U360s vs other joysticks

[kmack1023]

I saw the discussion about someone wondering if they should buy 4 U360s as opposed to another joystick for P3 and P4. 

I didn't want to hijack his thread so I started my own...  What's the difference between a U360 and other 4way/8way sticks?  I just bought myself a U360 and several buttons to kind of tinker with and get a feel for what it's like to build a cabinet... I plan to just toss the devices onto a plain ol' wooden box mockup with a friend to help with the woodworking... figured this experiment could help me in several ways... the electronics, woodworking, mame configurations, etc...

thoughts?  advice? (and answers to the question about U360s vs other sticks)

You guys are awesome.... you seem very helpful and friendly to everyone who comes here, if you can take the criticism constructively...

[Ginsu Victim]

I love the U360s for their directional mapping abilities and the Sanwa build quality. You can modify them in a variety of ways to suit your style (spring tension, ball/bat tops, shaft length, etc). The lack of clicky microswitches gives a feel more akin to the days of leaf switches.

I've had mine since 2008 and haven't had a single bad thing to say about them.

[EMDB]

I love the U360s for their directional mapping abilities and the Sanwa build quality. You can modify them in a variety of ways to suit your style (spring tension, ball/bat tops, shaft length, etc). The lack of clicky microswitches gives a feel more akin to the days of leaf switches.

I've had mine since 2008 and haven't had a single bad thing to say about them.

The U360 is a great stick. Be aware you should load the correct mapping file for specific games (4-way, 8-way or diagonal (QBert!)) and hook it up using the optional harness to an iPac. I wrote a little tool (called HyperMap) to launch MAME from HyperSpin and load the correct mapping file into the U360(s) based on the selected game: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,134128.msg1382552.html#msg1382552

[kmack1023]

nice so it really boils down to the remapping and feel...  those stars in the graphic above, does that mean "do nothing"?  meaning if you go in a cardinal direction, don't move the character?  but if you're slight off the cardinal, go directionally? 

also, when you say connect to iPac, are you recommending not using it in input mode?  one of the reasons I bought it was because input mode seemed easy to configure and install....

[EMDB]

nice so it really boils down to the remapping and feel...  those stars in the graphic above, does that mean "do nothing"?  meaning if you go in a cardinal direction, don't move the character?  but if you're slight off the cardinal, go directionally? 

also, when you say connect to iPac, are you recommending not using it in input mode?  one of the reasons I bought it was because input mode seemed easy to configure and install....

Star means 'sticky' (use previous value), plus means 'center' (no movement).



I use the output mode so the stick will be an digital 4/8 way stick. In input mode the stick is still analog but with only a few active areas. MAME has its own additional filtering for analog sticks. I needed an iPac anyway as 8 buttons is not enough with 7 buttons, player 1 / player 2, coins and some admin buttons plus the key mappings are really easy to use to control all kind of emulators and FE's.

[Warborg]

I saw the discussion about someone wondering if they should buy 4 U360s as opposed to another joystick for P3 and P4. 

I didn't want to hijack his thread so I started my own...  What's the difference between a U360 and other 4way/8way sticks?  I just bought myself a U360 and several buttons to kind of tinker with and get a feel for what it's like to build a cabinet... I plan to just toss the devices onto a plain ol' wooden box mockup with a friend to help with the woodworking... figured this experiment could help me in several ways... the electronics, woodworking, mame configurations, etc...

thoughts?  advice? (and answers to the question about U360s vs other sticks)

You guys are awesome.... you seem very helpful and friendly to everyone who comes here, if you can take the criticism constructively...

I like the u360, the remapping is really handy...  But personally (and maybe it's just the games I'm interested in) I never found a need to have a u360 in more than the P1 spot...  Anything I play that has more than 1 player is like fighting, shmup, scrolling beat-em-ups, etc. which a good 8 way is just fine for...  But the stuff that takes advantage of the remapping is usually just in the P1 spot...

[eds1275]

I like the u360, the remapping is really handy...  But personally (and maybe it's just the games I'm interested in) I never found a need to have a u360 in more than the P1 spot...  Anything I play that has more than 1 player is like fighting, shmup, scrolling beat-em-ups, etc. which a good 8 way is just fine for...  But the stuff that takes advantage of the remapping is usually just in the P1 spot...

Without some steering wheels, you need some analogue. It's not ideal, but sometimes it's the only way to play things like super sprint or other racing games.

[eds1275]

I said before in the other thread though, I love the clicky feel of microswitched joysticks. It's just what I'm used to, growing up in north america in the 80's and early 90's... it's pretty much all we had for most games.

[Warborg]

I like the u360, the remapping is really handy...  But personally (and maybe it's just the games I'm interested in) I never found a need to have a u360 in more than the P1 spot...  Anything I play that has more than 1 player is like fighting, shmup, scrolling beat-em-ups, etc. which a good 8 way is just fine for...  But the stuff that takes advantage of the remapping is usually just in the P1 spot...

Without some steering wheels, you need some analogue. It's not ideal, but sometimes it's the only way to play things like super sprint or other racing games.

Understood...  Like I said, it could just be the games I tend to play on it...  And I don't really play things like racing games on my cab, so... 

[Ginsu Victim]

@EMDB
I just read the thread about your program. Did I read it correctly when it said you don't have support to switch to analog? Is it only directional support? If so, that doesn't work for me.

[EMDB]

@EMDB
I just read the thread about your program. Did I read it correctly when it said you don't have support to switch to analog? Is it only directional support? If so, that doesn't work for me.

My tool just loads the mappings for every game regardless of the mode the stick is operating in. I just wanted to explain why I use the digital (output) mode...