Can someone please school me on the U360 by Ultimarc??

[zmartin34]

I have a cab with a 2 person control panel; I recently upgraded my computer and now I can run virtually everything I want. I currently have 2 8-way joysticks, no analog control at all. I am running Hyper Spin FE and am looking to emulate Dreamcast, PSX and N64; they are the only ones I have left.

The reason I haven't set them up yet is because most of the games on those systems required the use of an analog stick. Is this what you folks are using the U360 for? In general what is the consensus in terms of the how well they work?

I prob won't have room to set-up 2 of them complete with buttons on my current control panel so I'll prob just go with 1 stick and buttons but at least I can enjoy those other systems.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated 

[Ginsu Victim]

There's nothing on those systems I run that would need analog. I use U360s and apart from analog games in MAME, I run all consoles with 8-way maps.

For ease of use, though, I highly recommend the U360.

[zmartin34]

There's nothing on those systems I run that would need analog. I use U360s and apart from analog games in MAME, I run all consoles with 8-way maps.

For ease of use, though, I highly recommend the U360.

Thanks Ginsu 

But the vast majority of the games on dreamcast and psx all used the left analog stick correct? Nearly every game I can remember playing on those used the analog stick... Sure you could control some of them with the d-pad but it limited the gameplay as you lost the analog control that was programmed into the game. Someone tell me what I'm missing...

Also, could you elaborate on the ease of use? I'm already setup with 8-ways and they're working just fine if analog is not needed for those emus...

[ivwshane]

The benefit of the U360's is that you can use them like a dedicated 4, 8, and analog stick. With the proper software the stick will auto configure itself based off of the game you are playing.

If you get a U360 you really don't need your other sticks.


Some standard upgrade options people get are stiffer springs and resticter plates (I myself just have the stiffer springs).


I love this stick!

[Franco B]

But the vast majority of the games on dreamcast and psx all used the left analog stick correct? Nearly every game I can remember playing on those used the analog stick... Sure you could control some of them with the d-pad but it limited the gameplay as you lost the analog control that was programmed into the game. Someone tell me what I'm missing...

AFAK there is still no solution for using the U360s for analogue N64/DC games.

I'm not so sure about the N64 but there are lots of great DC games (mainly fighters and shmups) that you can use the d-pad for, and hence arcade controls.

[zmartin34]

Very helpful; thanks to all!

[u_rebelscum]

Some DC games, IMO, needed analog to control the game.  At least I needed to use the analog stick to play at my best.  Also IIRC, Sonic used the analog to move and the d-pad to look around, and definately could move at different speeds and turn slower or faster depending on how far the analog was pressed. 

OTOH, most arcade type games (example: SoulCalibur) were designed for digital stick inputs, even though both the d-pad & analog stick worked.  And I know a few people who do better with d-pad than analog stick control even in games designed for analog.

Which is one of the great things of the u360: you can try the game with it in analog mode, then try it in digital and see which one you play best.  And all emus should be able to map a digital stick to the analog input, so even game like sonic are controlable with digital joysticks.

Still might want to try the games with your current setup, though.  Remember, just because your stick is physically digital doesn't mean it can't be used (mapped) to the analog stick.

[zmartin34]

Some DC games, IMO, needed analog to control the game.  At least I needed to use the analog stick to play at my best.  Also IIRC, Sonic used the analog to move and the d-pad to look around, and definately could move at different speeds and turn slower or faster depending on how far the analog was pressed. 

OTOH, most arcade type games (example: SoulCalibur) were designed for digital stick inputs, even though both the d-pad & analog stick worked.  And I know a few people who do better with d-pad than analog stick control even in games designed for analog.

Which is one of the great things of the u360: you can try the game with it in analog mode, then try it in digital and see which one you play best.  And all emus should be able to map a digital stick to the analog input, so even game like sonic are controlable with digital joysticks.

Still might want to try the games with your current setup, though.  Remember, just because your stick is physically digital doesn't mean it can't be used (mapped) to the analog stick.

At the risk of resurrecting here goes:

OK I got you rebelscum. What I don't get is that Franco stated that the U360 will not work in analog with emu's??

I agree that games (such as Sonic) that were designed for analog played better with analog then on the digital pad. Games like fighters were easier with the pad IMHO.

So your saying though that the U360 can be set up to run like the analog stick so for a game like Sonic?

