My T-Stik Plus (& J-Stik) findings...

[Minwah]

I just installed a T-Stik Plus on my 2UP side, so I could compare to my J-Stik on the 1UP side...

Firstly, I really like the J-Stik, obviously the easy 4/8-way switching is what drew me to the T-Stik.  The difference between the two sticks really is massive, as you all know the J-Stick has a lot of travel and is very light, the T-Stik has very short travel and has a heavy action.

My first impressions were that I didn't like the T-Stik...it felt quite good for some games like shooters, not so good for fighters.  That said I could still play well with the T-Stik, but I just didn't like the feel - the heavyness in particular felt pretty uncomfortable.

After a lot of playing on the T-Stik, the J-Stik then felt VERY loose and light...where I loved that before, it now felt a bit odd.  I decided to flip over the 4/8-way restrictor plate, to lessen the travel, and also stretched the spring to make it feel a bit harder - IMO this improved the J-Stiks feel quite a bit.

At this point I started looking through my joysticks & microswitches, and found some Cherry microswitches as fitted to Happ Supers.  They have a longer actuator than the T-Stiks', but are VERY light in comparison.  I read here about some other people changing the switches for Cherry ones, but I am not sure if these are the same Cherry switches I have....basically I just had to break off the end of the actuators with some wire snips.  So I took the microswitches off the T-Stiks, and replaced with the Cherry ones.  It really struck me with the original switches off how hard they are to activate - quite snappy as well.

So my conclusion with the Cherry switches on, is that it improves the feel of the stick *massively*.  They are lighter, but without being too light, and they just feel more positive to me.  While I still really like the J-Stiks, the T-Stiks with Cherry switches and the great 4/8-way switching are superb.

Another point I noticed is that the T-Stiks are supposed to be quite loud...but IMO even with the standard switches they are quiter than the J-Stiks.  Note that I haven't tried the quieter switches from Ultimarc.

Dunno if that's any interest to anyone, but hey  

[SideShow Rob]

Thanks Minwah...interesting findings.

I have ordered a couple of T-Stick Plus sticks, and also a set of the light action microswitches too.

When I get the order from Ultimarc, and get round to finishing off my control panel (later next week hopefully...), I will test both sets of microswitches and comment on their respective 'feel' in 4 and 8 way modes.

[LeedsFan]

I've just recently finished my CP with t-Stik Plus joysticks and I've been giving them a good try out lately. I have to say that I find them pretty stiff to use, epecially in games like Pac-Man. I actually prefer to use my X-Arcade on my desktop PC as the sticks feel a lot looser, but not sloppy.

I find your comments really interesting on this MinWah. Do changing the microswitiches really make this much difference? I'd have thought that it was the spring inside that made the movement stiff? But if you've swapped them and it's improved then I may give it a try as well.

I've still got my original 8-way joysticks which came with my cab. I've no idea what make they are but they do use genuine Cherry microswitches. I've even tried one of these mounted in my X-Arcade but the throw was just too long for the diagonals.

However, are the actuators mounted inside (or on) the microswitches on the t-stiks? The actuators on my 8-ways are seperate and not part of the switch itself. You push them into place inside a slot on the base of the joystick. As a sidenote I do have an Ultimarc E-Stik lying

[TOK]

I used T-Stik Plus's for my cab. I like the short throws and overall feel for shooters and other games which have a "flowing" type of movement like Xevious and Robotron.
Where I have problems with them is in 4 way games and games that require very precise, single movements. I actually have better luck in 4 way games leaving them in 8 way mode, but this is very difficult for people not used to the feel of the sticks. My sister-in-law came over and tried playing Pac-Man (does anyone not into arcade games EVER want to try anything else?) with frustrating results. I still occasionally find myself getting stuck on the ladders in Donkey Kong.

Overall, I find these to be good general use sticks, but they don't replace a dedicated 4 way IMO. They also don't feel like any arcade stick I've ever used. I think next time around I'll try some Happs, but I don't feel the T-Stik's are bad enough to warrant swapping them out. I'd give them a solid 3 in a 5 star rating system.

[LeedsFan]

I used T-Stik Plus's for my cab. I like the short throws and overall feel for shooters and other games which have a "flowing" type of movement like Xevious and Robotron.
Where I have problems with them is in 4 way games and games that require very precise, single movements. I actually have better luck in 4 way games leaving them in 8 way mode, but this is very difficult for people not used to the feel of the sticks.

You will be using the T-Stiks like me.... just as they came from Ultimarc with original microswitches. I can't play Pac-Man even in 4-way mode. The movement is just too stiff for me. My hand starts to ache after a couple of  games and I cannot make the turns properly. In 8-way mode Pac-Man is totally unplayable with this stick, for me anyway. However, with the X-Arcade sticks I can play Pac-Man in 8-way mode with no problems. It's not perfectly ideal for some, but's it's a 100% improvement over the T-Stik Plus while in 8-way mode (for Pac-Man of course).

I'm going to spend a little time today looking at swapping the microswitches on my T-Stik plus and see if there's any improvement. I'll let you guys know later..... 

[LeedsFan]

UPDATE: