4way or 8way ?

[Vampyre]

Ok I'm looking at building a cabinet and was looking into joystick options. I'm buying an ipac. What I'm wondering is do I really need an 8way joystick.

[1UP]

You need both to play the greatest number of games correctly.  You won't be able to play any fighting games without an 8-way, and you'll always mess up in classic games (Pac-Man etc) without a true 4-way.  One option, since you're ordering from Ultimarc anyway, is to get one or two of his joysticks with the built-in switchable restrictor plates.  Open your panel, give them a quick twist, and you're good to go!  Happs universal sticks also have this feature.

[Tiger-Heli]

Or you can use a regular 8-way (Super or Competition) and use OSCAR's restrictor plates http://www.oscarcontrols.com/index_joystick.htm for 4-way or 2-way games.

[Vampyre]

so whats the difference between a 4way and an 8way physically ? is there actually 8 triggers or is it just that the joystick is allowed to press two at a time on an 8way as opposed to 1 at a time in a 4way (by use of a restrictor plate) ?

[Tiger-Heli]

so whats the difference between a 4way and an 8way physically ? is there actually 8 triggers or is it just that the joystick is allowed to press two at a time on an 8way as opposed to 1 at a time in a 4way (by use of a restrictor plate) ?

Like you said last.  All of them have only 4 switches.  A four-way will have restrictor plates and/or a smaller actuator to make it difficult to hit two adjacent switches at the same time.

[1UP]

The other (and more important IMHO) difference is that, because the 4-way has a diamond-shaped restrictor, it is much easier to hit the right directions.  You can actually feel the stick  hitting U/D/L/R, which makes 4-way games much easier.  An 8-way has just a round hole as a restrictor, so the stick doesn't "locate" as easily.  8-ways are good for fighters for this reason, so you can do all those crazy forward/back/semicircle moves.  But in Pac-Man, it'll kill ya baby!!

[Vampyre]

hm.. i think i might go with what tiger said and get some 8 ways and buy restrictor plates

[1UP]

If that's what you like, but the restrictor plates don't look authentic on a control panel IMO (sorry Oscar!)  You can get several different styles of sticks with built-in, switchable (8-way to 4-way) restrictors from Ultimarc.com (maker of IPac).  The restrictors are under the sticks so they are hidden from view.  I use one for Pac-Man, which is not only switchable from 8-way to 4-way, but the switch plate rotates 45 degrees for Qbert and Zaxxon as well!

[OSCAR]

If that's what you like, but the restrictor plates don't look authentic on a control panel IMO (sorry Oscar!)

Not as authentic looking as a 3-sided rotating control panel w/ a gazillion controls?!?!  Come-on, every bit as authentic!  

[OSCAR]

Truthfully, their functionality and accessibility were the primary design criteria.  If they didn't work, then it wouldn't matter how they looked.

On two of the cab's I've owned, accessing the underside of the control panel was a major hassle.  That is the reason for the top-side accessibility for them.

[Tiger-Heli]

Truthfully, their functionality and accessibility were the primary design criteria.  If they didn't work, then it wouldn't matter how they looked.

On two of the cab's I've owned, accessing the underside of the control panel was a major hassle.  That is the reason for the top-side accessibility for them.

My thoughts also, I can just display a picture of my CP in my frontend showing the plates installed and expect my 7-year old to know "this game needs these plates and install them".  Even if I left the bottom cover off my desktop controller, I wouldn't want to worry about him reaching inside the panel to switch the joystick restrictor (if I could explain how to do it) and not have him knocking wires loose, etc.

Something to consider if you have kids.

[)p(]

personally I just use 8way wico leafswitch sticks for both. After fiddling with the leaves whne I first go them I found them to work very good with both kind of games.  I have a 4way also but after testing it I found that for me it was not worth it...

Peter

[1UP]

Not as authentic looking as a 3-sided rotating control panel w/ a gazillion controls?!?!  Come-on, every bit as authentic!  

Touche...    Actually, I'm carefully designing my cp so that it looks as authentic as possible.  CP, marquee and side art are all considerations, and each panel will have it's own theme, with select artwork from the games appropriate to that panel.  Also, the ugly prototype panel on my site was only a test platform.  I came up with this whole design in an effort to avoid the typical "Frankenpanel".  The real panels will be very clean, and all controls not used will be entirely concealed within the cab (behind the coin door.)  Think of it as a set of swappable panels with a built-in storage system!  And yes, the panels are all set up with easy access to the undersides.  You'll see when I update my site this weekend!  

Back to the subject of 4-way joysticks, my switchable sitck will be permanently in 4-way mode, I'll just need to flip up the CP on the odd day when I feel like a game of Qbert...  Also, there's gotta be a way to add a discrete lever that would flip the restrictor from the outside.