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]

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.

 

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]

Berzerk would also be quite cool with it - kinda like the way it was supposed to be

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.

[NoOne=NBA=]

I'm not sure if they ever included the 49-way code into the official version of MAME.
You might shoot urebelscum a PM, and see if it was ever included.

[Texasmame]

Berzerk had an optical 8-way originally, but they were so unreliable that they were almost all replaced.

Yup.  That's true, not a 49 way but an optical.  My bad.

[MYX]

But, the 49way with DRS would sort of make it a 8 way using optical. So sgood for everyone.

sgoood

BTW, I love my 49 ways and gpwiz49Max(s). Not tellin' you that it is what you need to do, but it works great and you do not need the max to make it work well. You can get the lower end version. The thing is, once you start to play with it and you don't hear clickity click click every time you play, not to mention the feel of a 49 way (very similar to leaf), you may decide to scrap any standard 8 ways anyway.

[Texasmame]

But, the 49way with DRS would sort of make it a 8 way using optical. So sgood for everyone.

sgoood

BTW, I love my 49 ways and gpwiz49Max(s). Not tellin' you that it is what you need to do, but it works great and you do not need the max to make it work well. You can get the lower end version. The thing is, once you start to play with it and you don't hear clickity click click every time you play, not to mention the feel of a 49 way (very similar to leaf), you may decide to scrap any standard 8 ways anyway.

Ahh, but I got me some of them old fashioned Wico leafs already,so I'm guessing there's not much difference!  

[MYX]

sgood

But, DRS. Kaint beat it.

[Kremmit]

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. 

Half right- if you want to use true 49-way control with this setup, you have to use MAME Analog+.  However, the 8 inputs do not correspond to regular directions, so you won't get jack if you try to hook it up to regular MAME this way- hence no 8-way action.

[u_rebelscum]

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. 

Half right- if you want to use true 49-way control with this setup, you have to use MAME Analog+. 

Yah, that's the current situation.   However....

However, the 8 inputs do not correspond to regular directions, so you won't get jack if you try to hook it up to regular MAME this way- hence no 8-way action.

...You can use a raw 49-way, if you remap the raw 49way inputs to work in mame, but yes mame's default inputs won't work with the raw 49-way input.

You'll have to remap by hand, too, as you won't be able to do the "nots" correctly.  I have old cfg/ini remaps at my site on the 49-way page ("49-way joysticks (raw input) in 4 & 8 way games").  If you don't mind waiting a day or two, I'll update them to the newer cfg/cfg format.  You will still will need to change them to match your setup (eg: to joy7 "buttons" 7-14, instead of the example "j1_pin1-8", if that's what you have it hooked up as).  Note that due to mame's limitations, the 49 different levels, and different people's opinions on best distance moved, I included a bunch of different remap patterns.

[rockin_rick]

Berzerk had an optical 8-way originally, but they were so unreliable that they were almost all replaced.

KLOV lists it as a 9 way optical.  Is KLOV wrong (wouldn't surprise me)?  Or was it like the wizard of wor 9 way - a 4 way with two levels of up, down, left, and right?

Rick

[Kremmit]

Berzerk had an optical 8-way originally, but they were so unreliable that they were almost all replaced.

KLOV lists it as a 9 way optical.  Is KLOV wrong (wouldn't surprise me)?  Or was it like the wizard of wor 9 way - a 4 way with two levels of up, down, left, and right?

Rick

KLOV is both right and wrong. 

The game only moves in 8 directions, whether you have the original optical stick or not- so it's an 8-way. 

-But-

All 8-way sticks are really 9-way sticks:  Four cardinal directions (Up, Down, Left, Right), four diagonals, and DEAD CENTER.  For some reason, with optical sticks like the Berzerk joy and 49-way sticks (48 squares plus dead center!) the center position gets counted, but on regular switched joys, it doesn't. 

 

[Texasmame]

Hey, I got a Midway 49 way joy available now. . .   any takers?