The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: Thraug on October 24, 2020, 04:20:03 pm
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What's considered the "best" joystick for Robotron, when used in a JROK WilliamsMultigame JAMMA PCB? I read countless threads and came up with these for suggestions, but most posts are MANY years old and it seems many of these sticks are no longer produced.
My preferences:
- New stick (no old used sticks).
- Something durable I don't have to maintain often.
- Preferably one I don't have to take apart and mod just to use.
- Must have option for round gate restrictor
Sticks suggested by other posts:
- [1] Sanwa JLF-TP-8YT (https://www.diyretroarcade.com/products/genuine-sanwa-jlf-tp-8yt-5-pin-joystick?_pos=1&_sid=77f772837&_ss=r)
- No comments on this for Robotron
- [2] Wico Red 8-Way Ball 4" Handle Leaf Joystick (https://www.arcadeshop.com/i/1489/wico-3.5-red-ball-handle-joystick.htm)
- Not sure I want to have to frequently fix leafs
- [3] "Happs Comp"? Are they referring to these: Suzo Happ 8-way Competition Joystick - Red (https://www.arcaderenovations.com/suzo-happ-competition-joystick-8-way-red.html)
- Not sure how these connect to JAMMA
- [4] WICO Perfect 360 Joystick
- [5] Happ Perfect 360's (with kowal's mod?)
- [6] Ultimarc UltraStik 360 Ball Top (https://www.ultimarc.com/arcade-controls/joysticks/ultrastik-360-oval-top-clone/)
- How would one connect one of these USB sticks in a JAMMA environment?
- [7] ---DELETED DUPLICATE---
- [8] Dominux8 Premium Leaf-Switch Joystick from Groovy Game Gear (https://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=407)
- These have recently recieved many positive reviews for Robotron!
- Some negative comments about "Grommet is Too soft, Stick appears to have way too much throw travel distance. Because the grommets are so soft... you will easily move the the furthest edges of the stick, which causes more stick travel than necessary."
If I get a stick that has leaf switches and grommets, will I have to tweak the leafs and replace parts often? That's something I'd like to avoid.
EDITED: Added more links. Edited out #7, it was a duplicate.
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8 - if you cant find a set of the refurbished original sticks..
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8 - if you cant find a set of the refurbished original sticks..
Have you used these in a Robotron, and if so, what else have you compared them to? Thanks.
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My thoughts on this....
If you are going down the JROK route, it means you really care about athenticity. Otherwise you'd be using a raspberry pi with mame or whatever. If you really care about authenticity, then New-Old-Stick Wico sticks are the way to go. They are still available. Really great sticks. I've played Robotron using X-arcade, Sanwa JLWs, and Wicos, and there's no comparison. In fact, the Wico is my favourite joystick for anything other than fighting games.
Don't let notions of maintenance put you off. This is WAYYYY overblown in people's minds in my experience. I tweaked mine to my liking when I built my cab, and haven't needed to do anything to them since.
If you can't get NOS Wico's I would imagine the Dominux are probably just as good, although I've not tried them.
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My thoughts on this....
If you are going down the JROK route, it means you really care about athenticity. Otherwise you'd be using a raspberry pi with mame or whatever. If you really care about authenticity, then New-Old-Stick Wico sticks are the way to go. They are still available. Really great sticks. I've played Robotron using X-arcade, Sanwa JLWs, and Wicos, and there's no comparison. In fact, the Wico is my favourite joystick for anything other than fighting games.
Don't let notions of maintenance put you off. This is WAYYYY overblown in people's minds in my experience. I tweaked mine to my liking when I built my cab, and haven't needed to do anything to them since.
If you can't get NOS Wico's I would imagine the Dominux are probably just as good, although I've not tried them.
I assume you meant "New-Old-Stock"? I'm pretty new to all of this so I'm not familiar with every acronym. Would either of these two Wico sticks that I posted above meet your Wico recommendation criteria? These:
- Wico Red 8-Way Ball 4" Handle Leaf Joystick (https://www.arcadeshop.com/i/1489/wico-3.5-red-ball-handle-joystick.htm)
This looks like a new reproduction of the stick you suggested?
