Biggest and widest Control Panel

[jefftse]

Hey guys, I would like to know who has the biggest and widest control panel here.  I was thinking to do 48" wide since arcademarqee.com only sell the control panel overlay up to 49".  I want to make sure 4 player on the game are all comfortable.

Thanks
Jeff

[Buddabing]

Pac-Matt?

[DaveMMR]

Hey guys, I would like to know who has the biggest and widest control panel here.  I was thinking to do 48" wide since arcademarqee.com only sell the control panel overlay up to 49".  I want to make sure 4 player on the game are all comfortable.

Thanks
Jeff

4-player games are never comfortable unless you just buy 4 Leather Recliners and give each one it's own control panel.   On a standard arcade cab, either there's cramping or people are far enough from each other that two people can't see the screen properly.

If you're going 48" you may want to wire intercoms into the CP so players can talk to each other during the game.   

[Dervacumen]

Pac-Matt?

That will always be a contender.

But I hate large CP's, even if they are four player.  Seems to me that many of us don't have the space to spread out and enjoy one. If you go with a large CP you might think about having a good sized monitor, at least 25".   And unless you integrate it into your cabinet and give it natural lines it may be overkill to go too big.  Yeah, it works, but doesn't lalways look right, IMHO.

Now that being said, I like the Gauntlet CP.  If you can keep it within those specs you'll have a nice machine.

[ahofle]

I think leapinlew had a humongous CP sketched out here a while ago. 

Also, I never noticed those coins glued to the PacMatt CP (right above the joysticks). LOL
http://members.tripod.com/~xanderski/arcade/cp04.html

[Kaytrim]

Pac-Matt?

Do you plan to play on that thing or fly south for the winter.

[javeryh]

I would think long and hard before building something that big.

What's with the slew of people building 4P cabs these days?  I wish I had friends.

[leapinlew]

I think leapinlew had a humongous CP sketched out here a while ago. 

Also, I never noticed those coins glued to the PacMatt CP (right above the joysticks). LOL
http://members.tripod.com/~xanderski/arcade/cp04.html

Everyone bow in shame: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=65141.0

[Chris G]

If you build it, we will bow. 

[shorthair]

Pac-Matt?

Do you plan to play on that thing or fly south for the winter.

Something like that, yeah. Trackball.....

[psychotech]

Trying to get listed here ?

http://www.wickedretarded.com/~crapmame/

 

[SavannahLion]

Also, I never noticed those coins glued to the PacMatt CP (right above the joysticks). LOL
http://members.tripod.com/~xanderski/arcade/cp04.html

Those aren't coins, they're admin buttons disguised as coins.

[psychotech]

http://www.wickedretarded.com/~crapmame/2.html

Not bad  ?

[psychotech]

Pac-Matt?

- also..

http://www.wickedretarded.com/~crapmame/4.html

[psychotech]

And, of course..

I didn't mean it & I'm so sorry 

 

[DARRYLICSHON]

I hate big control panels so much, that i use smaller control panels that you sit on your lap or desk , or what ever  and i also give each player his own monitor , everyone seems to like haveing thier own. I have gone as far as building a small cab. that sits next to my Lunar Lander cab with the cpu in it. the small one has only a monitor and a control panel it works great for playing space duel , well it did before i got my real space duel cab about a month ago, now we play the real one.

[shorthair]

You know, that site has a page dissing unclet's cab.

[unclet]

You know, that site has a page dissing unclet's cab.

Yes, I know .... I laugh everytime I read it ..... I think his commentary is funny.   Keep it up.   


Now ... opening myself up for more abuse .... I will actually try to help the poster of this thread a bit.    My standup 4-player cabinet has a control panel width of 56" inches.  It is 19" deep.   I have a room in which it fits very nicely and all my children along with the neighborhood children come and play on it a lot .... and I mean a lot.   They love the Simpsons and the TMNT games which means my 4-player cabinet actually gets a lot of 4-player game play.   

Why do people build 4-player cabinets people have asked ...... well I wanted to build a cabinet which had a lot of different options on it since I plan on keeping in the family for many many many years.   I also wanted to be able to play 2-player games in which both players require two joysticks each.    Another reason for having a 4-player control panel is that I have many other emulators configured on it so the extra buttons and even joysticks for player3/4 come in handy which allow for two player games to be played on different emulators as well.

The positioning/distance for each joystick seems to be perfect.   I have never had problems with bumping elbows with anyone, even when 3 adults are playing "You Dont Know Jack" games .... which is a blast at parties.

I say ... if you have the time, money, space and desire then go ahead a build yourself a nice 4-player cabinet.   It would be a shame if you built a 2-player cabinet just to then wish you had a 4-player one in the end .

Now, you can look at my layout at the following:

http://unclet.arcadecontrols.com/

I hope this kind of helps you out.

[vidmouse]

I'm in a similar boat Uncle T -- the 3p/4p thing is really for the family and friends to enjoy as the kids grow up.  They're a little young yet but I'm planning ahead.

I struggled with this for months and ended up with this plan.
P3 and P4 are removable "wings" that slide on/off and
store away in the cab for the most part.  Total width w/ the wings
is about 45", minus wings is 36".  I haven't built yet but the
design is close to where I want it to be.

[vidmouse]

Whoops, meant to say 52" not 45".

