Ultimarc Joysticks?

[dmsuchy]

Just wanted to say hello and intoduce myself, I AM a complete newbie on this but fell in love with the idea of making my own cabinet. I came up with a few ideas for the cabinet to make it easier on a supply list and moving the thing around, but the control panel design is killing me. I orginally thought of purchasing a panel from slikstik but felt it was too large and I wanted to make EVERYTHING. I would like two joysticks, a 3'' track ball and plenty of the neccessary buttons. I was going to have a dedicated 4 way joystick but was wondering on how well the Ultimarc switchable sticks were. I was going to buy all Happ, but now I'm not sure. Any help on any good designs for a simple panel to play, Galaga, Pacman, Robotron, Bowling, Golden t, Street Fighter 11, and ghost and Goblins? Thanks!

[Lilwolf]

1) Consider hotswappable control panels..  

But if you are ok with 2 8ways, a 4way and a trackball you can do it pretty easy.  

I don't think I would go with 2 different joysticks because you WILL feel the difference.  But the ones that you can change are more expensive.  

Its all  a wash..   Money or Time or Elegance....  All solutions are better then others..

Hotswappable are nice because you can keep adding.  And you can have a bunch of very easy control panels.  Nothing too complicated or cluttered.

Non are better because you can be finished oneday.. : )   ...  But boy some of the crowded control panels are a real eye soar.

If I didn't go with with hotswap -  I would probably either go with the Oscar plates on one of two joysticks or bite the bullet and get two swappable 8/4 from Andy.  

Also remember... you need some room for the trackball.  Don't put stuff right next to it or you will never be able to get a really good swing on it.

[dmsuchy]

Not too sure what you mean by "Hotswappable"? Sorry but I'm pretty green, I DO like the idea of having more than 1 panel but I didn't want to by more than 1 encoder. If I did have 2 panels what would you suggest? Maybe 2 8way sticks with 7 buttons each for fighting games and 1 4way in the middle for older games. And the other panel with a track ball and something else? Thanks

[Tilzs]

I think that if you go the swapable pannel route you really need to decide first on what types of games you want to play and how often that you are going to play them.

You dont' need to buy more than one encoder for a swapable cp.

If you are switching games a lot it may be more of a pain in the ass to switch the cp out depending on how you have it attached to the cab. I know people on this board do swapable cps, but I'd be interested in knowing how many actually swap them on a regular basis or decided that is more work that it is worth and just play something else.

I think if the only reason you want a swapable pannel is for 4/8 way joys then you'd be better off getting one of the switchable sticks.

Anyhow I thought this was a thread on Ultimarc Joy's review. I want to hear about that.

[dmsuchy]

Right, I understand that swapping panels would be a pain after a while, I just want to have a simple panel to play the above mentioned games and not be overwelming. I allready understand that I will probably build another panel after I worked things out on this first one. I just want to keep it simple for now. I do want a track ball for diffrent games and to use on my interactive jukebox that will also be in the cabinet. As of right now since Im allready going to be ordering from Utimarc I think I'll go with 2 of thier switchable sticks with 7 buttons each and a Happ USB PS2 track ball in the middle, and of course 1&2 player and credit buttons across the top.

[Tilzs]

Sounds like that will work out for you nicely. Be interested to hear what you think of those ultimarcs

[menace]

I had a switchable ultimarc, and other than the girlfriend always making me rotate it, it was pretty sweet.  randy over at groovygamegear has switchable ones that you can do from the top which I think is great but they do cost a bit more than the standard ultimarc 4way/8way stick.

[Tilzs]

The problem with Randy's is the baseplate is way too big to fit on a cocktail and the sticks are too long. My CP isn't even 5" deep which is why I was just interested in see what everyone thought of the ultimarc's.

[djbriane]

I believe the new sticks Randy is coming out with would address the height issue (not sure exactly how much shorter they are tho).

