4 Player CP Design

[TexFlood]

Hi everyone -

I am in the preliminary stages of building my own CP.  I am looking to make a 4 player layout that is somewhat similar in style to the SlikStik Quad Cab.  I've included 2 different options below and would like to hear some feedback of what you all think.

I spent way too much time tinkering with these layouts and I'll state a couple of the main goals that had to be in the design:

1) Has to be 4 player.  Yes I know, 4 players will probably only be used 10% of the time, but that doesn't matter, 4 players or bust.  All 4 joysticks will be U360's so this will give the ability to use 1-3 & 2-4 for Smash TV and other 2 joystick games.  They won't be parallel to each other, but I can adapt to that.  The U360's will allow me to set them up for 4/8 way play.  I'm fine with the U360's not feeling like authentic joysticks - the times they are a changin' - again I can adapt.  (Note: I broke down and included a dedicated 4 way in the second layout)  The players are positioned from left to right 4 - 2 - 1 - 3.

2) The CP has to be large enough to handle adult sized people.  The dimensions I settled on are 44" x 20".  Yes that's big, but necessary so that we won't have to wear elbow pads to play.  Players 1 & 2 have to be far enough apart to comfortably play 2 player games (probably will be the case 90% of the time).  I printed out a paper mock up of the control panel and 44" x 20" is the size that feels comfortable.

3) The CP has to stay relatively clean, 2 admin buttons and only the bare necessary controls.  I don't want to add on any more controls then what I have in my layout, I want to keep it as simple to use as possible.  The admin buttons are Pause and Exit.  7 buttons for players 1 & 2, 4 buttons for players 3 & 4 also a spinner and a trackball.

Option 1 is the layout I really like, except for the direction of players 3 & 4 joysticks being positioed straight towards the screen, it makes their buttons angled strangely.
On the second layout I added a dedicated 4 way to the control which I am really not liking since it crowds everything and I don't think it would be comfortable to play from that location. 

I also  tweaked players 3 & 4 in the two different layouts to see what you all think.  First off I set the joysticks to be faced at the screen.  Has anyone ever seen someone do a layout where players 3 & 4 buttons were at a 45 degree angle and the joystick was set straight to the screen?  Also, how about the goofy foot layout for player 3 in the (edited: second) design? 

Option 1:




Option 2:



Thanks for any feedback!

[am_monkee]

I like the control panel, but here is a suggestion. if you want p1 and p2 to have 7 buttons, why not switch player 1 and 2's positions with players 3 and 4? The reason being is that most likely p1 and p2 will get the most play and this way they're not standing on top of each other trying to play. That is, give them more room and put them on the outside. When (and I really see this a lot less) there are 4 players, everyone will be smushed together, so that's fine. But for just going one-on-one, it's better to have some room b/t the two. Just my thought. Good start so far.

[Faerl]

What you're doing is pretty similiar to what I'm setting up. I'd recommend keeping the P1 & P2 where they're at. It's unlikely to get crowded if you have enough space for the trackball between them. On mine we're putting a dedicated 4way along with a spinner except we're placing it directly above the trackball area. that way you're not reaching over a joystick and it's much more centered. Seems to work ok on paper. I'd recommend against angling the joysticks. There have been several topics on the subject and everyone of them ends with it being confusing and bad. The few games that actually did that in the arcade were apparently unplayable in that position.

[am_monkee]

good point about the trackball space. i guess i just like as much room as possible to play, but it's certainly not necessary.

[TexFlood]

am_monkee -
I have Players 2 & 1 on the left and right side of the trackball, respectively.  I like the positioning of 1 and 2 because I've made sure that there is enough space b/w them, so I'm feeling good about their placement.  The outside players (4 & 3 from L to R) do not have as much space, but that's just the way it goes, besides that's only going to be about 10% of the time in all reality anyways. 

