Open Joystick Talk
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@baviaannl No, the switches don't need to be removed. The actuator may be caught behind their metal brackets, but you can free it by gently pushing them aside while slowly pulling it out.
As for switching, it's not rocket science, but requires a little patience and practise. It's really only this:
you'll have to pull up the shaft gently and turn it until you feel it snapping into the keyways and coming up slightly more. Only then, you turn it to switch.
It also helps to keep in mind the right switching direction: clockwise for 4-way, anticlockwise for 8-way. This way, you don't waste time and effort trying to switch in the wrong direction.
@baviaannl said in Open Joystick Talk:
I was thinking that it shouldn't be able to move out of place, should there be something stopping this from happening?
No, that's absolutely normal. The shaft turns freely when not pulled up. It may be like this to preserve the mechanism and/or prevent accidental switching in the heat of the moment. Pull it up gently, turn it until it locks upwards into the gear, then turn it slightly more powerful in the right direction. At first, it helped me to have my other hand at the lever to feel if it moved. You could also try that for practise, if your cabinet allows it.
edit: Oh, and make sure that the nut at the end of the shaft is tightened as much at possible. I experienced switching problems when that wasn't the case.
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@clyde said in Open Joystick Talk:
- The Mag-Stik is much more stiff than the Sanwa that's closer to the Zippyy in movability. I, personally, like the Mag-Stik's robust strength more. I know that there are stronger replacement springs available for the Sanwa, but that would only allure me if I didn't have the Mag-Stik as a working alternative.
- The Sanwa's microswitches are noticeably louder than those of the Mag-Stik. This wasn't an issue for us. I don't like that the Sanwa's switches are soldered to the stick, though, because they can't be replaced easily for whatever reason.
- The Sanwa's single connection cable is much easier to install but less flexible as the usual cable tree. This shouldn't be an issue for most people except for very special wirings. The joystick encoder has to support this connector, though.
Now I've learned that there's another Sanwa model with a stronger spring, small to medium travel, microswitches that are not soldered, no single connection cable, a rotating 4/8-way restrictor plate (still screwed tight, though), and a Bat Top ex factory: Sanwa JLW-UM-8. Even the mounting plate seems to be different.
If I'd know that sooner, I'd have tested this model instead of the JLF, because it is closer to my preferences. It's amazing how rich and diverse (read: confusing) the joystick market is. :P It wouldn't have changed my choice of the Mag-Stik Plus for my upright cabinet, but it would've relativised or negated some of my complaints, and I may've kept the JLW for my Mayflash Fighting Sticks. But well, c'est la vie.
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@Clyde did you ever find a good adapter plate (the link from your post is dead) for the Mag Stik Plus? I have two Sanwa JLW-TM-8 in my cabinet but play mostly 80s games and a lot of them are 4 way. Finally getting tired of pulling the panel up to switch from 4/8 all the time. I just picked up the Mag Stik Plus (also because I wanted a shorter throw) and noticed the mounting plate is much smaller than my JLW but two holes seem to line up. Wasn't sure if two on one side would be strong enough to hold.
Sorry in advance for hi-jacking old post ;)
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@stoney66 said in Open Joystick Talk:
Sorry in advance for hi-jacking old post ;)
No problem, this thread isn't called open without reason. :)
Alas, I can't help you. I just widened the holes enough towards each other so that all four screws did fit in. Because like you, I didn't trust only two of them, expecially since I have two Mag Stiks in my cab that I play Crazy Climber 1+2 with, and that can get really violent at times. :D
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@Clyde I hear ya, I love joust and I can get a little rough/pissed at times with the stick.
I was thinking about trying this plate https://www.arcaderenovations.com/medium-universal-joystick-adapter-plate.html just not sure which size, I think the small but that might be the same size as the current Mag plate. The site doesn't have measurements.
It looks like maybe I can replace the current plate instead of trying to chain/sister off of the same plate (or just make two new holes). The Sanwa JLW plates inner 4 holes don't line up with the Mag (diff direction) but this adapter plate looks like it has a few options to use just not sure how sturdy this is but it says its steel. Not sure if the Seimitsu holes line up with Mag but at least they are in the same area... seems like the Mag is it's own beast for the plate.
I tried to convert my JLW's to the Ultimarc Servo Stik for 4/8 switching but there was no room in my panel for the servo. Measure twice cut once....
