3rd Joystick, top fire/trigger or 4-way?

[Vol]

I need advice/opinions on the third joystick to add to my panel.  I plan on having two P360s, a trackball, and a spinner, but I'm not sure if should get a top fire or trigger stick (for Tron style spinner/joystick games) or a dedicated 4-way.

What are your thoughts?

[Tiger-Heli]

I need advice/opinions on the third joystick to add to my panel.  I plan on having two P360s, a trackball, and a spinner, but I'm not sure if should get a top fire or trigger stick (for Tron style spinner/joystick games) or a dedicated 4-way.

What are your thoughts?

Pretty tough question.  Depends what you play most.  There are more 4-way games, but many trigger-stick games cannot be played well without a trigger-stick.  Swappable panels are your best bet.  Apart from this, you could do like a Raider Pro hack, with a PC trigger stick handle on a 4-way joystick.  I think some sites even showed that handle where it could be swapped out, so that's an option as well.

[hooded_paladin]

An 8-way triggerstick wouldn't do you any good for Tron anyway, unless you want your lightcycle to go crazy (among other things.)

The best thing to add (to a pair of 8-ways) is a 4-way.  These have by far the most number of playable games of anything you could add.

Also consider joystick restrictors from Oscar.  Install the joystick with a special mounting plate, then slide one in and you get instant 4-way action for any joystick.  Even a triggerstick.

[Vol]

Well, I guess there's nothing stopping me from adding both to the panel.  Nothing except money, of course, but luckily one more joystick isn't that huge a deal.  The CP real estate may be my biggest problem since I really want to stay away from multiple/swappable panels.

As for a trigger stick hack onto a four-way, I don't know.  Aren't there some trigger stick/spinner games that require an 8-way (Tron)?

I'm going to see how feasible a 4-way and top-fire/trigger would be.

[Vol]

Ahhh... so Tron didn't use an 8-way!

I'll look into the restrictor plates.

I still wonder, are there any games that require an 8-way trigger/top-fire?

[Tommy Boy]

Actually, the TRON stick WAS/IS an 8-way but it has a funky restrictor that makes it harder to hit the diagonals.  So it's somewhat in between.  I don't think you can get the true TRON experience without an authentic TRON stick or else a TRON restrictor married to a Happs trigger stick (though I'm not exactly sure that you can put the TRON restrictor on a Happs trigger stick).

You're running up against one of the truths of panel design.  It's nearly impossible to design a single panel that can play all the games you'd want.  Modular panels may be the only way to go as said above.

[hooded_paladin]

maybe OSCAR could add a new restrictor to his line :  tron shaped.

[Lilwolf]

Well, I would look at getting 2 snk rotaries... you don't need as much space as some other sticks... so it might do..

And if you designed it right... (ok, if you have the space... you might).  You might be able to use the SNKs for the second joysticks for dual smashtv games...  I don't know how good they would be at it... but they might be passable.

[curtis-r]

On my MAME cabinet, I have a tulip-style 3rd joystick, which is a handle w/ top fire button.  But be warned, the odd, thick shape of the tulip prevents the use of restrictor plate.  I'm currently trying to remedy this problem right now.

All-in-all, you certainly need to make one of your 3 joysticks have a fire button on it.  I'd probably recommend the tulip if I weren't having trouble w/ the restrictor plate.

As you probably can guess, a trigger-style handle/joy is great for Tron & such, but it may not work well at all for other games.

[paigeoliver]

Here is a quick run down of the general frequency of control types in MAME (in order).

Joy 8-way
Joy 4-way
Steering wheel. yoke, or other non-trackball, non-spinner analog control
Trackball
Top fire joystick
Spinner

Also note, a lot of games had top fire sticks, but very few actually required them. I mean Peter Packrat came with a top fire, as did Satan's Hollow, Gorf, and tons of other games that didn't need them. The list of games that actually need a top fire is much much shorter than the list of games that came with them.

For games that DO need top fire, off the top of my head I can think of Tron (also needs spinner), Discs of Tron (needs up/down spinner), Assault (needs 2 top fire 4-ways, never seen a mame cabinet equipped to play it), Vindicators (needs dual top fires for EACH player), and I think Tutankham.

[Todd H]

Speaking of Tron, I've found that the best way to play the light cycle part with an 8-way is to just tap the joystick when you want to change direction instead of continuously pushing it in different directions, kind of like Dragon's Lair.  Makes the cycle easier to control IMO.  

[Vol]

Great input guys, thanks to you all!

You've given my a lot to think about and I will consider it all while I proceed with my plan below.

I've decided to initially NOT add a 3rd joystick and will evaluate my needs based on my experience using the P360s for all games.

[hyiu]

assuming you have 2 8 ways already....

I would say your 3rd stick should be a 4 way....

but if you're using restriction plate... then the 8 way can be transformed into a 4 way by the plate... then I would add a top fire..... (or instead of a top fire... maybe I'll do something like a trigger stick... (those flight stick handles that has 2 buttons instead of 1...)

if it matters.... my own plan is to have 2 8 way... and 1 4 way..... (and no restricting plate...)