Robotron joysticks...how far apart are they???

[ArtMAME]

Any body out there in BYOAC Land know how far apart the joysticks are on an upright Robotron machine?

If you have built your own general purpose CP to play MAME and Robotron as well, how far apart do you have your joysticks? 

Does the distance feel comfortable to you?,

or if you re-did your CP, would you space them closer?, or further apart?

Now today is Friday...and I know that all you BYOACers at work are gonna be surfing the BYOAC forum instead of working...so please...don't be shy with your respones...

Me...I never surf the BYOAC forum on company time ...

[markrvp]

I have not measured one personally, but in the past it has been posted that the Robotron joysticks are 10" apart.  I have been able to play on my different panels with the joysticks both closer and farther apart.  I think closer is better than farther.

[NoOne=NBA=]

The originals were just shy of 10".

I made mine 9" on my modular panels, and that is very comfortable.
I actually liked the 9" distance so much that I used it when I built a replacement CP for my Crazy Climber.

[RobotronNut]

my p360s are 23" apart, and they're working great for robotron.

[Kremmit]

But how far apart are the 4 joys on a SmashTV panel?

[NoOne=NBA=]

I would say the sets are about 7" from each other.
Not sure about how far apart the two sets are though.
9-12" is optimal for a two stick set, IMO.

That lets you do the "Crazy Climber Shoulder Rock".
That's where you keep your arms stationary, and just rock your shoulders back and forth to climb the building.
It lets you keep a very nice rhythm that isn't too fast for the boards to respond to.
If you try to climb too fast, the boards won't read some of your movements, and will fail to move your hands.
It's alot like backspin on a spinner or trackball.

[NoOne=NBA=]

my p360s are 23" apart, and they're working great for robotron.

Geez.

My entire cabinet is only 25-1/2", outside to outside.
The CP is only 24".

[RobotronNut]

my p360s are 23" apart, and they're working great for robotron.

Geez. My entire cabinet is only 25-1/2", outside to outside. The CP is only 24".

i was quite concerned about the separation, when i was first considering the SlikStik, but other owners said it worked fine for Robotron, and i can now confirm this.

[jlfreund]

Bump.  Can anyone else confirm wider distances work well?  On my previous panel, the sticks were 14" apart and my high score (using bad magstick+) was 500K. 

On my new panel, I am getting different sticks and would love to go wider -- 18-20" because the panel is wider and I need to spread things out.

[equlizer]

what are the best sticks for these types of games?  My JLW's always want to go diagonal   Would getting the circle restricters make a difference?

[D_Harris]

I'm amazed no one answered the original question 5-1/2 years ago.

The distance between the joysticks on a Robotron control panel is 8-5/8".

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

[RobotronNut]

Bump.  Can anyone else confirm wider distances work well?  On my previous panel, the sticks were 14" apart and my high score (using bad magstick+) was 500K.  

On my new panel, I am getting different sticks and would love to go wider -- 18-20" because the panel is wider and I need to spread things out.

I'm still using my panel with sticks 23" apart, and I can't remember the last time I ran out of lives before reaching 10M. Nowadays, my biggest challenge is stopping at exactly 9,999,975 without turning the score over to zero. (This is at the default difficulty level of 3.)

[RobotronNut]

what are the best sticks for these types of games?  My JLW's always want to go diagonal  Would getting the circle restricters make a difference?

You definitely need circular restriction for optimal Robotron play.

I researched this very carefully several years ago.
My conclusions are summarized in this web page, which includes links to 3 very detailed forum threads.

I haven't paid much attention to recent joystick developments; perhaps there are simpler solutions available now that perform just as well.

[jlfreund]

RobotronNut, I am going to use 2 Happ rotaries (the mechanical ones, not optical).  Do you know how well they should perform -- do they have circular restrictors needed for robotron? 

[RobotronNut]

RobotronNut, I am going to use 2 Happ rotaries (the mechanical ones, not optical).  Do you know how well they should perform -- do they have circular restrictors needed for robotron?  

The Happ rotary has a circular restrictor, with a notch at one spot in the circle, so it's not perfectly smooth all the way around. I have no idea how well it performs with Robotron.

If you want decent Robotron performance without a lot of work and expense, the Happ Super is pretty good (but not quite as good as my modified P360s). The Super won't play rotary games, but are they really important to you? The rotary is the one thing I wish I'd left off my panel.

[Savannan]

Robo-Nut:

How in the hell can you get 10m?  The highest Ive gotten was about 700k and I thought I was good at it..lol

any hints or tips besides the normal ones? 

[RobotronNut]

Robo-Nut:

How in the hell can you get 10m?  The highest Ive gotten was about 700k and I thought I was good at it..lol

any hints or tips besides the normal ones?  

