rough control panel drawing plan

[clickhea]

any input, good or bad?

[DeLuSioNal29]

Looks good.  Nice planning.  However I can't tell what T2 and left right is on top of the trackball.  Is that a TT2 spinner and buttons?  If it is a spinner, just be careful when you are playing trackball games like Golden Tee when you whip the trackball up.  You don't want to break a finger.  I'm a right handed person so my hand naturally arcs to the left when I move the trackball up in that game.  I would move the spinner to the right of the buttons.  But again, I am assuming that T2 is a spinner?

~ D

[clickhea]

yes the t2 is the spinner

the L R are left right moue buttons, iam not really sure if i want those there, or want them on my control panel at all.. iam trying to think how necessary they are

i was also thinking of putting the 2 mouse buttons a little above the track ball, they shouldnt be in the way correct? since the trackball sits higher than the control panel.

somthing i havnt given much thought.. are spinners mostly used by your right hand when your right handed?

i assumed it was used by your left just like joysticks are.

i also get the feeling theres way too many admin buttons on there, yes they'll be under the control panel so it may not be a big deal, and iam not really sure which one id dedicate as the shift button.  Can the shift button be mirrored meaning have a shift on the left and a shift on the right of the control panel?  or maybe i can make the little front button the shift button.  My concern is playing stretch arm strong around my arcade machine while trying to hold shift.

[clickhea]

[DaveMMR]

Pretty solid design.  Although I'm always for ditching mouse buttons and minimizing visible admin buttons to almost nothing (not including coins - which is not an admin button - and perhaps exit and pause).

[DeLuSioNal29]

the L R are left right mouse buttons, iam not really sure if i want those there, or want them on my control panel at all.. iam trying to think how necessary they are

I feel they are, since I play games like Hamsterball on the arcade.  Every now and then you may want to play a Windows game that is "arcade like".  Plus, if you need to do maintenance your trackball becomes the mouse and the left and right mouse buttons are right there.

i was also thinking of putting the 2 mouse buttons a little above the track ball, they shouldnt be in the way correct? since the trackball sits higher than the control panel.

Nope they won't be in the way at all.

somthing i havnt given much thought.. are spinners mostly used by your right hand when your right handed?
i assumed it was used by your left just like joysticks are.

If you are right handed, 90% of people use their right hand on the spinner.  The left is used to push the buttons for "fire", etc.  There are exceptions for some people but the norm is that you use the spinner with the hand you write with.

i also get the feeling theres way too many admin buttons on there, yes they'll be under the control panel so it may not be a big deal, and iam not really sure which one id dedicate as the shift button.  Can the shift button be mirrored meaning have a shift on the left and a shift on the right of the control panel?  or maybe i can make the little front button the shift button.  My concern is playing stretch arm strong around my arcade machine while trying to hold shift.

The shift button can be mirrored, but keep in mind that it will do EXACTLY the same thing as the other button.  So for example if you have the left flipper wired to be the shift button and you wire the right flipper button to the same inputs as the left flipper so that it "mirrors", they would both be shift, but they would also both be left flippers!  However, this is not what you want since you don't want a left flipper on the right side!
The plunger button on the front sounds like a perfect idea for the shift button.
As far as the admin buttons go:  You may be able to get away with assigning the left and right mouse buttons as admin buttons.   

~ D

[clickhea]

iam putting my order in i appreciate your help

iam sure i'll be back with more questions once they arrive

[clickhea]

i think since the spinner is used with the right hand i may go with somthing like this then

[DeLuSioNal29]

How about making the 2 admin buttons on the left the left and mouse buttons?  They you can assign the admin buttons to the mouse buttons.  When in Windows it would be quite comfortable to rest your hand on the left and then click the buttons as needed when you are using the trackball as the mouse.

[DaveMMR]

the L R are left right mouse buttons, iam not really sure if i want those there, or want them on my control panel at all.. iam trying to think how necessary they are

I feel they are, since I play games like Hamsterball on the arcade.  Every now and then you may want to play a Windows game that is "arcade like".  Plus, if you need to do maintenance your trackball becomes the mouse and the left and right mouse buttons are right there.

That's the thing - you should be able to remap buttons.  And if you can't remap buttons, then that game is really no good on an arcade machine to begin with.   Because whenever you absolutely need a mouse, more than likely, you need a keyboard too.  And by then, you might as well just bust one out along with a mouse and do your administration.

Plus there's a easy-to-use little program called joy2key than can turn any button into a mouse button if you do need it.

I'm not trying to stop anyone who really wants them from putting mouse buttons on.  I'm just out to debunk this belief that they're needed or will save time.  Yeah, buttons are cheap.  But you're drilling extra holes, running more wire, etc.  It just seems like work and a couple of extra dollars (plus space) for no real benefit.   

Now on a different note: Clickhea, I actually have my spinner diagonally above my player one buttons, but I still use my right hand and the upper left button.  (See pic)   After much discussion, this was the best place for my situation since the joystick wouldn't interfere with my reach or play of the spinner.  The P2 joystick might be in the way on your drawing.  You may want to test that.



 

[DeLuSioNal29]

Now on a different note: Clickhea, I actually have my spinner diagonally above my player one buttons, but I still use my right hand and the upper left button.  (See pic)   After much discussion, this was the best place for my situation since the joystick wouldn't interfere with my reach or play of the spinner.  The P2 joystick might be in the way on your drawing.  You may want to test that.

I agee with DaveMMR.  That would be a great placement for a spinner and then you still can use the buttons from player 1.

[clickhea]

input appreciated

iam going to make a mockup panel which i'll test to make sure before i go drilling holes

[clickhea]

this is a little off topic but hopefully someone can answer this

my home depot does not carry 5/8 mdf

i went to services and had them search home depots in my area which may have it, and no searches came back.

is the purpose of going with 5/8 mdf so that u dont have to route anything out? (track ball joysticks)

because my router skills arent all that great and if iam forced to go with 3/4 i know i have to route everything out but i dont know how efficient iam going to be, which kinda scares me. i want to mount everything from the bottom so it looks cleaner

[phishpac]

My understanding is that regardless of thickness you will want to route for your TB at least.  And if you want your joystick dust covers underneath the cpo, you will need to route there as well.  I'm not totally sure, I haven't built a cp yet.

[clickhea]

i see

so whats the point in using 5/8 over 3/4 if it has to be routed regardless

[ids]

Just a guess, but....if you add 1.8" plexi/lexan, then the 3/4" t-modling still fits fine...