snk rotary joystick questions

[IreM72]

I want to play Ikari warriors but the SNK LS-30 rotary joysticks are expensive for only about 10 games so:

Are there other arcade games yet to be emulated using these joysticks?

Is it possible to connect one of these joysticks and 3 buttons to a keyboard hacked encoder?

[Shape D.]

you could try using these

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,20018.0.html

[Kremmit]

Happ makes a mechanical rotary joy, they can be had used for less than the LS-30.  Wico used to make some, too, they pop up on ebay once in a while.  There are also optical rotary sticks out there, and the diy rotarys that Shape D. linked to are optical as well.  Optical rotarys can be used to play mechanical rotary games, although some (including myself) don't think they feel right.  Mechanical rotarys will not play optical rotary games, or at least will not play them well.

Here's a list of rotary games I put together out of a long older thread.:

Battle Field
Top Gunner
World Wars
Ikari Warriors
Victory Road
Heavy Barrel
Gondomania
Bermuda Triangle
Time Soldiers
Guerilla War
SAR - Search And Rescue
Downtown
Legendary Wings
Victory Road
Midnight Resistance
Ikari III - The Rescue
Exterminator
TNK III
Touchdown Fever
Caliber 50 (used optical rotary sticks, wouldn't play well if at all with mechanicals)

I make no claim as to the accuracy or completeness of this list, like I say, I just put it together from an earlier thread.  corrections/additions welcomed!

Optical rotary sticks like the ones used on Cal .50, and the Build-Your-Own project sticks found on this board connect through an Opti-Pac, mouse hack, or other such stuff, same as a spinner.

Mechanical rotary sticks can connect through the Druin's interface , or can be connected directly through your keyboard encoder if you use MAME Analog+.  Direct connection uses up 12 extra inputs on your encoder per stick, but provides the most accurate game play.  Direct connection is only working for some games (so far).

re: Xybots

Xybots sometimes gets listed as a rotary game, but it used a unique Twist-To-Turn stick.  The stick did not rotate, but could be twisted a little ways- then it would spring back to center when you stopped twisting.  Twist right and let go once, and your charachter turned 90 degrees to the right.  Repeat, and you've turned 180 degrees.. and so on.  You could get Xybots working fine with a mechanical rotary and a Druins, or using "Rotate Right" and "Rotate Left" buttons, or even an original Xybots stick- but I don't think it would work very well with an optical rotary.

[IreM72]

Thanks for the response Kremmit. There are few more games on the list on your post that I was not aware of which is all good. I want to play ikari authentically so I may get the LS-30 rotary stick

Any other games yet to be emulated using these sticks?
 
From that list which games work with direct connection to MAME Analog+?

What's happened to Druin's website? Has the Druins interface been discontinued or something?

[JODY]

The website changed some time ago.  Here it is:  http://connect.to/rotary

If you watch, there have been LS-30 sticks on sale here and on Ebay in the last few weeks that wasn't bad in price.  Much less than VideoConnect is asking for them.

[Kremmit]

Oops, thanks for the Druin's link correction; edited my post to include it.  That's what I get for just cut 'n pasting from an oldie instead of digging in my bookmarks.

I don't know if there are any rotary games still waiting on emulation.

According to U_Rebel's Mame Analog+ page http://www.urebelscum.speedhost.com/feature.html, these games have direct input working:

Bermuda Triangle
Guerrilla War
Ikari Warriors
T.N.K. III
Victory Road
World Wars
Ikari III
Search And Rescue
Battle Field
Time Soldiers
Heavy Barrel
Midnight Resistance
Gondomania
DownTown

I have NOT tested these, I dunno if all of them are working perfectly or not.

These are listed by U_Rebel as not-working with direct connect, but Analog+ does have "improved" Druin's support:

Ikari Warriors (Japan bootleg)
Top Gunner (bootleg)

Hmm- some of the games on U_Rebel's list didn't appear on mine- they've been added to my previous post, at the the top above Ikari Warriors.