Help on joystick Selection - my head is spinning! (& thoughts on my CP designs)

[Necro]

I'm working on designing a 2 player 'most universal' CP for my cab.  I'm doing multiple CPs, but I'd like one that can do most single I'm having a really hard time deciding on the joysticks for my control panels, and deciding on that is the last thing I need to determine before I can place all of my orders for my CPs.

My plan is to have 3 CPs:
- Fighter/General CP: 2 joysticks, 6 buttons per player
- 'Classic' CP: (In development, not critical at this point, but COULD have a dedicated 4 way)
- Spinner CP: (with Trackball possibly).

I'm space limited, so it's a necessity to do swappable panels.  That being said, I'd like for the 'General' CP to cover as many games as possible without having to swap the panel out (i.e. for parties and the like). 

I was thinking of a U360 and Ultimate with a balltop, but I'm not sure if that would be very usable in 2 joy games. 

I'm also thinking of 2 Sanwa's... 

I can't see the cost benefit of two U360's...particularly since I'm going to have to use an IPAC no matter what for buttons because of the swappable panels.

[Necro]

*bump*

Help a confused BYOAC'er out!  

[Ginsu Victim]

If you want U360s, get them, otherwise you'll just wind up buying them in the future after wasting time and money on sticks you won't be as happy with.

For a dedicated 4-way, try the Sanwas, the Ms Pac-man stick (www.tornadoterrys.com), or the Suzo 500.

[Necro]

My main concern is is it worth it to have 2 U360's, or is the second just overkill?  That and how durable are they...for the cost I don't want them crapping out in a year.

[Neverending Project]

My main concern is is it worth it to have 2 U360's, or is the second just overkill?  That and how durable are they...for the cost I don't want them crapping out in a year.

Think about it another way. The difference in price between the U360 and, say, a Sanwa is about $40. If you use one U360 and one Sanwa you are saving yourself about $40. Now think about that $40 over the course of a year, or two, or more.

Three years from now are you really gonna care that you saved $40? Or you would you rather be thinking, "Self, I am glad I got the second U360 - it is a much better joystick. I don't know what I was thinking about not spending the extra $40."

Oh, and the quality is excellent.

[shardian]

You should ask yourself 2 things:

1. Am I a serious, hardcore gamer
2. Can my budget handle $200 worth of joysticks

Unless you answer a solid yes to both, you should stick with good old 8-ways. 8-ways allow you to play 99% of all the games. It is all I have ever used (even for Pacman).

[Necro]

You should ask yourself 2 things:

1. Am I a serious, hardcore gamer
2. Can my budget handle $200 worth of joysticks

This is a very good point. And I am a hardcore gamer, but the real question is will I be seriously, hardcore using my cab.

NP makes a good point too though regarding that it's really only $40 more for each.  The main question then is that REALLY all it is.  Will I need a spring, a restrictor, a this, a that, etc., with the U360 that will nickel and dime me up to the $100 mark.  (I'm figuring $75 each, minimum, because I would need the circular or octagonal restrictor plates).  This seems to be the biggest complaint I've read with the U360s.

What Sanwa stick is the U360 based off of?  (wondering if I can get the restrictors somewhere else for cheaper)

[Ginsu Victim]

[What Sanwa stick is the U360 based off of?  (wondering if I can get the restrictors somewhere else for cheaper)

JLW, but the restrictors come with posts that the U360 needs and you can't get them elsewhere.

If you get the octagonal, you get one. If you get the circular, you get one round and one square.

[Necro]

Yeah, after all the reading I've done I would say that the circular restrictor would be the way I would go and the hard spring since everyone seems to think that they make the stick much better.  So, $77 per stick.  Damn.

I need to sit down on my X-Arcade and really make sure I need an analog stick...

The major issue with the switch to the U360's 'at a later time' is the mounting issue - the U360's are the same mounting as the JLW, right?  So I couldnt use the X-Arcade sticks I have now (even with VersaBall tops) since the mounting holes would be different and would require me to totally redo the panel.

[NelsonPJ]

[What Sanwa stick is the U360 based off of?  (wondering if I can get the restrictors somewhere else for cheaper)

JLW, but the restrictors come with posts that the U360 needs and you can't get them elsewhere.

If you get the octagonal, you get two. If you get the circular, you get one round and one square, which means buying two sets for the circular. (Though I love the circular and feel it's worth it)

I don't think this is true.  I believe only one octagonal restrictor is included per "order".  The Ultimarc store says in the product description: "Optional Restrictor Plates with mounting hardware. Pack 1 contains one 4-8 way and one circular. Pack 2 contains one octagonal."

[Ginsu Victim]

[What Sanwa stick is the U360 based off of?  (wondering if I can get the restrictors somewhere else for cheaper)

JLW, but the restrictors come with posts that the U360 needs and you can't get them elsewhere.

If you get the octagonal, you get two. If you get the circular, you get one round and one square, which means buying two sets for the circular. (Though I love the circular and feel it's worth it)

I don't think this is true.  I believe only one octagonal restrictor is included per "order".  The Ultimarc store says in the product description: "Optional Restrictor Plates with mounting hardware. Pack 1 contains one 4-8 way and one circular. Pack 2 contains one octagonal."

Yes, you are correct. Thank you. Edited my post to reflect this.

[Necro]

Figured instead of starting a new thread I'd drop this here as well.  Opinions welcome on my current CP designs.  As I mentioned, there will eventually be three.  General built first, then Spinner (maybe w/trackball depending on space), then Classic.

[Ginsu Victim]

Rather than two spinners, how about a spinner and a Tron joystick?

[Necro]

Hehe.  I was thinking of putting the tron stick on the classic cab...now that you mention it I realize that would exclude a necessary spinner.

The reason for the two spinners is I'm a bit of a Arkanoid fan and playing arkanoid on anything but an Arkanoid spinner doesn't 'feel' right...just not sensitive enough.  Even with the MAME settings tweaked. 

I may need to redesign though to play Tron...that was something I overlooked.  Although a Tron stick will be expensive...

[Numbski]

Fill me in here - the U360 is Happ's clone of the Sanwa Flash, right?

EDIT:
(Oops - I'm thinking of the Happ Perfect 360, not the Ultra Stik 360)

[kowal]

P360 is clone Wico P360
flash it is JLF + optical PCB all stick is digital

U360 is hall effect PCB analog or digital

[Necro]

After doing even MORE research last night, I think I'm getting close to something.  I saw this post by Cakemeister (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=83496.msg872765#msg872765) and I really like his design.  A quick quote of it here:

1) 2 joysticks with 7 buttons each, or 8 if you like playstation emulation. Build this panel first.
   
            x  x  x                x  x  x
   O       x  x  x        O     x  x  x
         x  x                   x  x

2) a dedicated 4-way joystick, three buttons, and a trackball, for your classic 4-way games, Centipede, Missile Command, etc.
                           
     O     x  x  x     TB

3) a dedicated Defender joystick, 6 buttons in a Stargate-like layout, a spinner, and a flght stick, for Tron, Defender, Star Trek, Tempest, and so on.

                                    x   x     
            O         SP     x          x      FS
                x            x               

This does still present the problem of my Arkanoid spinner...I'll have to look into that a bit more and maybe just make a dedicated Arkanoid CP.

I'm going to end up spending more money on CP overlays than on controls!