- WICO Perfect 360 Joystick:
Doesn't seem to be made anymore
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I tried the Dominux8. And as a 10-million point Robotron Player, I could not break 2mill with those sticks. They didn’t feel as solid as the original Wico’s. They have a lighter action and the construction of them feels less heavy-duty.
If you can, get original Wico’s. If you need to do a bit of restoration on old ones, so be it. You won’t be satisfied with anything else if you’re a serious Robotron player.
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Listen to this guy ^^. I’ve watched him in person score over 10million, so whatever he says I’d take as gospel. You can buy an older Wico, the only thing that really breaks down is the grommet and you can get replacements at Arcade Shop.com.
I’ve heard the repros (that you linked to above) are good as well, depends on how authentic you want to be.
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My thoughts on this....
If you are going down the JROK route, it means you really care about athenticity. Otherwise you'd be using a raspberry pi with mame or whatever. If you really care about authenticity, then New-Old-Stick Wico sticks are the way to go. They are still available. Really great sticks. I've played Robotron using X-arcade, Sanwa JLWs, and Wicos, and there's no comparison. In fact, the Wico is my favourite joystick for anything other than fighting games.
Don't let notions of maintenance put you off. This is WAYYYY overblown in people's minds in my experience. I tweaked mine to my liking when I built my cab, and haven't needed to do anything to them since.
If you can't get NOS Wico's I would imagine the Dominux are probably just as good, although I've not tried them.
I assume you meant "New-Old-Stock"? I'm pretty new to all of this so I'm not familiar with every acronym. Would either of these two Wico sticks that I posted above meet your Wico recommendation criteria? These:
- Wico Red 8-Way Ball 4" Handle Leaf Joystick (https://www.arcadeshop.com/i/1489/wico-3.5-red-ball-handle-joystick.htm)
This looks like a new reproduction of the stick you suggested?
- WICO Perfect 360 Joystick:
Doesn't seem to be made anymore
Yes, new old stock. The reproduction ones you've linked too might be good, personally I have no experience or knowledge of them. Here are some originals:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WICO-JOYSTICK-Genuine-Arcade-Video-Game-Controller-8-way-NEW-IN-BOX-OEM/222882833283?hash=item33e4da2383:g:4-cAAOSwIJlaGLW7
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I tried the Dominux8. And as a 10-million point Robotron Player, I could not break 2mill with those sticks. They didn’t feel as solid as the original Wico’s. They have a lighter action and the construction of them feels less heavy-duty.
If you can, get original Wico’s. If you need to do a bit of restoration on old ones, so be it. You won’t be satisfied with anything else if you’re a serious Robotron player.
Any comment on how these reproduction Wico's compare to the NOS ones (https://www.arcadeshop.com/i/1489/wico-3.5-red-ball-handle-joystick.htm)?
https://www.arcadeshop.com/i/1489/wico-3.5-red-ball-handle-joystick.htm
Thanks, and I am a "serious" player, or plan on being one. It's by far my favorite game and I believe I'll play it almost every day. I played it often when it came out, .. along time ago, in an arcade far far away...
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I tried the Dominux8. And as a 10-million point Robotron Player, I could not break 2mill with those sticks. They didn’t feel as solid as the original Wico’s. They have a lighter action and the construction of them feels less heavy-duty.
If you can, get original Wico’s. If you need to do a bit of restoration on old ones, so be it. You won’t be satisfied with anything else if you’re a serious Robotron player.
Any comment on how these reproduction Wico's compare to the NOS ones (https://www.arcadeshop.com/i/1489/wico-3.5-red-ball-handle-joystick.htm)?
https://www.arcadeshop.com/i/1489/wico-3.5-red-ball-handle-joystick.htm
No clue, I haven't bought any repro Wico's before. But these are the shorter shaft version, you'll want 4" wico's for Robotron. You could buy these and try to find 4" shaft reproductions, I know they're out there, but honestly, the best thing to do is try to find original ones. Even if you have to restore them a bit, you can easily do so with new grommets and leaf switches.
