Quick Question on 4P Layout

[mattgold]

Quick question - and I apologize if it's been covered ad nauseam.

When laying out a 4 Player controller - the normal layout from left to right is; 3P, 1P, 2P, 4P. 

Makes sense to 2P Games like Street Fighter and causes no issues for 4P games like TMNT or Gauntlet... However, does this make two-on-two games a bit of a pain?  I'm thinking mostly sports games; NBA Jam, NFL Blitz, Hit the Ice, etc


Or is there a way in most emulators to specify "who goes where" (3P spot = 1st player, 1P spot = 2nd player, etc)?

Cheers. 

[mattgold]

...oh and I know "only 4 buttons for 3P and 4P" and "don't angle your joystick!!!".

 

[DarakuTenshi]

Personally the way described it was the way I would do it. As for only 4 buttons for p3 and p4 that too will depend on if you are doing strictly arcade emulation or if you are including console emulation.

[michelevit]

Its all easily re-configurable via the Mame Tab key remapping menu.
Its personal preference so just set it up the way you want it.

if i was setting up a 4 way cab it would be
3-1-2-4

[DaveMMR]

The "player number" is arbitrary when designing the control panel because you can make any controller Player One, Two, Three, Four, etc. in each game's individual configuration.  (Which is why I kind of think it's NOT a good idea when people put the player number markings on their artwork. It's not hard to tell where you need to stand based on the game.)

For example:  In Street Fighter Two, the middle controls would be P1 and P2 with the outer controls unmapped (unless you want to map them 1 and 2 for redundancy.)  And in Gauntlet, you'll map them from left to right, P1, P2, P3 and P4. Etc.

The only thing you have to worry about is if you use a specific input as a SHIFT button for certain encoders but I don't imagine it's a big deal.