Good 4 player CP dimensions.

[rivacom]

I have seen a few wonderful 4 player control panels, but for the life of me, can not find a good measurements for one.  Anyone want to clue me in?

[DaveMMR]

I'm always of the opinion that the actual 4-player panels found in arcades (TMNT, Simpsons, etc.) are the best designed.  Plans for those can be found on www.jakobud.com.   If those aren't what you're looking for, let us know what you had in mind.   You can always PM the creator and ask if they have dimensions.

[rivacom]

Three that i'm trying to mirror are

[Jakobud]

I'm biased obviously, but check out the dimensions for my 4-player cabinet.  They are on my website along with all the other cabinet dimensions.

[DeLuSioNal29]

Mine is approximately 48" wide by 21" deep.



~ DeLuSioNaL

[isucamper]

I have a question about the old 4 player CPs like the one on TMNT.

http://www.westcontrols.com/files/pictures.php?snap=../pictures/cpanel/tmnt2.jpg

Are the outside sticks mounted exactly the same as the inside ones or are they mounted at a 90 degree angle? 

In other words, assuming that the players using the outside sticks are standing at the sides of the control panel (as opposed to the players using the middle sticks and standing at the front), what direction do they move their sticks in to move the characters downward?

If the outside sticks are at a 90 degree angle, then the players on the outside would actually pull the sticks back towards them to move their characters downward.  Thinking about this, it seems unnatural.  If the sticks aren't angled, then they would move their sticks either left or right (depending on which side of the cabinet they are standing on) to make their characters move downward.

The reason I ask is because these old 4-player panels are relatively small compared to the ones people post on this site and I'm interested in drawing from their space saving layouts.

[DaveMMR]

I have a question about the old 4 player CPs like the one on TMNT.

http://www.westcontrols.com/files/pictures.php?snap=../pictures/cpanel/tmnt2.jpg

Are the outside sticks mounted exactly the same as the inside ones or are they mounted at a 90 degree angle? 

In other words, assuming that the players using the outside sticks are standing at the sides of the control panel (as opposed to the players using the middle sticks and standing at the front), what direction do they move their sticks in to move the characters downward?

If the outside sticks are at a 90 degree angle, then the players on the outside would actually pull the sticks back towards them to move their characters downward.  Thinking about this, it seems unnatural.  If the sticks aren't angled, then they would move their sticks either left or right (depending on which side of the cabinet they are standing on) to make their characters move downward.

The reason I ask is because these old 4-player panels are relatively small compared to the ones people post on this site and I'm interested in drawing from their space saving layouts.

Most relevant arcade machines that were 4-player simultaneous had their sticks mounted all in the same direction (even Gauntlet).  You'll see the buttons are placed in unorthodox positions, however.  This is because 4-player are typically simplistic affairs that don't require complex joystick or button manipulation.   Also, arcades would not want to dedicate much floorspace for the large, curvy designs the home builder tend to favor with the 4-player design.

The "angled vs. straight" debate has been addressed in numerous threads so I'll spare being redundant.  If you want to learn more about it, do a search for "angled sticks" or "4 player cp".   

[DeLuSioNal29]

Based on the position of the bolts (and playing the game) I recall the TMNT game joysticks mounted at a 90 angle.

[Kirth]

I made a 4p panel for my cabinet.  It was originally just a quick template to test out button/joystick placement and player positioning but I decided to keep it for a few months to figure out what I like and don't like about it.  It will also give me time for feedback from other people.




The dimensions are 49" x 23" with a 4" rise from the front to back.  Spacing between the main joysticks is 15 1/4".

No admin or coin/start buttons yet, I just have a keyboard sitting on top.  Those are next on my list of things to add.

Some things I've learned:
- try to keep buttons far enough from the front edge so that the base of player's palms isn't on the edge of the panel
- my player 3 and 4 joysticks are 45 degree offset but when I've used them I found it un-intuitive.  I'm going to rotate them to straight.

[massive88]

Why 7 buttons for all 4 players?  Just to be symmetric or is there a reason?

As far as mame goes, I think 4 buttons covers something like 95% of the 4 player games.

Is it for 4 player console emulation (snes)?

[lanman31337]

If you want I can have dimensions when I get home.  It is ungodly comfortable, even with bigger guys playing.  No one is in the dreaded corner trying to play diagonally.  I want to say it's 47 x 19, but i'm not 100 percent off the top of my head.

[unclet]

The last picture in this photo set has the dimensions of my 4-player cabinet.

http://unclet.arcadecontrols.com/DadsArcade/DadsArcadePics1.html

[Kirth]

Yeah, the 7 buttons are for SNES.  I was making the panel in a hurry so I just used the same button template for all of them.  I think the next iteration will only have 4 buttons because honestly the snes doesn't get used that much.

[stones]

Feel free to use my cab's plans. It's 48" x 19.5"







Download:
Layered .PSD: http://www.northernarmy.com/arcade/images/control_panel_psd.zip
Flat .PNG: http://www.northernarmy.com/arcade/images/control_panel_png.zip