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javeryh's Woodgrain Cabaret Copy
J_K_M_A_N:
"RETURN" is a good compromise. Nice fix. :cheers:
J_K_M_A_N
Zebidee:
Love your work.
I’d tighten-up the instructions a bit. By that I mean using less words to say same thing.
By which I mean just “UP/DOWN select game” is enough, for example
“LEFT/RIGHT skip letter” etc. and so on
Less is more
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yamatetsu:
--- Quote from: javeryh on August 29, 2020, 01:32:05 pm ---
--- Quote from: yamatetsu on August 29, 2020, 01:24:36 am ---That shouldn't even be a consideration. You don't want to have something that looks good but has ---smurfy--- controls. Functionality > art.
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Agreed. In this case I don't think I'm really giving up functionality by centering the joystick. Lots old cabinets did this. What do you think?
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I think that you're doing this a bit backwards. Ask yourself some questions: Who is going to use the cab the most? Which controls are going to be used the most? The answers are probably going to be I am, joystick, buttons. So, make a CP mockup, cardboard or scrap wood, put it on the cab. Stand in front of the cab, put your hands where you want the controls to be, mark those positions. Measure the positions, transfer those measurements to your CP art. Now you have some fixed points to design your art around. If you cut holes in the mockup, you can even put the controls into it, do a test print of the CP art, apply it to the mockup and see how it will look IRL.
Oh, and you also will be able to see how it ties in with the rest of the cab.
--- Quote from: javeryh on August 29, 2020, 01:46:53 pm ---I increased the font on the instructions to make it slightly more legible (13 to 14 point)
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That's why I would use a vector graphics program. In CorelDraw, you type in your text and then just resize it to any size you want.
Jimbo:
--- Quote from: javeryh on August 29, 2020, 06:52:46 pm ---Great ideas. I wonder if I should change the font to say "Press ANY BUTTON" to start game" or keep it the same and just set it up so any button starts a game.
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I don't think it matters what you put in the instructions coz nobody's gunna read'em! ;) >:D
Also... I reckon you'll get bored waiting for 5 seconds every time you want to exit a game. You'll be counting it in your head. Personally I'd set it to 2 seconds, or 3 seconds max. Time is money my friend! ;) OR... ditch the pause and just exit immediately! >:D
javeryh:
--- Quote from: J_K_M_A_N on August 29, 2020, 10:18:49 pm ---"RETURN" is a good compromise. Nice fix. :cheers:
J_K_M_A_N
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Thanks. I think it works. Although I did end up staring at the screen for 30 minutes with the words "Hold" and "RETURN" also colored red to link the actions but ultimately decided it didn't look right. I don't know how people do graphic design for a living when the possibilities are literally endless.
--- Quote from: Zebidee on August 29, 2020, 11:51:30 pm ---Love your work.
I’d tighten-up the instructions a bit. By that I mean using less words to say same thing.
By which I mean just “UP/DOWN select game” is enough, for example
“LEFT/RIGHT skip letter” etc. and so on
Less is more
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I agree less is more - I cleaned up a few lines of text to make it read a little better.
--- Quote from: yamatetsu on August 30, 2020, 02:40:04 am ---I think that you're doing this a bit backwards. Ask yourself some questions: Who is going to use the cab the most? Which controls are going to be used the most? The answers are probably going to be I am, joystick, buttons. So, make a CP mockup, cardboard or scrap wood, put it on the cab. Stand in front of the cab, put your hands where you want the controls to be, mark those positions. Measure the positions, transfer those measurements to your CP art. Now you have some fixed points to design your art around. If you cut holes in the mockup, you can even put the controls into it, do a test print of the CP art, apply it to the mockup and see how it will look IRL.
Oh, and you also will be able to see how it ties in with the rest of the cab.
--- End quote ---
I am going to do this today. I have a piece of scrap for the CP so I will play around with it. I agree that functionality is more important than looks BUT in this case I am willing to sacrifice 5% functionality to make it look a lot better if that is the way it works out. My end goal is to have a functioning piece of art not necessarily a functioning arcade cabinet if that makes any sense at all. Since this will be going in my house permanently and I will be looking at it a lot more than I will be playing it I'm OK with 95% functionality. There is a fine line though - I do not want it to be even 1% non-functional. I know I'm not explaining this correctly...
This might not matter because I've mocked up the controls without the spinner and I like how it looks and it's 100% functional. The spinner was always a "nice to have" with only 18" to work with although this CP is beautiful and it's only 19-5/8" with a spinner, joystick, 3 buttons and a 2.25" trackball!
--- Quote from: yamatetsu on August 30, 2020, 02:40:04 am ---That's why I would use a vector graphics program. In CorelDraw, you type in your text and then just resize it to any size you want.
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Inkscape is a vector program - If you don't change the type to an object you can change the font however you want but if you make it an object you can scale it up or down in size (but then I'm not sure how to get the rest of the font to scale to the same size doing it that way). I'm still learning. It's a really cool program.
--- Quote from: Jimbo on August 30, 2020, 05:51:17 am ---I don't think it matters what you put in the instructions coz nobody's gunna read'em! ;) >:D
Also... I reckon you'll get bored waiting for 5 seconds every time you want to exit a game. You'll be counting it in your head. Personally I'd set it to 2 seconds, or 3 seconds max. Time is money my friend! ;) OR... ditch the pause and just exit immediately! >:D
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LOL this is so true. I am taking your advice and I got rid of the "5 second" concept. So now it basically says "Hold to exit". You are right - 3 seconds is probably fine so now I can set it up to work however I want and I'm not bound to any set time.
Thanks everyone! I work a lot better in small steps refining everything as I go and all of this advice/criticism helps me work it through. I am jealous of a lot of you who just post the finished product and it is perfect (although I'm sure there is a lot of behind the scenes stuff that gets omitted). :cheers: