If you don't plan to routinely have 4 people playing at once, I would suggest going with a 2-player panel to give some more space. I actually prefer my MAME cab to dedicated 2 player games just because we are able to play more spread out.
If you don't plan to routinely have 4 people playing at once, I would suggest going with a 2-player panel to give some more space. I actually prefer my MAME cab to dedicated 2 player games just because we are able to play more spread out.
+1
Also admin buttons make things complicated IMO. If you set up the FE & emu's properly those buttons are not needed. On the rare occasion you do need admins just plug in a keyboard when doing work "under the hood".
I hid the pause buttons under my control panel, that way its nice & clean looking & only privileged Jedi's know of the pause cheat. You can use player 1/2 as the load game buttons too FYI + use just one exit game button & if you rig up the coin door to work it adds fun to the experience & dilutes the crowding on your CPO even further.
It seems that alot of guys like the 4 player layout.
I'm starting to wonder if I'm the only guy who doesn't have 3 friends to play games with.
I think even swappable/ modular panels is a waste. :) All most people need is a couple U360, each with 6 buttons, plus coin, start and exit. Heck, you only really need 4 buttons per player if you aren't into fighters...
You aren't most people.
"oh you want to play DK? Hold on while I swap out the panels..."
I rarely ever see anyone going back for seconds though.
I am more most people then you X2, and by golly I hope you never change
I wonder.... Are you mounting your outside sticks at an angle?
The placement of my devices are perfect, nothing is in the way:blah:
The placement of my devices are perfect, nothing is in the way. Of course the only reason I was prob able to do this IMO is due to having a quad panel less player 3 & 4
Taking a page right outta Xiaou2's book there, aintcha...
big ugly tron stick
Don't let others get you down on a FrankenPanel design. If designed well, it just works.
Let me share my 2 cents from my experience with making FrankenPanels.
- Do not put a spinner above a trackball. You will eventually jam a finger. :cry: Buttons are generally fine.
- "Second-tier" controls need to be as close as possible to the user. If you put your flight stick, 4-way, or spinner to high, it strains the arms over extended play.
- Design button configuration for an angled arm. FP's suffer from overcrowding, which puts your buttons to close to the joystick and strains your wrists. With angled buttons, the left arm can be straight below the joystick and the right arm/hand can be comfortably angled.
- Spinners and 4-ways should have buttons that are in-line. It is usually awkward to use controls at different elevation points on your panel.
- If you can slope your panel, then do it. It helps with avoidance contact of other controls.
- Most importantly, mock it up on cardboard before you ever make a cut. You will find things you did not realize while designing in software.
Looking over the panel you posted, here are some points to think about.
- Asteroid buttons are too far from the user and unusable as your arm will be laying across the 4-way joystick.
- When using the 4-way or the spinner, what buttons are you going to use? The Flightstick?
- Using the rotary on 3P for player standing at 1P would be strange, unless you plan on playing at 3P.
- Like I said above, your wrists may strained if the buttons and joysticks are too close and the buttons are not angled for right hand.
For reference, here is my control panel's layout. I have a *cleavland steamer* pile of controls on my panel, which is smaller than a Quad SlikStik. I have had 4 players on my cab with no rubbing of elbows. On 1P and 2P, it is very comfortable to play because the right arm is angled in. The 4-way and DOT spinner are above P1 buttons which gives easy access. They may look like they are too close together but they are not. I regularly score 90,000+ on Discs of Tron so I rigorously tested the spacing with my motions. There are buttons in-line with the 4-way and DOT spinner, which works well for the most part but I do have to raise my arm a little because I cannot rest it on the trackball (sloped panel helps here). I have 2 joystick on 1P and 2P because of my love for Smash TV and the right joysticks are LS-30 rotaries because I am a Heavy Barrel nut. Another thing I did was map the Flight-stick buttons to Mouse buttons, to make it comfortable to use a mouse when administrating the OS of the cab.
Click images to see larger.
(http://i52.tinypic.com/6dwbas.png) (http://i52.tinypic.com/6dwbas.png)
(http://i52.tinypic.com/ng1zzn.png) (http://i52.tinypic.com/ng1zzn.png)
My button configuration is designed for an angle hand, yet allows me to have multiple possibilities, e.g., Mortal Kombat, NeoGeo, Stargate/Defender, Vanguard, etc. Street Fighter is shifted, but, I have had dominant SF players adjust in minutes.
(http://i51.tinypic.com/wipo3a.png) (http://i51.tinypic.com/wipo3a.png)
I hope my information helps you out on your design.
Patm95,
If you can hold out for a little bit, Ill be writing up and showing some pictorial examples of things which Im sure will help in your design phase.
You aren't most people.
"oh you want to play DK? Hold on while I swap out the panels..."
You aren't most people.
"oh you want to play DK? Hold on while I swap out the panels..."