Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: pointdablame on November 07, 2004, 11:52:00 pm
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Yup, it's another CP thread... sorry guys. I am having a lot of trouble finalizing my CP for my bartop. I keep bouncing between different layouts, and can really use some constructive criticism.
The CP is 18" wide by 12" I think I made the CP a bit bigger than it should have been, but it's too late to worry about that :). I just fear turing this into a bartop sized frankenpanel. I originally was going to have an 8 way, button layout, and spinner. That was it, with the addition of the P1 start, coin, pause, and exit buttons. That left a lot of open space on the CP and it just doesnt look good IMO. I also considered using shift functions for pause and exit, but again, the panel looked very bare.
Below are the 2 designs I'm debating on with "all" the controls I'm considering. I'm gonna try to get a pic of the bare panel, but basically it is (from left to right) Joystick, buttons, spinner. You can probably get a good mental idea of how much space would be left.
I need to mock this up with controls and see what feels better, but before I even go that far, I want some opinions. I also thought about panels that included dual joys and no trackball, but didn't feel that the dual joys were worth it. I also considered a 6 button and 4 button layout, but considering I had the room and spare buttons, I thought I might as well use the 7 button layout.
Basically, let me know what you are thining once you see these layouts... am I an idiot for trying to put that many controls on a panel this size? Everytime I look at it, I seem to bounce from "hey, that looks pretty good" to "what the hell am I thinking" so you guys get to be the tiebreakers :)
NOTE: the big square is a 2 1/4" trackball just incase someone wasn't 100% sure.
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Option B looks pretty good.
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Here's a quick, TERRIBLE photoshop of the original panel idea since I won't actually be home to get a pic til Friday.
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If you made the monitor section spinable... (but with a limiter so that only 359 degrees possible as not to break cords)... you could then make 4 or more control panels for a single unit.
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I'd go with the original idea myself. Trackball on a bartop might be hard to deal with.
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If you made the monitor section spinable... (but with a limiter so that only 359 degrees possible as not to break cords)... you could then make 4 or more control panels for a single unit.
I don't quite follow your idea honestly, but I won't be getting that complicated on a simple bartop. I don't even want to get that complicated on my full sized upright ;)
I'd go with the original idea myself. Trackball on a bartop might be hard to deal with.
That was actually a big concern of mine. I know for sure that there would be no aggressive trackball use on this, such as Golden Tee or some bowling games, etc. The monitor is just too close... but I wondered if it would be worth it for other games. My plan is to run a USB extension to the side of the case, so even in the off times that I need a mouse, the trackball still wouldn't be really necessary.
Seeing as I have all the other controls besides the trackball though, I'm leaning towards trying the original idea, and if I really miss a trackball, perhaps then I'll give one a shot.
Thanks for the opinions guys, keep em coming :)
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With A, wouldn't your fingers be hitting the buttons all the time?
Have you considered a seperate enclosure for the track ball?
Bob
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That was actually a big concern of mine. I know for sure that there would be no aggressive trackball use on this, such as Golden Tee or some bowling games, etc. The monitor is just too close... but I wondered if it would be worth it for other games. My plan is to run a USB extension to the side of the case, so even in the off times that I need a mouse, the trackball still wouldn't be really necessary.
Seeing as I have all the other controls besides the trackball though, I'm leaning towards trying the original idea, and if I really miss a trackball, perhaps then I'll give one a shot.
Personally, I like Option B.
If you went with option C (no Trackball), I might put the spinner above the buttons (where the option A trackball is). If you do this, you won't be able to add a trackball later, though, without making a new CP.
If you are going to have a USB port accessible for a mouse, you might consider Neuromancers idea and use a trackball in an enclosure with an www.oscarcontrols.com mouse hack, ala http://www.cheeptech.com/cuhack.html
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I'm not really entertaining an external enclosure idea because I also have a full size MAME machine in the works that will have a trackball, so it's not as if I'll be totally without one. I had an extra spinner, so that's why I wanted to incorporate it into the CP.
I have some extra MDF also, so building a second CP wouldn't be terrible, my main sticking point now is whether to buy a trackball or not. I have everything else, but want to be sure I need the trackball before ordering.
I guess I just have to wait until Friday when I can mock something up and see how they feel.... like I said, I just wish I had a trackball to mock up too.