Critique for instruction card

[neuromancer]

I'm working on an isntruction card for my cabinet, mostly so I can remember which shift keys do what...  

I'm mostly interested in what people think about the various admin functions I have chosen to include (or not), and if it would make sense to an occasional guest.

The panel has one stick with 6 buttons and the two start buttons, layed out generally as shown, but closer together. It's already built, so I'm not looking for commentary on the layout.  

The ESC key has a red circle around it -- the .gif encoding seems to have altered it.

Thanks!!

Also, thanks to whoever put the player button artwork on the vector artwork site!

[Jabba]

I think that looks pretty good. Good idea using an instruction card for your cab. Looking at it as a newbie to your cab (i.e. as though I did not know MAME), I am somewhat confused as to what to do with the panel on the right though. Is this P2's controls? What does the yellow circle mean?  Yellow is what is confusing me.

Just my .02 cents.

Edit: Typo

[neuromancer]

Thanks for the input!

The player start keys work as shift keys. You hold down the player one start button and then press one of the player buttons to get credits (or pause the game, or whatever). You hold down the player two start button do do various game maintenance things.

It would probably make a bit more sense if you were looking at the CP.

Bob

[Matt Berry]

The design looks good I would just be a little concearned about the setup of your buttons in general, I know it's what you have available but as a general rule it is best not to have 1p,2p,coin1,enter,esc, or pause as a shifted input. It generally leads to confusion to non mamers, or young/old people who come over to visit. I'd also move the esc key over one so it was on the left. Most people are use to reaching to the upper left hand side for the esc key. I'd also include "F3" as an input as there are a few games that need to be restarted when they are first used.  Don't know what frontend you are using with mame but you might also want to include an enter button.

[Crazy Cooter]

Shouldn't the top text say:
To do "special"... hold down two player...

It looks like that's why it's highlighted in the graphic.

[quarterback]

Shouldn't the top text say:
To do "special"... hold down two player...

It looks like that's why it's highlighted in the graphic.

I agree.  I find the whole thing confusing.

First off, why is the player 2 button to the left of the player 1 button?  Is this common, cuz to me it looks wierd.

Secondly, I find the text confusing (as Crazy Cooter stated)  After reading, re-reading it and re-reading it, I'm starting to think that you mean to say "To do "special" things with the game, hold down one OF THE player start buttons"  Right?  You not saying to hold down the one-player button, but to hold down one of the two possible player button options.

And why do you have yellow, red and green indications on the diagram but only for certain buttons?

Also, I don't understand the "1p" "2p" monikers.  Are the buttons actually labeled as such, or are you just using those to identify them in the card?  My guess is the latter since you only have a total of 6 buttons, right?  I mean, the 12 buttons we see on the card are really the 6 buttons repeated (one side showing the options if you hold down the single-player button and the other side showing the options if you hold down the double-player button) right?

So, if the buttons don't ACTUALLY say "p1" and "p2", why are the diagrams labeled like that?  

I think all of the above things are going to be confusing to your guests.  Perhaps all the colors and labels mean something to you, but they wouldn't to me.  I'd think that 1p and 2p mean 1-player and 2-player.  (Or 1-pence and 2-pence.)

If I were to create a card that was trying to get across the information that I *think* you're trying to get across, I'd say something like:

Holding down the "player 1" or "player 2" button while simultaneously pressing one of the six "action" buttons will enable additional functions.   Refer to the diagrams below for details."

And then I'd simplify the diagrams.  
- I'd lose the assorted colors (unless they specifically represent what color the buttons are, in which case, I'd color ALL of the buttons, not just some)

- I'd use BOLD and "faded" button images to indicate which of the "player" buttons is being referenced instead of using the yellow (you know, go into photoshop and 'grey' one out and/or thicken the lines around the other one)

- I'd only emphasize the things that your guests will need to figure out and DE-emphasize the other stuff.  Your non-mame guests aren't going to know why there's a tilde on one of the keys.  Make it clear which are the coin button(s) , the Pause button and the Quit button by putting that information onto the button face and then shrink all the other labels/information down to a smaller font and put them below each button.  That way the information is there for you, but doesn't clutter up the card.

