Trackball and Fire Button Distance in Between

[Richardgregory]

Ok, so I got the Ultimarc trackball, and in the thought process of designing the control panel, and hitting a bit of a road block, so hoping you all can chime in here - thanks in advance.

The main games I'll be playing are Centipede (of course) and Missile Command, which both titles make use of fire button(s).  The question that I have is how many inches should I leave at minimal between the fire button such that when the trackball is being rolled and while pressing on the fire button either won't be in the way of one another.

Any feedback is much appreciated.

Thanks all

[circusfreak]

I assume you are doing a full control panel with at least 2 players, with the trackball in the middle?

Are you planning on putting "extra" buttons near the trackball to use with it? I would recommend instead just using the regular buttons for P1 / P2 and don't add any extra redundant buttons near the trackball. Then it works well for lefties and righties to play trackball games, and reduces control panel clutter. If you have at least 2.5"-3" clearance between trackball and buttons, you won't have any issues.

Look through the stickied 'Show us your control panel' post on here to get some layout ideas.

IMO, you can't beat the "Knievel style" layout, with 2 8-way (or U360) sticks, with a 6 or 8 button cluster each, a trackball dead center, and up top (if you have a larger enough CP) a dedicated 4-way stick next to a spinner with a 2 button cluster. That gives you everything you need while keeping things (somewhat) simple looking.

Have fun building!
Cheers.

[bobbyb13]

How wide of a panel / what size monitor are you using / what is the total prioritized game list?

Spacing all depends on exactly what other controls you want on the panel and the above details.

I have one and two player panel designs that plays a bunch of classics very comfortably but those may not work for your game list or for the joysticks you want to use.

More detail or a picture of a mock up will help immensely with the info you get!

[Richardgregory]

Thanks for the responses - I was thinking of building a control panel just for the games Centipede and Missile Command, but now rethinking to drop Missile Command and putting in a joystick instead for the title Wacko.  So it'll be one Joystick, 1 'fire' Button and 1 Trackball instead.

Need to put some more thought on this.  I think I'd be more favorable to Wacko over Missile Command.

[ericball]

Prototype it!

For my barcade I first drew the layout on grid paper as a first step.  This allowed me to discover having the control panel inside the side panels (similar to Tempest) wasn't comfortable, so I revised my cabinet design.  As a second step I made a temporary control panel out of scrap MDF and I'm using that to play games and determine which are worth including.  Others have used cardboard boxes or other on-hand materials.  This also allows you to double check your measurements & clearances.  I also did it to verify the joystick mounting.