First build. Thoughts on CP layout?

[finagle69]

Hi guys.  Finally got brave enough to make a build.  This will be a bartop (garage workbench top, lol).  The goal is to be a MAME machine with 1 player controls, capable of playing 2 joystick games, Arkanoid, Fighters, Metal Slugs, and Missile Command.  I'd occasionally like to be able to play Golden Tee when friends visit.

Here is my design of the CP.  All the angle's are 22.5deg relative to keep it somewhat pleasing to look at.  I gave extra distance past the trackball with nothing in the way for Golden Tee drunk swings.  The main P1 joystick will be a ServoStik for 4way games, second joystick will be either a JLF or LS-40.  Buttons TBD.

Edit:  Figured I'd state that most admin buttons will be beneath the monitor facing the user instead of facing up.  I'd like to keep the top of the CP as clean and less confusing to users as possible.



Build in the cabinet will be a PC with a micro ATX, G3258 cpu, GTX 750Ti lopro.  Monitor will be a Dell 19" 4.3 LCD most likely so the cab can be shallow.  What you see above is the only design stuff done at this point.  I've gotten Hyperspin completely setup with all the emus and games I want already, so at least that's done.

Looking for criticisms and general feedback/tips.

Thanks!

[EssexMame]

If you want fighters, won't you also want 2 player? To my mind, they are more of a 2-player game but of course can be played 1 player. As you have 2 joysticks though, why not add buttons for the second joystick too? Of course, fighters need 6 (well, SF does) so it might make it too cluttered for you/a bartop

Most designs seem to put the trackball front-and-center and the spinner offset from it. No reason it has to be though except for look/familiarity and symmetry perhaps.

[finagle69]

In my posts text, I wrote that the P1 left stick will be ServoStik, and the right stick will just be a Sanwa or Semeitsu.  I didn't edit the CAD file as I was lazy.

Putting full 2P controls would make the controls section too wide for where it's going to end up, so this was the compromise.  I may make a separate P2 fight stick at a later date as I'll actually have one extra joystick not being used.

I know most people put the trackball right smack in the middle, but because of the smaller width of this panel, I felt it would be more in the way of P1 controls, especially the right joystick.

[BorgDog]

Seems a little wide for a single player bartop, but I like the look of it, not the same as all the others out there.     Looking forward to following along.

[RxBrad]

You might have a hard time fitting a ServoStik on that current layout.  The center of the joystick to the edge of the servo is about 2.6".  Even if you mount it sideways with the servo on the top edge, I think the plate might still interfere with that thumb button.

[yotsuya]

Does it make me a cabsole if I say I don't care for the trackball extension. It's like an aircraft carrier panel for a bartop.

[finagle69]

You might have a hard time fitting a ServoStik on that current layout.  The center of the joystick to the edge of the servo is about 2.6".  Even if you mount it sideways with the servo on the top edge, I think the plate might still interfere with that thumb button.

You're very right about that.  Over the weekend, I built a test box with the ServoStik, a JLF, and an LS-40 along with 4 buttons arranged like in my layout example.  I had to reposition things a bit to get that servo motor to fit.  I'll be tweaking this.

Does it make me a cabsole if I say I don't care for the trackball extension. It's like an aircraft carrier panel for a bartop.

Not at all!  It is different, but I kind of wanted to do something a little different. 

[mattfl]

Oh man, so glad I found this! I'm building a very similar bartop and was trying to come up with a good one player with all the bells control panel for mine. Love your layout, probably going to steal it 

Here's my just started build thread -> http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,145722.0.html

I probably won't go with the extra area for the trackball though but I like your overall layout.

[finagle69]

^No problem! 

I've started modeling mine in SketchUp to get a feel for the look of it.  I kind of like the trackball jut out.  Just seems to give it a little something extra.  Maybe it's just me.

[Green Giant]

^No problem! 

I've started modeling mine in SketchUp to get a feel for the look of it.  I kind of like the trackball jut out.  Just seems to give it a little something extra.  Maybe it's just me.

