Angled vs. Straight 3rd and 4th Player Joysticks

[Vash]

I was wondering what everyone thought of angled joysticks on panels.  I've read some complaints about the orientation of joysticks(e.g., having "up" not face the same direction on all the players controls, but instead having it face off to the side for players 3 and 4).  I've tried imagining what I'd be most comfortable with, but I'm having a tough time. 

I don't think that description of the problem was very clear, but I unfortunately don't have a picture yet.  My panel isn't wide enough to fit all four players in a row directly in front of the monitor, so I'm placing player 3 above and slightly to the left of player 1, and player 4 above and slightly to the right of player 2.  Since they're on the sides, the people using players 3 and 4 will be at about a 45 - 60 degree angle to the TV.  Would it be best to keep the orientation on the joysticks the same as players 1 and 2, or angle the joysticks so that forward matches the direction the people playing will most likely be facing?

[DaveMMR]

Angling joysticks seems like a "space-solution" to many, but in reality no one stands shoulder-to-shoulder on real 4-player cabinets.  If you keep the outer controls relative to the screen, a player can stand anywhere (including off to the side) and still know "which way is up" (see: Gauntlet).   When you angle them, you are pretty much counting on someone to stand in a very specific spot, which is actually counter-productive, since now if someone moves, there's a whole lot of discombobulation.

Secondly, don't fall into the trap of "he/she will feel the corners and figure it out" or "they'll look at the joystick bolts".  If you have people over, they won't know to do that.  Up towards screen, however, is always intuitive. 

If you look at actual 4-player panels, you'll notice that the buttons on the outer controls are not directly to the right of them.  They can be below, above, etc.   That's because 4-player games are not complex affairs and you can save space by placing those in unorthodox positions. 

[Vash]

Thanks.  My gut instinct was to keep all the joystick oriented the same way, but I wasn't sure if that was the most intuitive solution.  Your post helped make up my mind though =)  As far as the buttons are concerned, I'd already taken your advice on my mock-up.  Thanks again. 

[Sir Auros]

I've yet to have someone have a problem with my angled joysticks. I think size is a factor, though, because my CP is so wide, that angling the joysticks is what points them towards the screen. This seems to be a hotter topic these days than I'd noticed it being in the past, but I'm firmly in the "angled is acceptable" camp.

[Xiaou2]

 Most the late games did not angle the sticks.   Look at Konami games like Simpsons.

  The problem is when people play,  they relate UP to control panels top edge.

  When you angle the sticks..  people will often forget that UP is diagonal to the edge... and make
mistakes.

 
 IF your control panel has a very well defined angle that they stand against, which matches the joysticks angle, 
it might help people to retain which way is Up.   However, its not a guarantee.

 For this reason, its best not to angle the sticks.

[JimmyU]

And angled joysticks make two-player two-joystick games like Smash TV really hard to play.

[BASSOFeeSH]

Mount it how you want, then configure MAME with whatever you ultimately want "UP" to be.

[ahofle]

That would only work if you angle exactly 45 (or 0) degrees, assuming standard 8 way joysticks.

[LeedsFan]

The easiest way to see if angled joysticks work is to sit and play a game with yourself at 45 degrees to the screen. Go on... try it.   Sit yourself at 45 degrees to the screen with the controller in front of you.

I can tell you you the results before you do it... it's crap.