to angle or not to angle...

[vusteveii]

that is my question.

How do you all feel about flat control panels versus a slight angle, something like -10degrees.   What do yall find most comfortable for play?

steve

[Amra]

the front of my control panel is 5 inches, the rear is 7, this gives me around a 10

[mastercave]

mine is angled as well - the difference in height in 1 inch, not sure about the angle though. i just made mine angle since most people/arcades have it like that. maybe you can try it out with your keyboard and see if you rather type with it angled or flat.

[Howard_Casto]

Believe it or not there is a formula for this sort of thing. Unfortunately I'm not so good at math.  

As a rule of thumb if the panel is longer (from front to back) than about 4 inches it needs to be angeled about 5-10 degrees.... anything more than 8 and it needs to be angled 15 degrees as the other poster stated.  Your mileage will vary, but flat panels are literally painful if done wrong.  

[AlanS17]

Mine is flat because it was easier to make that way. However, most of the controls are close to the edge so it really doesn't matter much. I think an angled panel with my machine would have looked wierd, too. It already has enough funny shapes on it already.

[paigeoliver]

My vertical cabinet has about a 20 degree angle and my horizontal cabinet has a wicked 35 degree angle (more than I like, but there isn't much I could do about it, I didn't design the thing).

[u_rebelscum]

A nice thing about an angled CP is that it makes the controls more accessible to people with different heights, and like howard said, the deeper the CP, a steeper angle will be needed to reach the controls farther back by the kids.  Also the higher the CP on the cabinet, the steeper the CP should be.  Too much of an angle, however, is hard on the rest of the people's wrists.  5-15^o is a good compromise for most people on most arcade cabs, but there are real cabs with flat and the 20^o+ CPs.  

In my playing, norrow CPs seem to have the biggest leeway in "okay" angles

FWIW:
HotRodse CP angle = ~10^o
my BYO CPs (non-cab) angles = ~7.5^o, ~8.5^o, and ~10^o
I also did a test CP flat (no angle), and I hated it.

I am planning my upright cab to have a 15^o CP, the same as the atari system2 cab I am trying to copy.  Note the atari sys2 cab seems to position the CP a little higher than most others I've seen (~40" front vs the "normal" 36).

[crashdmj]

How much do you think I should angle a 4 playey 48x20 inch CP?

[AlanS17]

I would say between 5 and 10 degrees...

BTW, the Street Fighter dedicated cabinet was a HUGE control panel and flat as a board.

So you see? Fighting games were deisgned to be played flat. (I feel justified now.)

P.S. Howard, don't you CARE come back again and prove me wrong (again).  

[1UP]

10-15 degrees seems to be the norm.  Almost ALL actual arcade CPs are angled, and the only ones that aren't are usually gun games...

BTW, according to some of the old-timers from Atari, the original purpose for angling CPs was not only for comfort, they also did it so that drinks couldn't be placed near the controls, making maintenance easier.  Of course, it never kept anyone from trying...

[Stormdemon]

HAHAHA, I've never heard of that before. Very cool info. So now we have the exact formula for angling cps: put a beer on it. If it slides, the angle is enough. If it stays, it's not.

[Frostillicus]

BTW, according to some of the old-timers from Atari, the original purpose for angling CPs was not only for comfort, they also did it so that drinks couldn't be placed near the controls, making maintenance easier.  Of course, it never kept anyone from trying...

heh - that makes sense.  A valiant effort by the engineers that really didn't work that well.  OT but slightly related:  I'm surprised more games didn't have the side-mounted ashtray on them.  Maybe my local ops were just cheap, but those cig burns are just plain ugly.

I built a big flat control panel once, it wasn't very comfortable.  Never again.    Unless it's a showcase.

[Amra]

Easy way to find the angle of your CP...

subtract your shorter end from your longer end, (for example, mine is 5" on one end 7" on the other, and subracting 5 from seven i have 2" )

Now, Divide the remainder by the length of the base (mine is 17.5")

This (for me) would be 2/17.5 which = .114285714286

Now find a calculator with the Tan

[1UP]

Easy way to find the angle of your CP...

subtract your shorter end from your longer end, (for example, mine is 5" on one end 7" on the other, and subracting 5 from seven i have 2" )

Now, Divide the remainder by the length of the base (mine is 17.5")

This (for me) would be 2/17.5 which = .114285714286

Now find a calculator with the Tan

[u_rebelscum]

BTW, the Street Fighter dedicated cabinet was a HUGE control panel and flat as a board.

So you see? Fighting games were deisgned to be played flat. (I feel justified now.)

Are you talking about the one with two huge buttons per player, the harder you hit them, the harder the punch/kick?  That CP doesn't count as "normal".

BTW, according to some of the old-timers from Atari, the original purpose for angling CPs was not only for comfort, they also did it so that drinks couldn't be placed near the controls, making maintenance easier.  Of course, it never kept anyone from trying...

LOL.  I always wished the CP was just a little less tilted so I could set my slurppy right next to me while playing at 7-11 back in the days.


As for what angle, I'd say 5-15^o, depending on how tall you are and how high you're placing the CP on the cab.  Start testing at, oh, 8^o and see how it feels.  With a CP that deep, one degree might make a huge difference in over-all feel.

[1UP]

The designers at Atari were devious mothers...  On one of their trackball games (it was either Centipede or Missile Command) they designed the panel so that if you tried to pour your drink into the trackball, it just dumped straight out the other side, onto your shoes!  

[Sasquatch!]

My CP isn't angled, and I wish it was.  How's that for an anti-recommendation?

[night]

mine is ~13*.
3.75 in front and 5.25 in back, with 12" depth