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critique my cocktail control panel??
paigeoliver:
Trying to build in support for a title with oddball controls usually isn't the best idea if you are constrained on space. You can end up with a machine that doesn't do anything well.
Tron support (never played Zwackery) is one of those things that I often tend to advise people not to bother with. Tron is 50 percent nostalgia about the movie and 50 percent cool cabinet masking a game that isn't really all that good. You are missing most of the experience playing on a mame cabinet and since it puts the controls in the "wrong" hands it gimps the machine for playing other titles decently.
PL1:
--- Quote from: xefned on September 18, 2012, 07:08:58 pm ---Good tip! Don't know how I missed those.
They're shorter than the minigrip, and narrower at the base. I'll probably need a giant hole in the CP to accomodate the full throw at the lowered origin of angle. I better mock it up first.
Thanks!
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The first one is probably the one to go with if you're using spacers to lower it since it has a dust washer.
Here is an older Joystick Roundup.PDF that gives how many degrees of deflection the handle can travel and other useful info. Retroblast also has a review for it here.
Even if you don't use it much for TRON, it'll be great for Battlezone. ;D
Scott
xefned:
Scott, thanks for the stick chart. That's data I can geek out on.
--- Quote from: paigeoliver on September 18, 2012, 08:02:16 pm ---Trying to build in support for a title with oddball controls usually isn't the best idea if you are constrained on space. You can end up with a machine that doesn't do anything well.
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Paige, I appreciate the insight. Hard as it may be to accept, I think it's dead on.
I was no good at Tron so I never played it more than twice. But I've read that sentiment elsewhere (i.e. "why did I pump so many quarters into that game??")
Zwackery was "my game" in '85. But the thrill may wear off after a couple games, and why go through the added expense and trouble until I've verified that I still like it? Especially for 2 sides of a cocktail. Maybe a low-cost plywood test box is in order.
So I'll probably end up ditching the trigger stick, even though I like the idea of playing defender in a totally non-authentic way, trigger for fire, rear trigger for thrust, spinner push for smart bombs, spinner pull for hyperspace.
And that push-pull spinner plan will quickly turn into a standard spinner. They're too expensive for 1 title. :blah:
I'm currently trying to concoct a DIY push-pull spinner. I can't find any examples of it having been done. It may prove to be over my skill level. We'll see...
PL1:
--- Quote from: xefned on September 22, 2012, 06:03:30 pm ---Maybe a low-cost plywood test box is in order.
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Good plan for any build and it's even lower-cost if you use a cardboard box. ;D
--- Quote from: xefned on September 22, 2012, 06:03:30 pm ---And that push-pull spinner plan will quickly turn into a standard spinner. They're too expensive for 1 title. :blah:
I'm currently trying to concoct a DIY push-pull spinner. I can't find any examples of it having been done. It may prove to be over my skill level. We'll see...
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IIRC there are only a few titles that use a push/pull spinner: Zwackery, Discs of Tron, and Forgotten Worlds.
I've seen several threads where someone wanted to attempt it, but I've never seen a successful DIY build. I think part of that is that some try to use the encoder disc to push on the up/down switches instead of making a self-contained spinner module within a lightweight framework (gray) and having the framework slide up and down inside a larger framework (orange) to push the switches (blue). Four springs (green) -- the two on the other side are not shown -- hold the weight of the inner framework allowing a light push or pull on the spinner knob to slide the inner assembly.
If you mount a TT2 on the inner assembly, but can't get the push/pull to work, you can always remove the TT2 and use it as a regular spinner.
Scott
Xiaou2:
Another mod, could be simple use of foot pedals. A dual rocking pedal could be made fairly easily... and provide pretty acurate results on a game like DOT. The pedal could also function as a gas and brake pedal for racing games... which goes well with in conjunction with games like Supersprint.