What specialty controller should be reproduced next?

[mark shaker]

I *need* more controls. (I'm not sure why.)

Between my various cabinets, I have all the common stuff covered: 8-Ways, 4-Ways, Trackballs, Spinners, Mechanical Rotary, Spring Loaded, Star-Wars Yoke, Trigger Grips, Optical Wheel, Analog Wheel, Flight Sticks, various Shifters & Pedals. I also have Super Hang-On Handle Bars waiting for me to  restore and a Ram Controls Major Havoc Controller on the way.

Guys: What specialty controls should we beg the manufacturers to make next?

Manufacturers: How many orders do you need to make fairly complex controller worth your while?

   - Mark

[leapinlew]

common? ssshhhhheeeeettt...

I'd call the joysticks commong, the trackball and spinners uncommon and the rest of the stuff at different degrees of rare. I suppose the question you should be asking is - what games do you want to play that you can't play?

Personally - I'd like to see a good set of lightguns, a good wico leaf replacement, and a good 4 way physical restrictor.

[Dreamwriter]

Well, those of us without Star Wars Yokes would want them to make some   But you know what else would be really cool would be some sort of electronic pinball plunger that would work with Visual PinMame, that aspect of Pinball is sorely lacking on PC.

[Kevin Mullins]

some sort of electronic pinball plunger that would work with Visual PinMame, that aspect of Pinball is sorely lacking on PC.

http://www.johnsretroarcade.com/hardware_pinball.asp

[mark shaker]

Well, those of us without Star Wars Yokes would want them to make some  

Star Wars Yokes are commonly available on E-Bay.  While I did get rather lucky, I picked-up mine for $80.

    - Mark

[mark shaker]

http://www.johnsretroarcade.com/hardware_pinball.asp

This I like!

   - Mark

[mark shaker]

Personally - I'd like to see a good set of lightguns, a good wico leaf replacement, and a good 4 way physical restrictor.

I just noticed Act-Labs now has a "Heavy Duty" Light Gun. (In a fugly color.)  Does that meet your light gun requirement?

I hope that "Oscar Controls" comes back. I like the physical restrictors, but I get the impression that most of the community has moved on other solutions.

   - Mark

[Texasmame]

Front Line, Tin Star, Bandito knob! 

[RandyT]

some sort of electronic pinball plunger that would work with Visual PinMame, that aspect of Pinball is sorely lacking on PC.

http://www.johnsretroarcade.com/hardware_pinball.asp

While this is an interesting approach, he went through a lot of trouble to do something that could be accomplished with a standard pushbutton with wires connected to the NC contacts of the microswitch.

RandyT

[westell]

Another repro of the long robotron style 4" ball and shaft for wico base, still looking for these

[Kevin Mullins]

some sort of electronic pinball plunger that would work with Visual PinMame, that aspect of Pinball is sorely lacking on PC.

http://www.johnsretroarcade.com/hardware_pinball.asp

While this is an interesting approach, he went through a lot of trouble to do something that could be accomplished with a standard pushbutton with wires connected to the NC contacts of the microswitch.

RandyT

Yes.... you are correct.... a button will activate the plunger.
But wouldn't that defeat the purpose of the whole concept of having an actual pinball plunger.
I play Visual Pinball all the time on my PC and have the "enter/plunger" mapped to a button an X-Arcade panel I've had around for years. (N.O. switch btw)
But if I were to put any type of PC pinball in a cab I would set up an actual plunger.
I'm sure there's a couple other variations of this setup around, just have to look around some more.

[Cameronj]

I would really like some good virtual on twin sticks that work well (and could hook up to my dreamcast also. I have the real arcade in my garage and I really like how they feel and play.

[mark shaker]

some sort of electronic pinball plunger that would work with Visual PinMame, that aspect of Pinball is sorely lacking on PC.

http://www.johnsretroarcade.com/hardware_pinball.asp

While this is an interesting approach, he went through a lot of trouble to do something that could be accomplished with a standard pushbutton with wires connected to the NC contacts of the microswitch.

RandyT

Yes.... you are correct.... a button will activate the plunger.
But wouldn't that defeat the purpose of the whole concept of having an actual pinball plunger.
I play Visual Pinball all the time on my PC and have the "enter/plunger" mapped to a button an X-Arcade panel I've had around for years. (N.O. switch btw)
But if I were to put any type of PC pinball in a cab I would set up an actual plunger.
I'm sure there's a couple other variations of this setup around, just have to look around some more.