That's my 4-cents.  You asked for it and you got it

[quarterback]

Here's how I would do what I think you're trying to do.  (Again, I'm interpreting what I *think* you're doing.  I could be completely misunderstanding the information you're trying to get across)

[mahuti]

Basically, my instruction card has 3 lines of instruction.

People have  to put credits in with quarters (my provided quarters)... until I give them the secrets.

I dont' tell anybody about the pause, tab, or other admin options. If they play enough, they'll eventually see me do it, and I'll tell them how. Otherwise, they won't know what most of that stuff is good for anyway. The arcade didn't have those functions... guests don't need them now.

[danny_galaga]

i'm with mahuti on this one. better not to display any 'tab' controls etc because guests get in trouble. this is my placard. the 'menu' pic will be replaced with a key for type of game. i've colour coded the icons in mame32 to tell you if it's an alternate cocktail game, simultaneous cocktail etc.
i think mahutis format is good. we all get carried away trying to symbolise the instructions when plain, simple english does the trick. this was driven home to me when a friend was confused by my placard. this friend is a computational physicist who did his doctorate on mapping the periodic table of anti-matter!!   and who wouldn't surprise me if he got a nobel prize nomination one day  

mahuti, i might just plagiarise your design, especially the colours  

edit: obviously when i print it, i fit to page. it's not quite THIS large  

[mahuti]

If you want it, the file's available at the Arcade Art Library

I get around the "OK" warning by turning of the warnings in MAME and only presenting a list of fully working games to guests (about 72 classics is more than enough for most folks)

Whenever I get some sort of CP viewer available, I'll get rid of the rest of the instructions...  I don't care if people understand all of the nuances. The basics are enough. Spoken words do the rest.

[neuromancer]

Hey thanks guys!!

I really like the edited version of things that Quarterback put up.

To address a couple of common concerns, the card is mainly for my reference, because if I don't play for awhile I'll forget how I've got things set up!!Maybe I'll make two cards -- one for "secret" stuff and one for how to get credits.

You can see a photo of the panel itself here:
http://www.2fiddles.com/arcade/controls.html

There are navigational links at the top of the page to see the cabinet too. I mentioned the cabinet on the "project announcements" forum earlier today.

Bob

[subzero23]

Can I ask why you guys use P1 start + P2 start as the escape command?

It seems to me like it'd be possible two players could hit start at the same time and screw their game up

[MiKman]

Can I ask why you guys use P1 start + P2 start as the escape command?

It seems to me like it'd be possible two players could hit start at the same time and screw their game up

That's the default for Esc when you use an ipac.

[mahuti]

Most of the games that play on my machine don't have a true 2 player mode (i.e. galaga, pac-man, centipede, etc) About 90% of the time, I use a 1 player panel.

When I do use my 2 player control panel, I've never exited the game on accident. I think it has something to do with the positioning of the player 1&2 buttons on my cab.

reference pics here

[subzero23]

nice control panel! is that textured vinyl or whatever? whered you get it made?

anyway I was thinking in 2 player games if two players hit their start at the same time then BOOM

[mahuti]

Right, but based on my configuration, that would be a rarity. The player buttons are so close its not ofent that 2 guys get their hands all shoved in together.

[mahuti]

Oh, and the cpos are made of

1. Arcade-style inkject from classicarcadegraphics.com

and

2. Textured vinyl purchased from a craft store glued & stapled down. (very inexpensive)

[subzero23]

ya i definately see what you mean with your CP but I meant for the regular 2 player panels it doesn't make much sense

so wait was the stuff/vinyl you bought clear?

[Felsir]

When I do use my 2 player control panel, I've never exited the game on accident. I think it has something to do with the positioning of the player 1&2 buttons on my cab.

It only happens in the Metal Slug series of games... Inexperienced players seem to die so often that watching some of my friends play the game the P1 and P2 buttons look like they're firebuttons  
The other games don't seem to suffer from this...

[danny_galaga]

Can I ask why you guys use P1 start + P2 start as the escape command?

It seems to me like it'd be possible two players could hit start at the same time and screw their game up

on an upright it could i guess. but p1 has to be held down (its a shift key) while p2 is pressed. if p2 is pressed first, then nothing. also, mine is a cocktail so there's really no chance of this happening anyway...