Does the 7th button get in the way or cause confusion?

[javeryh]

I'm very tempted to add it to the CP I'm building but I'm afraid it will cause a lot of confusion for the non-arcade people who will be playing more than I will be.  With the 6 button layout, the one in the lower left could always be "button 1" for every game - no confusion.  To the people who have the 7th button - what are your experiences with others trying to walk up and play without asking questions?

[Malenko]

people hit every button at least once to see what it does.

Im a huge fan of the 7th button, makes the perfect neo geo layout, and ABC of the neo geo layout recreates the JAMMA arc pretty well

[Ginsu Victim]

I have mine as

456
123
     4

So it's not an issue for me

[DeLuSioNal29]

Mine is set to"

 123
 456
7

Haven't had problems yet.  Works great for Neo Geo too.

[RoomTenONine]

I'll be doing seven buttons in my build this summer, but I'm not sure where to place the "extra Neo-geo" button.  I know most cabs have 3 on top and 4 on the bottom like this:

  123
7456

That just seems more of a pain because you'll have to specially map the 7456 for all Neo-geo games (I guess not that big of a deal).  I just seems more simple to do this:

1234
456

Here you don't have to reprogram for specific games if you wire both #4 buttons to the same input on your interface.  Use the 3 over 3 for Street Fighter type games and the 4 on top for Neo-geo.  This just seems so simple, but then I may be missing something....any thoughts from the experts?

[Ginsu Victim]

That just seems more of a pain because you'll have to specially map the 7456 for all Neo-geo games (I guess not that big of a deal).  I just seems more simple to do this:

1234
456

That's how mine is, only reversed top for bottom. (See above)

[DeLuSioNal29]

You can still have this layout:

  123
7456

And still not have to program EVERY SINGLE Neo Geo game in MAME for buttons 7456 (ABCD).

It's a simple edit in the ctrl file in MAME.  Essentially you tell MAME to switch the button assignments for ALL Neo Geo Games when they are launched.  Problem solved.  BYOAC user Headkaze even supplied an attachment to make installation a breeze.

Read more here:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=73532.0

~ DeLuSioNaL

[RoomTenONine]

Nice.  I figured there was a way to do that.  Very nice indeed.

[fjl]

I'm gonna use the LEDWiz kit so that it lights up only the buttons that are to be used for that game. Should save them "non-arcade people" of all the guess work.

 

[Turnarcades]

I've never been a fan of the 7th button layout in any guise, nor has anyone I know locally. In England we never got to play many dedicated machines, especially Neo-Geo, so no-one I know misses them and none of our customers ask for them. One solution is to create a 6-button arc, to give a simulated 4-finger layout using button 4123. Something like this;

[protokatie]

I use the "standard" 7 button layout

   123
   456
 7

As per the question about confusing new players, I fixed this with my front end. For each game I have that standard pic of the title screen in one image box and a pic of the control button layouts in another with the buttons that the games use highlighted.


EG, these are some of the pics that show up on the screen.

[Kajoq]

RoomTenofNine:  You're not the only one who thought that might be easier.  Taito has their badass new Vewlix cabs set up that way in the:
1234
456



I think some of the reason people do the 7th button bottom left is that it doesn't made each players layout any wider since you're going towards the joystick with the extra button instead of getting any wider

[Jdurg]

I've got my buttons arranged with the 7th button on the bottom left so that when I'm playing the Mortal Kombat games the 7th button will function as my run button and pretty much be where it should be on the real machines.  That's my reasoning.

[Hoopz]

I'm gonna use the LEDWiz kit so that it lights up only the buttons that are to be used for that game. Should save them "non-arcade people" of all the guess work.

 

The Led-Wiz, by itself, does not light the buttons for various games.  You need another piece of software (front-end usually) to do this.   

[NickG]

I have had 7 button layouts in the past but I have never really played well any games that require them.  I am currently using the same method mentioned by Turnarcades with a "standard" 6-button layout.  Since I have never become very accustomed to the standard Neo Geo layout for the games which use all 4 buttons, the 6-button layout is acceptable. 

my setup for 4-button Neo Geo Games is:

BCD
AXX


I hope to program my Ledwiz to color the ABCD buttons later if/when I buy some Electric Ice action…

[javeryh]

Thanks for the replies... maybe you guys hang out with smarter people than I do.  In my experience, everyone asks questions all of the time about everything.  The last cab I built has EVERYTHING clearly labeled and an instruction card right on the game select screen and I still get a million questions. 

So how many Neo Geo games actually use all 4 buttons?  Do you use that 7th button frequently?

[Ginsu Victim]

If you're a fan of the fighting games on Neo Geo, you'll definitely want that setup.

[Minwah]

I had 7 buttons on my test panel but decided to get rid of the 7th for my final design. Partly because I think less buttons look better, and partly because I can use the top 3 buttons and bottom left for NeoGeo.

NB I like NeoGeo fighters but I am not a hardcore fan.

[protokatie]

The last cab I built has EVERYTHING clearly labeled and an instruction card right on the game select screen and I still get a million questions.

The best way to get people to not read something is to write it down. If you have ever seen the movie clerks, you will know what I mean This is why I decided to have the glowing button image under the game image. No words, just a picture with buttons glowing. I am sure I will end up being asked which buttons to use for the game being chosen tho