Main > Main Forum
button count?
Chris G:
I'm sure this question has been asked and answered, but after a brief unsuccessful search, I thought I'd throw it out there anyway...
I noticed on the rather impressive Control Panel Database a number of different button counts. I'm down with having 6 buttons per player for fighting games, but what's up with 7 or 8? I'm mostly interested in the classics which make due with far less, but I just want to make sure I'm not missing something in my old age... thanks.
pointdablame:
The 7 button combo is usually a Street Fighter + NeoGeo setup. It's actually only 6 buttons, but one is doubled up. It's meant to emulate both the Street fighter layout (2 rows of 3) and the NeoGeo layout (4 across).
It usually looks something like:
1 2 3
x 4 5 6
Where "x" will be wired the same as one of the top row buttons.
The 8 button combo is usually only for other consoles, such as Playstation. There's no need for 8 buttons in Mame unless you are playing one of those crazy mahjong games with a million buttons.
RandyT:
Sometimes it's not the number but how you use them (where have I heard that before...)
A 6-button is the most common because of the fighters. The addition of one more button to the lower left is usually done not because 7 buttons are specifically required, rather that extra button + the bottom row of three mimics an authentic "neo" style panel. If you see a panel with 8 buttons, is usually due to the fact that the panel is designed for emulation of a console like the PS, where there are 4 shoulder buttons and 4 face buttons.
That's why the CP layout is such a personal thing. Much depends on what you plan to play as well as space considerations, aesthetics and so on.
RandyT
*edit*
....too slow again..... :P
Chris G:
Thanks guys. 6 it shall be.
I dig the clean, relatively-simple look of Timoe and MustardTent's CPs in particular, so that's the general direction I'm taking. With that in mind, I'm going to do 2 programmable ball-top sticks, a spinner, trackball, and 6 buttons each.
Now my only remaining decisions are on admin buttons and whether to do all the flashy LED stuff. My wife likes the lighted stuff, and I dig the "coolness" factor, but it just doesn't speak to the classic arcade gaming I remember (Tron excluded of course). Perhaps my memory's fading... :dizzy:
Chris
RandyT:
I've been doing this so long, my first control panel had a WICO red ball top (before they got the idea to start selling them as a handheld for the Atari) and white leaf-switch buttons because that's about all you could get! The colored stuff followed not too long after though.
The extra "bling" is pretty nice. I was offering the LED-Wiz and the EI buttons for over 6 months before I forced myself to rewire my panel (no time.) Now, I don't think I could go back, as it would seem kind of dull without having the buttons lit or being able to change the colors.
RandyT
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version