How to increase a "tight" feeling of u360 joysticks?

[csa3d]

All,

So I've finally got my cab to a playable point, and I have a few questions about the u360s.  My initial reaction thus far, as that they have a very long and loose throw.  I'd prefer them to be a tad more snappy.

If one wants to get the the best short throw, twitch reaction out of these sticks.. what more can one do besides by the tighter springs?  Do I need a circular restrictor (to limit throw)?  Is there anything else to buy for these bad boys to tighten up their play?

As for software, it seems Mame now has 3 "joy" settings in the .ini file which control analog mapping, deadzone, and extreme edges.  Are folks finding a need to disable these mame settings with the Fatfingers plugin?  Are we abandoning the plugin in lue of these settings?  Are there "better" settings for these sticks?

Any insight on who's done what to increase twitch action play on the u360s would be greatly appreciated.

-csa

[Bender]

If you want a tighter twitchier feel, you nailed it, stiffer spring and a restrictor
I've only used them with the maps (software that came with the stick) and the mala plugin to load them, I find them to be extremely responsive and you can fine tune the maps
I'd love to find out more info about if they will work without the maps in the newer versions of mame
I heard somewhere that it is possible

[Ginsu Victim]

Ultimarc sells the stiffer spring and the circular restrictor. Well worth buying.

[Zobeid]

I'm definitely going to try the octagon restrictor on mine.

[csa3d]

Yeah, I have the stiffer spring, and it has helped some.  I suppose if there could be an even *stiffer* spring I might even enjoy that more.  Is it safe to assume the circular restrictor narrows the throw region inwards?  What about the octagonal?  Does that also reduce the through, or only block the slots between diagonals?  I have a feeling I want the circular one.

So how is everyone dealing with the new auto-mapping mame settings:

    joystick_map
    joystick_deadzone
    joystick_saturation

 in regards to the u360?  I would think you only want to tweak map settings in one place; either hardware with the u360 maps, or in mame software.  But not both.  Please advise.

-csa

[Ginsu Victim]

I'm definitely going to try the octagon restrictor on mine.

Yeah, you've been going on about the octagonal restrictor for a while. When are you gonna actually TRY one? 
(Me, I can't stand any restriction, other than the circular, which is just limiting throw)

[Ginsu Victim]

csa3d:
Just go check out the spring selection at your local hardware store (I bought some at Ace hardware for my Happ Universals....though a lighter spring for those things). They probably have an even stiffer spring of the same size. Just measure one, or take one with you.

[Zobeid]

Yeah, you've been going on about the octagonal restrictor for a while. When are you gonna actually TRY one? 
(Me, I can't stand any restriction, other than the circular, which is just limiting throw)

Give me a break, I just got the CP wired up yesterday with all the buttons working.   

Actually, now that the CP is working and the games are playable, it's probably about time for all work to grind to a halt.

[(+_+)]

Yeah, I have the stiffer spring, and it has helped some.  I suppose if there could be an even *stiffer* spring I might even enjoy that more.  Is it safe to assume the circular restrictor narrows the throw region inwards?  What about the octagonal?  Does that also reduce the through, or only block the slots between diagonals?  I have a feeling I want the circular one.

So how is everyone dealing with the new auto-mapping mame settings:

    joystick_map
    joystick_deadzone
    joystick_saturation

 in regards to the u360?  I would think you only want to tweak map settings in one place; either hardware with the u360 maps, or in mame software.  But not both.  Please advise.

-csa

I've got the stiffer springs from ultimarc and man are they stiff. I'd play a game of Robotron or Mutant Storm and my forearms would be pumped up as if I had been exercising. They may be the stiffest ones that Ultimarc offers. I now use the soft ones and had the same qualms as you originally but the feel grows on you. My circular restrictor plate helps with the throw and may be all you need to get over the hump. You can email Andy, I believe there is a middle of the road spring, but can't say for certain.

As a suggesion, You may be able to intertwine 2 springs to stiffen it up a bit.

[Ginsu Victim]

The "hard" spring currently offered is actually "medium". It's not the same old hard spring they used to have.

And if you think the spring is hard, you're nuts. Try a Happ Universal with the stock spring. THAT'S HARD!

I think the current spring offered by Ultimarc makes the U360 feel perfect and has a better feeling throw compared to stock light spring.

[Ummon]

But, like mentioned, you can go to your hardware store and find springs that might work. Actually Home Depot or Lowes might have a better selection.

[Zobeid]

I have put in my order for the octagon restrictors and heavy springs (not the old super-heavy ones) and will give them a try.  However. . .

I've got to say, if you haven't given the stock configuration a fair chance -- it's not that bad.  Yeah, it feels funny compared with what most of us are used to, but I've been playing on them for a couple of days now.  I can't really say that there's been any moment when I felt the sticks were holding me back.

They worked particularly well on Pac Man.  But what really impressed me is how well they work with Lady Bug.  For me it has always been a really hard game to control.  Every control scheme I've tried with Lady Bug -- keyboard, gamepad, HotRod controller, and of course the ColecoVision controller (I had Lady Bug for my CV ages ago) -- has been painful.  The little bug keeps "sticking" on corners.  With the bone stock U360 it's smooth and effortless.  For the first time I didn't feel like the controller was holding me back.

I'm still awful at the game; it's surprisingly tough.  But at least I can't blame the stick now.

[u_rebelscum]

If you're going to do mostly digital (4 & 4 way) games, I'd suggest a restrictor to shorten the throw and give a "harder" limit edge.  I'd go for the circle restrictor (aka, have it) over the octagon one, but choose whichever one you like the feel of.  I don't have the octagon one, but it's supposed to have the same throw as the circle, except you can feel the corners & cardinal directions.  For analog stick games, I prefer no restrictor, so I have joy 1 with circle restrcitor and joy 2 without (and mapped to player 1 in analog stick games), ATM.

So how is everyone dealing with the new auto-mapping mame settings:

    joystick_map
    joystick_deadzone
    joystick_saturation

 in regards to the u360?  I would think you only want to tweak map settings in one place; either hardware with the u360 maps, or in mame software.  But not both.  Please advise.

First off, make sure the ultrastick software has the sticks that have restrictors to restrictor mode.  Then, if all you're going to play is mame and haven't set up the fatfingers app, I suggest just using mame's maps (this is what I do).  OTOH, if you're going to use other emus/games, or already have the fatfinger app setup, go ahead and use that app and forget mame's -joystick_map option.

Okay, if you're going to use mame's options, set the u360 in analog mode and leave it there.  Mame's options -joystick_deadzone and -joystick_saturation are mostly for analog games, but they effect the mapping too, especially the deadzone one.  I've left the saturation at default, and decreased the deadzone to 5% ("joystick_deadzone 0.05" in mame.ini).  I'm also using the default maps, which AFAICT the same as u360's default maps. 

If you want to see what map mame uses for different games, enable -verbose option to see what mame prints to the commandline, and start an 8-way and then a 4-way game.  More info on the options are in mame's docs/config.txt than I'd like to repost here, but if you have any questions, I'll be glad to help.