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@stoney66 Yeah, I also suspect that Ultimarc has unique hole positions. Chances are high that even them are patented these days. I'd wish they would settle on a universal standard. :/
I fancied the KOWAL flat plate converter back then, but I don't remember if the holes did actually line up with the pre-drilled ones in my cab kit and the Mag Stik.
As for 4/8 restriction, you could also do that with either xboxdrv or mame2003-plus. Search both articles for "way" to find the resp. sections.
In the light of those software solutions, I don't know if I would spend the extra money on the Mag Stick Plus today. But since I have two of them already, I really like the mechanical switching. :)
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@Clyde ah didn't know that on the 4way sim. I made a physical switch for the servo stik which works great, till I went to mount it and had no room lol. I only use advmame 3.8 now had the best luck with it so far, not sure if its the same as mame2003-plus or not for 4way sim. The mame docs didnt give any config notes, I assume the change is just in the menu per rom.
Maybe I'll just install 2003-plus and give that a whirl...
BTW the KOWAL looks pretty close, the width is the same as the JLW plate....
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@stoney66 said in Open Joystick Talk:
@Clyde ah didn't know that on the 4way sim. I made a physical switch for the servo stik which works great, till I went to mount it and had no room lol.
Oh man … you have my sympathies. Although it is kinda funny. 😇
I only use advmame 3.8 now had the best luck with it so far, not sure if its the same as mame2003-plus or not for 4way sim. The mame docs didnt give any config notes, I assume the change is just in the menu per rom.
I think it's a unique feature of mame2003-plus.
Maybe I'll just install 2003-plus and give that a whirl...
Just mind that you'll need a romset for MAME 0.78 plus the new and improved roms and samples unique to mame2003-plus. See https://docs.libretro.com/library/mame2003_plus/#building-romsets-for-mame-2003-plus about building the romset.
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@Clyde Cool thanks I have the .78 set so will read up on rebuilding for plus.
I also ordered the Kowal plate for grins will post if it works when I get it. If it doesn't work I'll pretend I didn't buy it. And yeah I can laugh about the servo now, couldn't for a few days though! Was fun mucking with some software to auto switch per rom along with doing the physical switch. Next cabinet I'll make sure there is room :)
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@stoney66 I look forward to hearing from you about the plate.
As for your mishap, I also experienced some when building my upright cabinet, although nothing that actually prevented me from using a component at all. Here's what I learned from it:
@Clyde said in My Asteroids-Themed DIY Upright Cabinet:
So, my advice would be to acquire those parts first that define the parameters of others, and be prepared to handle surprises. Do wide-ranging research beforehand to learn what your options are; e.g. I only discovered the Mag-Stiks after I already bought the shell. Order a good time ahead so that you have everything ready when you're going to build. And measure, measure, measure to ensure that everything fits together. ;)
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@Clyde got the Kowal plate today. Some good news, and some bad news....
Good news is the plate is the same size as the JLW, it also looks like the outside 4 holes (to mount to CP) line up. I didn't test in my CP just from the print out from here https://www.ultimarc.com/images/servostik_mounting.pdf (servo stik is the same as the JLW just with a sidecar servo)
The bad news (of course... dammit). The inner 4 holes to mount the plate to the Mag-Stik are off by just a hair on one side, so I can only get two screws in. Plus these holes even though they are somewhat con-caved the default screw heads are larger so it doesn't sit flush.
Going to try and drill out the holes on 1 side a bit, there are holes right next to these (which are larger and the concave is perfect for the default screws) so it will probably split between the two holes but I would expect it to still hold ok. May still need screws with a smaller head though so it sits flush.
Love the asteroids cabinet btw, I have an original asteroids cabinet thats still kickin.
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@stoney66 Thanks for the update and good luck with the drillin'.
Also thanks for the feedback about my cab. I envy you for your original, although my goal was a multi-system cab and I only have room for one of them.
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@Clyde had a friend make me a custom plate with some aluminum scrap he has, came out perfect! He was even able to punch out the holes so it mounts flush.... Now I just gotta install them not a lot of room to get the old ones out, hard to pull the plugs off the current switches. Hopefully I like these better after all this work....