[unclet]

I think a lot of people on here forget about little kids playing these games.   When you have kids, they have friends which come over and once they see the cabinet they stay awhile.  Also they come back frequently .... especially on rainy days.    I love it, since I know where my kids are and can keep an eye on them.

Basically I wanted to build one upright cabinet so wanted to make sure I never felt like I left something off of the cabinet design.  If you going to do it, do it right and make it have everything so there is no regrets when it is done.   You can see this philosophy in my 6-panel rotating driving cab     

Of course you need the space to house the cabinet and, in most cases, a very understanding wife 

[vidmouse]

I got my wife excited about it when I decided to put controls for Visual Pinball in.  Maybe she'll eventually convert to being a MAME fanatic too.
For me, I'm becoming more of pinball fanatic as I'm playing more.

[unclet]

I have pinball buttons as well, but I wanted the location of the left/right flipper buttons to be like a real pinball table.   Check out my control panel (pic below) and see how it is angled.  You can not really see the pinball flipper button since it is black in color, but you get the idea. 

Might give you an idea if you are still tweaking your design a bit ...... perhaps.

[vidmouse]

Your design is VERY close to one that I came up with just before I did the modular one.  It didn't look right with the narrowness of my main cab.

[Jeff AMN]

I don't know why people get so down on the 4-player layouts. I'm building one for my office and it should be great. They worked well in the arcades, so there's no reason why it shouldn't work fine here. As long as you keep it from being cluttered (like making good use of shift functions), there's no reason to avoid a 4-player design if you're going to make full use of the capability.

[northerngames]

I almost have another 4 player done I have it out in the garage but think it is around 46-1/2" X 28" it would seat or stand four comfortably no problem I will take a picture and post the top overlay since the base is done but not assembled just yet.

[Loki]

With 4 players I would rather make some controllers for a console or PC to play on a big TV... ofcourse it's not like the real arcade but IMO it's a lot more fun like that.
For me it's 2 players max on the arcade cab

[releasedtruth]

It can't be said often enough for my tastes....

Pac-Matt is taking the &@#$ off!

 

[Fozzy The Bear]

It can't be said often enough for my tastes....

Pac-Matt is taking the &@#$ off!

 

Yeah!! but have we ever identified the author of that site.... Hillarious as it is, he still won't identify himself... and we all know it's a member of this forum.  Personally my money is on "Saint"    andybody going to take the bet....

Best Regards
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[Anubis_au]

I would think long and hard before building something that big.

What's with the slew of people building 4P cabs these days?  I wish I had friends.

I had one... and sold it. Wanted to play the 4-player games I remembered (TMNT, Simpsons). Found out I hated playing those games Also, there are 2-player versions of them, so you don't really need a 4-player cab. Except for Gauntlet.

[AlexKidd]

My 4 player control panel is 58 inches wide. Although my cab is a showcase type with a 32 inch monitor

[SavannahLion]

It can't be said often enough for my tastes....

Pac-Matt is taking the &@#$ off!

 

Yeah!! but have we ever identified the author of that site.... Hillarious as it is, he still won't identify himself... and we all know it's a member of this forum.  Personally my money is on "Saint"    andybody going to take the bet....

So no one could identify him by his own CP?

[suits00]

pic no longer available

[unclet]

 

[DaveMMR]

It can't be said often enough for my tastes....

Pac-Matt is taking the &@#$ off!

 

Yeah!! but have we ever identified the author of that site.... Hillarious as it is, he still won't identify himself... and we all know it's a member of this forum.  Personally my money is on "Saint"    andybody going to take the bet....

Best Regards
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

He did identify himself in one thread - can't really search right now but it goes back a couple of years.  There was even some personalized zingers for those who requested their cabs/cps be critiqued.

[Kaytrim]

all those panels are nice, however, check out this beast. It doesn't look like it, its 72"inch by 25"inch. I think i have the only cabinet that's 6ftx6ft. If you look above a little bit, you can see the length of the cab itself (26'inches), there is no way you could pump elbows with this panel, even if you wanted to. This control panel is heavy, but the trick is making it slim(width wise). Its a one man job, trust me.

Flight 6263 you are cleared for takeoff on runway 270.

[shardian]

all those panels are nice, however, check out this beast. It doesn't look like it, its 72"inch by 25"inch. I think i have the only cabinet that's 6ftx6ft. If you look above a little bit, you can see the length of the cab itself (26'inches), there is no way you could pump elbows with this panel, even if you wanted to. This control panel is heavy, but the trick is making it slim(width wise). Its a one man job, trust me.

And by scaling the picture, you have a 19" monitor.

[Chris G]

Seems a little cramped around the trackball, suits... maybe you should allow for a little more space next time, say 80".   

[shorthair]

all those panels are nice, however, check out this beast. It doesn't look like it, its 72"inch by 25"inch. I think i have the only cabinet that's 6ftx6ft. If you look above a little bit, you can see the length of the cab itself (26'inches), there is no way you could pump elbows with this panel, even if you wanted to. This control panel is heavy, but the trick is making it slim(width wise). Its a one man job, trust me.

Nice art.

[Zakk]

http://www.wickedretarded.com/~crapmame/2.html

Not bad  ?

Actually, what he needs is a category of machines too small to actually play.  Perhaps then you could get a nod.