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I read some posts from "experts" saying a shorter stick is better for Robotron, due to less throw. Any comments on that? I read the original game has a measure of 2.3" from top of panel to top of ball. Will a 4" shaft result in this same measurement? I suppose the thickness of the control panel impacts this. I'm putting it in a Arcade1Up cabinet, for now at least.
Thank you, so far I'm leaning towards NOS Wicos.
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Arcadeshop also sells 4” versions:
https://www.arcadeshop.com/i/1490/wico-4-red-ball-handle-joystick.htm (https://www.arcadeshop.com/i/1490/wico-4-red-ball-handle-joystick.htm)
The difference in shaft height effects the leverage at the fulcrum point. A longer shaft will make it easier to move than a shorter. Mounting height and panel thickness will effect the exposed height but that’s not what the longer shaft length is for, it’s for the feel.
As I mentioned before Opt2not is a legit player, it sounds like he is endorsing original sticks (4” height), if it were me I’d go with his recommendation.
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Oh, didn't know you were throwing it into those crappy Arcade 1ups. eeks! You're going to be tossing that little pulpwood cabinet around with the intense Robotron play.
What's the thickness of those CP's?
Yes, the original cabinets the 4" joys were installed into 3/4" wood panels. Shorter shafts don't give you less throw though. The angle of the pivot point on the shaft with the extra height makes the shaft actuate the switches more quickly than shorter throw shafts.
Also, you'll want good clearance from the CP so you are not scraping your hands against it. The taller shafts help with that.
edit: Arroyo nailed the explanation a lot more precisely than me. :cheers:
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I don't see how an a1up would survive a good game of robotron.
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Rubber feet and a heavy weight in the base? Not saying that will help a 1up cabinet survive the knocking around, but I did that to my old vigolixes, and it stabilized them pretty well. Vigolix is designed to be much tougher construction, though. I would think the screw and dowel construction of a 1up would need some reinforcement.
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I bought a pair of Dominux8s for a general-purpose multi-game MAME cabinet but I definitely was interested in suitability for Robotron, specifically.
I'm a 750k Robotron player on my best day so not really an authority of any kind on that game, but there have been a few times I have spent time playing original Wicos on a real cabinet, followed by coming home and immediately trying my setup, to get a bit of an A/B comparison on the joysticks. The most conspicuous difference in these trials, for me, was that the original sticks seemed to have a noticeably shorter throw before they hit a stop. The originals also might have a bit more firmness in the centering spring, but then again, I've played other cabinets where they were really loosey-goosey, so it probably depends on the condition/age of the grommet.
For what it's worth, my D8's have been pretty solid and consistent for 4-5 years now. You definitely have to spend some time to tweak the leaf switches to your liking but once I did that, it's been largely set-it-and-forget-it.
Regarding original Wico vs. Dominux 8, personally, I'd not call either stick "better;" they're just a bit different, and you're likely to find some players who prefer one, and some players who prefer the other, just like anything else. Of course, it goes without saying that if purism is important you can't beat original hardware. But if, like me, you want an excellent leaf switch stick with buttery smooth circular restriction that plays a great game of Robotron but also does well on hundreds of other games on a general-purpose cabinet, you can't go wrong with the D8's, IMO.
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Is getting reproduction Wico joysticks as good as finding New-Old-Stock Wico sticks? These are the reproductions I'm considering: Wico Red 8-Way Ball 4" Handle Leaf Joystick (https://www.arcadeshop.com/i/1490/wico-4-red-ball-handle-joystick.htm) (https://www.arcadeshop.com/i/1490/wico-4-red-ball-handle-joystick.htm).
If not, what's not as good about them?
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The Dominux8™ Premium Leaf-Switch Joystick is the best joystick for playing Robotron that I have tried so far.
You clearly haven't tried the original Wico's.
Is getting reproduction Wico joysticks as good as finding New-Old-Stock Wico sticks? These are the reproductions I'm considering: Wico Red 8-Way Ball 4" Handle Leaf Joystick (https://www.arcadeshop.com/i/1490/wico-4-red-ball-handle-joystick.htm) (https://www.arcadeshop.com/i/1490/wico-4-red-ball-handle-joystick.htm).
