So...I am not a huge fan of franken-panels, but this one is well built, not horribly fugly, and I bought it for a song. I am going to use it as an interim until I build my own CP for dynamo showcase.
It came with:
- a full set of HAPP controls
- a ps/2 ipac4
- a turbotwist (with opti-pac and energy cylinder)
- a happ ps2/usb trackball (a bit of waste, could've run off the opti-pac)
- and the 3/4p sticks *are angled correctly (toward the screen)*
Other than LED buttons (that I'll eventually move over to my next build), I am mostly considering: what to do with the extra controls and buttons?
I am thinking of replacing player one with a
servoStik, which I then in turn could replace the dedicated 4-way with something more useful like an
UltraStik 360FS Flight Stick I really just don't understand the logic behind the extra buttons.
It leaves me 2 disjointed admin buttons across the top, along with a set of 3 buttons which are currently wired to the trackball, which seem all but useless nowadays.
Then there is the 2 buttons on either side of the 4-way. Maybe I just haven't played enough of the right classics in my life, but I don't recognize the value of this layout.
That said, they can go with the spinner or the flight stick; I am not opposed to swapping sides of them. I'd like some input here from people with more experience I guess.
Had I built this thing myself, I would have probably only done 2-3 admin buttons in the middle, where the useless "mouse" buttons are currently. Really only a pause+(Shifted) exit, info, and fe favorites buttons come to mind.
Note, I do not intend to "rebuild" this control panel (ie filling or adding holes, etc) ...I plan to use it pretty much as is, with maybe the replacement of a couple controls as mentioned.
So basically, I am asking this: if this was *your* control panel, how would you map the buttons given, and what would you do with the upper area, and why? FE will be hyperspin, if that matters. Thanks in advance!