I think what he meant was that you can use a standard plunger to push a button hooked to a keyboard encoder to the Normally Closed leads, so that when the plunger was pulled back the circuit would be closed and in effect press the enter key, when the plunger was released the circuit would be opened releasing the enter key.

The thing that the circuit adds over a simple switch is to remove any bouncing when the plunger was released.

   - Mark

[mark shaker]

My thoughts on the items mentioned so far, plus a couple other ideas:

Leaf Stick: I think that a really high quality Leaf Joystick might be the best thing to produce. It's has relatively low complexity, with a relatively high demand.

Lightguns: Gun-Con, Act-Labs, Top-Gun are available, but another option would be nice.

Restrictor Plates: I like the physical feel of my Oscar Control's Restrictor Plates, but I think that most of the community seems to prefer the programmability of the 49-way adapters or the new Ultimarc stick.

8-Way Push to Fire Knob: *I* want one, but I'm afraid that the demand would not justify producing them.

Star Wars Yoke: Originals are readily available. Repros have been done, but none with a constant supply.

Positional Guns: I'm not much of a fan of positional gun games, but I bought one intending to make a add-on to one of my games. The problem was it did not have the range of motion for a 27" monitor.  I would like to have one designed for a large monitor, as it would enable a lot of games.

Beatmania Table: I've never played the game, but it could be fun ... (When I get my Major Havoc controller, I'm planning to make it's mounting rotatable, so the roller will rotate either left-right or up-down. I'm hoping it will work well with Beatmania while in the up-down position.)

   - Mark

[RandyT]

I think what he meant was that you can use a standard plunger to push a button hooked to a keyboard encoder to the Normally Closed leads, so that when the plunger was pulled back the circuit would be closed and in effect press the enter key, when the plunger was released the circuit would be opened releasing the enter key.

The thing that the circuit adds over a simple switch is to remove any bouncing when the plunger was released.

Correct, except that the circuit is only really required because of the method used.  The plunger does bounce a bit upon release, even on a real machine with a ball in play, and mechanical interference between the parts will greatly minimize this anyway.  A little bounce in PinMAME at ball release has no effect, so the net gain for all the trouble and expense is "zip".

Again, interesting approach, but it's like smashing an ant with a 30lb sledge.

RandyT

[monkeybomb]

Again, interesting approach, but it's like smashing an ant with a 30lb sledge.

Now, that's a fun game.

[pointdablame]

If not an actualy leaf joystick reproduction, I wish someone would make some high quality Wico replacement leafswitches. 

They are a real PITA to track down.

[RayB]

My vote is for a Lunar Lander thrust throttle.
(not that I would buy one).
 

[AtomSmasher]

Did someone make a usb Q'bert knocker a while back?  If not, that would be pretty cool (assuming its pretty cheap to buy).  Its not a controller, but still adds to the enjoyment of the game

[telengard]

My vote is for a Lunar Lander thrust throttle.
(not that I would buy one).
 

I'd buy one of these as well as a Paperboy control.  I'm also on the hunt for a few other controls.

~telengard

[Kevin Mullins]

I think what he meant was that you can use a standard plunger to push a button hooked to a keyboard encoder to the Normally Closed leads, so that when the plunger was pulled back the circuit would be closed and in effect press the enter key, when the plunger was released the circuit would be opened releasing the enter key.

Hey Randy T..... don't I feel like an idget..... I was totally over looking the simplicity of your idea with the button AND a plunger together. (der der der)
Sorry bout that.

[Dreamwriter]

Did someone say BeatMania?  I found this the other day: http://www.desktoparcade.com/

[RobotronNut]

from previous threads:

universal spinner.

universal steering wheel/yoke, able to play all of:

• 270-degree driving games (e.g. spy hunter)
• 360-degree driving games (e.g. super sprint)
• 2-axis yoke games (e.g. star wars, paperboy)

completely tweakable 8-way joystick.

[Magnet_Eye]

I always wish i could find a good way to play 720. Its rare to find those joysticks.

[RobotronNut]

I always wish i could find a good way to play 720. Its rare to find those joysticks.

here's one: ebay link

[u_rebelscum]

I always wish i could find a good way to play 720. Its rare to find those joysticks.