If not, what's not as good about them?
With any reproduction hardware, you won't be getting 100% the quality of the originals. That said, it sounds like you're not really interested in getting originals to fix-up, so you might as well try out the repros.
I'm done with this thread. seems that you have your choices laid-out for you, it's up to you what you get.
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You might want to remove your foot from your mouth and your head from your ass.
Opt has a Robotron cab in his house, where he Twitch streams weekly arcade stuff. Including scoring 10 million on Robotron which is more than twice your high score.
Oh and then there is is day job, creating video games.
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You keep talking about how old you are. Are we supposed to be impressed that you managed to not die for 65 years in a row?
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You might want to remove your foot from your mouth and your head from your ass.
Opt has a Robotron cab in his house, where he Twitch streams weekly arcade stuff. Including scoring 10 million on Robotron which is more than twice your high score.
Oh and then there is is day job, creating video games.
:cheers:
Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.
You clearly are what, a millenial who has no real arcade experience with the wico because your probably weren't even born then? I'm 65 years old and have seen more that your intenet, social media, cell phone mind will ever psuedo experience. You are an echo of read it, heard it, know it. I've got original Wico's and the Dominux8 side by side in a Robotron cabinet and every time I ask a non biased, non fanboy/girl which stick they prefer, without their knowledge of which is which, have always chosen the Dominux8. Go figure. I guess you, as an advanced player have some sort of esoteric knowledge that we mear mortals do not possess.
Man, I'd be ashamed at 65 if I were going around small community forums swinging my dick around trying to impress people with my age and popping-off at the drop of any disagreement.
You're new to this forum, it doesn't matter if you're 30, 65 or 100 years old. Age has no meaning here. No one knows who you are, and you have contributed jack and ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- to this forum. Here's a little piece of advice: try interacting with people with less of a chip on your shoulder, people might actually take you seriously.
This is a small community, a lot of us know each other and have hung-out in real life. We talk on a daily basis outside of the forum and have been to multiple arcade conventions together, playing games with each other, etc... people know who I am and what i've contributed to this forum. I've helped many people here with their projects through design ideas, art commissions, hardware choices, the list goes on. You're a noobie trying to establish some kind of dominence through age-dropping.
And to solve your ignorance, I'm a Gen-Xer that grew-up in the arcades. First-hand knowledge. I've own and have owned multiple original machines, restored them, built them, stream from them...etc. A lot of my projects are posted here. My experience is full and rich and is rooted in the arcade scene. Not to mention I also make video games today as my profession (21 years and still going), so I have a much deeper understanding of game design and choices that you would ever know.
Try reading more of this forum, get to know people better, rather than being antagonistic at the drop of a dime. You will save yourself embarassment, like that time you told RandyT where to buy a GroovyGameGear Super 4-way restrictor (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,163700.msg1725247.html#msg1725247). :lol that was pretty hilarious.
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Didn't know Ark's father had an account here.
good day.
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Well I guess senility can kick in at 65.
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We don't go by age here.... if anything we go by post count (and seldom do we do that). Notice that big beefy 5k opt has there.... that means he's at least been engaged with the community for some time. Here you go... feel free to feel embarrassed for questioning his ability and knowledge on the subject:
http://www.twitch.tv/videos/729325095 (http://www.twitch.tv/videos/729325095)
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At least we got him to think about taking a shower. That is progress.
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https://atariage.com/forums/topic/312960-arcadecontrols-is-the-worst-forum-i-have-ever-experienced/
good day.
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My favorite part is that his holy outrage was met with a collective "meh".
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edit: Removed my suggestion of PAS Magenta with OttoDiy grommet modification and circular gate from eg Buttercade
reason: I haven't tried the Magenta still ( it's been out of stock). I have tried the Otto grommet mod on a pair of JLFs and a grommet failed within a week, it's just one data point but enough to curb my enthusiasm.
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Is this the same guy who blew up a few months ago over a YouTube video about an arcade?
