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why no tron stick solution after all this time?

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Fozzy The Bear:

--- Quote from: TheShanMan on February 23, 2008, 09:29:01 pm ---Fozzy, I was aware of the happ joystick, but my understanding is that it doesn't have proper restriction and therefore ISN'T ideal for tron. In the threads that I ran across today, that's what I was seeing. Are you saying it does come with a restrictor that makes it more ideal for tron? Or where are these purchased? Somehow I missed discussion of that, even though I did search on restrictors.
--- End quote ---

First of all.... you're looking for instant solutions and getting yourself frustrated because nobody can sell you exactly what you want immediately.  This hobby simply doesn't work like that. You have to have some patience!

If you want an original TRON stick then do what Lew said and buy one off eBay. They come up two or three times a month. If you have the sort of money they go for even in bad condition, then good luck with that.

If you want the Happ stick then NO! they don't come with the correct restrictor for the original TRON game. The original TRON had an eight way stick, that had a rubber restrictor that made it behave like a 4 way stick, unless you pushed harder into the corners. This made it possible to easily play the light cycles part of TRON and still be able to have eight way movement in the grid and MCP parts of the game.

You can't buy one of those restrictors.... But you can make one. You can make one from a sheet of oilproof rubber about 1/8" thick. you just have to cut it to the shape you need and to fit into the stick assembly. It can be done but it takes some fiddling and trial and error to get it right.

This said, a TRON stick is not much good for playing anything but TRON and a couple of other games that used it. So be sure you actually want one before diving into this.

As for wanting things NOW! slow down! have patience! wait until the right thing comes your way, and don't rush your project. Things don't happen instantly in this game.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

TheShanMan:
Thanks for the info Fozzy. I'm actually not looking for instant solutions. It's just that in my searching I see these discussions happening over the course of years with no apparent holy grail solution.

I got the sense that they're hard to find on ebay because if I search now, even including completed auctions, there is nothing. I will keep watching though, and I haven't given up on finding one locally at a little arcade repair type of shop. I have no idea what to expect to pay though since I can't find an example of a tron stick sale on ebay.

Making one sounds like the best bet, and I'm not against that (I've done my share of hacking - a keyboard hack 9 years ago that I'm about to replace with an encoder as well as a mouse hack for my trackball and spinner). I definitely want a tron stick and since I'm doing a swappable panel, I don't have to worry much about adding clutter like most do - I just add it to my spinner panel. I can't say I'm excited about shelling out $100 for a single game joystick, which is why I think the u360 plus a trigger handle would be more ideal to me. But for all I know I could be waiting forever and never get that kind of a solution.

If this rubber restrictor is a perfect solution (and it certainly sounds like it is), I'm just surprised that no one has decided to make a couple hundred of them and sell them. It seems like if someone finds the right kind of rubber that would be a logical next step and I would think they would sell easily. I'd rather pay $10 or whatever for a restrictor I know will work, then to try to figure out where to get the rubber, what kind of rubber to get, and then go through the trial and error of making it correctly. I'm just not big on reinventing the wheel if I don't have to.

For now, I guess I will patiently watch ebay, and if after a while I decide I'm better off getting the happ one and figuring out how to do the rubber restrictor, I may just hit you up for some details.

Paul Olson:
Search the BST forum. Someone has already produced the restrictor. Sorry, I don't have the link. I hope people are buying them so he will keep offering them. I don't know how many people actually want a dedicated tron stick on their panel. Probably limited to swappable and modular panels. I found a complete tron panel on ebay last year for about $90, so they are available sometimes. It would probably be cheaper to buy a used similar stick then add the restrictor, but those are starting to go for lots of money too.

Good luck! I have quite a few specialty controls, and I think my tron stick is probably my favorite. It was also a contributing factor to going modular, which cost me way more money than the stick.  ::)

NoOne=NBA=:
Encryptor is the one selling them, and hasn't been able to sell more than a few.
For whatever reason Tron sticks aren't that big an item.

TheShanMan:
Yeah, I just found his thread. I am definitely interested. My preference would be to get a tron/dot/xenophobe stick, and only get the happ if I can't find one of the others or if the price is too high in comparison (I have NO idea what to expect on original sticks). Of course, if possible I would really like to know for sure that the restrictor works in the happ before I go down that path.

I appreciate all the helpful info. I am also quite shocked that there isn't more interest in this.

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