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

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RandyT:


--- Quote from: Tiger-Heli on April 06, 2005, 12:45:59 pm ---
--- Quote from: Flinkly on April 06, 2005, 12:42:23 pm ---good thing i've held off from getting this unique peice of hardware...maybe i should wait another couple months, just in case it becomes a wireless encoder.   ::)

--- End quote ---
Another cool idea!!! uh, Randy???

--- End quote ---

(Kaff!)

....not gonna happen......

RandyT

Toonces:


--- Quote from: RandyT on April 06, 2005, 12:34:54 pm ---
--- Quote from: millercentral on April 06, 2005, 03:23:34 am ---All this work to make software switching work. Wouldn't it be easier/more-elegent just to add an IOCTL command to the firmware to allow mode setting over the USB connection?

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I have been looking into this for a while now.  Much progress has been made in the last 24hrs.

I think everything Toonces has done is great, and will serve a number of users who use operating systems other than Windows well, and I'd like to publicly thank him for his efforts.

But for Windows, I am on the verge of having a working application for software switching via the USB bus.  I am successfully communicating with the device under Win98SE.  2K/XP is currently unknown, but should work as well.


More info as it becomes available.

RandyT

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That's GREAT Randy! It's been fun messing with the Parallel port and relay interfacing but USB control of the modes is even better! If you haven't already planned it, please make sure your application can be run from a command line with the desired mode selection. An app that is purely a gui doesn't help much if you can't call it from a Front End  ;)

Thanks for the great piece of hardware! It's really nice to have a decent switchable stick!

Now about those balltop handles.....

Is the difference between Happ & Midway sticks in the diameter or length?

Thanks!

Toonces

RandyT:


--- Quote from: Toonces on April 06, 2005, 01:08:33 pm ---That's GREAT Randy! It's been fun messing with the Parallel port and relay interfacing but USB control of the modes is even better! If you haven't already planned it, please make sure your application can be run from a command line with the desired mode selection. An app that is purely a gui doesn't help much if you can't call it from a Front End  ;)

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It definitely will be.  The plan is for the software to over-ride all the other settings.  I also plan to be able to select the mode through software ( Williams or Happ)


--- Quote ---Thanks for the great piece of hardware! It's really nice to have a decent switchable stick!

--- End quote ---

Thank you again for all the effort you put into supporting the switching methods.  I'm sure the concepts will still be of good use for users of other operating systems/applications.


--- Quote ---Now about those balltop handles.....

Is the difference between Happ & Midway sticks in the diameter or length?


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Primarily the diameter of the lower shaft (the Midway is thinner.)  IIRC, the length was pretty much the same. 

For those who have been following, I did contact my machinist as to where my samples were, and he told me to look for them tomorrow.  So we're getting closer.

RandyT

Flinkly:

i was thinkin...if 49-ways are so good at acting like most other controls for arcade games, why not make an analog interface?  then you could play analog games, 49 way games, 8 way games, 4 way games, and 2 way games.  would this just be incredibly hard or tedious?  and i know analog controls are really expensive, at least the ones we would stick in our arcade machines, but i think we could even overcome that step when the time comes.

so whats your opinion, randy?

p.s.  i know you could kinda do this with the analog interfaces already out, but none can "switch modes" like randy's 49 way interface.

RandyT:


--- Quote from: Flinkly on April 06, 2005, 04:47:34 pm ---i was thinkin...if 49-ways are so good at acting like most other controls for arcade games, why not make an analog interface?  then you could play analog games, 49 way games, 8 way games, 4 way games, and 2 way games.  would this just be incredibly hard or tedious?  and i know analog controls are really expensive, at least the ones we would stick in our arcade machines, but i think we could even overcome that step when the time comes.

so whats your opinion, randy?

p.s.  i know you could kinda do this with the analog interfaces already out, but none can "switch modes" like randy's 49 way interface.

--- End quote ---


I think I touched on this one already earlier in the thread.  But one of the major things is the cost of the stick.  The other is that instead of 49-positions to manipulate, you would have 65,536 positions to parse.

Also, no comparitively priced analog stick will be able to stand up to the durability of the 49-way.  Analog sticks use potentiometers for position sensing.  These will wear out over time.  The 49-ways are optical, so they don't have this problem.

And finally, there's the practicality side.  There aren't really enough stick based true analog games that don't play well enough in 49-way mode to justify dealing with all of the above. 


RandyT

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