Give me one good reason to have a 7th button.

[Cue-Ball]

I'm in the process of redoing my control panel.  Right now both Player 1 and Player 2 have 7 buttons arranged like so:

   123
   BCD
 A



The only Neo-Geo games i really like (that come to mind) are the Metal Slug series which only use 3 buttons anyway.  I tried playing Metal Slug last night using the ABC buttons and, quite frankly, it sucked.  Very uncomfortable and the "thumb button" style just wasn't cutting it.  So, I need someone to convince me why in the world i need that 4th button on the bottom row instead of doing a 3x2 layout like Street Fighter.  If i can't think of a good reason to keep it, i'm going to scrap the 7th button on my new layout and just go with the "Street Fighter" style.

Well, lets hear it!

[CitznFish]

Off-Topic:

What joysticks are going into the upper left and right where the holes are drilled out?


Sorry i don't have an answer to your question

[Vesper]

I can't give you a good reason.  I think the 7th button just for NeoGeo games is silly.  My cab has 3 x 2 groups.

[SNAAAKE]

maybe is for mortal kombat!  
you know..you need that button to run...more like how it used to be in the arcades back in the day !.  

[Cue-Ball]

Off-Topic:

What joysticks are going into the upper left and right where the holes are drilled out?


Sorry i don't have an answer to your question

The top-left joystick is going to be a 4-way and the top-right is currently a hacked Raider Pro (for Tron, DoT, etc).  I haven't decided which 4-way stick i want to use yet  (right now i have an 8-way Super installed with the actuators bent slightly to give a 4-way feel) and i haven't put up pics of the Raider Pro yet.  I will be making a few other small changes when i redo the CP.  The biggest change will be that the 4-way and spinner will be pretty much swapping position.  That, and the two upper sticks will be set a little further apart.  This should make spinner games more comfortable and ambidextrous without hurting the feel of Discs of Tron or getting in the way when playing Golden Tee.

[_Iz-]

My cab has 4 x 2 layout wired like this:

4568
1237

seems to work pretty good. Can get a little confusing for games with more than 3 buttons. It does give the extra 2 buttons for pc games and psx emulators however. I've been considering changing it to:

5678
1234

with a special cps1/2 mame ctrlr file to make it

456x
123x

for those capcom games. That should make it the most versatile for everything.

[jerryjanis]

Stargate layout...



1) Fire
2) Thrust
3) Smart Bomb
4) Inviso

[Cue-Ball]

Jerryjanis - While that looks good on paper, to be true to the arcade you'd also need Hyperspace and Reverse buttons.



Although you do make a point that the extra button could come in handy "just in case".

Iz - I don't plan on emulating PSX on my arcade and i can't think of too many PC games i'll be playing on it (maybe a few "arcadey" titles like GTA or something).  I can't really forsee using 8 buttons at once.

[_Iz-]

Hey, I don't use them much either but my encoder supported them, I had the room and they do come in handy once and awhile so the more the merrier! Versatility is a good thing in my mind and I can configure them permanently by system (cps / neogeo / etc...) using ctrlr files for maximum flexibility and useability (or even by game if necessary).

But - it's your cabinet! That's the whole point to this exercise! Do what you are happy with! You get to make it exactly the way YOU want it to be.

[Cue-Ball]

That's the problem!  I built it how i thought it should be the first time (using the Hot-Rod style layout) and don't really like it since the extra button seems to be useless.  But, i guess it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

[s8n]

gotta have a run button in the correct spot to play MK3.

[OSCAR]

I added the 7th button on one of my cabs once.  I won't do it again.

I thought I would use it quite a bit, and it looked good on my layout, but I probably only used it once or twice.  I had played the NeoGeo games for so long on my previous cabs with a typical 3x2 layout I just couldn't get in the habit of switching to the lower row for all the buttons.

I agree with the "It's your cab, lay it out how you want" line of thinking, but since you asked for other's opinions....  

[SirPoonga]

Yeah, many 4 buttons games group them in a square.  Star Trek does.

[Frostillicus]

I have mine like this:

456
1234
bottom row is neo-geo layout.  So even tho there are seven buttons...i only use 6 total.  This layout is working surprisingly well -  I had my doubts at first.

[Sasquatch!]

I always thought that the typical "Street Fighter" layout was

123
456

What's with the

456
123

lately?  Or am I off my rocker?

[Frostillicus]

I always thought that the typical "Street Fighter" layout was

123
456

What's with the

456
123

lately?  Or am I off my rocker?

You can switch button mapping pretty easily now with the -ctrlr feature - and I used SirPoonga's buttonX.ini hack to automatically switch the mapping of buttons from
456
1234    (how it's wired to my ipac)

to
123
4564  

for any 6-button game like streetfighter.  
I prefer 1-4 button games on the bottom row anyways, but non-neo geo fighting games use the tradtional layout. Pretty easy and automatic  

[Sasquatch!]

You can switch button mapping pretty easily now with the -ctrlr feature -

Pretty easy and automatic  

There's just something I don't like about remapping with the -ctrlr feature.  I prefer continuity - knowing that button 1 is always button 1, but that's just me.

[SirPoonga]

unless you hit tab to see the buttons, button 1 could be whatever button on the cp.  as long as the game works and you understand the controls

[Sasquatch!]

True, but I plan on labeling my buttons on my next CP, so...

[Distortion]

i have the seventh button and i use it all the time.  i'm big into neo geo games and it's quite true to the original.  also, on 2-button games, i like to have them angled towards my right arm.

[Kitbasher]

I have two rows of 4 in a gentle curve.  Works very well for a variety of games.  I use this stick with mame, Nebula and playstation emulation.  I have the buttons colored like the clasic snk neogeo layout, and I map both rows identically on my neo geo titles.  In mame I just use the first three of both rows for street fighter.  In Nebula when playing street fighter, I map the first three like in mame, and the last two as all punch or all kick for some of the combos.  When I made a stick for my wife she said I dont need all those buttons and hers only hase 4 in a diamond.  
Make it as you will play it.  

[marcoval]

Everyone here is missing the true point. The reason one has a 7th button is to put more buttons on your CP. DUH! I plan on being the first person to pass the 500 button CP mark. Yes, every square inch of my CP will be covered with buttons. Granted only about 32 will be hooked up to anything, but as I said earlier, that's not the point. It's all about having more buttons than the last guy.  And I shall put neat little lables on them that say supposed functions of my CP, like "Turn blender in kitchen on." "Call Kremlin" and "Self Distruct" The only problem is that I need to come up with plausible excuses for when these things don't work, such as... "Oh you need the password to make it self destruct. " and " Hmmm there must be no one home at the Kremlin." and " That darn blender just keeps acting up!". Yes, this is the true reason to have not only the 7th button but the 700th button.

[Grasshopper]

Jerryjanis - While that looks good on paper, to be true to the arcade you'd also need Hyperspace and Reverse buttons.

Assuming you are building a two player panel, you can use two of the left player buttons for reverse and hyperspace, and three of the right player buttons for smart bomb, thrust, and fire.

Personally I would add the 7th button. The 3*2 layout is ok for most fighting games, but awkward for a lot of the neo-geo and older classic games.

[anthony691]

My brother had the buttons and the space so his cp has 8 buttons per player.