Spintrak question

[Soundwave]

I'm more specifically looking at Ultimarc's Spintrak, mostly for racing games on my upright cab. Does anyone know if it centers itself after you let go and if so will it also do that if I having it facing up on the control panel or does it need to be facing towards me? What about the differences between the large or the small flywheel...I guess I don't know what they do exactly.
Also how big is the dial knob? I was hoping to put it next to the joystick without it interfering with anything.

Also, does a spinner require anything special to do in MAME to get it to work in games like Outrun? What about PC racing games..will it work like a standard USB Wheel?

[Slippyblade]

Pretty sure it doesn't return to center.  It's a spinner and, as such, just spins.  The flywheel weights just add mass to the spinner.  More mass means more continued spin when you let go and more energy needed to start it moving.

[PL1]

http://newwiki.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?title=Spinners_and_Dials#What_is_a_Spinner.3F

Does anyone know if it centers itself after you let go

There is no centering with a spinner.

It works like one axis of a ball-type mouse with the encoder wheel inside the body of the SpinTrak.

Underneath the control panel, the shaft comes down from the knob above. Mounted on the shaft, is an optical encoder wheel- a flat disk with notches cut around the outside edge. These notches pass though a set of infra-red optics, that detect the notches as they spin by. There are two sets of optics, spaced such that they see the notches spin by just a little bit out of sync. The combined signal from both of these optics tells the game which direction the disk is turning, and how fast. This is also how a trackball works, as well as a ball-type PC mouse.

and if so will it also do that if I having it facing up on the control panel or does it need to be facing towards me?

There's no centering so there's no direction that you have to orient the SpinTrak when installing it on a panel.

Also, does a spinner require anything special to do in MAME to get it to work in games like Outrun?

If by "games like Outrun" you mean racing games that use a 360 degree (optical) steering wheel, then nothing special beyond ensuring mouse is enabled in mame.ini and the usual bunch of tweaks that all MAME racing games require.

http://newwiki.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?title=Spinners_and_Dials#Which_games_originally_used_a_spinner.2Fpaddle.3F

What about PC racing games..will it work like a standard USB Wheel?

   Wheel -  In general, games that used one type of wheel don't work very well with the other type.

                270° PC wheels work well with games that originally used a potentiometer wheel. 
                One benefit is that they have automatic "return to center" feedback, even for games or
                emulators without force feedback.  The downside is that 360° wheel games play
                very poorly.

Make sure you leave enough room around the spinner so you can install and operate the optional 6" steering wheel for racing games.



You probably won't like trying to control a racing game using a Tempest or Arkanoid-sized knob.


Scott

[BadMouth]

Also, does a spinner require anything special to do in MAME to get it to work in games like Outrun?

No, but the fact that it can spin endlessly might cause issues.
See the stickied driving cab info thread (a spinner would fall under 360 degree wheel).  There are solutions to make the experience better, but they aren't simple.

What about PC racing games..will it work like a standard USB Wheel?

As PL1 stated, the spinner will show up as a mouse axis.
Most PC games don't support mouse input.

You can use a program like glovepie to translate the mouse input to a virtual joystick, but again, that isn't going to be plug and play.

EDIT:  Oh, and don't expect it to be like the joystick games where you just install it and can play 2000 games.
Every single game will need the sensitivity to be set individually and if you are using buttons for the gas an brake you'll also have to tweak the digital speed and digital centering settings in MAME.  There are no universal settings.  Every game in MAME is different and most input devices are different.
Once it's set up it's well worth it, but you'll be taking things one single game at a time.