Bartop Control Panel - Opinions needed.

[pointdablame]

Yup, it's another CP thread... sorry guys.  I am having a lot of trouble finalizing my CP for my bartop.  I keep bouncing between different layouts, and can really use some constructive criticism.

The CP is 18" wide by 12"  I think I made the CP a bit bigger than it should have been, but it's too late to worry about that .  I just fear turing this into a bartop sized frankenpanel.  I originally was going to have an 8 way, button layout, and spinner.  That was it, with the addition of the P1 start, coin, pause, and exit buttons.  That left a lot of open space on the CP and it just doesnt look good IMO.  I also considered using shift functions for pause and exit, but again, the panel looked very bare.  

Below are the 2 designs I'm debating on with "all" the controls I'm considering.  I'm gonna try to get a pic of the bare panel, but basically it is (from left to right) Joystick, buttons, spinner.  You can probably get a good mental idea of how much space would be left.

I need to mock this up with controls and see what feels better, but before I even go that far, I want some opinions.  I also thought about panels that included dual joys and no trackball, but didn't feel that the dual joys were worth it.  I also considered a 6 button and 4 button layout, but considering I had the room and spare buttons, I thought I might as well use the 7 button layout.

Basically, let me know what you are thining once you see these layouts... am I an idiot for trying to put that many controls on a panel this size?  Everytime I look at it, I seem to bounce from "hey, that looks pretty good" to "what the hell am I thinking" so you guys get to be the tiebreakers

NOTE: the big square is a 2 1/4" trackball just incase someone wasn't 100% sure.

[Gunstar Hero]

Option B looks pretty good.

[pointdablame]

Here's a quick, TERRIBLE photoshop of the original panel idea since I won't actually be home to get a pic til Friday.

[Xiaou2]

 If you made the monitor section spinable... (but with a limiter so that only 359  degrees possible as not to break cords)... you could then make 4 or more control panels for a single unit.
 

[paigeoliver]

I'd go with the original idea myself. Trackball on a bartop might be hard to deal with.

[pointdablame]

 If you made the monitor section spinable... (but with a limiter so that only 359  degrees possible as not to break cords)... you could then make 4 or more control panels for a single unit.
 

I don't quite follow your idea honestly, but I won't be getting that complicated on a simple bartop.  I don't even want to get that complicated on my full sized upright

I'd go with the original idea myself. Trackball on a bartop might be hard to deal with.

That was actually a big concern of mine.  I know for sure that there would be no aggressive trackball use on this, such as Golden Tee or some bowling games, etc.  The monitor is just too close... but I wondered if it would be worth it for other games.  My plan is to run a USB extension to the side of the case, so even in the off times that I need a mouse, the trackball still wouldn't be really necessary.

Seeing as I have all the other controls besides the trackball though, I'm leaning towards trying the original idea, and if I really miss a trackball, perhaps then I'll give one a shot.

Thanks for the opinions guys, keep em coming

[neuromancer]

With A, wouldn't your fingers be hitting the buttons all the time?

Have you considered a seperate enclosure for the track ball?

Bob

[Tiger-Heli]

That was actually a big concern of mine.  I know for sure that there would be no aggressive trackball use on this, such as Golden Tee or some bowling games, etc.  The monitor is just too close... but I wondered if it would be worth it for other games.  My plan is to run a USB extension to the side of the case, so even in the off times that I need a mouse, the trackball still wouldn't be really necessary.

Seeing as I have all the other controls besides the trackball though, I'm leaning towards trying the original idea, and if I really miss a trackball, perhaps then I'll give one a shot.

Personally, I like Option B.

If you went with option C (no Trackball), I might put the spinner above the buttons (where the option A trackball is).  If you do this, you won't be able to add a trackball later, though, without making a new CP.

If you are going to have a USB port accessible for a mouse, you might consider Neuromancers idea and use a trackball in an enclosure with an www.oscarcontrols.com mouse hack, ala http://www.cheeptech.com/cuhack.html

[pointdablame]

I'm not really entertaining an external enclosure idea because I also have a full size MAME machine in the works that will have a trackball, so it's not as if I'll be totally without one.  I had an extra spinner, so that's why I wanted to incorporate it into the CP.

I have some extra MDF also, so building a second CP wouldn't be terrible, my main sticking point now is whether to buy a trackball or not.  I have everything else, but want to be sure I need the trackball before ordering.

I guess I just have to wait until Friday when I can mock something up and see how they feel.... like I said, I just wish I had a trackball to mock up too.