Critique my control panel (plans inside)

[TalkingOctopus]

Hi all,

I just built a cabinet using LuSid's plans, however, I did not cut or work on a control panel because I think mine will be a bit different than LuSid's.  I would like to have a 4 player control panel and a 3" trackball.  Is this just a bad idea for LuSid's cab?  Has anyone else done this?  Furthermore, I made a semi-rough plan of what I'd like my control panel to be in photoshop.  The actually file is to scale, but obviously I decreased its size so it would be a quick download for you guys.  The control panel seems a bit massive to me, but I want player 1 and 2 to have enough elbow space.

Anyway here it is:


Any comments, suggestions or help is welcome!

Thanks in advance!

[Birdtales]

If you have any thoughts that you might wish to put Golden Tee Golf on your cabinet you'll want to move that trackball back away from the monitor side of your CP. Otherwise you'll be smacking the glass.

[BobA]

I agree with Birdtales on the hand smaking and it looks like anyone for player 3 or 4 would have a sharp corner directly in front of them when they are playing.  Looks uncomfortable when you think about how you physically interact with the control surface.

BobA

[DeathMonk]

Looks great!  If I did a 4 player CP it would be similar to this.  Like the previous posts, I also think the trackball should come back some.

[Tommy Boy]

It looks a little cramped to me.  I think that players one and two might not have sufficient shoulder room.  Take a look at the SlikStick Quad as a point of comparison.  They have the 'ball between the players which alows more room for big drives on Golden Tee.  It also looks like they have about a foot between the player one buttons and the player two stick -- which should give a bit more room to operate.

FWIW.

[u_rebelscum]

Looks pretty good.  Might want to move that trackball down a little like others said.  But that and moving the player 1 & 2 apart depends on how often you'll play TB games, how often 2 player games, how often 4 player player games, and how often 1 player games.  The first two suggest moving TB down and separating the sticks some.  The latter two suggest not moving the sticks.

My q is where are the trackball buttons?  Player 1 buttons?  Test and see if that's comfortable, I think it would be a little weird.  But if it works for you, go with it.

[wee beastie]

Just a thought, but have you thought about the ramifications of having player 3 and 4 angled like that?  I never did like having the joysticks oriented at an angle.  My original cab was a 4 player jamma I built on my own, and this was the biggest complaint of anyone who played 4 player games (X-men).  We were always racing to the cabinet to get the "good" joysticks that were not at an angle.  Also, this rules out playing 2 player smash tv style games that require two joysticks for each player.

[JamesMolloy]

I don't know about you guys but I prefer the way the 6/7 buttons look when the 2 on the left are placed sligtly lower. For some games its nice to be able to hold your fingers over 3 or 4 buttons at once. The most obvious example would be Neo Geo games.

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[SirPoonga]

I see the left and right player getting annoyed witha  corner in their stomach.

[Lucky S.O.B.]

You won't want the trackball so close to the buttons if you play golden tee, and I would suggest buttons for the trackball. If you have the max amount of buttons already just double up on the 4player buttons.

What did you use to design this? Do you have a full size diagram?

-Derrick

[TalkingOctopus]

Thank for all of your responses.  I am definately going to reconfigure the trackball.  I have not played many track ball games, but I definately plan to on my cabinet.  Other reactions:

I see the left and right player getting annoyed witha  corner in their stomach.

 Do you have an example of a different layout where this does not happen?

I don't know about you guys but I prefer the way the 6/7 buttons look when the 2 on the left are placed sligtly lower. For some games its nice to be able to hold your fingers over 3 or 4 buttons at once. The most obvious example would be Neo Geo games.

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 I prefer the Capcom template.

Just a thought, but have you thought about the ramifications of having player 3 and 4 angled like that?

 I did it like that because of space constraints.  Once again, do you have any examples of a non-angled layout.  Keep in mind the cabinet is about 26" wide and has a 27" tv.

It looks a little cramped to me.  I think that players one and two might not have sufficient shoulder room.  Take a look at the SlikStick Quad as a point of comparison.  They have the 'ball between the players which alows more room for big drives on Golden Tee.  It also looks like they have about a foot between the player one buttons and the player two stick -- which should give a bit more room to operate.

I had the same worry. I thought it looked cramped too and will attempt a solution.

What did you use to design this? Do you have a full size diagram?

I used photoshop 6 with grids and guides and brought Lusid's MS-Word templates into photoshop.  I have a fullsize diagram but do not have the bandwidth to release it.  If you really want it, PM me and perhaps I can arrange something.  The plans my cabinet is based on and the MS-word templates used in my diagram can be found here: http://home.earthlink.net/~seanhat/arcade/arcade.html

I will work on it some more and post a revision in the next few days.  Thanks again for all your help and input.

