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My Panel (and marquee), take 3 (Pic Hvy)
Druin:
The new stripes look kind of like a Transformers logo
Nikodemz:
As I look at your new design I'm noticing that with the wiring added the it becomes more evident that there is more "weight" on the left side of the CP than the right. The MAME logo doesn't carry as much as the button interface on the top left so my eye tends to be contiunally drawn towards the logo because it is so different from the rest of the panel. This may seem overly technical and you'll have to excuse me but I'm a designer and I can get carried away. Anway, from a purely design perspective, if you are going for a sense of symmetry, which it looks like you are by the symetrical use of the wiring, I would suggest possibly added a similar boarder around the MAME logo. That might even things out a bit and make the whole design look more cohesive.
THis is of course only my opinion. I really do like the design, you've done an excellent job. Another option may be to create some kind of central piece and have he wiring radiate out from from there to all the other elements on the CP, similar to what Valance said earlier. Also, in response to the suggestion to remove the wiring that extends to the edge of the panel, I would say that if you are having a buttons on the front of the panel (say coin buttons or something) that you locate them at those spots where the wiring hits the edge of the table and then you can extend the design down onto the front of the panel. I personally think that would look very slick and any time you can extend your design onto a another face or dimension you're making it that much more interesting.
So that's my 2 cents. I really like the design and if you kept it how it is you would still have yourself an excellent CP layout. Well done.
-Niko
shmokes:
--- Quote from: mastercave on May 13, 2003, 11:58:09 pm --- i hope you're thinking about adding some buttons for the mouse/trackball.
--- End quote ---
I hope you're not thinking about adding some buttons for the mouse/trackball.
Can't you just use the bottom three buttons from player 1 as mouse buttons? My understanding is that those buttons could just be wired to both the I-pac and the OPTI-pac. If I'm correct, more buttons = more clutter
jdjuggler:
I know this is off the topic a bit... But, I was wondering the same thing. I would like my player1 1 2 3 buttons to be used as my 3 mouse buttons also.
Can you attach a button to an encoder input and your mouse button at the same time? Do you attach both grounds?
Would this cause any problems?
Thanks.
crackbone:
Thanks for all the replies.
Valence- I can appreciate what you're saying. The wires may or may not be the final versions depicted here. I may do some more detailed work on them, but I don't think I'll be removing them. I particularly like how the wires connect the buttons and form an "inner shape" to the panel. The two going from the joysticks to the edge of the panel are to add help break up the black space, and I may play around with them.
Niko, yeah, I've been somewhat concerned with the weight issue with the mame logo. I like symmetry, and without more buttons for the panel I thought the logo would the answer. I like your idea about enclosing it in a box like the Mame buttons, which I think I'll do. About expanding the concept, I realized it would be pretty cool to take the empty space on the marquee and put a processor there with wires that radiate out of it, to complete the theme... so I guess I'm not 99% done :)
And no, I'm not adding trackball buttons. I'm actually hacking a xarcade controller along with 3 mouse buttons to get the final layout. When I'm done I'll create a custom controller file for Mame. The layout should work well for selecting games and if I need to do serious windows work, I'll use the mouse on the monitor shelf.