Looking to design 4-person layout that will cover most use-cases, need input

[AnthonyPaulO]

Hey guys,

I have a 4-player cabinet and I'm missing out on playing games like Spy Hunter, Star Wars, Paperboy, Ikari Warriors, Heavy Barrel, Forgotten Worlds, etc... because I don't have the controls needed to operate them. I'm trying to get a list of the most widely played games that use special controls and was wondering if there is a list somewhere. From what I see so far, games like Spy Hunter, Star Wars, and Paperyboy should be playable using the GRS Flight Yoke. Ikari Warriors, Victory Road, and Heavy Barrel type games can be played with the SNK LS 30. Pole Position, ABT, Super Sprint, etc... can be played by attaching a Wheel to a Arkanoid type spinner such as the one from Ultimarc or Groovy Game Gear, and I believe games like Forgotten Worlds, which require a spinner that can be pushed down like a button, can be played using the Turbo Twist spinner from Groovy Game Gear. For racing games Shifters and Pedals need to be accounted for as well.

What I'm looking to do is compile a list of these games and special controls as well as how many players need to be accommodated, and look for the best layout to arrange them. In order to avoid clutter I'd like to make some controls plug-and-playable, so that I can temporarily mount them on the cabinet when playing those games and easily remove them when not in use. Do we have a list like this somewhere?

Many thanks in advance!

Anthony

[bobbyb13]

In order to build something that is actually playable, what you are talking about would require:

A.  A minimum of 3 cabinets.
B.  One cabinet with 3 or more swappable panels (and some complicated but manageable interface and wiring work.
C.  One cabinet with a modular control panel and many different individual controls (requiring similar interface and wiring work as in 'B'

I have started on a build 'B' myself and took a break from it because it was overwhelming.
It may be finiwhed before I die.

Start with a list of must have games for yourself and loom to where controls cross to narrow it down as much as you can.

There is an entry in the wiki that lists all the controls detail you could want I believe.
If I can find it I wil post a link and I will also try to dig up the dpreadsheet I made for myself of exactly what you are talking about.

[bobbyb13]

http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/Joysticks

At the bottom of that page there is a breakdown of controls by game for all categories of controls pretty much.

Pour yourself a tall glass of something.  It's a lot!

Also easy to find from there are the links to modular and swappable panel builds.

The wiki here is just awesome.

[circusfreak]

I think it's tough to try to do something that will play 'everything', but you can achieve something that plays 'almost everything'. Some games you can play with different controls and they are pretty good. Here is the layout I just finished and have been playing on a lot. It's not 'terribly' cluttered and seems to do a lot pretty well. The main sticks are U360s top stick is a gated 4-way, and then the U360 flight stick.



For tank games (Like Assault), I use the flight stick and top stick combo.
Tron is the flight stick and spinner.
For Ikari Warriors, I use the flight stick for moving and shooting, and the spinner for aiming, instead of the original twisting joystick. Works pretty nice actually.
For Driving games like Super Sprint, I use the spinner and one of the buttons for gas/brake. I don't have a little wheel attachment, so I just turn down the sensitivity on the spinner a bit. Pretty good once you get used to it. Also you could use the flight stick as an analog pedal.
For Paperboy and other analog type games, the flight stick serves as a usable replacement control, after adjusting sensitivity.
The 2 lowered buttons around the 6-button straight config will allow me to use as a game controller mapping for PC games (modern Killer Instinct etc)

One of the only games I can't do with this setup so far is Vindicators, as that needs 2 sticks that have 2 buttons each.

[LTC]

I think it's tough to try to do something that will play 'everything', but you can achieve something that plays 'almost everything'. Some games you can play with different controls and they are pretty good. Here is the layout I just finished and have been playing on a lot. It's not 'terribly' cluttered and seems to do a lot pretty well. The main sticks are U360s top stick is a gated 4-way, and then the U360 flight stick.



For tank games (Like Assault), I use the flight stick and top stick combo.
Tron is the flight stick and spinner.
For Ikari Warriors, I use the flight stick for moving and shooting, and the spinner for aiming, instead of the original twisting joystick. Works pretty nice actually.
For Driving games like Super Sprint, I use the spinner and one of the buttons for gas/brake. I don't have a little wheel attachment, so I just turn down the sensitivity on the spinner a bit. Pretty good once you get used to it. Also you could use the flight stick as an analog pedal.
For Paperboy and other analog type games, the flight stick serves as a usable replacement control, after adjusting sensitivity.
The 2 lowered buttons around the 6-button straight config will allow me to use as a game controller mapping for PC games (modern Killer Instinct etc)

One of the only games I can't do with this setup so far is Vindicators, as that needs 2 sticks that have 2 buttons each.

That looks like a really nice layout. I'm planning on a 2 player pedestal based on DeeGor's build http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,155462.0.html but will want to get more functions, like yours. Would you happen to have layout files  you would like to share?