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please critique my control panel

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DaveMMR:

--- Quote from: clickhea on February 04, 2008, 08:21:13 pm ---where are you saying to move the spinner too? iam not quite understanding

i guess i'll have to not use this trackball mount :[

there goes 25 bucks wasted

are these trackball mount plates made for really big control panels?

the only problem i have with mounting it from underneath is it wont sit exactly flush


would there be any reason not to make the control panel box the same shape as the top that way i could move the trackball down even lower?

almost all the pictures i seen of control panel boxes are rectangle, which leaves a few inches of overhang

--- End quote ---

The spinner can stay on the same horizontal line you have it now, but put it between the theoretical vertical lines from the right part of the left-most button set and the left edge of the trackball plate.   Here's my panel - note the placement of the hard to see spinner.



I really need to take a better picture of that one day.

And no, you didn't waste $25.  Remember, only the screws need to clear the overhang cut-off.   I'm sure you could push everything up ever so slightly (joysticks, buttons, TB) to allow it all to fit. 

My trackball plate actually hangs a little over where the front wood support is (had to route out a little for the screws too).  It's all good! 

clickhea:
ahhhhhhh i gotcha,

i was thinking about putting my spinner exactly where u had it, but i figured right handers will move their hand to the left after spinning the trackball a little bit,   have you noticed that issue at all?

also another thing i dont get is, when your marking out the 2nd player controls what do you use as the basis for everything the center of the control panel? or do you start with the player 2 buttons and work your way over to the joystick

Avrus:
What kind of spacing do you have between those buttons? They seem ... too close together.

DaveMMR:

--- Quote from: clickhea on February 04, 2008, 08:40:35 pm ---ahhhhhhh i gotcha,

i was thinking about putting my spinner exactly where u had it, but i figured right handers will move their hand to the left after spinning the trackball a little bit,   have you noticed that issue at all?
--- End quote ---

I think very few games where the trackball is involved requires insane hand movement.  Most of the ones I play (Centipede, Marble Madness, Cabal, Crystal Castles, et. al.) play better with controlled rolling as opposed to wild flailing.  Now, as for Golden Tee, the strong rolling movement if mostly vertical (or to the NW or NE when you want to curve your shots).  If the spinner is far enough back, I don't see it as much of an issue. 


--- Quote ---also another thing i dont get is, when your marking out the 2nd player controls what do you use as the basis for everything the center of the control panel? or do you start with the player 2 buttons and work your way over to the joystick

--- End quote ---

This is what I did:  I found the center of my panel (in my case, 12.5 inches) and put the trackball smack in the middle.  That's the easy part.  In Adobe (or whatever program you'd like to use), I used actual-sized templates to work everything out.  First I found the spacing between the stick and buttons and, when I was happy with it, make that one "element".  Copy and paste that stick/button combo and drag it over to the right side (keeping the vertical position unchanged of course).   I position the P2 stick/button set from the right edge more or less the same distance the P1 stick/button set is from the left edge.  Those distances are not evident on a completed panel because the placement is based on joystick plates and whatnot and no one sees them.  Nevertheless, it's still a good guideline.

Now, if I make any adjustments to one button/stick set, I make a similar adjustment to the other.  Example: I move the buttons on the left two "ticks" closer to the stick (I use clicks as a nonsensical measurement for demonstrative purposes).  I do the same thing to the right set.   When it's all done, I print out a full size template and test it out.

I just reread all the above and it's a big jumble of words.  But I'm too lazy to re-edit it to a more understandable group of paragraphs.  Basically, just measure, plan, look over the layout and test it out.

clickhea:
no i understand pretty much exactly what your saying.

i was trying to measure everything out with a ruler, maybe photoshop would be better

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