Rllmuk Arcade Stick Thread

[waddie]

Is the gate in the TE stick a Sanwa GT-8F? I was thinking of getting a GT-8Y (octagonal gate) for experimentation purposes, but I think my current gate might be worn down since it's been a bit unresponsive of late.

The gate is a big, solid slab of hard plastic. All that should be touching it is the slightly softer actuator (a plastic "hood" on the shaft). So it's highly unlikely to be worn down. Even if it was, the effect would be that the stick would continue to travel after the switch had engaged. If the stick is unresponsive it's likely to be either the switches are on their way out (but they're rated for like a million cycles) or MadCatz' shonky wiring/PCB is on the blink. Or your imagination.

[Robbo]

Is it likely to just be the buttons being crap then? Obviously I don't want to swap out the buttons, invalidate my warranty and find it's a dodgy connection elsewhere or a fault with the board...

Plus if I send it back I assume they'll do the check on the stick to see if it's having that washer issue....

In my opinion, yes, it'll just be the buttons, but I'm no expert.

You could just spend £30 and an hour of your time and treat your stick to the same components as the TE...

[MDY]

In my opinion, yes, it'll just be the buttons, but I'm no expert.

You could just spend £30 and an hour of your time and treat your stick to the same components as the TE...

I'd kinda planned to do that eventually - but I'm just worried if it ISN'T the buttons then it'll be fucked and they'll be under no obligation to fix it...

[crimsondynamox]

Moved from SF4 thread:

The stick on my fully Sanwa modded SE no longer registers directions. It's a very strange malfunction.

My bro was babysitting for me and playing with my SE - working fine. I returned home and watched him practising his combos - no problem. I plug in my Namco arcade stick for a bit of 2P action and at that instant wierd things start happening. The Namco stick was (and still is) fine, but the SE progressively lost each direction, over a period of about 30 seconds, and now no longer registers directions at all despite several switch on/switch offs.

I remember reading a post by some guy who claimed that running an update while his stick was plugged-in, ruined his stick. Anyone got any experience with this? Anyone know the remedy?

EDIT: I tested my Namco and my SE on my PC and it was clearly hardware. I opened up the back and the pin connector had somehow worked loose. Now reconnected and duck taped.

Lesson learned.

[imp]

The gate is a big, solid slab of hard plastic. All that should be touching it is the slightly softer actuator (a plastic "hood" on the shaft). So it's highly unlikely to be worn down. Even if it was, the effect would be that the stick would continue to travel after the switch had engaged. If the stick is unresponsive it's likely to be either the switches are on their way out (but they're rated for like a million cycles) or MadCatz' shonky wiring/PCB is on the blink. Or your imagination.

That's what I was thinking too, since I don't play that hard with the stick. Thing is though, on the Viewlix machines I used to play on, the gates would most definitely wear out - the stick would get stuck in the corners before returning to the middle, or you could feel a tiny chunk of gate missing during travel. IIRC, they use to replace the parts every three weeks or so on the SFIV machines. :S

Edit: although going by the above post, maybe I should just pop it open and have a look at the wiring!

[snowbind]

Does anyone have a schematic for wiring up buttons to a wired pad board. I love my pimped EX2, but it is way to small and slips off my knee. I'm in the process of sourcing stuff to build one.

[FozZ]

Go to Slagcoin (loads of wiring schematics for different pads) and check out the Shoryuken forums which has a wealth of info on building. I'm still wating for my sodding pad to arrive to start soldering. Only ordered it 2 weeks ago!

[waddie]

Thing is though, on the Viewlix machines I used to play on, the gates would most definitely wear out - the stick would get stuck in the corners before returning to the middle, or you could feel a tiny chunk of gate missing during travel. IIRC, they use to replace the parts every three weeks or so on the SFIV machines. :S

Yeah, but that's cabs open to the public. Fizzy drinks get spilled on them, fat guys sweat on them, the springs take a hell of a beating. If you really wrench and pound at an arcade stick, you might even be able to chip or shatter bits off the gate. But wear and tear? In normal home use, unless you're some kind of retarded gorilla with an anger problem (I'm assuming you aren't ), you'll have to replace the gate barely more often than the mounting plate or shaft.

