1UP Arcade PICS

[1UP]

This is pretty much just a teaser...more to follow

[Minwah]

Very nice, hurry up with some more pics!

[paigeoliver]

Is that a picture or a rendering?

[1UP]

Is that a picture or a rendering?

It's a rendering.  I don't quite have printed artwork yet, but that's basically all I'm waiting for at this point.  The prototype is done, and it works very well.  I spent all weekend making high-res artwork for print, and this is the result.

[1UP]

One more... (you can see I still have the low-res tron sticks in there.)

[Reaper]

Looking good! - cant wait to see the pics of the actual cab!

[RayB]

Are those pics very dark, or is it my monitor settings?

[GGKoul]

Where are you going to get all these Tron Joysticks?  Are you buying new ones from Happ or are they rebuild ones?

[Hoagie_one]

i believe he said he's having them custom built because he needed a smaller design

[GGKoul]

i believe he said he's having them custom built because he needed a smaller design

If so, can I purchase a Tron Joystick from you??   

[1UP]

The sticks will just be Happ Tron grips, with the bottom cut down to make them about 1/2" shorter.  I am having custom shafts made, which will allow mounting of the grips to competition sticks with heavy duty springs.  The shafts will have two sets of tapped holes, to allow mounting of the modified mini-tron grips, or full-height grips.  When these are done, I will make them available to the public in some form.  Pricing to follow...

[Tommy Boy]

1UP -- Any chance the sticks could be mounted to a 4/8 switchable base instead of the competition?  Would be cool for light cycles and Assault...

[1UP]

1UP -- Any chance the sticks could be mounted to a 4/8 switchable base instead of the competition?

[Tommy Boy]

Problem with that is the other stages of Tron use an 8-way stick.  How are you going to switch to 4-way just for the light cycles?

The competition/super base is the most hackable for what I need to do.  I haven't seen any 4-8way switchable sticks that would allow for using a hollow shaft, that have the kind of throw and spring action that I like.  If you have any recommendations, I would be glad to take them into consideration.

Well, I guess I was thinking of a mechanism like the Groovy Game Gear switch-from-the-top style.  That would make switching on the fly between light cycles and other stages easy.  However, I have no idea if this is a practical solution given shaft parameters, throw, spring action, etc.  I guess I was just fishing for a wish list solution...

[1UP]

I wish someone made a good 4-way that was switchable to a diagonal 4-way from the top of the panel.  No one makes a good Pac->Q*bert stick...

[Tiger-Heli]

What I was thinking of doing was using modified GGG Prodigy joysticks for the Tron Sticks, set MAME up so either stick can be used, now set the right Tron stick to 8-way and the left to 4-way.  Now when you go to light cycles you just shift from the right to the left stick. . .

I wish someone made a good 4-way that was switchable to a diagonal 4-way from the top of the panel.  No one makes a good Pac->Q*bert stick...

Actually, the GGG Prodigy in 8-way mode makes a very good Q-bert stick.

[oldsage]

I wish someone made a good 4-way that was switchable to a diagonal 4-way from the top of the panel.

[Chris]

I wish someone made a good 4-way that was switchable to a diagonal 4-way from the top of the panel.

[1UP]

Seems like all you would need to do is mount the stick in a mounting plate that could be rotated and locked 45 degrees.... the stick wouldn't need to be modified at all.

Exactly, but it looks like I'm the one who will have to make the plate.

[markrvp]

Problem with that is the other stages of Tron use an 8-way stick.

[Zero_Hour]

That Diamond spacer is a restrictor, specifically to make diagonals a bit harder to hit, while making the 4-ways crisp on the lightcycle portion. I have an original Tron stick, and it is definitely an 8 way.

[markrvp]

Thanks for letting me know.  It makes sense that you want to attack the spiders at the angles and not just up and then over.   

1up - could you have a very thin metal restrictor plate made the same as the original Tron joystick that mounts between the competition joystick base and the underside of the control panel that would make corners crisp but still allow the diagonals?  You could make the handle rod an extra 1/8" long to compensate maybe?

[1UP]

I think you would need a restrictor made of plastic or hard rubber to achieve what you're suggesting.  I don't have an original Tron base, but I have a borrowed Astron Belt base that appears to be pretty much identical to the current Happ heavy duty sticks.

There are two square restrictors on this stick, a large one on top, and a much smaller one at the bottom.  They are both made of some type of flexible plastic or hard rubber, and they have a cushioning effect.  I'm assuming the Tron sticks were similar, except the restrictors were turned at a 45 degree angle.  This would allow the stick to hit UDLR directions dead on, but you would still be able to force it into the corners enough to make contact.

Can either of you with Tron sticks verify this for me?

Bottom line though, I might be able to tackle this issue a little later on, but I've already spent a crapload of money just to get my prototype built, register a patent, and stock up on controls.  Fabricating plastic or rubber parts is tricky and expensive, so I'm going to have to move forward with a less than authentic stick.

Besides, my cabs arent' even going to ship with tron on them, but they may ship with Battlezone.  For that, a pair of 8-ways will do fine.

[markrvp]

Here is the Tron Joystick.  The restrictor is VERRRRY hard rubber.  It probably wasn't quite as hard 20 years ago.  Bottom plate has the red plastic restrictor.

[1UP]

One more with the PS2 steering wheel setup...

[1UP]

BTW, I'm opening the web store early next week.  If you want to get on the pre-order list, email me ASAP!

 

[shmokes]

Should we use the email listed under your avatar?

[1UP]

Should we use the email listed under your avatar?

Yes.

1up@mindspring.com