Mameroom 4p control panel button layout

[unit416]

I need some suggestions. I purchased a 4p control panel through mameroom. The panel has 14 holes for buttons along the top. I plan on laying out thre buttons as:
P3 - credit - pause - P1 - credit - (then four open buttons I don't know what to designate as) credit - P2 - pause - credit - P4.

I'll have to work in an escape button in those open buttons but I'm not sure what to do with the other three.

Also, there's an spot for a spinner that has two buttons on each side of it. Does a spinner use four buttons?

I've attached a photo of the control panel but I'm not sure if it will be viewable.

[mrserv0n]

buttons on each side is probably for a left and right hand player for the spinner

[Onyx_PghPA]

I actually ordered the exact same panel (it shipped yesterday). I'm not using coin insert buttons (they will be replaced by blank "caps" just to fill in the holes), in order to force the user to insert tokens at the coin door, so here is how mine is laid out:

CAP -- P1 START -- PAUSE -- CAP -- P2 START -- TAB -- ENTER -- ESCAPE -- SERVICE (F2) -- P3 START -- CAP -- PAUSE -- P4 START -- CAP

I've discovered that selecting options in the TAB menu required pressing the ENTER key, so I used a dedicated button there.

I'll probably cap the 4 buttons around the spinner, since I have no problem using the P1 or P2 buttons, even though they're a little low for spinner use.



Onyx

[Fozzy The Bear]

CAP -- P1 START -- PAUSE -- CAP -- P2 START -- TAB -- ENTER -- ESCAPE -- SERVICE (F2) -- P3 START -- CAP -- PAUSE -- P4 START -- CAP

BAD IDEA!!!  Get the service buttons off the panel. Unless of course you want one of your guests or kids to screw up your installation. Service buttons like Tab and Enter should never be on a panel, for exactly that reason. Hide them away behind the coin door or just plug in a keyboard when you need to use them.

This is a very common mistake!

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[Kajoq]

I disagree.

I put pause / Enter / Exit  on my panel and am glad I did.  A lot of people here freak out at the idea of "extra" buttons on the CP.  Personally I find it very handy.

Then again i'm only 21 so I don't really have kids coming over, and my guests aren't going to just randomly mash on buttons.  I'm also not trying to do the nostalgic exactly like the arcade feel.

A few select service buttons on the panel is NOT a mistake, it is convenient in fact

[Jack Burton]

Whenver I have guest playing my cab I just go into Advancemame options and disable my admin buttons.  Then when they ask me what those buttons do I tell them they don't do anything and not to worry about it.

I would recommend that you place the admin buttons in such a way that you would not hit them whenever you slap the start or coin buttons.  Or in a way that button sliding techniques ala MVC2 mashing causes accidental activations.

[Green Giant]

I disagree.

I put pause / Enter / Exit  on my panel and am glad I did.  A lot of people here freak out at the idea of "extra" buttons on the CP.  Personally I find it very handy.

Then again i'm only 21 so I don't really have kids coming over, and my guests aren't going to just randomly mash on buttons.  I'm also not trying to do the nostalgic exactly like the arcade feel.

A few select service buttons on the panel is NOT a mistake, it is convenient in fact

Those are not dangerous admin buttons to have.  Fozzy was almost solely refering to the inclusion of TAB.  You don't have that and neither should anyone else.  Exiting and entering a game is a necessity, but the ability for guests to modify the mame options is a big no no.

[Onyx_PghPA]

BAD IDEA!!!  Get the service buttons off the panel. <snip>
[/quote]

I understand where you're coming from with that, but no children will be within a mile of this machine and my friends are not only generally well-behaved but also too busy playing games to mess with anything else.

Again, this is how things will work with my machine and not every builder will have the luxury of keeping children and nosy guests at bay!   

 

Onyx

[nicklaw17]

On a semi-related note - does anyone have an illustrator/PS/Visio/Whatever template of this layout, or exact measurements for purposes of starting work on a CP overlay?

I've started collecting some images and textures, but want to avoid any unnecessary resizings or poor image placement (ie right smack dab in the middle of a stick) if I can avoid it - but right now all I've got to go from is the assembly pdf.

Thanks!