CP -Layout

[brained]

hey people, do you think this cp layout is it too crowded??

It needs to be fitted in 25.5",  because it's a dynamo metal control panel

[johnnysmitch]

probably wanna post this somewhere beside buy/sell/trade....

[zaphod]

It is a bit tight but will likely work.  A couple observations:I see is that there is little or no room for your hand to rest.  P-1's left hand will likely be hanging off the edge and P-2's firing hand will have the same issue.  And button 7 for both players might cause you some fits.

Is the upper row of buttons physically off the panel?  Can they actually be placed that high?  Just a question as I do not know the answer.

Overall, the CP's layout doesn't look bad to me at all.  You may want to mock it up on cardboard with your actual parts to get a better idea, though, before you commit yourself.

[LeedsFan]

I agree with the above comments, but one thing you haven't mentioned..... is the trackball a 3" or a 2.25"?

If it's a 3" then consider changing to a 2.25"..... then you can push things together a little bit more to give the extra room for resting hands etc.   That is exactly what I had to do with my panel, but a 2.25" trackball is fine, believe me.

In fact, you're design is almost exactly like mine. The only difference is you have extra buttons in the top left/right of the panel. I avoided extra emulation buttons to make the panel look less cluttered. My panel is 605 mm wide by 210 mm deep, and I still got an Oscar Model 3 spinner above my Ultimarc 2.25" trackball unit in that space. My joystick/button configuration is exact same as yours.

[Bgnome]

considering the hole is almost as big as one of the joystick bases, i would guess its a 3 inch.  if you are patient and try digging around, you can probably find trackballs with a smaller footprint..

[brained]

probably wanna post this somewhere beside buy/sell/trade....

ooopssss... sorry

I own a 3" trackball, it was a bargain!! couldn't resist!!, so i need to handle myself with that!!  

I'll do a carboard mockup with this to check the places the hand will rest!!

thanks

[paigeoliver]

That panel has 10 rendudant buttons!!!!!

I wouldn't worry about the hand resting thing, you aren't going to have room to rest your hand on a small Dynamo panel regarless of layout.

You REALLY don't need the 8 buttons at the top or the "7th button" for the players.

I tend to move the start buttons off the control panel if it is getting crowded.

[SOAPboy]

i see 4 buttons on the top that can be taken off..

other than that.. it looks ok to me.. tho the 7th button for player 1 and 2.. whats that for.. ive never played a game that used 7..  

[paigeoliver]

You also are going to want to make sure that your trackball plate is the size that the template thinks it is. I have three of them here for 3" trackballs, and they are 3 different sizes.

[LeedsFan]

Although the 7th button is not necessary, it can be useful sometimes. I  fitted a 7th button on my panel in the same place because it's in a good position for your thumb. I mapped that button on my X-Arcade for reverse in Defender so I wanted it on my cab as well.

[brained]

Well the problem is that you can't identify the button names in the picture but here's my list.

Admin:
esc
pause

mouse:
left button
right button

player1:
p1 coin
p1 start
seven buttons

player2:
p2 coin
p2 start
seven buttons

I want seven buttons for neogeo sf layout, and two mice buttons for the trackball

[SOAPboy]

well if you use a ipac, no need for enter or esc or pause..

[LeedsFan]

Also..... why not use the first two buttons on the Player 2  side for your mouse buttons. That's what I'm doing. You are either in joystick mode or mouse mode. Just run extra terminals to those buttons and have and have them operate in an either/or mode.

[brained]

Also..... why not use the first two buttons on the Player 2  side for your mouse buttons. That's what I'm doing. You are either in joystick mode or mouse mode. Just run extra terminals to those buttons and have and have them operate in an either/or mode.

Hmm, this seems to be a cool idea, but that would be like hitting two buttons at the same time??, will mame handle without any hassle?

[Tiger-Heli]

Also..... why not use the first two buttons on the Player 2  side for your mouse buttons. That's what I'm doing. You are either in joystick mode or mouse mode. Just run extra terminals to those buttons and have and have them operate in an either/or mode.

Hmm, this seems to be a cool idea, but that would be like hitting two buttons at the same time??, will mame handle without any hassle?

MAME won't care.  You have a couple of ways of doing this:

If you only use MAME - just connect the first P2 buttons to mouse button inputs only.  Program MAME to recognize P2B1 as Mouse Button 1, and go on.

If you need them to be both mouse and keyboard buttons (for SNES emu's say that won't recognize them as mouse buttons), wire them in parallel as posted, and you will have mouse buttons in windows and keyboard buttons in your emulator.  Just program MAME so that P2B1 is either "A" or "Mouse Button 1"  NOT "A or Mouse Button 1"

[brained]

Great man, that'll save me some space!!