Alternative to Raiders for Tron CP

[PoDunkMoFo]

I won this on e-bay for $12.50


Since I wanted two sticks on this CP to serve double duty I looked around and found this for the left side.


I found a great deal you get the above stick and a game pad (Not sure what to do with it since these are Mac ....Shudder.... devices) both for $13 plus $8 shipping from the following link.

http://www.megamacs.com/v1/?action=view&pid=1360789

[PoDunkMoFo]

The pictures don't show it buy both sticks are made by the same company and the color is the same.

[2slk]

Nice stick. Just be aware that if you hack this stick onto a HAPPS with the intention of using it as a dedicated TRON stick, you are going to have problems with the diagonals. You would have to install a dedicated 4-way in the panel to use during the light cycle phase if you were interested in serious gameplay.

[PoDunkMoFo]

I am currently Planing/Designing/Dreaming some kind of restrictor plate that would fix that problem.  Also possibly some kind of centering device to stiffen the whole thing up.

[SirPoonga]

The advantage the raider pro, left and right hand:)  I am going to use it at battle zone sticks too:)

[PoDunkMoFo]

I think the lower stick will work fine as a lefty.  I also like the color of these sticks better.  Of course if I could snag a couple of tron sticks cheap Id' say forget the rest.

[Sasquatch!]

Nice stick. Just be aware that if you hack this stick onto a HAPPS with the intention of using it as a dedicated TRON stick, you are going to have problems with the diagonals. You would have to install a dedicated 4-way in the panel to use during the light cycle phase if you were interested in serious gameplay.

Wasn't the original Tron stick 8-way?

[2slk]

Sasquatch, Yes, it was an 8-way just like the HAPP heavy duty and various other Bally/Midway games that used this model of stick. The exception with TRON is that there was a restrictor that made the diagonals much less sensitive so that in the light cycle and tank phase of the game, it acted like a dedicated 4-way. Play the game with a regular 8-way stick and your asking for serious misery if you are a real TRON game fan.

[spidermonkey]

The other problem with hacking these tron look alikes to a happ super is that you have to figure out a way to keep the stick from rotating. The stick has to be locked in a straight forward motion. Controlling the game will be nearly impossible if the stick is turning (rotating) as your moving it from one direction to another. I know a couple of guys have come up with somewhat of a solution to lock a Happ super in place but I don't know if they have had perfect results with their solutions or not. No matter how easy you think you'll be treating your stick you will still be putting a good amount of pressure on it so what ever type of method you use to lock thr stick in place it better be pretty sturdy. Take a look at a real tron stick or a happ 8-way trigger stick and look at the steps they took to lock the original into place. Steel roll pins and a large hard rubber grommet. The small body of a happ super was never meant to have a huge trigger stick mounted on it and may not stand the abuse for very long. I don't know... maybe its just me but it just seems like a lotta work to solve both the restrictor problems and figuring out how to immobilize the stick from twisting left and right  Be patient and grab a real one off Ebay. You'll have to resort to some low down snipeing tactics to get one like I did.  Also just for $hit'$ and grins I would call on one of the masters like "1 UP" and see how he locked his raiders into position. That is  if you're still dead set on the Happ super/ blue pc flight stick hybrid.

[PoDunkMoFo]

Oh so thats who sniped my tron control panel.  Now see what lengths you forced me to go to   Im' really not interested in paying $70 for a joystick.  I believe that the continued efforts of the dedicated people on this board will eventually lead to a cool solution.  I mean who would have thought of a hard disk bearing for a spinner if not for someone trying to come up with an alternative to shelling out the duckets.  After all it sure is a hell-of-a-lota fun.

[PoDunkMoFo]

This is why Im' looking at an alternative.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3205871478
I mean comon' that thing isn't even an original stick.  I hope MAME cabinet builders are smarter than that.

[2slk]

PoDunkMoFo, You are right, that is not an original stick but close. I think it's a xenophobe stick.  Any of the games that used this style 8-way stick from Midway as well as the happ heavy duty can be easily modified to work like the original TRON stick. It's just a matter of swapping the restrictor plate (It's the red rectangular plate pictured on the bottom of the joystick assembly). It looks like this was done on the panel that you linked to or it's an original assembly and just the handles were changed.

 As for that panel specifically, I think it's already a little expensive. If you are patient, you can get em quite a bit cheaper than that. It's pretty strange. I saw a nice one on Ebay go for 170$ just the other day but an even nicer one go for just 70$ right after the holidays. I guess it's all in the timing.

 If you are not a TRON freak and not 100% concerned about having an exact panel, there are cheaper solutions that should work just fine.

