Building an arcade machine! Joysticks?

kimwandersson

Hi!
Me and my colleague are building an arcade machine, full size! We are both comic book artist and we'll design half the cabinet each. It's gonna be sweet :D

But not only do we want it to look good, we also want it to work well.
So… base it on retropie of course. But what about the joysticks and buttons? Those USB interface kits I see on eBay looks nice and easy to manage, but are they any good? We don't want any lagging!

Kind regards,
Kim W.
Sweden

BenWlson

Here is a great article on some of the products out there:
http://www.tested.com/art/makers/464539-choosing-buttons-and-joysticks-custom-arcade-cabinet/

I purchased Sanwa joysticks/buttons, and the ControlBlock from PetRockBlock, but I have yet to test them out.

kimwandersson

Thanks Ben! That was very interesting.

jsawhite

Having built several full size arcade cabinets (as well as retro fitting an existing cab that was thrown away), I can say that arcadecontrols.com has tons of great info (albit it's pretty much dead on updates). Personally, I prefer the happ controls buttons and sticks. Although it's a bit pricey, x-arcade.com has a great set as well (under parts, the 2 player DIY kit. comes with everything you need). I personally also prefer the keyboard interfaces over the joysticks, but that's just me. I've done both and both work really well... Looking, I think the control block on the petrockblock store site looks very interesting as well.

Last time I built an arcade, the RPi's didn't exist, so I always used a full PC. Could be very interesting with a small, credit card sized computer inside!! :)

Twitch0815

@kimwandersson

For the arcade encoder I cannot recommend the Zero Delay USB encoders more.
There is a sanwa kit and a happ kit.

Do you want the american feel or Japanese feel? Really just have to decide between sanwa and or Happ.

If you want my personal opinion do yourself a favor and go with Sanwa Joystick and buttons. Snappier, and just more responsive.

There are two types. Snap Ins and Screw ins depending on the type of control panel. Snap ins are for very thin control panels ie metal or plexiglass and screw ins are for deper control panels like wood mdf or anything very thick.

Then pair it with whatever zero delay suits you

For Sanwa or japan style parts http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Zero-Delay-Arcade-USB-Encoder-PC-to-Joystick-for-5pin-Sanwa-Type-Push-button-/251874929586?hash=item3aa4ea6bb2:g:SZwAAOSwwTlUqPPw

For Happ or American style parts http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zero-delay-USB-Encoder-to-PC-Joystick-and-Buttons-For-Arcade-Happ-diy-kit-Parts-/191558246087?hash=item2c99c2dec7:g:MFwAAOSw~uhUm~KD

Zigurana

@Twitch0815 said in Building an arcade machine! Joysticks?:

There are two types. Snap Ins and Screw ins depending on the type of control panel. Snap ins are for very thin control panels ie metal or plexiglass and screw ins are for deper control panels like wood mdf or anything very thick.

For what its worth, I've used snap-ins on thicker panels (up to 12 mm) and as long as you make the holes nice and snug, there is no risk of them falling out. The benefit of snap-ins is the reduced depth and space needed, which makes them ideal for smaller enclosures.

kimwandersson

@Twitch0815 Wow! This really helped me out! Thanks :D
I was just looking around for what USB encoder to get. I was looking at IPAC2 and Xin Mo, but if you say this Zero Delay is the best I'll go for it! Delay is just what I want to avoid :D

Should i get one Zero Delay USB encoder per setup? So my shopping list is:
2 x Zero Delay USB encoder
2 x Sanwa joysticks
2 x 6 buttons
6 service buttons, 1 player, 2 players, select, start, pause and exit

kimwandersson

@Zigurana I'm getting a control panel laser cut in metal so I think snap ins is the way to go :D But I am having a plexi glass panel over the metal. That will be totally 6mm I think, still snap ins?

Twitch0815

@kimwandersson

2x http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Zero-Delay-Arcade-USB-Encoder-PC-to-Joystick-for-5pin-Sanwa-Type-Push-button-/251874929586?hash=item3aa4ea6bb2:g:SZwAAOSwwTlUqPPw

2x https://www.focusattack.com/sanwa-jlf-tp-8yt-joystick/

16x OBSF 30 MM PUsbuttons https://www.focusattack.com/pushbuttons/popular-brands/sanwa/obs-series/
16 because on Retropie you just need 12 player buttons and select start for each player. There is no pause, or exit button (Exit is start Select together) And everything else is mapped to two key button pushes

Snap ins with work with a metal plexi combination it will be optimal to drill or cut the button holes larger then 30mm in the metal so that it frames the button but does not restrict the button from snapping into the plexi. Dont use a super thick plexi either.

Rion

Looking forward for some build pictures and updates as the project starts.

Swedish: Du gjorde helt rätt i att gå för Sanwa joystick och knappar. Finns inget bättre på marknaden jämfört med happ.

kimwandersson

@Twitch0815 Thanks! I'll order it from UK though I think. I'm in Sweden so postage from US would be pricey :D

kimwandersson

@Rion Coming up!
Swedish: Lyssna på AMK Morgon, jag pratar om projektet där :D Flera lyssnare ska hjälpa till; fräsa ut träbitarna, laserskära ut kontrollpanelen i plåt och i plexi mm… :D

sk8ersublime

I have an IPAC2 in my cabinet, it works well with my PI3. Im using the PI3 to replace a 60-1 multiboard. Still having some issues configuring the trackball and getting some of the games to run correctly.

sk8ersublime

For joysticks, I am actually using an original Pac-man joystick that I rebuilt. However that limits me to 4 way games since 8 way games play horribly with it, as do 4 way games on an 8 way stick. I would recommend a switchable joystick unless you specifically want to play only 4 or 8 way games.

sk8ersublime

I havent used this, but its pretty neat. It will switch to 4 or 8 way mode automatically via a servo:

https://www.ultimarc.com/servostik.html

Rion

@sk8ersublime said in Building an arcade machine! Joysticks?:

I havent used this, but its pretty neat. It will switch to 4 or 8 way mode automatically via a servo:

https://www.ultimarc.com/servostik.html

You can just change the Restrictor plate from 4 to 8 ways with the Sanwa sticks to.

kimwandersson

@Rion Is this something I should think about when I order it?

Twitch0815

@kimwandersson

The whole 4 way to 8 way thing is a mess.

Just depends, usually your good with just an 8 way,
But if you are some form of 4 way purist like your fav games are donkey kong and pac man then a 4 way is definitely desired. I am more of a 90s era gamer, so I just go wtih 8 way if i want to play 4 way i have a cocktail cabinet with 4 way sticks on it.

But if your trying to do both in a cabinet inevitably you'll do both bad the servo stick is cool and all but its a weaker joystick then a good quality 4 way or 8 way by itself.

Typically I would say ask yourself if you play more 8 way or 4 way games and choose your stick accordingly. If you really want the best of both worlds build a 4 way cocktail or classics cab with spinners or more 80s era accessiores and build a 2 player 6 button 8 way cab.

kimwandersson

@Twitch0815 I'm most definitely gonna be playing 90's games! Not a purist :D And it comes with a 8 way? So then I don't have to worry about it?

Twitch0815

@kimwandersson
Amen to that then. Just go 8 with a Sanwa JLF there like butter.