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!