Yes, but you'll have to hack mame to get one to work. 

Mame switched to simulate the original controller with an analog joystick quite a while ago.  Which works pretty well BTW, although the feel is not the same . 

Have you tried an analog stick since mame 0.85u1?

[ahofle]

How about some way to get a tank or flight stick handle with 2-3 buttons (trigger + thumb buttons) attached to either a 49-way stick/GGG interface or Ultimarc's new analog stick?  That's what I'm personally waiting for.  Two of those sticks with a spinner in the middle would work for SO many games that I can't really play with my current setup: 2 way mode for battlezone/vindicators/etc, 4-way for tank games like assault, and a 'sort of 8 way' mode for tron, not to mention being able to use it for all the analog games like afterburner of course.

[mark shaker]

RandyT: I hope that you found some inspiration in this thread! :-)

Just kidding! (Sort of.)

I think there have been a lot of good ideas. I would be all for a general purpose yoke or Trigger Grips with 8/4/2 way functionality, as well as most everything mentioned.

Of course the problem with all these is the engineering and tooling costs, not to mention the cost of doing anything is small quantities...

Still, if anyone is inspired: I wouldn't mind helping to defer the costs by pre-ordering.

    - Mark

P.S. In case anyone is thinking: "Put-Up-Or-Shut-Up". I have. I make and sell Vectrex carts at cost, and at any one time I have between $3K and $5K tied up in inventory.

[Glaine]

What about those joys like Akari Warriors and some football game had where the stick also has a rotating axis when you turn the stick in its socket?

Or a root-beer tapper handle? That might be easy to just build over a pushbutton so that when the handle is pulled the button is pushed.

These would be pretty low on my list to buy, but if you're going for original ideas I haven't heard anything on those. I agree with those above, after joys & pushbuttons - there is very little that I would call a commonly bought item for control panels.

[JoyMonkey]

A good Wico leaf joystick replacement would be awesome. What is it that the cheap Chinese knock-off are doing wrong? Would adding a rubber centering grommet make them any better/more authentic?

I could machine Oscar style restrictor plates, but they would more than likely be pretty pricey and I don't have the original restrictors to use as a base. And I'm not sure if Oscar would be too happy about people selling knock-offs of his stuff anyway. And I'm incredibly lazy.

[horseboy]

What about those joys like Akari Warriors and some football game had where the stick also has a rotating axis when you turn the stick in its socket?

Happ makes those. They look different, but serve the same purpose.

[Izrun]

I had thought about some methods of doing an analog pinball control (so you could do half hits and stuff).  I'm pretty sure I could do it without too much effort (in a DIY way, not production).  Does pinMAME support analog controls for the plunger?  I haven't seen a simulator that did, as far as I know.  In theory I could write it into the source, but that might be biting off a little more than I care to chew at this point.

[Tekman]

I think what he meant was that you can use a standard plunger to push a button hooked to a keyboard encoder to the Normally Closed leads, so that when the plunger was pulled back the circuit would be closed and in effect press the enter key, when the plunger was released the circuit would be opened releasing the enter key.

The thing that the circuit adds over a simple switch is to remove any bouncing when the plunger was released.

Correct, except that the circuit is only really required because of the method used.  The plunger does bounce a bit upon release, even on a real machine with a ball in play, and mechanical interference between the parts will greatly minimize this anyway.  A little bounce in PinMAME at ball release has no effect, so the net gain for all the trouble and expense is "zip".

Again, interesting approach, but it's like smashing an ant with a 30lb sledge.

RandyT

I originally thought a simple mechanical switch would be the best choice. It only took a couple minutes to figure out that will NOT work. Here is why:

- You get an unrealistic "thud" sound as the plunger rod hits the stationary switch

- The switch really takes a beating from the plunger rod. It only takes a few minutes for the switch move out of position and eventually things will break.

I realized a QRB1134 IR Photo reflector was the best choice. Here is why:

- No "thud" sound with the plunger having to hit something stationary.

- No wear and tear or broken parts.

Both of these ideas require a debounce circuit. I'm not sure how you came up with the statement that bounce will not affect VP. I found VP is VERY susceptible to bounce issues. Some tables will seem worse than others. The rod will hit the mechanical switch and still bounce on and off the switch until everything settles. We're talking several mS of bounce at a time until a solid condition occurs, which is usually never an issue with a human finger holding a button. You will find that the ball launch becomes very intermittent and will not even launch at all most of the time. This is tried and true.