Not really any tips beyond the normal ones. Just play a lot. Early on, it helped to "sweep" my right hand in small arcs, to shoot in multiple directions, but nowadays, I use lines of shots in a single direction for defense. Also, I am much more skilled at dodging shots, after having played for years. It's very instinctive.

BTW, I'm far from the best at Robotron. There's a guy here who can get to 10M at difficulty 10. I've decided not to crank up the difficulty, because I'm seriously concerned about what it might do to my health!

[opt2not]

So far, I've been able to stand through 7.3m, but that was a long game and I started getting tired from standing. I definitely need to get a stool, but playing Robotron sitting down is difficult since I tend to move my entire body playing this game. I'm definitely not a marathon player, I know this now.
Which is why I either play till I hit a couple million, or change my setting to Twin Galaxies Tournament Settings which are quite fun: Default difficulty, 5 lives only, no extra lives...

[JODY]

It is exactly 10 inches from the center of one joystick shaft to the center of the second.  I have an original Robotron panel with Wico leafs installed.

[D_Harris]

It is exactly 10 inches from the center of one joystick shaft to the center of the second.  I have an original Robotron panel with Wico leafs installed.

Where did you get that? 

I'd like to point out that all control panels are not exactly the same. So just get the spacing between the joystick holes right and everything else will fall into place.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

[yotsuya]

Does anyone know if it's still possible to get the modified restrictors for the p360s?

[JODY]

What kind of restrictor are you referring to?  The p360s come standard with a round restrictor.

[yotsuya]

What kind of restrictor are you referring to?  The p360s come standard with a round restrictor.

Whoops! I meant actuator.

[RobotronNut]

Does anyone know if it's still possible to get the modified restrictors for the p360s?

As far as I know, the only time these were ever available for sale was for a brief moment 5 yrs ago, when kowal made a few. Kowal is still active on this forum; maybe you can talk him into making you some. 

I had mine made custom by a machine shop:

Kowal's mod is a replacement actuator that is a simple cylinder of length 0.678", inside diameter 0.375", and outside diameter 0.541" (= 13.7 mm), made to +/- 0.001" tolerance . I had mine made of stainless steel, and I blackened the outsides with a black sharpie pen.

Machine shops vary quite a bit in how they charge for small orders. There will be an extra charge for tolerances to one thousandth of an inch. Cost-per-piece should go down very quickly as the number of pieces goes up.

[yotsuya]

Does anyone know if it's still possible to get the modified restrictors for the p360s?

As far as I know, the only time these were ever available for sale was for a brief moment 5 yrs ago, when kowal made a few. Kowal is still active on this forum; maybe you can talk him into making you some. 

I had mine made custom by a machine shop:

Kowal's mod is a replacement actuator that is a simple cylinder of length 0.678", inside diameter 0.375", and outside diameter 0.541" (= 13.7 mm), made to +/- 0.001" tolerance . I had mine made of stainless steel, and I blackened the outsides with a black sharpie pen.

Machine shops vary quite a bit in how they charge for small orders. There will be an extra charge for tolerances to one thousandth of an inch. Cost-per-piece should go down very quickly as the number of pieces goes up.

Thanks, RobotronNut. I've read your posts on the actuators, and the information is valuable.

[jlfreund]

RobotronNut, I am going to use 2 Happ rotaries (the mechanical ones, not optical).  Do you know how well they should perform -- do they have circular restrictors needed for robotron?  

The Happ rotary has a circular restrictor, with a notch at one spot in the circle, so it's not perfectly smooth all the way around. I have no idea how well it performs with Robotron.

If you want decent Robotron performance without a lot of work and expense, the Happ Super is pretty good (but not quite as good as my modified P360s). The Super won't play rotary games, but are they really important to you? The rotary is the one thing I wish I'd left off my panel.

What problems did you have with the rotaries?  Is it just sub-optimal for robotron, or were there other problems?

I didn't build the CP yet, but just testing the stick on it's own, I do feel a few small notches when moving in a circle, but it doesn't feel too bad.  And the handle top also inadvertently twists a little when you move in a circle.

I'll stick to the rotaries for now and get those games out of my system, then if it's too much of a problem I can switch out to the supers a couple years from now.

[RobotronNut]

What problems did you have with the rotaries?  Is it just sub-optimal for robotron, or were there other problems?

I didn't build the CP yet, but just testing the stick on it's own, I do feel a few small notches when moving in a circle, but it doesn't feel too bad.  And the handle top also inadvertently twists a little when you move in a circle.

I'll stick to the rotaries for now and get those games out of my system, then if it's too much of a problem I can switch out to the supers a couple years from now.

No problems with the rotary, just that I almost never play games that require it. It was expensive and takes up a lot of controller inputs and space under the panel. I wish I had used the space and money on something else, like a maybe second flight stick, for tank games.