UPDATED! 05/21/05 - Need Opinions on CP Layout/Design

[Joystick Jerk]

Now that I'm underway with my new cab, I've been tossing around ideas for my control panel. Inspired by Knievel's amazing X-Men themed control panel, I decided to plan a very similar design(plus, once I get it nailed down, I'll probably commission him to actually build the thing since my wiring/woodworking skills are nonexistant, much like the tools I DON'T own)

The basic plan is very similar to his, with a few additions. I'll be using Happ Supers for the main joysticks, with either a J-stick or another Super for the dedicated 4-way. The sticks will be replaced with GGG's chrome ball-tops. I'll also be adding a Happs Top-Fire joystick for player one so I can play games like SmashTV and Ikari properly. I didn't add one for player two because I don't see playing these types of games in two-player mode all that much, or ever. Happ Ultimates for the buttons, a Happ 3" trackball, and an Oscar V2 spinner, all hooked up through an Ipac4/Opti-PAC setup.

The measurements of the panel overall are 35" long, and 17" wide. It may be a little cramped, but I don't have the space, nor do I like the look, of those control panels that extend a foot and half out from each side of the cab. Do you guys think the config below will work well? Any suggestions

(links are clickable for larger versions)




I've also done up a rough mockup of what the final color scheme may be. This is all subject to future changes, especially the background image which is just a placeholder. Again, any comments or suggestions?

[Dire Radiant]

The thing that jumps out at me right away is the placement of the spinner. It's awfully close to that joystick. Might get in the way. Artwork looks good though.

[Zeosstud]

My concern would be if someone left handed wanted to use the dedicated 4 way joy at the top.  Looks like the fire top joy would be in the way.  Really though, who cares about those south paws anyway.

Rodney

[markrvp]

Very pretty.  My thoughts are that the three mouse buttons on the lower right are out of place.  They are so close to the front of the panel that your right hand would be hanging over the front edge.

I would be tempted to move the player 1 joystick 2 over to the left just a little.  That way you can bring the joysticks and buttons down lower and move the trackball up higher so that they are more in-line.  That way if you hit a diagonal on the trackball in Golden TEE you won't be going right into a joystick.  You can also use the Player 1 buttons 1-3 for Missile Command and then you would only need two mouse buttons (instead of 3) to navigate Windows.

Just my 2 cents.  You have a really nice presentation.

[AlanS17]

It's certainly an ambitious endeaver. That's alot fo controls for one panel. I think the trackball looks a little odd when it's off center like that. Of course, that's all a matter of opinion and wouldn't much affect playability. However every other comment made so far has been dead on.

[Knievel]

JJ if I were you I would move those admin buttons to a panel under the monitor like I do. Besides looking cool you would then have room to put that top-fire stick up beside the 4-way. Or maybe you could spilt them up and have 2 admin buttons above the P1 start/coin and 2 above the P2 start/coin. So you'd have a halo of 4 buttons up in each corner.

I would also move that trackball up, I put mine in a position that allows you to comfortably rest the palm of your hand on the CP. And maybe move those mouse buttons, they're not going to see a lot of use. I like them on the inside of the P1/P2 buttons like on my X-Men CP. When you're playing trackball games in Mame you use the P1 buttons or the 4-way buttons depending on which hand you want to use.

[Joystick Jerk]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll make some modifications and see how it turns out.

I'd like to keep the admin buttons on the main CP if I can. The seperate admin panel never really appealed to me.

And I must have been half-asleep when I placed those three mouse/trackball buttons so low. They're supposed to be much higher up and in line with the trackball(I also notice the 1st-player start and coin-up buttons aren't aligned with the joystick either... so much for designing a CP at 2am). And I could put the topfire stick up by the spinner, but I'd like to use it in conjuction with the 1st-player 8-way, so I'm not sure how it'd feel being farther over and higher up than than the joystick it's paired with.


I'm also toying with the idea of a Futurama themed cab and CP, so I may toss around some ideas and post a mockup here as well.

[Joystick Jerk]

This was the other overall design I was thinking about. As you can see, it's based on Futurama. The marquee is based on the main Futurama titles from the show. The upper side graphics are modified "Planet Express" logos, and the bottom graphics are based upon the episode where the characters were "in" the internet playing video games. I'm not sure what would be on the CP as of yet, but it would probably be similar to the TMNT or Simpsons CP's, i.e. random characters interspersed around the CP with further Futurama icons and images.

These are just extremely rough mockups right now; the final design would be high-res vector artwork. Any suggestions or comments on this design, guys?

[clonestar]

That side art looks great, but you need to get Bender in there somewhere

[Joystick Jerk]

That side art looks great, but you need to get Bender in there somewhere

Yep! One of the ideas I have for the CP is a faux Street Fighter concept with two characters staring eachother down on each side of the CP. Bender would be one of the characters, but I'm not sure who he'd be angrily staring down.

Maybe Flexo, or even Roberto.

[dmsuchy]

Completely AWESOME, you have to do this and then share the your files for the artwork! I would use the artwork for my next cab for sure. Looks great and I really like the idea for the CP overlay.

[dave 1945]

I like the idea of a bendercade

[Joystick Jerk]

Bendercade... I like it!