New Product: 49-Way USB Interface - The GP-Wiz49 with DRS Technology (TM)

[RandyT]

The GP-Wiz49 with DRS Technology (Digital Restrictor Selection (TM) ) is the ultimate solution for using a 49-way joystick on a PC and includes 23 additional digital inputs for use with other controls.

DRS Technology allows a single 49-way Joystick to take the place of dedicated 8-way, 4-way, Diagonal and 2-way joysticks.

DRS Technology doesn't require special drivers or config files.

The joystick mode can be selected at any time.  Just hold the Joystick Mode button and press the button associated with the desired mode of operation.


Available modes are:

Raw49 - Normal 49-way operation.

Progressive49 - Allows for finer 49-way control

8way DRS - Restricts joystick output to Vertical, Horizontal and Diagonal directions.

4way DRS - Restricts joystick output to Vertical and Horizontal directions only.

Diagonal DRS - Restricts joystick output to Diagonal directions only.

2wayH DRS - Restricts joystick output to Horizontal directions only.

2wayV DRS - Restricts joystick output to Vertical directions only.

16way DRS - Restricts joystick output to Vertical, Horizontal and Diagonal directions, plus 8 more directions in-between.

Additional Features:

-  Auto Detection and operation with both Midway/Atari/Happ and Williams* 49-way joysticks.  (Williams mode tests are complete (Thanks Kremmit!))

-  23 additional inputs for conventional Joysticks, buttons or similar switch based devices, 5 of which can be "shifted" for dual purpose buttons.

-  Fully compatible with software with Joystick or Gamepad support

-  Screw terminals on every input for fast and simple installation. (MAX Version ONLY)

-  Super-Fast USB Gamepad functionality.  Reports the status of ALL inputs 100 times a second!!!  Much faster than USB Keyboard technology.

-  No limitation on the number of simultaneous button presses and each input has equal priority.

-  Unique Device Names and ID numbers for multiple unit installations on the same computer.  Devices show up as GPWiz49, GPWiz49-2, GPWiz49-3 and GPWiz49-4 (respectively) in the "Gaming Options" dialog. 

-  Plug and Play HID device.  Tested with 98SE, Win2K/XP.  Will most likely work with other systems that comply with the the HID specification..

-  Completely bus powered.

-  Common GROUND wiring method.  Only one input wire and a shared ground line to each switch.

-  Small footprint.   Fits anywhere.

$19.95 Eco Version and $22.95 "No-Solder" Eco Version Includes:

-  GP-Wiz49 Eco Interface Board
-  6' USB Cable
-  Printed Doc Sheet


$34.95 MAX Version Includes:

-  GP-Wiz49 MAX Interface Board
-  6' USB Cable
-  PCB Mounting hardware
-  Printed Doc Sheet


Full-release version available for order now.

Thanks for the continued support, and as always questions and constructive comments are welcome.

RandyT




* Midway, Atari, Happ and Williams are trademarks of their respective organizations and have no relationship to IDVT Inc. or GroovyGameGear.com

[JODY]

Does it send input to Mame while in 49-way raw mode so that Mame Analog+ would be required?

[Kremmit]

Jody, you beat me by about 30 seconds! 

Does my PC see them as analog, or what, when in Raw or Progressive mode?

[RandyT]

Output is understood as analog.  No special software is necessary.

RandyT

[NoOne=NBA=]

RandyT,

Can you elaborate a bit on the real-life functioning of the "restrictor modes" on this?


Specific questions I would have are:

1) In the 4-way restricted mode, at what point from dead center (on the 7x7 grid) does the joystick begin sending a directional signal?

2) If you are pressing dead UP in 4-way mode (value of 3y/0x on the optical detectors), and then start moving toward the dead RIGHT position, at what point does the digital restrictor swap direction input to the computer?
Is there a dead spot in the middle, during this movement?

3) In 8-way mode, where are the "swap spots" on the 7x7 grid for Up/Up-Right/Right?
For example is 3x/1y a Right signal, or an Up-Right signal?
How about 2x/1y, etc....?

[SirPoonga]

VERY COOL!  I want a 49way now.

BTW, wouldn't a better interface instead of several buttons to change mode just a couple of buttons.  an up/down selection button (or just a change button) and LED indicators that indicate what mode you are in.  That would work better with instruction card type of things and oyu wouldn;t need as much control space.  And it wouldn't be as ugly to have 1/2 buttons and a row of labelled LEDs vs a row of 8 buttons for EACH 49way.

Heck, if you could output a signal for each mose (IE to light a LED) one could get createive and have a set of LEDs around the joystick that indicate which directions it reads   That would be pretty cool!

[SirPoonga]

Raw49 - Normal 49-way operation.

Progressive49 - Allows for finer 49-way control

Explain in more detail.  Are these the icons on your graphics to the way left?  If someone made an instruction card to tell people how to use could one use those graphics? 

