angle joystick or not?

[jim_daniels]

I'm building a large 2 player cp and can't decide if the joysticks should angle in just a little or be straight on.  The reason I want to angle them is that there is a 4-way and trackball in the middle, so I angled the sides to make it more comfortable.  But is angling the joystick going to cause a problem? Are people going to hit diagnals trying to go up, for ex?  I'm not talking anything extreme here, just a slight angle on the stick and buttons

[CitznFish]

the only designs I have seen with angles joysticks are for the 3rd and 4th players. I wouldn't angle them. I haven't seen any of the control panels on the examples pages with angled joysticks for player 1 or player 2. you should stick with what works, or you could mock one up and see how it feels.

just my $.02

[jim_daniels]

Check this one out, this looks a lot like my cp. (minus all the cool artwork, though )

http://www.leafstation.com/ms2home.html

Do you think that angle would be confusing?

[BobA]

If your cp is wide enough I do not think an angle would be required.   To get a feel for doing things on a slight angle try holding your mouse about 25 degrees off how you usually hold it.  Now try to use it.   You can adapt to the new angle quite quickly but the moves are not as  quick or as accurate.  Same thing happens if you are trying to compensate for a joystick being at an angle.   It will work but in my opinion it will never feel quite right.

Just my 2 cents.

BobA

[Dartful Dodger]

I think you should keep the joystick, and all the buttons level to the bottom of the control panel, if the control panel is curved or shaped in a way so that the player needs to stand at an angle to play, then an angled joystick is best.

[Rocky]

I like the joysticks on my panel straight. It feels fine and it also helps for 2 joystick games like:

- Crazy Climber
- Robotron
- Cloak & Dagger

It's all about finding what works for what you want to play.

Rocky

[BombProofPlane]

ultimarc makes the e-sticks that fit in joystick holes and you can rotate them freely check em out
http://www.ultimarc.com/controls.html