Rotary Joysticks with regular games?

[MadJeff]

Just wanted to get some input from anyone that has used Happs Rotary joysticks in their panels. Specifically, how do they feel in regular games? I want the rotary sticks for games like Heavy Barrel and Ikari Warriors, but don't want to sacrifice playability in other games. Any feedback would be appreciated.  

[ItzMR2u]

The creator of the BEAM machine, Brian, used them for 2 of his 4 sticks I believe.  I like you wanted them for the same reasons and after getting a thumbs up from Brian I ordered 2 of them for my machine.  I have yet to install everything but after playing around with them and comparing with my old pair I'd have to say they pretty much feel the same as the 8 ways only they rotate for the much needed games you metioned.  

[motorfish]

I use rotary joysticks as my main eight ways in my MAME cab, and they work fine with regular games, and even the intense fighting games. The rotsry action does not impede upon the performance at all.

Dan

[Nailz]

And we're talking abut the regular rotary joysticks and not the opticals, correct?  I am wanting to get these as well, how are you guys interfacing them?

Thanks

[Darkstalker]

I've got a set of the Happs opticals for my cabinet, and the rotary is an analog interface.  You'll need to give each rotary 5v, a ground, and the two analog signal wires.

I've got a KE72 encoder with a mouse input, so each rotary is getting wired to a mouse axis.  The benefit of this is I can use the joysticks for mouse control in Windows kinda like an Etch-a-sketch.  The other reason I went with the opticals is that I didn't want to feel clicks when turning the joystick, mostly for when I'm NOT playing a rotary game, like a fighting game.

If you get the mechanical rotary, you'll need to make/buy something like Druin's interface board so the joysticks will spit out the right signal for MAME.  If you search the boards you'll find lots of threads on the subject, one of which I think I started a while back.

[Nailz]

Right now I have the KE72 encoder (no mouse input) as well as an ME4 for my Trackball and Oscar spinner.  If I wanted the mechanical rotary to work right I would need the interface by Druin then, and that would go into the KE72?  I will do some research myself, just hoping for a quick answer as well.

[MadJeff]

Thanks to everyone for the input, I feel much better about ordering 2 of these for my cpanel. I was planning on ordering the opticals and using them with an IPac/OptiPac combo, any problems I should be aware of with this setup?

On another note, I thought I read somewhere that these are basically Supers with the rotary, is that correct? Which leads me to my next question, but I'll post it seperate, as I don't like to mix threads...  

[Darkstalker]

Right now I have the KE72 encoder (no mouse input) as well as an ME4 for my Trackball and Oscar spinner.  If I wanted the mechanical rotary to work right I would need the interface by Druin then, and that would go into the KE72?  I will do some research myself, just hoping for a quick answer as well.

With the mechanical rotary, you plug the two joysticks into Druin's board on one end (You only need one board, it handles two joystick rotary inputs).  On the other end, you hook the grounds up just like any other switched input, and for each joystick, there is a CW and CCW post you wire to a button input on the KE72.  Think of each joystick needing 6 pins on the encoder card: Up, Down, Left, Right, CCW, CW.

On another note, I thought I read somewhere that these are basically Supers with the rotary, is that correct? Which leads me to my next question, but I'll post it seperate, as I don't like to mix threads...

More or less, yup.  The main difference is the shaft on the joystick is longer to accomodate the rotary interface, so they need a good 4.5 inches of clearence to be safe.  The non rotary is 4 cherry microswitch driven just like the super.