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New Product: Ultimarc UltraStik 360 Analog/Digital Mappable Joystick
Farb:
Hi all,
Here's my quick review after playing with the UltraStik for a few weeks. The digital restriction on the joystick works great. I wrote a program to automatically go through all the games in MAME and create .ugc files based on the type of controller each game has. I then configured MAMEWah to run Andy's executable with the ugc file before the game starts and it works great. The only thing I have left to do is get MAMEWah to return the stick to 8-way mode after the game is done and before going back to the menu. Currently, a game of Galaga will then make it impossible to move up/down in the menu to select another game! :P If anyone knows how to do this, please let me know!
4-way games like Donkey Kong and Pac Man behave as I'd expect them to (I can't really play them well with an 8-way stick) and I was able to ditch the dedicated 4-way stick I had on my previous panel. Games like Space Harrier, Afterburner and even Sinistar play great when the stick is in analog mode. And of course, all 8-way games I've tried play the way I'd expect. So, from that standpoint, the stick is awesome.
One thing I noticed was that even with the longer shaft (which adds 10mm to the height) the stick is still a bit lower than the Happ Competition sticks that are also in my panel. But that's just an observation and not a problem. Oh, and a quick suggestion to Andy: can you include a diagram that shows how all the parts of the stick go together (like Happ does)? I slipped trying to replace the shaft and some parts came off -- it took a lot longer than I'll admit to get everything back together properly :-X
My only complaints with the stick are how soft the movement is (several people have commented not liking it) and how easily the bat handle gets loose. The throw of the stick is longer than the Happ Competition sticks, but I don't find it to be a problem. I saw that Andy sells stiffer springs for the stick, but I can't justify spending $14 on shipping for a $5 spring so I can't say how much they improve the stick's softness. Has anyone else tried it? I also just noticed something on Andy's site about the stick having a screwdriver notch at the base for tightening the handle which I will have to try to solve the loosening issue.
So, would I purchase the stick again? Yes. I am considering getting another one for player 2, but will not do so until I can confirm whether the stiffer spring improves the softness of the stick. I prefer a bit more resistence than the stick currently provides.
Here's a link to a photo of my machine (the UltraStik is the red one):
http://www.farbish.com/coppermine/displayimage.php?album=9&pos=60
Hope this was informative.
->Dan
AllisterFiend:
--- Quote from: farb on July 22, 2006, 07:19:15 pm ---
So, would I purchase the stick again? Yes. I am considering getting another one for player 2, but will not do so until I can confirm whether the stiffer spring improves the softness of the stick. I prefer a bit more resistence than the stick currently provides.
->Dan
--- End quote ---
I'm still in the process of building a new control panel so I can not comment on how well the joystick works, but I did order a set of springs and they make a huge difference, if you are going to order a new joystick, and think the throw is to soft (easy), go ahead and add the springs to your order.
Allister Fiend
MiKman:
--- Quote from: farb on July 22, 2006, 07:19:15 pm ---Hi all,
Here's my quick review after playing with the UltraStik for a few weeks. The digital restriction on the joystick works great. I wrote a program to automatically go through all the games in MAME and create .ugc files based on the type of controller each game has. I then configured MAMEWah to run Andy's executable with the ugc file before the game starts and it works great. The only thing I have left to do is get MAMEWah to return the stick to 8-way mode after the game is done and before going back to the menu.
etc..
--- End quote ---
Great review, I'm about to put in an order, I'm going to order the extra stiff springs (just in case). But this utility you wrote to go through all the games to create the ugc files sounds like an important piece of software. Any chance you could make it public so we can all use it?
Thanks for the review
MiKman
nobbo:
--- Quote from: farb on July 22, 2006, 07:19:15 pm ---The only thing I have left to do is get MAMEWah to return the stick to 8-way mode after the game is done and before going back to the menu. Currently, a game of Galaga will then make it impossible to move up/down in the menu to select another game! :P If anyone knows how to do this, please let me know!
--- End quote ---
isnt there a command in the mamewah ini files that lets you launch a program on closing the current game, similar to launching an external app before the game is launched??
i believe the line is called "post_emulator_external_app" or somehting like that anyway...
you could then set this line to run Andy's app with a ugc file that sets the stick back to 8 way
fatfingers:
--- Quote from: farb on July 22, 2006, 07:19:15 pm ---I saw that Andy sells stiffer springs for the stick, but I can't justify spending $14 on shipping for a $5 spring so I can't say how much they improve the stick's softness.
--- End quote ---
Have you tried looking at hardware stores for different springs? Most hardware stores have a pretty good selection of springs -- you might be able to find something that will work.
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