BYOAC OLD Wiki - User contributions [en]

TRON joystick

2007-08-02T21:06:06Z

MinerAl: updated Oscar Controls link to mirror on BYOAC

[[Image:TRONstick.jpg|thumb|TRON joystick|100px|right|]]
== About the TRON joystick ==
The joystick on a TRON machine was unique in a few ways. It was a trigger stick, just like Gorf, Satan's Hollow and other Midway games, but it was translucent royal blue (Satan's Hollow was translucent red). The TRON machine actually had four games in it. Some of the games required a 4-way stick and some could take advantage of 8-way movement. The joystick, therefore, was technically an 8-way stick, but it was restricted in such a way that the corners were difficult to hit accidentally.

== A TRON joystick on your cabinet ==
The easiest way to have a TRON stick on your cabinet is to find an actual TRON stick. The original TRON machine came out in the early 80s so there were lots of cabinets that had their control panels, with their weird TRON only joysticks, replaced with other controls and other games placed in them. TRON joysticks, and entire TRON CPs, come up fairly regularly on eBay, and are often quite expensive.

[[Image:XENOstick.png|thumb|HD joystick|80px|right|]]The TRON joystick is a heavy duty piece of machinery. The base of the stick (under the control panel) is 3.38" square and 4.25" tall, the mounting plate is 4"x5", and the stick above the panel is about 7" tall. Mechanically, with the exception of its unique color and restrictors, the TRON joystick is a leaf switch version of the [http://www.happcontrols.com/joysticks/50997000.htm Happ Controls "Heavy Duty 8-way Trigger Joystick"] with the same dimensions. It will take up considerably more real-estate on and under your control panel than a typical ball or bat-top joystick.

Reproduction translucent blue (and other color) handle pieces are sometimes produced, and and some NOS handles come up occasionally. These can be easilly mated to a Happ's HD 8-way Trigger Joystick. Specific handle parts can be ordered by taking the individual part numbers off of [http://www.happcontrols.com/joysticks/50997000x.htm Happ's exploded view]. Simply enter the part number for the part you need on the Happ's order page and you can get just the trigger, or just the screws, or just the faceplate, etc.

Using a stock Happ HD 8-Way Trigger stick will leave some of the games in TRON difficult to play properly. The restrictors in the real TRON stick make it difficult to go in a diagonal direction accidentally. The Happs stick is a true 8-way and will easily go to the corners and ruin your round of Light Cycles (one of the TRON levels).

People have had some success reproducing TRON style restrictors, but NOS and original restrictors are rare. It is easier to find an entire old TRON stick than just the restrictors.

== TRON-like sticks ==
Several arcade games came with heavy duty trigger sticks, which were very similar to TRON joysticks:
* Satan's Hollow (translucent red, 2-way, vertical shaft)
* Gorf (black, 8-way, optical switches, vertical shaft, bayonet lights behind faceplate)
* Xenophobe (black with two thumb triggers on face plate, true 8-way, forward leaning shaft)
* Discs of TRON (translucent blue with one thumb trigger on face plate, true 8-way, forward leaning shaft)

== B.Y.O. TRON joystick ==
Several people have successfully hacked PC trigger sticks or even actual TRON handles to other more common arcade joysticks. The trend to make computer (particularly Mac) peripherals out of translucent blue plastic in the late 90s makes it fairly simple to find good TRONesque joysticks to hack.

Generally the trigger stick handle is removed from the PC joystick and attached to a hollow metal rod the same size as the original arcade joystick's shaft. The wires from the trigger(s) go through the tube and work inside the CP just as any switch wires would.

Some challenges for building your own TRON stick:
* the limited 8-way of a real TRON stick is hard to emulate with regular arcade joysticks
* most regular joysticks' handles spin with fairly little effort, while spinning is not desirable in a trigger stick
* some cheaper joystick bases may not be hardy enough to survive enthusiastic play with the larger and heavier trigger stick handle
* the hollow shaft is also a potential weak point

Related Links:
* [http://mirrors.arcadecontrols.com/OscarControls/projects/triggerstick.shtml Oscar Control's trigger stick hack]
* [http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=8923.0 MinerAl's trigger stick hack]
* [http://www.google.com/search?q=trigger+stick&sitesearch=forum.arcadecontrols.com Google search of BYOAC Forums. Keywords "trigger stick"]
* [http://www.google.com/search?q=trigger+joystick&sitesearch=forum.arcadecontrols.com Google search of BYOAC Forums. Keywords "trigger joystick"]
* [http://www.google.com/search?q=tron+joystick&sitesearch=forum.arcadecontrols.com Google search of BYOAC Forums. Keywords "tron joystick"]

[[Category:Controls]]

TRON joystick

2006-05-03T19:21:37Z

MinerAl: pictures

[[Image:TRONstick.jpg|thumb|TRON joystick|100px|right|]]
== About the TRON joystick ==
The joystick on a TRON machine was unique in a few ways. It was a trigger stick, just like Gorf, Satan's Hollow and other Midway games, but it was translucent royal blue (Satan's Hollow was translucent red). The TRON machine actually had four games in it. Some of the games required a 4-way stick and some could take advantage of 8-way movement. The joystick, therefore, was technically an 8-way stick, but it was restricted in such a way that the corners were difficult to hit accidentally.

== A TRON joystick on your cabinet ==
The easiest way to have a TRON stick on your cabinet is to find an actual TRON stick. The original TRON machine came out in the early 80s so there were lots of cabinets that had their control panels, with their weird TRON only joysticks, replaced with other controls and other games placed in them. TRON joysticks, and entire TRON CPs, come up fairly regularly on eBay, and are often quite expensive.

[[Image:XENOstick.png|thumb|HD joystick|80px|right|]]The TRON joystick is a heavy duty piece of machinery. The base of the stick (under the control panel) is 3.38" square and 4.25" tall, the mounting plate is 4"x5", and the stick above the panel is about 7" tall. Mechanically, with the exception of its unique color and restrictors, the TRON joystick is a leaf switch version of the [http://www.happcontrols.com/joysticks/50997000.htm Happ Controls "Heavy Duty 8-way Trigger Joystick"] with the same dimensions. It will take up considerably more real-estate on and under your control panel than a typical ball or bat-top joystick.

Reproduction translucent blue (and other color) handle pieces are sometimes produced, and and some NOS handles come up occasionally. These can be easilly mated to a Happ's HD 8-way Trigger Joystick. Specific handle parts can be ordered by taking the individual part numbers off of [http://www.happcontrols.com/joysticks/50997000x.htm Happ's exploded view]. Simply enter the part number for the part you need on the Happ's order page and you can get just the trigger, or just the screws, or just the faceplate, etc.

Using a stock Happ HD 8-Way Trigger stick will leave some of the games in TRON difficult to play properly. The restrictors in the real TRON stick make it difficult to go in a diagonal direction accidentally. The Happs stick is a true 8-way and will easily go to the corners and ruin your round of Light Cycles (one of the TRON levels).

People have had some success reproducing TRON style restrictors, but NOS and original restrictors are rare. It is easier to find an entire old TRON stick than just the restrictors.

== TRON-like sticks ==
Several arcade games came with heavy duty trigger sticks, which were very similar to TRON joysticks:
* Satan's Hollow (translucent red, 2-way, vertical shaft)
* Gorf (black, 8-way, optical switches, vertical shaft, bayonet lights behind faceplate)
* Xenophobe (black with two thumb triggers on face plate, true 8-way, forward leaning shaft)
* Discs of TRON (translucent blue with one thumb trigger on face plate, true 8-way, forward leaning shaft)

== B.Y.O. TRON joystick ==
Several people have successfully hacked PC trigger sticks or even actual TRON handles to other more common arcade joysticks. The trend to make computer (particularly Mac) peripherals out of translucent blue plastic in the late 90s makes it fairly simple to find good TRONesque joysticks to hack.

Generally the trigger stick handle is removed from the PC joystick and attached to a hollow metal rod the same size as the original arcade joystick's shaft. The wires from the trigger(s) go through the tube and work inside the CP just as any switch wires would.

Some challenges for building your own TRON stick:
* the limited 8-way of a real TRON stick is hard to emulate with regular arcade joysticks
* most regular joysticks' handles spin with fairly little effort, while spinning is not desirable in a trigger stick
* some cheaper joystick bases may not be hardy enough to survive enthusiastic play with the larger and heavier trigger stick handle
* the hollow shaft is also a potential weak point

Related Links:
* [http://www.oscarcontrols.com/projects/triggerstick.shtml Oscar Control's trigger stick hack]
* [http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=8923.0 MinerAl's trigger stick hack]
* [http://www.google.com/search?q=trigger+stick&sitesearch=forum.arcadecontrols.com Google search of BYOAC Forums. Keywords "trigger stick"]
* [http://www.google.com/search?q=trigger+joystick&sitesearch=forum.arcadecontrols.com Google search of BYOAC Forums. Keywords "trigger joystick"]
* [http://www.google.com/search?q=tron+joystick&sitesearch=forum.arcadecontrols.com Google search of BYOAC Forums. Keywords "tron joystick"]

File:XENOstick.png

2006-05-03T19:19:25Z

MinerAl: A Happ's Heavy Duty 8-Way Trigger joystick with one thumb button. Photo courtesy of GoPodular.com

A Happ's Heavy Duty 8-Way Trigger joystick with one thumb button. Photo courtesy of GoPodular.com

TRON joystick

2006-05-03T19:13:57Z

MinerAl: pictures

[[Image:TRONstick.jpg|thumb|TRON joystick|100px|right|]]
== About the TRON joystick ==
The joystick on a TRON machine was unique in a few ways. It was a trigger stick, just like Gorf, Satan's Hollow and other Midway games, but it was translucent royal blue (Satan's Hollow was translucent red). The TRON machine actually had four games in it. Some of the games required a 4-way stick and some could take advantage of 8-way movement. The joystick, therefore, was technically an 8-way stick, but it was restricted in such a way that the corners were difficult to hit accidentally.

== A TRON joystick on your cabinet ==
The easiest way to have a TRON stick on your cabinet is to find an actual TRON stick. The original TRON machine came out in the early 80s so there were lots of cabinets that had their control panels, with their weird TRON only joysticks, replaced with other controls and other games placed in them. TRON joysticks, and entire TRON CPs, come up fairly regularly on eBay, and are often quite expensive.

The TRON joystick is a heavy duty piece of machinery. The base of the stick (under the control panel) is 3.38" square and 4.25" tall, the mounting plate is 4"x5", and the stick above the panel is about 7" tall. Mechanically, with the exception of its unique color and restrictors, the TRON joystick is a leaf switch version of the [http://www.happcontrols.com/joysticks/50997000.htm Happ Controls "Heavy Duty 8-way Trigger Joystick"] with the same dimensions. It will take up considerably more real-estate on and under your control panel than a typical ball or bat-top joystick.

Reproduction translucent blue (and other color) handle pieces are sometimes produced, and and some NOS handles come up occasionally. These can be easilly mated to a Happ's HD 8-way Trigger Joystick. Specific handle parts can be ordered by taking the individual part numbers off of [http://www.happcontrols.com/joysticks/50997000x.htm Happ's exploded view]. Simply enter the part number for the part you need on the Happ's order page and you can get just the trigger, or just the screws, or just the faceplate, etc.

Using a stock Happ HD 8-Way Trigger stick will leave some of the games in TRON difficult to play properly. The restrictors in the real TRON stick make it difficult to go in a diagonal direction accidentally. The Happs stick is a true 8-way and will easily go to the corners and ruin your round of Light Cycles (one of the TRON levels).

People have had some success reproducing TRON style restrictors, but NOS and original restrictors are rare. It is easier to find an entire old TRON stick than just the restrictors.

== TRON-like sticks ==
Several arcade games came with heavy duty trigger sticks, which were very similar to TRON joysticks:
* Satan's Hollow (translucent red, 2-way, vertical shaft)
* Gorf (black, 8-way, optical switches, vertical shaft, bayonet lights behind faceplate)
* Xenophobe (black with two thumb triggers on face plate, true 8-way, forward leaning shaft)
* Discs of TRON (translucent blue with one thumb trigger on face plate, true 8-way, forward leaning shaft)

== B.Y.O. TRON joystick ==
Several people have successfully hacked PC trigger sticks or even actual TRON handles to other more common arcade joysticks. The trend to make computer (particularly Mac) peripherals out of translucent blue plastic in the late 90s makes it fairly simple to find good TRONesque joysticks to hack.

Generally the trigger stick handle is removed from the PC joystick and attached to a hollow metal rod the same size as the original arcade joystick's shaft. The wires from the trigger(s) go through the tube and work inside the CP just as any switch wires would.

Some challenges for building your own TRON stick:
* the limited 8-way of a real TRON stick is hard to emulate with regular arcade joysticks
* most regular joysticks' handles spin with fairly little effort, while spinning is not desirable in a trigger stick
* some cheaper joystick bases may not be hardy enough to survive enthusiastic play with the larger and heavier trigger stick handle
* the hollow shaft is also a potential weak point

Related Links:
* [http://www.oscarcontrols.com/projects/triggerstick.shtml Oscar Control's trigger stick hack]
* [http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=8923.0 MinerAl's trigger stick hack]
* [http://www.google.com/search?q=trigger+stick&sitesearch=forum.arcadecontrols.com Google search of BYOAC Forums. Keywords "trigger stick"]
* [http://www.google.com/search?q=trigger+joystick&sitesearch=forum.arcadecontrols.com Google search of BYOAC Forums. Keywords "trigger joystick"]
* [http://www.google.com/search?q=tron+joystick&sitesearch=forum.arcadecontrols.com Google search of BYOAC Forums. Keywords "tron joystick"]

TRON joystick

2006-05-03T19:08:37Z

MinerAl: Starting to add pics

== About the TRON joystick ==
[[Image:TRONstick.jpg|thumb|TRON joystick|100px|left|]]The joystick on a TRON machine was unique in a few ways. It was a trigger stick, just like Gorf, Satan's Hollow and other Midway games, but it was translucent royal blue (Satan's Hollow was translucent red). The TRON machine actually had four games in it. Some of the games required a 4-way stick and some could take advantage of 8-way movement. The joystick, therefore, was technically an 8-way stick, but it was restricted in such a way that the corners were difficult to hit accidentally.

== A TRON joystick on your cabinet ==
The easiest way to have a TRON stick on your cabinet is to find an actual TRON stick. The original TRON machine came out in the early 80s so there were lots of cabinets that had their control panels, with their weird TRON only joysticks, replaced with other controls and other games placed in them. TRON joysticks, and entire TRON CPs, come up fairly regularly on eBay, and are often quite expensive.

The TRON joystick is a heavy duty piece of machinery. The base of the stick (under the control panel) is 3.38" square and 4.25" tall, the mounting plate is 4"x5", and the stick above the panel is about 7" tall. Mechanically, with the exception of its unique color and restrictors, the TRON joystick is a leaf switch version of the [http://www.happcontrols.com/joysticks/50997000.htm Happ Controls "Heavy Duty 8-way Trigger Joystick"] with the same dimensions. It will take up considerably more real-estate on and under your control panel than a typical ball or bat-top joystick.

Reproduction translucent blue (and other color) handle pieces are sometimes produced, and and some NOS handles come up occasionally. These can be easilly mated to a Happ's HD 8-way Trigger Joystick. Specific handle parts can be ordered by taking the individual part numbers off of [http://www.happcontrols.com/joysticks/50997000x.htm Happ's exploded view]. Simply enter the part number for the part you need on the Happ's order page and you can get just the trigger, or just the screws, or just the faceplate, etc.

Using a stock Happ HD 8-Way Trigger stick will leave some of the games in TRON difficult to play properly. The restrictors in the real TRON stick make it difficult to go in a diagonal direction accidentally. The Happs stick is a true 8-way and will easily go to the corners and ruin your round of Light Cycles (one of the TRON levels).

People have had some success reproducing TRON style restrictors, but NOS and original restrictors are rare. It is easier to find an entire old TRON stick than just the restrictors.

== TRON-like sticks ==
Several arcade games came with heavy duty trigger sticks, which were very similar to TRON joysticks:
* Satan's Hollow (translucent red, 2-way, vertical shaft)
* Gorf (black, 8-way, optical switches, vertical shaft, bayonet lights behind faceplate)
* Xenophobe (black with two thumb triggers on face plate, true 8-way, forward leaning shaft)
* Discs of TRON (translucent blue with one thumb trigger on face plate, true 8-way, forward leaning shaft)

== B.Y.O. TRON joystick ==
Several people have successfully hacked PC trigger sticks or even actual TRON handles to other more common arcade joysticks. The trend to make computer (particularly Mac) peripherals out of translucent blue plastic in the late 90s makes it fairly simple to find good TRONesque joysticks to hack.

Generally the trigger stick handle is removed from the PC joystick and attached to a hollow metal rod the same size as the original arcade joystick's shaft. The wires from the trigger(s) go through the tube and work inside the CP just as any switch wires would.

Some challenges for building your own TRON stick:
* the limited 8-way of a real TRON stick is hard to emulate with regular arcade joysticks
* most regular joysticks' handles spin with fairly little effort, while spinning is not desirable in a trigger stick
* some cheaper joystick bases may not be hardy enough to survive enthusiastic play with the larger and heavier trigger stick handle
* the hollow shaft is also a potential weak point

Related Links:
* [http://www.oscarcontrols.com/projects/triggerstick.shtml Oscar Control's trigger stick hack]
* [http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=8923.0 MinerAl's trigger stick hack]
* [http://www.google.com/search?q=trigger+stick&sitesearch=forum.arcadecontrols.com Google search of BYOAC Forums. Keywords "trigger stick"]
* [http://www.google.com/search?q=trigger+joystick&sitesearch=forum.arcadecontrols.com Google search of BYOAC Forums. Keywords "trigger joystick"]
* [http://www.google.com/search?q=tron+joystick&sitesearch=forum.arcadecontrols.com Google search of BYOAC Forums. Keywords "tron joystick"]

File:TRONstick.jpg

2006-05-03T19:04:36Z

MinerAl: TRON joystick in its natural habitat. Photo courtesy of RetroJames of RetroBlast.com

TRON joystick in its natural habitat. Photo courtesy of RetroJames of RetroBlast.com

Joysticks

2006-05-01T18:31:45Z

MinerAl: Moved TRON sticks to conventional

==Conventional Digital Joysticks==
[[image:Stick-principal.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Stick diagram by JoyMonkey]]
Conventional joysticks are fairly simple devices without which Pac-Man would be ghost-fodder. When the joystick shaft is moved in any direction, the lower end of the stick is levered in the opposite direction and makes contact with switches, these switches are what tells Pac-Man to move and in which direction.

[[image:Directions.gif|left]]By using four switches at the base of the joystick, 8 directions can be achieved; Up, Down, Left and Right as well as the four corner positions. Joysticks like this are known as 8-way.
Some joysticks were designed to restrict the player from moving diagonally; for example, joysticks used in Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. Though it is possible to use an 8-way joystick for these games, it's not recommended, as accidentally hitting a diagonal with the joystick will cause Mario to stand still and Pac-Man won't know if he should go up or to the side. Joysticks like this are known as 4-way.

Other games, such as Defender, Joust, Mario Brothers and Galaga, used a 2-way joystick since movement was only necessary from left to right or up to down.

Standard 8-way only joysticks:
:* [http://retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/happcompetition.html Happ Competition], [http://www.retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/happultimate.html Happ Ultimate (can be ordered in 8 way, 4-way, or 2-way models], [http://retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/wico.html Wico 8-way Leafswitch Joystick (discontinued)].

Standard 4-way only joysticks:
:* Happ Ms.Pac/Galaga Reunion, Betson Ms.Pac/Galaga Reunion, [http://www.retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/happultimate.html Happ Ultimate (can be ordered in 8 way, 4-way, or 2-way models],[http://www.retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/wico.html Wico 4-Way Leafswitch (discontinued)].

====8-Way to 4-Way Switchable Joysticks====
Many 8-way joysticks that are sold can also be set to work in 4-way mode. There are two basic methods to change modes:

1) Changing a restrictor plate that only allows the joystick handle to be pushed in certain directions; or:

2) Changing the actuator (that's the small piece on the bottom end of the joystick shaft that makes contact with the switches) to only allow contact with one switch at a time.

Restrictor plate changes convert the joystick to "true" 4-way operation, and will give the best play. Actuator changes do not keep the handle from moving into the diagonal positions, this method only keeps the switches from being activated. The result is a "dead spot" in the corners, where the stick can be pushed, but no switches are hit. This is not much better than playing in standard 8-way mode, and is not reccomended. Adjusting these joystick usually involves opening up your control panel so you can access the lower section of the joystick base. Some models using a restrictor plate can be easily changed by hand once the control panel is open, while some others require the use of basic tools, like a screwdriver.

Joysticks that can be set to 4-way or 8-way operation via an actuator swap include:
:* [http://retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/happsuper.html Happ Super], [http://www.retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/happsp360.html Happ Perfect 360], [http://www.retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/xgaming.html X-Gaming Joystick (X-Arcade)].

Joysticks that can be set to 4-way or 8-way operation via the restrictor plate include:
:* Suzo 500 (aka [http://ultimarc.com/controls.html Euro-Stik] or [http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=197 Omni-Stik]), [http://retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/ultimarc_tstik.html Ultimarc T-Stik], Ultimarc Mag-Stik, [http://retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/ultimarc_jstik.html Ultimarc J-Stik], [http://www.himuragames.com/store_joysticks.php Sanwa JLF-TP-8YT], [http://www.himuragames.com/store_joysticks.php Seimitsu LS-32].

In the last few years, some companies have added to this feature to allow the joystick to be switchable from above the control panel in some way. This makes it simple for anyone to switch the joystick between 4-way to 8-way from game to game, without having to access 'the guts' of the control panel.

Conventional joysticks that can be switched from above the control panel like this include:
:* [http://retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/ultimarc_tstik.html T-Stik Plus], [http://retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/ultimarc_magstikplus_part1.html Mag-Stik Plus], [http://retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/prodigy.html Omni-Stik Prodigy].

====[[TRON joystick]]s====
TRON arcade machines had 8-way trigger joysticks that were restricted to make it difficult to go diagonally. This was necessary because some of the four games in TRON were developed for 4-way sticks, while others were able to use 8-ways. [[TRON_joystick|More on TRON joysticks here.]]

==Unconventional Digital Joysticks==
[[image:Inductivestickopen.jpg|right|thumb|Inside a Suzo Inductive Stick]]
====[http://www.suzo.com/suzo/product.asp?nP=4545 Suzo Inductive Joystick]====
Instead of using the conventional microswitches, Suzo Inductive sticks use a magnet at the base of its shaft that is read by eight 'pads' on its PCB. It is completely silent and easily switchable between 4-way and 8-way using a pot under the joystick.
====[http://retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/happsp360.html Happ Perfect 360 (P360)]====

The Perfect 360 joystick is an optical joystick, which means that the position of the handle is read by optical switches, instead of conventional leaf switches or microswitches. This gives near-silent operation, as the handle & actuator never touch anything.

These sticks have a very smooth feel, largely due to the "no touch" action. P360 joysticks have a round restrictor, instead of the more common square restriction found on many other modern joysticks. This round restriction adds to the smoothness factor, because there are no corners to feel.

Connection- P360 joys require a little more effort to hook up- in addition to the Up, Down, Left, Right and Ground connections on standard joysticks, the P360 also needs a +5 volts connection. This is easy enough to get, as encoders such as the I-Pac and KeyWiz provide a +5v header. PC power supplies produce +5v on the red wire of the drive connectors. There is also +5v power available on USB & PS2 cables. +5 volt power is easy to find.