[severdhed]

i think the problem isn't with the u360s, but rather the emulators not supporting analog input.  the reason it isn't a problem for most people, is they most people who do console emulation on a cab, do it to play games that work well with arcade controls.  if you are playing a game that needs analog inputs and a bunch of crap like that, you'd be better off using a gamepad.  personally, i do all of my console emulation on a modded xbox, and keep my cabinet for mame.

and for mame, the u360s are awesome.  i dont use them as analog sticks, but the mapping from 2 to 4 to 8way and diagonal 4 way (qbert) is just amazing.  they work flawlessly for every game i have played so far

[u_rebelscum]

i think the problem [is] with ... the emulators not supporting analog input....

I got that impression too.  I don't use any n64 or DC emus, so I wouldn't know if they supported analog or not.  Two things need to be supported for the u360 to work: a) the emu needs to support passing ananlog data as inputs to the game, and b) be able to remap axes to the game's analog and dpad inputs.

I know MAME, and thus MESS of course, can do the latter.  I'm not sure if the n64/DC parts of MESS support passing the analog data, though (or even if they emulate those systems).

[SGT]

i think the problem isn't with the u360s, but rather the emulators not supporting analog input. 

I thought I had read of people using the U360s with Project64 and Nulldc and utilizing the analog input that the U360 provides.  Are you sure these emulators do not support analog input?  That would be very disappointing as I had plans for this.   Some games "really" need analog instead of just 8 way.

[Ginsu Victim]

edited by dummy idiot boy

[severdhed]

i have no idea if they do not, i dont use them..  what i was saying is that if there is a problem geting the u360 to work as an analog stick in a certain emulator, it would more likely be because the emulator may not support analog input.

[u_rebelscum]

Two things need to be supported for the u360 to work:
a) the emu needs to support passing analog data as inputs to the game, and
b) be able to remap axes to the game's analog and dpad inputs.

It looks like those two emus support analog inputs in some way (a), but I can't tell if you can remap axes (b).  There are pages about using playstation/xbox controllers analog sticks, seeming to cover a).  But depending on how the emus where written, they might not be setup to map the u360 to the analog and something else to the dpad (be it other gamepad, keyboard, or nothing) to the dpad.  So I don't know about b). 

Which is why I split the two parts in my last post.

[SGT]

Are you sure these emulators do not support analog input?

I don't use any n64 or DC emus, so I wouldn't know if they supported analog or not.

Ginsu,

I'm not sure what you're saying with your two quotes.  I wasn't quoting urebelscum's comment.

[Ginsu Victim]

Yeah, I see that now. I made the mistake of skipping past what you were quoting and just reading your reply. Sorry 'bout that.

[zmartin34]

Well that's starting to make more sense now. I run Project64 and in the controller config it def has set-up for analog input. The question now is as stated above: will it work with u360?

Can anyone who has tried this comment please??

[SGT]

I asked this question a couple of years ago and got an affirmative :

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=62055.0

More evidence:
http://www.coolrom.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6120

and:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=75191.msg785116#msg785116

Apparently there's not a ton of people doing it, but google searches does not find anyone that was unable to get it to work after fiddling with it a little.

[zmartin34]

I asked this question a couple of years ago and got an affirmative :

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=62055.0

More evidence:
http://www.coolrom.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6120

and:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=75191.msg785116#msg785116

Apparently there's not a ton of people doing it, but google searches does not find anyone that was unable to get it to work after fiddling with it a little.

Thanks!!

I couldn't understand how this could be such a problem. Very helpful thanks again.

[BamBam]

The benefit of the U360's is that you can use them like a dedicated 4, 8, and analog stick. With the proper software the stick will auto configure itself based off of the game you are playing.

If you get a U360 you really don't need your other sticks.


Some standard upgrade options people get are stiffer springs and resticter plates (I myself just have the stiffer springs).


I love this stick!

Which software do you recommend?

[SGT]

FatFingers has a U360 plugin for Mala:

http://malafe.net/index.php?page=plugins#ultrastik

[severdhed]

FatFingers has a U360 plugin for Mala:

http://malafe.net/index.php?page=plugins#ultrastik

+1

this is what i use, and it works great

[BamBam]

FatFingers has a U360 plugin for Mala:

http://malafe.net/index.php?page=plugins#ultrastik

Got it.  Thanks.  I was planning on buying two of the Ultrastick 360's to replace my two 8-way and one 4-way sticks to free up room for my analog joystick.