Check out my custom CPO please!

[Calvissuperman]

Hey all! I finally got my account working and I'm ready to share everything my dad and I have been working on. To start, here's the project idea. We want a lookalike of a Defender cabinet, but the ability to play many more games. We decided on our controls, and after many hours of work and testing and mock-ups I've figured out exactly how I wanted it to look. Tonight I just finished editing a custom CPO to look a lot like the original, but fit our control scheme. Here it is!



Here is the way the controls will be placed:


(I moved the spinner to cut down on length to the upper left as you can see on the CPO, and the 1player 2player buttons around to better match the CPO I was making)

Obviously our cabinet will need to be adjusted to a 30" control panel, and it will stick in a few more inches than the original, but the overall look is still as nostalgic as ever! I'm really happy with this so far, but I really do appreciate hearing what other people have to say. Let me know any thoughts you have, any questions, and so on so I can get as many different angles as possible before I go further. Thank you!

[nexusmtz]

Hi and Welcome! I like that you're basing your overlay on Defender and that you found places for so many of the elements in your new layout. I do get a little jolted though when I look at the CPO because it's missing the 'compartment' feel that I get when I look at the original.

These are the things I notice:

• The left and right edges of the original are clearly defined in a straight line by the white and blue, even though neither extends all the way down, or even all the way to the side. Your sides each end in three places.
  
  
• The center of the original is symmetrical, and the text is centered. The arrows at the top make almost an hourglass, drawing the attention to "Game Start" and through to the 1 Player and 2 Player buttons. Since the buttons and text are gone in your version, and the spinner was moved, I can't figure out what the arrows are meant to point to. I also can't tell why the blue bar box above Hyperspace extends farther to the right. I know it will be some work, but I think you have to rework the bottom third to match the width of the rest of the artwork.
  
  
• The radar around the spinner may need to be smaller and the border should be completed. That was not necessary in its original place because the other lines, though incomplete, created enough of a box.
  
  
• I realize that the Hyperspace text is from the original, but without a button, it's orphaned. If machines being named *cade hadn't already been done to death, and if Hypercade were unique, I'd suggest changing it to that. Maybe you can think of something.
  
  
• The bar to the left of the P2 Fire comes down too far. You don't have anything between the P1 joystick and buttons, so having that bar come down makes P2 more cluttered.
  
  
• Maybe use just the triangles for the joystick directions? Without the long bar between them like on the original, they look a little large.
  
  

Those are the things I'd focus on first. Please note that I'm not an artist, so don't take my opinions too seriously. Actually, don't take anyone's feedback too seriously. You're off to a good start, and it's your panel. Have fun with it and make it look the way you want.

Side note: I tried layering the two pictures, but they don't line up. If you were just giving a general position of the controls, that's fine.

[Calvissuperman]

Thanks so much for the feedback! You saw things that I easily looked past because it's my creation, I am definitely going to change up some things. The bottom image was of a CPO layout maker and was very quick and not at all accurate. What it shows is the center of each element by quarter inches, it was a drag and drop simulator so the actual measurements are super far off. The CPO I made has all the buttons exactly where they should be. Well back to work!

[meyer980]

Good luck Calvis (and Dad!). If you need help, you know where to find me. -Sergio