Building an arcade machine! Joysticks?

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.

Zoidberg

If you want a 4-player USB encoder with integrated Simon game take a look at:
https://github.com/gambaman/ArcadeJoystickX4PlusSimonGame
video:

caver01

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

Still having some issues configuring the trackball and getting some of the games to run correctly.

Have you looked at this thread? You can get your trackball running tip-top using Advancemame. I have a trackball and two spinners in my cabinet and I can get them working perfectly. I am hoping lr-mame2003 will evolve to support these controls better.