The Arcade Master - a multifunctional Arcade Stick

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Xiaou2:
I will never understand why people insist on Curving their Button layouts.

Your Keyboard, that you type on... has Straight lines of keys. Its easy for your fingers to find them, because you know
they are all aligned, along these straight lines (same distances).

When you play a game... you dont lay your hand perfectly Flat on the Control panel. You use the same bent knuckle position,
as if you are typing on a keyboard. That gives you superior control, increased strength (leverage), and thus better reaction times.

Furthermore... IF you did lay your hand flat down... Your hand, and anyone else's hands... will be completely different in
finger-lengths. As such... If the buttons dont match the optimal finger length positions... that person will be uncomfortable,
and will likely have issues with pressing the buttons optimally.

And finally...

If you have the buttons in straight lines... and a player is a Lefty... they can manually cross their arms, to be able to play
as they desire. If the buttons are angled.. they cant easily do that, without extreme discomfort.. depending on the angles.

Personally, I am Semi-Ambidextrous. I do things like throw a ball with my Right.. but I write my name and draw, with my Left.
As such, I prefer the standard right handed layouts. But, I probably wouldnt have an issues playing with either. Robotron has
dual sticks... and I never had an issues with that =P And of course, I also use two hands to type on my keyboard.

Moving a stick, is not a "Fine Motor" activity... like Drawing / Writing. It really shouldnt matter.

Fire-WSP:
Thanks for the Input.
The Stick is meant to be fully customizable.
What you see in the pictures is what I wanted for me feature wise.
For me I was adding the Pinball Buttons to the side and came up with the Coin Button (TM)
The plate for the buttons can be exchanged for different button layouts or even less buttons.

Xiaou2:
Sorry. It just triggers me, to see a lot of bad button layouts... and knowing that you wanted the possibility to Flip
the thing for Lefties, just made me want to reveal how a change in the layout, would solve all of these issues.
(As that was how things were almost always done in the actual arcade, since their inception)

As for the Coin button.. no offense, but I had the idea too. Its a common idea to have. Of course, having an idea, and actually
building it, are two difference things.

IMO... For the Pinball Buttons, you should replace them with actual Pinball Leafswitches. They react faster. They are more comfy.
And they are nearly SILENT.. compared to the Loud Clickity Clack, of constantly pushing Microswitch buttons.

Also, Id order at least One pinball leaf button, for use as a main controller button. This would be for Rapid-Fire games, like
Halley's Comet, Galaga, etc. You will have less fatigue.. get much faster rapidfire rates. Quicker physical response times. And
enjoy a near silent experience to boot.

I personally also prefer Concave topped buttons. They help funnel your fingers into the center of the buttons, and feel much
nicer to the touch. They help prevent your fingers from accidentally sliding off.. and make it easier to tell which button you
are pressing and then transitioning to. (as you feel the raised ridge edges, as you slide from one button to the next)

Edit:

Maybe add an inch to the opposite side of the stick.. to be able to install a mini spinner. Logitechs weighted free-wheel
scroll wheels would probably work great... but last time I tried one with mame (ages ago), the axis that they use.. wasnt
working smoothly / correctly, for some reason. Point being, its a small free-moving, weighted spinner, that feels good.. and
takes up very little space.

Then, swap the Joystick with a Mini Top mounted button.. like the old Wico bat joysticks.. and you could play games like
Tron, and Mad Planets.

Nephasth:
There are 3 types of people in the world: talkers, thinkers, and doers.

X2 is a talker.

Keep on doin' stuff! :cheers:

PL1:

--- Quote from: Xiaou2 on November 06, 2022, 07:30:54 am ---Logitechs weighted free-wheel scroll wheels would probably work great... but last time I tried one with mame (ages ago), the axis that they use.. wasnt working smoothly / correctly, for some reason.

--- End quote ---
Sounds like the Windows Scroll Wheel (Z-axis) 4:1 issue.

IIRC enabling multimouse in mame.ini allows MAME to take mouse data directly from the device instead of running it through Windows where the 4x multiplier is applied.

Otherwise, TopJimmyCooks did a one-line source code search/edit/recompile several years ago using code from u_rebelscum's patch that took the Windows mouse Z-axis and divided by 4. To use this approach, you'll need to know how to compile a custom version of MAME.

Related threads in case anyone wants to try this:
- http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,75693.0.html
- http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,117634.msg1246580.html#msg1246580

Scott

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