CP layout. Any comments ?

[Nataq]

Here is the control panel I come up with. Design is not made yet I just put up a background image for now. 4 buttons above trackball are P1 and P2 credit/start. Up left is pause and up right is exit. Im planning to put other bottons on the side of the CP box for flipper etc. but those are not a problem for layout so you can forget those for now. Im focusing on what will be on top for now. Also the 2 buttons at bottom left and right of trackball are mouse button 1 and 2. I think there could be some people thatwill complain about them there but I wanted to minimize the CP size as much as possible and putting them on top of trackball makes a lot of buttons at the same place. I also thingk they wont get in the way of P1 and P2. Im just planing to use them for the interface/windows. Ill be using probably buttons for P1 when using trackball in a game. Im still open for comments about them beeing there... Ive made the CP 28 X 11 inches. I cant really make it smaller and not too crampy smaller than that. I just thinked that Lucid CP plan was a little too big for nothing (but I figured out later that about all the space was required!) But I managed to reduce it a little. What do you think ? Everything ok ?

ho and for my 4-way that will be a suzo 500 in 4-way mode (above P1 buttons as you could have guessed already...)

[dogg0]

just get rid of the mouse buttons alltogether and move the joysticks/buttons down. looks good

[Nataq]

Can I get rid of all mouse buttons ? How should that work ? P1 buttons will have double fonctions ? Or I just have to setup 2 buttons for P1 for mouse buttons ? Im not too sure about how that could work but if I could remove the mouse buttons that could be good. Whats the advantage then to use dedicated mouse buttons ? Im confused...

[Nataq]

And I was wondering about the distance between the joystick and the 6 buttons. I have about 3 inches and a half. Is that ok/too much/too few ? Whats the norm ?

[Timoe]

You have given plenty of room between the joysticks and the buttons.

[88mph]

Hi there,

I also think the mouse buttons might be an issue where you have them.  One alternative would be to remove them, and place two small momentary buttons for the mouse above the trackball.  I'm not talking about full size 1 1/8 inch arcade buttons, but much smaller momentary buttons.  These would be just as functional, and would free up that space below your player 1 buttons and player 2 joystick.  It would also allow you to move those buttons down as dogg0 recommended.
 
Using the player 1 and/or 2 buttons with the trackball will be fine (especially if they are moved down a bit).  I don't think you would get much game use of those two mouse buttons as they are placed.. they're a bit too close to the ball I think.

One more thing.. you might want to consider a 4th button in your bottom row of buttons for both players, like in timoe's picture above.  I was initially planning on 6 buttons per player, like you have.  Then, I bought a partially completed MAME cab that already had the 7 button layout.  I find that bottom row of 4 buttons is great for certain games, such as some of the NEO GEO games and the Dungeons and Dragons games.  When playing fighter classics like SF2, I just use the 'regular' six buttons and never find myself straying to that extra button.  That's totally a matter of personal preference though..

Looks good.. good luck!

-88mph

[kickngas]

I would suggest moving your buttons closer to your joysticks, especially if you plan on playing Stargate/Defender.  Also, I just used the two buttons to the right of my spinner as my mouse buttons....they work as my fire and thrust while in game play(Galaga, Omega Race, Asteroids).
  Remember you can map eac button any way you want for individual games.  Just run your two mouse leads from your trackball to those buttons and map them under a game input to suit your needs!

[88mph]

Can I get rid of all mouse buttons ? How should that work ? P1 buttons will have double fonctions ? Or I just have to setup 2 buttons for P1 for mouse buttons ? Im not too sure about how that could work but if I could remove the mouse buttons that could be good. Whats the advantage then to use dedicated mouse buttons ? Im confused...

I've heard of some people using their first few player 1 buttons as mouse buttons.  In this case, they map the mouse buttons to the p1 button1 and p1 button 2 in Mame.  The guy who did this mentioned that he double wired these buttons with a switch so he could select to have them as mouse buttons or keyboard encoder buttons.  He did this in case there was any funny business with the mouse in fast and furious fighting games.  From what he said, he never really had much reason to use the switch though.. You might be able to search around and find the discussion I'm referring to..

-88mph 

[Nataq]

Ok thats what I was thinking... so just double wired them. Ill try to search for the topic.