History- The Perfect 360 started out as an aftermarket add-on kit for Wico leafswitch joysticks. Models were later added to the product line to convert Happ Super, Competition, and Ultimate sticks, and possibly others as well. Happ eventually bought the rights to the P360 technology, and discontinued the kits. Happ began producing a complete stick instead, with the top half of a Wico joystick base (no longer sold by Wico by then) mated to a P360 bottom half.

Interchangability- P360 handles and Wico handles have been found to be interchangable. There are also replacement handles available from SlikStik. Wico Pear-top sticks used the same pivot cones and spacer sleeves.

==49-Way Joysticks==
Once used in a small handfull of Williams, Midway and Atari games, 49 way joysticks live in a no-man's land between digital and analog joysticks. 49-way joysticks do not, as the name might seem to imply, point in 49 different directions. The number 49 comes from the number of positions the stick can report to the game hardware, including positions somewhere ''between'' "dead center" and "pushed all the way". Imagine a 7x7 grid (that's 49 squares) and you've got it. Games that originally used this hardware benefited from the extra info the joystick could report by allowing the player to control the on-screen character with more precision- both in the form of better directional control (24 discrete directions possible, if you count dead center), and 3 levels of speed control, based on how far from center the stick was pushed. For example, in [http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=9553 SiniStar], the player can make the ship move faster or slower, by varying how hard they push the stick, and the ship's movement is not limited to just 8 directions. Attempting to play this game (or others that originally used 49-way sticks) with a standard 8-way digital joystick tends to be frustrating- SiniStar is a very difficult game in the first place; take away the speed control and limit yourself to 8 directions, and it's ''really, really'' hard. More info on 49-way joysticks can be found at [http://urebelscum.speedhost.com/49waySticks.html What are 49-Way joysticks?] by URebelScum

Games that originally used 49-way joysticks include:

*SiniStar
*Blaster
*Arch Rivals
*Pigskin 621 A.D.
*Blitz
*Blitz '99
*Blitz 2000
*NFL Blitz 2000 Gold Edition
*NBA Showtime
*SportStation
*Gauntlet: Legends
*Gauntlet: Dark Legacy

For home gaming purposes, when paired with the [[Gamepad Encoders#GP Wiz49|GP Wiz49]] controller from [www.groovygamegear.com GroovyGameGear], these analog style joysticks have become a popular all-around stick. Using the GP-Wiz's various DRS modes, these joysticks can be easily switched between 8-way, 4-way, 2-way (vertical), 2-way (horizontal) and diagonal (Q*Bert style) modes without having to physically change the joystick hardware. This allows these sticks to be used to play any digital joystick games well. In additon, the two 49-way modes allow play for games that originally used 49-way sticks (and have emulator support that goes beyond 8-ways- not all 49-way games do), and also will play well for ''some'' games that originally used analog or Hall-Effect joysticks.

There are three varieties of 49-way joystick: Williams, Midway, and Happ.

The Williams are easy to distinguish- they use a distinctive rubber centering "spider" on the bottom, and have balltop handles. Red balltops come from SiniStar; Orange come from Arch Rivals. There are also Williams optical sticks out there with Turquoise and Yellow balltops. These ''look'' like 49-ways, complete with centering spider. However, these sticks do not have as many optics, and the pin connector is different, with fewer pins. These sticks are 8-way only. Turquoise ones most likely come from Bubbles, however, some early Joust games shipped with Turquoise and Yellow optical sticks.

The Midway and Happ 49-ways are ''very'' similar, in fact the Happ is just the Midway stick with a minor re-design. (Happ bought the rights to a lot of Midway's parts business several years ago.) The Midway sticks have a smaller diameter shaft, and the centering grommet has a correspondingly smaller hole. Both have a black bat top handle. Replacement handles are available in a variety of colors (Happ variety only) at [www.groovygamegear.com].

==Analog Joysticks==

Analog joysticks are not bound by the limits digital joysticks face. Digital joysticks can only point in 8 (or fewer; see above) directions, or no direction at all (centered). Analog joysticks can point in (theoretically) an unlimited number of directions. Furthermore, Analog joystics can discern how far the handle has been pushed from the center position. Games take advantage of these properties to give the player a much greater level of control over their on-screen character. For example, the bird in [http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=9338 Road Runner] can run in more than just the 8 standard directions, and how far the player pushes the joystick from center determines how fast the Road Runner runs.

Most analog sticks use a pair of potentiometers, one to measure left-to-right movement (the X-axis), and one to measure forward-and-back movement (the Y-axis). A few games, however, used a "Hall Effect" stick. Hall effect sticks use Hall sensors and magnets to read the postion of the stick. The end result is the same, though- both types report to the game which direction and how far the stick is being pressed.

While the actual resolution of an analog joystick may be theoretically unlimited, the standard for analog joysticks connected to a PC is 256x256. Compare this to the 7x7 resolution of a 49-way joystick, or the 3x3 resolution of a standard 8-way joystick. This explains why it is difficult to play games that originally used analog controls with a standard 8-way stick; the stick simply can't control the on-screen character the way it was intended to be controlled. A 49-way stick is sufficient for ''some'' games that originally used analog controls, but not all of them. Road Runner, for example, can be adequately controlled with a 49-way joystick, as that stick would give the bird 24 directions to run in, and four speeds (including stopped)- which ought to be enough to outwit that dumb coyote. [http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=9773 Star Wars], on the other hand, cannot be played well with a 49-way, as that stick will only aim the X-Wing's blasters at 49 equally spaced spots on the screen, leaving Tie Fighters that are in-between those spots un-shootable. (Star Wars actually used an analog Flight Yoke, rather than an analog joystick, but these controls are electrically identical, and actually interchangeable as far as the game is concerned.)

Games that used analog joysticks include:

{|
|
*Afterburner
*CyberSled ''(2 analog sticks per player; two players = 4 sticks)''
*Food Fight
*Jurrasic Park
*Maneater
*Pursuit
*Quarterback
*Rail Chase
*Red Baron
*Solar Assault
*Space Harrier
*Star Wars Trilogy
|
*Steel Talons
*T-Mek
*Tail Gunner
*Tail Gunner II
*Thunderblade
*World Series Baseball

*Escape From The Planet Of The Robot Monsters ''(Hall-Effect)''
*I, Robot ''(Hall-Effect)''
*Road Runner ''(Hall-Effect)''
|
*Apache 3 ''(yoke)''
*Hydra ''(yoke)''
*Lock-On ''(yoke)''
*Star Wars ''(yoke)''
*Stun Runner ''(yoke)''
*The Empire Strikes Back ''(yoke)''
*The Return Of The Jedi ''(yoke)''
*Turbo-Sub ''(yoke)''
|}

==Rotary Joysticks==

There are two types of rotary joysticks that often get confused: Mechanical rotary sticks, and Optical rotary sticks. Either can be interfaced with a PC.

Mechanical rotary sticks are the type that most people remember from games like Ikari Warriors. They have a 12-position rotary switch attached to the bottom of the joystick, which is turned by rotating the handle. Each turn of the handle is accompanied by a clicking sound, and distinct tactile feedback that lets the player know that a turn has been registered.

The SNK games used a stick called the LS-30, with yellow octagonal tops. The Data East games used the same sticks, but with a yellow barrel shaped top. Wico used to make a rotary stick, with a yellow balltop These were basically standard Wico leaf sticks, with the rotary switch added to the bottom. Happ still sells a mechanical rotary stick, which is basically a Happ Super with a rotary switch added to the bottom. Fl0yd at BYOAC figured out how to attach the rotary parts from a Happ rotary to the bottom of a Happ 49-way joystick, and still sells the kits to modify your own Happ 49-way.

Optical rotary sticks have an optical encoder wheel, similar to a spinner, instead. Caliber .50 used a stick called the Loop-24, with green octagonal tops. The Touchdown Fever games used a Happ Optical rotary, which is basically a Happ Super with the encoder wheel and optics added to the bottom.

Most games that used rotary joysticks used the rotary function to determine which direction the on-screen character was aiming. This allowed the player to shoot in a different direction from the direction of motion, all with one hand.

===Mechanical Rotary joystick games (LS-30 sticks)===
*Battle Field
*Top Gunner (bootleg)
*World Wars
*Ikari Warriors
*Victory Road
*Heavy Barrel
*Gondomania
*Bermuda Triangle
*Time Soldiers
*Guerilla War
*SAR - Search And Rescue
*Downtown
*Victory Road
*Midnight Resistance
*Ikari III - The Rescue
*Exterminator (unknown whether this used mechanical or optical rotary sticks)
*TNK III
*Battle Field (Japanese verion of Time Soldiers)
*Dogosoken (Japanese version of Victory Road)
*Makyou Senshi (Japanese version of Gondomania)
*Guevara (Japanese version of Guerrilla War)

===Optical Rotary games (Loop-24 sticks)===
*Caliber .50
*Touchdown Fever
*Touchdown Fever II

===Other "Rotary" games===
These games did ''not'' use rotary joysticks,
but are sometimes confused with rotary games.

*Frontline (Taito Aim-n-Fire)
*The Tin Star (Taito Aim-n-Fire)
*Wild Western (Taito Aim-n-Fire)
*Sherrif (rotary switch)
*Bandido (rotary switch, clone of Sherrif)
*Xybots (Twist-to-Turn)
*720 (Optical 720 spinner/joy hybrid)

==Mounting Joysticks==

==European vs US vs Japanese Joysticks==

Common US joysticks include those produced by:

*Happ
*Wico
*Atari
*Midway

[Most of the Happ joysticks (including the Supers and Competitions) are actually manufactured by a Spanish company ([[www.industrias-lorenzo.com]]) and are therefore technically European joysticks]

Common European joysticks include those produced by:

*Suzo

Common Japanese joysticks include those produced by:

*Sanwa
*Semitsu

Joysticks

2006-05-01T18:29:41Z

MinerAl: /* Non-Conventional Digital Joysticks */ - added TRON joysticks

==Conventional Digital Joysticks==
[[image:Stick-principal.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Stick diagram by JoyMonkey]]
Conventional joysticks are fairly simple devices without which Pac-Man would be ghost-fodder. When the joystick shaft is moved in any direction, the lower end of the stick is levered in the opposite direction and makes contact with switches, these switches are what tells Pac-Man to move and in which direction.

[[image:Directions.gif|left]]By using four switches at the base of the joystick, 8 directions can be achieved; Up, Down, Left and Right as well as the four corner positions. Joysticks like this are known as 8-way.
Some joysticks were designed to restrict the player from moving diagonally; for example, joysticks used in Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. Though it is possible to use an 8-way joystick for these games, it's not recommended, as accidentally hitting a diagonal with the joystick will cause Mario to stand still and Pac-Man won't know if he should go up or to the side. Joysticks like this are known as 4-way.

Other games, such as Defender, Joust, Mario Brothers and Galaga, used a 2-way joystick since movement was only necessary from left to right or up to down.

Standard 8-way only joysticks:
:* [http://retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/happcompetition.html Happ Competition], [http://www.retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/happultimate.html Happ Ultimate (can be ordered in 8 way, 4-way, or 2-way models], [http://retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/wico.html Wico 8-way Leafswitch Joystick (discontinued)].

Standard 4-way only joysticks:
:* Happ Ms.Pac/Galaga Reunion, Betson Ms.Pac/Galaga Reunion, [http://www.retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/happultimate.html Happ Ultimate (can be ordered in 8 way, 4-way, or 2-way models],[http://www.retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/wico.html Wico 4-Way Leafswitch (discontinued)].

====8-Way to 4-Way Switchable Joysticks====
Many 8-way joysticks that are sold can also be set to work in 4-way mode. There are two basic methods to change modes:

1) Changing a restrictor plate that only allows the joystick handle to be pushed in certain directions; or:

2) Changing the actuator (that's the small piece on the bottom end of the joystick shaft that makes contact with the switches) to only allow contact with one switch at a time.

Restrictor plate changes convert the joystick to "true" 4-way operation, and will give the best play. Actuator changes do not keep the handle from moving into the diagonal positions, this method only keeps the switches from being activated. The result is a "dead spot" in the corners, where the stick can be pushed, but no switches are hit. This is not much better than playing in standard 8-way mode, and is not reccomended. Adjusting these joystick usually involves opening up your control panel so you can access the lower section of the joystick base. Some models using a restrictor plate can be easily changed by hand once the control panel is open, while some others require the use of basic tools, like a screwdriver.

Joysticks that can be set to 4-way or 8-way operation via an actuator swap include:
:* [http://retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/happsuper.html Happ Super], [http://www.retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/happsp360.html Happ Perfect 360], [http://www.retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/xgaming.html X-Gaming Joystick (X-Arcade)].

Joysticks that can be set to 4-way or 8-way operation via the restrictor plate include:
:* Suzo 500 (aka [http://ultimarc.com/controls.html Euro-Stik] or [http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=197 Omni-Stik]), [http://retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/ultimarc_tstik.html Ultimarc T-Stik], Ultimarc Mag-Stik, [http://retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/ultimarc_jstik.html Ultimarc J-Stik], [http://www.himuragames.com/store_joysticks.php Sanwa JLF-TP-8YT], [http://www.himuragames.com/store_joysticks.php Seimitsu LS-32].

In the last few years, some companies have added to this feature to allow the joystick to be switchable from above the control panel in some way. This makes it simple for anyone to switch the joystick between 4-way to 8-way from game to game, without having to access 'the guts' of the control panel.

Conventional joysticks that can be switched from above the control panel like this include:
:* [http://retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/ultimarc_tstik.html T-Stik Plus], [http://retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/ultimarc_magstikplus_part1.html Mag-Stik Plus], [http://retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/prodigy.html Omni-Stik Prodigy].

==Unconventional Digital Joysticks==
[[image:Inductivestickopen.jpg|right|thumb|Inside a Suzo Inductive Stick]]
====[http://www.suzo.com/suzo/product.asp?nP=4545 Suzo Inductive Joystick]====
Instead of using the conventional microswitches, Suzo Inductive sticks use a magnet at the base of its shaft that is read by eight 'pads' on its PCB. It is completely silent and easily switchable between 4-way and 8-way using a pot under the joystick.
====[http://retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/happsp360.html Happ Perfect 360 (P360)]====

The Perfect 360 joystick is an optical joystick, which means that the position of the handle is read by optical switches, instead of conventional leaf switches or microswitches. This gives near-silent operation, as the handle & actuator never touch anything.

These sticks have a very smooth feel, largely due to the "no touch" action. P360 joysticks have a round restrictor, instead of the more common square restriction found on many other modern joysticks. This round restriction adds to the smoothness factor, because there are no corners to feel.

Connection- P360 joys require a little more effort to hook up- in addition to the Up, Down, Left, Right and Ground connections on standard joysticks, the P360 also needs a +5 volts connection. This is easy enough to get, as encoders such as the I-Pac and KeyWiz provide a +5v header. PC power supplies produce +5v on the red wire of the drive connectors. There is also +5v power available on USB & PS2 cables. +5 volt power is easy to find.

History- The Perfect 360 started out as an aftermarket add-on kit for Wico leafswitch joysticks. Models were later added to the product line to convert Happ Super, Competition, and Ultimate sticks, and possibly others as well. Happ eventually bought the rights to the P360 technology, and discontinued the kits. Happ began producing a complete stick instead, with the top half of a Wico joystick base (no longer sold by Wico by then) mated to a P360 bottom half.

Interchangability- P360 handles and Wico handles have been found to be interchangable. There are also replacement handles available from SlikStik. Wico Pear-top sticks used the same pivot cones and spacer sleeves.

====[[TRON joystick]]s====
TRON arcade machines had 8-way trigger joysticks that were restricted to make it difficult to go diagonally. This was necessary because some of the four games in TRON were developed for 4-way sticks, while others were able to use 8-ways. [[TRON_joystick|More on TRON joysticks here.]]

==49-Way Joysticks==
Once used in a small handfull of Williams, Midway and Atari games, 49 way joysticks live in a no-man's land between digital and analog joysticks. 49-way joysticks do not, as the name might seem to imply, point in 49 different directions. The number 49 comes from the number of positions the stick can report to the game hardware, including positions somewhere ''between'' "dead center" and "pushed all the way". Imagine a 7x7 grid (that's 49 squares) and you've got it. Games that originally used this hardware benefited from the extra info the joystick could report by allowing the player to control the on-screen character with more precision- both in the form of better directional control (24 discrete directions possible, if you count dead center), and 3 levels of speed control, based on how far from center the stick was pushed. For example, in [http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=9553 SiniStar], the player can make the ship move faster or slower, by varying how hard they push the stick, and the ship's movement is not limited to just 8 directions. Attempting to play this game (or others that originally used 49-way sticks) with a standard 8-way digital joystick tends to be frustrating- SiniStar is a very difficult game in the first place; take away the speed control and limit yourself to 8 directions, and it's ''really, really'' hard. More info on 49-way joysticks can be found at [http://urebelscum.speedhost.com/49waySticks.html What are 49-Way joysticks?] by URebelScum

Games that originally used 49-way joysticks include:

*SiniStar
*Blaster
*Arch Rivals
*Pigskin 621 A.D.
*Blitz
*Blitz '99
*Blitz 2000
*NFL Blitz 2000 Gold Edition
*NBA Showtime
*SportStation
*Gauntlet: Legends
*Gauntlet: Dark Legacy

For home gaming purposes, when paired with the [[Gamepad Encoders#GP Wiz49|GP Wiz49]] controller from [www.groovygamegear.com GroovyGameGear], these analog style joysticks have become a popular all-around stick. Using the GP-Wiz's various DRS modes, these joysticks can be easily switched between 8-way, 4-way, 2-way (vertical), 2-way (horizontal) and diagonal (Q*Bert style) modes without having to physically change the joystick hardware. This allows these sticks to be used to play any digital joystick games well. In additon, the two 49-way modes allow play for games that originally used 49-way sticks (and have emulator support that goes beyond 8-ways- not all 49-way games do), and also will play well for ''some'' games that originally used analog or Hall-Effect joysticks.

There are three varieties of 49-way joystick: Williams, Midway, and Happ.

The Williams are easy to distinguish- they use a distinctive rubber centering "spider" on the bottom, and have balltop handles. Red balltops come from SiniStar; Orange come from Arch Rivals. There are also Williams optical sticks out there with Turquoise and Yellow balltops. These ''look'' like 49-ways, complete with centering spider. However, these sticks do not have as many optics, and the pin connector is different, with fewer pins. These sticks are 8-way only. Turquoise ones most likely come from Bubbles, however, some early Joust games shipped with Turquoise and Yellow optical sticks.

The Midway and Happ 49-ways are ''very'' similar, in fact the Happ is just the Midway stick with a minor re-design. (Happ bought the rights to a lot of Midway's parts business several years ago.) The Midway sticks have a smaller diameter shaft, and the centering grommet has a correspondingly smaller hole. Both have a black bat top handle. Replacement handles are available in a variety of colors (Happ variety only) at [www.groovygamegear.com].

==Analog Joysticks==

Analog joysticks are not bound by the limits digital joysticks face. Digital joysticks can only point in 8 (or fewer; see above) directions, or no direction at all (centered). Analog joysticks can point in (theoretically) an unlimited number of directions. Furthermore, Analog joystics can discern how far the handle has been pushed from the center position. Games take advantage of these properties to give the player a much greater level of control over their on-screen character. For example, the bird in [http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=9338 Road Runner] can run in more than just the 8 standard directions, and how far the player pushes the joystick from center determines how fast the Road Runner runs.

Most analog sticks use a pair of potentiometers, one to measure left-to-right movement (the X-axis), and one to measure forward-and-back movement (the Y-axis). A few games, however, used a "Hall Effect" stick. Hall effect sticks use Hall sensors and magnets to read the postion of the stick. The end result is the same, though- both types report to the game which direction and how far the stick is being pressed.

While the actual resolution of an analog joystick may be theoretically unlimited, the standard for analog joysticks connected to a PC is 256x256. Compare this to the 7x7 resolution of a 49-way joystick, or the 3x3 resolution of a standard 8-way joystick. This explains why it is difficult to play games that originally used analog controls with a standard 8-way stick; the stick simply can't control the on-screen character the way it was intended to be controlled. A 49-way stick is sufficient for ''some'' games that originally used analog controls, but not all of them. Road Runner, for example, can be adequately controlled with a 49-way joystick, as that stick would give the bird 24 directions to run in, and four speeds (including stopped)- which ought to be enough to outwit that dumb coyote. [http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=9773 Star Wars], on the other hand, cannot be played well with a 49-way, as that stick will only aim the X-Wing's blasters at 49 equally spaced spots on the screen, leaving Tie Fighters that are in-between those spots un-shootable. (Star Wars actually used an analog Flight Yoke, rather than an analog joystick, but these controls are electrically identical, and actually interchangeable as far as the game is concerned.)

Games that used analog joysticks include:

{|
|
*Afterburner
*CyberSled ''(2 analog sticks per player; two players = 4 sticks)''
*Food Fight
*Jurrasic Park
*Maneater
*Pursuit
*Quarterback
*Rail Chase
*Red Baron
*Solar Assault
*Space Harrier
*Star Wars Trilogy
|
*Steel Talons
*T-Mek
*Tail Gunner
*Tail Gunner II
*Thunderblade
*World Series Baseball

*Escape From The Planet Of The Robot Monsters ''(Hall-Effect)''
*I, Robot ''(Hall-Effect)''
*Road Runner ''(Hall-Effect)''
|
*Apache 3 ''(yoke)''
*Hydra ''(yoke)''
*Lock-On ''(yoke)''
*Star Wars ''(yoke)''
*Stun Runner ''(yoke)''
*The Empire Strikes Back ''(yoke)''
*The Return Of The Jedi ''(yoke)''
*Turbo-Sub ''(yoke)''
|}

==Rotary Joysticks==

There are two types of rotary joysticks that often get confused: Mechanical rotary sticks, and Optical rotary sticks. Either can be interfaced with a PC.

Mechanical rotary sticks are the type that most people remember from games like Ikari Warriors. They have a 12-position rotary switch attached to the bottom of the joystick, which is turned by rotating the handle. Each turn of the handle is accompanied by a clicking sound, and distinct tactile feedback that lets the player know that a turn has been registered.

The SNK games used a stick called the LS-30, with yellow octagonal tops. The Data East games used the same sticks, but with a yellow barrel shaped top. Wico used to make a rotary stick, with a yellow balltop These were basically standard Wico leaf sticks, with the rotary switch added to the bottom. Happ still sells a mechanical rotary stick, which is basically a Happ Super with a rotary switch added to the bottom. Fl0yd at BYOAC figured out how to attach the rotary parts from a Happ rotary to the bottom of a Happ 49-way joystick, and still sells the kits to modify your own Happ 49-way.

Optical rotary sticks have an optical encoder wheel, similar to a spinner, instead. Caliber .50 used a stick called the Loop-24, with green octagonal tops. The Touchdown Fever games used a Happ Optical rotary, which is basically a Happ Super with the encoder wheel and optics added to the bottom.

Most games that used rotary joysticks used the rotary function to determine which direction the on-screen character was aiming. This allowed the player to shoot in a different direction from the direction of motion, all with one hand.

===Mechanical Rotary joystick games (LS-30 sticks)===
*Battle Field
*Top Gunner (bootleg)
*World Wars
*Ikari Warriors
*Victory Road
*Heavy Barrel
*Gondomania
*Bermuda Triangle
*Time Soldiers
*Guerilla War
*SAR - Search And Rescue
*Downtown
*Victory Road
*Midnight Resistance
*Ikari III - The Rescue
*Exterminator (unknown whether this used mechanical or optical rotary sticks)
*TNK III
*Battle Field (Japanese verion of Time Soldiers)
*Dogosoken (Japanese version of Victory Road)
*Makyou Senshi (Japanese version of Gondomania)
*Guevara (Japanese version of Guerrilla War)

===Optical Rotary games (Loop-24 sticks)===
*Caliber .50
*Touchdown Fever
*Touchdown Fever II

===Other "Rotary" games===
These games did ''not'' use rotary joysticks,
but are sometimes confused with rotary games.

