Author Topic: Here are the pics - OSCAR UP/DOWN Tron spinner! (Read 7622 times)

1UP · « **on:** March 10, 2002, 06:42:45 am »

One of my favorite games in the 80s was Discs of Tron.

1UP · « **Reply #1 on:** March 10, 2002, 06:45:47 am »

P.S. This arrangement may seem confusing, but it would take a more complex and bulky setup (read: more work for me) to have one switch facing up, and one facing down with some extended bracket or something hanging off the panel to trip it. This is absolutely the simplest possible way to do this! And I've already tried having the switches get pressed by the flywheel or the shutter. They make a LOT of noise (something like nails on a chalkboard) with the actuators rubbing against them constantly, even with the rollers on the ends, so don't even think about it! Plus, there's just not enough space between the optics to have the shutter moving up and down in there, and Oscar says they're about as far apart as they can get it. You've really got to have the optics move with the shutter.

dhansen · « **Reply #2 on:** March 10, 2002, 09:20:58 am »

Wow! Kick-ass write up! Good job!

Doug

johnpurs · « **Reply #3 on:** March 10, 2002, 11:11:23 am »

Awsome! Good job I was thinking of making some hugh hack based more on the original but this would definetly be much more efficient.

1UP · « **Reply #4 on:** March 10, 2002, 04:11:56 pm »

Quote

Awsome! Good job I was thinking of making some hugh hack based more on the original but this would definetly be much more efficient.

Exactly. When the DOT panel came up in Ebay recently, I looked at the pictures of the bottom side to see what the mystery was. That sucker's HUGE! I couldn't really see how it switches, so I just pulled out my Oscar and a couple spare microswitches, and started playing around.

At first, it seemed like having the PCB push on the actuators would work best, but then I realized the whole thing would work as a lever, and I could mount the switches on one end and use screws to fine-tune the point at which they trip. It took me about 10 minutes to find the ideal configuration, another 20 to build it. Literally the fastest hack I've ever done, to solve a problem that at first seems too complex to even try!

SirPoonga · « **Reply #5 on:** March 10, 2002, 07:50:07 pm »

So.... When is oscar going to have this model:)

SirPoonga · « **Reply #6 on:** March 10, 2002, 08:01:38 pm »

Actually, I was looking at the design, I have a few quesitons.

Will hte optical disc wear out? That is what is pushing the thing up and down, right?
to me that doesn;t seem good to those flimsy discs.

how did the original do it?

If I had an oscar spinner to try I think I could do a different idea.
OSCAR, want tolend me one:) Since I have no job right now I have time:)

1UP · « **Reply #7 on:** March 10, 2002, 10:02:24 pm »

Quote

Actually, I was looking at the design, I have a few quesitons.

Will hte optical disc wear out?

SirPoonga · « **Reply #8 on:** March 10, 2002, 10:13:21 pm »

Actually, if I had a spinner to play with I have an idea.

Hey, what level is it that you need to use that anyay?

1UP · « **Reply #9 on:** March 10, 2002, 10:26:58 pm »

Someone said in the Tron/Ebay thread that it's level 9. Haven't got there yet though...

SirPoonga · « **Reply #10 on:** March 10, 2002, 10:53:29 pm »

i enabled cheats, around level 6

1UP · « **Reply #11 on:** April 14, 2002, 11:09:06 pm »

This writeup has been updated at http://www.1UParcade.com!

Sasquatch! · « **Reply #12 on:** April 16, 2002, 09:43:44 pm »

VERY nice write-up. Thanks!

Frobozz · « **Reply #13 on:** April 17, 2002, 07:23:02 am »

Wow, very cool. Now I just gotta figure out how to do it with my Oscar Pro spinner.

BTW, the pros are VERY nice. Have a nice, heavy feel to them. There's some serious inertia involved when using it

The encoder wheel is HUGE too. If anyone plans on using one, make sure you have the control panel underside real-estate.

It's design looks similar to the model 1 though, doing a conversion similar to this excellent writeup shouldn't be too hard. The buggest difference though is the PCB doesn't mount the same way.

NIVO · « **Reply #14 on:** April 17, 2002, 08:37:51 am »

awesome, very well done. Your idea has given me another idea: Frontline!!!!! I need to look into this hehe

Lilwolf · « **Reply #15 on:** April 17, 2002, 05:13:35 pm »

Front line has some weird problems.

Not like a the snk rotaries (those are 12 way).... Frontline only has 8way... so the trouble here is that you couldn't start with them.

I was thinking of making one from hacking a joystick, cutting down the shaft and attaching it to the outside of a circular round hood thingy that spins. So when it spins, it moves the joystick to the different parts. The button is the hard part then.

1UP · « **Reply #16 on:** April 17, 2002, 11:24:08 pm »

I've been seriously considering stepping up to a Pro.

Frobozz · « **Reply #17 on:** April 22, 2002, 10:36:36 am »

You know... looking over my Pro, that looks entirely possible. Only problem might be length of the shaft. If you're going to try it, I suggest ordering one with a shaft slightly longer than what you're going to mount it to.

Tiger-Heli · « **Reply #18 on:** April 22, 2002, 11:20:28 am »

Quote

Front line has some weird problems.

Not like a the snk rotaries (those are 12 way).... Frontline only has 8way... so the trouble here is that you couldn't start with them.

I was thinking of making one from hacking a joystick, cutting down the shaft and attaching it to the outside of a circular round hood thingy that spins.

ErikRuud · « **Reply #19 on:** April 22, 2002, 11:30:15 am »

By the way, the Frontline 4-Way control is not optical.

They had 5 swithces, up, down, left, right and fire. Much like an 8-way joystick.

There was on on E-Bay recently. see the
What IS this thing? thread

ErikRuud · « **Reply #20 on:** April 22, 2002, 11:39:07 am »

I just checked out the Frontline rom. It is setup in mame like a pair of 8-way joysticks. Your gun continues to point in the last direction that you aimed it, even if you center the joystick.

1UP · « **Reply #21 on:** April 23, 2002, 12:37:06 am »

Hmm...the Oscar sleeve bearing looks like it could drop right into a Happ super joystick base. If you took out the spring from the stick, and hot-glued the plunger inside the base, you could probably modify an Oscar flywheel to hit just 1 or 2 microswitches as you rotate it. Put a spring under the spinner knob, and put a switch under the flywheel, and I think you have a Frontline/Wild Western control! Problem is, would it be useful for any other game, and does it actually work better than just using a joystick?

Searcher7 · « **Reply #22 on:** April 23, 2002, 10:58:36 am »

Acording to an operator friend, the worst rotary joystick he remembers was the one used on Front Line. They actually came out with a retrofit for it shortly after its release and advised that it be assembled with Loc-Tite due to the horrendous pounding players gave it.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

Searcher7@mail.con2.com

ErikRuud · « **Reply #23 on:** April 23, 2002, 11:43:52 am »

To return to this thread to the Discs Of Tron subject.

This site, "Jakes Pride & Joystick", from the examples pages, has pictures of a DOT control panel, including pictures of the bottom of the spinner.


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