Holy admin buttons batman........those are a lot of admin buttons.  I hope you were just playing with sketchup when you put all those in. 

Otherwise I kind of like the way it all looks.  Something about it just seems to fit even though it isn't uniform.  Maybe it's because there is 1 player, 2 joysticks, and a spinner.  The chaos all seems to compliment each other like some sort of Bizarro-cade.

[finagle69]

Holy admin buttons batman........those are a lot of admin buttons.  I hope you were just playing with sketchup when you put all those in. 

Otherwise I kind of like the way it all looks.  Something about it just seems to fit even though it isn't uniform.  Maybe it's because there is 1 player, 2 joysticks, and a spinner.  The chaos all seems to compliment each other like some sort of Bizarro-cade.

Yeah, lol.  I measured the space and just sort of laid out buttons so they "fit" and had decent space around them.  I've started making a list of admin buttons I want, and I'm currently up to 9   Is there a better way to do it?

Menu (Tab)
Save
Load (save/load mainly for NES/SNES/Gen type stuff)
Enter
Esc
Fast Forward (Insert, waiting for POST is a PITA)
Pause
Favorites
Genre

I'm very open to suggestions here on how to better make this work and not be too cluttered on the panel.  I'd even do 24mm buttons to make it look less crazy there, but most button inserts I see are for standard 30mm buttons.

Also, not shown would be Coin1 P1 and Coin2 P2 on the bottom front.  I need to add that in there.

[Green Giant]

Holy admin buttons batman........those are a lot of admin buttons.  I hope you were just playing with sketchup when you put all those in. 

Otherwise I kind of like the way it all looks.  Something about it just seems to fit even though it isn't uniform.  Maybe it's because there is 1 player, 2 joysticks, and a spinner.  The chaos all seems to compliment each other like some sort of Bizarro-cade.

Yeah, lol.  I measured the space and just sort of laid out buttons so they "fit" and had decent space around them.  I've started making a list of admin buttons I want, and I'm currently up to 9   Is there a better way to do it?

Menu (Tab)
Save
Load (save/load mainly for NES/SNES/Gen type stuff)
Enter
Esc
Fast Forward (Insert, waiting for POST is a PITA)
Pause
Favorites
Genre

I'm very open to suggestions here on how to better make this work and not be too cluttered on the panel.  I'd even do 24mm buttons to make it look less crazy there, but most button inserts I see are for standard 30mm buttons.

Also, not shown would be Coin1 P1 and Coin2 P2 on the bottom front.  I need to add that in there.

If it was me, I would use a small pushbutton possibly arranged in patterns with similar buttons.  I would use large buttons for pause/exit/enter while using the below little button for the remaining.  With perhaps the load/save on top of each other using less space and maybe tab/fast forward also on top of each other.  Same thing with Favorites/Genre.

[finagle69]

^Awesome idea.  Thanks for the thoughts.  I'll be rethinking the layout.

[8BitMonk]

Experience has taught me that there is NEVER enough room for a drunken Golden Tee swing!   

I do like the look of the trackball and spinner off to the side, it makes it unique, but from a playability standpoint I think it might bug me being offcenter when playing the game. Maybe not since the area is smaller than a standard cab, you'll have to test it out.

Also +1 on way to many admin buttons. I don't see a Coin or P1 Start which would be the most used. Remember that you can cover a lot of the admin stuff with shift button fuctionality, ie. pressing P1 Start plus joystick button triggers an admin function. With your 7 buttons that'd take care of most of your admin needs. Personally I always find myself reverting back to a keyboard, you might just want to grab a good compact wireless one to keep with it.

Good luck on the build!

[finagle69]

Right.  I will certainly add Coins and P1/2 starts to the bottom front of the CP.  Just forgot to put that in the model.  I have a little wireless rollup keyboard that I'll keep inside the cab for full keyboard stuff.

Good thought on the shift stuff.  What sucks is that only I'd know what they were, but I'll be the main user anyway.

And thanks!