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49 way joy - cheapest way to interface?
Texasmame:
Okay, I have a Midway 49 joy. But with a modular panel, I don't need to have it be an "all purpose" joy, like the GP-WIZ49 can make it. I just need to have it be a 49 way and that's it. Sinistar and Food Fight are a must. Berzerk would also be quite cool with it - kinda like the way it was supposed to be with the opto joy in the first place. But I digress. . .
I already have an Opti-PAC connected to a rackmount system, interfacing with CAT5 cables (ala Doc's). I have wired up the following with no issues: original Pac-Man 4 way stick, Wico 8 way, diaganol mount Coin Controls 4 way, numerous buttons, Tempest spinner and Imperial trac.
So, outside of the GP-WIZ49, what other way is there to interface this joy with MAME? Mouse hack or something similar and cheap, perhaps?
TIA!
NoOne=NBA=:
The other two options are an SJC from DaveB, and hooking the joystick directly to your encoder as buttons.
The SJC costs more than the GGG version, and lacks the digital restriction abilities.
Since you don't need the digital restriction, direct connection sounds like it might be what you're looking for.
Texasmame:
--- Quote from: NoOne=NBA= on January 13, 2007, 08:02:15 pm ---The other two options are an SJC from DaveB, and hooking the joystick directly to your encoder as buttons.
The SJC costs more than the GGG version, and lacks the digital restriction abilities.
Since you don't need the digital restriction, direct connection sounds like it might be what you're looking for.
--- End quote ---
Thanx, but I'm a little confused by this:
Connecting a 49-way Direct Input
Since each pin either has a current or doesn't, they can be treated like buttons. In fact, you can think the williams49 as 6 NC (normally closed) and 2 NO (Normally Open) buttons, and the happs49 as 6 NO and 2 NC buttons. (However, all keyboard encoders and most PC joysticks (to hack) consider a current (closed) as "pressed" and an open circuit as "not pressed"; see next section..)
Thus you can connect a 49-way stick as 8 unused keys or buttons, sending the joystick's output raw to the computer. Official Mame, however, isn't set up to send raw 49-way input directly to a 49-way game. MameAnalog+ adds this feature to the Williams' 49-way games Sinistar, Blaster, Arch Rivals, and Pigskin 621AD (the Atari/Midway 49-way games don't emulate 49-way joystick yet).[/b]
If I'm reading it right, you can use "regular" MAME and the stick will act as if it were 8 buttons - giving you, essentially, an 8 way joy. But, if you want the "true" 49 way control, you have to go with AnalogMAME.
leapinlew:
--- Quote from: Texasmame on January 13, 2007, 06:28:35 pm ---Berzerk would also be quite cool with it - kinda like the way it was supposed to be
--- End quote ---
Hi Texasmame. I wanted to do a quick hijack and ask you a question about what you said. Is Berzerk meant to be played with a 49 way? I been playing it with an 8 way and I'm wondering if I'm missing the full experience.
NoOne=NBA=:
Berzerk had an optical 8-way originally, but they were so unreliable that they were almost all replaced.