[NIVO]

Randy, lets have that small lcd to hook up to this so we can see what mode we are in   

[RandyT]

VERY COOL!  I want a 49way now.

BTW, wouldn't a better interface instead of several buttons to change mode just a couple of buttons.  an up/down selection button (or just a change button) and LED indicators that indicate what mode you are in.  That would work better with instruction card type of things and oyu wouldn;t need as much control space.  And it wouldn't be as ugly to have 1/2 buttons and a row of labelled LEDs vs a row of 8 buttons for EACH 49way.

Somehow, I knew I didn't explain that one well enough. 

The  first 7 player buttons on the interface are also  the "Joystick Mode" buttons.  The only extra button you need on the panel is the "Mode" button, and that can be concealed if you desire it to be.  When not changing modes, the 7 player buttons behave like all the others.

A small label below or above each of the buttons will do nicely, and won't use any inputs that could be used for controls.

RandyT

[RandyT]

Raw49 - Normal 49-way operation.

Progressive49 - Allows for finer 49-way control

Explain in more detail.  Are these the icons on your graphics to the way left?  If someone made an instruction card to tell people how to use could one use those graphics? 

Yes.  In fact, you could use those to label the buttons I spoke of in the last post .

Raw is just that.  Raw, linear math defining the zones.

Progressive takes  smaller steps before going to full in any direction.  Allows for better use of applications requiring more delicate control.

RandyT

[Yander]

Gah!!!! now I can't decide which GroovyGG product to buy. To many good choices!!! 

[RandyT]

RandyT,

Can you elaborate a bit on the real-life functioning of the "restrictor modes" on this?

Most of what you are asking is, unfortunately,  proprietary info.

The best I can offer is that the device is designed to behave as close as technically possible to that of  the dedicated devices it is designed to replace.

Think leaf-switch joystick in feel and performance, but with a lot more capabilities and better accuracy.

RandyT

[SirPoonga]

VERY COOL!  I want a 49way now.

BTW, wouldn't a better interface instead of several buttons to change mode just a couple of buttons.  an up/down selection button (or just a change button) and LED indicators that indicate what mode you are in.  That would work better with instruction card type of things and oyu wouldn;t need as much control space.  And it wouldn't be as ugly to have 1/2 buttons and a row of labelled LEDs vs a row of 8 buttons for EACH 49way.

Somehow, I knew I didn't explain that one well enough. 

The  first 7 player buttons on the interface are also  the "Joystick Mode" buttons.  The only extra button you need on the panel is the "Mode" button, and that can be concealed if you desire it to be.  When not changing modes, the 7 player buttons behave like all the others.

A small label below or above each of the buttons will do nicely, and won't use any inputs that could be used for controls.

RandyT

Ewwww.  That may not mesh well in many setups, one would NEED 7 buttons.  Many people only have a 6 button layout for one player.

Like I would go and buy two so I can have a two player setup.  however I only have 6 buttons per player.  I wouldn;t want to put that 7th input as a coin or start as that would be akward to use.

Again, I suggest a mode change button and someway of indicating what mode you are in.

[spidermonkey]

Oh man ! I can't believe how much cool new stuff is coming out lately. Damn you Randy.Now I have to sell my SJC so I can buy one of these. This interface sounds like it blows away the SJC board in every way ! I'll be ordering *very* soon. I have the Williams Arch Rival orange balltop versions so I'm hoping that your interface will work fine with these. I can't see why it wouldn't. Please post when this is confirmed.
And thanks for bringing us such cool products in the past couple of years. Your hard work and passion for this hobby continues to bring us solutions that make our cabs better and better. Hats off to you for listening to the community and bringing us a steady flow of usefull products. We dream up this stuff and you end up making it a reality. VERY COOL INDEED !

[RandyT]

That may not mesh well in many setups, one would NEED 7 buttons.

Not really.  In all honesty, the last two modes are pretty much optional.  I.e. included because I could, and not because they were absolutely necessary.  However, I am seeing a lot of the 7 button panels out there lately, and if I were to build a new one tomorrow, it would have 7 buttons on it per stick (2P only, of course)

You wouldn't miss the 2wayV mode at all on a 6 button panel.

I'll run down my thought processes on this one, as I did consider the method you are speaking of.

The method you described would take multiple button presses to get to the mode you wanted because it is sequential in nature, and would require 2 extra panel buttons and 7 LED's to be usable.  LED indicators would use 7 inputs, the stick uses 8 and the  selector buttons (these would have to be dedicated) would use 2..  This would  leave 15 inputs for buttons.  While this is enough for most purposes, the price of admission in terms of complexity and effort is much greater than the method I settled on.

The current method is a direct selection of the desired mode and needs no indicators, as you can easily and quickly select the desired mode before beginning.  It makes use of buttons that are already there and pays no price in available inputs, leaving 23 per controller to use as needed.