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@stoney66 Well, you could've tried them in a wooden or even cardboard box before installing them in your cab; I've seen that from other people on the net. But as long as you can put the old ones back, there's "only" time and effort at risk – and even then you'd gain the knowledge how it doesn't work. 😊
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@Clyde Replying here so as not to tread up that other thread. Good review of those mag stiks. So do you like them? I have two of them as well, and I never warmed up to them, mostly because of the clicky switches. Add that to your cons. I can't seem to live without leaf. I went with wico 8 ways with no restriction. I think I got them from Groovy. I have a vertical cab with two 8-ways (yes plenty of vertical 8 way shmups) and a 4-way, and I half way wish I had just a vertical with a 4 way. I want to build a Galaga reproduction, something that looks and feels a bit more dedicated. I think we agree that the aircraft carrier is no joy.
Whats your collection like? I've seen you on the forums quite a bit along with Caver (who is a big help).
I try and build reproductions, each with its own control scheme. I'm up to 5 with 2 more to go.
ws
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@wstanek I sold the mag stik's and went back to my j-stick's. I just couldn't get used to them, they also didn't seem to make contact to the switches all the time making for some frustrating play. Was a great idea to have it switchable from the top, but if they don't work all the time then they are useless.
Some day I'll do the the servo stik on these, just no room in the current cabinet.
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@wstanek Even after 1½ years, I like my Mag-Stiks very much. The relatively noisy switches don't bother me much, and as I wrote before, they are more silent than those of the Sanwa JLF-TP-8YT-SK. In fact, I like to hear that my moves are recognized. Curiously, it's the other way around with buttons – I loathe clicky ones, all of the 16 buttons on my cab don't have microswitches for that reason.
However, I've added this to my OP with a notice that they are not soldered and thus, can be replaced with more silent ones (contrary to some Sanwa sticks who have soldered switches 👎 ). Thanks for the feedback.
As for my „collection“, I only have the one cab, my apartment just doesn't have the space for more. That said, I'd love to have one or two specialized cabs for trackball, flightstick+spinner, and/or driving games. The one original cab I would take extreme measures to make room for is TRON. 😋
In addition to my upright cabinet, I have Retropie installations on my mini pc and my Laptop that I keep sync'ed with the Linux tool Unison. The mini pc is connected to my video projector. I don't want to brag, but it's a special kind of experience to play the old games with a picture of approx. 3x2.25 meters. 😎
@stoney66 It's sad to hear that the Mag-Stiks didn't do it for you, but everyone has different preferences. As I wrote in my OP, my first problems were gone after I reassembled the stick properly. Over the time since the beginning of 2018, one of them aquired a slight weakness in recognizing the "right" direction in 4-way-mode. I plan to remove it from the cab for more a more thorough diagnosis. Apart from that, both still work perfectly including the 4/8-switching.
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@Clyde I'm gonna give those sticks another try! I didn't hate them, and honestly, I never gave them enough play time. I will read up on the tweaks.
Big screen sounds awesome. Blast the sound as well?
I'm right in the middle of building a Mad Planets- trigger stick and spinner. I could have done a Tron, but my reproduction would never do that cab justice. Can't wait to play Tron, DOT, Mad Planets, and whatever else that control scheme is good for. Gorf I guess, Satans hollow.
I have limited space as well, I build slim cabs that are only about 18" deep, fixed to the wall. You should build panels for your PC. Pedestal?
I buy old panels off ebay and build the cabs. I picked up a tempest panel and a pole position panel. Get that Alan-1 yoke!
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@wstanek I think they deserve a second chance to earn your favour. If they don't, at least you'll be sure about that.
I myself consider buying one or two Sanwa JLW-UM-8, which I mentioned earlier in this thread, for some other controller project or as replacements in my two Mayflash Arcade Fight Sticks (V2 and F300). Besides, I have to buy some stuff at ArcadeWorld UK before the Brexit kicks in and Britain couldn't be toll-free for the rest of Europe anymore. 😉
Of course my mini pc is also connected to my stereo, since it also serves as a home cinema system. 🍿
So, you're buying the panels and build the rest of the cab "around" them? Are there any photos online? I would really like to see them. 😊
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@Clyde Yes I posted something last year, and I see that you commented on it! Thank you. https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/18433/tempest-cab-joins-the-arcade
I'm always on the lookout for the right joysticks. I buy from GroovyGameGear.
Any experience with their products? They sell something called a Leaf Pro for $20, I have those and like them, but then they have something called a Dominux8 which is $50 and supposed to be premium. Im interested to know how much better it could be. I've also bought several items from Ultimarc--great products.I'm starting my Mad Planets build this weekend, keep an eye out for posts.
Regards,
Warren
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