Newbie: How does this controller setup sound?

[vaderag]

I've just spotted the iPac Ultimate
http://www.ultimarc.com/ipacuio.html

Anyone know much about this? My plan was to use ipac2 and Pacled64, but this seems to combine the two... any advantages / disadvantages?

[vaderag]

So... i've nailed down what i'm having and am now in the process of CP design...

Planning the following buttons:
P1: 8 buttons
P2: 8 buttons

Start / Coin x2p
Pinball flippers x2

Additional:
Shift - P1 hold
Exit -  Shift + P2 (I.e P1+P2)
Pause - shift + coin 1 /  coin2
Save / Load state - shift + flippers
2 mouse buttons - P1 7/8


Question... when laying out your CP, what horizontal spacing are people using? So, imagining the joy and buttons for each player as a closed unit, and the trackball, I am centering the trackball in the CP (both horizontally and vertically) and having the joysticks on the vertical line with the Trackball center... but do you space out from P1 joystick to trackball and final button center on P2 to trackball or is there some other way to space out horizontally?

May be easier to ask with a diagram...

Should i be ensuring the blue or red spacing is the same? Or should I be looking at something different? Is there a minimum amount of suggested space to the left of P1 stick?


Edit - and before anyone mentions it, i know 8 buttons is overkill, but for the minimal extra cost of an extra few buttons it will a) satisfy my OCD over having just 7 on each side and b) allow me to use the extras for combos on SFIV etc which i found useful on my fightstick

[Token]

I've just spotted the iPac Ultimate
http://www.ultimarc.com/ipacuio.html

Anyone know much about this? My plan was to use ipac2 and Pacled64, but this seems to combine the two... any advantages / disadvantages?

I use an iPac Ultimate I/O on my two-player w/ trackball cab. No complaints here.

Advantages
Comes with the wiring harnesses
More LED outputs

Disadvantages
None that I can think of

[vaderag]

I've just spotted the iPac Ultimate
http://www.ultimarc.com/ipacuio.html

Anyone know much about this? My plan was to use ipac2 and Pacled64, but this seems to combine the two... any advantages / disadvantages?

I use an iPac Ultimate I/O on my two-player w/ trackball cab. No complaints here.

Advantages
Comes with the wiring harnesses
More LED outputs

Disadvantages
None that I can think of

Awesome, thanks
How's your layout? Any thoughts on my questions above?

[Token]

Any thoughts on my questions above?

If you have room on the panel, I would recommend not centering your P1/2 controls with the trackball. I recommend placing them higher on the panel than the trackball so that you can sweep right on the trackball without hitting the P2 joystick.

Should i be ensuring the blue or red spacing is the same?

Not a big deal, but I'd go with this.

Also, I like panels with simple controls, but I do recommend a dedicated Pause (not shifted). I use Pause 10x more than I use P1/P2 buttons 4-6.

How wide is this panel? It looks very wide for a 2 player.

Good luck!

[vaderag]

Great point about the trackball - I'll def look at that. How does that work with trackball games that use buttons too?

I guess realistically I could use the pinball flippers as pause in most instances?

And yes, it is wide for a 2p. That's because I am using a 27" 16:10 monitor so the width translates down!

[Token]

Great point about the trackball - I'll def look at that. How does that work with trackball games that use buttons too?

Shouldn't be a problem. I'm not talking about moving the controls up super high. Here's a pic of how I spaced mine.

[vaderag]

Oh, you haven't moved them that high. Was picturing more than that! I guess so long as the joystick center is level with the outer trackball edge or greater, then I'll be fine...

[vaderag]

Great point about the trackball - I'll def look at that. How does that work with trackball games that use buttons too?

Shouldn't be a problem. I'm not talking about moving the controls up super high. Here's a pic of how I spaced mine.

So based on what you suggested I've tweaked my layout to the following... but i'm now concerned about the room below the trackball...  do you think much space is needed to rest your wrist?

[DeLuSioNal29]

Yes. You wrist will get fatigued with it so low.   Why not move it up and split the admin buttons to the side?

[harveybirdman]

Why do you want 8 buttons and pinball support?

[vaderag]

Pinball for playing pinball and 8 for things like street fighter so you can map the triple button to it like on the fight sticks.

[vaderag]

Yes. You wrist will get fatigued with it so low.   Why not move it up and split the admin buttons to the side?

Well, to Token's point, I don't want to be whacking the joysticks when using it... Moving it up surely exacerbates that problem?

[vaderag]

So taking into account all the posts above, how does the following look?

I have aligned the centre of the trackball with the base of the lower button - this leaves 6.5cm to 'rest' wrist on... still not convinced that's sufficient tho...



I'm wondering whether to just go back to the original centered and sod the being able to whack it at speed without the joysticks getting in the way... how many games is that really an issue for Token? All the trackball games I can think of are more precise controls (tho sure i'm missing some obvious ones!)