CP Organization - Opinions wanted

[CJ7]

Hey guys. I'm just looking for some opinions and help organizing my control panel. I am definitely using GAMEEX for the front end and am mainly using MAME for all arcade games though I am eventually going to have Nintendo and Sega consoles emulated on there too. I have linked a picture of the control panel and also a picture for the concept graphic that will be on the bezel for control panel usage instructions. I would like to know some opinions on which buttons should do what to be most compatible with both GAMEEX and MAME for easy navigation. ALL opinions welcome! I would have posted this on arcadecontrols.com but I thought the gameex specific crowd would have better insight for me.

Control Panel Layout:

And from the side so you can see the side buttons

Graphic Concept for bezel so that people know what buttons to push:

This is ONLY a concept, it will not be the graphic I use for it! I will eventually make it much nicer looking..

I thought the "page up" and "page down" buttons would be useful in scrolling through the massive game lists.

Start I is always a shift button, not sure about where to put the other shift button though...

Shifted keys ideas (have IPAC4):

"SELECT" when shifted = "TAB" (For in MAME menu)

"BACK" when shifted = "F3" (for MAME reset)

Not sure about the other ones..

Any thoughts/ideas?

[Hotshot]

I'm not sure what you're asking.

If you're looking for a cool art idea...

Maybe just put some cool logos back there. Maybe a logo for each emulator you're running. In addition to the buttom labels, of course.

If you're thinking about re-arranging your buttons, then I suggest this one. My buddy build a MAME box that he has in his basement we play on all the time, and the two "cubes" of buttons are easier to quickly get a hand on than having to feel for you place in a long row of buttons.

[CJ7]

Yes, that box layout is nice. Unfortunately, my CP was premade by slikstik. I love it though. My question is: What is the best buttons to map to the top row to give it the most functionality in both GAMEEX and MAME? The buttons each are assigned a key and each can have a shifted key as well (besides the shift key itself). Follow me?

[Hotshot]

Oh. Now I got you. I dig.

I think you're kind of stuck as far as the non-shifted layout goes, if you mess with it too much the colors won't match up in a logical way. But for the shifted, I can't think of any good ideas for buttons.