Tron Style Joystick Options

[442much]

I just discovered this hobby before Christmas, and I have just started building my first cabinet.  Definitely lots to learn.  Anyway, I want to add a Tron Style joystick to my cabinet.  The new ones from Happs are just too expensive for me.  I looked at several pages on joystick hacks and decided to try that.  I went to several stores and there were very few options for PC joysticks anymore.  The only ones they had were very expensive. 

Does anybody know of a source for a good joystick to hack?  Another other options?

Thanks,

Dan

[Kremmit]

If you're willing to be patient, you can watch ebay for the Happ-type sticks and get a used one a lot cheaper than from Happ.  If you want a new one, Ponyboy sells Happ products at a reduced price in the Buy/Sell/Trade forum.  If you want a cheaper PC stick to hack, try ebay or a surplus electronics site.

[ArtMAME]

Tron is one of my favorite games, so a good trigger stick is a requirement for my CP.

The first thing I tried was an old Atari Wico bat handle joystick interfaced to my Ipac controller.  This joystick did the job OK.  Please reply to the post  or email me if you would like me to show you how I did this.

Next I tried the Saitek ST90 hack.  Here is a link:
http://www.willcoxonline.com/mame/controlpanel/controlpanel.htm

Here is a link with a couple of options.  This guy hacked a cheep PC joystick onto a Happ Super base. He also did a Saitek ST90 hack.
http://www.beersmith.com/mame/index.htm

The willcoxonline Saitek hack was pretty easy to do,  the beersmith hack looks a little more involved.  Anyway... the Saitek was cheep, about $15 new at Fry's.  and it has a USB plug so it is basically plug-and-play.  This joystick performed only so-so for Tron, it was OK for other games that use a trigger stick...for some reason, mine
was somewhat painful to use for more than a few minutes, I did not like it very much.

Right now I am using a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro. Costs about $25 - $30 brand new and it feels pretty good, nice and smooth and ergonomic.  I have it mounted temporarily on a test control panel using plastic zip ties, so I can test its performance.  Works better for Tron than my previous trigger stick hacks.  But still it is not perfect.  But for now I will stay with this one since it performs very well for other games that would benefit from an analog stick like Blaster.  I even use it for Sinistar which originally uses a 49-way joystick.  Since the Logitech is an analog stick, it performs better than an 8-way for Sinistar.

Anyway, the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro is the best solution I have found  for me so far...but still not perfect.  I would like to get a Happ trigger stick but it is a bit expensive, and I have other projects that take up my time and money...oh well...someday...
 
I also have an early Oscar Spinner that works OK. I am in the process of building a better spinner.  I am doing doughansen's hard drive spinner hack:
http://www.doughansen.net/arcade/spinner.htm
I may post that when I am done...

Hope this helps...good luck

[MinerAl]

Megamacs.com has a translucent blue joystick like the one I made this trigger stick hack with for $5.

[ArtMAME]

Try going to the thrift stores in your area and see what they have.  I find old PC joysticks, console joysticks, trackball mice, computer parts, etc...  I have shelves full of old joystick and gamepad parts that I hack and experiment with.

Fry's has good deals (I live in the Metro Atlanta area) you can go there at:
http://www.outpost.com and order online.  I have never ordered online from them so I don't know how good their service is.  They have limited selection online.  They have way more stuff if you ever get a chance to go to one of the retail stores.

And then there is always Ebay... just keep a lookout and you may find something really cool... 

[Patent Doc]

In my mind the bigger issue for you will be whether you want a Tron style joystick just for the look and feel or whether you want to play Tron with the joystick.  See the Tron joystick is really a 4-way with very generous corners.  This actually allows some 8-way movement with a lot of effort (spiders and MCP cone), but its hard enough to hit the corners that in the light cycles, you don't accidently move the joystick into a dead spot which would effectively ruin your game.  People on this board have tried using 8-ways for this game and almost always hate the result.  So far the only real solutions are to get a true Tron joystick, a 49-way and use RandyT's 49-way controler which has a setting for Tron, or find some other 4-way with generous corners and put the handle on it.  Anyway, its something to think about.

[442much]

Thanks for the info.  I ordered the joystick from megamacs.  I'll start with that and see how I like the feel of the hack.

-Dan

[clok]

There is an older PC joystick that is Clear blue and is somewhat like the Tron stick, it can be found on E-Bay from time to time (I looked for about a month and got one). its called somthing Like "REBEL"  If I remeber right there is a link in the controls page with how to hack one even. Wish I hadnt thrown out hte box or I would have an exact name.

Clok

[MinerAl]

There is an older PC joystick that is Clear blue... its called somthing Like "REBEL"

"Raider"

Seems like 1up had a whole write up of that on his site, but now it's gone.

They are translucent blue, and very cool, but otherwise not particularly Tron-like.

Here is another blue joystick option. No idea the quality of the seller or anything.  I found it on a google image search for "blue joystick."

[clok]

Yes RAIDER was the name, But be carefull they also make a black (not clear) one.  And yes its not really tron like, its much like the others you pointed out. The original Tron ones are dang nice, wish they didnt cost so much.


CLok

[More Cowbell]

While I would love to get a Tron stick for my cab, other BYOACers always run up the price on eBay.
I set up my cab to use the 8-way topfire stick for the tanks, spiders, and MCP cone. Then I set up my 4-way stick to play the light cycles. It works beautifully. Now stop bidding up the Tron sticks on eBay! 

[arzoo]

Here's the instructions on how to convert a Raider Pro to a standard Happ joystick base; http://mamecheats.fateback.com/tutorial.htm

[arzoo]

There's also an Atari 2600 TRON joystick on EBay. It may be possible to convert the stick onto a Happ (the same as the Raider Pro).
http://cgi.ebay.com/ATARI-2600-TRON-JOYSTICK-FROM-THE-80S_W0QQitemZ8260473729QQcategoryZ41009QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[CheffoJeffo]

Now stop bidding up the Tron sticks on eBay! 

Stop trying to buy Tron joysticks for your b@$t@R) MAME cabinets! 

Cheers.