Vertical only cabinet control layout?

[WolfieArcade]

I'm wanting to build a cabinet that focuses on vertical games only.  I'm stumped on is figuring out the needed controls for it.  I know most vertical games uses 1-3 buttons per a player but does anyone know any that require more buttons? 

My plan is to have all the controls I need but keep it as simple and clean as possible.  I made a horribly aligned sketch of what I have in mind in which I'm happy with.  Though I don't know if I need more buttons per a player or if there is something that I missed.  Any help would be great!

[WolfieArcade]

Then I thought about toobin which takes 5 buttons so I might just do 6 to be on the safe side.  I doubt there is any vertical games that takes 6 buttons, never mind 7 lol

[harveybirdman]

Two joysticks 3 buttons that's it.

Get a dedicated centipede and or an Arkanoid cabaret.

Your game wishlist is too big to justify a specialty cabinet.

[thomas_surles]

What kind of joysticks?
Consider just doing a vertical with a 4 way stick and just one or two buttons. For pacman ,donkey kong , galaga and whatever classics.

Then build another cab down the road for 8way verticals like shmups.

Maybe a two player six button street fighter layout cover fighters, beat em ups, and run and guns.

Its just better to have seperate cabs with correct controls than to compromise on controls to try to play too many games on one cab.

[Cynicaster]

If your primary objective is to focus on “vertical only,” then having so many different controls on the panel seems kind of antithetical. 
   
Since you only need one joystick to play 2 players on most classic 4-way games, I’m assuming the P1 and P2 sticks in your diagram (the ones with the buttons) are 8-way.  Which means you don’t have a 4-way planned.  Personally, I think it would be a mistake to not have a good 4-way stick on a vertical cabinet, due to the large number of classics that need a 4-way to be enjoyed to their fullest.

But…

If you add in a 4-way to what you already have, assuming you can even fit it anywhere, you’re adding more clutter to an already over-crowded panel.  If you replace one of the 2 regular joysticks with a 4-way, then you lose the ability to play 2 player simultaneous 8-way games.  If you get switchable 4/8-way joysticks then you’re pretty much compromising every game you play with sticks that do both but neither of them particularly well.

As you can see, you quickly get stuck in conundrum hell when you try to bite off too much with a single layout. 

I think most of us here can identify with the early desire to build the “one control panel to rule them all,” but experience tends to lead just about everybody to the same conclusion; namely, that it is better to divide and conquer in some way than to try to accommodate too many games in one fell swoop.  This advice gets offered time and again, but unfortunately, it seems to be the sort of thing that doesn’t sink in for a lot of people until they actually try to live with a control panel that looks like a small city. 

If it were me and I had to settle on one vertical machine, I’d have, from left to right: P1 8-way joystick -> 3 or 6 P1 buttons -> 4-way joystick -> 1 button -> P2 8-way joystick -> 3 or 6 P2 buttons.  With this, you get:

-   Ability to do 2 players simultaneously (e.g., vertical shooters)
-   Center mounted 4-way for comfortable enjoyment of classics
-   Buttons on both sides of the 4-way to enable playing left- or right-handed
-   Pretty open and obstruction-free feel, no matter what controls you’re using

I’d miss the track ball, but they take up so much space, and I think having the centered 4-way is far more important.  If you really wanted, you could probably squeeze in a spinner somewhere without making a mess because they are so compact and easy to fit in… but the spinner game library is not exactly overflowing with great games, IMO.

Of course, the ideal thing is to have multiple machines that each do something in particular really well, which is easier said than done.  A good middle ground is swappable/modular control panels.  I used to think the latter was a goofy idea, but I’m 100% a believer now.  After living with my original control layout for 6 years, just recently I reworked my cabinet to handle swappable panels and it has been great.     

[telengard]

Totally agree about the modular panels.  It's more work up front to build, but it is the ultimate in flexibility.  I had swappable panels early on and switched to modular.  Absolutely the best upgrade to my cabinet.