Faerl -
I've printed out the entire CP on 8.5" x 11" paper (15 sheets!) and had me and several friends stand around it to get a feeling of how "friendly" we would have to get to play with this spacing and it really felt comfortable.  Of course it should be because the thing is freakin' 44" wide!  I want to keep the space above the trackball free for Golden Tee so I intentionally left that open from potential "finger breakers". 
I'm really curious, are you going to set up your player 3 & 4 controls like I have them in my original post?  It seems like having the joystick with up towards the screen is fine, but then the 4 buttons are angled off at a 45 degree angle.  Is that how you are going to do it or are you planning on having all four player standing towards the screen instead of having players 3 & 4 at a significant angle like I have?

Believe me, I've read far too much on here about how the angling of all 4 joysticks are (always/usually/except for x instances) facing in the same direction - towards the screen for up, I'm not looking to recycle that argument...

[Arcades R Fun]

Looks like you have spend a good deal of time on your design. It's very clean and not too wide. I have managed to get our 4 player design down to only 40" wide. The spacing is still comfortable. IMO going with the smallest 4 player panel always looks better on your cab than the 48"+ monster panels. As a point of reference our 4 player panels are 40" wide and 19.75" deep.

Don't forget that real 4 player arcade games like NBA JAM/Maximum Hangtime, TMNT, X-Men, Capt. America, Simpsons etc. managed to fit 4 players onto a rectangular 37" panel.

Now of course you need more width due to the trackball placement but my point is that 2/4 player panels have been getting bigger and bigger over the years and detaching the players further from each other may not be a good thing.

IMO part of the "Real" arcade experience "Back In The Day" was playing Streetfighter shoulder to shoulder.

In the end you can make your 4 player panel any size you want to. I don't claim to be an expert. These are just my opinions and certainly not the last word on the subject.

[Crafty]

IMO part of the "Real" arcade experience "Back In The Day" was playing Streetfighter shoulder to shoulder.

I agree, I remember the crush in the arcades. It's all part of the experience...

[Spaz Monkey]

Why 4 - 2 - 1 - 3?  Most have x - 1 - 2 - x.

[TexFlood]

Arcades R Fun -
Funny you should reply, I just found your website today as I saw it in the annoucements here at BYOAC.  I just had to sigh in disgust after seeing your 4 player template, that is EXACTLY what I am looking to do!  Except now I'm too far in... 2 weeks of tinkering with my Visio layout, a sheet of 5/8" MDF in the garage, a new router with several bits and at least 30 links in my favorites to various areas of this site...  Yours looks to be a well made product with a well thought out design!
Anyways I agree with you in terms of size, I think smaller is definitely more elegant.  Its just tough to cut back when the final decision comes down to oneself, and everybody likes the idea of bigger is better, right?  I guess to each his own for that decision.
On your completed 4 player CP, do you angle the joysticks for players 3 & 4 with up towards the screen or is up relative to the angle of the player?
Also, no one has mentioned anything about the "goofy foot" setup I did on Option 2 for the far right player.  Anybody have any thoughts on this (give the lefties a good option)?

Spaz Monkey -
I'm gonna shoot straight with you here, I have no idea why I have this set up as 4 - 2 - 1 - 3...  It doesn't make sense to me either.  I'm changing it to 3 - 1 - 2 -4.  Thanks for the fix!

[Arcades R Fun]

TextFlood,
Thanks for the compliments on our 4 player Mini-Quad design. It looks so simple but it took 2 people several days of CAD designing and test cutting to get it right. The button layout above the trackball changes with each customer and there's no "right" way to do it except the way you like it.



I missed the Goofy setup for lefties on your panel. I'm a left hander myself and I just learned to play the arcades the way they were set up years ago. The funny thing is that you would think all arcade games would have the joystick on the right of the buttons for righties and I tell you why.....
With the exception of button combos in fighting games ( which I suck at anyway) the joystick moves require the most coordination and in the standard arcade game setup that's for the left hand.

The gameplay buttons are then beat up with the right hand which never needed any coordination IMO.

There is one classic game that I played with my right hand on the stick and my left hand crossed underneath. I just can't remember what it was.