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You clearly are what, a millenial who has no real arcade experience with the wico because your probably weren't even born then? I'm 65 years old and have seen more that your intenet, social media, cell phone mind will ever psuedo experience. You are an echo of read it, heard it, know it. I've got original Wico's and the Dominux8 side by side in a Robotron cabinet and every time I ask a non biased, non fanboy/girl which stick they prefer, without their knowledge of which is which, have always chosen the Dominux8. Go figure. I guess you, as an advanced player have some sort of esoteric knowledge that we mear mortals do not possess.
The ill-placed commas in this comment make me almost forget what the point was.
Opt is a good guy. He puts my gaming skills to shame. I have seen him dominate on many games, and Robotron is easily his top specialty. You don't have to agree with his takes, but don't discount it as uninformed.
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Yikes, what happened to poor little thread? :o Sorry for the mess folks, I didn't mean for it go sideways.
Anyways, lots of good information here, thanks. I think I'll start with tracking down some NOS Wicos and see how they feel on my reinforced Aracade1Up cabinet and go from there.
opt2not, I think I found your twitch and youtubes channels. Gillaxian? I plan on watching any Robotron videos you have posted. Thanks.
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Tune in to his stream live too. A few of us chat there. it is entertaining.
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Thanks for the kinds words,friends!
I think I'm due for another Robotron stream. Maybe in the next couple weeks or so.
Yikes, what happened to poor little thread? :o Sorry for the mess folks, I didn't mean for it go sideways.
Anyways, lots of good information here, thanks. I think I'll start with tracking down some NOS Wicos and see how they feel on my reinforced Aracade1Up cabinet and go from there.
opt2not, I think I found your twitch and youtubes channels. Gillaxian? I plan on watching any Robotron videos you have posted. Thanks.
Sorry about your thread. That guy has some serious social problems, but by the looks of his whining on that other forum, he's not coming back here. Thank goodness. We don't need idiots like him coming in hot and firing shots at people for disagreements. It's fine to disagree with someone, but once you start acting like an ---uvula--- towards them the conversation breaks down into mud slinging.
Yeah I'm Gillaxian on the youtubes and twitch. I've streamed Robotron a couple times now, and the video link that Howard posted above has some more informative details on the gameplay.
Drop by the channel on Thursdays at 6pm PST, if you're interested, I stream from my cabinets using mainly real PCB's. It's a fun little past-time while the world is in chaos right now.
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You accumulate points on Twitch when you watch live streams. If we accumulate enough points we can make Gillaxian drink until he throws up. It adds another dimension to the event.
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Yeah I'm Gillaxian on the youtubes and twitch. I've streamed Robotron a couple times now, and the video link that Howard posted above has some more informative details on the gameplay.
I watched some of your 5 hour marathon game on YouTube. When I played the original arcade game when it first came out I was able to play endlessly (on L1?), until they increased the difficulty level to something very high; not sure if it was L10. After 35+ years since playing on a real cabinet, I recently played quite a bit on a Williams 19-in-1 and Robotron was ... very wonky! Enforcer shots seemed extremely fast, and after ~10 levels the game suffered from massive slowdowns. Yet, I still played it because it's all I had. I think I maxed out at ~650k points, and lost interest due to the jerkiness of the gameplay at higher levels. Some questions:
- What level did you have it set to in the YouTube video?
- I read Robotron on the non-JROK Williams 19-1 PCBs can get very slow and chunky, and enforcer shots fire at 5x speed. I think you stated your board was a JROK. Have you seen any of these issues? I read somewhere the JROK PCB doesn't suffer from the issues I mentioned. I have yet to plug mine in.
- Do top players comparing high scores generally play on L10?
- Anyone have a Robotron CPO template file?
- Related: Anyone know the distance between sticks on the original arcade? I haven't been able to find this info and need to send the guy making my CP a button/joystick hole layout.
- Related: What diameter holes should be cut into the CP for this Wico joystick? I was planning on specifying 1.2" diameter. Is that correct?
I just ordered 2 NOS Wicos from that UK vendor posted above, and ordered some new grommets from the link posted above. It'll be a while before I get this cabinet operational but I'm looking forward to it!
