I haven't built one yet.. so take this for what you will.. but I have been planing mine for what seem like decades at this point.. okay no it's not an exaggeration actually.
One thing I decided early on however is not to build 1 panel to rule them all.
the track ball, the spinner, I would make seperate panels.. but thats me.. I would cut the other 2 players from 6 to 4.. Im only aware of maybe 2 games that was 4p and used more than 4 buttons.. unless perhaps you want to get some 4player console emulation going.
I'd recommend a more reasonable 8button + 4button setup and ditch the spinner and track ball..
the admin buttons keep that *#$% to a minimum... if you're going for consoles then thats fine give them each a coin button.. then maybe a "mame" button for everything else.
if you're not going for consoles then ditch all the coin buttons.. either install a coin door or at least a "coin" button where the coin door should be there are some good options out there now that look damn good for what they are.
Other wise either put in say 1 yes just 1 button as an admin button.. im assuming you're using mame and you can setup combinations to do pretty much everything.. mame is very flexible that way... so instead of "coin 1 2 3 4" how about "Hold mame button and press down on p1-2-3-4 joystick?)
just an example... also you don't have to put that admin button on the top.. if you have a over hang.. you can always mount it on the bottom where it can still be easy to reach but not distract from the layout..
Decide what's important to you and build your CP for that.
the most popular setup is a 2p with a street fighter layout.. and an 8 way joystick.. and honestly.. it's hard to argue with this setup.. it works well for a great many games.
some will suggest the 7 button layout.. it was actually alrady suggested in this thread.
it's a street fighter layout with a 4th button on the 2nd row.
This work just as well but gives you a NATURAL neogeo layout as well..
There is a trade off here.. you will need a wider panel for that 4th button.. and that's something else to avoid.. cramped quarters..
it's no fun playing when your on top of each other.. so make sure you have the space for this.
"IF" you plan to also include playstation emulation.. AND you're going to go with a 7 button you might as well make it 2 rows of 4
Some will bulk at a console emulator on a arcade cab but some games translate well.. beat'em ups namely.. and there is one game which
I think is pretty decent on PS1 fighting force.
If you're going for a 4 player layout.. f you want to make 1 panel but also want to be able to play games like street fighter, mortal kombat, and killer instinct then a lot of people will do a 4 button layout for p1 and 4 (4p games) and p2&3 get 6-8 buttons for those 2p games
this is probably a good compromise if you don't want to have 2 and 4 player CP's
You might be tempted to just sneak a track ball or 4way in there.. you can.. but Personally.. I wouldn't.. I'd rather plan on having swap-able CP's
There are 4/8way switchable stick that can be shifted from both above and below.. and while I have no experience I've heard they're a exercise in compromise and don't play particularly great for either.
It's ok not to have every single game ever made on 1 arcade machine.
As for encoders.. You can skin that cat so many ways there should be a book about it.
I mean everything from hacked keyboards, to dedicated "arcade" focused encoders, to the cheap zero delay's off Ali and Ebay, to just hacking a cheap USB pad.
Those who sell them like RandyT will probably tell you how their encoder can handle blah blah blah.. and technically it probably IS a superior solution.
It's also a superior cost as well.. and you have to ask that cheap USB pad.. doe sit play okay in your hand? then why wouldn't it hooked up to arcade buttons?
sometimes superior means better and sometimes it just means more expensive.
years ago I'd say hack that pad.. now the zero delays from china are so cheap and no soldering involved that really seems to be the EZ go-to
It also depends on how you intend to do you panel.. will the panel connect to the encoder with a plug so it can be swapped? dedicated on the CP?
If you plan to never swap panels you can just wire it direct and mount it on the cp.. if you plan to use multiple panels now this is where the "expensive" part comes in.. you either have to find a suitable connector you like to use so you can connect/disconnect the panel from the encoder.
OR buy an encoder for each CP and dedicate it to the CP.. then the CP swap just involves plugging it into usb which is easily enough done by running an extension cable (usb) up to easy access for the CP.
Me.. Im still on the fence but leaning towards dedicated on the CP and the reason for that is then the CP becomes something you can drop into a box and use for testing or just using spare CP's with a PC or what ever.. cause it's just USB it's got it's own encoder right? cause you used teh cheap ones right? or a pad or what ever.
Better yet if you end up making multiple arcade units if you keep the CP box the same on all of them you'll be able to swap between systems even.
Imagine you have a 4way 2p panel and you have a vertical and a horz arcade machine.. you could used it on either of them.. probably getting ahead of our selves but it's something to think about for the future if your plans involve more than one project.
The zero delays make a lot of sense, ticks a lot of boxes for not a lot of money..
Although I have about 40 cheap usb snes pads that have terrible d-pads (probably great for playing q-bert
) I got for $1 ea.. eventually they'll be used in something for sure.. but that requires some soldering, not hard but with a zero delay being like 4-5 bucks most will find the convenience worth the money.
hope some of that gibberish was useful.