Adding slide in panels for player's 3 and four.

[tel0004]

I'm in the planning stages of my first cabinet build, and one thing that I'm trying to figure out is how to be able to play with four players, on occasion, yet not have a huge control panel.  My first though was a standard controller, like and XBox 360 controller designed for windows, but that isn't really an arcade feel.

Then I though of using a controller that slides in on the side.  The controller would plug in using cat 5, and somehow you could latch in in place.  If you had a 2x4 or something like that, which slid in it should be pretty stable.  Here is a rough picture.  The control panel would have 2 joysticsk, and the 'wing' would slide in. 

One way to secure it in place would be to have both contol panels attach together, and slide a dowl rod or something to hold them in.  Just an idea I had, but I'm sure there is a better way.  One disadvantage of this is you would have to attach both panels, even if you only wanted 3 players.




Since I havent even build the cabinet yet, it would be easy to move the keyboard tray down so its out of the way.  I would also have to make 3 and 4 players kind of tall, so the 2x4's or whatever I use don't get in the way of the main CP.


I'm new with google sketup, so I know the pictures suck, but you get the point. 

I'm mainly wondering if this has been done, and if not, I'm looking for ideas to improve on this. 

This is also my first post, so I want to thank everybody for all they do, as this looks like a great forum.

[TheShanMan]

I think that's a clever idea and if you go that route, please keep us updated with the progress, and of course share pics.

I'm in the middle of doing swappable panels and I really wanted to keep to the approximate size of the normal centipede panel (since I have that cab) - the only thing I did was make it a little deeper.

My solution for 3 or 4 player games is somewhat like yours, but wings aren't really an option for me. What I've chosen to do is have db9 connectors exposed on the bottom side of the panel (I have a metal panel, so this would not be unlike how a serial port is exposed on a computer). A serial cable would then lead to a mini lap panel with standard arcade controls (8 way joystick and 3 buttons). Obviously this requires those players to be sitting, but I think this will be fine for me.

[BASS!]

Remember, unless you are going to be using the six buttons for console emulation, mame really doesn't have any games that use over 4 buttons for 4 player games.

[tel0004]

Remember, unless you are going to be using the six buttons for console emulation, mame really doesn't have any games that use over 4 buttons for 4 player games.

Thanks for the information.  One game I wan't to play is Secret of Mana, for the SNES, which is why I went with 6 buttons.  The game is only 3 players, so I could always go with 4 buttons for player 4, but I think that might look strange, so I'll probably go with 6, just for a uniform feel.

[severdhed]

this sounds like a great idea...i have often thought about doing something similar to this, but I wasnt sure how to go about attaching them, and since I very rarely have 4 people there to play, it probably isn't worth the effort for me... but please keep us posted on your progress..this is an awesome idea.

[NickG]

looks like a good idea.  If you use two smaller (aluminum 1/4"x1" perhaps) struts instead of a single 2"x4" per wing you can make room for your components without making the 3rd and 4th player boxes "tall".  One in front and one in back should keep the structure strong and steady if you plan them in height-wise.  You could even make them removable from the wings as well so that you could attach the wings to each other as a portable controller unit, too.  If thes are going to slot in beneath the controller to your cabinet's structure, then you could add in gun holsters or cup holders when the wings aren't on.  Hmm...many exciting possibilities..

[tel0004]

I like the idea of aluminum.  Smaller is always better.

Also, I can use a clamp/ vise inside to keep it snug.  Slide the controller in turn the vise once or twice, and plug in the (color coded) cat 5 cables.  Should be easy enough.  The Channel would be tight, so it won't move up/down or side to side, and the vise will keep it from sliding out.  It should be pretty easy to do.  I drew another crappy picture, which should demonstrate my idea.



So has this been done before?  Surely I'm not the first to think of this.  No reason to reinvent the wheel if somebody has already done it, and possibly has a better idea.

Here is a direct link to the picture, which should make reading the text a bit easier.
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/4272/controlpanelrevised2kv4.jpg

[protokatie]

No reason to reinvent the wheel if somebody has already done it, and possibly has a better idea.

You wouldnt be able to drive 70 MPH on the freeway if noone reinvented the wheel, and as such, you should go as far as you can with your idea. (IE your idea may be better than the ones who invented it first)

On a side note: You labeled the right "slide in CP" as player 3. I dont know how you are planning on labeling P3 and P4, but player 3 is typically on the left of the panel. I dont know exactly why this is the case, but seems a little more intuitive than having player 4 on the left and player 3 on the right... (And depending on the controller chip you are using, it might be easier one way or the other when it comes to wiring)

[Darq]

Here's an older thread on something similar

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=31756.0