Building a Zelda Themed LaunchBox Arcade Machine. Need help with button setup!

[Cleverpig]

A buddy of mine is building me a Zelda Cabinet just like the one in the picture. I've had Launchbox for awhile on my PC and plan on sticking it inside this Zelda Cab. I want to do two players, but I'm not sure how many buttons I'll need. It will have two USB ports in the front to hookup controllers if i need to. I mainly will be playing GameCube,Wii,PS1, PS2,and Dreamcast games. Any advice will be appreciated!

 

[flatuswalrus]

If it were I I’d go with an eight button layout like one of the following:

Especially because you’re wanting to play the later systems. Then you’ll be set for pretty much anything. If the panel were big enough I’d have extra buttons for P1-Coin, P2-Coin, P1-Start, P2-Start, Enter, Exit, Pause etc. so that’s 23 buttons right there. Good idea for the USB ports to connect controllers so you have that option.

[Kondorito]

Agreed with @Dane on its 8+ button per player comment; the first layout he shared is the best IMO, as it fits the hand ergonomically better.

Looking at the screenshots (LOVE that bezel btw!), I can see that the cab was not built for a two player mode in terms of width, let alone placing 4 button columns each. Maybe you can sacrifice some space between players and place the two stick/button sets closer to each other and to the cab borders in order to achieve this (or if your friend is making the cab from scratch, could add some inches on the width overall).

Good luck with this; I remember when I built mine like 10 years ago. Took a lot of time and effort (as I was not knowledgeable with wood and wiring as now) but it was well worth it.

 

[Cleverpig]

Thx, He said he's going to make it a little wider for me to fit the 2 player controls

[Cleverpig]

I think i might just do 6 buttons for the controls with a stick and just use it for N64 games and older. Then just have 2 controllers setup for Gamecube,PS1,Dreamcast. I'll probably have 7 more buttons for P1-Coin, P2-Coin, P1-Start, P2-Start, Enter, Exit, Pause. Do you guys think that will work well?

[flatuswalrus]

2 hours ago, Cleverpig said:

I think i might just do 6 buttons for the controls with a stick and just use it for N64 games and older. Then just have 2 controllers setup for Gamecube,PS1,Dreamcast. I'll probably have 7 more buttons for P1-Coin, P2-Coin, P1-Start, P2-Start, Enter, Exit, Pause. Do you guys think that will work well?

I think that will work well. I suppose everyone has different ideas and there is no one correct way to do it. I used to only want to use an arcade panel, and did for many years, but now I cannot imagine going back to anything other than a controller (Hori FC4). I think the six buttons will still allow you to play 99% of what is out there  and those extra buttons for miscellaneous will make it so you do not have to pull out a keyboard every time you want to navigate your front end etc.

[Cleverpig]

7 hours ago, Dane said:

I think that will work well. I suppose everyone has different ideas and there is no one correct way to do it. I used to only want to use an arcade panel, and did for many years, but now I cannot imagine going back to anything other than a controller (Hori FC4). I think the six buttons will still allow you to play 99% of what is out there  and those extra buttons for miscellaneous will make it so you do not have to pull out a keyboard every time you want to navigate your front end etc.

Thanks