21 October 2017, 01:01 | #1 |
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Built a joystick again.
I spent last weekend building a joystick and had a lot of fun with it
Article + Picture gallery. The guys in the Commodore Amiga Facebook group suggested some games that required good joystick control - as if I didn't know, well that's really true if I'm honest - but you know, there are so many games for Amiga that I haven't played half of them... best to ask. Most of the suggestions were familiar though - a good game is a good game, right? So it's "pretty close to decent" (for my standards). I did learn some things that made me want to build a proper joystick. Maybe some day..? That's how I feel anyway. Just some pretty basic things being overlooked IMO (hence the saltiness of the article), but it's really because of the manufacturers and the market. I mean, they should be able to tell. |
21 October 2017, 11:59 | #2 |
uber cool demi god
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Looks smart. Nice work.
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21 October 2017, 16:25 | #3 |
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I should add it's just put on the table for the photo - I use this across my knees (see photo 2 and 18). The comfort level really is faultless.
Depth is 35mm if you want to make a box, or you could make it 100mm wider and put wood sides on it and it would work both in the lap or on a table. I've played quite a few games with it and that's why I did the second round of mods - I'll probably make another just like this but with a different joystick and button type in a few weeks, but I'm forcing myself to use this now to play all kinds of games with, and not just Amiga but C64, MAME, etc too. I have a pretty good idea what makes a great joystick, but playing a full spectrum of different game types will inform me further. Plus put it to good use now that I've built it |
21 October 2017, 22:31 | #4 |
Missile Command Champion
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But you must be a lefty. I couldn't play with the stick on the right side.
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21 October 2017, 22:50 | #5 |
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Looks really nice Photon
...but for me, same comment as Retro. |
21 October 2017, 23:16 | #6 |
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Nice job, Photon!
@Retro-Nerd, Damien: Really? I'm ambidextrous, but I would still prefer Photon's layout. And no comments about being cack-handed, please. |
22 October 2017, 00:07 | #7 |
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Well, I grew up in the Arcades so... joystick on the left and buttons on the right
Hence why I have one of these bad boys at home for MAME action: |
22 October 2017, 00:29 | #8 |
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I think it's just up to what you played as a kid and got used to. If there was an obstacle, we overcame it to play that great thing
I think most kids in year X would have a) loved home computer games and the right-handed ones would hold the stick in the right hand, b) loved arcade games and I guess even being right-handed adapt to the strange left-handed design of arcade games, or c) loved consoles and despite using their right hand for fine motorics such as mouse+keyboard games, adapt to the strange left-handed design of gamepads. So. But if I have to build the damn thing myself, you can be sure of one thing: it will have the correct design for my right-handedness. I'm sort of driving this point on the chance that someone will go, "Hey! Hmm..." and actually try it and like it better. Played some more games tonight, just got back to the PC I'm not sure I'm friends with Apidya just yet , but it sounds so sweet... And Traps'n'Treasures just looks so lovely on my TV and feels modern, polished... class! |
25 October 2017, 09:47 | #9 |
old bearded fool
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Photon, I like your joystick build, nice and thin. Most arcade joysticks are too big for comfort in the lap.
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25 October 2017, 10:06 | #10 |
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Looks really nice indeed. And joystick on the right is fine.
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25 October 2017, 11:21 | #11 |
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25 October 2017, 12:37 | #12 |
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Why so many buttons? The Amiga only ever had one fire button. Ever.
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25 October 2017, 12:41 | #13 |
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I also like the left-hand stick/right-hand buttons as the original arcades had, but the joystick design you have there is really great.
I don't know if it's feasible (7-bit did it with the Rys USB mk2 adaptor, though) but I think that an Amiga joystick could have at least 4 buttons. Joystick fire1, fire2, a button simulating the joystick "up" and another simulating the "space" key, due to many games having it implemented to circumvent the Amiga's inherent lack of fire-buttons (Dynablaster springs to mind). Cheers for the design, mate. Looks lovely. |
25 October 2017, 14:42 | #14 |
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nice! But I would add more buttons in case you use it for MAME aswell.
I only play stick-right+buttons-left combo, as most of the arcade cabs in my days had buttons on both side, so you could choose what hand to use for the stick. Since I am a rightie, I play a lot better with a right stick then a left stick. |
25 October 2017, 23:28 | #15 |
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26 October 2017, 00:14 | #16 |
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I agree that I prefer the joystick on the left, but it's wonderful so thin.
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26 October 2017, 15:33 | #17 |
uber cool demi god
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