Please critique: 2 player (4 stick) control panel

[edge]

I am working on a portable control panel and would love your feedback.

After weeks of grappling with decision after decision ("thanks" to the wealth of info here ), here's an overview of what I decided:
- 2 player, with 2 sticks each (alla Karate Champ, Smash TV)
- Trackball (for bowling & GT)
- Spinner (I have 2, so I figured put one on left side, one on right, to balance look and allow left/right handed use)
- Player 3/4 will use USB gamepads
- Went with staggered 6 button config (seemed cleaner than 7 button, and good compromise for 4th button placement)
- I added extra space between top row of buttons/spinners and trackball.  Hopefully that helps with diagonal GT/Bowling strokes.

Comments, please.
Thanks!
Edge

[Cutty]

I would put your "admin" buttons further from 1 and 2 ups, you dont want to hit them accidentally in the middle of a hectic smash tv game. More importantly, what did you use to design that?

[TOK]

It looks nice. Since you mentioned Golden Tee specifically, that is the only possible issue I see. Looks like the inside sticks are going to interfere with your swing. The obvious solution to that would be moving the trackball forward, but you also have to be careful that you don't get it too close to the bezel.

I have a two player panel with just two joysticks, and first time GT players still wind up bumping the player two stick. The stick that is bumped on mine is approximately where your Player 2 button 1 is.

[Timoe]

It still might be possible to stub your fingers into those spinners when playing GT or bowling games.

I built a CP with the sticks close to the  trackball sides and it play tested well.  Having free space behind the trackball and for those diagonal shots was more important.

[edge]

Thanks for the quick responses.

Cutty - I used Visio 2003 to create that diagram. 

TOK - Thanks.  Yeah, the diagonals for GT are my biggest concern.  This will be a standalone control panel (ie, like that Arcade in a box), so I don't have to worry about a bezel.  If I move the trackball higher, I think my diagonal backswings might hit the sticks more.  I will try to mock something up.

Timoe - How far are your josticks to your trackball?  From center of joystick to center of trackball?  Do you hit them during diagonals?

[Timoe]

I actually made the panel for someone else, so I cant measure it but they are pretty close.  My total width was something like 36"  So its pretty close to yours.

If the x axis centerline of the trackball is in line with the centerline of your joystick then diagonals should not be a problem.

Since most of the forcefull strokes are not side to side, it was never a problem.

[edge]

Thanks for the feedback... Here's an updated mock-up.

Changes:
- CP top panel is now 35 x 18 inches.
- I moved the trackball/joysticks down an additional one inch.  Gives me more room from the spinners on top.
- I tightened up the joystick/button spacing.  I forgot that i needed at least 3/4 inch on each side of the control panel in order to fit the side walls underneath.
- I moved the admin buttons away from the START/CREDIT buttons.
- I now have 2 admin buttons on each side (versus one).  This will give me a little more flexibility going forward.

Getting closer?

[gmunny]

Hello folks.  I'm designing my control board but only plan on having 2 joysticks, one for player 1 and one for player 2.  I would like to play karate champ and crazy climber but don't want 2 joysticks per person.   Is there a way to use the player 2 joystick as the right joystick?  I am going to use an ipac-2 as my interface.  Thanks for any help.
Gmunny

[leapinlew]

Hello folks.  I'm designing my control board but only plan on having 2 joysticks, one for player 1 and one for player 2.  I would like to play karate champ and crazy climber but don't want 2 joysticks per person.   Is there a way to use the player 2 joystick as the right joystick?  I am going to use an ipac-2 as my interface.  Thanks for any help.
Gmunny

Gmunny...

first off - you may want to start your own thread instead of hijacking this one. The short answer to your question is yes. You can use the player 2 joystick for dual joystick single player games.

A complication in things is the games you mentioned. Karate Champ uses Dual 4 ways and trying to use 8 ways for karate champ doesn't work well. It's the only one I'm aware of using dual 4 ways.