Still doesn't address the baseplate problem, maybe you can make the control panels wider?

Brian

[NoOne=NBA=]

You only need one encoder for all your panels.
You mount the encoder in the cabinet permanently, and then pigtail the individual panels to it.
Hotswapping means that you can change the controls without restarting the computer.

I swap my panels all the time.
Unless their swapping system is hard to release, I can't imagine why anyone would not want to swap panels.
To switch mine, you just pop it up, pull a couple plugs, put the new plugs in, and push the new panel into place.

[Jakobud]

I recently put an Ultimarc T-Stick in a control panel i made for my friend and I was very impressed with it. Easy to switch.  Very comfortable.  It has a very short throw on it and the microswitches are quite clicky.  But it's a good stick.  Considering how easy it is to swtich from 4<->8 way I think it's one of the best.

[NoOne=NBA=]

I'm going to be buying two of them soon.
The short throw and swappable 8/4 way are the selling points for me.

[MilitiaMan]

I have Three Ultimarc Sticks on my control panel and I love them for looks, feel, and playability (is that a word).

The only complaint that I have is that they are switchable from 4 way to 8 way by reaching underneath and turning a wheel mounted to the joystick plate.

This in itself is not a problem as I have a dedicated 4 way and a dedicated 8 way for player 1.

The problem is that if I play the 4 way alot, the wheel on the bottom seems to have a habit of turning itself to 8 way mode. I then have to open the cab up and turn it back to it's 4 way mode.

It can be pretty annoying trying to escape a fireball and not being able to get up the ladder cleanly.  

Minor complaint, just wanted to give you the lowdown.

MM

By the way ... here is a pic of how they look mounted in case you wanted to know:



And here is a picture of them from the bottom ... hopefully you can see the wheel I referred to above:

[dmsuchy]

Nice panel, what kind of track ball are you running?

[mahuti]

"The problem is that if I play the 4 way alot, the wheel on the bottom seems to have a habit of turning itself to 8 way mode."

If you use the Ultimarc t-stik, that is not a problem. It uses a large switch/slider, rather than a wheel. There is NO way that thing can get from one position to the other without trying. Other than that, it works like the j-stik.

[slicer_d]

I just got the Utimarc T-stik MK2's they seem pretty nice I wont be able to use them untill I get my cocktail assembled but just looking at them I can tell a lot of thought has gone into they're assembly.

I dont know how hard core arcade you are but the one thing that might bother you is their short throw I really dont know if I will like it yet but I think the fact they are going into a cocktail will suit them quite well being most of the games played will be old school shmups and pacman.  The only thing I would worry about is how they act with fighters I could se it going either way.  They might give you better faster tighter control because the throw is shorter or they might mess up your arcs because the throw is shorter I really cant tell but it should be interesting to see.

The new MK2 version have a new switching mechanism you just pull up and turn and bam its switched I dont really think they will switch by them selves during play becuase they do take a decent amount of turning preasure to switch and the mechanism should keep them from moving to much.  They also seem very well assembled and very sturdy I was worried about how sturdy they would be from the web pics also I saw some had clear plastic in the mechanism and I was like these things better not break on me.  But the MK2 version I have are very solid obvisouly they have more parts to wear out and I might not want to use them in a real hardcore aracade but I would imagine they would last for hundreds of hours of play as well as hundreds of 4/8 switches.

Over all I think the t-stick's were worth it to me.  They are like 7 more bucks than the happs comp which I also like.  The only negative is that they are coming from the UK and shipping will be 15 bucks maybe more if you buy buttons from them but I bought my buttons from therealbobroberts.com becuase they are cheaper and he also had some other stuff I needed.  I bought 2 t-stiks and an I-pac and shipped it was 98 bucks which seems expensive but half was the I-pac and other than a keyboard/contoller hack you wont get a control sollution much cheaper and definitally wont get one easier.