*Frontline (Taito Aim-n-Fire)
*The Tin Star (Taito Aim-n-Fire)
*Wild Western (Taito Aim-n-Fire)
*Sherrif (rotary switch)
*Bandido (rotary switch, clone of Sherrif)
*Xybots (Twist-to-Turn)
*720 (Optical 720 spinner/joy hybrid)

==Mounting Joysticks==

==European vs US vs Japanese Joysticks==

Common US joysticks include those produced by:

*Happ
*Wico
*Atari
*Midway

[Most of the Happ joysticks (including the Supers and Competitions) are actually manufactured by a Spanish company ([[www.industrias-lorenzo.com]]) and are therefore technically European joysticks]

Common European joysticks include those produced by:

*Suzo

Common Japanese joysticks include those produced by:

*Sanwa
*Semitsu

TRON joystick

2006-05-01T17:40:22Z

MinerAl: The TRON Joystick

== About the TRON joystick ==
The joystick on a TRON machine was unique in a few ways. It was a trigger stick, just like Gorf, Satan's Hollow and other Midway games, but it was translucent royal blue (Satan's Hollow was translucent red). The TRON machine actually had four games in it. Some of the games required a 4-way stick and some could take advantage of 8-way movement. The joystick, therefore, was technically an 8-way stick, but it was restricted in such a way that the corners were difficult to hit accidentally.

== A TRON joystick on your cabinet ==
The easiest way to have a TRON stick on your cabinet is to find an actual TRON stick. The original TRON machine came out in the early 80s so there were lots of cabinets that had their control panels, with their weird TRON only joysticks, replaced with other controls and other games placed in them. TRON joysticks, and entire TRON CPs, come up fairly regularly on eBay, and are often quite expensive.

The TRON joystick is a heavy duty piece of machinery. The base of the stick (under the control panel) is 3.38" square and 4.25" tall, the mounting plate is 4"x5", and the stick above the panel is about 7" tall. Mechanically, with the exception of its unique color and restrictors, the TRON joystick is a leaf switch version of the [http://www.happcontrols.com/joysticks/50997000.htm Happ Controls "Heavy Duty 8-way Trigger Joystick"] with the same dimensions. It will take up considerably more real-estate on and under your control panel than a typical ball or bat-top joystick.

Reproduction translucent blue (and other color) handle pieces are sometimes produced, and and some NOS handles come up occasionally. These can be easilly mated to a Happ's HD 8-way Trigger Joystick. Specific handle parts can be ordered by taking the individual part numbers off of [http://www.happcontrols.com/joysticks/50997000x.htm Happ's exploded view]. Simply enter the part number for the part you need on the Happ's order page and you can get just the trigger, or just the screws, or just the faceplate, etc.

Using a stock Happ HD 8-Way Trigger stick will leave some of the games in TRON difficult to play properly. The restrictors in the real TRON stick make it difficult to go in a diagonal direction accidentally. The Happs stick is a true 8-way and will easily go to the corners and ruin your round of Light Cycles (one of the TRON levels).

People have had some success reproducing TRON style restrictors, but NOS and original restrictors are rare. It is easier to find an entire old TRON stick than just the restrictors.

== TRON-like sticks ==
Several arcade games came with heavy duty trigger sticks, which were very similar to TRON joysticks:
* Satan's Hollow (translucent red, 4-way'''?''')
* Gorf (black, 4-way'''?''')
* Xenophobe (black with two thumb triggers on face plate, 8-way)
* Discs of TRON (translucent blue with one thumb trigger on face plate, true 8-way)

== B.Y.O. TRON joystick ==
Several people have successfully hacked PC trigger sticks or even actual TRON handles to other more common arcade joysticks. The trend to make computer (particularly Mac) peripherals out of translucent blue plastic in the late 90s makes it fairly simple to find good TRONesque joysticks to hack.

Generally the trigger stick handle is removed from the PC joystick and attached to a hollow metal rod the same size as the original arcade joystick's shaft. The wires from the trigger(s) go through the tube and work inside the CP just as any switch wires would.

Some challenges for building your own TRON stick:
* the limited 8-way of a real TRON stick is hard to emulate with regular arcade joysticks
* most regular joysticks' handles spin with fairly little effort, while spinning is not desirable in a trigger stick
* some cheaper joystick bases may not be hardy enough to survive enthusiastic play with the larger and heavier trigger stick handle
* the hollow shaft is also a potential weak point

Related Links:
* [http://www.oscarcontrols.com/projects/triggerstick.shtml Oscar Control's trigger stick hack]
* [http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=8923.0 MinerAl's trigger stick hack]
* [http://www.google.com/search?q=trigger+stick&sitesearch=forum.arcadecontrols.com Google search of BYOAC Forums. Keywords "trigger stick"]
* [http://www.google.com/search?q=trigger+joystick&sitesearch=forum.arcadecontrols.com Google search of BYOAC Forums. Keywords "trigger joystick"]
* [http://www.google.com/search?q=tron+joystick&sitesearch=forum.arcadecontrols.com Google search of BYOAC Forums. Keywords "tron joystick"]

Spinners and Dials

2006-05-01T14:38:20Z

MinerAl: Added more 360 wheel info (Sprint wheels)

{{Cleanup}}

=What is a Spinner?=

You might remember the spinner from games like Tempest and Arkanoid. The player turns a knob to move the on-screen character. But what's going on behind the scenes; what's that knob attached to?

Underneath the control panel, the shaft comes down from the knob above. Mounted on the shaft, is an optical encoder wheel- a flat disk with notches cut around the outside edge. These notches pass though a set of infra-red optics, that detect the notches as they spin by. There are two sets of optics, spaced such that they see the notches spin by just a little bit out of sync. The combined signal from both of these optics tells the game which direction the disk is turning, and how fast. This is also how a trackball works, as well as a ball-type PC mouse.

If you are buying or building a working spinner for your cabinet, you will need the Spinner (the mechanical part,) the optics(the part that watches the spinning,) and the optical encoder (the part that sends info to the computer.) If a manufacturer advertises "USB Connectivity" that generally means that it is an all in one solution, and no additional parts are required. Otherwise, you'll find that optics are generally included, but an encoder is not. In the rare occurence that your spinner does not have optics included, they can be built with parts from your local electronic store, or you can build them based off of a [[Optical_Encoders#Mouse_Hack|mouse hack.]] If the unit does not ship with an optical encoder, you can purchase one from an aftermarket seller. You can find out more about [[Optical_Encoders|optical encoders here.]]

Note: Paddles, while similar to spinners in that they rotate and have knobs, are usually based on potentiometers (like a volume knob on an old TV or radio), rather than the optics in a spinner. Spinners, as the name suggests, spin. There is no end to how many times the knob can fully rotate in any direction. They often move things in a game in a circular fashion, as in Tempest or TRON. Paddles do not fully rotate. They have a beginning and an end to the rotation. Paddles often move things in a game in a linear fashion, as in Pong. Driving games that have free-spinning steering wheels (like Pole Position) are usable with a spinner, while games with steering wheels that stop at the ends of the turn (like Outrun), are playable with paddles. Most emulators will let you play paddle games with a spinner, but spinner games are generally not playable with paddles.

=Spinner Varieties=

#Tempest- Fast spinning lightweight spinner, which is very popular with arcade enthusiassts. It has 72 teeth on the encoder wheel, with nylon upper and lower bearings on the shaft. This was the model for the Oscar Vortex aftermarket spinner.
#Arkanoid- The "geared" spinner. Rather than mounting the encoder wheel directly to the shaft, the Arkanoid spinner used two sets of gears between the knob and the encoder wheel, to make the spinner extremely sensitive. While the encoder wheel only has 24 notches, the gearing causes 486 notches to pass through the optics for every turn of the knob! Due to the lightweight and friction from the gearing, the Arkanoid spinner stops the instant you take your hand off the knob.
#360° Steering Wheels - Games like the original Pole Position and Sprint 2 used steering wheels that were essentially giant spinners. The Pole Position steering wheel, for instance, was geared similarly to an Arkanoid spinner. However, the gear ratio was only 5:1 to a 24 notch encoder wheel (96 notches per wheel revolution). This and the mechanical advantage of the large steering wheel rather than a small knob, let the wheel spin freely. Sprint 2 (and Sprint 1, and probably Sprints 4 and 8)used an ungeared 38 notch encoder cup, and spun freely.
#Discs of Tron ''Push/Pull''- This spinner used a giant 128-notch encoder wheel with a push / pull switch feature built into the spindle shaft. When the player pulled up or down on the spinner, a leafswitch was activated. This was used to control the high / low aim of the disc in later levels of the game. Zwackery also used a Push/Pull spinner, and Forgotten Worlds used a push only (no pull) spinner. Oscar Controls marketed a Push/Pull spinner with a slightly different design, and a smaller 72 notch encoder wheel, but it is no longer available for purchase. The Oscar V2 had a Push option, and a Pull kit was rumored to be in the works before Oscar Controls closed down.

=Spinner Brands=
#[http://oscarcontrols.com/ Oscar Controls]- Was a popular manufacturer of spinners for the hobbyist market until recently. Several models were produced over the years, including the Model One, Pro, Vortex, Push/Pull, and V2. These spinners did not enclude an encoder and required connection to an [[Optical_Encoders#Opti-PAC|Opti-Pac]] or to a [[Optical_Encoders#Mouse_Hack|mouse hack]].
#[http://www.slikstik.com/spinfeat.htm SlikStik]- The Tornado is billed as the "longest spinning" spinner on the market, the Tornado is currently the spinner that's been on the market the longest. With an extra-small footprint, and dual-bearing design, the Tornado is very well made. Several knob options are also available. The Tornado comes with it's own USB or PS/2 interface. Plans to sell the Tornado with a plain-jane optic card have also been announced.
#[http://GroovyGameGear.com GroovyGameGear]- The TurboTwist is new to the market. Like the SlikStik Tornado, the TurboTwist also has a small footprint and a dual-bearing design. The TurboTwist has an extra-high resolution encoder wheel, and comes with it's own USB or PS/2 Opti-Wiz interface. The interface can be configured to put the spinner on the X, Y, or Z mouse axis, and will control other optic devices on the remaining two axes, such as a trackball, or additional spinners/steering wheels/optical rotary joysticks. A plain-jane optic card version has also been announced.
#[http://ArcadeGames4U.com ArcadeGames4U]- The cyclone is also new to the market. It has a dual-bearing design, with a lower resolution encoder wheel. The Cyclone ships with an optic card, but no interface.
#Build Your Own! - Many users have built their own spinners from whatever parts they had available - Hard drive bearings, skateboard bearings, whatever.

=Build Your Own Spinner=

For those of us who would prefer to build their own spinner or cannot afford a retail unit, with a few spare parts that most likely are already lying around, can easily build your own. Here are some links to help you along your way:

'''[http://arcadecontrols.com/files/Miscellaneous/spinner.pdf Nathan Strum's Cheep Spinner]'''

'''[http://www.doughansen.net/arcade/spinner.htm DHansen's Arcade Stupidity Spinner]'''

'''[http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=17522.0 BYO "Nasty-Spinner" Thread]'''

'''List of compatible hard drives:'''

WD Caviar 1200 210 MB Drive

WD Caviar 11200 1.2 GB Drive

* Please feel free to add to the list of compatible drives if you have successfully built your own spinner with a drive that is not listed.

=FAQs=
==Which games originally used a spinner==
The list below is non-definitive, but can be used as a guide to find the most common games that can use a spinner.
===Conventional spinner games===
*Arkanoid arkanoid
*Arkanoid - Revenge of Doh arknoid2
*Blasteroids (version 4) blstroid
*Wolf Pack (prototype) wolfpack
*Tempest (rev 3) tempest
*Tron (set 1) tron
*Mad Planets mplanets
*720 Degrees (set 1) 720
*Aztarac aztarac
*Forgotten Worlds (US) forgottn
*Kozmik Kroozr kroozr
*Crater Raider crater
*Wheel Of Fortune wfortune
*Victory victory
*Omega Race omegrace
*Cameltry (US) cameltry
*Cosmic Chasm (set 1) cchasm
*Dark Planet darkplnt
*Vs. Hot Smash hotsmash
*Boxing Bugs boxingb
*Star Trek startrek
===Push/pull spinner games===
*Discs of Tron (Upright) dotron
*Zwackery zwackery
===Horizontal roller===
*Major Havoc (rev 3) mhavoc
*Moonwar moonwar
*Kick (upright) kick
=== Vertical roller ===
*Drag Race dragrace
=== 360° Steering Wheel===
*Super Sprint ssprint
*APB - All Points Bulletin (set 1) apb
*Pole Position polepos
*Pole Position II polepos2
*Road Blasters (set 1) roadblst
*American Speedway (set 1) amspdwy
*Bad Lands badlands
*Demolition Derby demoderb
*Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat indyheat
*Speed Freak speedfrk
*Ironman Stewart's Super Off-Road offroad
*Ironman Stewart's Super Off-Road Track Pack offroadt
*Turbo turbo
*Konami GT konamigt
*Buggy Challenge buggychl
*Championship Sprint csprint
*Fire Truck firetrk
*Fire Truck firetrk
*Grand Champion grchamp
*Hot Rod (turbo 3 player) hotrod
*Monte Carlo montecar
*Stocker stocker
*Super Speed Race sspeedr
*Final Lap 2 finalap2
*Subs subs
*Mille Miglia 2: Great 1000 Miles Rally (95/05/24) gtmr2
*Over Drive overdriv
*Redline Racer (2 players) redlin2p
*Sprint 1 sprint1
===Horizontal paddle games===
*Boot Hill boothill
*Clowns (rev. 2) clowns
*Super Breakout sbrkout
*Avalanche avalnche
*Beam Invader beaminv
*Gee Bee geebee
*Warlords warlords
*Field Goal fgoal
*Blue Shark blueshrk
*Circus circus
*Sea Wolf seawolf
*Sea Wolf II seawolf2
===Vertical paddle games===
*Destroyer destroyr
*Lunar Lander (rev 2) llander

==Two Spinners on a control panel; is it worth it?==
The answer is an unequivocal ''maybe''. There are several factors to keep in mind when trying to determine whether you should buy and install 2 spinners on your control panel.
#Budget- Spinners are somewhat expensive. Buying 2 aftermarket spinners with optics will set you back about $80-$160.
#Software- Can your software support 2 mice at the same time. Make sure you have a version of mame that can support 2 spinners if they're both individual USB units. If you have them both plugged into an [[Optical_Encoders#Opti-PAC|Optipac]] this won't be a problem.
#Space- Depending on the model, spinners can take up a lot of room under the surface of a control panel. The Oscar Controls Push/Pull spinner was approximately 5.5x6" for instance. Also, the more spinners you have, the less room you may have for other features and joysticks.
#Games- Most importantly, do you like any games that use more than 1 spinner? Below is a (non-definitive) list of multi-spinner games
##Paddle Games
###Arkanoid Returns
###Off the Wall (Atari)
###Off the Wall (Bally Sente)
###Warlords (uses 4!)
###Pop'n Bounce
###Plump Pop
###VS Blok Breaker
##Flying
###Blasteroids
###Two Tigers
##Driving
###Super Off Road
### Super Sprint (uses 3!)
###Championship Super Sprint
###Bad Lands
###Ironman Ivan Stewart's Super Off-Road (uses 3!)
###Ironman Stewart's Super Off-Road Track Pack (uses 3!)
###Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat
## Other
###Atari 2 player games
###Puzzloop

==If I can have only a spinner or a trackball... which should I choose==
'''insert pro/con arguments here'''
relevant links in msg board. delete links once the info has been added.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=25477.0
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=37876.0
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=36036.0

Spinners and Dials

2006-05-01T14:34:03Z

MinerAl: spelling

{{Cleanup}}

=What is a Spinner?=

You might remember the spinner from games like Tempest and Arkanoid. The player turns a knob to move the on-screen character. But what's going on behind the scenes; what's that knob attached to?

Underneath the control panel, the shaft comes down from the knob above. Mounted on the shaft, is an optical encoder wheel- a flat disk with notches cut around the outside edge. These notches pass though a set of infra-red optics, that detect the notches as they spin by. There are two sets of optics, spaced such that they see the notches spin by just a little bit out of sync. The combined signal from both of these optics tells the game which direction the disk is turning, and how fast. This is also how a trackball works, as well as a ball-type PC mouse.

If you are buying or building a working spinner for your cabinet, you will need the Spinner (the mechanical part,) the optics(the part that watches the spinning,) and the optical encoder (the part that sends info to the computer.) If a manufacturer advertises "USB Connectivity" that generally means that it is an all in one solution, and no additional parts are required. Otherwise, you'll find that optics are generally included, but an encoder is not. In the rare occurence that your spinner does not have optics included, they can be built with parts from your local electronic store, or you can build them based off of a [[Optical_Encoders#Mouse_Hack|mouse hack.]] If the unit does not ship with an optical encoder, you can purchase one from an aftermarket seller. You can find out more about [[Optical_Encoders|optical encoders here.]]

Note: Paddles, while similar to spinners in that they rotate and have knobs, are usually based on potentiometers (like a volume knob on an old TV or radio), rather than the optics in a spinner. Spinners, as the name suggests, spin. There is no end to how many times the knob can fully rotate in any direction. They often move things in a game in a circular fashion, as in Tempest or TRON. Paddles do not fully rotate. They have a beginning and an end to the rotation. Paddles often move things in a game in a linear fashion, as in Pong. Driving games that have free-spinning steering wheels (like Pole Position) are usable with a spinner, while games with steering wheels that stop at the ends of the turn (like Outrun), are playable with paddles. Most emulators will let you play paddle games with a spinner, but spinner games are generally not playable with paddles.

=Spinner Varieties=

#Tempest- Fast spinning lightweight spinner, which is very popular with arcade enthusiassts. It has 72 teeth on the encoder wheel, with nylon upper and lower bearings on the shaft. This was the model for the Oscar Vortex aftermarket spinner.
#Arkanoid- The "geared" spinner. Rather than mounting the encoder wheel directly to the shaft, the Arkanoid spinner used two sets of gears between the knob and the encoder wheel, to make the spinner extremely sensitive. While the encoder wheel only has 24 notches, the gearing causes 486 notches to pass through the optics for every turn of the knob! Due to the lightweight and friction from the gearing, the Arkanoid spinner stops the instant you take your hand off the knob.
#360° Steering Wheels - Games like the original Pole Position and Sprint used steering wheels that were essentially giant spinners. The Pole Position steering wheel, for instance, was geared similarly to an Arkanoid spinner. However, the gear ratio was only 5:1 to a 24 notch encoder wheel (96 notches per wheel revolution). This and the mechanical advantage of the large steering wheel rather than a small knob, let the wheel spin freely.
#Discs of Tron ''Push/Pull''- This spinner used a giant 128-notch encoder wheel with a push / pull switch feature built into the spindle shaft. When the player pulled up or down on the spinner, a leafswitch was activated. This was used to control the high / low aim of the disc in later levels of the game. Zwackery also used a Push/Pull spinner, and Forgotten Worlds used a push only (no pull) spinner. Oscar Controls marketed a Push/Pull spinner with a slightly different design, and a smaller 72 notch encoder wheel, but it is no longer available for purchase. The Oscar V2 had a Push option, and a Pull kit was rumored to be in the works before Oscar Controls closed down.

=Spinner Brands=
#[http://oscarcontrols.com/ Oscar Controls]- Was a popular manufacturer of spinners for the hobbyist market until recently. Several models were produced over the years, including the Model One, Pro, Vortex, Push/Pull, and V2. These spinners did not enclude an encoder and required connection to an [[Optical_Encoders#Opti-PAC|Opti-Pac]] or to a [[Optical_Encoders#Mouse_Hack|mouse hack]].
#[http://www.slikstik.com/spinfeat.htm SlikStik]- The Tornado is billed as the "longest spinning" spinner on the market, the Tornado is currently the spinner that's been on the market the longest. With an extra-small footprint, and dual-bearing design, the Tornado is very well made. Several knob options are also available. The Tornado comes with it's own USB or PS/2 interface. Plans to sell the Tornado with a plain-jane optic card have also been announced.
#[http://GroovyGameGear.com GroovyGameGear]- The TurboTwist is new to the market. Like the SlikStik Tornado, the TurboTwist also has a small footprint and a dual-bearing design. The TurboTwist has an extra-high resolution encoder wheel, and comes with it's own USB or PS/2 Opti-Wiz interface. The interface can be configured to put the spinner on the X, Y, or Z mouse axis, and will control other optic devices on the remaining two axes, such as a trackball, or additional spinners/steering wheels/optical rotary joysticks. A plain-jane optic card version has also been announced.
#[http://ArcadeGames4U.com ArcadeGames4U]- The cyclone is also new to the market. It has a dual-bearing design, with a lower resolution encoder wheel. The Cyclone ships with an optic card, but no interface.
#Build Your Own! - Many users have built their own spinners from whatever parts they had available - Hard drive bearings, skateboard bearings, whatever.

=Build Your Own Spinner=

For those of us who would prefer to build their own spinner or cannot afford a retail unit, with a few spare parts that most likely are already lying around, can easily build your own. Here are some links to help you along your way:

'''[http://arcadecontrols.com/files/Miscellaneous/spinner.pdf Nathan Strum's Cheep Spinner]'''

'''[http://www.doughansen.net/arcade/spinner.htm DHansen's Arcade Stupidity Spinner]'''

'''[http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=17522.0 BYO "Nasty-Spinner" Thread]'''

'''List of compatible hard drives:'''

WD Caviar 1200 210 MB Drive

WD Caviar 11200 1.2 GB Drive

* Please feel free to add to the list of compatible drives if you have successfully built your own spinner with a drive that is not listed.

