Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: cmoses on July 18, 2008, 11:34:51 am
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What are the general guidelines for free space around a trackball? I see most of them mounted in the center with a good amount of clearance. What typically is a good amount of space 3", more, less. I am think for games where they are used vigoursly, Marble Madness, Atari Football, maybe Golden Tee or a bowling game, etc.
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I divide this question into two types of players: Golden Tee Fans and Not Golden Tee Fans.
Not Golden Tee Fans: No tighter than Jeff's Supercade, found here:
http://cosmicjive.net/arcade/super/control_panel.shtml
Looks like maybe a few inches of halo -- the trackball assembly plus a modest clearance under the panel.
Golden Tee Fans: One uninterrupted acre acceptable, two preferred. The machine itself is a good starting point:
http://www.thecoindropshere.com/Images/arcade/goldenteeclassic/golden%20tee%20classic%20aweb.jpg
Looks like almost a foot of halo there, before you hit another control.
I'm not much of a Golden Tee fan. I couldn't care less about the game, so my machine looks more like the former than the latter.
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I highly recommend doing a cardboard lay out first and playing with it.
It's the only way I was able to get 3 trackballs usable.
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Do you have a project page? I would enjoy seeing your 3 trackball control panel.
Clayton
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I'll second that recommendation for the cardboard mockup.
It will seem like a needless distraction, until you make your first design change based on playing with it. Then it will suddenly be invaluable.
I use cardboard to demo all kinds of things around the house, before building them. Proving that there was NO way a particular couch could take a particular hallway corner saved me and some friends an hour or so of frustration.