My latest (and hopefully last) control panel design!

[Timstuff]

Well, I think I've finally got a control panel design I'm happy with (how many times have I said that before? ). The main changes here are that I moved to dedicated 4-way controls to the top center of the CP and added a spinner. I used the vortex spinner template, however which spinner I use relies entirely on which one I can get at a good price (Slikstick Tornado is the other canidate). Hopefully I won't have to make any additional changes, because I think this one looks like it's prepared for just about any classic game that can be hurled at it, excluding gun games and vehicle sims.

I'm also planning for a second panel that I can swap in that will have positional guns, however that relies entirely on wether or not I can get any.

[Lilwolf]

If you are going to have swappable control panels...

You should really consider moving that spinner and trackball to another control panel. 

And if you are going to have an easy way to do the plugs...

you should really consider seperating the 4 way also.

Once you decide to go swappable.  Each control panel really gets simple and are much more fun to play. 

But all in all your control panel looks pretty good.  Player2 stick might get in the way when using the spinner.  But you dont need a long of room for it.

My ONLY complaint (and it should almost for sure be ignored...) is that I use the buttons for the spinner and the trackball on the right side.  Just the way I was brought up.  You might want to look into setup with no mouse buttons but use either player 1 or 2s buttons when playing trackball / spinner games.

[Timstuff]

Well, although my cab will support swappability, I want my main control panel to have as much versitility as I can cram in, because me and my buddies are gonna be playing alot of trackball games. Having to swap panels every time we want to play Golden Tee Golf could get a bit irritating. I'm kind of a middle-of-the-road type of guy when it comes to that. I don't mind the idea of swapping the control panel for the occasional game of T2, but for the more common control types I prefer to get as many into my "main" panel as possible.

I could ty playing around with it a bit more to see if I can get it just right. As much as it would pain me to make the spinner not be symetrical with the dedicated 4-way, moving it to the right might be what it needs. I'll play around with it a bit more and see what I like.

[DreamWeb]

If you're going to be playing a lot of trackball games.... I fear that your trackball is far to close to the joysticks and spinner/4 way.  You can almost forget playing Golden Tee the 'right way' with that setup.

d.

[Timstuff]

I made some refinements to hopefully increase functionality/ease of use. If you'll notice, I moved the dedicated 4-way, buttons, and spinner to the left and right to make sure that they won't be hit during Golden Tee sessions. But I get the feeling that I should also consider moving the mouse buttons upward to steer clear of accidental presses.

[Timstuff]

And here's the further refined version.

[DreamWeb]

I tlooks good.  But, like I Said previously, you can forget taking 'swings' with that trackball in games like Golden Tee Golf.

But, if you're not concerned about that..  I think you've got a winner.  (the middle mouse button is most likely not needed though)

d.

[Timstuff]

Well, I could get rid of mouse button 3, and put mouse buttons 1 and 2 directly to the left of the spinner. This way, the buttons for games like Tempest can be directly left of the spinner, but during Marvel vs. Capcom player 2 won't be able to press them and screw up player 1, since they're connected to the mouse hack and not Player 1's controls. Check it out.

[quarterstringer]

This last version looks the best. I never did like the 3 buttons above the trackball.

[Timstuff]

Thanks! I think I could definately feel comfortable building this one and have very few regrets about it. One last tweak I made was that on the left side I flipped the player 1 start and pause buttons so that start is on the left and pause is on the right, because it looks more symetrical with Player 2 and because it will won't get in the way of the art on my CPO that way. It'll make sense when you see the finished product. But now I am quite happy with how everything looks, and there's not really anything I can think of right now that I would want to change.

[unclet]

If you play "Tron" then it will be hard to play due to the position of the spinner and joystick which required to be used at the same time.

Does one of your joysticks at least have a top fire button?   How about pinball buttons on the side to allow playing Visual Pinball ......

