Any links to 4 player CP...specifically must be Smash TV playable...

[Alcathiax]

I have been all over this website and the message boards over the past week or so...I am guessing about 40 hours of reading  . I see 4 player CP all over the place...but I haven't seen any that would allow for both Smash TV (dual joysticks) and other games easily. I'm thinking for Smash TV the sticks would need to be arranged in  + + + +.

Does anybody have any opinions on this?

[ahofle]

If you don't care about leaving room for a trackball, you could still have the 3rd and 4th players staggered like:

+           +
    +   +

Then just put two joysticks on player 1 and 2 (bottom two pluses in the 'picture').  I'd put a stick on each side of the button group for those two players like this:

J ooo J     J  ooo  J
  ooo           ooo

[Alcathiax]

I like that idea...but I was planning on Golden Tee....hhhmmm

[Alcathiax]

Also...what is the average depth of a machine with a 4P CP? From front of the CP all the way back to the back of the machine. Maybe I don't have the room for the full blows 4P CP anyways.

[ahofle]

I like that idea...but I was planning on Golden Tee....hhhmmm

Yeah, I struggled with this when designing my panel too.  The other option is to maybe get rid of one (or two?) of the 4 players to buy a little more room.  I ended up skipping the extra stick on players 1 and 2 as a compromise (I kinda regret not being able to play 2 player smash TV though).  But a trackball was an absolute must for me.  Just ask yourself what is the most important to you with your panel.  Having 4 players?  Two player smash tv?  Golden Tee/trackball games?  Etc.  You'll probably have to compromise at some point and drop whatever is the least important for you.  In hindsight, I wish I had only done a two player panel with the double sticks and a trackball.  It's so rare that I can get 3 people on the cabinet at once, so the 3rd player is rarely used.

Good luck!

[KenToad]

SmashTV is one of my favorite games, so I've done two of these types of panels.  The first is my original crappy ass standalone, played fine but not constructed too prettily.  The second is my modular design for my bartop.

And now that I'm looking at these again, I remember that my original cp, now dismantled, wasn't designed for four players, so it may not be what you're looking to see an example of.

Oh well.

Cheers,
KenToad

[hypernova]

One possibility is having four buttons for players three and four, and orienting them like a diamond (45 degree angled square)  This works well if you choose an x++x layout.

Since I have a trackball, I chose this.  My CP was already 48", so having P3&4 as + would've been cramming things.

Using what I've done myself opens up options.  Player one can use the P1 and P2 sticks like normal, or both players can work off P3 and P4, using the joysticks and buttons.  The buttons work as the shoot joystick.  Having them oriented as mentioned above allows easy cardinal direction shooting with one button, and for diagonals, pressing two of the buttons at the same time.
Sure, it's not true to the original, but you work with what ya got, and that's what I did, and it works swell.
Admittedly, I will at times inadvertently press opposite buttons (left and right for example) which results in no shooting, but you'll realize it within a second or two, and adjust your fingers accordingly.  It's not like you're tossing quarters into the thing, so no big whoop for me.

Plus I'm not a "veteran" of that particular game, so playing with buttons instead of a second joystick doesn't make all that much of a difference to me.  A true SmashTV fanatic wouldn't settle for anything less than the four ++++ setup.  If it is one of your FAVORITE games, I'd go that route.  Or, if you can somehow squeeze two extra 8ways in there, go that route, but with a trackball, that might not be possible.

Or you can just screw all that, and make two CPs.  One for smash tv (and other games probably) with the two players/four joys, and another CP with a standard four player setup.  The trackball could be put on either, I would think.  Really you're only talking 4 extra joysticks, some buttons, wood, and overlay graphics (if applicable.)  Those would be the higher cost items for such an endeavor.

Lots to consider.

[jelwell]

I built my cabinet for SmashTV and Crystal Castles (which is a trackball game too).



Here's what I learned (afterwards), although I'm not sure I would have done anything differently. You'll notice that it can become a bit crowded with 4 players - personally I don't mind because I like crowds. But I heard a suggestion once that made some sense. Rather than keep the outside players buttons parallel with the middle ones - wing them out. BUT keep the joysticks for those players at the same level as the inner ones.

I can't explain worth  so I did some searching for an old thread I posted in. And voila! Franco did an excellent version of what I'm talking about:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=36073.msg316881#msg316881


Align all 4 joysticks at the same distance from the monitor - but wing out the plaery 3 & 4 buttons. You'll need programmable joysticks, like the 49 way, so that you can set UP to towards the monitor or alternatively perpendicular to the buttons - depending partly on preference.

Read through that whole thread. I posted some other ideas there as well. And many people in the thread have good examples of 4 player control panels.
Joseph Elwell.

[Buddabing]

Xiaou2 had some very interesting ideas on this topic.

[Alcathiax]

jelwell...I like that idea you mentioned. Can you do me a huge favor though? I'm trying to figure out if I have the room for a bulky 4p machine. Can you measure the depth of your machine from back to the front of your CP (not counting your pinball plunger).

Thanks

[jelwell]

jelwell...I like that idea you mentioned. Can you do me a huge favor though? I'm trying to figure out if I have the room for a bulky 4p machine. Can you measure the depth of your machine from back to the front of your CP (not counting your pinball plunger).

Thanks

Most people would agree that my control panel is too large for the (proportionally) smaller cabinet I have. My cabinet used to be a SINGLE player Time Pilot 84. So it's size is considerably smaller than your standard 4 player cabinet (like Gauntlet, Spider Man, etc).

With that said here are some measurements:
The depth of the cabinet with control panel (but not plunger) is 35.5 inches.
However that doesn't include the 8 inches of my PC's CRT monitor that sticks out the back. If you use a big monitor (I think mine is 25 or 27 inches) then you'll have to include those 8 inches making the total depth: 43.5 inches.

Here are some more photos (these were all taken when I still had my old (smaller) 21 inch monitor:
http://singleclick.com/gallery/v/Joe-Elwell/album/DSC07301.JPG.html
http://singleclick.com/gallery/v/Joe-Elwell/album324/DSC06591.jpg.html
Joseph Elwell.