Need your Opinions

[Kortoga]

Attached is a low res of my control panel buttons and placement.
Please look at it and poke holes in the design, placement, do I need more buttons, less buttons, am I missing some?
I know I can use shift keys,but I want this to be 10 year old ready.  Not my 10 year old, but the neighbor's kid that has no idea what to do.
That is the reason for labeling everything.
This is my first build, I want to make sure I am not forgetting any buttons needed to run this thing without needing a keyboard or mouse.

If needed, the keyboard and mouse will be stowed internal of the coin door.
The big hole in the center is for a trackball.
Player 1 & 2 have 8-way servo sticks for 4-way.
I like the pause feature, and like the fast forward feature as well.  Although I have not figured out how to add the fast forward without people using it like crazy and messing the game up.  Any suggestions?
I am using an I-Pac4, Mini-Pac, U-Trak, Apache Spinner (holes not shown), mini-grip stick (holes not shown), and I have a 7 port USB powered Hub.

This is a 4 Player pedestal machine with a HDMI 65" LED on the wall.
I have an illuminated master power ON/OFF switch located in the back.  This turns on power to a 1kVA UPS, and is protected with a 7.5 Amp C/B.
My PC power button is located on the back also.  The PC turns on all extra features like fans, coin door lights...whatever.
The front has all my USB receptacle plug ins for light guns, console controllers...whatever.

I am running HyperSpin, with:
-MAME
-Daphne
-Commodore 64
-Atari 5200
-Atari 7800
-Colecovision
-NES
-SNES
-Nintendo 64
-Sega Genesis
and will add more as time goes by.  I have all of these working great.  With all my video, images and media.

Still working on my graphics but want to get my control panel 100% sized and buttons placed before I move forward.

Thanks...will post pictures when I have time to do it.  Would rather work on it, and worry about that later.  But I will post everything once done.

[chopperthedog]

Phew! player 3-4 joysticks aren't angled.


good day.

[Kortoga]

Come on, with 802 posts, I know you have more than that!  lol
Button placement is no problem, what I really want to know...am I missing buttons I may need or do I have to many up top?

[harveybirdman]

You have too many admin buttons and the whole thing is too wide.

4P can be achieved with less real estate.  Even the space paranoids panel that caused so much upheaval around here last year is better laid out.

[Kortoga]

Yes, it is wide, but I have the real estate in my home for it.  I am not trying to slide this into my apartment near the fridge and between the front door.
This is sitting in front of a 65" monitor.  Not a 2 player 80s arcade game retrofit.
Thank you for the comment.  Please give me more...

Please be specific as to "to many admin buttons".
Which ones are not needed, which ones would you have?
or
Which ones are 100% needed so visitors will be able to easily operate?
Which ones ones are optional, but would probably be helpful?

[PL1]

First thing that I noticed is that you put the pause buttons far enough away from the exit button that you won't accidently exit when you meant to pause.   

Several things to consider:

    1. There are three admin buttons labeled "_ _ _ _".  What are those for?

Since you've already configured your front end and emulators, if you aren't yet sure what you need them for, you probably don't need them.

If in doubt, play-test until you find what functions you want/need.

Also check out this entry in the FAQ and beware the Menu (Tab) function.

To keep guests or children from accidently messing up their cab configuration, many individuals choose to not include a Menu (Tab) button and disable the shifted function for Menu. (P1 Start + joystick right on I-Pac)

    2. Consider editing the volume control icons/colors.

I would keep the current 3 curved lines on the right for "Volume +", but only use a single curved line for the "Volume -".  YMMV.

Green implies "go" or "growth" (mixed message) but using blue/red implies cold/hot or by editing the icon you can use the same color for both.


Scott

[Kortoga]

PL1, THANK YOU!

Those are the types of comments I was looking for!  Your help and review is very appreciated.  Thank you for the time and words from your experience.

The admin buttons labeled "-----", are spares for now, until I figure out if I want them or not.  I don't mind putting a stainless steel junction box NEMA 4X plug here.  But if I do not need it, I will not have it in the final rev.