=FAQs=
==Which games originally used a spinner==
The list below is non-definitive, but can be used as a guide to find the most common games that can use a spinner.
===Conventional spinner games===
*Arkanoid arkanoid
*Arkanoid - Revenge of Doh arknoid2
*Blasteroids (version 4) blstroid
*Wolf Pack (prototype) wolfpack
*Tempest (rev 3) tempest
*Tron (set 1) tron
*Mad Planets mplanets
*720 Degrees (set 1) 720
*Aztarac aztarac
*Forgotten Worlds (US) forgottn
*Kozmik Kroozr kroozr
*Crater Raider crater
*Wheel Of Fortune wfortune
*Victory victory
*Omega Race omegrace
*Cameltry (US) cameltry
*Cosmic Chasm (set 1) cchasm
*Dark Planet darkplnt
*Vs. Hot Smash hotsmash
*Boxing Bugs boxingb
*Star Trek startrek
===Push/pull spinner games===
*Discs of Tron (Upright) dotron
*Zwackery zwackery
===Horizontal roller===
*Major Havoc (rev 3) mhavoc
*Moonwar moonwar
*Kick (upright) kick
=== Vertical roller ===
*Drag Race dragrace
=== 360° Steering Wheel===
*Super Sprint ssprint
*APB - All Points Bulletin (set 1) apb
*Pole Position polepos
*Pole Position II polepos2
*Road Blasters (set 1) roadblst
*American Speedway (set 1) amspdwy
*Bad Lands badlands
*Demolition Derby demoderb
*Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat indyheat
*Speed Freak speedfrk
*Ironman Stewart's Super Off-Road offroad
*Ironman Stewart's Super Off-Road Track Pack offroadt
*Turbo turbo
*Konami GT konamigt
*Buggy Challenge buggychl
*Championship Sprint csprint
*Fire Truck firetrk
*Fire Truck firetrk
*Grand Champion grchamp
*Hot Rod (turbo 3 player) hotrod
*Monte Carlo montecar
*Stocker stocker
*Super Speed Race sspeedr
*Final Lap 2 finalap2
*Subs subs
*Mille Miglia 2: Great 1000 Miles Rally (95/05/24) gtmr2
*Over Drive overdriv
*Redline Racer (2 players) redlin2p
*Sprint 1 sprint1
===Horizontal paddle games===
*Boot Hill boothill
*Clowns (rev. 2) clowns
*Super Breakout sbrkout
*Avalanche avalnche
*Beam Invader beaminv
*Gee Bee geebee
*Warlords warlords
*Field Goal fgoal
*Blue Shark blueshrk
*Circus circus
*Sea Wolf seawolf
*Sea Wolf II seawolf2
===Vertical paddle games===
*Destroyer destroyr
*Lunar Lander (rev 2) llander

==Two Spinners on a control panel; is it worth it?==
The answer is an unequivocal ''maybe''. There are several factors to keep in mind when trying to determine whether you should buy and install 2 spinners on your control panel.
#Budget- Spinners are somewhat expensive. Buying 2 aftermarket spinners with optics will set you back about $80-$160.
#Software- Can your software support 2 mice at the same time. Make sure you have a version of mame that can support 2 spinners if they're both individual USB units. If you have them both plugged into an [[Optical_Encoders#Opti-PAC|Optipac]] this won't be a problem.
#Space- Depending on the model, spinners can take up a lot of room under the surface of a control panel. The Oscar Controls Push/Pull spinner was approximately 5.5x6" for instance. Also, the more spinners you have, the less room you may have for other features and joysticks.
#Games- Most importantly, do you like any games that use more than 1 spinner? Below is a (non-definitive) list of multi-spinner games
##Paddle Games
###Arkanoid Returns
###Off the Wall (Atari)
###Off the Wall (Bally Sente)
###Warlords (uses 4!)
###Pop'n Bounce
###Plump Pop
###VS Blok Breaker
##Flying
###Blasteroids
###Two Tigers
##Driving
###Super Off Road
### Super Sprint (uses 3!)
###Championship Super Sprint
###Bad Lands
###Ironman Ivan Stewart's Super Off-Road (uses 3!)
###Ironman Stewart's Super Off-Road Track Pack (uses 3!)
###Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat
## Other
###Atari 2 player games
###Puzzloop

==If I can have only a spinner or a trackball... which should I choose==
'''insert pro/con arguments here'''
relevant links in msg board. delete links once the info has been added.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=25477.0
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=37876.0
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=36036.0

Spinners and Dials

2006-04-28T13:41:22Z

MinerAl: added Pole Position encoder wheel info

{{Cleanup}}

=What is a Spinner?=

You might remember the spinner from games like Tempest and Arkanoid. The player turns a knob to move the on-screen character. But what's going on behind the scenes; what's that knob attached to?

Underneath the control panel, the shaft comes down from the knob above. Mounted on the shaft, is an optical encoder wheel- a flat disk with notches cut around the outside edge. These notches pass though a set of infra-red optics, that detect the notches as they spin by. There are two sets of optics, spaced such that they see the notches spin by just a little bit out of sync. The combined signal from both of these optics tells the game which direction the disk is turning, and how fast. This is also how a trackball works, as well as a ball-type PC mouse.

If you are buying or building a working spinner for your cabinet, you will need the Spinner (the mechanical part,) the optics(the part that watches the spinning,) and the optical encoder (the part that sends info to the computer.) If a manufacturer advertises "USB Connectivity" that generally means that it is an all in one solution, and no additional parts are required. Otherwise, you'll find that optics are generally included, but an encoder is not. In the rare occurence that your spinner does not have optics included, they can be built with parts from your local electronic store, or you can build them based off of a [[Optical_Encoders#Mouse_Hack|mouse hack.]] If the unit does not ship with an optical encoder, you can purchase one from an aftermarket seller. You can find out more about [[Optical_Encoders|optical encoders here.]]

Note: Paddles, while similar to spinners in that they rotate and have knobs, are usually based on potentiometers (like a volume knob on an old TV or radio), rather than the optics in a spinner. Spinners, as the name suggests, spin. There is no end to how many times the knob can fully rotate in any direction. They often move things in a game in a circular fashion, as in Tempest or TRON. Paddles do not fully rotate. They have a beginning and an end to the rotation. Paddles often move things in a game in a linear fashion, as in Pong. Driving games that have free-spinning steering wheels (like Pole Position) are usable with a spinner, while games with steering wheels that stop at the ends of the turn (like Outrun), are playable with paddles. Most emulators will let you play Padle games with a spinner, but spinner games are generally not playable with paddles.

=Spinner Varieties=

#Tempest- Fast spinning lightweight spinner, which is very popular with arcade enthusiassts. It has 72 teeth on the encoder wheel, with nylon upper and lower bearings on the shaft. This was the model for the Oscar Vortex aftermarket spinner.
#Arkanoid- The "geared" spinner. Rather than mounting the encoder wheel directly to the shaft, the Arkanoid spinner used two sets of gears between the knob and the encoder wheel, to make the spinner extremely sensitive. While the encoder wheel only has 24 notches, the gearing causes 486 notches to pass through the optics for every turn of the knob! Due to the lightweight and friction from the gearing, the Arkanoid spinner stops the instant you take your hand off the knob.
#360° Steering Wheels - Games like the original Pole Position and Sprint used steering wheels that were essentially giant spinners. The Pole Position steering wheel, for instance, was geared similarly to an Arkanoid spinner. However, the gear ratio was only 5:1 to a 24 notch encoder wheel (96 notches per wheel revolution). This and the mechanical advantage of the large steering wheel rather than a small knob, let the wheel spin freely.
#Discs of Tron ''Push/Pull''- This spinner used a giant 128-notch encoder wheel with a push / pull switch feature built into the spindle shaft. When the player pulled up or down on the spinner, a leafswitch was activated. This was used to control the high / low aim of the disc in later levels of the game. Zwackery also used a Push/Pull spinner, and Forgotten Worlds used a push only (no pull) spinner. Oscar Controls marketed a Push/Pull spinner with a slightly different design, and a smaller 72 notch encoder wheel, but it is no longer available for purchase. The Oscar V2 had a Push option, and a Pull kit was rumored to be in the works before Oscar Controls closed down.

=Spinner Brands=
#[http://oscarcontrols.com/ Oscar Controls]- Was a popular manufacturer of spinners for the hobbyist market until recently. Several models were produced over the years, including the Model One, Pro, Vortex, Push/Pull, and V2. These spinners did not enclude an encoder and required connection to an [[Optical_Encoders#Opti-PAC|Opti-Pac]] or to a [[Optical_Encoders#Mouse_Hack|mouse hack]].
#[http://www.slikstik.com/spinfeat.htm SlikStik]- The Tornado is billed as the "longest spinning" spinner on the market, the Tornado is currently the spinner that's been on the market the longest. With an extra-small footprint, and dual-bearing design, the Tornado is very well made. Several knob options are also available. The Tornado comes with it's own USB or PS/2 interface. Plans to sell the Tornado with a plain-jane optic card have also been announced.
#[http://GroovyGameGear.com GroovyGameGear]- The TurboTwist is new to the market. Like the SlikStik Tornado, the TurboTwist also has a small footprint and a dual-bearing design. The TurboTwist has an extra-high resolution encoder wheel, and comes with it's own USB or PS/2 Opti-Wiz interface. The interface can be configured to put the spinner on the X, Y, or Z mouse axis, and will control other optic devices on the remaining two axes, such as a trackball, or additional spinners/steering wheels/optical rotary joysticks. A plain-jane optic card version has also been announced.
#[http://ArcadeGames4U.com ArcadeGames4U]- The cyclone is also new to the market. It has a dual-bearing design, with a lower resolution encoder wheel. The Cyclone ships with an optic card, but no interface.
#Build Your Own! - Many users have built their own spinners from whatever parts they had available - Hard drive bearings, skateboard bearings, whatever.

=Build Your Own Spinner=

For those of us who would prefer to build their own spinner or cannot afford a retail unit, with a few spare parts that most likely are already lying around, can easily build your own. Here are some links to help you along your way:

'''[http://arcadecontrols.com/files/Miscellaneous/spinner.pdf Nathan Strum's Cheep Spinner]'''

'''[http://www.doughansen.net/arcade/spinner.htm DHansen's Arcade Stupidity Spinner]'''

'''[http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=17522.0 BYO "Nasty-Spinner" Thread]'''

'''List of compatible hard drives:'''

WD Caviar 1200 210 MB Drive

WD Caviar 11200 1.2 GB Drive

* Please feel free to add to the list of compatible drives if you have successfully built your own spinner with a drive that is not listed.

=FAQs=
==Which games originally used a spinner==
The list below is non-definitive, but can be used as a guide to find the most common games that can use a spinner.
===Conventional spinner games===
*Arkanoid arkanoid
*Arkanoid - Revenge of Doh arknoid2
*Blasteroids (version 4) blstroid
*Wolf Pack (prototype) wolfpack
*Tempest (rev 3) tempest
*Tron (set 1) tron
*Mad Planets mplanets
*720 Degrees (set 1) 720
*Aztarac aztarac
*Forgotten Worlds (US) forgottn
*Kozmik Kroozr kroozr
*Crater Raider crater
*Wheel Of Fortune wfortune
*Victory victory
*Omega Race omegrace
*Cameltry (US) cameltry
*Cosmic Chasm (set 1) cchasm
*Dark Planet darkplnt
*Vs. Hot Smash hotsmash
*Boxing Bugs boxingb
*Star Trek startrek
===Push/pull spinner games===
*Discs of Tron (Upright) dotron
*Zwackery zwackery
===Horizontal roller===
*Major Havoc (rev 3) mhavoc
*Moonwar moonwar
*Kick (upright) kick
=== Vertical roller ===
*Drag Race dragrace
=== 360° Steering Wheel===
*Super Sprint ssprint
*APB - All Points Bulletin (set 1) apb
*Pole Position polepos
*Pole Position II polepos2
*Road Blasters (set 1) roadblst
*American Speedway (set 1) amspdwy
*Bad Lands badlands
*Demolition Derby demoderb
*Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat indyheat
*Speed Freak speedfrk
*Ironman Stewart's Super Off-Road offroad
*Ironman Stewart's Super Off-Road Track Pack offroadt
*Turbo turbo
*Konami GT konamigt
*Buggy Challenge buggychl
*Championship Sprint csprint
*Fire Truck firetrk
*Fire Truck firetrk
*Grand Champion grchamp
*Hot Rod (turbo 3 player) hotrod
*Monte Carlo montecar
*Stocker stocker
*Super Speed Race sspeedr
*Final Lap 2 finalap2
*Subs subs
*Mille Miglia 2: Great 1000 Miles Rally (95/05/24) gtmr2
*Over Drive overdriv
*Redline Racer (2 players) redlin2p
*Sprint 1 sprint1
===Horizontal paddle games===
*Boot Hill boothill
*Clowns (rev. 2) clowns
*Super Breakout sbrkout
*Avalanche avalnche
*Beam Invader beaminv
*Gee Bee geebee
*Warlords warlords
*Field Goal fgoal
*Blue Shark blueshrk
*Circus circus
*Sea Wolf seawolf
*Sea Wolf II seawolf2
===Vertical paddle games===
*Destroyer destroyr
*Lunar Lander (rev 2) llander

==Two Spinners on a control panel; is it worth it?==
The answer is an unequivocal ''maybe''. There are several factors to keep in mind when trying to determine whether you should buy and install 2 spinners on your control panel.
#Budget- Spinners are somewhat expensive. Buying 2 aftermarket spinners with optics will set you back about $80-$160.
#Software- Can your software support 2 mice at the same time. Make sure you have a version of mame that can support 2 spinners if they're both individual USB units. If you have them both plugged into an [[Optical_Encoders#Opti-PAC|Optipac]] this won't be a problem.
#Space- Depending on the model, spinners can take up a lot of room under the surface of a control panel. The Oscar Controls Push/Pull spinner was approximately 5.5x6" for instance. Also, the more spinners you have, the less room you may have for other features and joysticks.
#Games- Most importantly, do you like any games that use more than 1 spinner? Below is a (non-definitive) list of multi-spinner games
##Paddle Games
###Arkanoid Returns
###Off the Wall (Atari)
###Off the Wall (Bally Sente)
###Warlords (uses 4!)
###Pop'n Bounce
###Plump Pop
###VS Blok Breaker
##Flying
###Blasteroids
###Two Tigers
##Driving
###Super Off Road
### Super Sprint (uses 3!)
###Championship Super Sprint
###Bad Lands
###Ironman Ivan Stewart's Super Off-Road (uses 3!)
###Ironman Stewart's Super Off-Road Track Pack (uses 3!)
###Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat
## Other
###Atari 2 player games
###Puzzloop

==If I can have only a spinner or a trackball... which should I choose==
'''insert pro/con arguments here'''
relevant links in msg board. delete links once the info has been added.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=25477.0
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=37876.0
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=36036.0

Spinners and Dials

2006-04-27T19:27:15Z

MinerAl: changed "degree" to °

{{Cleanup}}

=What is a Spinner?=

You might remember the spinner from games like Tempest and Arkanoid. The player turns a knob to move the on-screen character. But what's going on behind the scenes; what's that knob attached to?

Underneath the control panel, the shaft comes down from the knob above. Mounted on the shaft, is an optical encoder wheel- a flat disk with notches cut around the outside edge. These notches pass though a set of infra-red optics, that detect the notches as they spin by. There are two sets of optics, spaced such that they see the notches spin by just a little bit out of sync. The combined signal from both of these optics tells the game which direction the disk is turning, and how fast. This is also how a trackball works, as well as a ball-type PC mouse.

If you are buying or building a working spinner for your cabinet, you will need the Spinner (the mechanical part,) the optics(the part that watches the spinning,) and the optical encoder (the part that sends info to the computer.) If a manufacturer advertises "USB Connectivity" that generally means that it is an all in one solution, and no additional parts are required. Otherwise, you'll find that optics are generally included, but an encoder is not. In the rare occurence that your spinner does not have optics included, they can be built with parts from your local electronic store, or you can build them based off of a [[Optical_Encoders#Mouse_Hack|mouse hack.]] If the unit does not ship with an optical encoder, you can purchase one from an aftermarket seller. You can find out more about [[Optical_Encoders|optical encoders here.]]

Note: Paddles, while similar to spinners in that they rotate and have knobs, are usually based on potentiometers (like a volume knob on an old TV or radio), rather than the optics in a spinner. Spinners, as the name suggests, spin. There is no end to how many times the knob can fully rotate in any direction. They often move things in a game in a circular fashion, as in Tempest or TRON. Paddles do not fully rotate. They have a beginning and an end to the rotation. Paddles often move things in a game in a linear fashion, as in Pong. Driving games that have free-spinning steering wheels (like Pole Position) are usable with a spinner, while games with steering wheels that stop at the ends of the turn (like Outrun), are playable with paddles. Most emulators will let you play Padle games with a spinner, but spinner games are generally not playable with paddles.

=Spinner Varieties=

#Tempest- Fast spinning lightweight spinner, which is very popular with arcade enthusiassts. It has 72 teeth on the encoder wheel, with nylon upper and lower bearings on the shaft. This was the model for the Oscar Vortex aftermarket spinner.
#Arkanoid- The "geared" spinner. Rather than mounting the encoder wheel directly to the shaft, the Arkanoid spinner used two sets of gears between the knob and the encoder wheel, to make the spinner extremely sensitive. While the encoder wheel only has 24 notches, the gearing causes 486 notches to pass through the optics for every turn of the knob! Due to the lightweight and friction from the gearing, the Arkanoid spinner stops the instant you take your hand off the knob.
#360° Steering Wheels - Games like the original Pole Position and Sprint used steering wheels that were essentially giant spinners. '''Need encoder wheel information (?)'''
#Discs of Tron ''Push/Pull''- This spinner used a giant 128-notch encoder wheel with a push / pull switch feature built into the spindle shaft. When the player pulled up or down on the spinner, a leafswitch was activated. This was used to control the high / low aim of the disc in later levels of the game. Zwackery also used a Push/Pull spinner, and Forgotten Worlds used a push only (no pull) spinner. Oscar Controls marketed a Push/Pull spinner with a slightly different design, and a smaller 72 notch encoder wheel, but it is no longer available for purchase. The Oscar V2 had a Push option, and a Pull kit was rumored to be in the works before Oscar Controls closed down.

=Spinner Brands=
#[http://oscarcontrols.com/ Oscar Controls]- Was a popular manufacturer of spinners for the hobbyist market until recently. Several models were produced over the years, including the Model One, Pro, Vortex, Push/Pull, and V2. These spinners did not enclude an encoder and required connection to an [[Optical_Encoders#Opti-PAC|Opti-Pac]] or to a [[Optical_Encoders#Mouse_Hack|mouse hack]].
#[http://www.slikstik.com/spinfeat.htm SlikStik]- The Tornado is billed as the "longest spinning" spinner on the market, the Tornado is currently the spinner that's been on the market the longest. With an extra-small footprint, and dual-bearing design, the Tornado is very well made. Several knob options are also available. The Tornado comes with it's own USB or PS/2 interface. Plans to sell the Tornado with a plain-jane optic card have also been announced.
#[http://GroovyGameGear.com GroovyGameGear]- The TurboTwist is new to the market. Like the SlikStik Tornado, the TurboTwist also has a small footprint and a dual-bearing design. The TurboTwist has an extra-high resolution encoder wheel, and comes with it's own USB or PS/2 Opti-Wiz interface. The interface can be configured to put the spinner on the X, Y, or Z mouse axis, and will control other optic devices on the remaining two axes, such as a trackball, or additional spinners/steering wheels/optical rotary joysticks. A plain-jane optic card version has also been announced.
#[http://ArcadeGames4U.com ArcadeGames4U]- The cyclone is also new to the market. It has a dual-bearing design, with a lower resolution encoder wheel. The Cyclone ships with an optic card, but no interface.
#Build Your Own!- Many users have build their own spinners from whatever parts they had available- Hard drive bearings, skateboard bearings, whatever. Use your imagination, or use this guide created by Nathan Strum. [http://arcadecontrols.com/files/Miscellaneous/spinner.pdf Download the PDF guide here] for building your own. '''ADD LINK TO VARIOUS DIY ARTICLES ON BYOAC MSG BOARD'''

=FAQs=
==Which games originally used a spinner==
The list below is non-definitive, but can be used as a guide to find the most common games that can use a spinner.
===Conventional spinner games===
*Arkanoid arkanoid
*Arkanoid - Revenge of Doh arknoid2
*Blasteroids (version 4) blstroid
*Wolf Pack (prototype) wolfpack
*Tempest (rev 3) tempest
*Tron (set 1) tron
*Mad Planets mplanets
*720 Degrees (set 1) 720
*Aztarac aztarac
*Forgotten Worlds (US) forgottn
*Kozmik Kroozr kroozr
*Crater Raider crater
*Wheel Of Fortune wfortune
*Victory victory
*Omega Race omegrace
*Cameltry (US) cameltry
*Cosmic Chasm (set 1) cchasm
*Dark Planet darkplnt
*Vs. Hot Smash hotsmash
*Boxing Bugs boxingb
*Star Trek startrek
===Push/pull spinner games===
*Discs of Tron (Upright) dotron
*Zwackery zwackery
===Horizontal roller===
*Major Havoc (rev 3) mhavoc
*Moonwar moonwar
*Kick (upright) kick
=== Vertical roller ===
*Drag Race dragrace
=== 360° Steering Wheel===
*Super Sprint ssprint
*APB - All Points Bulletin (set 1) apb
*Pole Position polepos
*Pole Position II polepos2
*Road Blasters (set 1) roadblst
*American Speedway (set 1) amspdwy
*Bad Lands badlands
*Demolition Derby demoderb
*Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat indyheat
*Speed Freak speedfrk
*Ironman Stewart's Super Off-Road offroad
*Ironman Stewart's Super Off-Road Track Pack offroadt
*Turbo turbo
*Konami GT konamigt
*Buggy Challenge buggychl
*Championship Sprint csprint
*Fire Truck firetrk
*Fire Truck firetrk
*Grand Champion grchamp
*Hot Rod (turbo 3 player) hotrod
*Monte Carlo montecar
*Stocker stocker
*Super Speed Race sspeedr
*Final Lap 2 finalap2
*Subs subs
*Mille Miglia 2: Great 1000 Miles Rally (95/05/24) gtmr2
*Over Drive overdriv
*Redline Racer (2 players) redlin2p
*Sprint 1 sprint1
===Horizontal paddle games===
*Boot Hill boothill
*Clowns (rev. 2) clowns
*Super Breakout sbrkout
*Avalanche avalnche
*Beam Invader beaminv
*Gee Bee geebee
*Warlords warlords
*Field Goal fgoal
*Blue Shark blueshrk
*Circus circus
*Sea Wolf seawolf
*Sea Wolf II seawolf2
===Vertical paddle games===
*Destroyer destroyr
*Lunar Lander (rev 2) llander

==Two Spinners on a control panel; is it worth it?==
The answer is an unequivocal ''maybe''. There are several factors to keep in mind when trying to determine whether you should buy and install 2 spinners on your control panel.
#Budget- Spinners are somewhat expensive. Buying 2 aftermarket spinners with optics will set you back about $80-$160.
#Software- Can your software support 2 mice at the same time. Make sure you have a version of mame that can support 2 spinners if they're both individual USB units. If you have them both plugged into an [[Optical_Encoders#Opti-PAC|Optipac]] this won't be a problem.
#Space- Depending on the model, spinners can take up a lot of room under the surface of a control panel. The Oscar Controls Push/Pull spinner was approximately 5.5x6" for instance. Also, the more spinners you have, the less room you may have for other features and joysticks.
#Games- Most importantly, do you like any games that use more than 1 spinner? Below is a (non-definitive) list of multi-spinner games
##Paddle Games
###Arkanoid Returns
###Off the Wall (Atari)
###Off the Wall (Bally Sente)
###Warlords (uses 4!)
###Pop'n Bounce
###Plump Pop
###VS Blok Breaker
##Flying
###Blasteroids
###Two Tigers
##Driving
###Super Off Road
### Super Sprint (uses 3!)
###Championship Super Sprint
###Bad Lands
###Ironman Ivan Stewart's Super Off-Road (uses 3!)
###Ironman Stewart's Super Off-Road Track Pack (uses 3!)
###Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat
## Other
###Atari 2 player games
###Puzzloop

==If I can have only a spinner or a trackball... which should I choose==
'''insert pro/con arguments here'''
relevant links in msg board. delete links once the info has been added.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=25477.0
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=37876.0
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=36036.0

Spinners and Dials

2006-04-27T19:26:18Z

MinerAl: added 360 steering wheel to varieties

{{Cleanup}}

=What is a Spinner?=

You might remember the spinner from games like Tempest and Arkanoid. The player turns a knob to move the on-screen character. But what's going on behind the scenes; what's that knob attached to?

Underneath the control panel, the shaft comes down from the knob above. Mounted on the shaft, is an optical encoder wheel- a flat disk with notches cut around the outside edge. These notches pass though a set of infra-red optics, that detect the notches as they spin by. There are two sets of optics, spaced such that they see the notches spin by just a little bit out of sync. The combined signal from both of these optics tells the game which direction the disk is turning, and how fast. This is also how a trackball works, as well as a ball-type PC mouse.

