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New user & looking for control panel layout feedback

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cryoguns:

Thanks for the feedback so far!


--- Quote from: Generic Eric on May 15, 2014, 09:21:14 pm ---That is a common configuration for what you are trying to accomplish.

Do you have any of that hardware?  The buttons, joysticks and trackball?  I don't have a 3" track ball, but I think its very close to the button.  Do you have your keyboard encoder?  Where will you put it?  I didn't consider that when planning my CP and had to fit it in.  It was even more of a challenge when I was making room for 2 KADEs.

I made a test CP before my cab.  It helped.  If you can make a test box the size of your CP to test your layouts, I think it will help in understand where everything goes.  YMMV.

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I haven't purchased the hardware yet, but I will soon.  I really wanted to plan out the control panel before deciding on what to buy.

For the keyboard encoder, each of the Ultimarc Ultrastick 360s say they allow for 8 buttons each to be connected to them.  My plan is to run each of the 7 player buttons to their respective joysticks.  The rest of the buttons and the trackball would go to the Mini-Pac Opti controller (not OptiPAC as I erroneously listed before).  Ultimarc lists the board size as 2.25" x 1.5" which should be no problem placing.  I can easily fit it horizontally between the Player 2 top and bottom button set, which is about 2.25" x 6" of room.  If I ditch the mouse/trackball dedicated buttons as Dave suggests next, that space would be about 3.5" wide and 9" long. 

I do plan to make a test board out of 1/2" plywood first to see if it will feel comfortable, but that will be after I order all the components.  I wanted to get feedback about the layout in general first before ordering parts :)



--- Quote from: DaveMMR on May 15, 2014, 10:02:35 pm ---That's pretty much how my panel was: the buttons were pretty much practically on top of the mounting plate. Worked fine for most TB games.

My only suggestions are:
- Remove the "Restart Game" button. Unless you have a compelling need for it, it seems like a useless function.  If you do need it (you like to reset the game), mount it off panel somewhere like the back of the cabinet or under the bottom panel so you're not hitting it accidentally.
- IMO mouse buttons (or dedicated TB buttons) are gratuitous, confusing and you will never be able to use them comfortably the way they are laid out. The main buttons are way more comfortable.
-If you find a cheap coin door, you can rig up the rejects to act as buttons.

Otherwise, solid.  Do test it out though.  I know with my layout, the bottom row was less comfortable to use than the top, so the seventh button may end up being useless if you find that true for yourself as well.

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Thanks!

For the "reset game" button, I will definitely think about it.  My preference would be to keep most buttons on the control panel to keep everything easy to swap out (control panel will be removable in case I want to have swappable ones in the future).  There's not many MAME function buttons I would want to include, and 'Reset Game' and 'Exit Game' are the only two I would probably get any use out of.

Regarding the mouse buttons, I agree...they did not look comfortable to use there but that trackball has a large footprint underneath the panel :)  I like the idea of dedicated mouse buttons but I can axe these without much concern. 

I did get one of the dummy coin doors from Suzo Happ awhile back.  Unfortunately...no buttons.



--- Quote from: harveybirdman on May 15, 2014, 10:45:29 pm ---Do you really need two pause buttons?

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Honestly just simplicity and symmetry to make it easy for player 2 to be able to hit Pause without having to reach all the way across the player 1 controls.  The Asteroids cabinet is fairly tall (6'1") with a tall control panel and it is really more convenience than anything else.



--- Quote from: mgb on May 15, 2014, 11:20:28 pm ---The cabinet progress looks great. Do you plan on painting or laminate for the sides. I couldn't tell if you slotted for t-molding or not but you'd be best to do soon.

That's a good standard cp layout.
Personally, if it were me, I'd get rid of the game reset button as well as one of the pause buttons. I'd also ditch the coin buttons and use a coin door or similar.
I also see little reason for the mouse buttons. You can just use your regular player buttons for trackball games. Besides those mouse buttons will prove real uncomfortable for use with the trackball.

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Thanks!  I'll be painting the cabinet rather than laminating.  All the furniture in my office is painted black, and it will match better in there.  The sides are already slotted for t-molding (going with white t-molding on the black cabinet instead of the original Asteroids black t-molding on a black cabinet).

As above...yeah, I agree on the mouse buttons and will probably lose them.  The second pause I'm planning to keep, and still undecided on the 'reset game' button.  I will definitely give it some thought. 


Thanks for the great input so far!

shponglefan:

FWIW, I did two pause buttons on my first CP.  While they rarely were used, there was the odd time they came in handy.

PL1:

Since you are planning on having several consoles (PS and N64), are you planning on using the original controllers for them?

For the PC, have you installed/configured the emulators you want to use?

You may want to do that before you finalise your choice of admin buttons.

Check out some other suggestions here.


Scott

mgb:

Well it sounds like you've got a good idea of where you wanna go with it.
Black cabinet with white t molding will look great. My cab is black with white t molding and I love it. The contrast really pops.

Paul Olson:

I would probably put a single pause button in the center. When you need to use the pause button, it is usually needed quickly, and you are probably going to mash other buttons as laid out. The exit and restart buttons can be shifted to other buttons. I have a coin button and a pause button on each side of my CP, so they are not cluttering up the top. I shift ESC on one of them, and tab on the other. The coin return idea would work well for the coin inputs as mentioned.  I think that the restart game button will probably keep you from ever finishing a game. I know I would start over if I died early and had that available.

My original cp had mouse buttons, but they are a pain to use. For anything you need mouse buttons for, just grab a wireless mouse. It is just easier to use.

If you are planning to swap panels, you may want to make start, coin, pause, and any admin buttons part of the cab so you don't need to add them to each panel.

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