Custom Arcade / Fight Sticks

Wish I had the space and resources to setup my own wood working area at home but I'm still a scummy student so that will have to wait a while :(

Although ignoring aesthetics this box is perfect and proves that a great quality stick can be made on the cheap and the madcatz pads are a doddle to wire up. Did you get a joypad or arcade stick? The arcade stick is great as I just set the triggers to neutral then wire them up like normal buttons, without faffing about with resistors etc.
 
I bought the arcade sticks and did the same as you. I put resistors on the triggers to neutralise them and wired them up to my terminal block, bringing the total number of available buttons to 12. At the moment, only 8 of them are in use (9 if you include the Xbox guide button) but the others are wired up for future expansion. It's a great board to solder, most of the points being large and pre-drilled.
 
Don't need resistors do you? I just set the rheostats to the neutral position and when testing I just connect a ground to the centre pin and get the correct input.
 
The triggers have been removed but all the wiring (it's only the rheostats that were ever there and they're set to neutral). These are variable resistors so I suppose they serve the same purpose, but it works fine in SFIV when testing with bare wire :)
 
Kreeeee said:
The triggers have been removed but all the wiring (it's only the rheostats that were ever there and they're set to neutral). These are variable resistors so I suppose they serve the same purpose, but it works fine in SFIV when testing with bare wire :)
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Yep, so effectively you've got the rheostat set to do the same thing that the resistors do, saving 30p and the extra soldering. Simple.

My joysticks and buttons have finally been posted, should be here tomorrow, been sanding and varnishing the box in preparation for tomorrow's final build... :)
 
Kreeeee said:
Well I'll be building a far superior stick to my £35 Hori EX2 for only a tenner more (rather than the £150 for the TE stick), which is a bargain in my opinion :)
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Lucky ****, when did you buy that EX2?

They are going for £60 on the bay now and I believe one of the auctions has 6 bids at £60 with 2 days left. :(

Not that it matters mind, but I'd rather have picked up a cheap EX2 a few months ago than paid £70 for the MadCatz, never thought I'd go for a stick till I actually played the game, need to get around to ordering Sanwa buttons and stick for around £25-30 sometime, doubt it's gonna make any real difference though.
 
18 February. They were available again at the same place on 28th February too.

The PS3 equivalent (FS3) has been much more widely available though, and has been regularly restocked up until a week ago.

Sanwa buttons make no difference unless yours are sticking and the stick is just a lot more robust and a slightly smoother action. I'm just getting the Sanwa parts because I've bought bad, bought twice too many times before.

Edit: Just seen the SE are in stock for £70 actually. Tempted to get one to put my Sanwa parts in and then fix up the crap stick from the SE and put the components into my makeshift/ghetto arcade stick with an octagonal gate for my retarded friend who doesn't understand squares.
 
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Kreeeee said:
Edit: Just seen the SE are in stock for £70 actually. Tempted to get one to put my Sanwa parts in and then fix up the crap stick from the SE and put the components into my makeshift/ghetto arcade stick with an octagonal gate for my retarded friend who doesn't understand squares.
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The SE stick is actually pretty good, well if you get one that doesn't stick :o :mad: though it didn't feel as smooth as the TE I got to use.

What does annoy me about it however is that sometimes I pull the stick up accidently and you can feel it move slightly, probably just me being retarded and I guess I should change how I sit with it. :o

I was impressed with the buttons though, they are extremely sensitive which I was kinda surprised by as a lot of the arcade cabinets I've played in the past felt pretty stiff.
 
I've used an SE stick for about 4 hours, when it doesn't stick it feels just like the hori which is fine but it's twice the price. Madcatz really developed it for people to mod and that suites me just fine as I prefer the on-your-lap bases to like the SE and Hori.

Having dismantled a few sticks I can tell you that pulling it up is fine and part of the design so you're not damaging it.

For reference, I call the stick crap because if self destructs, not because it isn't performs badly!
 
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Kreeeee said:
I've used an SE stick for about 4 hours, when it doesn't stick it feels just like the hori which is fine but it's twice the price. Madcatz really developed it for people to mod and that suites me just fine as I prefer the on-your-lap bases to like the SE and Hori.

Having dismantled a few sticks I can tell you that pulling it up is fine and part of the design so you're not damaging it.
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Oh that sucks that the person has one that sticks, I've had mine since around the 20th of Feb and no sticking at all. (touchwood!!)

I struggle to use it on my lap though, however I find it moves out of place a bit on the little table I use and that is extremely annoying when playing, gonna try and get used to having it on the lap.

Nice to know that the stick pulling up is OK though. :)

Kreeeee said:
For reference, I call the stick crap because if self destructs, not because it isn't performs badly!
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I heard about that, the PCB getting scratched? I think I also dodged that bullet as mine has head plenty of use and is still going! I was going to open it up and double check no scratching was occuring but no point in voiding the warranty. (yet)
 
There are a number of issues with the stick alone, the common ones with the whole package:

PCB scratching
Sticky sticks
HP button failing due to faulty PCB
buttons sticking
microswitches wearing out on stick

You can open the stick and leave no evidence, but if you glue down your washer they'll know you've tampered with it. To be honest, just leave it and if it breaks get it returned. It's not worth losing £70 if you mess it up.

Edit: Stuff it, ordered one!
 
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Kreeeee said:
There are a number of issues with the stick alone, the common ones with the whole package:

PCB scratching
Sticky sticks
HP button failing due to faulty PCB
buttons sticking
microswitches wearing out on stick

You can open the stick and leave no evidence, but if you glue down your washer they'll know you've tampered with it. To be honest, just leave it and if it breaks get it returned. It's not worth losing £70 if you mess it up.

Edit: Stuff it, ordered one!
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Woot I have none of them issues, huzzah! :D

Yep I'll just leave it, will hopefully get around to buying the Sanwa parts next month so no need to open it until then. :)
 
Well I can post picks of the plastic box I'll be using and the hacked pad but not got my components yet :(

I'll make a separate build thread when they arrive.
 
Haha, fair enough.

I'll post mine up tomorrow when I've got the camera. It's dead ugly, but was literally a prototype to see about materials and techniques etc....

Got some art already printed up so It's now a case of putting a proper one together.. :)
 
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