Joystick advice needed

[willmame]

Hi

I am fitting an old Jamma cabinet with a mame PC, and am going to replace the joysticks... one is buggered and the buttons are a bit flakey, so I'm going to buy some nice new sticks and buttons.

So, researching this, I can't find a definite good stick that works well in both 4 and 8 way modes (I will mainly want it for two player beat em ups, but some other games too like Mikey... weird eh?).  Can anyone make any recommendations?  If I am going to fit 2 new sticks that are 4/8 switchable, I need to be able to do it without opening the control panel as moving the machine once it's in place will be difficult (the panel opens from the back of the machine).  Mag Stick Plus seemed good, but reading other's thoughts it seems they have a very small throw and will be crap for fighters.

There is a space on the control panel between player 1's stick and buttons and player 2's stick and buttons... would buying a pair of dedicated decent 8-way sticks be good, and then install a dedicated 4-way stick in the middle?  How would I wire that - just connect up down left right of the 4-way to the same on the player 1 8-way joystick?

Is playing a 4-way game really such a disaster with an 8-way stick?  I would prefer not to have to play cross-handed (4 way stick with left hand, right hand pushing buttons on the left) so would only really want to go down the 2x 8-way stick and 1x 4 way stick route if neccessary.

What sticks are people using?  Where can I get them, preferably in the UK?  The only sticks I have looked at are the ones Ultimarc stock.

Thanks!

Oh, forgot to mention, ideally I would like ball-top sticks - the j-stik that ultimarc do looks lovely, but the eurostik is also nice looking... and I would LOVE the sticks to click... ah, memories

[knave]

There's not really one answer to this question but it gets asked quite often so I'll share what I've learned.

In order to get a 4/8 way stick that switches without opening the CP there are three main options.

Mag-stick, U360 (from Ultimark) and the omni-stick Prodigy (from GGG).  There might be a fourth if you can locate a t-stick (the predocessor of the Mag-stick)

Most folks here would reccomend the U360 because though pricy it can be set up to auto configure itself for the game your in, including unconventional setups like q-bert where the joy is at a 45 degree angle.

I've heard both good and bad reviews of the mag stick but it's affordability is a real plus.

The omni-stick is a cool design but for the price I might just go with the 360's

I just picked up a J-stick ball top and it is real nice but there is no easy switching.

Hope that helps.

Happy Halloween!

[willmame]

Cheers for that advice... I've just discovered that I can JUST reach the sticks if I put my arm inside the coin door... it's difficult, but doable... so if there is a stick that can be switched easily from below, then I should also consider that.

[divemaster127]

I stock  the ultimarc products here in the states, the magstick plus are good sticks you can get a longer shaft.  The jsticks only come w/ a red ball top but the u360 colored ball tops will fit
dm

[ArtsNFartsNCrafts]

I figured I'd just ask this question in a joystick thread instead of creating yet ANOTHER one.  So here goes:

Okay.  So I'm wanting to get the mag stick plus, mainly for classic games.  With that said, I'm also looking to get a ball-top.

It's going on the control panel for my cocktail cabinet, which means it will be on a control panel that is several inches below the glass top.  so I'm wondering:  Should I get the short length ball top shaft or the longer length one?  I'm wanting it to have about the same throw as a pacman or galaga joystick, as well as a similar height.  From what I've read, I understand that with a magstick the action won't quite be the same, but that's no biggie.

And what would be the best way to mount it?  Over?  under?  or would that depend on the ball top shaft I got?  I think it's gonna be mounted on 3/4" ply...

Thanks guys! 

[NoOne=NBA=]

Will,

I would really look at going the two 8-ways, one 4-way route.
None of the easily switchable sticks are that good for fighters.

Playing 4-ways with an 8-way goes from great to nearly unplayable, depending on the game you are playing.
Donkey Kong is completely annoying with one because Mario stops any time you hit a diagonal.

[NoOne=NBA=]

Arts,

I would go with the short handles, bottom-mounted.
The worst case scenario is that you feel the handles are too short, and need to rout them in a bit.
The pac-sticks had a fairly short handle.
I say "fairly" because I lost alot of skin to the barely above the CP Crazy Climber sticks, back in the day.

The throw on them is really short though, so the other option would be to go with the longer handles, and put a spacer block on the bottom of the CP.
That would lengthen the throw, but keep the handle short.

[ArtsNFartsNCrafts]

I suppose, worst case scenario, I could go ahead and pick up the standard length ball tops and see how they fare.  If it's too short, then purchase the longer one.

Thanks!

[NoOne=NBA=]

I've got the long balltops on T-stiks, and the bottom of the ball is 7/8" above the surface of the 3/4" CP, when mounted directly to the bottom.

I'm not sure how the Mag-stiks measure up, but that will give you an idea at least.

[ArtsNFartsNCrafts]

on mounting the magstick:

Let me know if there would be an easier, more practical way to mount, because this is what I was currently looking at (and i've little to no experience with woodworking, or CP building):


i was going to undermount the main "guts" of the control panel from the bottom.  I was then going to route out space on the top of the panel so that the metal mounting plate (through which the screws pass to attach to the 'guts') sits flush with the top of the panel.  then I would just "drop in" the joystick from the top, and reattach it to the "guts".

by "guts," of course, I'm referring to the part with all the switches and restrictor place, and all that.

[brandon]

Will,

I would really look at going the two 8-ways, one 4-way route.
None of the easily switchable sticks are that good for fighters.

I thought these Sanwas (J-stick) were supposed to be good for fighters?




btw, pic from www.lizardlickamusements.com



EDIT:  didnt I also read that somebody was working on a way to move the restrictor on these automatically with some sort of drive gear?  The software could switch from 4 way to 8 way..