[kircough]

I finished my stick yesterday. Sanwa JLF and buttons, 360 PCB. It's a bit scruffy looking, but i've seen worse. The wiring's not bad, the box is a bit crap but as a first attempt it's passable.

Next one's gonna be oak with an aluminium panel.

[snowbind]

Go to Slagcoin (loads of wiring schematics for different pads) and check out the Shoryuken forums which has a wealth of info on building. I'm still wating for my sodding pad to arrive to start soldering. Only ordered it 2 weeks ago!

Cheers, I really appreciate it

James, props on the stick, the minimalist top looks really awesome and I really like what you did with housing the PCB. Nice one.

[imp]

Yeah, but that's cabs open to the public. Fizzy drinks get spilled on them, fat guys sweat on them, the springs take a hell of a beating. If you really wrench and pound at an arcade stick, you might even be able to chip or shatter bits off the gate. But wear and tear? In normal home use, unless you're some kind of retarded gorilla with an anger problem (I'm assuming you aren't ), you'll have to replace the gate barely more often than the mounting plate or shaft.

Well, that's good to know. I still think it feels a bit looser than it used to, but I've gotten used to it anyway. Cheers for the info!

[nuskool]

Stick looks ace James... nice one!

[Quexex]

I finished my stick yesterday. Sanwa JLF and buttons, 360 PCB. It's a bit scruffy looking, but i've seen worse. The wiring's not bad, the box is a bit crap but as a first attempt it's passable.

Next one's gonna be oak with an aluminium panel.

Top work looking very nice, particulary impressed you went for the 45 degree joins (totally forgotten the correct term) I chickened out on that and went for a but joint! It's hard to tell from the pics but did you angle the top at all?

[kircough]

Top work looking very nice, particulary impressed you went for the 45 degree joins (totally forgotten the correct term) I chickened out on that and went for a but joint! It's hard to tell from the pics but did you angle the top at all?

I originally made a butt jointed MDF frame for the box but wasn't happy enough with it. The mitred joins were easy enough to do with the old man's tools, but the whole thing went a bit scrappy. As I finished he told me he's got some finished oak floorboards going that I could use!

The PCB box is too big so I had to improvise with some bits of hardboard to bring the edges to mount the bottom plate onto to the right height. It's not angled, the PCB kinda makes it too high at the front of the box to angle it. I'm already thinking of box 2 and how much better it's going to be. Even the position of the guide button which I keep bumping with my thumb as I reach to the front for the start button.

Best thing about it though - it works!

[Quexex]

Ah mitre joint and I was going to spell butt with a double 't' but feared the lols! I'm near the end of my first build and I'm already thinking about the next one. After spending many hours making a angled top I'm going to make a flat top to see if there is any difference.

PS I also like your electronics ...

[Quexex]

Just finished a marathon stick making session ... Bloody kids and family life getting in the way again I only managed to get from about 7pm till now on my build but it looks like the majority of the hard work is done!

Had a few mishaps - shattered the perspex as I was cutting off the 2mm sheet with an electric saw (yes I know, you can't hear me kicking myself from here). Then after cutting two sheets to size (roughly) I shattered one sheet while drilling the holes for the buttons - penultimate button as well!

However, the frame is now glueing in the garage ready to take the top board the perspex base is cut and ready to go in place. I even dicked about cutting up some art work just to see if it was hard! due to extreme laziness and lateness I just cut lines across from the outside to the middle to to make effectively - *. Then put the perspex top on and pushed the buttons through - no complex cutting perfect circles out or anything and it looks pretty good although it a little hard to say as everything is still covered in saw dust and protective film!

Hopefully have some picks in a few hours time ...

Anyway before drift any further all I have left is the mounting and wiring of the DS3 and the AXISdapter which can all be done in the living room watching TV! The it's the final sand, stain and polish of the box and it's done.

[snowbind]

James was that an off the shelf electronics kit you bought for the stick or did you put the pcb in the box?

also found this banging guide awesome

[MDY]

Has anyone seen/heard of anyone building a MAME PC into an arcade stick yet?

