Control Panel Comments ... Please?

[njchan]

I'm VERY new to the project arcade, and wood working as a whole.  But I've been a long time gamer and when I saw the book, I just had to have it.  Subsequently, when I read through it, I also had to have a machine!

after using MameRoom's control panel designer, I came up with the following and was wondering what everyone thought.

I already have a 2-1/4" Happs Trackball with 3 buttons and a vortex spinner, so I'd like to incorporate those.  I'm also a HUGE fan of the Street Fighter series, so I've added 2 8 way joysticks and 6 buttons each.  I can't really think of anything else to add - perhaps 1P and 2P start buttons ...

definitely going with a 2 player CP (as I have a 4 player dedicated NBA Jam cab also).  I just used the default size, but hopefully there's enough room for 2 people (I hate crowding).

what do you think?

[eccs19]

I think if it was me, I would switch the spinner and track ball around.  Again that's just me, but I don't play many games that use track or spinner, but my thought is that you may be to close to your screen with the ball, and end up hitting your screen often.

Best Regards

[markrvp]

Your buttons are too far apart to be comfortable.

[njchan]

thanks for the suggestion on the buttons ... I'll have to make some adjustments.

I'm not inclined to woodworking ... would buildin this be very difficult?  Am considering ordering it from mameroom ...

I only have a limited set of power tools, but I suppose this could be a good way to build one up.  what kind of things / tools will I need?  router?  dremel?  jigsaw?

Already Have:
Power Drill
Mitre Saw
Hole Saw Kit (what size do I need for the buttons?)

[eccs19]

thanks for the suggestion on the buttons ... I'll have to make some adjustments.

I'm not inclined to woodworking ... would buildin this be very difficult?

[AtomSmasher]

thanks for the suggestion on the buttons ... I'll have to make some adjustments.

I'm not inclined to woodworking ... would buildin this be very difficult?

[IG-88]

Ya, definitively swap the spinner and trackball around. You'll probably want to add some admin buttons also. Like a enter, exit, pause etc... You might even have enough room to squeeze a dedicated four-way and 2 buttons above to the left or right of the 8-ways if you slide the whole group down a little. You could put your admins on the opposite side to help "balance" the CP out a little.

[RetroACTIVE]

Have you considered using Project Arcade control panel design?

...consider it because it looks like you are very close to the same features, except the dedicated 4 way and you have 6 buttons instead of 7.  Its a good layout... the spinner is out of the way and the additional 4 way is nice for many games.

Have Fun!

[jcoleman]

I would actually recommend against admin buttons, especially if you are using an iPAC.  Pressing the p1 start button and moving the joystick up, down, left and right will activate the functions you need.    You can also remap the controls in your front-end to match the buttons on the panel.  That leaves plenty of room on the panel for useful controls and artwork. 

That said, admin buttons inside the cabinet, say just inside the coin door, are not necessarily a bad idea and are actually pretty arcade authentic. You could also move them to the bottom of the monitor bezel, which seems to be gaining popularity in these parts.

[IG-88]

I would actually recommend against admin buttons, especially if you are using an iPAC.

[njchan]

thanks everyone for your great comments ... I think I will actually end up going with the Project arcade control panel ... I found figure 6-12 which seems to be a good fit for me and what I'm looking for.  Might make some slight modifications though ...



I was wondering though ... doesn't happ make an 8way/4way joystick?  This way I wouldn't need to have a dedicated 4 way stick?  I'm more of a mininalist.

also, I really like the way atomsmasher has mounted his trackball (I really don't like the square metal plates ... is this difficult to do?  (again, little to no wood working skills).  also ... what is this called and why is it done for joysticks?  I was looking at the bottom of my NBA Jam control panel and this isn't done for those sticks .. I guess I'll have to do the same for the trackball?

[RetroACTIVE]

It is not neccessary to route out the recess for the joysticks unless you are using really really thick wood > 3/4" , or you like to play with really long joystick handles (no dirty jokes please

[AtomSmasher]

Just thought I'd mention that there was a project that used the books CP template and ran into a few minor problems.  I have to leave now so I don't have time to go into more detail, but heres a link to his project.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=41086.0