If you are buying or building a working spinner for your cabinet, you will need the Spinner (the mechanical part,) the optics(the part that watches the spinning,) and the optical encoder (the part that sends info to the computer.) If a manufacturer advertises "USB Connectivity" that generally means that it is an all in one solution, and no additional parts are required. Otherwise, you'll find that optics are generally included, but an encoder is not. In the rare occurence that your spinner does not have optics included, they can be built with parts from your local electronic store, or you can build them based off of a [[Optical_Encoders#Mouse_Hack|mouse hack.]] If the unit does not ship with an optical encoder, you can purchase one from an aftermarket seller. You can find out more about [[Optical_Encoders|optical encoders here.]]

Note: Paddles, while similar to spinners in that they rotate and have knobs, are usually based on potentiometers (like a volume knob on an old TV or radio), rather than the optics in a spinner. Spinners, as the name suggests, spin. There is no end to how many times the knob can fully rotate in any direction. They often move things in a game in a circular fashion, as in Tempest or TRON. Paddles do not fully rotate. They have a beginning and an end to the rotation. Paddles often move things in a game in a linear fashion, as in Pong. Driving games that have free-spinning steering wheels (like Pole Position) are usable with a spinner, while games with steering wheels that stop at the ends of the turn (like Outrun), are playable with paddles. Most emulators will let you play Padle games with a spinner, but spinner games are generally not playable with paddles.

=Spinner Varieties=

#Tempest- Fast spinning lightweight spinner, which is very popular with arcade enthusiassts. It has 72 teeth on the encoder wheel, with nylon upper and lower bearings on the shaft. This was the model for the Oscar Vortex aftermarket spinner.
#Arkanoid- The "geared" spinner. Rather than mounting the encoder wheel directly to the shaft, the Arkanoid spinner used two sets of gears between the knob and the encoder wheel, to make the spinner extremely sensitive. While the encoder wheel only has 24 notches, the gearing causes 486 notches to pass through the optics for every turn of the knob! Due to the lightweight and friction from the gearing, the Arkanoid spinner stops the instant you take your hand off the knob.
#360 degree steering wheels - Games like the original Pole Position and Sprint used steering wheels that were essentially giant spinners. '''Need encoder wheel information (?)'''
#Discs of Tron ''Push/Pull''- This spinner used a giant 128-notch encoder wheel with a push / pull switch feature built into the spindle shaft. When the player pulled up or down on the spinner, a leafswitch was activated. This was used to control the high / low aim of the disc in later levels of the game. Zwackery also used a Push/Pull spinner, and Forgotten Worlds used a push only (no pull) spinner. Oscar Controls marketed a Push/Pull spinner with a slightly different design, and a smaller 72 notch encoder wheel, but it is no longer available for purchase. The Oscar V2 had a Push option, and a Pull kit was rumored to be in the works before Oscar Controls closed down.

=Spinner Brands=
#[http://oscarcontrols.com/ Oscar Controls]- Was a popular manufacturer of spinners for the hobbyist market until recently. Several models were produced over the years, including the Model One, Pro, Vortex, Push/Pull, and V2. These spinners did not enclude an encoder and required connection to an [[Optical_Encoders#Opti-PAC|Opti-Pac]] or to a [[Optical_Encoders#Mouse_Hack|mouse hack]].
#[http://www.slikstik.com/spinfeat.htm SlikStik]- The Tornado is billed as the "longest spinning" spinner on the market, the Tornado is currently the spinner that's been on the market the longest. With an extra-small footprint, and dual-bearing design, the Tornado is very well made. Several knob options are also available. The Tornado comes with it's own USB or PS/2 interface. Plans to sell the Tornado with a plain-jane optic card have also been announced.
#[http://GroovyGameGear.com GroovyGameGear]- The TurboTwist is new to the market. Like the SlikStik Tornado, the TurboTwist also has a small footprint and a dual-bearing design. The TurboTwist has an extra-high resolution encoder wheel, and comes with it's own USB or PS/2 Opti-Wiz interface. The interface can be configured to put the spinner on the X, Y, or Z mouse axis, and will control other optic devices on the remaining two axes, such as a trackball, or additional spinners/steering wheels/optical rotary joysticks. A plain-jane optic card version has also been announced.
#[http://ArcadeGames4U.com ArcadeGames4U]- The cyclone is also new to the market. It has a dual-bearing design, with a lower resolution encoder wheel. The Cyclone ships with an optic card, but no interface.
#Build Your Own!- Many users have build their own spinners from whatever parts they had available- Hard drive bearings, skateboard bearings, whatever. Use your imagination, or use this guide created by Nathan Strum. [http://arcadecontrols.com/files/Miscellaneous/spinner.pdf Download the PDF guide here] for building your own. '''ADD LINK TO VARIOUS DIY ARTICLES ON BYOAC MSG BOARD'''

=FAQs=
==Which games originally used a spinner==
The list below is non-definitive, but can be used as a guide to find the most common games that can use a spinner.
===Conventional spinner games===
*Arkanoid arkanoid
*Arkanoid - Revenge of Doh arknoid2
*Blasteroids (version 4) blstroid
*Wolf Pack (prototype) wolfpack
*Tempest (rev 3) tempest
*Tron (set 1) tron
*Mad Planets mplanets
*720 Degrees (set 1) 720
*Aztarac aztarac
*Forgotten Worlds (US) forgottn
*Kozmik Kroozr kroozr
*Crater Raider crater
*Wheel Of Fortune wfortune
*Victory victory
*Omega Race omegrace
*Cameltry (US) cameltry
*Cosmic Chasm (set 1) cchasm
*Dark Planet darkplnt
*Vs. Hot Smash hotsmash
*Boxing Bugs boxingb
*Star Trek startrek
===Push/pull spinner games===
*Discs of Tron (Upright) dotron
*Zwackery zwackery
===Horizontal roller===
*Major Havoc (rev 3) mhavoc
*Moonwar moonwar
*Kick (upright) kick
=== Vertical roller ===
*Drag Race dragrace
=== 360° Steering Wheel===
*Super Sprint ssprint
*APB - All Points Bulletin (set 1) apb
*Pole Position polepos
*Pole Position II polepos2
*Road Blasters (set 1) roadblst
*American Speedway (set 1) amspdwy
*Bad Lands badlands
*Demolition Derby demoderb
*Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat indyheat
*Speed Freak speedfrk
*Ironman Stewart's Super Off-Road offroad
*Ironman Stewart's Super Off-Road Track Pack offroadt
*Turbo turbo
*Konami GT konamigt
*Buggy Challenge buggychl
*Championship Sprint csprint
*Fire Truck firetrk
*Fire Truck firetrk
*Grand Champion grchamp
*Hot Rod (turbo 3 player) hotrod
*Monte Carlo montecar
*Stocker stocker
*Super Speed Race sspeedr
*Final Lap 2 finalap2
*Subs subs
*Mille Miglia 2: Great 1000 Miles Rally (95/05/24) gtmr2
*Over Drive overdriv
*Redline Racer (2 players) redlin2p
*Sprint 1 sprint1
===Horizontal paddle games===
*Boot Hill boothill
*Clowns (rev. 2) clowns
*Super Breakout sbrkout
*Avalanche avalnche
*Beam Invader beaminv
*Gee Bee geebee
*Warlords warlords
*Field Goal fgoal
*Blue Shark blueshrk
*Circus circus
*Sea Wolf seawolf
*Sea Wolf II seawolf2
===Vertical paddle games===
*Destroyer destroyr
*Lunar Lander (rev 2) llander

==Two Spinners on a control panel; is it worth it?==
The answer is an unequivocal ''maybe''. There are several factors to keep in mind when trying to determine whether you should buy and install 2 spinners on your control panel.
#Budget- Spinners are somewhat expensive. Buying 2 aftermarket spinners with optics will set you back about $80-$160.
#Software- Can your software support 2 mice at the same time. Make sure you have a version of mame that can support 2 spinners if they're both individual USB units. If you have them both plugged into an [[Optical_Encoders#Opti-PAC|Optipac]] this won't be a problem.
#Space- Depending on the model, spinners can take up a lot of room under the surface of a control panel. The Oscar Controls Push/Pull spinner was approximately 5.5x6" for instance. Also, the more spinners you have, the less room you may have for other features and joysticks.
#Games- Most importantly, do you like any games that use more than 1 spinner? Below is a (non-definitive) list of multi-spinner games
##Paddle Games
###Arkanoid Returns
###Off the Wall (Atari)
###Off the Wall (Bally Sente)
###Warlords (uses 4!)
###Pop'n Bounce
###Plump Pop
###VS Blok Breaker
##Flying
###Blasteroids
###Two Tigers
##Driving
###Super Off Road
### Super Sprint (uses 3!)
###Championship Super Sprint
###Bad Lands
###Ironman Ivan Stewart's Super Off-Road (uses 3!)
###Ironman Stewart's Super Off-Road Track Pack (uses 3!)
###Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat
## Other
###Atari 2 player games
###Puzzloop

==If I can have only a spinner or a trackball... which should I choose==
'''insert pro/con arguments here'''
relevant links in msg board. delete links once the info has been added.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=25477.0
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=37876.0
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=36036.0

Spinners and Dials

2006-04-27T19:22:58Z

MinerAl: added a "paddles" paragraph

{{Cleanup}}

=What is a Spinner?=

You might remember the spinner from games like Tempest and Arkanoid. The player turns a knob to move the on-screen character. But what's going on behind the scenes; what's that knob attached to?

Underneath the control panel, the shaft comes down from the knob above. Mounted on the shaft, is an optical encoder wheel- a flat disk with notches cut around the outside edge. These notches pass though a set of infra-red optics, that detect the notches as they spin by. There are two sets of optics, spaced such that they see the notches spin by just a little bit out of sync. The combined signal from both of these optics tells the game which direction the disk is turning, and how fast. This is also how a trackball works, as well as a ball-type PC mouse.

If you are buying or building a working spinner for your cabinet, you will need the Spinner (the mechanical part,) the optics(the part that watches the spinning,) and the optical encoder (the part that sends info to the computer.) If a manufacturer advertises "USB Connectivity" that generally means that it is an all in one solution, and no additional parts are required. Otherwise, you'll find that optics are generally included, but an encoder is not. In the rare occurence that your spinner does not have optics included, they can be built with parts from your local electronic store, or you can build them based off of a [[Optical_Encoders#Mouse_Hack|mouse hack.]] If the unit does not ship with an optical encoder, you can purchase one from an aftermarket seller. You can find out more about [[Optical_Encoders|optical encoders here.]]

Note: Paddles, while similar to spinners in that they rotate and have knobs, are usually based on potentiometers (like a volume knob on an old TV or radio), rather than the optics in a spinner. Spinners, as the name suggests, spin. There is no end to how many times the knob can fully rotate in any direction. They often move things in a game in a circular fashion, as in Tempest or TRON. Paddles do not fully rotate. They have a beginning and an end to the rotation. Paddles often move things in a game in a linear fashion, as in Pong. Driving games that have free-spinning steering wheels (like Pole Position) are usable with a spinner, while games with steering wheels that stop at the ends of the turn (like Outrun), are playable with paddles. Most emulators will let you play Padle games with a spinner, but spinner games are generally not playable with paddles.

=Spinner Varieties=

#Tempest- Fast spinning lightweight spinner, which is very popular with arcade enthusiassts. It has 72 teeth on the encoder wheel, with nylon upper and lower bearings on the shaft. This was the model for the Oscar Vortex aftermarket spinner.
#Arkanoid- The "geared" spinner. Rather than mounting the encoder wheel directly to the shaft, the Arkanoid spinner used two sets of gears between the knob and the encoder wheel, to make the spinner extremely sensitive. While the encoder wheel only has 24 notches, the gearing causes 486 notches to pass through the optics for every turn of the knob! Due to the lightweight and friction from the gearing, the Arkanoid spinner stops the instant you take your hand off the knob.
#Paddle- '''ADD CONTENT HERE'''
#Discs of Tron ''Push/Pull''- This spinner used a giant 128-notch encoder wheel with a push / pull switch feature built into the spindle shaft. When the player pulled up or down on the spinner, a leafswitch was activated. This was used to control the high / low aim of the disc in later levels of the game. Zwackery also used a Push/Pull spinner, and Forgotten Worlds used a push only (no pull) spinner. Oscar Controls marketed a Push/Pull spinner with a slightly different design, and a smaller 72 notch encoder wheel, but it is no longer available for purchase. The Oscar V2 had a Push option, and a Pull kit was rumored to be in the works before Oscar Controls closed down.

=Spinner Brands=
#[http://oscarcontrols.com/ Oscar Controls]- Was a popular manufacturer of spinners for the hobbyist market until recently. Several models were produced over the years, including the Model One, Pro, Vortex, Push/Pull, and V2. These spinners did not enclude an encoder and required connection to an [[Optical_Encoders#Opti-PAC|Opti-Pac]] or to a [[Optical_Encoders#Mouse_Hack|mouse hack]].
#[http://www.slikstik.com/spinfeat.htm SlikStik]- The Tornado is billed as the "longest spinning" spinner on the market, the Tornado is currently the spinner that's been on the market the longest. With an extra-small footprint, and dual-bearing design, the Tornado is very well made. Several knob options are also available. The Tornado comes with it's own USB or PS/2 interface. Plans to sell the Tornado with a plain-jane optic card have also been announced.
#[http://GroovyGameGear.com GroovyGameGear]- The TurboTwist is new to the market. Like the SlikStik Tornado, the TurboTwist also has a small footprint and a dual-bearing design. The TurboTwist has an extra-high resolution encoder wheel, and comes with it's own USB or PS/2 Opti-Wiz interface. The interface can be configured to put the spinner on the X, Y, or Z mouse axis, and will control other optic devices on the remaining two axes, such as a trackball, or additional spinners/steering wheels/optical rotary joysticks. A plain-jane optic card version has also been announced.
#[http://ArcadeGames4U.com ArcadeGames4U]- The cyclone is also new to the market. It has a dual-bearing design, with a lower resolution encoder wheel. The Cyclone ships with an optic card, but no interface.
#Build Your Own!- Many users have build their own spinners from whatever parts they had available- Hard drive bearings, skateboard bearings, whatever. Use your imagination, or use this guide created by Nathan Strum. [http://arcadecontrols.com/files/Miscellaneous/spinner.pdf Download the PDF guide here] for building your own. '''ADD LINK TO VARIOUS DIY ARTICLES ON BYOAC MSG BOARD'''

=FAQs=
==Which games originally used a spinner==
The list below is non-definitive, but can be used as a guide to find the most common games that can use a spinner.
===Conventional spinner games===
*Arkanoid arkanoid
*Arkanoid - Revenge of Doh arknoid2
*Blasteroids (version 4) blstroid
*Wolf Pack (prototype) wolfpack
*Tempest (rev 3) tempest
*Tron (set 1) tron
*Mad Planets mplanets
*720 Degrees (set 1) 720
*Aztarac aztarac
*Forgotten Worlds (US) forgottn
*Kozmik Kroozr kroozr
*Crater Raider crater
*Wheel Of Fortune wfortune
*Victory victory
*Omega Race omegrace
*Cameltry (US) cameltry
*Cosmic Chasm (set 1) cchasm
*Dark Planet darkplnt
*Vs. Hot Smash hotsmash
*Boxing Bugs boxingb
*Star Trek startrek
===Push/pull spinner games===
*Discs of Tron (Upright) dotron
*Zwackery zwackery
===Horizontal roller===
*Major Havoc (rev 3) mhavoc
*Moonwar moonwar
*Kick (upright) kick
=== Vertical roller ===
*Drag Race dragrace
=== 360° Steering Wheel===
*Super Sprint ssprint
*APB - All Points Bulletin (set 1) apb
*Pole Position polepos
*Pole Position II polepos2
*Road Blasters (set 1) roadblst
*American Speedway (set 1) amspdwy
*Bad Lands badlands
*Demolition Derby demoderb
*Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat indyheat
*Speed Freak speedfrk
*Ironman Stewart's Super Off-Road offroad
*Ironman Stewart's Super Off-Road Track Pack offroadt
*Turbo turbo
*Konami GT konamigt
*Buggy Challenge buggychl
*Championship Sprint csprint
*Fire Truck firetrk
*Fire Truck firetrk
*Grand Champion grchamp
*Hot Rod (turbo 3 player) hotrod
*Monte Carlo montecar
*Stocker stocker
*Super Speed Race sspeedr
*Final Lap 2 finalap2
*Subs subs
*Mille Miglia 2: Great 1000 Miles Rally (95/05/24) gtmr2
*Over Drive overdriv
*Redline Racer (2 players) redlin2p
*Sprint 1 sprint1
===Horizontal paddle games===
*Boot Hill boothill
*Clowns (rev. 2) clowns
*Super Breakout sbrkout
*Avalanche avalnche
*Beam Invader beaminv
*Gee Bee geebee
*Warlords warlords
*Field Goal fgoal
*Blue Shark blueshrk
*Circus circus
*Sea Wolf seawolf
*Sea Wolf II seawolf2
===Vertical paddle games===
*Destroyer destroyr
*Lunar Lander (rev 2) llander

==Two Spinners on a control panel; is it worth it?==
The answer is an unequivocal ''maybe''. There are several factors to keep in mind when trying to determine whether you should buy and install 2 spinners on your control panel.
#Budget- Spinners are somewhat expensive. Buying 2 aftermarket spinners with optics will set you back about $80-$160.
#Software- Can your software support 2 mice at the same time. Make sure you have a version of mame that can support 2 spinners if they're both individual USB units. If you have them both plugged into an [[Optical_Encoders#Opti-PAC|Optipac]] this won't be a problem.
#Space- Depending on the model, spinners can take up a lot of room under the surface of a control panel. The Oscar Controls Push/Pull spinner was approximately 5.5x6" for instance. Also, the more spinners you have, the less room you may have for other features and joysticks.
#Games- Most importantly, do you like any games that use more than 1 spinner? Below is a (non-definitive) list of multi-spinner games
##Paddle Games
###Arkanoid Returns
###Off the Wall (Atari)
###Off the Wall (Bally Sente)
###Warlords (uses 4!)
###Pop'n Bounce
###Plump Pop
###VS Blok Breaker
##Flying
###Blasteroids
###Two Tigers
##Driving
###Super Off Road
### Super Sprint (uses 3!)
###Championship Super Sprint
###Bad Lands
###Ironman Ivan Stewart's Super Off-Road (uses 3!)
###Ironman Stewart's Super Off-Road Track Pack (uses 3!)
###Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat
## Other
###Atari 2 player games
###Puzzloop

==If I can have only a spinner or a trackball... which should I choose==
'''insert pro/con arguments here'''
relevant links in msg board. delete links once the info has been added.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=25477.0
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=37876.0
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=36036.0

BYOAC forum

2006-04-19T14:44:39Z

MinerAl: Added blurb about searching

{{cleanup}}
The '''BYOAC forum''' is full of information. The web URL for the forum is http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/.

To search the forum, you can use the forum's built in [http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=search Search Engine] or you can use Google (or another search engine) with the site limited to "forum.arcadecontrols.com"

==Sections in the forum==
The forum is split in sections. Each section is dedicated to a specific aspect of the arcade hobby.

===Main forum===
''Descriptions should go here''

===Hardware reviews===
''Descriptions should go here''

===Software forum===
''Descriptions should go here''

...
...
...

===Artwork forum===
In the artwork forum, topics are discussed related to [[Contents#Arcade_Art|arcade art]]. These topics vary from how to [[Applying_CPOs|apply art to a control panel]] or [[Graphics_software|what software to use]]. Usually artist show their art and aspiring or beginning artists request comments or critique.
The artwork forum has a FAQ located [http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=42659.0 here].

Encoders

2006-04-19T13:49:21Z

MinerAl: tidying

An encoder is a specialized device that interprets presses and movements by your arcade controls and passes them along to be used by a computer. They can interpret keyboard, mouse, or gamepad commands, depending on the type and capability of the encoder. They depend on an external switch, such as a [[microswitch]] or a [[leafswitch]] to register commands.

Encoders are available from several [[vendors]] including:
- GroovyGameGear
- Hagstrom Electronics
- Ultimate Arcade Controls (Ultimarc)

There are four types of encoders presently available:
*[[Keyboard Encoders]]
*[[Gamepad Encoders]]
*[[Rotary Encoders]]
*[[Optical Encoders|Optical (Mouse) Encoders]]

Simulators

2006-04-18T16:37:11Z

MinerAl: added a paragraph about simulated ROMless games

While some arcadefans go for accuracy, others might go for playing specific games. Not all games are available or playable in emulated form, for some there are simulated or remade versions.

==Simulators==
A '''simulator''' is a software program that uses optimised code to recreate an arcade experience. A simulator generally uses some of the real arcade data such as graphics and sound. The major difference between a simulator and an [[emulators|emulator]] is that an emulator is software that mimics the arcade ''hardware'' in order to execute the real arcade game code. A simulator does not try to recreate the hardware but recreate the game itself. Therefore an emulator provides an accurate recreation of a game and a simulator a near accurate rendition. A simulator on the other hand is often used when the arcade hardware is too powerful to emulate on today's PC.

An example where a simulator can be used is in games that use 3D graphics. An emulated version would also emulate the 3D hardware while a simulator would use the PC's modern video card's 3D features. The result is a playable game but the graphics might look slightly different. An example of a simulator is the early Nintendo 64 emulator UltraHLE. The software emulated most of the Nintendo 64 hardware but simulated the graphics output in order to get decent and playable framerates. The modern 3D cards have better shading and reflections than the Nintendo 64 had, so the end result was more shiny than the real thing.

Another reason to use a simulator is because some hardware features cannot be emulated. A pinball machine for example cannot be 100% emulated. Modern pinball machines use software and a digital displays, they all react on a physical steel ball on a playfield that is not captured in software.
When both [http://www.pinmame.com/ PinMame] and [http://www.randydavis.com/vp/ Visual Pinball] are installed, pinball game is created that is a combination of emulator and simulator. The software ''PinMame'' emulates the computer inside the pinball machine (to react on bumpers, flippers and display the scores) and ''Visual Pinball'' simulates the playfield with a digital ball reacting to programmed physics.

Yet another reason to simulate a game rather than emulate it, is that the original game did not use a central processing unit and software as such. The original PONG, for instance, is not a program that tells a CPU to do things, but rather a hard-wired circuit board that will do nothing but play PONG. A simulation of the game can be programmed to work with any number of CPUs, but there are no ROMs or software to emulate, just the hardware. Several of the first generation of video games are only available via an original machine or a simulation.

===List of game simulators===
*[http://www.pinmame.com PinMame], a pinball emulator
*[http://www.randydavis.com/vp/ Visual Pinball], pinball (playfield) simulator [http://www.vpforums.com/modules.php?s=&name=FAQ&myfaq=yes&id_cat=2#5 (instructions how to combine PinMame and Visual Pinball]).
*[http://www.futurepinball.com Future Pinball], a second generation pinball simulator
*[http://www.stepmania.com StepMania], a Dance Dance Revolution simulator
*[http://madrigal.retrogames.com/dnload_m.html Game and Watch] old Nintendo handheld simulators

==Remakes==
A '''remake''' is a newly made version of an old game. The game usually benefits from better graphics and sound.
{|
|[[Image:MarbleMadness lvl2.gif|frame|Original ''Marble Madness'' arcade game]]
|[[Image:MarbleInsanity lvl2.gif|frame|Remake ''Marble Insanity'', notice the improved graphics]]
|}
===List of remakes===
*[http://xiaou2.homestead.com/marbleinsanity.html Marble Insanity], remake of ''Marble Madness'' (work in progress)

Televisions

2006-04-10T19:23:00Z

MinerAl: added things to consider when choosing your TV

Televisions can be used in place of an arcade monitor. While not as authentic, they offer reasonable video performance at a definite cost savings to the user.

