joystick recommendation

[marcopolo]

Hi folks,
Some advice please:

I am building a new MAME cabinet and control panel to play mainly the classics (Galaga, Pacman, 1942, etc.) and possibly some of the newer games (1988-1995).  

I am pretty much set on Happs as a joystick provider, but I cannot determine what is the best joystick.  I guess my options are Ultimate, Competition, Super and Universal.  I've read the posts and it seems like Super is high regarded - 4/8 way, rugged, etc.

One concern I have is that I will be playing mainly older games which were mostly 4 way games.  I know that the Super joystick is 4/8 way switchable, but when it's switched to 4 way, does it act (feel) the same as a standard 4 way joystick.  

So my questions are:
1. whats the best all purpose joystick - realistic feel, ruggedness, responsiveness, etc.
2. does the Happs super joystick in 4 way mode feel like a real 4 way
3. I am mounting the joystick on 3/4" MDF + 1/8" Lexan - does that limit my options
4. Finally, should I look at any other type of stick like optical or analog- is there any advantage to these?

Your advice and feedback is greatly appreciated.

Marco

[HeadRusch]

Check out OscarControls restrictor plates...they'll physically limit the ability of the joystick to make any diagonals whatsoever, and they work on Supers, Ultimates, etc....

I ordered one of the red-ball topped joysticks from ULTIMARC and when it arrived, I turned its 4-way restrictor and found its 4 way action to be just fine for me.  The stick is a little long by 1980's standards, but its a small price to pay

good Luck....

[mikenotbob]

The happs super 4-way switch is anything but easy to switch on the fly. Also, it has no restrictors, so the feel is no different from complete 8-way circular motions. As far as I know, with mame, diagnal signals don't register in 4-way games, so there's no reason to even have a super in 4-way mode. The super 4-way mode seems to be more of a convenience for lazy arcade ops that don't feel like doing a proper replacement/conversion.

I actually have an Oscar restrictor plate if you want it.  There was no easy way to get it to fit on my panel. I have a 4-way restrictor and a diagnal restrictor (for q-bert).  Never used... I'll sell it for whatever the price oscar is charging (forgot) minus the cost of one restrictor.  I think that's like $5, so consider it free shipping or free restrictor!

[SNAAAKE]

Well...I have always been against ultimate joysticks from happ but I changed my mind now..

I thought ultimates sucked so bad because I never made any joystick out of those myself(only use ultimates in the arcades and they cant mount $hit).

I just made a new panel yesterday and my rating would be from best to worse.

1)super 4/8 way happ stick
2)happs ultimates
3)happs compition

As for old games,super with 4 way actuater is more then enough.

I used lots of other bootleg joysticks too but no idea how they are called or what company makes em(bought some cloned/bootleg sticks from someone before).

[eightbit]

Ultimarc (makers of the IPAC) sell a selectable 4/8 way switch called a T-stick. It has a side mounted lever that rotates the restrictor plate. Has anyone tried this stick? It looks to like you could mount a rod to the lever so that you could toggle 4/8 with lifting the control panel?

http://www.ultimarc.com/controls.html

They also offer a good explanation of logical versus physical 4/8 way switchable joysticks.

[neuromancer]

4. Finally, should I look at any other type of stick like optical or analog- is there any advantage to these?

optical: Pros: No moving parts to wear out. How much are you going to use it? Probably not enough to wear it out. No switches to make clicking noises when you play. Cons: Cost 4x, harder to wire in some cases.

analog: not many games actually used analog sticks. Tailgunner is the only one I know of. However, you can use them to play various yoke and driving games, like Outrun, Starwars, spyhunter, etc.

other: you might consider a Happ optical rotary stick. It is basically a Super with a spinner on the bottom of the shaft. Useful for Ikari warriors, maybe arkanoid, and other games that feature a "slow" spinner (Zwackery?)

Bob

[u_rebelscum]

The happs super 4-way switch is anything but easy to switch on the fly. Also, it has no restrictors, so the feel is no different from complete 8-way circular motions. As far as I know, with mame, diagnal signals don't register in 4-way games, so there's no reason to even have a super in 4-way mode.

Tech on 4-ways in mame: Mame remembers the last non-diagonal direction pressed.  If a diagonal is registered mame looks at remembered direction pressed, and sends the other half of the diagonal to the game.
Quote from source code:

Code: [Select]

/* If joystick is pointing at a diagonal, acknowledge that the player moved
* the joystick by favoring a direction change.  This minimizes frustration
* when using a keyboard for input, and maximizes responsiveness.
*
* For example, if you are holding "left" then switch to "up" (where both left
* and up are briefly pressed at the same time), we'll transition immediately
* to "up."For many people, this is too soon with a normal 8-way joytick.  Not that switching the super to 4-way mode will really fix it; you get better control when you can feel the four cardinal directions (with a restictor plate or a real 4-way stick).

The super 4-way mode seems to be more of a convenience for lazy arcade ops that don't feel like doing a proper replacement/conversion.

agree

4. Finally, should I look at any other type of stick like optical or analog- is there any advantage to these?

....
analog: not many games actually used analog sticks. Tailgunner is the only one I know of. However, you can use them to play various yoke and driving games, like Outrun, Starwars, spyhunter, etc.
....

Also, games than used Hall Effect and 49-way are better with an analog joystick (if the driver is setup correctly).

eprom (hall effect)
Sinistar (49-way)

are a couple examples.

[alex50]

I am about to begin consrtuction on my first control panel and I would like to include a true 4 way joystick.  I was looking at the Wico  4 way leaf joysticks with the red ball top that many have used in their cabs.  However, I am not able to find any sellers that carry these sticks.  I would appreciate it if anyone can point me to some sellers (url and/or partnumbers would be extremely helpful) or perhaps recomment another good 4 way ball top joystick.  Thanks.