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Why a 49-way?...?

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orbian:


--- Quote from: In2ishun on May 25, 2006, 11:49:46 pm ---Stingray, what is it that you don't like about the feel of them? I'm very curious.

-Brian

--- End quote ---

I tried the 49-Way sticks but they didn't really work out all that well for me. First there is no 4-way mode using the GPWiz-49. It's still an 8-way mode that's just more difficult to hit the diagonals. Plus the pseudo 4-way mode doesn't have a large enough dead zone in my opinion so when I swing the stick back and forth from left to right I occaicionally hit the up direction. This is a problem for me on maze games lic Pac-Man. For the 8-way mode I just didn't like throw. It seemed like way too much work to play Robotron with the 49-way. Also I found the the auto centering on the 49-ways to not always be perfect. This becomes pretty noticeable on Robotron when it happens. A simple tap on a regualr 8-way will fire off one round but the 49-way might fire off two before it recenters. That being said, they do work extremely well for games that need them like Sinistar. I-Robot plays much better as does Food Fight. However it will still be just a specialty stick on my control panel.

Orbian

Timoe:

You got a bunk grommet then.  GGG offers replacement gromets that solve that issue.

As for the Opti-Pac Optiwiz issue.  The Opti- Pac is a stand alone interface.  It plugs directly into your computer.  Same thing with the Optiwiz.
You wont be limited here

I havent used the opti-pac.  But I do have an optiwiz.  It has a smaller foot print and is less expensive.  It works really well.

I really like a competition stick myself for 90% of games.  A physically restricted 4-way cannot be beat for games like pac-man, etc.  For the 4-way I really like the J-stick or if you can find it, the 4-way wico.


But if you want to have a cleaner looking panel and 1 stick to tackle everthing from Blaster to Sinistar to pacman to robotron the 49-way is pretty slick.

I used to have a panel similar to Markrvp's design that had a 49-way for the left hand and an 8-way Wico leafswitch for the right hand.

It felt and worked great for robotron.

But you dont need to swing the stick around all "willy-nilly"  if you get used to it it only requires the slightest of movements to register.

KillerArcades:

lots of great input here, I really appreciate it.

From what I've read, I think I'm leaning away from the 49-way. I am most interested in the following two things:

1.  Keeping a clean control panel (my current/only cab has a two tiered CP and I'm kinda tired of that idea and would like to get away from having P1 and P2 controls duplicated like I have them now, etc) - besides the 4-way supers I have just aren't good enough for Ms PacMan, etc.

2. Getting a joystick that really feels like the old Donkey Kong/Ms Pac Man sticks.

So, I was thinking of the Ultimarc t-stick (that what it's still called?) that allows you to pull up and switch it from 8way to 4way, but then I was thinking that maybe the 49 way would be simpler, etc.

In the end, it's the feel that I'm after more than anything, I really am tired of playing DK/MsPacMan without that old time joystick. I hate the long throws of the super/competition sticks, and I just can't seem to find an original. I'm most likey going to be trying out HAPP's replacement stick, but I'm not terribly excited about it. It looks like it has a longer throw than the originals as well, but only one way to find out.

Anyone here ever try the HAPPs pacman/galaga replacement stick ?

Kremmit:

The Ms. Pac replacement stick from Happ wll feel a lot like your Super, because it is a Super, just with 4-way restriction and a shorter balltop handle.  The shorter handle will help with the long throw, and the restriction goes a long way towards getting that feel you're missing.  Sadly, the only way to really, really get the feel of an original Pac stick is (big surprse) to get an original Pac stick.  But those are not available anymore, except on ebay, and it's pretty hit-n-miss what condition it'll be in when you get it.  The Happ stick is still being made, which is a plus.  The Ultimarc J-Stick can also be had in a balltop, and has a true 4-way mode.  I've never used one, so I dunno how it feels. 

I would not reccomend the T-Sticks/Mag-Sticks for you- the easy mode switching is cool, but they don't feel anything like an original Pac stick- so if the feel is what you're after, you won't like 'em.  Not to say they're not good sicks- the super-short throw and strong return-to-center makes them very quick and accurate, once you get used to them.  That's a good thing in games like Pac-Man.  But it's definately a very different feel from any stick you ever used back in the day.

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