My goal was to provide something that functions well.and be something that could easily be installed and used on just about every panel, by users of all skill levels.

I'll consider the flashy one for a future product.

Thanks for the input.

RandyT

[Flinkly]

i know i turned you down when you offered me one, but with this full length explanation, it's starting to sound better and better.  i would love to hear how the williams does when testing...since this is the 49 way i have.  so keep up the good work and get the tests done as soon as possible.

[DarkKobold]

Congratulations on getting this working Randy! Good job, stellar effort!

[SirPoonga]

Actually, I for one would use all the modes .

ACtually, it wouldn't be an iput.  The best method would to have another IC control the LEDs that light up.  This could be hacked to power relays which would implement my LEDs around the joystick idea.

The other thing I could see a user wanting to do which would be completely possible with your current setup via hardware, is have the setup change automatically based on controls.dat or mame's info.  Just hook up a relay circuit to the parallel port.  Custom program FE to select the appropiate button based on controls.dat when game is selected
See people, another reason to donate time to controls.dat!

Now what might be cool to hack into this is atari volcanos to select mode and indicate which mode is seleted (can be done in hardware with relays and such pretty easily) so it looks like atari Xs and 0s.

ok, this product is giving me way too many ideas...

[Xiaou2]

 While nice for standard 49 way...

   I personally see the additional features as purely a novelty.

  If playing a 2way game of  galaga... and you accidentally press down+diagnol left...
then your move will not register.  This will mean you will have made a costly pause.. and may have died as a result of the non action.

  As for the way a 49 way responds..   its not quite as smooth and fast as a simple
wico leaf joystick.   Its resistence is higher with the rubber x... or in the case if the new
style 49ways... there is a center zone that is hard to get out of (same as an analog stick).

  I suppose this would be ok for a bartop if you wanted to play sinistar that bad.. and yet needed the other control ability without having the room to add the other controls... but other than that.. its not as good as the real mechanical solutions.

 I didnt remember seeing if that supported more than one joy...  and to me, that would be more important a feature than the other stuff.    Having to buy 2 encoders to have a dual 49 way joystick setup kinda stinks.



 

[Flinkly]

no one is forcing you to buy it, but for those who don't have the money to spend on 6 different kinds of joysticks might enjoy this.  and at that price, buying two isn't that bad, mostly if you know how to solder, which i would choose just due to the ease of it, but on top of that, it's cheaper.  and for a question to whomever gets the first one, how does it compare to what the sjc already does?  do they do the basic 49 way stuff the same?  is one better?  i might just get one of these because they are cheaper, but is there a reason to consider the sjc?  any input would be appreciated.

[SirPoonga]

FYI, you can do this with analog+ mame and a 49way, however I don't think there is a button push way of switching control patterns on the fly.  Just letting people know this isn;t a new idea, just a hardware version of something that's been done in software for some time.

[RandyT]

While nice for standard 49 way...

   I personally see the additional features as purely a novelty.

  If playing a 2way game of  galaga... and you accidentally press down+diagnol left...
then your move will not register.  This will mean you will have made a costly pause.. and may have died as a result of the non action.

Statements like these make me think the unwritten rule stating that one should have some real experience with something before "poo-poo"ing  it,  should actually be put in writing.

I'm not sure what you are referring to with the above, but I wholeheartedly assure you that this does NOT happen. 

As for the way a 49 way responds..   its not quite as smooth and fast as a simple
wico leaf joystick.   Its resistence is higher with the rubber x...

This may be.  I was referring to the one I have been working with, the Midway variety.  But this one is very smooth and very fast..

In fact I have a WICO leaf right in front of me and the two feel virtually identical.

or in the case if the new
style 49ways... there is a center zone that is hard to get out of (same as an analog stick).

  I suppose this would be ok for a bartop if you wanted to play sinistar that bad.. and yet needed the other control ability without having the room to add the other controls... but other than that.. its not as good as the real mechanical solutions.

Again,  you are comparing apples and oranges.   Forget what you think you know.  It doesn't apply here.

RandyT

[NoOne=NBA=]

no one is forcing you to buy it

I am NOT!

[Popcorrin]

When you refer to raw49 and progressive49 is this similar to linear vs exponetial scaling?

[NoOne=NBA=]

Statements like these make me think the unwritten rule stating that one should have some real experience with something before "poo-poo"ing  it,  should actually be put in writing.

Exactly why I asked the questions that I did earlier.
I was trying to learn how this device handles the "digital restriction" before posting my concerns about it.

That's the downside to "proprietary" information--if you don't RELEASE it, then nobody will KNOW it, which leads to speculative posts.

[Popcorrin]

RandyT with the way you are pumping out products I was wondering when you were going to release something similar to the jpac?  Also, is there analog interface board in the works?

[Daniel270]

Sounds like this would be the ideal solution for those of us noodling with the idea of a dedicated cab for Sinistar using MAME^TM