When using a TV, make sure to match the outputs of your video card to the inputs of your television. Several types of video are available when using a TV, each with varying strengths and weaknesses. The more common formats are:

* [[Video Output#Coaxial|Coaxial]]
* [[Video Output#Composite Video (RCA)|Composite Video (RCA)]]
* [[Video Output#S-Video|S-Video]]
* [[Video Output#Component Video (YUV)|Component Video (YUV)]]
* [[Video Output#SCART|SCART]] (Europe)

The type of connection you can use may depend on the connections your videocard can offer and the connections your television accepts.

Some things to consider when choosing a TV for your cabinet:
*How big is the case? Do you want to leave the TV in its case or strip the case off to fit a bigger tube in your cabinet?
*Where are the video inputs? Is the video-in port/jack on the TV in an inconvenient place? If it is on the front of the case, will there be room between the front of the TV and the bezel?
*Does the TV return to the last channel/input when power is cut? If you unplug the TV and then plug it back in (or turn off and on its power strip), does it return to the channel/input it was on last, or does it default to a different channel?
*Will you use it for other media? Will you watch TV on your cab? Will you need to use the TV's remote?

Basic Guide to Building a Cabinet

2006-04-10T18:55:44Z

MinerAl: added link to arcade cabinet 101

So you want to build yourself a cabinet? Here is a basicguide to get you on the road. Some things mentioned might be daunting at first, but take a look at the things mentioned on this page and it might notify you on something you otherwise had overlooked.
If you have questions, never be afraid to ask in the Build Your Own Arcade Controls [http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/ forums].

=Things to consider first=
You don't want to rush out and just buy yourself a few pieces of [[Wood_products|wood]], fire up your [[Power Tools|power tools]] and start cutting! First things first:
* '''What kind of cabinet do you want?'''
:Cabinets come in all shapes and sizes ([[Arcade_Cabinet_101|see Arcade Cabinet 101]]). There are sample plans available ([http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade_cabinet_plans.shtml see here]) on the BYOAC site. There are also [[Vendors]] who sell full cabinet kits.
:If you want to design your own cabinet, take a look [http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade_cabinet_plans.shtml#dimensions here]. Some things to keep in mind when figuring out your dimensions are:
::#How tall you are. You don't want to end up with a control panel you can't reach conmortably or look at a screen that is too low for your comfort.
::#The size of the monitor. If you want to put in a 36" screen, make sure it fits.
::#The size of your control panel. If you want to have a gazillion controls on it, but you made it only 10" wide you are probably going to run out of space.
:Instead of building your own cabinet, you may also choose to restore or convert an existing cabinet. See also [[notes on converting a cabinet]].
:Whatever you decide, one very important thing to consider before ANYTHING is done, is ''how wide are your doorways?'' If you can't get it to the location you have planned, all your work will be for naught!

*'''What do I use to run the software?'''
:Do you plan to use a PC and run [[Emulators]]? If so, does the PC fit in the cabinet you designed? Do you plan to wire a [[JAMMA]] board? Are you planning on using console games?

*'''What controls are you going to want on your cabinet?'''
:What kind of games do you want to play? Take note of what controls those games use. How many players? The [[control panel]] needs more space if you want a 4 player cabinet. Generally, if you want to play fighter games, you will need 6 buttons per player. If you want a 4 player cabinet, keep in mind that there aren't any non-console games that support more than 4 buttons for player 3 and 4. Take a look at [[Contents#Arcade_Control_Hardware|Arcade Control hardware]] section for more info on [[joysticks]], [[trackballs]], [[spinners]], etc. It is also possible to buy ready made control panels. See the [[vendors]] page on where to get these items.
:It is also a wise idea when it comes to control panel design to 'test fit' your controls using a piece of cardboard, cheap wood, or a piece of ridgid insulation. Your layout might look good on paper (or in your [[Technical_design_software|design software]]), but nothing beats testing to make sure everything is to your satisfaction prior to making your final model.

*'''How to interface the controls?'''
:Once you have decided what controls you want, how do those controls connect to the PC? See the [[Contents#Interfacing_Controls_With_Your_PC|interfacing controls with your PC]] section for various options. Things to keep in mind when selecting an interface board, are the number of available connections and the amount of controls you plan to use.

*'''What type of display device do you want to use?'''
:There are various options, ranging from [[Televisions]], [[PC Monitors]] and even real [[Arcade Monitors]]. Keep in mind that these have different connections and might need a special [[Video Cards|videocard]]. Also an arcade monitor is mounted diffently in a cabinet than a television (which might sit on a shelf in your cab).

*'''What about artwork?'''
:[[Contents#Arcade_Art|Artwork]] can make your cabinet stand out and look authentic or personalized. What art are you going to use and what size do the images need to be? Do you want art on your [[Control panel]]?

*'''Any extra's?'''
:How do you want to control your emulator software? Do you want special administration buttons on your control panel (or hidden elsewhere on your cabinet?). Do you want to add a drawer to have access to your PC's keyboard? Perhaps add a [[Coin Doors|coin door]] or have 'insert coin' buttons? Do you want speakers with volume control? Any special lighting such as lighted buttons or a marquee?

=Building the cabinet=
Once you settled on your cabinet's design, it is time to start the hard dirty work. Your arcade experience is basically two parts. The cabinet itself and the computer that runs it.

The [[Contents#Building_Materials|building materials]] and [[Contents#Tools|tools]] sections might give you hints on what to use. Always keep in mind the golden rule of woodworking: measure twice, cut once!

=Building the guts=
Once the cabinet is built, you can install the controls and wire everything up.

=Setting up the computer=
It is probably a good idea to get your emulators up and running before you move your PC into the cabinet. While a cabinet is great for playing arcade games, it is not a very confortable working spot to fix your software's settings.
If you have more computers in your home, you might want to consider hooking the arcade cabinet computer into a home network. This allows you to update files from another PC or even control the computer using a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_Services remote desktop client tool].

=Relevant links=
* [http://spystyle.arcadecontrols.com/index1.htm SpyStyle's DIY Arcade walkthrough] A step-by-step guide for building a cabinet.
* [http://users.adelphia.net/~seanhat/arcade/ LuSiD's Arcade Flashback] Many DIY cabinets have been based on this guide.
* [http://minimame.com/downloads.asp MiniMame PDF plans] An excellent printable guide. The document describes a scaled down version of an arcade cabinet, the used techniques are usable in full scale projects as well.

Arcade Cabinet

2006-04-10T18:52:34Z

MinerAl: added mini and cabaret cabs to the upright cabinet section

==Types of cabinets==
Cabinets can be divided into a few few basic categories:
===Upright/Standard cabinet===
The standard upright cabinet is the most common cabinet. The player stands or is seated in front of the cabinet. Multiple cabinets of this type can be lined up against a wall to save space and still be playable.

*Cabaret Cabinets - upright cabinets that are physically smaller than the full size version. Cabaret cabinets usually have more reserved art and are seldom more than five feet (152cm) tall.

*Mini Cabinets - mini-cabs have the same relative dimensions as upright cabinets but are scaled down for children or size considerations. There were a few factory Neo-Geo (and probably other) mini-cabs, but most mini-cabs are made by hobbyists.

===Cocktail cabinet===
The cocktail cabinet is basically a table with a screen in it. This cabinet is usually fitted with controls for two or more players, each sitting at opposite sides of the table. Some games are designed with this kind of play in mind (players sitting opposite of each other) while other games 'flip' the screen to alernate between players.
===Showcase cabinet===
A showcase cabinet consists of two distinct sections. One section will house the video monitor and position it at eye level while standing, and the other section, called the pedestal, supports the control panel and raises it into position to be played while standing.
===Candy cabinet===

===Driving/Sitdown cabinet===
The driving/sitdown cabinet mimics the driver's cockpit (or pilot's, depending on the game) with a steering wheel, flight yoke, motorcycle handlebars, etc, as main controls. These cabinets may feature a shifter, stick shift, throttle, and/or brake pedals. Elaborate sitdown cabinets are powered by hydraulics to mimic the player's movement as seen on a screen. One of the most elaborate sitdown cabinets is [http://www.system16.com/hardware.php?id=844|Sega's R-360] cabinet.
===Bartop arcades===
A bartop arcade is designed to be placed on a tabletop or bartop and generally is a smaller version of an arcade game cabinet.
===Specialized cabinets===
A category of cabinets that are specific to the game it plays. A good example of this are the ''Dance Dance Revolution'' cabinets that feature dance pads as controls.
==Anatomy of a cabinet==
[[image:cabinet1.jpg|left]]
Arcade cabinets vary in size and complexity, but they are generally comprised of the same base features as shown on the left.
==See also==
Various parts of the arcade cabinet are explained in more detail:
*[[Marquee]]
*[[Control panel]]
*[[Bezel]]
*[[Coin Doors|Coin door]]

Talk:Trackballs

2006-04-10T13:08:59Z

MinerAl:

What, no Hyper Bowling trackball? :)
There are a few different sizes that are odd. Maybe an odds and ends type section?
[[User:SirPoonga|SirPoonga]] 13:44, 14 March 2006 (EST)

:From a completist point of view, I would say: yes, add a specialist section for those different (non-standard?) sized trackballs. [[User:Felsir|Felsir]] 04:12, 15 March 2006 (EST)

Would it be a good idea to add a section under this page about the Crayola / Genius Kidsball? I think it sets itself apart from other PC trackballs due to its size and ease of use on a control panel [[User:parag0n|parag0n]] 17:33, 9 April 2006 (BST)

Sure. Put it in its own section or modify the Computer Trackballs paragraphs. --[[User:MinerAl|mineral]] 09:08, 10 April 2006 (EDT)

User:MinerAl

2006-04-06T14:59:39Z

MinerAl:

I'm MinerAl.

This is the first Wiki that I have seriously contributed to.

I've been making arcade controls since 2003, and playing arcade games since the late 70s.

Trackballs

2006-04-06T14:55:47Z

MinerAl: formatted a table and added a space

== How Trackballs Work ==
For a good idea of how trackballs work, please read [http://computer.howstuffworks.com/mouse2.htm the HowStuffWorks.com article] about how a computer mouse works and just imagine everything upside down in a trackball. A trackball and an old fashioned ball-mouse function the same way, only on a mouse you move the mechanism to spin the ball, but in a trackball you spin the ball directly. Most (if not all) arcade trackballs are optomechanical rather than optical.

'''Related Link:''' [http://www.freepatentsonline.com/image-3304434-1.html U.S. Patent #3,304,434] "Position Control System Employing Pulse Producing Means Indicative of Magnitude and Direction of Movement," R. A. Koster, Feb. 14, 1967

== Computer Trackballs ==

Many companies including Microsoft, Logitech, and Kensington make trackballs to control the pointer in operating systems just as a mouse does. These trackballs come in a number of sizes, from very small laptop trackballs to some large trackballs designed for children.

Most computer trackballs are poorly suited to arcade play. They are usually made of plastic, and are less robust than their arcade counterparts. More importantly, arcade trackballs are designed to spin freely, their heavy balls acting as a flywheel in whatever direction they were last spun. Computer trackballs have lighter balls and are designed to limit free spinning, as this is not desirable in a mouse pointer type control.

Computer trackballs are inexpensive and already easily interface with computers so many people try to use them in their control panels. Most people who do this later make an investment in playability and upgrade to a real arcade trackball.

== 2 ¼" Trackballs ==
2 ¼" (57mm) trackballs were used in games such as Centipede and Missile Command Cocktail.
Two and a quarter inches is the same size as a (U.S.) regulation billiard ball, and you can use a billiard ball in a 2 ¼" trackball assembly. This and their small footprint make 2 ¼" trackballs desirable for arcade emulation, particularly in cocktail cabinets.

Available from [[Vendors|Happ, Suzo, Ultimarc]] and others.

== 3" Trackballs ==
3" (76mm) trackballs are the ones most commonly seen in modern upright arcade machines, and are widely used in people's home arcade machines. They are used in Capcom Bowling, Crystal Castles, the Golden Tee games and Marble Madness. Users have discovered that juggling balls are commonly 3" in size, and make good replacement balls.

The original upright Millipede cabinets had a 3" Atari Trak Ball

Available from [[Vendors|Happ, Suzo]] and others.

== 4 ½" Atari Trak Balls ==
{|
|[[Image:TrakBallMaint.GIF|left|thumb|4 ½" Trak Ball maintenance and repair diagram from the Missile Command manual]]
|These giant trackballs ("Trak Ball" is the Atari trademark) are sometimes known as 4-inch, but are actually four and a half inches (114mm) in diameter. They were some of the first trackballs put into use in Atari Football (1978), Missile Command (1980), and a few others. The mechanisms are made of machined aluminum; clearly designed to survive intense abuse.

Putting one of these in your control panel is quite a commitment in terms of real estate. The metal frame is 6" square, 3 ½" tall, and the optical boards stick an aditional 2 inches beyond two of the corners, an effective 64 square inch footprint.

[[Vendors|Happ]] sells a 4 ½" trackball. This Happ trackball was used in the NeoGeo game 'The Irritating Maze' and can be connected in an identical manner to the Happ 3" trackballs. The ball itself is usable in an Atari 4 ½" (a 4 ½" diameter sphere is a 4 ½" diameter sphere), but the mechanism is a different, smaller design with the ball in a higher position.

Any 4 ½" diameter ball, particularly a candlepin bowling ball, is a swap-out replacement for the 25+ year old originals.
|-
|[[Image:Atari_Steering.jpg]]

|The original optical boards on these are fairly easy to interface with an [[Optical_Encoders#Opti-PAC|Opti-PAC]] (and probably most other [[Optical_Encoders|optical control interfaces]]).

This is the pin-out for the 10-pin molex plug found on the optical boards:
{|border=1
|'''Pin: Signal'''
|-
|1: no signal

|3: no signal

|5: no signal

|7: no signal

|9: +5v

|-
|2: no signal

|4: Axis 1

|6: no signal

|8: Axis 2

|10: ground

|}

There were a number of slightly different boards with this same pin-out.

On an Opti-PAC, the "A/HI" jumper should be set.
|}

There are a few [[Vendors|vendors]], particularly [[Vendors|The Real Bob Roberts]], that sell replacement bearings and steel roller-shafts for these (they are often referred to as 4" or Maxi-Trak ball parts).

'''Related Links:'''

[http://www.hardmvs.com/html/iMaze.htm 'The Irritating Maze' on HardMVS]

[http://www.epcomfg.com/index.html EPCO, manufacturer of custom candlepin, juggling, and billiard balls]

== Speciality Trackballs ==
The full size arcade version of [http://www.hyperbowl.com/ HyperBowl] uses a life size bowling ball as a trackball.

To quote Hyper Entertainment: ''The original location-based HyperBowl features a unique "Life Size" Bowling Ball as a User Interface. The player controls the virtual bowling ball on the video screen by "rolling" a regulation size bowling ball, as if it were an oversized trackball. Players must use the ball to dodge obstacles along the way to the pins, as each virtual lane presents unique scenery and challenges.''

TV Games

2006-04-01T19:09:39Z

MinerAl: spelling

{{WorkInProgress|talk:TV Games}}

{| Width="100%" valign="top" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" style="background:white; color:black; border:1px solid silver;"
|- style="background:navy; color:white"
|'''Company'''
|'''Console'''
|'''Players'''
|'''Notes'''

|- style="background:#f8f8f8f8;"
|Rowspan=2|Atari
| [http://www.atari.com/us/games/atari_flashback/7800 Atari Flashback]
| 2
| 20 Atari 7800 Games (Too many to be listed).

|-
| [http://www.atari.com/us/games/atari_flashback/7800 Atari Flashback 2]
| 2
| 40 Atari 2600 & 7800 Games (Too many to be listed).

|-
|Rowspan=3|Majesco
|[http://majescoentertainment.com/tvarcade/ Arcade Advanced]
| 1
| Time Polit, Rush'n Attack, KungFu, Frogger, Scramble and Gyruss

|-
|[http://majescoentertainment.com/tvarcade/ Frogger]
| 1
| Frogger only

|-
|[http://majescoentertainment.com/tvarcade/ Golden Nugget Casino]
| 1
| 5 Gambling games (like Texas Hold 'em, Video Poker and Slot Machines)

|-
|Rowspan=2|Radica
| [http://www.radicagames.com/playtv-ssx-snowboarder.php PlayTV]
| ?
| Snowboarder, Football, Baseball 3, Basketball (sold separately)

|-
| [http://www.radicagames.com/playtv-legends-tetris.php PlayTv Legends]
| 1-2
| Tetris, Sega Genegis, Sega Volume 2, Street Fighter 2, Menacer, Outrun 2019, Super Sonig Gold (sold separately)

|-
|Jakks Pacific
|[http://www.jakkstvgames.com/ Jakks Tv Games]
| 1-2
| Have many various classic tv games, especially Pacman, Ms. Pacman, Galaga, Dig Dug, and other Namco titles

|}

==See Also==
* [[TV Games Controller Interfaces]]

TV Games

2006-04-01T19:08:53Z

MinerAl: spelling, grammar, and Namco titles

{{WorkInProgress|talk:TV Games}}

{| Width="100%" valign="top" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" style="background:white; color:black; border:1px solid silver;"
|- style="background:navy; color:white"
|'''Company'''
|'''Console'''
|'''Players'''
|'''Notes'''

|- style="background:#f8f8f8f8;"
|Rowspan=2|Atari
| [http://www.atari.com/us/games/atari_flashback/7800 Atari Flashback]
| 2
| 20 Atari 7800 Games (To many to be listed).

|-
| [http://www.atari.com/us/games/atari_flashback/7800 Atari Flashback 2]
| 2
| 40 Atari 2600 & 7800 Games (To many to be listed).

|-
|Rowspan=3|Majesco
|[http://majescoentertainment.com/tvarcade/ Arcade Advanced]
| 1
| Time Polit, Rush'n Attack, KungFu, Frogger, Scramble and Gyruss

|-
|[http://majescoentertainment.com/tvarcade/ Frogger]
| 1
| Frogger only

|-
|[http://majescoentertainment.com/tvarcade/ Golden Nugget Casino]
| 1
| 5 Gambling games (like Texas Hold 'em, Video Poker and Slot Machines)

|-
|Rowspan=2|Radica
| [http://www.radicagames.com/playtv-ssx-snowboarder.php PlayTV]
| ?
| Snowboarder, Football, Baseball 3, Basketball (sold separately)

|-
| [http://www.radicagames.com/playtv-legends-tetris.php PlayTv Legends]
| 1-2
| Tetris, Sega Genegis, Sega Volume 2, Street Fighter 2, Menacer, Outrun 2019, Super Sonig Gold (sold separately)

|-
|Jakks Pacific
|[http://www.jakkstvgames.com/ Jakks Tv Games]
| 1-2
| Have many various classic tv games, especially Pacman, Ms. Pacman, Galaga, Dig Dug, and other Namco titles

|}

==See Also==
* [[TV Games Controller Interfaces]]

Game Consoles

2006-04-01T15:47:31Z

MinerAl: little grammar fixes

{{WorkInProgress|talk:Console Emulators}}

This page contains brief descriptions of various consoles:

{| Width="100%" valign="top" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" style="background:white; color:black; border:1px solid silver;"
|- style="background:navy; color:white"
|'''Company'''
|'''Console'''
|'''Players'''
|'''Controls1'''
|'''Game Buttons2'''
|'''Cabfriendly Emulators3'''

|- style="background:#f8f8f8f8;"
|3DO Company
|[[3DO Interactive Multiplayer]]
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?

|- style="background:#ffffdd;"
|rowspan=4|Atari
| [[Atari 2600]]
| 2
| Digital4
| 1
| [[Stella]]

|- style="background:#ffffdd;"
| [[Atari 5200]]
| ?
| Analog
| ?
| [[MESS]]

|- style="background:#ffffdd;"
| [[Atari 7800]]
| ?
| Digital4
| ?
| [[MESS]]

|- style="background:#ffffdd;"
| [[Atari Jaguar]]
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?

|- style="background:#f8f8f8f8;"
| Bally
| [[Bally Astrocade]]
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?

|- style="background:#ffffdd;"
| Bandai
| [[Bandai Atmark (Apple Pippin)]]
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?

|- style="background:#f8f8f8f8;"
| Coleco
| [[Colecovision]]
| ?
| ?
| ?
| [[MESS]]

|- style="background:#ffffdd;"
| rowspan=2|Commodore
| [[Commodore CDTV]]
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?

|- style="background:#ffffdd;"
| [[Commodore 64 GS]]
| 2
| Digital4
| 1
| ?

|- style="background:#f8f8f8f8;"
| Emerson
| [[Hanimex HMG 2650 (Arcadia)]]
| ?
| ?
| ?
| [[MESS]]

|- style="background:#ffffdd;"
| Epoch
| [[Cassettevision]]
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?

|- style="background:#f8f8f8f8;"
| Fairchild
| [[Fairchild Channel F]]
| ?
| ?
| ?
| [[MESS]]

|- style="background:#ffffdd;"
| Interton
| [[Inverton VC4000]]
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?

|- style="background:#f8f8f8f8;"
| Rowspan=2|Magnavox
| [[Magnavox Odyssey]]
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?

|- style="background:#f8f8f8f8;"
| [[Magnavox Odyssey 2]]
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?

|- style="background:#ffffdd;"
| Mattel
| [[Intellivision]]
| ?
| ?
| ?
| [[Nostalgia]]

|- style="background:#f8f8f8f8;"
| Rowspan=2|NEC
| [[PC Engine/Turbografx 16]]
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?

|- style="background:#f8f8f8f8;"
| [[Nec PC-FX]]
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?

|- style="background:#ffffdd;"
|rowspan=3|Nintendo
| [[Nintendo 64]]
| ?
| ?
| ?
| [[Project 64]]

|- style="background:#ffffdd;"
| [[Nintendo NES/Famicom]]
| ?
| Digital
| 2
| [[FCE Ultra ]]

|- style="background:#ffffdd;"
| [[Super Nintendo (Super Famicom)]]
| ?
| Digital
| 6
| [[Zsnes]] [[Snes9x]]

|- style="background:#f8f8f8f8;"
| Nuon
| [[Nuon]]
| ?
| ?
| ?
| [[Nuance]]

|- style="background:#ffffdd;"
| Rowspan=2|Philips
| [[Philips CD-i]]
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?

|- style="background:#ffffdd;"
| [[Philips G7000]]
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?

|- style="background:#f8f8f8f8;"
|Rowspan=4|Sega
| [[Sega Dreamcast]]
| ?
| Digital Analog
| 6
| [[Chanka]]

|- style="background:#f8f8f8f8;"
| [[Sega Master System]]
| 2
| Digital4
| 2
| [[Kega Fusion]]

|- style="background:#f8f8f8f8;"
| [[Sega Megadrive/Genesis/32X]]
| 2
| Digital4
| 3
| [[Kega Fusion]]

|- style="background:#f8f8f8f8;"
| [[Sega Saturn]]
| ?
| ?
| ?
| [[SSF]]

|- style="background:#ffffdd;"
| SNK
| [[SNK Neo Geo]]
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?

|- style="background:#f8f8f8f8;"
|Sony
| [[Sony Playstation]]
| ?
| Digital
| 8
| ?

|- style="background:#ffffdd;"
| Vectrex
| [[Vectrex]]
| ?
| ?
| ?
| [[MESS]]
|}

1) Controls:
* Some consoles had Digital and/or Analog controls, both are listed.
* If the console used a keypad (some older consoles had one!), it is mentioned in the list.
* Only the standard control that came with the machine are listed.

