeromebechaz]

So if you wanted a reset button you would just extend the reset cables from the computer

Yep, extend or wire it in parallel -- preferrably mounting it where someone isn't going to accidently hit it.   

Some Dell systems are a pain to sort it out (ribbon cable for front panel connections IIRC) but on most MBs it's no problem.


Scott

yeah yeah that's not to hard
With an ipac where do you plug the admin bottoms in?

[PL1]

With an ipac where do you plug the admin bottoms in?

*imitating magician*  Pick an input any input. [/card trick]

They're all programmable.

With the new firmware, you can even assign volume controls and mouse buttons.

List of default settings here -- input 1A is P (Pause), input 2B is Esc (Exit), etc.

The right column shows the "shifted" functions accessed by holding P1 Start -- P1 Start + P2 Start is Esc (Exit).


Scott

[Drnick]

Thanks Drnick, here is the template for the rotary

Thanks, I shall edit the files tonight so you have the right one to play with 

[Jeromebechaz]

With an ipac where do you plug the admin bottoms in?

*imitating magician*  Pick an input any input. [/card trick]

They're all programmable.

With the new firmware, you can even assign volume controls and mouse buttons.

List of default settings here -- input 1A is P (Pause), input 2B is Esc (Exit), etc.

The right column shows the "shifted" functions accessed by holding P1 Start -- P1 Start + P2 Start is Esc (Exit).


Scott

so by the look of the chart you have to press the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- button at the same time?

[PL1]

so by the look of the chart you have to press the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- button at the same time?

For normal dedicated inputs, no. (left column)

For shifted functions, yes. (right column)

If you have a control panel that has a coin button on it, you can connect it to the I-Pac input marked "Coin 1" to add credits. (dedicated input)

You can also wire a coin door switch to the same input to add a credit when you insert a coin. (dedicated input)

If your control panel doesn't have a coin button on it, and you don't have a coin handy, you can press P1 Start and P1 Button 1 at the same time to add a credit. (shifted function)

If you don't want admin buttons on your panel, you can use shifted functions.

If you'd rather have dedicated buttons for admin functions, you can use dedicated inputs and remove any shifted funtions that you don't want to accidently trigger.


Scott