Heh, too bad I didnt patent that way back when...
Heh, It wouldn't have mattered if you did. You can't patent a concept, only an implementation. These two are radically different in that respect.
But thanks for the compliment on the design.
More importantly, when are the new joysticks coming out? My wife keeps asking what I want for X-mas and I keep stalling.
Another recent addition to the store was Gift Certificates. If you want something from GroovyGameGear.com, send the potential goody purchaser to the site and they can get you some groovy spendin' dough. I think the picture is pretty humorous too (really shouldn't have spent the time on it...)
The new joysticks are indeed coming. I'm waiting for 1 part from one of the new machinists. I expect it will be done shortly, hopefully well before Christmas.
Neat looking spinner and accessories. Will the mini-wheel option work with the original TurboTwist?
Thanks! It may. If not, I can make a special version for TT1 owners. I wasn't sure how well the small wheel was going to work. Turns out that its a blast
I will be ordering one of these. I don't need to order anything special to have it work with your EI trackball correct? Both are USB so should be plug and play.
That's correct. Just plug it in and go, as you would a mouse or any other USB HID device.
Love the tiny steering wheels, but is that steering wheel going to hold up if you only secure the whole unit with one "button style" screw?
The Mini-Racer™ wheel is not intended for commercial deployment. It is made of plastic and steel, and has a very high quality and "heavy" feel. So much so that it has no need for set screws or permanent mounting devices. It's designed to be able to be slipped onto the shaft easily and used when desired and slip off the same way when it's not.
As for the mounting, don't let your kids hang from it. It's not built for that. It's built for you to enjoy driving games and give you that "arcade feel" without the need for a large wheel on a special control. It does that admirably, IMHO and will hold up just fine when not subjected to heavy abuse.
It's also really fun and it actually fit on my tiny Defender cab's CP
Turbo, PolePosition, Supersprint, you name it. All of them felt really good and could be played well for the first time on my cab. And when I was done, I popped it off and put the spinner knob back. No problems.
Wow. Love the idea. If it plays as well as it looks I will be a happy camper indeed. Talk a bout a small footprint...
Randy, since you state it has 1200 transitions per revolution, I assume that you are now using a 300 cpr encoder? Is that right?
If so I think thats probably an optimum setting. I found the 500 cpr one I tried was great for Arkanoid but was a tad "iffy" when trying to adjust it down for tempest. Just need a way to adjust the resistance on the fly now...
KUDOS!
Thanks, and you are correct. It's funny you should mention Tempest. One of the great things about 1200 transitions is the 72 you get at exactly 6% of it. Arcade perfect Tempest control settings
Resistance isn't a big issue. The Arkanoid fans will want a larger knob and skip the flywheel option (or remove it when you want to have a few games). Very, very playable. (Hey Kremmit! How about that knob measurement from the original? Heh)
RandyT