What do you think of my first cp design

[Pieman2004]

Well I was recently given an old cabinet, and am trying to mame it at the moment. The inside dimensions of the cab are 2 feet and I wanted to make a CP that would fit inside of that. I drew up something in AutoCAD so that I could print it out later and experiment with it. I just wanted to know what everyone here thought of it.

I have a few questions though:
1. I put the center of the joystick about 3 1/4" from the edge of the first buttons. Is this far enough? too far? just right?

2. I put 1/4" space between each button. Is this a good amount of space?

3. I forgot about the space between player1 buttons and player 2 joystick. Its about 6" from center of p2 joy to edge of p1 buttons. Is this enough?

Anyways I was excited about getting this drawn, because this is my first panel. Even though it is pretty simple.
Oh and I hope I can figure out how to put this picture on here. It's my first time to post a pic.

[TalkingOctopus]

1. EDIT: 3.25 would work fine but you might want to try 2.25" or 2.5".   My layout is similar to yours and I have the joysticks at 2.25".

2.  I think that is about right.  The capcom layout has the button centers 1.5" from each other.

3. Should be OK.  Although a little more space is probably desirable.

Also, you may want to consider removing the admin buttons.  They are probably not necessary.  The best way to test your layout, is make a card board prototype and see if you like it.

Good Luck.

[Pieman2004]

Thank you for the reply. If I were to place the buttons closer to the joystick at say 2 1/4" from center of joy to edge of buttons. That would mean I would have 2 extra inches in between the players controls so it would be about 8". I will try this out as well. I really ought to go to an arcade with a tape measure some day to see how all the machines are set up.

Any other comments would be appreciated as well.

[namzep]

The buttons look a little farther from the joys than I'm used to seeing but the layout looks mostly sound.  The most important thing is your comfort level while playing since it's going to be your machine.  Function over form, always.

[DougHillman]

Like the others, I'd move the sticks a little closer to the buttons.  Don't add the room in the middle, add it on the edges.  Depth from the bottom looks pretty good, but you're pretty close to the side edges out there.

Remember that your hand/arm doesn't connect to the controls at a straight angle coming up from the bottom.  They angle in from the sides just a bit.   You do need some room on the sides so the heel of your hand isn't falling off.

[Pieman2004]

Thanks again for your comments. I will need some room for my hand. But is there any reason I would need to keep the player2 buttons away from the edge. I am just trying to make it as comfortable as possible for both players. If I offset it a little to the right while moving the joysticks closer together. I should have an inch extra room in the middle and an inch extra on the player 1 side. Would this be a better layout? I realize I will have to set it up before I know for sure I am just asking for your opinions until then.

[DougHillman]

I think you'd be fine with that.  

As I've advocated elsewhere, mocking this up in the real world is a very important step in your CP design.  I use foamboard that's been cut to the size of alot of different controls when designing a new panel, but even just drawing it out on posterboard and pretending to play games will help.  Really helps you get an idea of how you'll be interfacing with the controls and where your hands will lay.

[HaRuMaN]

You may even want to think about changing your button configuration a little.  My first controller set-up was just like yours and I found my hands/fingers tiring quickly.  I changed the configuration on my next controller, and found it much more comfortable.  See Pic:

[HaRuMaN]

Oh yeah, and that 7th button (the black one) is so I can choose a SF layout or a NEO-GEO layout.

[Pieman2004]

I didn't realize your hand would get that tired with this layout. I have thought about laying it out how you have but did not know there was much advantage to doing it that way. Also can't I use my button 4 as your seventh button for neo geo games?

I think I am going to draw up another CP real quick with these new ideas and then I'll post it to see what you all think.

[Lutus]

I agree with the slight triangle button configuration.  Your entire hand is more relaxed this way.  Also when you mock up your CP make sure you have a friend at least pretend to be playing along even if you don't hook up their controls.  This will answer most of you spacing questions.  My CP width is only 24 inches so flying elbows had to be addressed.

[Pieman2004]

Well I have drawn up a new CP. Tell me what you think of my revisions:

moved joystick closer to buttons
moved player1 joystick farther from edge
offset middle column of buttons
removed admin buttons
maybe other little things

Lutus, how did you set up your cp in the 24" space.

[Pieman2004]

I have another question. It won't matter for a while, but I thought I might eventually want a trackball. I know there isn't really much room to mount a trackball on this CP, but if I were to build it in a box that I could somehow mount to the front of my CP that I could remove whenever unneeded do you think that would work. or would it be too much trouble. I would be sure to use usb if i did this so it would be hotswappable.

[namzep]

I would think that maybe making Player 2's controls modular (i.e. removable) would be a solution.  This would allow you to make swapable trackball, spinner, etc panels.  Of course, if you're looking for a centered trackball this wouldn't work well at all.  Just my two cents.

[HaRuMaN]

I think you'll find that your new layout is more comfortable to use, and will prevent fatigue...

[Darkstalker]

Have you considered putting admin buttons below the screen on the bezel area?  I'm actually thinking about doing something like this for my cabinet.

[Lutus]

I set mine up like this...

[Pieman2004]

Thanks everyone for all the help so far. I think I will put the admin buttons and such on the bezel. I started thinking a modular cp would be pretty ideal for this size, but since this is my first I am going with this simple design. If I want to change later I can use this as a desktop cp or something.

Anyways I have 2 t-stick+ joys and a bunch of buttons. I just ordered a keywiz. So when that gets here I am gonna go to town hooking it all up. Well it will proly take me quite some time to hook it all up(being my first time).

Thanks for all the help though. When I get to workin on my cab I'll post some pics.