Tank Controls

[JODY]

Anyone seen any assault / tank game controls besides the Oscar hack?

[Kremmit]

You could grab two of these:
http://www.happcontrols.com/joysticks/95006500.htm


Only $198.80 each!

No, really, you could get just the grip parts from those sticks, they're ambidexterous, and work great as tank handles, like on Cybersled:


Click the "mounting and exploded views" button to get the part #s, and put them into the search function on the Happ site to get the pricing. 

You'd still have to figure out how to hack 'em to 4-way stick bases.  I think they could be done the same way people have mounted Tron grips onto regular stick bases- Here's an old thread where 1UP added Tron handles to regular stick bases- the pictures are gone but the text is still there.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,9511.0.html
And another:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,13908.0.html

[sodapopinski]

anything that costs 200$ american(i'm a canadian) is too much for a 4-way. can't you hack a cheaper yoke?

[JODY]

I also found some very nice looking handles last night on the net used on commercial machinery that can be purchased separately.  Probably too much money, but I'll try to get pricing on that too in case they are reasonable.  There are many configuration options available.

[Hoagie_one]

$13 juar for the two sides of the handle...not including shipping or the hardware.

[Mojo2000]

I would be heavily inclined just to pick up a couple pairs of Saitek's cheapest flightsticks and hack them to arcade shafts (

[NoOne=NBA=]

I've done the Saitek to Super base hack.
It feels really cheap.

I personally decided on Xenophobe sticks for my tank controls.
You get the heavy-duty feel, and can play other games with them.

[neil99a]

Will the analog sticks for ~200.00 USD from Happ work with Assault?   I was considering getting a couple of these and making a dedicated Assault CP for my cab.  I know it's expensive but I love that game!  I'm Canadian too but I figure I can afford the cost 'cause I left Canada for a US job 

The hard part will be convincing the wife    (that is assuming I don't have to mod the sticks)

[Flinkly]

um, as for either the handle parts themselves, or even the whole stick, you could send ponyboy a pm and he might be able to save you a few bucks.

[Kremmit]

Will the analog sticks for ~200.00 USD from Happ work with Assault?   I was considering getting a couple of these and making a dedicated Assault CP for my cab.  I know it's expensive but I love that game!  I'm Canadian too but I figure I can afford the cost 'cause I left Canada for a US job 

The hard part will be convincing the wife    (that is assuming I don't have to mod the sticks)

MAME will allow you to use an analog stick on any stick game, but Assault came with 4-way joys, and it will really play better with plain 'ol 4-way joys, and cost a heck of a lot less.   If you've got the $$ to spring for a pair of analogs, buy a pair of 4-way bases and the appropriate handles and put 'em together.  The actual handles that were on Assault sticks can be bought with the part #s from this diagram:
http://www.happcontrols.com/joysticks/95017200x.htm

[neil99a]

Thanks for the info..

I will definitely look into going the 4-way route and building the correct handles.   Good to know about ponyboy too!

[Mojo2000]

Kremmit, my plans for one swappable or modular panel (see UncleT's Moms Arcade) involve using a pair of trigger handles (of SOME kind) to play games like Assault, Vindicators and Battlezone, plus a spinner in between these handles so that games like Tron, Forgotten Worlds and Heavy Barrel can be played, hopefully offering equal access to both righties and lefties. (NB: I figure if Heavy Barrel's gun can be rotated by mouse, then surely by spinner as well)

How would the 4-way base consideration affect this plan?

[paigeoliver]

Having owned a REAL Assault I can say for sure that Assault is unplayable with anything other than 4-way sticks. If your playing it with 8-way or analog sticks then you only THINK it is playable.

[Mojo2000]

OK, how about hacking a pair of T-Stiks Plus?    Or J-Stiks...

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

[RayB]

I wonder how Assault would feel with microswotch joys... 

[paigeoliver]

I am going by memory here, but I seem to remember assault having microswitch joysticks in the first place, I certainly don't remember seeing any leaf switches under there.

[Mojo2000]

NoOne, you say the Saitek hack feels cheap. Which Saiteks did you use? And have you tried the Raider Pro hack as done here?

http://mamecheats.fateback.com/control.htm
http://www.cybercoma.com/supercade/control_panel2.shtml

[NoOne=NBA=]

I used one ST220, and one Cyborg 3D, for tops.
I've tried both the Supers and Comps for bases.

When you're done, it feels like you have a cheap PC stick in your hand, NOT an arcade control.
It's as much the fault of the base, as the top.
The stick just kind of flops around on the Happ's bases, rather than needing to be pushed, like an arcade stick.

[Mojo2000]

If I understand you correctly, you find fault with the whole handle hack idea? And in that case you would probably find the OSCAR hack just as flimsy as your own, or as the two I linked?

[NoOne=NBA=]

Yes.

It may not bother you as bad as it did me.
There are alot of people on the board here that seem happy with theirs.

[JODY]

What about adding a stiffer spring or a rubber grommet to make the sticks stiffer?

[NoOne=NBA=]

The acceptability of any of these choices is all dependent on where you, personally, draw the line.
I didn't like the hacks because they didn't feel like real arcade controls.
Other people loved them though.

The best solution to this IS real arcade controls, but there's no single control that will work perfectly for everything.
I opted for the Tron/Xeno sticks because they were the closest to a single controller solution, and were useful for other games, as well.

I almost went with a beautiful set of Sarge controllers a couple years ago, but Lord Devo outbid me on them.
The downside to the Sarge/Vindicators/etc... controllers, vs. the Tron ones, is that they can't play Assault, or any other games requiring side-to-side movement.