I will post a review at some point but I only have happs comps to compare to.  I hear retroblast.com is supposed to review a bunch of sticks soon but who know how soon so you might want to wait for that.

[Jakobud]

I have Three Ultimarc Sticks on my control panel and I love them for looks, feel, and playability (is that a word).

The only complaint that I have is that they are switchable from 4 way to 8 way by reaching underneath and turning a wheel mounted to the joystick plate.

This in itself is not a problem as I have a dedicated 4 way and a dedicated 8 way for player 1.

The problem is that if I play the 4 way alot, the wheel on the bottom seems to have a habit of turning itself to 8 way mode. I then have to open the cab up and turn it back to it's 4 way mode.

It can be pretty annoying trying to escape a fireball and not being able to get up the ladder cleanly.  

Minor complaint, just wanted to give you the lowdown.

MM

By the way ... here is a pic of how they look mounted in case you wanted to know:



And here is a picture of them from the bottom ... hopefully you can see the wheel I referred to above:

Uh.... doesn't that totally defeat the purpose of buying 4/8 way switchable joysticks?

[AndyWarne]

"The problem is that if I play the 4 way alot, the wheel on the bottom seems to have a habit of turning itself to 8 way mode."

If you use the Ultimarc t-stik, that is not a problem. It uses a large switch/slider, rather than a wheel. There is NO way that thing can get from one position to the other without trying. Other than that, it works like the j-stik.

Yes you are referring to the J-Stik here. This is easily remedied. The 4 screws which secure the 4-8 way restrictor are held with low-strength Loctite threadlock, which allows them to be "tweaked". Just give each screw 1/4 turn or so and the problem will be fixed. As mentioned, the T-Stiks have a positive detent so this can't happen at all.

[AndyWarne]

Just to clarify further, the J-Stiks are switchable from under the panel. The T-Stik Plus is switchable from the top of the panel by pulling out, engaging and turning the shaft. They are now available with an optional BALL TOP as well, and alternative microswitches.

[Minwah]

I expect this has been asked before but wil the T-Stik Plus mount using the same holes as a J-Stik?

The J-Stik has two sets of holes, circular and oval, it looks as though the oval ones may be just about the same as the T-Stik's - the diagram at http://www.ultimarc.com/controldiags.html doesn't show all the hole spacings on the J-Stik's.

I'm about to make my CP using J-Stiks, but I may want to give the T-Stik Plus a go in the future

[mushmouth]

hmmmm. I need that ball top in black. Wonder when we'll see those...

[AndyWarne]

The J-Stiks , in common with the Happ sticks, have two sets of mounting holes. The T-Stik pattern does match up with the inner set of holes of the J-Stik (and Happ).

If all goes well, I should have black and other colour ball-tops on Tuesday.

[Grasshopper]

The J-Stiks , in common with the Happ sticks, have two sets of mounting holes. The T-Stik pattern does match up with the inner set of holes of the J-Stik (and Happ).

If all goes well, I should have black and other colour ball-tops on Tuesday.

I've got a few questions if you don't mind. I think some may have been covered before but I just want to double check.

For those people who already own bat shaped T-Stiks, will the ball top handles be available separately and if so how much?

As the replacement shafts are manufacured by Sanwa does that mean that the ball tops will unscrew and be interchangeable with other Sanwa joysticks?

Would you consider selling the different coloured balls on their own? If you look through previous threads you will see that there is a demand for odd colour replacement Sanwa ball tops.

In a previous thread you said that the new handles had been designed to incorporate the T-Stik+MK II mechanism and this is why they couldn't be made height adjustable (at least that's how I interpreted you). Does this mean that you will have to buy a replacement handle if you decide to use the +MKII mechanism?

How much will the replacement microswitches cost?

Will the ball tops be available in different diameters?

Thanks

p.s. Keep up the good work. The new products look awesome!