I found out there is no "sweet spot" to mount the switch. The closer it is causes more damage and farther away has more bounce issues. You will find yourself fussing with this all the time and realize it is not worth the problems.

I haven

[koolmoecraig]

A 4-way/8-way switchable LEAF switch joystick.

[horseboy]

I think what he meant was that you can use a standard plunger to push a button hooked to a keyboard encoder to the Normally Closed leads, so that when the plunger was pulled back the circuit would be closed and in effect press the enter key, when the plunger was released the circuit would be opened releasing the enter key.

The thing that the circuit adds over a simple switch is to remove any bouncing when the plunger was released.

Correct, except that the circuit is only really required because of the method used.  The plunger does bounce a bit upon release, even on a real machine with a ball in play, and mechanical interference between the parts will greatly minimize this anyway.  A little bounce in PinMAME at ball release has no effect, so the net gain for all the trouble and expense is "zip".

Again, interesting approach, but it's like smashing an ant with a 30lb sledge.

RandyT

I originally thought a simple mechanical switch would be the best choice. It only took a couple minutes to figure out that will NOT work. Here is why:

- You get an unrealistic "thud" sound as the plunger rod hits the stationary switch

- The switch really takes a beating from the plunger rod. It only takes a few minutes for the switch move out of position and eventually things will break.

I realized a QRB1134 IR Photo reflector was the best choice. Here is why:

- No "thud" sound with the plunger having to hit something stationary.

- No wear and tear or broken parts.

Both of these ideas require a debounce circuit. I'm not sure how you came up with the statement that bounce will not affect VP. I found VP is VERY susceptible to bounce issues. Some tables will seem worse than others. The rod will hit the mechanical switch and still bounce on and off the switch until everything settles. We're talking several mS of bounce at a time until a solid condition occurs, which is usually never an issue with a human finger holding a button. You will find that the ball launch becomes very intermittent and will not even launch at all most of the time. This is tried and true.

I found out there is no "sweet spot" to mount the switch. The closer it is causes more damage and farther away has more bounce issues. You will find yourself fussing with this all the time and realize it is not worth the problems.

I haven

[horseboy]

Ok, I thought about it and the button in front method would work if the button was wired as Normally Closed, but bouncing would be a big issue as you said. Still though, having the button pressed when the plunger is pulled back serves the exact same purpose as that overly complicated solution and eliminates the bounce.

[Tekman]

I think what he meant was that you can use a standard plunger to push a button hooked to a keyboard encoder to the Normally Closed leads, so that when the plunger was pulled back the circuit would be closed and in effect press the enter key, when the plunger was released the circuit would be opened releasing the enter key.

The thing that the circuit adds over a simple switch is to remove any bouncing when the plunger was released.

Correct, except that the circuit is only really required because of the method used.  The plunger does bounce a bit upon release, even on a real machine with a ball in play, and mechanical interference between the parts will greatly minimize this anyway.  A little bounce in PinMAME at ball release has no effect, so the net gain for all the trouble and expense is "zip".

Again, interesting approach, but it's like smashing an ant with a 30lb sledge.

RandyT

I originally thought a simple mechanical switch would be the best choice. It only took a couple minutes to figure out that will NOT work. Here is why:

- You get an unrealistic "thud" sound as the plunger rod hits the stationary switch

- The switch really takes a beating from the plunger rod. It only takes a few minutes for the switch move out of position and eventually things will break.

I realized a QRB1134 IR Photo reflector was the best choice. Here is why:

- No "thud" sound with the plunger having to hit something stationary.

- No wear and tear or broken parts.

Both of these ideas require a debounce circuit. I'm not sure how you came up with the statement that bounce will not affect VP. I found VP is VERY susceptible to bounce issues. Some tables will seem worse than others. The rod will hit the mechanical switch and still bounce on and off the switch until everything settles. We're talking several mS of bounce at a time until a solid condition occurs, which is usually never an issue with a human finger holding a button. You will find that the ball launch becomes very intermittent and will not even launch at all most of the time. This is tried and true.

I found out there is no "sweet spot" to mount the switch. The closer it is causes more damage and farther away has more bounce issues. You will find yourself fussing with this all the time and realize it is not worth the problems.

I haven