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- What level did you have it set to in the YouTube video?
I had it set to the Default Settings.
Difficulty: 5
Starting men: 3
Bonus men: every 25,000
- I read Robotron on the non-JROK Williams 19-1 PCBs can get very slow and chunky, and enforcer shots fire at 5x speed. I think you stated your board was a JROK. Have you seen any of these issues? I read somewhere the JROK PCB doesn't suffer from the issues I mentioned. I have yet to plug mine in.
The JROK is a perfect reproduction of the original boards using FPGA hardware. The 19-1 PCB's are cheap emulation boards running older versions of Mame. That's why those boards have game issues.
- Do top players comparing high scores generally play on L10?
Not really. World records are recorded on Default settings. Mainly in tournament play do people play on Difficulty 10.
- Related: Anyone know the distance between sticks on the original arcade? I haven't been able to find this info and need to send the guy making my CP a button/joystick hole layout.
From the center of each shaft it's exactly 9 inches apart.
- Related: What diameter holes should be cut into the CP for this Wico joystick? I was planning on specifying 1.2" diameter. Is that correct?
1 1/8" , standard button size will be fine.
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I think I'm due for another Robotron stream.
I missed your LIFEFORCE Stream. I just watched the clip.
If Opt2not says that WICO 8-Way with 4" sticks are the best, it's the best plus he got Williams to back that up.
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- What level did you have it set to in the YouTube video?
I had it set to the Default Settings.
Difficulty: 5
Starting men: 3
Bonus men: every 25,000
- I read Robotron on the non-JROK Williams 19-1 PCBs can get very slow and chunky, and enforcer shots fire at 5x speed. I think you stated your board was a JROK. Have you seen any of these issues? I read somewhere the JROK PCB doesn't suffer from the issues I mentioned. I have yet to plug mine in.
The JROK is a perfect reproduction of the original boards using FPGA hardware. The 19-1 PCB's are cheap emulation boards running older versions of Mame. That's why those boards have game issues.
- Do top players comparing high scores generally play on L10?
Not really. World records are recorded on Default settings. Mainly in tournament play do people play on Difficulty 10.
- Related: Anyone know the distance between sticks on the original arcade? I haven't been able to find this info and need to send the guy making my CP a button/joystick hole layout.
From the center of each shaft it's exactly 9 inches apart.
- Related: What diameter holes should be cut into the CP for this Wico joystick? I was planning on specifying 1.2" diameter. Is that correct?
1 1/8" , standard button size will be fine.
Thought the sticks were 10" apart? Maybe it's 9" on the cabaret cabinet?
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Yep I build a Robotron and its 10" between the sticks on the full size cab. The artwork for it from ArcadeShop is also 10".
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Is that 10" apart from center of hole to center of hole, or the space between the two inner edges of the 1.2" diameter holes?
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Oh, i thought you were asking about the distance of my cabaret.
Full-size cab is 10” from center to center.
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You accumulate points on Twitch when you watch live streams. If we accumulate enough points we can make Gillaxian drink until he throws up. It adds another dimension to the event.
I'm familiar with this concept, although it usually involves a bluetooth controlled vibrator inside the panties.
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We could probably get him to do that. >:D
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Oh, i thought you were asking about the distance of my cabaret.
Full-size cab is 10” from center to center.
How big is the monitor in the cabaret? 14"? I've made a cab primarily for Robotron and have used a 20" monitor. I have the feeling it's bigger than the ideal size. I'm thinking to either redo it, or make another pure Robotron cab with a 14-16" screen.
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The Cabaret has a Wells Garner 13” monitor actually.
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You accumulate points on Twitch when you watch live streams. If we accumulate enough points we can make Gillaxian drink until he throws up. It adds another dimension to the event.
I realize that this is an old one (the standard red banner of shame for my posting here- this is what I get for searching before just asking ;) ) but I got a belly laugh out of Mike A and Vigo as usual, and of course Opt's opinion is always welcome, and then even more fun that I see some obnoxious jackass was SO bad that even his original posts have been nuked, so who could resist really, but I digress-
As regards the joysticks for a Multi-Williams cabinet here...