See the picture .. this is what I would do ...... since you asked   

1) I moved the trackball and the left joystick/buttons more to the left and moved the right joystick/buttons to the right a bit.  I also then just moved the trackball a bit lower as well.

This allows you to have more room to use the trackball so your right forearm does not slam into the right joystick shaft when flicking the trackball rapidly.

Not sure why you need five curved buttons (one for each finger ... perhaps) but if you lose the button farthest to the right then you can move the right joystick/buttons even farther to the right ....giving you even more room for the trackball usage.

2) Moved the spinner to the right side of the panel, so you can play Tron and other games which need a spinner and joystick (assuming you are right handed ....)

3) Moved the 4-way joystick a bit to the right, but still allowed for room to use the trackball without it getting in the way.   

4) Added more config buttons (all named "Exit" in the photo).   I like having "Reset", "Tab", "Enter" and "Exit" buttons present.

PS: Where are your coin up buttons .... are they on the side or something?   Maybe you are planning on just using the coin door to have people drop coins into to get credits.  If this is true, then I wanted to tell you that I believe that to be frustrating after a while.  .... try playing Metal Slug and having to keep dropping actual coins into the coin door toget more life ...       Anyway, if you decide to use CoinUp buttons, then I would replace the "Pause" buttons in my photo with the Player1/Player2 Coin Up buttons and simply add a fifth button the set of configuration buttons I show.

Again, these are just my comments .... I do not care if you sue them or not.  I just find it easier to create an image then discuss my ideas since it is easier to visualize what I am talking about when you actually can "see" the changes in the design.


Good luck ... keep us posted on your progress.

[Zakk]

The dedicated 4-way should be as close to center as possible.  I don't know why, but playing pacman on a joystick that is off center just drives me nuts.  (besides you don't need people smashing away on your trackball!!)

[DreamWeb]

right handed people won't be smashing away on that trackball at all   The 2 player joystick is in the way.

d.

[Timstuff]

The player 2 joystick won't be as big a problem for right handed people as you might think. I printed it up that part full size and did some "air Golden Tee" playing in the position i'd be standing in while playing, and it doesn't seem like a problem at all, and I'm a rightie! Keep in mind that the joystick's base, screws, and dust washer will all be underneath the panel's surface, so there's really alot more distance between the actual ball surface and the player 2 joystick than you'd think.

Playing Tron on my cab is really a bit of an unknown for my standard control panel... There's no room for a triggergrip joystick, and I don't like the way topfires feel very much. They suck for fighting games, so that eliminates them as player 1 and 2 canidates, and since Tron is an 8-way game it wouldn't make a good dedicated 4 way canidate. And ontop of that I already bought a Happ Universal, because the allure of playing Q*Bert correctly with a mere 45 degree twist was more than I could resist.

Still though, I'm sure a Tron-friendly setup could make it onto a future panel, and until then I can play it slightly un-authentically using the setup I've got.

[jdjuggler]

It seems to me that you have a lot of room at the bottom of your Player 1-Trackball-Player 2 setups.
You might consider moving them down.

I'm considering a very similar design - but, I'm adding a trigger stick.
Isn't there someplace between the Player 2 joystick and the top of the control panel where you could put a trigger stick.

JD

[DreamWeb]

Really?  I have a similar CP, and my trackball is down about 6 inches lower than yours currently... and playing golden tee properly is still a bit of a problem. (I'm a rightie)

d.

[Timstuff]

Believe me when I say they're as far down as they can go. I'm using the Lusid/Project Arcade plans, and pretty much everything below the bottom of the Trackball mounting plate is outside of the   CP box. I gouss you could call it extra "lip". The CP box is angled, so there's no box there since there wouldn't really be enough verticle space to fit anything down there.

And trust me on the trackbal... Unless your hand is 8 inches wide, it's not gonna be a problem. There's at least 4 1/2 inches between the right edge of my hand and where the joystick is, so it shouldn't be a problem.

[GGKoul]

Looks ok.. Just make sure your base is deep enough for the V2 spinner.