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Designing a basic control panel layout(my 1st project)
riley454:
--- Quote from: helpmebuild on February 03, 2010, 01:16:50 pm ---I have recently found that it works really, really well to use what would be the dimensions of an old Midway 4 player CP and use it for a 2 player CP for mame. I have a CP which is 36.75" wide x 13.5" high which used to be a 4 player design but really awkwardly laid out and uncomfortable, and designed that same space around 2 players and found it to be very comfortable in testing it out. I would recommend the dimensions I've used and just drawing a line down the center and laying out your 1 and 2 player layouts in the center of each half. It worked for me, but much like everyone else has said, its really just preference.
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Feel free to post or PM me a way to see your layout.
My biggest issue in my design process is separation between 2 players. 2nd biggest is making sure the CP is big enough to support the players hands.
SavannahLion:
--- Quote from: riley454 on February 04, 2010, 04:26:50 am ---My biggest issue in my design process is separation between 2 players.
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I used to stress over that as well, but it dawned on me one day that it really wasn't as big a deal as I thought it was.
Some cabinets have the players pretty close to each other (The "Z backs" used with SFII comes to mind, but I'm sure there's others) where you're basically bumping each other in the elbows. Then you have your cabs with player settings so far apart, you can park a wheel chair in there, like Gauntlet. On the MAME scene, some people pack two players into the width of a centipede while others spread them out so far apart, you can theoretically land a Cessna on their CP (#4 and especially #11 at CrapMAME are really good examples of excess distance). It boils down to preference.
Think about a two player cabinet you really liked in the arcades, then get the dimensions and derive your new CP from those dimensions. Don't stress. If, even after the cardboard mockup, you construct your CP, you ultimately find you don't like the layout. Pull the top off and start over. Every CP I put together has a top that can be removed (with more or less work) and replaced.
--- Quote ---2nd biggest is making sure the CP is big enough to support the players hands.
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My current CP project is only 14" wide. I originally had it designed to be 12", but I realized (after a sketchup session) the inset prevents any management buttons, I pushed it to 14". I have a "lazy" stick hand where I rest my wrist on the panel, but I have an "active" button hand where it floats (unless I'm in a long game then it goes lazy). Therefor, I tend to have more space around the stick and less around the buttons. When it comes to supporting players hands, I prefer depth over width.
Necro:
Suggestion for Mockup - buy some hard board. I think Home Depot calls it 'Hardyboard' and make it out of that. My CP is 24" wide...I think... so I managed to get a good number of 'blanks' from a 2"x4" piece of board to use in developing my CP.
(Figures that my first configuration seems like the one I'm ging with, however, for aesthetic reasons in addition to just liking how it feels with a SFII setup :) )
SavannahLion:
Are you serious? hardyboard? IIRC, that stuff is compressed fiber cement board. Were you playtesting your mockups in the shower? ;D
Necro:
Not cement board - hardboard. Home depot has it labeled as 'Hardyboard' or 'Handyboard' or something like that.
I think your thinking HardiBacker - sometimes called Hardyboard for some reason.
And anyway, so what if I have a MAME shower :angry: