personal preference is the REASON to build a MAME machine!


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Build Your Own Arcade Controls message board ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by bernard on 6, 2001 at 2:14 AM:

In Reply to: control layout - buttons on right or left? posted by Seth on 4, 2001 at 6:20 PM:

When I started mental brainstorming for how to layout my control panel, I went through several options and I meticulously explored many possibilities.

True, I can rapid-fire quicker with my right hand, so it would make sense to but buttons on the right, but I have much better control on the joystick if I use my right hand, and for MY personal preference THAT is more of an advantage to me, especially when I'm dodging bullets in TWIN COBRA. Besides...many games have a LIMIT of how many bullets you can fire at once (Twin Cobra, Galaga, Asteroids, etc.) so my left hand can rapid-fire ENOUGH to go as fast as I need to go, and I can leave my right hand free for joystick.

I wanted to have a 4-way joystick and an 8-way joystick, and buttons for each one. After playing around with many layouts I started thinking. Why put one joystick on the right and one on the left? My machine is going to be mainly for my own use and I don't anticipate many instances where I'll be playing 2-players simultaneously. So why not but BOTH joysticks on the right and ALL the buttons on the left?!?! Who says I have to stick to the normal "buttons next to their own joystick" layout?!?! So that's what I had in mind.

Then I mixed it up some. I knew there WERE some games that I'd like to have maybe at least ONE button on the right side of the joystick, so I started planning on leaving a little space on the right side of the panel for a button or two.

I started planning control placement based on FEEL. I care a bit less what it looks like, and more how the control layout FEELS during play. Like...is there ROOM to rest your wrist ON the panel while you're pressing buttons? I don't know about anyone else, but I'm much more comfortable with room to rest my hand ON the panel while pressing buttons, so that would mean that I'd want my buttons HIGH enough on the panel to ALLOW this. Also, I don't want to be hitting another button by mistake so the button position is important so take a look at your hand position and where your OTHER fingers WANT to comfortably rest and make sure there's no buttons there. Also...how much room would I need BESIDE each control (joystick, spinner) to allow free movement without running into other controls (mistakenly hitting a button, or simply the annoyance of the back of your hand hitting another joystick, etc), my control panel is VERY small so the space I use is crucial.

I took so many factors into consideration, and in the end I came out with a more traditional looking control panel. The 8-way joystick is on the right, and the 4-way is on the left. When I'm using the 8-way chances are I'm going to be playing a game using at least 2 buttons so those are on the left. When I'm using the 4-way joystick I'll probably be playing Pac-Man or Donkey Kong in which I'll need NO buttons or ONE, so I can still use my right hand on that joystick and still stay relatively in FRONT of the screen.

There are SO many factors to think about. But I think the BEST advice that anyone can give about control panel layout is this. REMEMBER that there ARE NO RULES! It's YOUR machine. Make it the way YOU want, that's the beauty of having a CUSTOM arcade machine. Don't get sucked into the norms of feeling that you HAVE to put your joysticks here and your buttons there. Put stuff where you want it. Personally I think a control panel that looks MORE original and less STANDARD is more interesting.

You can check out my control panel at:

http://homepage.fcgnetworks.net/bernard/controlpanel.html

-David Nelson : captain NH Video Warriors


: I've noticed that on most control panels, the joystick is on the left, and the buttons are on the right. It seems to me, though, that it would be easier for a right handed person if it were the other way around, ie. joystick on right, buttons on left. Am I incorrect? What have you all found from experience?

: I know this may seem like a dumb question, but its been a long time since I've played a "real" arcade game. Most of my playing recently has been with the arrow keys and the L control button. The package from Happs that arrived Monday should remedy that, though, as soon as my I-Pac gets here :-)




Follow Ups:



Post a Followup

Name:
E-Mail:

Subject:

Comments:

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL:


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Build Your Own Arcade Controls message board ] [ FAQ ]