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Critique on Control Panel Design
Ond:
Sounds you've already made up your mind to build this, what opinions would be useful? No comment on the controls stuff. The PCB artwork could be simplified a bit or maybe matched more with the control sets.
PL1:
--- Quote from: madruk20 on August 05, 2024, 03:00:21 pm ---
--- Quote ---The ergonomics of your setup are a greater concern than the dpi.
--- End quote ---
Can you go into more detail about this? Do you mean how the player would control the spinners? From what I've been testing on my mockup it seems fairly comfortable how I want to play it. So the dpi doesn't make that much of a difference?
--- End quote ---
As I mentioned earlier, the spinners look like they would be uncomfortable.
- Can you rest your arm on the panel without hitting buttons/joysticks or do you have to hover?
- Have you tested the spinners with the panel at the same height/angle that the pedestal's panel will be at?
- Have you tested them while standing and sitting?
- Have you tested the spinners during extended play sessions?
- Have you had other people try them to see how they like the layout?
Arkanoid has the highest transitions-per-rotation of any spinner game so if the spinner works well with Arkanoid, it will work well with the other games once you adjust the sensitivity.
Scott
BadMouth:
I did the curved button layout with convex buttons on my cab because it looks better and more modern, but if I had it to do over again I'd do the plain straight 6 street fighter layout with concave buttons.
I find myself looking down at my hands more often to reposition my fingers which never happened with my old X-Arcade tankstick. I wouldn't call it a mistake to do a curved layout, but that is my experience with it. The concave buttons will no doubt help.
MAME assumes the buttons are layed out like:
123
456
So when using 8 buttons wire them like:
1237
4568
and you'll have much less button mapping to do.
For the four button games like Neo Geo and Techmo fighting games, I found that I prefer using my thumb to hit the first button in the bottom row instead of reaching for that last one in the top row or having them arranged in a square.
I'll pile on concerning the spinner location. I'd put them directly above P1 & P2 joysticks where you can lay your wrist next to the joystick with some room to spare and the buttons will still feel like they are in a proper position while playing. Maybe align the trackball with them. People don't usually hit their hands on anything that is directly to the sides of the trackball, but possibly could if they are forward of it.
My cupholder usually has USB dongles or flash drives in it, but I do enjoy using it for drinks as well. :cheers:
Best course of action is always a cardboard mockup.
BadMouth:
Looking at it again, you will probably need more clearance between the trackball and P1 buttons for the trackball housing.
madruk20:
Thanks! I'm going to try your positions above the P1-2 sticks as well and see how it works. I'll also try a more lengthy session like PL1 suggested with the other variables. We really only rolled with it for about 20-30 minutes playing some of the games and it seemed ok, but yeah more testing required. For alot of these spinner games I can't see us playing for more than 1-2 hours at a time so I figure if we can pass that test we should be ok.
I grew up on the straight button layout probably like alot of people did, I made them curved because yeah everyone is saying thats the best ergonomic way. I guess another thing to test...
Thanks for the wiring tips too. I'll take a closer look at the trackball but it seemed ok when I used it. If the spinners end up above the joysticks they should be even more out of the way. The P1 buttons are definitely close when you use 8. I think I'd have to either just deal with it or make P1 and 2 six buttons since I'm pretty sure they won't extend the length of the control panel.
Does anyone have any thoughts/experience on the angled pedestal base? Is it stable enough in that shape? I like the look of it and being able to put your feet in some if you're sitting down (I'm a tall dude 6'2"), but not at the expense of it possibly tipping over lol..