2) Buttons:
* This list count only fire/action buttons on their control that are used to play games. Note that the buttons are listed for ''one player''.
* Some systems may have start/select and/or other system buttons/swiches, but these are not counted (most emulators have special keys for those).
* Buttons are marked '''d'''igital or '''a'''nalog. Default is '''d'''igital.

3) Cabfriendly:
* Only the most commonly used [[cabinet friendly software|cabinet friendly emulator(s)]] is(are) listed. The console's page might have a more comprehensive list of emulators.

4) Hacking:
* These Atari controllers are very easy to [[Atari Controller Interfaces| interface]] to your arcade controls. It's even compatible with other systems too.

TV Games Controller Interfaces

2006-04-01T15:40:36Z

MinerAl:

Companies including Jakks Pacific, Radica, Majesco, and Atari produce TV games. These mini-consoles have a number of video games built in, are usually battery operated, and connect directly to a TV's audio and composite video jacks. Typically the entire system fits inside the controller.

The "arcade" games that are available on TV games vary in quality from fairly authentic ports (versions of the game reprogrammed for use in the TV game) to versions that resemble the argade game, but lack authenticity in the video and/or audio presentation.

These games make excellent candidates for hacking into (usually small) limited scope arcade cabinets, such as mini-cabinets or bar-top cabinets. It is fairly easy to attach a power supply and real arcade controls to a TV game's PC board.

'''Related Links:'''

[http://www.jakkstvgames.com/| Jakks Pacific TV Games]

[http://www.radicagames.com/tv-games.php| Radica TV Games]

[http://majescoentertainment.com/tvarcade/| Majesco TV Games]

[http://www.atari.com/us/platform/7800| Atari Flashback TV Games]

[http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=36591.0| MarkRVP's Mini-Cab BYOAC Forum Thread]

[http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=36972.0| MarkRVP's Hacking Pacman 5-in-1 BYOAC Forum Thread]

[http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=36483.0| Greven Grevs' Hack Namco 5in1 power supply BYOAC Forum Thread]

Atari Controller Interfaces

2006-03-31T23:45:33Z

MinerAl: added home computer links

== Stelladaptor ==
[http://www.atariage.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=267 Stelladaptor] is a USB interface specifically for [[Atari 2600]] joysticks, paddles, and trackballs.

== Keyboard Encoders ==
Joysticks for Atari 2600 and [[Atari 7800]] consoles (and compatible systems like: [[Home Computers#Atari 400|Atari 400]]/[[Home Computers#Atari 800|800]]/[[Home Computers#Atari ST|ST]] computers, [[Home Computers#Commodore C64|Commodore C64]], [[Sega Master System]], [[Sega Genesis/Megadrive/32X]], and others) are fairly easy to interface with [[Keyboard Encoders]]. The joystick cords end in standard D-sub 9 female connectors. Each of the 9 pins corresponds to one directional, fire, or common signal.

<gallery>
Image:dsub9m.gif|D-sub 9 pin male connector pinout diagram
Image:dsub9m.jpg|D-sub 9 pin male connector photo
Image:dsub9f.gif|D-sub 9 female connector pinout diagram
</gallery>

Here are the pin-outs:
{|
{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="50%"
|+'''2600:'''
|-
|1 = Up
|2 = Down
|3 = Left
|4 = Right
|5 = empty
|}
|-
{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="40%"
|6 = Fire Button
|7 = empty
|8 = Common (Ground)
|9 = empty
|}
|}

{|

{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="50%"
|+'''7800:'''
|-
|1 = Up
|2 = Down
|3 = Left
|4 = Right
|5 = Right Button
|}
|-
{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="40%"
|6 = Both Buttons
|7 = empty
|8 = Common (Ground)
|9 = Left Button
|}
|}

So when you move your joystick up, it closes a circuit between pin 1 and pin 8.
To connect a keyboard encoder (I-PAC, KeyWiz, etc.), you need to wire a male D-sub 9 pin connector (available at any electronic parts store) to the appropriate keystrokes on the encoder.

It is as simple as that for the 2600. Just connect the fire button (pin 6) to player1 (or whichever player) button1, left to p1 left, right to p1 right, common to ground, etc.

If you wish to use the 7800 joystick and take advantage of both buttons, you can choose which pin (usually 5) to connect to button1 (bridged with pin 6) and which to button2, or you can bridge pins 5, 6, and 9 so that any button you push on any Atari 2600 or 7800 joystick will close the button1 circuit.

Note that Atari console paddles and trackballs will not work with this method, but could possibly be connected to [[Gamepad Encoders]] or [[Optical Encoders]].

Conversely, if you would like to use an arcade joystick with your original Atari console, wire your joystick and buttons to a female D-sub 9 on the end of a cable, and it will plug right into your console.

Atari Controller Interfaces

2006-03-31T19:35:57Z

MinerAl: more gallery-ing

== Stelladaptor ==
[http://www.atariage.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=267 Stelladaptor] is a USB interface specifically for [[Atari 2600]] joysticks, paddles, and trackballs.

== Keyboard Encoders ==
Joysticks for Atari 2600 and [[Atari 7800]] consoles (and compatible systems like: Atari 400/800/XL computers, [[Commodore 64 GS]], [[Sega Master System]], [[Sega Genesis/Megadrive/32X]], and others) are fairly easy to interface with [[Keyboard Encoders]]. The joystick cords end in standard D-sub 9 female connectors. Each of the 9 pins corresponds to one directional, fire, or common signal.

<gallery>
Image:dsub9m.gif|D-sub 9 pin male connector pinout diagram
Image:dsub9m.jpg|D-sub 9 pin male connector photo
Image:dsub9f.gif|D-sub 9 female connector pinout diagram
</gallery>

Here are the pin-outs:
{|
{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="50%"
|+'''2600:'''
|-
|1 = Up
|2 = Down
|3 = Left
|4 = Right
|5 = empty
|}
|-
{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="40%"
|6 = Fire Button
|7 = empty
|8 = Common (Ground)
|9 = empty
|}
|}

{|

{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="50%"
|+'''7800:'''
|-
|1 = Up
|2 = Down
|3 = Left
|4 = Right
|5 = Right Button
|}
|-
{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="40%"
|6 = Both Buttons
|7 = empty
|8 = Common (Ground)
|9 = Left Button
|}
|}

So when you move your joystick up, it closes a circuit between pin 1 and pin 8.
To connect a keyboard encoder (I-PAC, KeyWiz, etc.), you need to wire a male D-sub 9 pin connector (available at any electronic parts store) to the appropriate keystrokes on the encoder.

It is as simple as that for the 2600. Just connect the fire button (pin 6) to player1 (or whichever player) button1, left to p1 left, right to p1 right, common to ground, etc.

If you wish to use the 7800 joystick and take advantage of both buttons, you can choose which pin (usually 5) to connect to button1 (bridged with pin 6) and which to button2, or you can bridge pins 5, 6, and 9 so that any button you push on any Atari 2600 or 7800 joystick will close the button1 circuit.

Note that Atari console paddles and trackballs will not work with this method, but could possibly be connected to [[Gamepad Encoders]] or [[Optical Encoders]].

Conversely, if you would like to use an arcade joystick with your original Atari console, wire your joystick and buttons to a female D-sub 9 on the end of a cable, and it will plug right into your console.

Atari Controller Interfaces

2006-03-31T19:33:20Z

MinerAl: galleried the pin diagrams

== Stelladaptor ==
[http://www.atariage.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=267 Stelladaptor] is a USB interface specifically for [[Atari 2600]] joysticks, paddles, and trackballs.

== Keyboard Encoders ==
Joysticks for Atari 2600 and [[Atari 7800]] consoles (and compatible systems like: Atari 400/800/XL computers, [[Commodore 64 GS]], [[Sega Master System]], [[Sega Genesis/Megadrive/32X]], and others) are fairly easy to interface with [[Keyboard Encoders]]. The joystick cords end in standard D-sub 9 female connectors. Each of the 9 pins corresponds to one directional, fire, or common signal.

<gallery>
Image:dsub9m.gif|D-sub 9 pin male connector
Image:dsub9f.gif|D-sub 9 female connector
</gallery>

Here are the pin-outs:
{|
{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="50%"
|+'''2600:'''
|-
|1 = Up
|2 = Down
|3 = Left
|4 = Right
|5 = empty
|}
|-
{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="40%"
|6 = Fire Button
|7 = empty
|8 = Common (Ground)
|9 = empty
|}
|}

{|

{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="50%"
|+'''7800:'''
|-
|1 = Up
|2 = Down
|3 = Left
|4 = Right
|5 = Right Button
|}
|-
{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="40%"
|6 = Both Buttons
|7 = empty
|8 = Common (Ground)
|9 = Left Button
|}
|}

So when you move your joystick up, it closes a circuit between pin 1 and pin 8.
To connect a keyboard encoder (I-PAC, KeyWiz, etc.), you need to wire a male D-sub 9 pin connector (available at any electronic parts store) to the appropriate keystrokes on the encoder.

[[Image:dsub9m.jpg|D-sub 9 pin male connector|right]]
It is as simple as that for the 2600. Just connect the fire button (pin 6) to player1 (or whichever player) button1, left to p1 left, right to p1 right, common to ground, etc.

If you wish to use the 7800 joystick and take advantage of both buttons, you can choose which pin (usually 5) to connect to button1 (bridged with pin 6) and which to button2, or you can bridge pins 5, 6, and 9 so that any button you push on any Atari 2600 or 7800 joystick will close the button1 circuit.

Note that Atari console paddles and trackballs will not work with this method, but could possibly be connected to [[Gamepad Encoders]] or [[Optical Encoders]].

Conversely, if you would like to use an arcade joystick with your original Atari console, wire your joystick and buttons to a female D-sub 9 on the end of a cable, and it will plug right into your console.

Atari Controller Interfaces

2006-03-30T20:36:15Z

MinerAl: fixed a poorly formed sentence

== Stelladaptor ==
[http://www.atariage.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=267 Stelladaptor] is a USB interface specifically for [[Atari 2600]] joysticks, paddles, and trackballs.

== Keyboard Encoders ==
Joysticks for Atari 2600 and [[Atari 7800]] consoles (and compatible systems like: Atari 400/800/XL computers, [[Commodore 64 GS]], [[Sega Master System]], [[Sega Genesis/Megadrive/32X]], and others) are fairly easy to interface with [[Keyboard Encoders]]. The joystick cords end in standard D-sub 9 female connectors. Each of the 9 pins corresponds to one directional, fire, or common signal.

[[Image:dsub9m.gif|D-sub 9 pin male connector]][[Image:dsub9f.gif|D-sub 9 female]]

Here are the pin-outs:
{|
{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="50%"
|+'''2600:'''
|-
|1 = Up
|2 = Down
|3 = Left
|4 = Right
|5 = empty
|}
|-
{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="40%"
|6 = Fire Button
|7 = empty
|8 = Common (Ground)
|9 = empty
|}
|}

{|

{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="50%"
|+'''7800:'''
|-
|1 = Up
|2 = Down
|3 = Left
|4 = Right
|5 = Right Button
|}
|-
{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="40%"
|6 = Both Buttons
|7 = empty
|8 = Common (Ground)
|9 = Left Button
|}
|}

So when you move your joystick up, it closes a circuit between pin 1 and pin 8.
To connect a keyboard encoder (I-PAC, KeyWiz, etc.), you need to wire a male D-sub 9 pin connector (available at any electronic parts store) to the appropriate keystrokes on the encoder.

[[Image:dsub9m.jpg|D-sub 9 pin male connector|right]]
It is as simple as that for the 2600. Just connect the fire button (pin 6) to player1 (or whichever player) button1, left to p1 left, right to p1 right, common to ground, etc.

If you wish to use the 7800 joystick and take advantage of both buttons, you can choose which pin (usually 5) to connect to button1 (bridged with pin 6) and which to button2, or you can bridge pins 5, 6, and 9 so that any button you push on any Atari 2600 or 7800 joystick will close the button1 circuit.

Note that Atari console paddles and trackballs will not work with this method, but could possibly be connected to [[Gamepad Encoders]] or [[Optical Encoders]].

Conversely, if you would like to use an arcade joystick with your original Atari console, wire your joystick and buttons to a female D-sub 9 on the end of a cable, and it will plug right into your console.

Atari Controller Interfaces

2006-03-30T20:32:29Z

MinerAl: links and punctuation and a sentence about compatible systems

== Stelladaptor ==
[http://www.atariage.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=267 Stelladaptor] is a USB interface specifically for [[Atari 2600]] joysticks, paddles, and trackballs.

== Keyboard Encoders ==
Atari 2600 and [[Atari 7800]] (and compatible systems like: Atari 400/800/XL computers, [[Commodore 64 GS]], [[Sega Master System]], [[Sega Genesis/Megadrive/32X]], and others) joysticks are fairly easy to interface with [[Keyboard Encoders]]. The joystick cords end in standard D-sub 9 female connectors. Each of the 9 pins corresponds to one directional, fire, or common signal.

[[Image:dsub9m.gif|D-sub 9 pin male connector]][[Image:dsub9f.gif|D-sub 9 female]]

Here are the pin-outs:
{|
{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="50%"
|+'''2600:'''
|-
|1 = Up
|2 = Down
|3 = Left
|4 = Right
|5 = empty
|}
|-
{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="40%"
|6 = Fire Button
|7 = empty
|8 = Common (Ground)
|9 = empty
|}
|}

{|

{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="50%"
|+'''7800:'''
|-
|1 = Up
|2 = Down
|3 = Left
|4 = Right
|5 = Right Button
|}
|-
{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="40%"
|6 = Both Buttons
|7 = empty
|8 = Common (Ground)
|9 = Left Button
|}
|}

So when you move your joystick up, it closes a circuit between pin 1 and pin 8.
To connect a keyboard encoder (I-PAC, KeyWiz, etc.), you need to wire a male D-sub 9 pin connector (available at any electronic parts store) to the appropriate keystrokes on the encoder.

[[Image:dsub9m.jpg|D-sub 9 pin male connector|right]]
It is as simple as that for the 2600. Just connect the fire button (pin 6) to player1 (or whichever player) button1, left to p1 left, right to p1 right, common to ground, etc.

If you wish to use the 7800 joystick and take advantage of both buttons, you can choose which pin (usually 5) to connect to button1 (bridged with pin 6) and which to button2, or you can bridge pins 5, 6, and 9 so that any button you push on any Atari 2600 or 7800 joystick will close the button1 circuit.

Note that Atari console paddles and trackballs will not work with this method, but could possibly be connected to [[Gamepad Encoders]] or [[Optical Encoders]].

Conversely, if you would like to use an arcade joystick with your original Atari console, wire your joystick and buttons to a female D-sub 9 on the end of a cable, and it will plug right into your console.

Talk:Atari 2600

2006-03-30T19:43:40Z

MinerAl: hrs

'''Please add discussions to the relevant sections.'''

==Page setup discussion==
I created the first console entry. What should be included on these pages? I made some quick and basic sections to get things started. [[User:Felsir|Felsir]] 03:24, 29 March 2006 (EST)
----
Great little list, I love that.

- If any system buttons is used, it could been listed here too, beause you have a lots more space here.

- Some emulators may need a bit work to get it works in a cabinet in form of a wrapper. These can been of course link to these too.

- We could maybe even use a picture, like that one in the frontend and jukebox section?

- We could here even help users, how to setup a bat file, so get it run from a any frontend (not just mamewah). It would been great for MESS.

And Opps....

- I have taken about 2 handheld consols to the list, because I diddent notice it had thier own page. These should of course being removed. Sorry.

--[[User:Spacefractal|Spacefractal]] 08:30, 29 March 2006 (EST)

----
Note that this is the console page and not the emulator page. I think the "how to get emulator X" to work on a cabinet should be added on the emulator's specific page.
Indeed, button configurations should be added here too (and include the system buttons)
Pictures are always a great to have! A photograph of the console or a game-screenshot would be a great addition! [[User:Felsir|Felsir]] 09:02, 29 March 2006 (EST)
----

I added the [[Sega Dreamcast]] page. That page illustrates how pages about consoles that are suitable for cabinets would look. I recon that the PS2 and XBox pages would work in a similar way. [[User:Felsir|Felsir]] 01:21, 30 March 2006 (EST)
----

==Joystick connection schematics==
I've got directions for making an I-PAC (or any encoder really) accept Atari 2600/7800 joysticks...
Would this be the place for this? Is there a place for this? [[user:MinerAl|MinerAl]]
----
Good question. If you have a link to a website that describes this, we can add a "see also" section with pointers to websites. If you have actual directions that can be added to the Wiki - maybe a seperate page would work better and add a link from the 2600 and 7800 pages? [[User:Felsir|Felsir]] 13:08, 29 March 2006 (EST)
----

Sorry for my poor formatting; thanks for fixing it.

The process is pretty basic, I'll put it together tonight, and we'll see where it fits.

[[user:MinerAl|MinerAl]] (rememeber to add this).

----

Yep. Joystick thing like this could of course use a link or desriptions here. Great idea. It about a Atari 2600 controller.

This would act with the newer consoles like Xbox (wich some users add to thier cab directly, but is nothing about software emulations). Newer consoles would get theier own page.

About "how to get emulator X":
You are completly right. But should we use mamewah or just how to setup/prefer a bat and wrappers to get it to run? This is a good thing about MESS. But even we used mamewah, this is given a brief how this could addon to other frontend.

Do you guess we could taken from the wikepedia photes (or by using google)? We allready link diretly to that? Whould this broke the copyright?

--[[User:Spacefractal|Spacefractal]] 16:30, 29 March 2006 (EST)

----

I've been thinking, the joystick thing: it is best to be placed on its' own page. Especially since the schematic is intended for two consoles, both the 2600 and 7800 pages would then link to that page.
About photo's: the photo's on Wikipedia are public domain (unless otherwise stated), it is part of the Wikipedia guidlelines. So images that are good for Wikipedia are good to use here. [[User:Felsir|Felsir]] 00:39, 30 March 2006 (EST)

----

Okay, I have written the article. I thought the title should be [[Atari Controller Interfaces]] and would include information about [http://www.atariage.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=267 Stelladaptor] as well as my keyboard encoder method.

Thanks
--[[User:MinerAl|mineral]] 10:35, 30 March 2006 (EST)

----

This controller would also work on some consoles/Computers too (like Commodore 64, Master System, Megadrive and so on, some of these may use more buttons, also need more inputs)

I have updated the page, what do you think?

--[[User:Spacefractal|Spacefractal]] 13:20, 30 March 2006 (EST)

----

Good point about the other systems, should those systems link to the Atari controler interfaces page or vice versa? I put Atari joystick ports on my cocktail table and use them with MAME fairly frequently. Player 1 and Player 2 can both sit at one end of the table and play two player upright games, as long as you only need 2 buttons.

I still need to do some linking on the page, but the information is there. --[[User:MinerAl|mineral]] 14:42, 30 March 2006 (EST)

----

Talk:Atari 2600

2006-03-30T19:42:05Z

MinerAl:

'''Please add discussions to the relevant sections.'''

==Page setup discussion==
I created the first console entry. What should be included on these pages? I made some quick and basic sections to get things started. [[User:Felsir|Felsir]] 03:24, 29 March 2006 (EST)
----
Great little list, I love that.

- If any system buttons is used, it could been listed here too, beause you have a lots more space here.

- Some emulators may need a bit work to get it works in a cabinet in form of a wrapper. These can been of course link to these too.

- We could maybe even use a picture, like that one in the frontend and jukebox section?

- We could here even help users, how to setup a bat file, so get it run from a any frontend (not just mamewah). It would been great for MESS.

And Opps....

- I have taken about 2 handheld consols to the list, because I diddent notice it had thier own page. These should of course being removed. Sorry.

--[[User:Spacefractal|Spacefractal]] 08:30, 29 March 2006 (EST)

----
Note that this is the console page and not the emulator page. I think the "how to get emulator X" to work on a cabinet should be added on the emulator's specific page.
Indeed, button configurations should be added here too (and include the system buttons)
Pictures are always a great to have! A photograph of the console or a game-screenshot would be a great addition! [[User:Felsir|Felsir]] 09:02, 29 March 2006 (EST)
----

I added the [[Sega Dreamcast]] page. That page illustrates how pages about consoles that are suitable for cabinets would look. I recon that the PS2 and XBox pages would work in a similar way. [[User:Felsir|Felsir]] 01:21, 30 March 2006 (EST)
----

==Joystick connection schematics==
I've got directions for making an I-PAC (or any encoder really) accept Atari 2600/7800 joysticks...
Would this be the place for this? Is there a place for this? [[user:MinerAl|MinerAl]]
----
Good question. If you have a link to a website that describes this, we can add a "see also" section with pointers to websites. If you have actual directions that can be added to the Wiki - maybe a seperate page would work better and add a link from the 2600 and 7800 pages? [[User:Felsir|Felsir]] 13:08, 29 March 2006 (EST)
----

Sorry for my poor formatting; thanks for fixing it.

The process is pretty basic, I'll put it together tonight, and we'll see where it fits.

[[user:MinerAl|MinerAl]] (rememeber to add this).

----

Yep. Joystick thing like this could of course use a link or desriptions here. Great idea. It about a Atari 2600 controller.

This would act with the newer consoles like Xbox (wich some users add to thier cab directly, but is nothing about software emulations). Newer consoles would get theier own page.

About "how to get emulator X":
You are completly right. But should we use mamewah or just how to setup/prefer a bat and wrappers to get it to run? This is a good thing about MESS. But even we used mamewah, this is given a brief how this could addon to other frontend.

Do you guess we could taken from the wikepedia photes (or by using google)? We allready link diretly to that? Whould this broke the copyright?

--[[User:Spacefractal|Spacefractal]] 16:30, 29 March 2006 (EST)

----

I've been thinking, the joystick thing: it is best to be placed on its' own page. Especially since the schematic is intended for two consoles, both the 2600 and 7800 pages would then link to that page.
About photo's: the photo's on Wikipedia are public domain (unless otherwise stated), it is part of the Wikipedia guidlelines. So images that are good for Wikipedia are good to use here. [[User:Felsir|Felsir]] 00:39, 30 March 2006 (EST)

----

Okay, I have written the article. I thought the title should be [[Atari Controller Interfaces]] and would include information about [http://www.atariage.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=267 Stelladaptor] as well as my keyboard encoder method.

Thanks
--[[User:MinerAl|mineral]] 10:35, 30 March 2006 (EST)

This controller would also work on some consoles/Computers too (like Commodore 64, Master System, Megadrive and so on, some of these may use more buttons, also need more inputs)

I have updated the page, what do you think?

--[[User:Spacefractal|Spacefractal]] 13:20, 30 March 2006 (EST)

Good point about the other systems, should those systems link to the Atari controler interfaces page or vice versa? I put Atari joystick ports on my cocktail table and use them with MAME fairly frequently. Player 1 and Player 2 can both sit at one end of the table and play two player upright games, as long as you only need 2 buttons.

I still need to do some linking on the page, but the information is there. --[[User:MinerAl|mineral]] 14:42, 30 March 2006 (EST)

Atari Controller Interfaces

2006-03-30T19:22:46Z

MinerAl:

== Stelladaptor ==
[http://www.atariage.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=267 Stelladaptor] is a USB interface specifically for 2600 joysticks, paddles and trackballs.

== Keyboard Encoders ==
Atari 2600 and 7800 joysticks are fairly easy to interface with [[Keyboard Encoders]]. The joystick cords end in standard D-sub 9 female connectors. Each of the 9 pins corresponds to one directional, fire, or common signal.

