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Narrow Arcade Cabinet (Cramped Control Panel Design) Need Help...
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emb:
I took all your suggestions into consideration (it was a huge help). I liked the suggestion to make the control panel just slightly wider than the cabinet itself (only by a few inches, thanks johnperkins21 and steveh). There is a perfect amount of elbow room now. I will upload my measurements sometime this week. While it still has a few cosmetic changes, it has been quite popular when we have company.


The top left joystick is the 4-way joystick. The top 3 buttons are for the 4 way joystick and trackball (not yet installed). It is positioned far enough away from the trackball so nobody not bashes their fingers when playing bowling.

The 2 red joysticks are 8-way. I used 7 buttons because I wanted a similar feel for when playing the neo-geo games.

My only regret was placing the Player 1 and Player 2 start buttons so close to each other.  I initially did this to keep the control panel looking clean. But on default, MAME exits when you press both these buttons simultaneously. When you are really into the game, and you slam on the buttons, your fingers will accidentally hit both buttons if you are not paying any attention. To work around this I am going to reconfigure mame to exit on a different button combination.

On the sides, I have easy access coin insert buttons.

There is still a lot of work that needs to be done with the cabinet:
1) Trackball (golden tee and bowling games)
2) Marquee (Fiance' is a graphic design major, and is coming up designs), the marquee that came with the cabinet just doesn't cut it
3) Sides (Fiance' is coming up with some graphics here as well, will be red and black)
4) T-Molding around edges and control panel
5) Black Textured Vinyl Laminate on the control panel (or some scratch resistant plexi-glass)
6) Those T-Brackets are pretty ugly there. Those are just temporary for support. I will add more support and remove those when the time is ready.

I'll post more as development progresses. Thanks for all your ideas!
Crowquill:
One concern I'd have with building the CP out that far...stability. You might want to add a "foot" or some type of extension onto the bottom edge. You don't want to get in a heated game and have the cabinet rocking or topple.

My frogger-style MAME cabinet has a 24" CP. I could have fit a trackball and had 6 buttons per player but it would've been cramped. In the end I dropped the trackball and just went with 8-way joys and the "standard" 7-button layout. It's tighter than it could be with 2 players, but it's not uncomfortable. It helped that Frogger has the start buttons on the front edge. I can still play 95% of the games in MAME. I also have a spare panel for this cab that I thought about making into an "analog panel"-- Trackball, spinner, and 3 buttons. Attached is my final layout.
emb:

--- Quote from: Crowquill on April 13, 2007, 06:06:28 pm ---One concern I'd have with building the CP out that far...stability. You might want to add a "foot" or some type of extension onto the bottom edge. You don't want to get in a heated game and have the cabinet rocking or topple.

--- End quote ---

Actually I did not have any issues with stability. The cabinet is very heavy. For enhanced support I have two long boards inside the control panel going into the cabinet, and it is locked securely in place.
RayB:
oh god, that control panel is ridiculous. (poor centipede!) Why would you want players standing on either SIDE of the monitor and then craning their necks to see? What's the point? Homophobic? Don't want your shoulder rubbing against your guy friends?  :P

I too have a Frogger style cab liek Crowquil (24" wide). I set up 2 players with 4 buttons each. Its fine to play 2 players. A little tight, but no one's gotten pregnant playing so I guess we're not THAT close together.

I don't see a problem with a an extended panel, but look at all that empty space in between!
Crowquill:

--- Quote from: RayB on April 13, 2007, 10:50:30 pm ---I don't see a problem with a an extended panel, but look at all that empty space in between!

--- End quote ---

I think that's for the trackball, spinner, tron stick, star wars yoke, 270 wheel, and light guns.  ;D

I think the thing that's a little weird is that after asking for input about the control panel and saying you only want to make it a few inches wider than the cab, you build it a foot out from the front without asking for input. I'm not against building larger control panels to go on classic cabs, but I'd definitely say there's a better way to implement it.
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