With HyperSpin, I figure I can use:
Inside the Frontend:
1. Player 1 joystick for all up/down, left/right movements
2. In the Frontend can I use Player 1 pushbuttons to select game consoles, and then games, as the enter key?
   - If not, then I need an admin button for the enter key right?
3. I figure I have to have an Esc or Exit button to go back a level inside the frontend
4. If I have to do anything more inside the frontend, I will break out the keyboard and mouse

Inside the games:
1. I am assuming I will be able to set up all my in game play keyboard functions to my joysticks and buttons
2. the Esc or Exit button will exit the game
3. What about things like reset?  For example, some MAME Roms need to reset the rom during startup.  Is this the Menu/Tab function?
4. Are there any other in game admin buttons I am missing?

The volume controls are:
Left = green, the sound is leaving the speaker, this implies volume up
Right = red, the sound is going into the speaker, this implies volume down

I will change the red icon to only one curved line to see how this looks.  I admit, I love icon based controls vs. words.  Which is why I am trying out the volume icons.  I cannot figure out how to make the other controls icons without confusing people.  Sometimes words are the way to go.

==================================
I have the cabinet built, with a coat of black spray paint.  I have the control panel built minus the top control board that will hold the controls.  I have it cut to specs, but will not cut the holes until my artwork is completed.  I have detailed the install for each type of controller, joystick, trackball, spinner.
I have the motherboard, all power wiring with circuit breaker, UPS, relays, cooling, coin door lights, hard drives, powered USB Hub, everything minus the controls installed into the bottom of the pedestal.  I will post pictures soon.

[PL1]

2. In the Frontend can I use Player 1 pushbuttons to select game consoles, and then games, as the enter key?

Probably correct, but don't assume -- configuring and play-testing all must-have emulators/games is your friend.

   - If not, then I need an admin button for the enter key right?

In addition to the MAME default for Player 3, Button 3?   

3. I figure I have to have an Esc or Exit button to go back a level inside the frontend

Correct.

4. If I have to do anything more inside the frontend, I will break out the keyboard and mouse

Sounds good.

Inside the games:
1. I am assuming I will be able to set up all my in game play keyboard functions to my joysticks and buttons

See first answer above.

2. the Esc or Exit button will exit the game

See first answer above.

3. What about things like reset?  For example, some MAME Roms need to reset the rom during startup.  Is this the Menu/Tab function?

AFAIK, the games that need a ROM reset/nvram initialization only need it the first time you run the game.

4. Are there any other in game admin buttons I am missing?

None that I can think of unless you want to do save states.
-----
One other thing that I forgot to mention most 4-player encoders like the IPac4 have a few conflicting keys an "odd overlap" or "curious choice" that may cause trouble.

You may also want to take BadMouth's advice here and change the "modifier" keys (Ctrl, Alt, Shift, etc.) to unused keys to avoid triggering unintended windows functions.


Scott

[DarthMarino]

How much extra space will be on the panel below what is shown? If it isn't much, maybe consider moving the trackball up a bit.  You don't want your palm to scrap against the front of the panel.  Plus, it will clear it a bit from the P2 joystick when slamming it forward during a golf game.

[harveybirdman]

I suggest looking at other awesome pedestals in the Hall of Fame thread to get some inspiration, no need to go full rectangle.  Here' a link to the HOF http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,103103.0.html

Check out this one.. http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,117320.0.html

Also this 4p one which is great and that has inspired many clones.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,134038.msg1381490.html#msg1381490

[Kortoga]

How much extra space will be on the panel below what is shown? If it isn't much, maybe consider moving the trackball up a bit.  You don't want your palm to scrap against the front of the panel.  Plus, it will clear it a bit from the P2 joystick when slamming it forward during a golf game.

Length = 5'-4"
Depth = 1'-6"
Yes, that is big, but again, I am not restricted by space and want my family-friends to not be crowed when we all play together.  Plus, this thing is sitting in front of a 65" screen.
I will post pictures this weekend or earlier when I get time.  It is raining a lot this week, so I do not want to open my shop to move things around to get good pictures.

Although not shown, (I will add this soon to my drawings), I have an Apache spinner and minigrip joystick I am adding sorta between the track ball and Master Control buttons.

[Kortoga]

I suggest looking at other awesome pedestals in the Hall of Fame thread to get some inspiration, no need to go full rectangle.  Here' a link to the HOF http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,103103.0.html

Check out this one.. http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,117320.0.html

Also this 4p one which is great and that has inspired many clones.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,134038.msg1381490.html#msg1381490

I have gone through those threads, THANKS!