[[Image:dsub9m.gif|D-sub 9 pin male connector]][[Image:dsub9f.gif|D-sub 9 female]]

Here are the pin-outs:
{|
{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="50%"
|+'''2600:'''
|-
|1 = Up
|2 = Down
|3 = Left
|4 = Right
|5 = empty
|}
|-
{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="40%"
|6 = Fire Button
|7 = empty
|8 = Common (Ground)
|9 = empty
|}
|}

{|

{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="50%"
|+'''7800:'''
|-
|1 = Up
|2 = Down
|3 = Left
|4 = Right
|5 = Right Button
|}
|-
{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="40%"
|6 = Both Buttons
|7 = empty
|8 = Common (Ground)
|9 = Left Button
|}
|}

So when you move your joystick up, it closes a circuit between pin 1 and pin 8.
To connect a keyboard encoder (I-PAC, KeyWiz, etc.), you need to wire a male D-sub 9 pin connector (available at any electronic parts store) to the appropriate keystrokes on the encoder.

[[Image:dsub9m.jpg|D-sub 9 pin male connector|right]]
It is as simple as that for the 2600. Just connect the fire button (pin 6) to player1 (or whichever player) button1, left to p1 left, right to p1 right, common to ground, etc.

If you wish to use the 7800 joystick and take advantage of both buttons, you can choose which pin (5 or 9) to connect to button1 (bridged with pin 6) and which to button2, or you can bridge pins 5, 6, and 9 so that any button you push on any Atari 2600 or 7800 joystick will close the button1 circuit.

Note that Atari console paddles and trackballs will not work with this method, but could possibly be connected to [[Gamepad Encoders]] or [[Optical Encoders]].

Conversely, if you would like to use an arcade joystick with your original Atari console, wire your joystick and buttons to a female D-sub 9 on the end of a cable, and it will plug right into your console.

Atari Controller Interfaces

2006-03-30T17:14:13Z

MinerAl: formatting pin-out table

== Stelladaptor ==
[http://www.atariage.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=267 Stelladaptor] is a USB interface specifically for 2600 joysticks, paddles and trackballs.

== Keyboard Encoders ==
Atari 2600 and 7800 joysticks are fairly easy to interface with a keyboard encoder. The joystick cords end in standard D-sub 9 female connectors. Each of the 9 pins corresponds to one directional, fire, or common signal.

Here are the pin-outs:[[Image:dsub9f.gif|D-sub 9 pin female connector|right]][[Image:dsub9m.gif|D-sub 9 male|right]]
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center"
|+'''2600:'''
|-
|1 = Up
|2 = Down
|3 = Left
|4 = Right
|5 = empty
|-
|6 = Fire
|7 = empty
|8 = Common (Ground)
|9 = empty
|}
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center"
|+'''7800''' is the same except:
|-
|
|5 = Right Button
|-
|6 = Both Buttons
|9 = Left Button
|}
So when you move your joystick up, it closes a circuit between pin 1 and pin 8.
To connect a keyboard encoder (I-PAC, KeyWiz, etc.), you need to wire a male D-sub 9 pin connector (available at any electronic parts store) to the appropriate keystrokes on the encoder.

[[Image:dsub9m.jpg|D-sub 9 pin male connector|right]]
It is as simple as that for the 2600. Just connect the fire button (pin 6) to player1 (or whichever player) button1, left to p1 left, right to p1 right, common to ground, etc.

If you wish to use the 7800 joystick and take advantage of both buttons, you can choose which pin (5 or 9) to connect to button1 (bridged with pin 6) and which to button2, or you can bridge pins 5, 6, and 9 so that any button you push on any Atari 2600 or 7800 joystick will close the button1 circuit.

Note that Atari console paddles and trackballs will not work with this method, but could be connected to an Analog encoder.

Conversely, if you would like to use an arcade joystick with your original Atari console, wire your joystick and buttons to a female D-sub 9 on the end of a cable, and it will plug right into your console.

Atari Controller Interfaces

2006-03-30T16:01:29Z

MinerAl: started the Atari Controller Interfaces page

== Stelladaptor ==
[http://www.atariage.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=267 Stelladaptor] is a USB interface specifically for 2600 joysticks, paddles and trackballs.

== Keyboard Encoders ==
Atari 2600 and 7800 joysticks are fairly easy to interface with a keyboard encoder. The joystick cords end in standard D-sub 9 female connectors. Each of the 9 pins corresponds to one directional, fire, or common signal.
Here are the pin-outs:[[Image:dsub9f.gif|D-sub 9 pin female connector|right]][[Image:dsub9m.gif|D-sub 9 male|right]]

2600:

1 - Up
2 - Down
3 - Left
4 - Right
5 - empty
6 - Fire
7 - empty
8 - Common (Ground)
9 - empty

7800 is the same except:

5 - Right Button
6 - Both Buttons
9 - Left Button

So when you move your joystick up, it closes a circuit between pin 1 and pin 8.
To connect a keyboard encoder (I-PAC, KeyWiz, etc.), you need to wire a male D-sub 9 pin connector (available at any electronic parts store) to the appropriate keystrokes on the encoder.

[[Image:dsub9m.jpg|D-sub 9 pin male connector|right]]
It is as simple as that for the 2600. Just connect the fire button (pin 6) to player1 (or whichever player) button1, left to p1 left, right to p1 right, common to ground, etc.

If you wish to use the 7800 joystick and take advantage of both buttons, you can choose which pin (5 or 9) to connect to button1 (bridged with pin 6) and which to button2, or you can bridge pins 5, 6, and 9 so that any button you push on any Atari 2600 or 7800 joystick will close the button1 circuit.

Note that Atari console paddles and trackballs will not work with this method, but could be connected to an Analog encoder.

Conversely, if you would like to use an arcade joystick with your original Atari console, wire your joystick and buttons to a female D-sub 9 on the end of a cable, and it will plug right into your console.

File:Dsub9m.jpg

2006-03-30T15:58:16Z

MinerAl: photo of a D-sub 9 pin male connector

photo of a D-sub 9 pin male connector

File:Dsub9f.gif

2006-03-30T15:52:07Z

MinerAl: pin positions for a D-subminiature 9 pin female connector

pin positions for a D-subminiature 9 pin female connector

File:Dsub9m.gif

2006-03-30T15:50:19Z

MinerAl: pin positions for a D-subminiature 9 pin male connector

pin positions for a D-subminiature 9 pin male connector

Talk:Atari 2600

2006-03-30T15:35:56Z

MinerAl:

Talk:Atari 2600

2006-03-29T19:44:46Z

MinerAl:

Talk:Atari 2600

2006-03-29T14:38:21Z

MinerAl:

I created the first console entry. What should be included on these pages? I made some quick and basic sections to get things started. [[User:Felsir|Felsir]] 03:24, 29 March 2006 (EST)
----
Great little list, I love that.

- If any system buttons is used, it could been listed here too, beause you have a lots more space here.

- Some emulators may need a bit work to get it works in a cabinet in form of a wrapper. These can been of course link to these too.

- We could maybe even use a picture, like that one in the frontend and jukebox section?

- We could here even help users, how to setup a bat file, so get it run from a any frontend (not just mamewah). It would been great for MESS.

And Opps....

- I have taken about 2 handheld consols to the list, because I diddent notice it had thier own page. These should of course being removed. Sorry.

--[[User:Spacefractal|Spacefractal]] 08:30, 29 March 2006 (EST)

----
Note that this is the console page and not the emulator page. I think the "how to get emulator X" to work on a cabinet should be added on the emulator's specific page.
Indeed, button configurations should be added here too (and include the system buttons)
Pictures are always a great to have! A photograph of the console or a game-screenshot would be a great addition! [[User:Felsir|Felsir]] 09:02, 29 March 2006 (EST)
----

I've got directions for making an I-PAC (or any encoder really) accept Atari 2600/7800 joysticks...

Would this be the place for this? Is there a place for this?

Talk:Atari 2600

2006-03-29T14:37:38Z

MinerAl:

I created the first console entry. What should be included on these pages? I made some quick and basic sections to get things started. [[User:Felsir|Felsir]] 03:24, 29 March 2006 (EST)
----
Great little list, I love that.

- If any system buttons is used, it could been listed here too, beause you have a lots more space here.

- Some emulators may need a bit work to get it works in a cabinet in form of a wrapper. These can been of course link to these too.

- We could maybe even use a picture, like that one in the frontend and jukebox section?

- We could here even help users, how to setup a bat file, so get it run from a any frontend (not just mamewah). It would been great for MESS.

And Opps....

- I have taken about 2 handheld consols to the list, because I diddent notice it had thier own page. These should of course being removed. Sorry.

--[[User:Spacefractal|Spacefractal]] 08:30, 29 March 2006 (EST)

----
Note that this is the console page and not the emulator page. I think the "how to get emulator X" to work on a cabinet should be added on the emulator's specific page.
Indeed, button configurations should be added here too (and include the system buttons)
Pictures are always a great to have! A photograph of the console or a game-screenshot would be a great addition! [[User:Felsir|Felsir]] 09:02, 29 March 2006 (EST)
----

I've got directions for making an I-PAC (or any encoder really) accept Atari 2600/7200 joysticks...

Would this be the place for this? Is there a place for this?

Trackballs

2006-03-28T20:20:15Z

MinerAl:

== How Trackballs Work ==
For a good idea of how trackballs work, please read [http://computer.howstuffworks.com/mouse2.htm the HowStuffWorks.com article] about how a computer mouse works and just imagine everything upside down in a trackball. A trackball and an old fashioned ball-mouse function the same way, only on a mouse you move the mechanism to spin the ball, but in a trackball you spin the ball directly. Most (if not all) arcade trackballs are optomechanical rather than optical.

'''Related Link:''' [http://www.freepatentsonline.com/image-3304434-1.html U.S. Patent #3,304,434] "Position Control System Employing Pulse Producing Means Indicative of Magnitude and Direction of Movement," R. A. Koster, Feb. 14, 1967

== Computer Trackballs ==

Many companies including Microsoft, Logitech, and Kensington make trackballs to control the pointer in operating systems just as a mouse does. These trackballs come in a number of sizes, from very small laptop trackballs to some large trackballs designed for children.

Most computer trackballs are poorly suited to arcade play. They are usually made of plastic, and are less robust than their arcade counterparts. More importantly, arcade trackballs are designed to spin freely, their heavy balls acting as a flywheel in whatever direction they were last spun. Computer trackballs have lighter balls and are designed to limit free spinning, as this is not desirable in a mouse pointer type control.

Computer trackballs are inexpensive and already easily interface with computers so many people try to use them in their control panels. Most people who do this later make an investment in playability and upgrade to a real arcade trackball.

== 2 ¼" Trackballs ==
2 ¼" (57mm) trackballs were used in games such as Centipede and Missile Command Cocktail.
Two and a quarter inches is the same size as a (U.S.) regulation billiard ball, and you can use a billiard ball in a 2 ¼" trackball assembly. This and their small footprint make 2 ¼" trackballs desirable for arcade emulation, particularly in cocktail cabinets.

Available from [[Vendors|Happ, Suzo, Ultimarc]] and others.

== 3" Trackballs ==
3" (76mm) trackballs are the ones most commonly seen in modern upright arcade machines, and are widely used in people's home arcade machines. They are used in Capcom Bowling, Crystal Castles, the Golden Tee games and Marble Madness. Users have discovered that juggling balls are commonly 3" in size, and make good replacement balls.

The original upright Millipede cabinets had a 3" Atari Trak Ball

Available from [[Vendors|Happ, Suzo]] and others.

== 4 ½" Atari Trak Balls ==
{|
|[[Image:TrakBallMaint.GIF|left|thumb|4 ½" Trak Ball maintenance and repair diagram from the Missile Command manual]]
|These giant trackballs ("Trak Ball" is the Atari trademark) are sometimes known as 4-inch, but are actually four and a half inches (114mm) in diameter. They were some of the first trackballs put into use in Atari Football (1978), Missile Command (1980), and a few others. The mechanisms are made of machined aluminum; clearly designed to survive intense abuse.

Putting one of these in your control panel is quite a commitment in terms of real estate. The metal frame is 6" square, 3 ½" tall, and the optical boards stick an aditional 2 inches beyond two of the corners, an effective 64 square inch footprint.

[[Vendors|Happ]] sells a 4 ½" trackball. This Happ trackball was used in the NeoGeo game 'The Irritating Maze' and can be connected in an identical manner to the Happ 3" trackballs. The ball itself is usable in an Atari 4 ½" (a 4 ½" diameter sphere is a 4 ½" diameter sphere), but the mechanism is a different, smaller design with the ball in a higher position.

Any 4 ½" diameter ball, particularly a candlepin bowling ball, is a swap-out replacement for the 25+ year old originals.
|-
|[[Image:Atari_Steering.jpg]]

|The original optical boards on these are fairly easy to interface with an [[Optical_Encoders#Opti-PAC|Opti-PAC]] (and probably most other [[Optical_Encoders|optical control interfaces]]).

This is the pin-out for the 10-pin molex plug found on the optical boards:
{|
|'''Pin: Signal'''
|
|-
|1: no signal

| - 3: no signal

| - 5: no signal

| - 7: no signal

| - 9: +5v

|-
|2: no signal

| - 4: Axis 1

| - 6: no signal

| - 8: Axis 2

| - 10: ground

|}

There were a number of slightly different boards with this same pin-out.

On an Opti-PAC, the "A/HI" jumper should be set.
|}

There are a few [[Vendors|vendors]], particularly [[Vendors|The Real Bob Roberts]], that sell replacement bearings and steel roller-shafts for these (they are often referred to as 4" or Maxi-Trak ball parts).

'''Related Links:'''

[http://www.hardmvs.com/html/iMaze.htm 'The Irritating Maze' on HardMVS]

[http://www.epcomfg.com/index.html EPCO, manufacturer of custom candlepin, juggling, and billiard balls]

Trackballs

2006-03-28T20:19:08Z

MinerAl: added link to original trackball patent

== How Trackballs Work ==
For a good idea of how trackballs work, please read [http://computer.howstuffworks.com/mouse2.htm the HowStuffWorks.com article] about how a computer mouse works and just imagine everything upside down in a trackball. A trackball and an old fashioned ball-mouse function the same way, only on a mouse you move the mechanism to spin the ball, but in a trackball you spin the ball directly. Most (if not all) arcade trackballs are optomechanical rather than optical.

'''Related Link:'''[http://www.freepatentsonline.com/image-3304434-1.html U.S. Patent #3,304,434 "Position Control System Employing Pulse Producing Means Indicative of Magnitude and Direction of Movement," R. A. Koster, Feb. 14, 1967 ]

== Computer Trackballs ==

Many companies including Microsoft, Logitech, and Kensington make trackballs to control the pointer in operating systems just as a mouse does. These trackballs come in a number of sizes, from very small laptop trackballs to some large trackballs designed for children.

Most computer trackballs are poorly suited to arcade play. They are usually made of plastic, and are less robust than their arcade counterparts. More importantly, arcade trackballs are designed to spin freely, their heavy balls acting as a flywheel in whatever direction they were last spun. Computer trackballs have lighter balls and are designed to limit free spinning, as this is not desirable in a mouse pointer type control.

Computer trackballs are inexpensive and already easily interface with computers so many people try to use them in their control panels. Most people who do this later make an investment in playability and upgrade to a real arcade trackball.

== 2 ¼" Trackballs ==
2 ¼" (57mm) trackballs were used in games such as Centipede and Missile Command Cocktail.
Two and a quarter inches is the same size as a (U.S.) regulation billiard ball, and you can use a billiard ball in a 2 ¼" trackball assembly. This and their small footprint make 2 ¼" trackballs desirable for arcade emulation, particularly in cocktail cabinets.

Available from [[Vendors|Happ, Suzo, Ultimarc]] and others.

== 3" Trackballs ==
3" (76mm) trackballs are the ones most commonly seen in modern upright arcade machines, and are widely used in people's home arcade machines. They are used in Capcom Bowling, Crystal Castles, the Golden Tee games and Marble Madness. Users have discovered that juggling balls are commonly 3" in size, and make good replacement balls.

The original upright Millipede cabinets had a 3" Atari Trak Ball

Available from [[Vendors|Happ, Suzo]] and others.

== 4 ½" Atari Trak Balls ==
{|
|[[Image:TrakBallMaint.GIF|left|thumb|4 ½" Trak Ball maintenance and repair diagram from the Missile Command manual]]
|These giant trackballs ("Trak Ball" is the Atari trademark) are sometimes known as 4-inch, but are actually four and a half inches (114mm) in diameter. They were some of the first trackballs put into use in Atari Football (1978), Missile Command (1980), and a few others. The mechanisms are made of machined aluminum; clearly designed to survive intense abuse.

Putting one of these in your control panel is quite a commitment in terms of real estate. The metal frame is 6" square, 3 ½" tall, and the optical boards stick an aditional 2 inches beyond two of the corners, an effective 64 square inch footprint.

[[Vendors|Happ]] sells a 4 ½" trackball. This Happ trackball was used in the NeoGeo game 'The Irritating Maze' and can be connected in an identical manner to the Happ 3" trackballs. The ball itself is usable in an Atari 4 ½" (a 4 ½" diameter sphere is a 4 ½" diameter sphere), but the mechanism is a different, smaller design with the ball in a higher position.

Any 4 ½" diameter ball, particularly a candlepin bowling ball, is a swap-out replacement for the 25+ year old originals.
|-
|[[Image:Atari_Steering.jpg]]

|The original optical boards on these are fairly easy to interface with an [[Optical_Encoders#Opti-PAC|Opti-PAC]] (and probably most other [[Optical_Encoders|optical control interfaces]]).

This is the pin-out for the 10-pin molex plug found on the optical boards:
{|
|'''Pin: Signal'''
|
|-
|1: no signal

| - 3: no signal

| - 5: no signal

| - 7: no signal

| - 9: +5v

|-
|2: no signal

| - 4: Axis 1

| - 6: no signal

| - 8: Axis 2

| - 10: ground

|}

There were a number of slightly different boards with this same pin-out.

On an Opti-PAC, the "A/HI" jumper should be set.
|}

There are a few [[Vendors|vendors]], particularly [[Vendors|The Real Bob Roberts]], that sell replacement bearings and steel roller-shafts for these (they are often referred to as 4" or Maxi-Trak ball parts).

'''Related Links:'''

[http://www.hardmvs.com/html/iMaze.htm 'The Irritating Maze' on HardMVS]

[http://www.epcomfg.com/index.html EPCO, manufacturer of custom candlepin, juggling, and billiard balls]

Video Overview

2006-03-28T19:34:48Z

MinerAl: added link

{{Cleanup}}

'''A general overview of the different display methods and orientations explaining the pros and cons of each should go here'''

Relevant Links:
* [http://www.mameworld.net/pc2jamma/monitors.html PC2Jamma Arcade Monitor Overview]
* [http://oscarcontrols.com/monitors.shtml Oscar Controls' Monitor close-up comparison]
* [http://retroblast.com/reviews/d9200-1.html Retroblast WG D9200 Review]
* [http://www.zektor.com/zvg/ Zektors Vector Generator]
* [http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/tv1.htm HowStuffWorks CRTs TVs and Monitors]

Video Output

2006-03-28T17:58:45Z

MinerAl:

==Coaxial==
Coaxial wiring is commonly used in home cable systems. It carries sound and video over a single wire. For interconnecting audio and video components, and for connecting game consoles, this has become mostly obsolete.

==Composite Video (RCA)==

Composite video uses a single wire, usually colored yellow on the ends, to carry a video signal. This is the lowest quality method of connecting a video source to a monitor. These types of connectors are rapidly becoming obsolete as they are replaced by S-video, Component video, and DVI.

For people in Europe, many televisions have a SCART connector. If your TV does not have a composite video connection but does have SCART, a simple conversion plug is available to convert a RCA connection to a SCART connection.

==S-Video==

S-Video works by separating the chrominance (color) and luminance (brightness) into two seperate pairs of wires. This leads to a higher quality picture than composite. While it is more advanced than its earlier cousin, s-video is also on its way out, in favor of DVI and Component connections

As with composite connections, in Europe a SCART convertor is widely available to connect a S-Video connector in a SCART socket.

==Component Video (YUV)==
Component video consists of three seperate wires, each transmitting [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YUV information] (colour, luminance, chrominance) used in televisions and monitors. Because this information is not combined into one wire, the signal strength and picture quality is much higher. This is currently the dominant standard in the United States.

==SCART==
The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scart SCART] connector is a standard connector used in Europe. SCART can accept true RGB signals as well as composite and S-Video signals. If your videocard can output SCART RGB signal, this is the best quality available through a SCART connector.

==VGA Connector==

The VGA connector is the standard analog video connector for PCs. It is a 15-pin mini-sub-D connector with seperate pins for red, blue, and green, as well as horizontal and vertical synchronizing information. Originally used by IBM for its VGA standard of 256 colors in 640x480 pixels at 60Hz, these connectors are capable of sending almost any analog video information, depending on the video adapter and monitor to which they are attached.

The VGA connector is excellent for analog video, but for digital video the standard is DVI.

'''Related Link:''' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGA_connector Wikipedia VGA connector article]

==DVI==

DVI stands for Digital Video Interface. It is a connector with up to 29 pins, in a number of configurations, for digital and analog video information. It is chiefly used to take digital video information to digital video displays such as LCD monitors.

'''Related Link:''' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVI_connector The Wikipedia article on DVI].

Video Output

2006-03-28T17:57:05Z

MinerAl: added DVI info

==Coaxial==
Coaxial wiring is commonly used in home cable systems. It carries sound and video over a single wire. For interconnecting audio and video components, and for connecting game consoles, this has become mostly obsolete.

==Composite Video (RCA)==

Composite video uses a single wire, usually colored yellow on the ends, to carry a video signal. This is the lowest quality method of connecting a video source to a monitor. These types of connectors are rapidly becoming obsolete as they are replaced by S-video, Component video, and DVI.

For people in Europe, many televisions have a SCART connector. If your TV does not have a composite video connection but does have SCART, a simple conversion plug is available to convert a RCA connection to a SCART connection.

==S-Video==

S-Video works by separating the chrominance (color) and luminance (brightness) into two seperate pairs of wires. This leads to a higher quality picture than composite. While it is more advanced than its earlier cousin, s-video is also on its way out, in favor of DVI and Component connections

As with composite connections, in Europe a SCART convertor is widely available to connect a S-Video connector in a SCART socket.

==Component Video (YUV)==
Component video consists of three seperate wires, each transmitting [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YUV information] (colour, luminance, chrominance) used in televisions and monitors. Because this information is not combined into one wire, the signal strength and picture quality is much higher. This is currently the dominant standard in the United States.

==SCART==
The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scart SCART] connector is a standard connector used in Europe. SCART can accept true RGB signals as well as composite and S-Video signals. If your videocard can output SCART RGB signal, this is the best quality available through a SCART connector.

==VGA Connector==

The VGA connector is the standard analog video connector for PCs. It is a 15-pin mini-sub-D connector with seperate pins for red blue and green, as well as horizontal and vertical synchronizing information. Originally used by IBM for its VGA standard of 256 colors in 640x480 pixels at 60Hz, these connectors are capable of sending almost any analog video information, depending on the video adapter and monitor to which they are attached.

The VGA connector is excellent for analog video, but for digital video the standard is DVI.

'''Related Link:''' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGA_connector Wikipedia VGA connector article]

==DVI==

DVI stands for Digital Video Interface. It is a connector with up to 29 pins, in a number of configurations, for digital and analog video information. It is chiefly used to take digital video information to digital video displays such as LCD monitors.

'''Related Link:''' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVI_connector The Wikipedia article on DVI].