4 player CP, where should the 4 way stick go?

[SmokinGun]

I'm planning on getting a 4 player Slikstik instead of building my own.  I was going to put it together with the pre cut a UA II pieces from the mame room web site as soon as they go on sale.

I want to go ahead an order the Slikstik quad, but I'm not sure about the 4 player joystick placement.



Is it going to be comfortable to reach all the way to the top to play games with the 4 way joystick?  Slikstik will allow most layout changes for free, so I could move it if I wanted to.  Mame offeres a configuration autosetup for the Slikstik.  If I move the 4 way, where could I move it to not mess up the mame autoconfigutation?  Do you all think I should change the layout or leave it as is?

[paigeoliver]

See the red stick (player one I assume). Put it directly to the left of that and let it use the normal player one buttons. That is how mine is (well mine is to the right, but you get the idea).

[SmokinGun]

That's a thought, but there might not be enough room between the 3rd and 1st player spots.  I'd also like to have the 4 players stick somewhere near the middle of the CP.

Any other suggestions?  Can anyone justify the reason why the Slikstik places them at the top instead of near the bottom?  

[BobA]

You could ask them why but my guess is that if placed low it gets in the way of other sticks or the trackball.

BobA

[paigeoliver]

You also definately have room to add it right next to the yellow stick and let it share buttons with that one.

For that matter, every position on that panel has room to add a 4-way with the exception of the blue postion (trackball in the way, so you would have to scoot the station over an inch).

But my number one vote is still to put it right next to the player one stick and let it share buttons with player 1. That adds the ability to let you switch to the 4 way on the fly if needed (I do that with puzzle games sometimes). If you wanted to make it even, then add a 4-way to the player 2 spot also, and just scoot the slot over an inch to make the room. That would also allow you to play Crazy Climber, Karate Champ, and any two player simultaneous 4-way games that are out there (A lot of 2 player puzzle games play best with a 4-way).

Another change to that panel I would make would be to move the spinner down closer to the edge, like between the blue and yellow stations. (Reaching over other controls is a pain in the butt, and that panel is large enough where that should not be neccesary).

[SmokinGun]

I think I'd like to hear from someone who actually owns one of these.  Anyone out there own a SlikStik Quad?  What do you think of the control panel layout?

[GroovyTuesdaY]

Heres my two cents :

I own the slikstik classic and its not that much smaller then the quad and the layout, aside from the two extra joysticks on the outer sides, is pretty much the same as far as the 4 way joystick, trackball & spinner.  

The 4 way joystick is very functional in the default placement for the 4 way.  My only complaint about the  general surroundings of that area is the extra single button that is right underneath the joystick.     It gets in my way more then the placement of the joystick itself.    I would suggest moveing that single button off to left or right more, perhaps closer to one of the sets of two buttons that are to the immediate left and right off of the 4 way.    That would also be more true to the asteroids deluxe layout anyways.

Also, i would very much recommend asking slikstik if you can have them order you a 4 way leaf joystick or something else other then the happs 4 way, because it is horribly sloppy feeling and when you are in a fast game of pacman or something you feel like you have to slam it to whatever direction you need it to go.   I like tyhe feeling of knowing when i push left - im there and not feel like there is slop in my movements.  
Hope this helps you.   And if you are going to order a slikstik, i  highly recommend them.   The only down side is the HORRIBLE wait of 4 or 5 weeks for shipping.   Once the sitck actually arrives are your door though, you wont care about that long ass wait and will paly your cares away heheh.    TREUST ME!   I was so damn impatient i KNOW that christian  was getting irked with me for emailing him so much  lol.  

good luck with your choosing  & take care~

g~

[SmokinGun]

Anyone else?  I keep thinking about this and I can't make up my mind...  I would have ordered one of these allready but I'm stuck on this.

I'm now thinking of moving the trackball up and to the left, above the red buttons near the top of the stick.  I could put the trackball buttons to the right of that.  I would then put the spinner above the blue buttons ~ the same height as the trackball.  This would give me room to move the 4 way down along with all the buttons that go with it.  I could put the 4 way in the center with the buttons around it, or move the 4 way to the left with the buttons to the right.  I have no idea what this would cost...  What do you think?

I'm locked on the player 1-4 setup.  I'm really just trying to figure out what the optimal 4 way area setup would be in order to play as many 4 way games as possible.  Should the 4 way be to the left with all the buttons to the right, or should it be in the middle with a few buttons on the left and a few on the right?  I don't like asteroids that much so I don't mind losing this layout if it will help to be better set up for other games.  Also, will moving the trackball and spinner hurt the layout as far as playing the maximum amount of 4 way games is concerned?

My priorities are:

1. Comfortable controller to play games on
2. Layout allowing the maximum amount of games to be played.

Please help!  I want to buy this thing but I can't decide!!!

[GroovyTuesdaY]

**gasp**    DONT MOVE THE TRACKBALL!!!!!! .......lol

On a serious note, if you move the trackball from the front middle, i dont think that playing trackball games would be quite so comfortable.
Also, i have come to use my trackball ALOT for normal windows use as it is easier on the wrist as far as im concerned.  

Have you looked at SLIKSTIKS customer photos to get some ideas of what others have done with their layouts?  Good  place to start.   Just ask christian from slikstik if you can have some email addresses of people who have bought the four player stick and email them and get their personal oppinion about what they like or dont like about the  standard layout of the quad.  

g~

[SmokinGun]

I think I'd rather ask here what people think of the control panel, as there is no bias towards a single product.

I've looked at every single photo there is to look at.  Every slik stik photo has the 4 way at the top with the buttons in the asteroids configuration.

All I want is some input as to how I should arrange the 4 way, trackball and spinner for optimal playability/comfort.  Does anyone else have any input on this or am I doomed to sit here at work and think about it all day?

[Dexter]

I'm curently designing a 4 player CP similar to the slikstik and have been having the same problem as you. The solution I will be using is as follows:

From left to right: L + R asteroids buttons, then 4-way, then fire + thrust with hyperspace below at thumb angle, followed by spinner. The spinner can be moved to the left of the asteroids buttons if it suits better.

The advantage is you have 2 buttons doubling for the 4 way and spinner plus you can easily place the hyperspace button below the asteroids L + R if you're a southpaw.

Hope this helps. I'll post pics as soon as I can.

Dexter