Can anyone comment on what was (originally) in the real Multi-Williams cabs in the wild?
And/or has anyone come to a (ahem, best?- rrrr...) compromise for something that could play Defender/Stargate, Joust and Robotron reasonably in the same cabinet?
I DO really enjoy playing all of the aforementioned games on my scratch Multi-Williams, and as I believe I suck equally at all of them, is there a good stick choice to accomodate?
Bear in mind that I am functioning in a vacuum out here, and in addition to limited room for cabinets in the ArcadeLoft (the two remaining spots held for a vector cab and it's multi-panel swap-mate raster twin...) there is an equal chance of me acquiring a real version of any of these games and that of 50 rabid rainbow-furred monkeys flying out of ---my bottom---, SO...
If the original Robotron sticks had round restrictors, does anyone even make that anymore (like maybe those Wico repros at arcadeshop?) or is it left to one to get out the dremel and make it happen?
Any experience on whether those repro Wicos really suck for Defender/Stargate and Joust?
Currently there are Mag-Stik Plus sticks in my cab (which are, however great for my other faves, nearly unusable for Robotron sadly.)
My only experience with round restrictor sticks is U360s and although I think they are really good for games like Gyruss and EPROM, I'm not sure they are best for this application.
I feel like I'm getting close to having a few cabinets that I can just play and not be re-engineering every few months so any real experience/wisdom is appreciated!
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Bobby,
Took me a long time to come to this conclusion, but anything other than the original stick for a game sucks. Games were designed with certain sticks in mind and the Williams games in particular IMO don’t play well without them.
Defender, & Joust both use the same 2 way stick although positioned 90 deg from each other.
Robotron uses a completely different 8 way grommet based 4” shaft length Wico (as opposed to 3.5” shaft length).
Fortunately for you there are repro’s that have been made:
https://www.arcadeshop.com/i/405/joystick-williams-rebuild-kit.htm (https://www.arcadeshop.com/i/405/joystick-williams-rebuild-kit.htm)
They have blue, yellow, and red ball top shafts for Joust and Defender. They also have the special dust washer.
I was going to recommend an alternative made by a guy that’s on these boards but it looks like he is no longer selling it or the bearing kit that helps solve the Williams stick problem of wearing down the metal pivot points over time (if you buy it I highly recommend you keep it lubed with 3-1 oil). Here’s the site in case something changes:
https://www.jbgaming.co.uk/parts/ (https://www.jbgaming.co.uk/parts/)
For Robotron there is repro’s of the Wico’s here:
https://www.arcadeshop.com/i/1490/wico-4-red-ball-handle-joystick.htm (https://www.arcadeshop.com/i/1490/wico-4-red-ball-handle-joystick.htm)
If you do a search at Arcadeshop for Williams you’ll see they have a lot of stuff, including Multi-Williams stuff like bezel’s, marquees, Control Panel overlays, even an entire Williams Cab repro.
Don’t forget leaf buttons as well, they have that stuff too.
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Hey Bobby,
The Defender and Robotron sticks are so different that you will want 3 joysticks if you are at all serious about Defender. To get the correct original hand placement you'll need swap control panels, but for a single panel solution you can reduce the Robo sticks separation and put the Defender controls wider.
There's a new cheap Defender reproduction coming soon at ParadiseArcadeShop, or my expensive Zeroplay will be back on sale very soon.
The reproduction Robo sticks are horribly stiff, but correct stiffness grommets are due to be on sale again soon. I haven't played the Dominux8 but it felt nice and smooth when I handled one. I don't sell my own grommet sticks so I don't have a dog in this fight (yet).
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That zeroplay stick is legit.
I own one.
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For games I remember playing a lot the end goal is authentic control layouts.
Inevitable that I wind up with a few multi-panel machines at this point really.
I fudged the arrangement on a Multi-Williams CP to be able to jam the Defender reverse button into the right location.
Required trimming the mounting plate on the Mag-Stik to get it to fit properly but it actually plays really well with that stick in 4 way mode.
Look forward to seeing your joystick for sale jimmer.
I'll certainly be getting (at least) one.