We can't be far off it being possible - there are a few Micro ITX (170x170mm) chipsets coming with built-on Geforce 9300 & 9400 cards (the NVidia ION for example - though that one only has a crummy Atom CPU).... and there are some with a 775 socket - so there's potential for a decent PC there...

[MrMorgasaurus]

Has anyone seen/heard of anyone building a MAME PC into an arcade stick yet?

We can't be far off it being possible - there are a few Micro ITX (170x170mm) chipsets coming with built-on Geforce 9300 & 9400 cards (the NVidia ION for example - though that one only has a crummy Atom CPU).... and there are some with a 775 socket - so there's potential for a decent PC there...

Wouldn't this get a bit hot? Its a nice idea as an all in one solution - but there would be some sweaty lap action as a result....

[snowbind]

I guess you could build it into a table top, with detachable legs. That way you could have two sticks. With the right wiring in the middle you could probably even make it fold in half for easy storage.

[kircough]

James was that an off the shelf electronics kit you bought for the stick or did you put the pcb in the box?

I just bought an enclosure box from Maplin for a few quid, drilled a hole in the side for the wires and the top for the USB cable. The rest of the wiring was inspired by this stick I found somewhere else.

I removed most of the trigger assembly but left the 'arms' on and just hot glued the hell out of them so they don't move and the analogue sticks (after snipping off the stalks).

[snowbind]

Cheers fella, I like that solution it's really simple. Also it would allow you to just swap the enclosure out for another one a few years down the line, for SF V.

That stick is fucking lush. Any more pics?

[kircough]

That stick is fucking lush. Any more pics?

I found it and others here. I particularly like the pacman one too.

[snowbind]

Cheers. The Byrdo MGS ninja is all kinds of win.

[Quest]

Is anywhere still selling the pad at a reasonable price? Are there any similar alternatives?

I'm not really fussed about paying all them monies to buy a stick I'll hardly use. I quite like the idea of building one, mind. I'm quite good at stuff like that.

[kircough]

See, I was a bit 'should I bother?' but having made the decision to commit the time and bucks into it I don't regret it at all.

Watching telly, I can see the stick across the room, makes me wanna play.

[snowbind]

Building one is actually pretty cheap. Wired pad £15-20, Stick and Cable £22, Buttons £10, Wood £0-5, Paint £0-5, Decal £1-2. So your looking at £50-60 for something you would pay double for and is completely set up as you like.

I'm in the process of knocking up some designs atm. I don't know whether to rape my EX2 for its guts, or do it from scratch. I did pimp my EX2 out, but the stick surface is too small. However it would be handy to have for away matches. Hmmmm.

[Quexex]

I just bought an enclosure box from Maplin for a few quid, drilled a hole in the side for the wires and the top for the USB cable. The rest of the wiring was inspired by this stick I found somewhere else.

I removed most of the trigger assembly but left the 'arms' on and just hot glued the hell out of them so they don't move and the analogue sticks (after snipping off the stalks).

In the immortal words of Ben10 "Oww Man", now I need to paint the inside of my stick!

[Quexex]

Building one is actually pretty cheap. Wired pad £15-20, Stick and Cable £22, Buttons £10, Wood £0-5, Paint £0-5, Decal £1-2. So your looking at £50-60 for something you would pay double for and is completely set up as you like.

I'm in the process of knocking up some designs atm. I don't know whether to rape my EX2 for its guts, or do it from scratch. I did pimp my EX2 out, but the stick surface is too small. However it would be handy to have for away matches. Hmmmm.

Mines proving a little more pricey, as a guestimate all the buttons and the stick etc cost about £38 the axisdapter was £20 DS3 was from my collection but still not cheap £25 maybe, connectors, wire etc £7 although the wood was cheap/free the perspex wasn't although I have enough to make 10 sticks it probably works out at £5. That said I will have a stick that you can't buy (yet) wireless and Dualshock so I shouldn't complain. Will have an update later this week should be finnished by the weekend, although I said that last week!

[Dr Seedyman]

Reading that NeoGaf thread, I reckon I would probably suck a guy off for a VSHG that I could use on both consoles with a headset port.

Amazing stick!