[AndyWarne]

The handles are already available separately. In fact at the present time they are only available as an add-on. This might change in the future. But they are geared to the "Plus" version. This means that the stick has to be upgraded to the Plus (ie switchable from the top) before the new shafts will fit. Although I have plenty of parts for this upgrade, I am not offering this until I get some decent installation instructions done, with diagrams, as it's not a trivial upgrade.

The thread on the end of the new shafts is standard 6mm. But, the balls are held on with Loctite high-strength threadlock, because of the need to be able to rotate the shaft to change from 4 to 8 way. I'm not sure if this will come undone. I could offer just the shafts on their own.

About Sanwa, anyone who has dealt with them will know that it's like trying to get blood out of a stone. I will try to get some more colours. I already have a few others on the way including table-top 30mm balls.

The microswitches are already on the order page, $6 the set. Actually they transform the stick completely. Whether they are "better" or not is entirely subjective. I personally like them as they give the stick a lighter feel and it's pretty much silent at least when you have the cabinet sound at a reasonable volume! I would like to offer these as standard to avoid people having to pay the $6. I'm working on it.

[MilitiaMan]

OK ... first ...

dmsuchy writes:

Nice panel, what kind of track ball are you running?

Thanks for the compliment. I appreciate it.

It is a standard Happ 3 inch trackball, but I have since bought the blue/white marble replacement ball from Bob Roberts to go better with the color scheme of the cabinet. It looks just like one of those blueberry/vanilla swirl suckers made by LifeSavers. I love those things, BTW.

and mahuti writes:

If you use the Ultimarc t-stik, that is not a problem. It uses a large switch/slider, rather than a wheel. There is NO way that thing can get from one position to the other without trying. Other than that, it works like the j-stik.

Where the heck were you when I was ordering these things?  J/K

I think I decided on this one because I wanted a red ball top and this was the only one Ultimarc offered at the time. It was quite a while ago. Ultimarc has since added many more options to choose from when it comes to controls.

Keep up the good work Ultimarc ... I am a BIG fan!


and jakobud writes:

Uh.... doesn't that totally defeat the purpose of buying 4/8 way switchable joysticks?

I assume what you mean here is why buy a switchable stick and then have a dedicated 4-way and a dedicated 8 way. And you have a good point ...

It is simply a matter of laziness on my part. I did not want to have to open up the control panel (it is clamped down from the underside and you have to reach up into the coin access area to unclip them) every time I wanted to switch from 4-way to 8-way.

So I just solved this by putting 2 up there ... no big deal really. There is plenty of room on the CP for 3 sticks.

and, finally, Andy writes:

This is easily remedied. The 4 screws which secure the 4-8 way restrictor are held with low-strength Loctite threadlock, which allows them to be "tweaked". Just give each screw 1/4 turn or so and the problem will be fixed.

I'll give it a go, Andy. Thanks for the advice.

Thanks for the comments everyone.

MM

[Minwah]

The J-Stiks , in common with the Happ sticks, have two sets of mounting holes. The T-Stik pattern does match up with the inner set of holes of the J-Stik (and Happ).

If all goes well, I should have black and other colour ball-tops on Tuesday.

Great, thanks Andy

[sTyLeS]

I always keep coming back to this guy's site http://www.runriot.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/arcade/ because he has an awesome control panel. I really like the layout of the buttons. He has a dual Capcom/NeoGeo layout that would seem to work well. I'm sure you could get a few ideas from there.

[Witchboard]

What is the stick style of the T-Stick Plus?  I'm new to all this so I don't have all the jargon down yet.  Is it what they call a "tear-drop"?  I'm looking at ordering 2 T-Stik Pluses for my 1st and 2nd player controls and Happ 8 way joys for 3 & 4 player.  I'm just wanting to get the same style so it doesn't look too odd.  I'm presuming the shafts will probably be different lengths.  Doesn't look like it will match the Competition but would look better with Ultimates.  But I've read where everybody thinks the Competitions are better than Ultimates.