Advice on building a control panel

[WispFollower]

I'm attempting to make decisions on building a massive, end all, be all arcade control panel. Among the many features, I'm thinking of putting 15 buttons on it. I love the way leaf switches feel over microswitches (although I don't think I've comprehensively tried the new fancy microswitches touted by modern companies as smooth and quiet). I was trying to find out if convex leaf switch style buttons exist. If they don't, I either have to get concave leaf switches or some microswitches.

 

If anyone has any thoughts or experiences to share, I would appreciate it.

[HatefulGravey]

I wish I had put more thought into how other people would use the machine. I certainly built it to share, playing with other people is the best part of most arcade games. Clearly labeling the buttons, especially any buttons that control MAME or the front-end, goes a long way. 

 

I'm sure MAME can be set up to work without a coin button, but people seem to really love pushing that button and hearing that machine act like they but a coin in. It must go back to everyone wishing for such a button as a kid in the arcade. Turns out we didn't just want free play, we actually wanted an actual button, too.

 

Make the control panel as easy to remove from the machine has you can. I wish mine was easier to take off and work on. I haven't had many problems, but I do find myself wishing I could take it off at least once a year for something. If nothing else, moving it through doors with a larger than normal control panel can be trouble.

 

Good luck with your build. 

[Zoyous]

Think about if it really needs to be "be all, end all." I spent a while trying to figure out ergonomic arrangements of multiple controller types all on one panel... sure, you could fit four sticks, trackballs, spinners and buttons on there, but will you cramp up trying to use them? Also, the more I thought about it, the more I realized there weren't that many trackball games that are a must-have for me, personally. In the end it was a reasonable compromise for me to leave a trackball off of the panel, and on the rare occasion that I want to play a trackball game, I just attach a desktop trackball via USB and it can rest on top of the control panel while I use it, and be out of the way when I'm not using it. Of course if you're a Golden Tee fan this would not be a good compromise! But just a thought.

 

Another idea is to make a couple of control panels with different configurations that you can switch out (relatively) easily. Then the issue is storage for the one(s) that are not currently in use. If it's going to be part of a cabinet, depending on the size of your cabinet and what other hardware is in there, you might be able to store one inside the cabinet.

 

All in all it seems like a game of compromises... just keep in mind you can still have a lot of fun with something that isn't the ideal of every possible control! Some designers have gone mad trying to figure out one design to house all games... but I'm sure they've had fun in the process!

[WispFollower]

Definitely some good points to consider. I was anxious to order parts and get going, but perhaps some brainstorming is in order first. Thank you for all the thoughtful input.

[Cynicaster]

After many years of tinkering around with these sorts of projects, believe me when I say, any attempt to build "one control panel to rule them all" is going to end in disappointment. 

 

I'm not saying that a hulking monstrosity of a control panel won't work.  Sure, you'll be able to play a vast array of games with all those controls.  But it's very easy to overlook the real question you should be asking, which is this: what are you compromising by doing it this way? 

 

It's one of the common pitfalls to assume that making everything physically fit is equivalent to making it fun to use. 
You look at your plans and you say "perfect, lots of room, I've thought of everything!" Maybe you even mock up a scale cardboard panel just to be sure.

 

But then you go to use it, and you find that your right forearm keeps bumping into your Tron stick when you're playing shooters, and it's really annoying.  And when you're playing Mortal Kombat, you have to hold the wrist of your button-mashing hand at an unnatural angle to avoid rubbing up against your spinner, which is a huge drag, because it's giving you tendonitis.  You select 2 of your many joysticks to assign to Robotron, and it works, but you find that the spacing feels weird and you just can't get used to it.  You're playing Golden Tee and it's impossible to do accurate angled shots because your trackball is completely besieged by joysticks protruding 2" above the panel.  There are several controls far off to the right that never get used because you don't have nearly as much interest from friends and family as you hoped, and besides, using those controls forces you to stand at an awkward angle to your monitor.    

 

You get the idea.        

 

Quote

Another idea is to make a couple of control panels with different configurations that you can switch out (relatively) easily. Then the issue is storage for the one(s) that are not currently in use. If it's going to be part of a cabinet, depending on the size of your cabinet and what other hardware is in there, you might be able to store one inside the cabinet.

 

This is what I did, and it really is a great solution.  You can build panels that "excel" at certain types of games without all the little compromises that are guaranteed to come along with a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none type design. 

 

The really hardcore guys in this hobby are very averse to complexity, and will build very specialized cabinets (or swappable panels) that use minimum controls for specific needs, e.g., one for 4-way games, one for 8-way games, one for trackball games, etc.

 

That's cool, but it's an indulgence.  Not only that, but not everybody has the space for all of that stuff, and not everybody wants to spend that kind of time and money.  

 

If you have dreams of building a massive controller with everything under the sun then you probably don't want to hear this, but in my opinion, the sweet spot for a general purpose MAME control panel is a layout similar to the X-Arcade Tank Stick.  This layout provides lots of functionality with little to no compromise.  You can maybe squeeze in an additional 4-way joystick or spinner, but with every extra control added, you're going to start detracting in some way from something else. 

 

 

   

 

 

[Keatah]

I honestly have yet to see a CP that can play TRON and Assault and I' Robot in one setup.