[Birdtales]

I see the left and right player getting annoyed witha  corner in their stomach.

Do you have an example of a different layout where this does not happen?

All you have to do is use what you have and trim it up to fix this one. Something like this.

[unclet]

Let me start by saying that I built a 4-player cabinet and like everything about it.   My control panel dimensions are 56"x19" and I have a 27" TV inside.  When I remove this control panel, then the cabinet itself can still fit through a standard 28" wide door frame (very important!!).  Anyway, I have thought about many of the concerns posted by other people when I built my cabinet and have incorporated them into my cabinet already.  It would be easier to send you send pictures of my cabinet along with the control panel layout if you want.   If you do (or anyone else), then email me at emailAddrRemoved   

Note: I do not have sketched plans like you posted here for your control panel, but I do have some MS Powerpoint slides which you can print which shows the button/joystick layouts.

Anyway, if you want my opinion as well....then these are the things I see which I would change:

- Move trackball down.  I play Birdie King and Golden Tee and others.  Also, just think of all the CD-Rom games you could play with on this cabinet as well which might need a trackball (ie: other golf games, bowling, etc...)  When you move the trackball down, then the joysticks will get pushed out to the sides even more...just like mine.   Once you move the trackball lower then make sure you have enough spacing between the trackball and the joystick so when you really give the trackball a good hard spin, that you arm does not fling into a joystick.

- Do not tilt player 3/4 joysticks that much, just tilt ever so slightly to give the players some elbow room.   Do this while keeping the joysticks somewhat level with each other so you can play multiple joystick games.... (one of my favorites is Karate Champ)

- Make sure you leave enough room in front of the two widest joysticks for players to rest their wrists and part of their forearm on the control panel top.   These player's arms will get really tired (or their wrists really sore) if they could not rest them while holding the joysticks and/or pushing buttons.

- I am not sure what kind of joysticks you are using, but I wished I added a joystick with a top fire button.

- If you are going to all of this trouble of making a kickass cabinet like this, then go ahead and add a spinner (I added two of them) and some pinball buttons on the side (I also added a plunger button for the hell of it... )   

- I agree with JamesMalloy about the button layout   In fact, this is the button layout I used on my cabinet since I had the same concern about finger positioning.

- Do not know whether you thought of adding a pause button, but you should.   Since I had a 4-player cabinet, I added 2 pause buttons (wired together) so each of side of the cabinet (left/right) would be able to reach the pause button easily (ie: need to take a beer piss RIGHT NOW type of thing  )

- Also, if you are hacking a mouse for your trackball, then do not forget to add right/left mouse click buttons so you can use the trackball like a mouse...

Anyway, if anyone wants my info and pics, send me an email.

Best of luck...and do it right since once you are complete with this cabinet, you most likely will have it for years and years...so do it right the first time so you do not wish you had done anything differently.    Building a cabinet is pretty cheap if you plan on keeping it for 10 years or longer.....

UncleT

[skirge66]

before you go and move your trackball think about this...do you and the people you hang around with even play golden tee?  It seems that just about everyone here wants to have the trackball possitioned spacificly for this game...and shoos...

personally the only thing I find worse than actually playing golf is pretending to play it...or watching it on tv. I think it's great that people all enjoy different games, but set things up the way it works for you.

I like the possition of your trackball where it is, but then again, I'd never have to worry about smackin the piss out of the trackball to play games like centipede. Just think about which games you are wanting to accomodate with that ball.

No offense to those of you that made that recomendation, as we each have our own agenda and should be able to respect that.

[u_rebelscum]

before you go and move your trackball think about this...do you and the people you hang around with even play golden tee?  It seems that just about everyone here wants to have the trackball possitioned spacificly for this game...and shoos...

personally the only thing I find worse than actually playing golf is pretending to play it...or watching it on tv. I think it's great that people all enjoy different games, but set things up the way it works for you.

I like the possition of your trackball where it is, but then again, I'd never have to worry about smackin the piss out of the trackball to play games like centipede. Just think about which games you are wanting to accomodate with that ball.

No offense to those of you that made that recomendation, as we each have our own agenda and should be able to respect that.

Hey, another not-golf-fanatic! (although I sometimes do play it in the arcades with a friend or two).

FWIW, I'd like the TB being ~8"-10" from the bottom of the CP, with the buttons aligned (& slightly slanted) with the top of the ball.  Look at dedicated 3 player rampart or dedicated cabal CPs for examples.  OTOH, I'm planing on making a 2 or 3 TB - no joy CP, so I have more freedom of placement than the CP in discussion.

[paigeoliver]

Why not just move the trackball back to directly between the player 1 and player 2 controls. You would only have to scoot them over a tiny bit. It is not like it is going to get in the way there. Mine is in line with my sticks and buttons like that, and it worked out great.