Custom printed button ID Tags?

[RabidSquirrel]

HappControls sells button ID Tags:



http://www.happcontrols.com/index.html?http://www.happcontrols.com/pushbuttons/95400900.htm!

and they say on their site that "Custom lettering and artwork available (nominal charge may apply)". I emailed them and they no longer do that unfortunately.

Everyone who comes over to play on our arcade has no idea what the buttons do. Does anyone know where I can get custom ID Tags for my arcade?

[NoOne=NBA=]

You could just make your own.

Get some Avery Inkjet label paper at your local office store, print what you want on it, put shipping tape over the labels to protect them, and then cut through the entire sheet to get the label to size.
You can do custom colors and shapes this way, as well.
It will provide a cheap, but relatively durable label that you can put on wherever you want.

The only downside is that it is not water-resistant.
If you spill water on your CP, it will soak in between the tape and the adhesive, and ruin the paper label between them.

[gtjoe]

Just use a electronic label maker with clear tape
i.e http://www.keysan.com/ksu3768a.htm#BRT999503913460

I used clear tape with black lettering and put them on my oak control panel.  No problems with them peeling off at all.

And... its waterproof

[RabidSquirrel]

Both aren't bad ideas, but I really want it to look nice and professional. I might have to settle if I cant find anything though.

[Generic Eric]

I use a label maker at work (not on arcade machines) does that make it professional?

hehe

[NoOne=NBA=]

I make labels all day at work, and I just used my inkjet to do almost exactly what I described to make a set of TRON labels for the backs of my TRON sticks.
(I used photo paper and a mylar overlaminate rather than label paper and shipping tape).

If you want a really professional look, the markings need to be printed INTO your overlay.
Those add-on things that Happ had look ALOT worse than the DIY labels will.

Give it a shot.
Worst case scenario, you don't like it, and you replace/remove them later.

[GGKoul]

Avery sells Waterproof labels.   But you need a Laser Printer to print on the labels.  They are very good.

-GGkoul

[fredster]

You can get t-shirt transfer paper. Print it on that, then transfer it to the buttons.  I did that on one.  As long as you don't keep that Iron on it for very long it will work fine.  

Another way is to print it on transparent overhead paper and then cut it to exact fit.

[Doc-]

I went really simple -

Print it on some good quality inkjet paper (I mad mine in Powerpoint) and then put some scotch transparent tape over the top of it.  Cut them out and glue them to your cabinet.

Looks great - and very durable since the tape protects the print.

Cheers!
Doc-

[unclet]

I bought around 20 of those Happ ID Tags for my buttons but never used them since I decided to put multiple emulators (mame, N64, Snes, Atari, etc..) on my cab which end up changing the button configurations.   I plan on making laminated copies showing which buttons do what and simply get out that page to show guests which buttons do what depending on the emulator being used.

I wished Mame would have a hotkey which could be pressed during gameplay and show a JPG file.  The JPG file could be a picture of your control panel with text describing each buttons.

[NoOne=NBA=]

I wished Mame would have a hotkey which could be pressed during gameplay and show a JPG file.  The JPG file could be a picture of your control panel with text describing each buttons.

Actually, you can do this BEFORE the game starts with most front ends.
You just need to build the picture files and save them in a new folder (titled instructions, or some such).
You can then set the front end to display that information in a box, just like the screenshots.

That doesn't help in game, but it is a really good method.
I haven't gotten around to making any yet, but it's planned for the future.

Another thing that is helpful is to have different colored buttons.
That way you can tell people to "hit the orange button" for a particular function.
That works really well with my 5-yr-old nephew when he's playing Tempest.
He knows that the red button shoots, and the orange button "erases everything".

I've got two 4-button modules for mine.
One is the red/green/blue/yellow like Neo-Geo, and the other is blue/yellow/red/white like mousetrap.
That helps simplify instructions.
I also map as many buttons as possible to a function within the game.
For games like Donkey Kong, I map ALL the buttons to jump, so that it really doesn't matter WHICH button gets pushed.

[unclet]

Yep, I got 6 buttons of different colors per joystick (4 joysticks).  It definitely helps when telling friends/family what button does what.  

Thanks for the info regarding the title screenshots.  Seems like that is something worth looking into.

Also, nice idea about mapping all buttons to do one action, might make it a bit easier for my kids .....