1 - You could do what you planned to do and hack a triggerstick. This would be great for the 8-way phases of the game. All you would need to do then is install a dedicated 4-way in the panel for the light cycles. WAY cheaper than paying big bucks for an original panel.

2 - You could use a HAPP topfire stick instead of hacking a triggerstick. Some folks complain that it's a little awkward to fire with but IMHO, it's all a matter of preference and/or getting used to it. It will still get the job done. Come to think of it, you could make a panel with two topfire sticks, one 8-way and one 4-way or an 8-way with a 4-way restrictor plate. The sticks would cost you around 70$ together but you would have two nice sticks and a panel that is not only well suited for playing TRON but superb for general multi-purpose gameplay as well. Fighters, old 4-way games, etc. and all for less than the cost of an original panel.  

3 - wait for that elusive deal on an original stick or panel. They do come around.

 Whatever you do, have fun. I'm just discovering this hobby myself and I think it's great.

 

[spidermonkey]

The black handle and red plate came off a "GORF" machine. The guts of the stick are probably original and the guy just replaced his broken blue handles with these but who knows... the entire stick could have been replaced which would render it useless for playing Tron. Even if it is a real tron stick hideing underneath the Gorf handles its just not worth that kind of money without the original blue handles. And if you already have a spinner then this auction is REALLY not worth it for you. If you already have those blue pc sticks then you might as well forge ahead with that plan.
Fabricating and modifying is a lotta fun. Besides, If you're like me then you're probably the only nut in your area who's building your own arcade machine and most if not all other people who plays your machine wouldn't know what a REAL Tron stick looks like if it bit em in the face. They'll never know the difference. If its blue then it'll do.  The only reason I had to have an original is because besides "Frontline" , Tron is my favorite game so nothing less would do but it did bite me in the wallet though. You should be able to play 95% of other triggerstick games with your hack so I say START HACKING !

[PoDunkMoFo]

Oh I hear ya brother.  My intention in linking that crazy ebay monstrosity was to illustrate exactly why I am going the hack route.

By the way does anyone else notice a reoccuring theme here.  Everyone wants Tron sticks and Star Wars Yokes.  If the market is out there for some of the Mame/Emulation related products we've seen (and I know it is)  then maybe someone will try to fill these highly sought after Holy Grails' with an aftermarket products....Hmmmm.

[eightbit]

I've heard Happs owns the patent on the tron stick but currently does not intend to produce them.

[PoDunkMoFo]

As long as it's been since that stick was produced I would doubt any patent is still in effect.  I believe as long as It doesn't say TRON it should be able to be reproduced and sold.

[spidermonkey]

The problem is that they are in fact still producing those handles but only in black. The Happ 8-way heavy duty triggerstick uses the same EXACT handle. I don't believe that you could legally reproduce the the handles in blue on the grounds of its difference in color. No matter what color you change it to doesn't change the shape or design of the stick. You would have to find out if Happ still has a patent on there black triggerstick and if they do then we are out of luck. If they don't then it would just be a matter of takeing enough orders to cover tooling and labor costs.  I think arcade rennovations tried this already but scrapped the plan probably for a good reason. I'm sure it was either legal matters or not enough people showed enough interest to make it profitable for them

[1UP]

The problem is that they are in fact still producing those handles but only in black. The Happ 8-way heavy duty triggerstick uses the same EXACT handle. I don't believe that you could legally reproduce the the handles in blue on the grounds of its difference in color. No matter what color you change it to doesn't change the shape or design of the stick. You would have to find out if Happ still has a patent on there black triggerstick and if they do then we are out of luck. If they don't then it would just be a matter of takeing enough orders to cover tooling and labor costs.  I think arcade rennovations tried this already but scrapped the plan probably for a good reason. I'm sure it was either legal matters or not enough people showed enough interest to make it profitable for them

I believe Arcade Renovations scrapped it strictly due to problems with molding and production costs, not legal issues.  I'll have to dig up the cancellation email but I'm pretty sure this was the case.  I was very disappointed, but at least I got my $10 deposit back...

[PoDunkMoFo]

I guess I was refering more to the star wars yoke than the tron handle.  That handle woundn't do us much good if we didn't have a Game Accurate stick to go along with it.  Now that would really be cool.

I know, I know but I can dream can't I?

[PoDunkMoFo]

I just got the stick pictured on the bottom and man does it look different from the picture.  The color seems very close to tron stick and the insert where the hat and the 3 buttons are comes out.  I am thinking about replacing it with a custom make tron inser that has only two buttons.  The right side of the stick and the overhand have a clear tron vibe going on.  I will posts pictures as soon as I can.

At $21 dollars after shipping I am very happy.  I still don't know what to do with the ps2 style mac controller that comes with it.