Posted by Mojo2000 on 7, 2001 at 1:12 PM:
In Reply to: 4 PLAYER MASSIVE CONTROL PANEL (3.8 meters wide) posted by Havelok on 7, 2001 at 12:29 PM:
: When you die you can use it as your coffin! hehe just a joke of [design], but it would be amazing in real life. What else can I add? Steering wheels for each player? :D
Impressive? Yes. Amazing? Sort of. Logical? Not saying. I won't even get into the hell of encoding this creation.
1) I've put some thought into my own panels, and to be honest I think my plans are more complete than most. Looking at your idea, I still can't fathom having two trackballs AND two spinners for EACH player, unless you are designing some sort of custom Etch-a-Sketch arcade game. (Heyyyy, now THERE'S a new idea.)
2) That rat's nest of yellow function buttons is particularly UN-ergonomic.
3) Putting trackballs AHEAD of your standard 8-way joysticks (which get in the way) does not make sense. Reverse that, and put the spinners in between.
4) If you're going to accomodate four players together and give each person enough elbow room, plus a proper viewing angle, I would suggest two separate showcase cabinets (each with 33-inch or greater monitors) sitting side-by-side at a 75- to 90-degree angle. This also makes the panels more portable. This is, of course, unless you were planning to use an entire movie theatre and its large projection screen of 50 feet or whatever it is.
5) Steering wheels: are we talking 270-degree or 360-degree? Airbag? Shifters: Up/Down, 4-speed, 6-speed, or Formula-1 paddles? Seats: may I suggest Recaro buckets in Connolly leather, with 10-way power adjustments, bottom warmers, memory settings for four drivers, 6-point competition harness, and full 3D inertia simulation? Don't forget those nifty adjustable pedals from the new Ford Taurus. And make sure they're drilled for reduced weight - 1\100 of a second could mean the difference between first and second place. Oh, in that case, ditch the leather and power adjustments.
6) What about your lightguns? Are we talking Desert Eagle .50 autopistols with recoiling slides (a la Time Crisis), or Heckler & Koch MP5-S submachineguns with laser pointers (a la Return Fire), or pump action shotguns (a la Zombie Raid)? Perhaps a Barrett .50 tank-busting rifle for good measure? Of course this wouldn't be complete without a VR vest and helmet to simulate Glaser Safety Slugs smashing through your ribcage and spreading Teflon through your bloodstream.
7) Don't forget flight simulation. Air Combat will never be the same! That 3D inertia mechanism with be handy here. I particularly look forward to your first tests of the barf bag and ejection seat.
Good luck with this project! The mother of all arcade experiences.